New England

Watercolors—botanicals 3

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

It’s a winter wonderland here in Massachusetts. No sign of the plow guy yet this morning, but the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl – again. Therefore many New Englanders (husband, son…) are in a much better mood than they otherwise would have been. Go Pats!

And some good news: our whiny-ass, murdering, rapist, senile, spray-tanned orange President has announced he’s not going to attend the Super Bowl because he doesn’t like the halftime performer. He’s probably afraid all those Boston and Seattle fans would boo him into oblivion. In any case, Long Live Bad Bunny!

I’m continuing to work my way through “Watercolor Workbook” by Sarah Simon. If interested, she’s on Instagram: @themintgardener. All designs are hers.

Buttercup Wreath
I like how the “wet in wet” worked out in the lower yellow flower (upper flower was too dry when I added the darker color). I also like the berries. Author suggested droplets of paint rather than brush strokes.
Fiddle Leaf Fig

Unfortunately my paint set doesn’t have one important color for botanicals: Oxide of Chromium. I’m having to make do with Sap and Veridian.

Wildflower Swag
This is painted in the so-called “undefined boundaries” style. It’s fun to somewhat ignore boundaries and let the paint and water do what it will.

Related:

Watercolors—botanicals

Watercolors—more botanicals

NO KINGS & more watercolor botanicals

Blizzards of yore

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments

In case you haven’t heard, a major winter storm is coming—the likes of which we haven’t seen around here since 2022.

It’s currently 1 degree Fahrenheit and the grocery stores will be packed today with everyone trying to stock up before the snow starts tomorrow around noon. (At this point, I’m still planning to go to church tomorrow morning.) People in non-snow climates: the idea of being stuck inside with your loved ones for 24-48 hours tends to make people buy eggs, milk, bread and firewood like they’re going out of style.

A shared memory for GenXers from Massachusetts is the Bizzard of ‘78, when they cancelled school for like a whole week. It was awesome. People remember jumping off their roofs into huge snowbanks, bumper skiing (when you hold onto your friend’s bumper and they pull you down the snow covered street), and building giant holes and igloos which could’ve collapsed and suffocated their occupants at any moment. There were surprisingly few snow accidents, although one friend’s brother was very seriously injured by a plow that didn’t see him playing in a snow bank. Stay OUT OF THE WAY of the plows, people!

My doll and me tasting the snow in February 1969
The famous Blizzard of 1978 brought us like 4 feet of snow and no school for days on end.
In 1978, 7th graders were far too cool for snow pants, so we just wore jeans to play in the snow.
My son on a huge snowbank in APRIL 2005 – the “April Fools Day” storm
My kids shoveling out a car after Winter Storm Nemo (aka the Blizzard of 2013)
And the stairs
My son “swimming” in the snow in January 2015. He was determined to make it out to his basketball hoop after Hurricane Juno.
He made it

🌨️❄️☃️🥶

Quiet Saturday

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

Waiting for the plow guy to come and do our driveway, I’m trying not to be too antsy. Normally my husband snowblows the driveway, but not this year—the year of the knee. I cannot and will not operate a snowblower. I’m not that much of a feminist.

The word of this winter will have to be patience. That’s the only way we’re gonna get through it.

View from my kitchen window this morning

Healing stew (hopefully)

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

The healing process for my husband’s knee replacement is ongoing. Sadly, we had to cancel dinner with our son for his 25th birthday tonight, because my husband just isn’t ready for restaurants yet. There’s still a ton of pain, swelling, and stiffness, which apparently is normal at this stage (3 weeks post-op), but he’s never dealt with anything like this, so it’s pretty hard.

I decided to try a recipe I saw on NYT Cooking “most popular recipes of 2025” list—Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken. It looked easy and it was. My husband loved it. He said the flavor was great and it really was. I even made my own croutons, which soaked up the delicious sauce perfectly.

New England is experiencing real “depths of winter” cold right now. (It’s giving late January vibes.) Given the very cold weather and the knee, I think this was a success. And so easy.

Next time I’ll put the croutons in the dish first to absorb as much sauce as possible 😋

Here’s the recipe:

Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken .pdfDownload

Slow cookers (aka crockpots) are the best, right?

Thursday Doors—Portland, Maine

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments
165 Congress Street in Portland is a John Calvin Stevens building. Stevens (1855-1940) was Portland’s most prolific architect. He was known for Shingle-style and Colonial Revival designs.

My son and I took a trip to Portland in July 2021, when he was a 20-year old college student. We rented an AirBnB in the historic Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland (which is where these cool indigo doors are located). We had a nice time walking around, eating, and shopping. We also went to the outlets in Freeport, Maine and got a bunch of clothes.

A lot of mothers say that it’s hard to stay close to adult sons once they get busy with their own families and careers. I hope that doesn’t happen to us. My son turns 25 next week. My baby. We’ve got a shopping trip planned for next Friday.

Posted for Dan’s Thursday Doors

Thursday Doors—Winchester, Massachusetts

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

This is the pic that came up today when I searched the ginormous folder on my computer for a “door.”

There was no geographic info in the file name or photo data. All I know is that it was taken with my old Canon PowerShot camera in June 2011 and that the two kids on the balcony are mine.

I had no recollection of this moment, but Google Lens figured out the location (amazing). It’s downtown Winchester, Massachusetts (my husband’s hometown). My father-in-law was alive and still living there at the time, so it makes sense.

It’s an area now called “Winchester Terrace.” AI found this photo on Apartments.com that shows the exact spot:

At the top of the staircase on the right is the spot I posed my kids in 2011.

This discovery sparked a memory of my very dear father-in-law—“Nonno” to my kids.

He was most the wonderful man who enjoyed life’s small moments like no other. Martini time, a beautiful operatic aria, an excellent meal, a grandchild’s kiss (he called it a “buzz”), a friendly joke with a stranger (especially waitresses!), and random bits of foreign languages sprinkled into any conversation. He always made me feel like the most amazing, interesting, gorgeous woman who ever lived. A true charmer. He lived well into his 90s.

My son with his wonderful Nonno (2003)

Dan’s Thursday Doors

Northern Lights II

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

A little over a year ago, I saw the Northern Lights for the first time on the way to choir practice and wrote a post about it.

Last night at about 9pm, thanks to Facebook, I was alerted that the aurora borealis was again visible in the skies above our town. Not as bright as last year, but still very cool.

Photo taken from my back porch facing north
The Northern Lights do not look as bright to the naked eye as they do in photos, but I could distinctly see both the pink and the green with my own eyes.

I texted my kids and my parents to look north and my daughter saw some beautiful pinks where she lives in southern central Massachusetts:

My father saw them for the first time in his 91 years and he was a pilot who has been to Alaska several times and also to Iceland. Here was his photo from two towns over: