ISLAND HOPPING; Martha’s Vineyard to NANTUCKET!

How do you feel about a trip to Nantucket? You’ll have to leave him . . . can you do it? Perhaps a little

I tell you it is not easy . . .

How about her? I know, it’s hard, but you have darling people, Jessica and Bob, staying with them, so it will be OK. They have been trained in the fine art of rubber-band shooting.

So here we go. Dropped off by Joe’s sister in Oak Bluffs, that’s our boat straight ahead, coming to get us.

We’re going island hopping . . . My kind of travel, no car and this is the view out the window from our table on the fast ferry as we’re leaving the harbor.

Passing all the summer frolickers . . . not the clearest of pictures because the windows on the boat were a wee bit salty!

One hour and ten minutes of smooth ocean travel wearing lovely sea bands just in case, and voila, we pull into downtown Nantucket where we are met by our dear friend and whisked away to his August hideaway . . .

. . . he rented this most glorious house and invited us to come over for a visit and thank goodness we did not foolishly come up with some sort of thing like Oh no, we can’t go, we have to work! (For a change.) You know how “house crazy” I am . . . well Nantucket is the place to indulge. Cutest places here, I just stared out the window as we were driving along, and then . . . this! Can you imagine a more comfortable place to sit, talk, hangout? No, me either. Get ready, there’s more . . .

Go out that door in the previous photo, you have your choice of THREE of these lovely seating areas on different parts of the deck. You can knit, you can read, you can write letters, you can nap, you can drink wine, you can stare blindly at the ocean.

With the quietest most lovely view, and the ocean breeze bobbing the lanterns around.

And rather a nice front row seat for the sunset . . .

The view, along with the light wind, makes all the little hairs on your arms stand right up; you pull your shawl a little closer. Now watch what these lanterns do . . .

Ahhhhh!!!! They’re solar powered; they come on all by themselves. Aren’t they wonderful?

I’ve never seen them before but they were very close to magic as far as I’m concerned. I got right on it . . . if you want these, here’s where you go to get them . . .

Thought you would like to see the dining room where we had our tea this morning. Is this not a little bit of heaven? These wooden walls smell sooooo good! (I love traveling with you, we like so many of the same things!)

This house is old and has been in the same family for generations . . . the rooms are filled with photos like these. They are so lucky someone held on to these precious memories.

But this is my favorite, a shelf-desk just like the one Louisa May Alcott had in her bedroom. And the house is filled with books.

It’s kind of like a rambling old camp . . . seven or eight bedrooms in different wings, and there’s one wall where family members have been measuring themselves with dated pencil marks and initials since 1910.

This morning we went for walk in Sconset, which is on the other side of the island from where we came in on the boat, and very peaceful and quiet, especially during the week. Especially at 7 am.

Back in the whaling days, the whale blubber (and other whale parts) smelled so bad, that the families built themselves “summer houses” on the other side of the island to escape it. Hence we have the darling town of Siasconset or “Sconset.”

Worth the getting-up and getting-out for . . . the day is fresh and the window boxes are fluffed on all the darling old houses…

It reminds me of England . . .a chip off the olde blocke.

On one side of the street is that long walk along the ocean, and on the other side are houses facing the water. Here are a few we saw along the way.

From the name over the door, we are led to believe these people aren’t home much, but if this was mine I would change the name to Seldom Out. It might not make as much sense, but it would definitely be closer to the truth.

Look how they continued the hedge in the back (left side of house) off the roof line and across the back. Is that brilliant or what? Then they took all the square lines and rounded them out with the smiling fence.

You want to stop for tea in every one of them. Knock-knock, can I please come in? Just a quick cup of tea, a nap with your kitty and I’ll be on my way.

It’s all fences and hydrangeas.

Fences, roses and porches . . . and charm . . . (Musica? Same song, same place . . . One more time. Happy Summer my dear friends!)

And more porches, the kind you dream about . . . and roses grow on trellises on roofs!

Porches with stripes and pillows and wicker and rocking chairs . . . and starfish in the windows.

more hydrangea and bikes with baskets . . . love-love-love it.

And lots of driveways made from crushed clam and oyster shells . . .

Too early for a swim in the pool . . . but I’d say it looks like the perfect place for lunch.

This used to be the town water pump a long, long time ago . . . see the plaque on the rock, below right?

Here it is up close: ”The well was dug in 1776.” Out here on this bitty island, less than half the size of Martha’s Vineyard, even then, teeming with life and determination.

And adorable houses like this one right across the street from the well.

A couple of blocks over, this is the only business on this part of the island. They have fancy groceries.

And the basics . . .

You can see why it might be popular.

When we got back to where we’re staying . . . I walked right out the door to take us down the little path to the sea . . .

I knew you would want to see this lovely little beach . . . I wish I could send this breeze to you via Internet Express.

This is the view when you look to the right . . .

And this is the house as you walk back up to it from the water . . . I have other pictures of the bedrooms ~ in case you’d like to see more. We’ll be here for a couple of days. I’ll take my camera everywhere!

But, in the meantime, I also wanted to update you on AUTUMN. I’ve been getting letters asking for an update, so here you go. Just before we left I got a sample of the finished product! I am thrilled with the way it looks. There’s our long awaited ribbon, securely fastened in our new book. Finally! I love how it looks. What do you think of the color? It’s like wine, brownish wine, fallish leafy color of New England.

This is such perfect timing, I am so ready for fall, I can’t help it, it’s my favorite season and we’re so on the verge right now — singing crickets and little cool breezes in the woods. The printer is saying he’s trying to have the rest of the books to us in two weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed. For sure, the second it comes in, out it will go, signed, to you and yours.

Autumn is the very first book from Spring Street Publishing so you’ll see this, our new logo, inside the book for the first time. We are very excited in more ways than one.

Because being “in charge” means that our little bookie-book gets a new logo, a ribbon, a sticker and a new start on life for anyone who may have missed it ten years ago. And that makes me happy.

Ah yes, this darling Pig pitcher. He looks especially cute right now in my pantry, and he matches my elephant creamer! (The elephant is vintage, you have to find him in antique stores ~ once in a while, when I’m out and about, if I find an extra, we put him in our vintage store, so keep an eye out there if you’re interested).

Anyway, we found this beautiful little pig brand new and actually got a few of them in stock in case anyone else needs a perfect creamer for a large tea party, or for the myriad of other uses for which pitchers are famous.

He looks like he’s singing!

I think he’s adorable . . . I just got him a couple of days before we left, so far he has put milk on our cereal and that’s all we’ve had time for. But, he made Joe smile (indulgently).

There’s a little spoon/teabag holder that matches, and I think there are a couple other piggy things in our store. I really needed the spoon holder!

And soon, coming to a neighborhood near you, Janie has made us a wonderful new fall banner!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programing! Nap on porch anyone? XOXO ♥