Prayers Needed

Finally made it back to church this morning. I realized that it had been a whole month since I'd been in my own church during the communion service which we have on the first Sunday of each month. I am usually a VERY regular worshipper but we have been away often this summer and I haven't been in town. I've also been taking a vacation from church this summer, partly on purpose. Our church is in a state of transition. A long-time pastor left a year ago last August, and for almost 6 months my ministry team (Nurture) provided a variety of worship leadership: Lay leadership, supply pastors, and joint services with a neighboring UCC church. Then we hired a very part-time interim pastor who started in January. Along with this, we have been experimenting with different organizational structures for almost 2 years, going from a very committee/board heavy hierarchy to ministry teams. So we have been struggling with lots of things ---new structure, new pastor, new ways. As one of the church leaders, I've been involved with trying to keep things going smoothly. When summer came, I realized I needed a break and decided to take one! It's been good. I'm praying about what I need to do and what I need to let go of. I ask you to pray for me -- that I will stay open to listening to God's voice, that I will be able to discern the path I need to take. Pray too for my wonderful church. We soon will be appointing a search team to find a settled pastor, and we need to make some big decisions about the type of leadership we need and can support financially.

Back on the Treadmill - Full Force

School started . . . . . if you're a teacher, I probably don't need to say any more!

We had a terrific trip to LA and returned late Sunday night. 7 am Monday found me in my classroom and it's been nonstop since then. I got home Monday night at 9 pm (after a full day of organizing my room, meetings, etc., we offer a "Get Acquainted" sundae party on Monday evening for all our incoming 6th graders and their families. Tuesday was another round of preparation, meetings, scheduling, etc. and then yesterday was the day the students came. Other than the heat and humidity, the construction complications with resulting traffic snarls, and a few other "unusual" obstacles, the first 2 days have gone quite smoothly. I share 37 students with one other teacher, and they seem really sweet. Hope they continue that way!

Los Angeles was wonderful. We ate a lot of great food - Japanese, Italian, Indian, and Mexican, visited several small wineries in Santa Ynez, saw some great art at the Getty Center, saw some "cool" cars at the Petersen Automotive Museum, and got to enjoy "Wicked" at the Pantages Theater! As you can see we did a lot in 4 days!

Now it's back to the treadmill --- literally too, since I have to get back into my regular exercise routines. Water aerobics twice a week, strength training twice a week, and at least another 40 minutes of concentrated aerobic exercise. So far I've lost 35 pounds since late January. It's been tough this summer to lose more due to all the traveling I've done, but other than a couple of minor fluctuations, I've stayed pretty stable. Now that school has started it will actually be easier for me to eat right!

I did a little knitting on the airplane --- 3/4 of a sock. Since I got home, though, I haven't even touched a needle. This is actually the first day I've been home before 5 pm all week, so I hope to do some knitting tonight. And maybe get some pictures off the camera . . . .

Off To LA

We're heading off to Los Angeles today to visit our younger son. He works as a talent agent in Beverly Hills! It sounds more glamorous than it apparently is. He works really hard, does have some fun, but doesn't make a lot of money. He shares an apartment with 2 other people and drives a "mature" Honda Accord. He's been out in LA for 3 years, since graduating from Emerson College, in Boston. He loves it out there and still will call when he meets an "A" list celebrity. My knitting buddy was out in LA a couple of weeks ago and visited a knit shop or 2, but I don't think I'll have time to do that. We're planning on some wine tasting expeditions with our son instead.

I'm taking along a new sock project -- from Sensational Knitted Socks. I'm using Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Rhapsody. I probably will do the Bluebell Rib pattern with it. I do my socks on 2 circular needles so it's a great plane ride project. I also find socks pretty easy to do now, and it will be a "restful" break from the Swan Lake. I am stuck at the beginning of clue 2 -- I've tinked rows 101-105 about 6 times already. Time for a break.

The countdown is beginning for the start of school next week. My room is not ready but I'm trying not to be stressed about that. Our building is undergoing major renovation so we've been banned from the building all summer. The projects won't be done til the end of next summer, so it's going to be an interesting year to say the least!

