I wanted to take this opportunity to let my readers know that I will no longer be writing my column, Portsmouth Living, on a regular basis. I am taking a hiatus and hope to start writing the occasional article for Portsmouth Patch in a few weeks. I plan on working on some other projects during this time. I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my weekly blather. It really means a lot when people come up to me and tell me how much they like to read my column. Writing has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember and to hear that people enjoy reading it makes it even …
When I was about 13, I was a huge fan of the boy group, New Kids On The Block. Similar to the Backstreet Boys (with whom they were on tour this past summer) and ‘NSYNC, they were a boy band phenomenon from Boston in the mid-eighties through the early nineties. I know many girls swooned for the Beantown quintet, but I sadly admit I was one of those girls whose admiration bordered on obsession. Okay, okay, so there was no “bordered” about it, it was flat out obsession. I had T-shits, jackets, sheets, buttons, posters and just about everything imaginable. As excruciating as it is for me …
Every September, when the kids go back to school, I start to think about my time as a student. Some memories are good, some bad, some downright embarrassing. (I’ll save those for another article.) For whatever reason, I got to thinking about how the snack system worked when I was at Melville Elementary. (Don’t try to figure it out, I don’t know how either). I don’t know how it’s set up now or if there even is a snack cart that makes the rounds, but in my day, there was a cart that the fourth-graders brought around filled with various potato chips, Doritos, Fritos and I can’t forget my …
I have developed a new obsession over the last few weeks—canning. I have always wanted to try canning my own food and I desperately needed to do something with the 22 pounds of tomatoes and 10 pounds of pickles I had in the fridge. I hesitated though because I have heard horror stories about cans not sealing properly and the risk of food borne illnesses like botulism. Although, since Botox is still so popular, maybe there’s money in jars of pasta sauce laced with the deadly disease. Seriously, though, the thought of inadvertently giving someone a lovely jar of death makes my own stomach …
It’s been a week since Hurricane Irene set her scope on us and made a last-minute cut to the west. We were so lucky that not only did Hurricane Irene get downgraded to a tropical storm after she hit Coney Island, but that she changed course just a little more and turned inland. While my thoughts and prayers are with the people in Vermont, I am thankful we were spared the brunt of the storm. There were some trees and branches down and we didn’t get much of the rain they called for. Overall, things could have been much worse. Which is why I have to say I’m disappointed with the general post-…
Last August, my husband and I decided to redo our kitchen. Nothing major, just some new paint, Formica on the countertops, and replacing our existing sink with an old farmhouse sink that used to be in our laundry room. Little did we know it would be anything but minor. We should have known. A 116-year-old house is bound to have its issues. We knew from my grandmother-in-law that the kitchen had been wallpapered and then painted over, so I made plans to rent a wallpaper steamer. Once I got it home, my husband and I filled it with water and flipped the switch. Nothing. Fifteen minutes on the …
It’s been 20 years since Hurricane Bob walloped us and it looks like Hurricane Irene is set to do the same on Sunday night. I was an oblivious 16-year-old in 1991 and had no fear or real grasp of how bad things could have gotten during the storm. Now, as a 36-year-old, let’s just say I had more than a strong sense of concern when I heard The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore landed at T.F. Green Wednesday night! Even as I write this, we are unsure exactly what track Hurricane Irene will take or how strong she will be when she hits us, if she hits us at all. However, there are some measures …
Last week, as I was cleaning and straightening the house before my husband and I left to visit my family in Ohio, one thing became quite evident: we own way too much of what the late George Carlin called “stuff." In essence, our house is mostly just filled with junk. Not that I’m not attached to my personal effects. I am. I love my stuff. But what it boils down to is that is that is really is just stuff that sits and collects dust and serves not real purpose other than clutter up drawers and cabinets and shelves. As I straightened, I realized exactly how much my husband and I have …
Here is the latest update on my garden! Every night for the last few weeks, my husband and I have gone out to the garden and gathered our bounty. The peas have come and gone, and the green beans have come and gone and some plants are actually re-blooming now. Our corn has developed cobs and they seem to get fatter each day. The cucumbers, oh my, the cucumbers! For the last couple of weeks, we have been picking five or six a day. Our zucchini harvest has been just as bountiful and we have been picking both cucumbers and zucchini faster than we can give them away. Our pumpkin plants have …
When I was teenager, there was even less to do in Portsmouth than there is now. Which isn’t saying a lot. Now, I think it’s what makes Portsmouth nice. It’s safe, relatively quiet and the most boring place to be when you are a teenager. I don’t know about now, but years ago, the “people in charge” of Portsmouth were adamant about the town not having any one place that could be a hangout for kids. We had no theater or coffee shop. The roller rink was long gone by then. They would have rather seen us go to Newport and Middletown, than congregate minutes from our own homes. So that’s what we …
From what I’ve been told and seen in family pictures, my grandfather-in-law is responsible for my husband's love of yard work and puttering around the house. My husband was born into a family of “do-it-yourself” folks. His grandfather loved to build shelves, paint, and rewire old lamps. As a product of the Depression, my grandfather-in-law saved everything from nuts and bolts to reams of old computer paper (the kind that was green and white striped that was used on dot-matrix printers) and even old baby food jars. He once scavenged an old metal bathroom stall from a building that was being …
The high heat and humidity the past few days only confirms for me that we live on what I like to call “Paradise Island." We are so fortunate to live where we do. I’m not saying I haven’t been hot, (we don’t have an air conditioner) but thankfully, we tend to get lower temperatures than the rest of our area. We also tend to have that lovely sea breeze. There’s nothing nicer on a hot day than a lovely afternoon breeze to cool you down. Even when the mercury does rise to “fry an egg on the sidewalk” and pops right out the top of the thermometer like in the cartoons, there are still ways for us…
As I’ve written before, the bane of many a teenager's summer plans has been getting a summer job. But it’s an important step in becoming self-sufficient and independent as you enter into adulthood. As much as some kids hated their first summer jobs, I was fortunate enough to love mine. My first summer job was at the McDonald’s on West Main Road, next door to IHOP. It was torn down many years ago, but I always get pangs of nostalgia whenever I drive by. I can still picture the color of the tile and the small tin ashtrays. Hey, I said it was a long time ago. It was a great job filled with a …
There’s nothing like a baseball game on a hot summer evening to make everything right with the world. Whether it’s on the radio, television, or watching it at a ball park, baseball resonates on some level with all Americans. I believe, on a subconscious level, it permeates our pores. Its jargon has infiltrated our everyday lives. From “three strikes and you’re out” when disciplining a child to “I’m rounding home plate” when discussing a work project, many of us use these phrases without even thinking about its origin. We all have a favorite team (Boston Red Sox) regardless of whether or not …
While our nation’s independence is special to all Americans, there’s just something about celebrating the Fourth of July in New England, particularly Aquidneck Island. I’m not sure if it’s because Rhode Island was the first colony to declare its independence from England, because we are proud home to the First Rhode Island Regiment or because we (with the help of the French) successfully held back the British troops from seizing Narragansett Bay during The Battle of Rhode Island. We are also one short bridge from the oldest continuous Fourth of July parade in the country. From the moment …
The moment children in Portsmouth have been waiting for has finally arrived. Summer vacation! I can remember as a child being so excited for summer vacation. I look back on the last day of the school year when I was a kid and I think I practically jumped out of my skin with joy as we boarded the bus for the last time until September. The last day of school was so important I feel like I should capitalize the letters like an official holiday! It was always a half day and though, I don’t know for sure, I can guess it was because it was hard to contain the thrumming energy of 30 kids knowing …
Back in March, I wrote about my and my husband’s intent to plant a garden. Because the weather has been so cool, we waited until three weeks ago to sow the seeds, and the results have been amazing! I’ll admit, I expected just about everything to grow, but I didn’t expect it to grow soquickly or so well. The morning my husband and I decided to plant, we gathered everything up and headed outside. After we figured out how our rows would be set up and where the best spot to plant everything is, I ripped into the seeds. I looked down at the small corn kernels in the package, looked at my husband…
I’ll be honest, the last several days have been awesome. Why, oh why, might you ask? THUNDERSTORMS! I know there are some of you who think I’m crazy for loving them, but I think it’s one of those things you either love or hate. My love for them goes back to childhood. In the days before relaxation CDs or sleepmachines, whenever my mom heard thunder or saw a few flashes of lightning off in the distance, she’d get excited, grab a tape recorder and set it in the window to record the storm. My sister and I always found ourselves sitting with mom on her bed with the windows open and the lights …
The class of 2011’s graduation ceremony at Portsmouth High School has me thinking about my last days at good ole PHS. It was 1994. As an aside, most of the class of 2011 was born that year, too. Ugh. Anyway, apart from exams and mandatory rehearsals, the week was spent hanging out with friends, going to cookouts and the beach. One day, after some of our exams were done, a group of friends and I went to the Harbor Mall, when it was a little less sad than it is now, to see what is still one of my favorite movies, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." While we were walking around, we found a small shop…
Here’s a little known fact about me: I love to sing. I love to belt out songs in the car, the shower and I’m constantly singing made up songs to my cats. Problem is, I really shouldn’t. And for a long time, I didn’t. You see, I can’t carry a tune in a paper bag. Call it tone deaf if you want. I sing along thinking I sound great when in fact, dogs howl and children cry. My cats don’t know any better, poor little things. They must think that’s just the way mommy speaks. I like to think of my voice as haunting. So haunting, in fact, it may be confused with that of a banshee. I change octaves …
