Sunday, October 9, 2011Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2005. When Mattie was a baby and a toddler he absolutely HATED water. Trying to get him clean was a feat! However, in his preschool years, he loved the feel of water, the sound of water, and basically he craved water play. In this picture you can see there was no water in the tub. That was because after an hour in it, his skin was SO water logged, I decided it was enough and I drained the tub. However, Mattie still did not want to get out of the tub, and wanted to continue playing with his toys (and mind you for each bath time, he picked out different toys to throw into the water). He even turned the water right back on, as you can see from the picture the water was coming right out of the spout. If you knew Mattie well, then you knew from his facial expression that he was testing me. It was a meeting of the wills and minds here, and the question was who was going to win. With Mattie I learned to pick my battles, and this bath time play wasn't something important in the bigger scheme of things to get upset about.
Quote of the day: Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell. ~ Emily Dickinson
As promised, the question of the day is....................................................
Have you voted for Tricia (Mattie's nurse) today?
(Remember you can vote ONCE every 24 hours!!!)
For more information about the Johnson and Johnson Amazing Nurse Contest, please read my September 28, 2011 blog posting. Your daily vote is important and will bring Tricia closer to becoming a finalist.
Click on this link to vote for Patricia Grusholt: http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/157336/voteable_entries
Peter and I had another full day on the Cape. This morning we drove down the arm of the Cape from Truro to Sandwich. I am learning that the Cape is actually huge and driving from one part to another (like we did today) can take over an hour!
Peter's parents live in Boston and we decided to meet each other half way at the Sandwich Glass Museum. Barbara, Peter's mom, knows I love glass and am a glass collector. Before Mattie was born, I was an avid collector of antique glass shoes and hats. I have HUNDREDS of each, but once Mattie was born I had to box many of them and put them in storage. Nonetheless, I admire handmade glass of all kinds and it was special to be able to learn about how glass was made in the 1800s on Cape Cod. Again, like yesterday's posting, I will tell you about our day through pictures.
In 1875, Boston entrepreneur and glassmaker Deming Jarves built a glass factory in the town of Sandwich. Jarves, who had inherited a sizable legacy ($25,000) from his father just two years earlier, was familiar with Sandwich through hunting and fishing trips he had made to the area and he believed the location would be advantageous for glass production. He was correct! Over the 62 years the factory of the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company manufactured an amazing variety of blown, mold-blown and pressed glass; glass destined to be prized and sought after by future generations for whom the word "Sandwich" would mean much more than a tasty lunchtime confection. As we entered the museum, we were greeted by Lauren, the gaffer (or chief glass blower). Lauren created literally right before our eyes an amazing marbleized drinking glass. It took her 45 minutes and about 40 of us were watching her mesmerized as she entertained us through this delicate and beautiful work of art. 
Here is a close up of Lauren working the hot molten glass. In the background was Alex, her assistant. We learned that it takes seven years to become a certified glass blower. Lauren is in her fifth year of training.
This museum was a real treasure filled with room after room of all sorts of glass. I particularly loved this room which displayed beautiful colored pieces using natural light! 
I could not resist taking a picture of this butterfly glass lamp shade. As my readers know, butterflies remind me of Mattie!
Cup plates (THE FIRST TEA CUP!) are small plates, generally about 3 1/2 inches in diameter, once used to hold the tea cup while tea was being cooled in the saucer. The custom of drinking tea from the saucer became popular in England in the 18th century and may have resulted from the discomfort of drinking hot tea from handle less, oriental-form cups. By the 1820s and 1830s cups with handles were in common use, yet the custom of pouring tea from cup to saucer remained popular in America. The use of cup plates in America became unfashionable by about 1850, with the last documented use occurring in the early 1860s. 
After saying our good-byes to Peter's parents, we headed on a drive to Chatham. We saw the town and also this wonderful Chatham Lighthouse. My second lighthouse in two days!
Though Chatham's lighthouse was lovely, I absolutely fell in love with Nauset Light today. It was a real cutie that flashes both red and white lights every 7 seconds! 
On our way back into Truro, I just couldn't resist taking a picture of this house and sharing this crazy Halloween display with you. Notice in addition to all the props, I actually got the owner (in blue) outside fixing her displays. I would love to see what this place looks like at night since during the day it is absolutely overwhelming.
At the end of the day we visited Ryder's Beach on Cape Cod Bay. This beach is minutes away from where we are staying. I was hesitant to visit the Bay, since I prefer the ocean. But the Bay did not disappoint!
Peter was wading through the Bay collecting clam shells. Lots of them!
As we were walking to our car, we saw this amazing sight. NO these are NOT birds! There were HUNDREDS of dragonflies flying around in the dunes. It was an incredible and unusual sight. A sight which made us pause and think about Mattie!
Here is how prolific the Bay shore line was.... we collected 24 clam shells within minutes! Peter sorted and displayed the shells, not unlike Mattie would have done for me. Mattie is with us in spirit!
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