Clue One done at last

I finally completed Clue 1 of the Mystery Stole 3 which has been revealed to be Swan Lake. I started this about 2 weeks ago and the last clue was revealed last Friday, so I am way behind. It's been quite a challenge! This is the first time I've tried lace with lace weight yarn and I've never beaded before. I've discovered that I love knitting lace, and I've fallen in love with adding beads to my knitting.

I'm using Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk from Webs. It's called Storm Cloud. I have transparent black lined beads that really sparkle and catch the light.

This project will take me a long time, especially since school starts for me on 8/27. I can only do a few rows at night once school starts, and it takes a great deal of concentration! I've learned to count my stitches frequently -- I count when I reach the center point, at the end of the row, and then again as I purl back on the wrong side.

We're going to Los Angeles on Tuesday for a visit with our younger son, and a last minute vacation finale. He's a talent agent in Hollywood. It's quite a different world out there, from rural NH. He loves it. I guess at almost 26, the hustle, bustle, and glitz is appealing! We do have fun with him when we visit. And I'm always amazed and awed by what a great young man he's become!

Busy Busy Busy

So it has been a busy week!

We're going to Los Angeles next week to visit our younger son. It's my last week before it's back to the classroom, and of course, I'm trying to accomplish everything I meant to accomplish this summer and haven't.

I bought a new TV - a 37inch flat screen HD -- and we're going to put in our living room because we're turning our TV/family room into an office. So, I had to rearrange furniture in the living room. Then, we're putting the old 1987 Sears special TV into what we call the "middle bedroom" which has served as our attic. So I had to clear that out. Now we can start work on transforming the family room into an office. In between, I spent a very hot day in my classroom, trying to get it organized. Usually I go into school once a week or so to work on "pretty-fying" the room, rearranging furniture, going through files, etc. and to work on lesson plans. However, this summer our rooms have been off limits due to a major renovation/construction project. We were given permission to go in on Tuesday -- so I did! We had to watch for construction vehicles, falling bricks, tile removal and replacement, window replacement --- you name it! I also was trying to get some general cleaning done - good thing, since we're having family come visit. I'm really looking forward to seeing them - it's been a long time!

I haven't gotten much knitting done. I'm working on the Mystery Stole 3 and had gotten up to row 77. I noticed a major flaw down around row 63 and by the time I got there, I'd dropped a bunch of stitches so had to reknit from row 49. But now I'm up to row 72 -- and it looks great. Sorry, no pictures this time!

So What's on the Needles

First of all, I finally finished this baby blanket. I've done this one before.

It's done in Leader, an acrylic yarn with a great feel. It's in lavendar on size 8 needles. The pattern is Baby Blocks, by Debbie Macomber.
The color doesn't come through very well.

Now on the needles is the Mystery Stole 3. I've never done anything like this, and I had a terrible time swatching! I think it was the change from big yarn and big needles, (relatively speaking) to lace weight!! I'm using Valley Yarns 2/14 Hand dyed Alpaca Silk in stormcloud.

Yesterday my knitting buddy and I traveled a couple hours north to Patternworks. We enjoyed the shops, found some great sale items - yarn and books. I got a skein of Helen's Lace in Mixed Berries for only $25.99! We also visited the Elegant Ewe in Concord, another great shop. Finally we visited The Wool Room in Antrim, NH. That was a fun place too- a small shop in a private home. In other words, we had a great yarn crawling day!

Back to Regularly Scheduled Programming

So, it's been a while. I've been away - to England, Scotland, and Wales! We had a wonderful, awesome trip - our first off this continent. I took 287 pictures which have taken me an entire week to upload to my Picasa album. We went on the British Landscapes tour sponsored by Collette Vacations. I highly recommend their company, if you're into escorted tours. Not only was the itinerary wonderful, but our tour guide was terrific. The hotels were 4 and 5 star rated, and the included meals were great. I can't decided which part of the UK I liked better. Every place we went I said "I want to come back here!" Certainly at the top of our list of favorite places we visited was Edinborough. We also loved the Lake District and York. Each part was beautiful and I really want to go back!!

What really surprised me though were the sheep.

Everywhere there is open space (and believe me, the UK has LOTS of open pasture lands) there are sheep - 30 million of them in fact. One sheep for every 2 people. At least that's the statistic we were given. And yet - I only saw ONE yarn shop!

It's hard to come back from vacation. Aside from the time changes, the meal changes, and the sleep changes, it's hard to come back to housework,cooking, laundry, and especially hard to look at the calendar and realize that school for me starts in 3 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but I hate the schedule I have to follow --- the alarm at 4:45am and the nonstop pace til 8 pm and then a brief break before bed and start all over again. Although I'm busy with a variety of things in the summer, including lesson planning and study, it's much more relaxed, with no outside-imposed time table.

Trying to Ignore the Rumbling Stomach

I am on a clear liquids only diet today due to an upcoming medical procedure tomorrow - the dreaded colonoscopy. It's a routine-ish screening. I had a perfectly clear screening 6 years ago, but due to the fact that my mom died 2 years ago from colon cancer, it's not quite as routine a procedure as it might be for some folks. I think the worst part of the whole procedure is the preparation for it --- particularly the special beverage that you have to drink. At least this time I only have to force down a total of 3 oz instead of a whole jug, but still . . . It's funny all last week I had no problem ignoring breakfast. I'd be up by 7 and rarely had anything but coffee til about 9:30. Today, my stomach's been rumbling since 6 am!! I realize our meal schedule yesterday was interrupted by a 6 hour power outage but this is further proof that appetite is often a mental state too!

Anyway. We leave Thursday for our big vacation - a trip to England. We've been to Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, but this is the first time off the continent. I'm excited to say the least. I finished knitting my 2nd Bistro Shirt yesterday, and it's being blocked as I type. I'm hoping to wear it on the trip, so I hope it dries in time! I used Goshen again, from Valley Yarns, in sage this time. I made some minor modifications - a couple of garter stitch rows at the bottom to prevent rolling, a bit longer, and I knitted it a size smaller than my first Bistro.

I wore my lace stole to a wedding on Saturday, and to church yesterday. I received LOTS of compliments on it. Here's a close up of the lace pattern. Isn't it pretty?

I started work on a baby blanket - Debbie Macomber's Baby Blocks. I'm using Plymouth Leader, in lavendar. It's an acrylic yarn with a nice feel to it. This will be a present. I've got 2 more major projects in line - as soon as my yarn order arrives. I ordered some 2/14 Hand dyed Alpaca Silk in Storm Cloud from WEBS for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL and some more Goshen, this time in red, for the Valley Yarns Green River Tunic.

And I still have LOADS of sock yarn!

Stoles and Luggage

My stole is finished and blocked and it's beautiful! I will get a pic up soon, I hope! I'm working on my 2nd Bistro shirt and hope to have it done this weekend so I can wear it on our England trip next week! I also ordered yarn for the MS3 knit along, and for WEBS Valley Yarn Green River Tunic. So many projects . . . too little time. I entered the 1-2-3-4-5 Contest too.

Have you been luggage shopping lately? It's confusing! There are so many choices. I have to mention a wonderfully helpful JC Penney associate name Ally in the Keene, NH store. She spent almost an hour with me, reviewing the plusses and minuses of the various lines. I finally decided on the pieces I wanted, only to discover that I couldn't get all of them in the color. She searched the stock room twice to be sure there wasn't one more blue case in back. I ended up changing color which meant another trip to the stock room. I purchased 2 black bags. I wrote up a commendation for her for her supervisor because she really was helpful and friendly. This morning I got a call from her from the store. A new delivery of luggage had been made, and there were now 2 blue cases, if I wanted to exchange. Since we had to back to that area anyway, (a bit of trek, but not terrible) we went in this afternoon, exchanged black for blue, and bought 2 more blue pieces!!

Blocking

I'm finished at last with the knitting of the Lace Stole. I borrowed a blocking board from a friend to block the stole. What a great tool! It's so much easier to use the board than a towel on the table and the measuring tape! I knitted the stole a bit longer than the pattern suggested, and it came out a bit wider. This despite getting gauge on my swatch and a couple of gauge checks as I knitted. It doesn't really matter for this project thought so I'm fine. The fabric is doubled for the blocking so it will fit on the board. It will be 72 inches in length and 16 inches wide. It's 100% bamboo - Plymouth Royal Bamboo. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!

The First Week of "Vacation"

School has been out just a week. I'm always amazed at how difficult the transition can be. I've been pretty busy with all kinds of appointments: eye doctor, regular doctor, lab work, dentist, etc. and I treated myself to a massage. It's been crazy around the house too -- my husband's business involves a great deal of vehicle maintenance, and it's been time to get the oil and other fluides changed in 17 vehicles, get them all washed and cleaned, and all the other things that need doing when all of those vehicles are off their routes and on vacation also. Most of this maintenance occurs in our yard, so it's been a busy place! It's also hard to sleep in when you're used to getting up at 4:45 am for half the year, and right now it's really light at that time anyway. BUT ......... and it's a big one . .. . . . the PRESSURE is off! It doesn't matter that we got home from exercise class at 7 pm and haven't had dinner yet. So what if I didn't get to bed til 11 pm - I don' t have to be anywhere at 6:30 in the morning. I don't have to be energized and upbeat all day, trying to motivate 12 year olds all day. It's VACATION!! It's really hard to describe the weightlessness of not being in school. The intense pressure I feel all year to be moving on to the next thing, the relentlessness of my daily schedule is gone. I feel almost giddy with freedom!

Of course, there are a ton of things I want to accomplish this summer --- like clean my house. We are pack rats and not very well-organized ones either. I've already accomplished one organization task. I turned my piles of yarn stash into 2 organized see-through plastic tubs of yarn, and I actually know what I have now. I also went through my tub of needles and things, and organzed those. I spent a day catching up on bookkeeping tasks and balanced 2 months of personal checking and the usual monthly business bookkeeping. Not bad for a week's vacation. This coming week my husband and I want to turn our TV/family room into an office we both can use, and turn our basically unused living room into the TV/family room. He's not quite convinced we should do this, but my take on it, is why not. It sure beats using the dining room as his office. We are blessed with a large house; we may as well use it efficiently!!

I have been reading up a storm this week too --- lots of very light, easy fun fiction. I requested a bunch of books from the library and 3 of them came in already waiting on the kitchen table. I can recommend a couple of good reads: Barbara Delinsky Looking for Peyton Place, and Maeve Binchy Whitethorn Woods. I have a bunch of Earlene Fowler to read too.

And finally, the knitting goes on. The Lace Shawl/Stole is still on the needles and is driving me nuts. I have knitted about 50 inches - about 10 more to go. And I still find myself with too many stitches, not enough stitches or on the wrong row. I seem to have a pattern of knitting about 5 inches without a hitch, and then the next 2 inches are hell. I'm looking ahead to the next projects -- a baby blanket, another summer Bistro Shirt and perhaps some unravelling of a couple of previous winter sweaters that are way too big for me now --- down 33 lbs since January, and still going.

Lace Stole

So this is what I've been working on since June 9th. It's from the magazine, KnitSimple, and I'm using Plymouth Royal Bamboo. I've managed to knit about 30 inches so far. It's not a difficult pattern to remember, only 4 rows, and 2 of the rows are the purl back rows. The tricky part for me is keeping track of whether I'm on row 2 or 4 since row 2 starts with knit 3, yo, and ends with knit 1, and row 4 starts with knit 2, yo, and ends with knit 2. I do use a row counter but every so often I end up with too many or 2 few stitches at the end of the row I think I'm on. I also get mixed up sometimes because the stitch pattern which is a multiple of 9 starts with a yo and ends with a yo, knit 1. That puts a yo, knit 1, yo together. As I'm knitting along the row, my brain keeps putting the yo, knit 1, yo together, rather than seeing them as end of stitch pattern and beginning of next one. So, I will be merrily knitting along and realize I've goofed somewhere, and I have go back and figure out where I messed up. I find myself knitting 2 or 3 inches without problems, then have an inch of mistakes to rip out and then I'm usually all set again. However, 2 nights ago I ripped out a row and reknit it at least 7 times before I decided check that I had the correct # of stitches in the row to begin with. Of course not. I had 69 stitches and was only supposed to have 67. I had to go back a couple of rows to discover where my extra yarn overs were that caused the disruption. . . . But with all that said, I am loving the way this is turning out. The bamboo is a bit splitty, but has a lovely sheen and drape. I am hoping to have this done to be ready to wear to a wedding on July 14th.


I didn't get any knitting done yesterday. I went on an adventure with 7 others from my church to the UCC General Synod in Hartford, Ct. We left on a coach bus from our church at 5:30 am and arrived in time for opening worship at 8:15. What a full and busy day we had. We heard an amazing sermon/keynote from Bill Moyer to start the morning. We attended a variety of workshops, musical performances, and listened to some outstanding theologians, activists, and committed, faithful members of the United Church of Christ. I was extremely impressed by Barack Obama's address. He is "one of us" - a member of a Chigaco UCC congregation, and he spoke passionately on how his personal faith informs his personal and public life. Being a committed Christian is more than sitting in church and praying, a person of faith, must take action. A person of faith must live his or her beliefs, not just talk about them. I think what impressed me the most was how difficult it must have been to speak before this large crowd of over 10,000 without turning the speech into a campaign speech. And I believe he was successful. On a lighter note, I listened to a large youth handbell choir from Long Beach, CA play both sacred and secular selections in a beautiful 375 year old Congregational church and to a mariachi band outside in Bushnell Park. I even danced (very briefly!) with clowns in the park! We never got back to our town til 12:15 am, exhausted but Spirit-filled. And ALL of us were in church this morning to share some of the Spirit with the rest of the congregation.

It's Almost Over

Only 2.5 days more! The last week or so of school just drags by. Today was especially long. Our students went to climb Mt. Monadnock, one of our town's claims to fame. I didn't go though. I stayed back at school to supervise the handful of students who weren't able to go on the trip, mostly because of disciplinary issues. I put the kiddoes to work, cleaning, and packing up classrooms, but it was a long day nonetheless. The rest of the kids had a great time on the mountain, and the weather was perfect for the trek.

Last night was Parent Info Night for the parents of next year's sixth graders, and the kids themselves came to visit during the day. Monday is Field Day, Tuesday is "Keep 'Em Busy" day, and Wed. is Awards and the final school wide assembly. Dismissal is at 11 am. I can't wait!

Bistro Shirt

Here's the latest finished project - the Bistro Shirt by Oat Couture. I used Goshen by Valley Yarns in periwinkle on size 8 and 9 needles. It took me about 10 days (in between working full time). I wore it today for the first time and it was really comfortable. The really neat thing is that I made it 2 sizes smaller than I've been knitting and it fits well. It's nice to see what losing 33 lbs can do for one's knitting! I'm ready to order more Goshen for more summer tops. It's really soft and drapes really nicely. It's 48% cotton, 46% modal and 6% silk.

I also finished the Homespun prayer shawl and took it church for our prayer shawl ministry. Next up on the needles is another baby afghan, this time from some Leader acrylic I bought at the WEBS tent sale. I'm using another Debbie Macomber pattern, Baby Cables.

Tough Day in the Trenches

You can tell we're almost at the end of the school year. Minds are wandering so far from the classroom that you sometimes wonder if you've accomplished anything. Today was a tough day. It started with my wearing my CSI hat, investigating a trail of evidence to determine which student did what to whom when. That consumed about 20 minutes of first period - fortunately my class was working in groups on their ancient Rome power points, so I was able to do some investigating. Later in the morning I had to confiscate a forbidden PS2 from a couple of young men who thought their game was more interesting than their assignments. A few more run of the mill issues to deal with came my way -- I'm in charge of student discipline for my grade level team. At lunch time I supervised a roomful of young folks who had chosen to disrupt their morning classes in some way or another, and I had to consult with our guidance counselor about another student who ended up getting suspended for some very poor choices ---- All in a day's work, I guess, but I am getting very, very tired.

We have 14 days of school left, budgets to finish, end of year awards, 4th quarter grades, orientation for the incoming 6th graders (who come from 2 different elementary schools), placements, and end of year activities - a field trip, a field day, and assorted other events.

Oh well. My knitting looks really good tonight!

Fir Cone Finale

 

I finished this shell today finally. I started it last fall, and then it languished until today. All I had left to do was sew it together and do the trim around the neck and armholes. I was waiting til I found a camisole to wear underneath since it's pretty holey --- and I found one that matched perfectly at Eddie Bauer. So today I pulled this out of my basket and finished it up.

It's the Fir Cone Lace Shell by Vermont Fiber Designs. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Provincial Rose and my trusty Denise size 6 needles.

Just for fun

In honor of the 30th Anniversary of STAR WARS!


Your results:
You are Yoda

Yoda 84% Obi-Wan Kenobi 74% R2-D2 74% Luke Skywalker 70% Princess Leia 67% Padme 66% C-3PO 63% Han Solo 61% Qui-Gon Jinn 60% An Ewok 59%

Wise and all knowing you are…yes. Tall, dark, and handsome? Not so much I'd say.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)


Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Quiz

Yarn Addict's Delight

My fellow yarn addict and I ventured forth in pouring rain to the WEBS Tent Sale in Northampton, MA - about 2 hours from where we live in southwestern NH. We arrived just at opening time, and were lucky to find a parking place!

It was amazing! Kind of like being in heaven, I expect. We scooped up some great deals - 10 skeins of Noro IRO for $85, 10 skeins of Kona Pima Cotton for $20.00, 4 bags (10 skeins each) of Phildar Leader acrylic for $45.00 - baby blankets and Warm Up America squares here we come! I also found some beautiful Valley Yarn Goshen in periwinkle for a summer top.

We spent 2 glorious hours there -- would have spent more time, but I had to be back in NH for a party at 3. It was wall-to-wall yarn AND wall-to-wall people. I can't wait til next year's sale!

If you're in driving range of WEBS I wholeheartedly recommend a trip there. They have a huge inventory and variety of knitting and weaving supplies, and a VERY helpful staff. We usually head there a couple of times a year. So much yarn! So little time to knit!!

I came home and started swatching the Goshen for the Oat Couture Bistro Shirt. I love the feel of the yarn and the fabric is soft and drapy.

Finished at last

So this is what I've been up to recently. In between working on a prayer shawl for church, and all the normal school and exercise tasks, I finished these socks. They're from Regia Bamboo and were knitted on size 2 circulars. I like the feel of the bamboo yarn a lot and look forward to wearing them! I used the Twin Rib pattern from Charlene Schurch, Sensational Knitted Socks. I love this book!

Next up on my agenda - get the prayer shawl finished. One more skein of Lion Brand Homespun. I'm not enjoying this yarn as much as I would like to -- I really like the natural fiber feel better. But the shawl is pretty and should be finished in plenty of time for the dedication service on June 17th. Then I need to finish up a shell that I knit over the winter and laid aside because it was too cold to wear. Just have to sew together and do the neck and armhole edgings and block.

For Mother's Day I talked my husband into going up to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival for the afternoon. It was a gorgeous spring day - just perfect for attending a fair. I drooled over yarn! I only bought a pattern and some needles, but I had a wonderful time.

School isn't out til June 20th but it's a toss-up as to who's more anxious to finish, the kids or the teachers!

This and That

Since I last posted I celebrated birthday #53, finished a pair of socks, knit 1/2 of a pair of socks, knit 2/3 of a prayer shawl for church, traveled to Nantucket and back, assembled a gas grill, read and graded 39 myth projects, and headed back to school for the last 7 weeks.

The past week was pretty busy with a couple of late nights in a row. Thursday night was the monthly Nurture meeting at church and I didn't get home til almost 10. The next night I went to an Indigo Girls concert and got home at midnight. (A GREAT concert, by the way!). Two nights in row with fewer than 6 hours of sleep does not make me an easy person to live with. Yesterday was a church leadership retreat/long-range planning session. I'm using today as a "recovery" day. I slept in, had a leisurely extra cup of coffee and then actually got a few pressing chores accomplished. You know I'm in trouble when cleaning the toilet makes my day!!

I also managed to get to the gym 4 days this week! I've lost 30 lbs now since the end of January and feel like I'm getting a handle on how to eat well most of the time, and yet enjoy treats occasionally. I must admit that I was bummed out at not having ANY birthday cake this year. My husband had to work that evening, so I ended up celebrating my birthday with a can of soup! But we'd enjoyed a lot of good food earlier in the week on our mini-vacation to the Cape and Nantucket so I really didn't want to consume the extra calories. I'm finding that if I think of food in 100 calories increments I can make better choices. I allow myself 200 calories/day for "snacks". It's usually 1/4 cup of almonds but if I know I'm going out, it might be a beer or glass of wine instead. It seems to be working.

Here are a few of my Nantucket pictures: