White, worn and weathered beauty

A secret wishing pool and weathered white picket fence...



A white shingled house with cheery blue shutters...

....and another pair of shutters against baby pink...

A happy bird sunning on her own private ocean terrace...

and this beautifully weathered boat in a field on Cape Cod...



New Prints added to my Shop!

I'm thoroughly enjoying this New England summer- county fairs, climbing the Pilgrim Monument (ok, I really did not enjoy climbing 150 steps but the view of Provincetown and Cape Cod was amazing! Plus, they give you a little sticker so you can brag about having done it!) So I have added some new items to my shop lately, some from my summer exploits...

From the Barnstable County Fair in Falmouth, Mass. The museum showing the history of the fair was quite impressive, and I endured the 90-degree heat in this fanless room to learn about churning butter and reading old fair posters from the 1920's. This print was also featured on Crabtastic's blog.

I'm normally not one for rides either but as long as they don't go upside down or anything I can handle it. Anyway, the wind whipping past my face was really the ONLY way to beat the ridiculous heat from the fair days!  LEFT:  ride from the Hot Air Balloon festival,  and RIGHT: ferris wheel from Barnstable County Fair.

Meet my little friend, the Eurasian Eagle Owl from the fair. He was livin' the good life, he gets to travel the country and show off with his friends- more injured or rescued birds of prey. A family owns and runs this show, which is the BEST raptor show I have ever seen. The kids were loving it. I have tons more pics from the show which I'll upload sometime this coming week. They were all amazing! I'll have to find their business card....
This guy was the most spoiled though, he got fed water from a squirt bottle and pet all day!

Finally- the fun part, food. I just love retro, colorful words and signs so I made these into 4x6 prints and listed them as a set on Etsy. If I had a little girl I would make her bedroom or playroom all fun prints like this. But alas, I have only cats and they don't appreciate decorating- just food.

I was also contacted by Erin to say that I was featured in her Nifty Gifty guide for Beach Weddings!
Happy Summer!

All prints available on my shop maryvican.etsy.com  :)

The Delights of Auntie's Garden...

My cousins and I played endlessly in my Aunt's yard as children- they lived only a few doors down from me. Now her backyard has been transformed into an oasis of sorts. On even the hottest days- yesterday was in the high 80's in Rhode Island and extremely humid- Auntie was out gardening most of the day. Here are some of her treasures.

this was not a light summer rain

or drizzle

but the gentle drip of the hose

and the squeals of children

careful not to

trample on outlying petals

as they raced

toward the

sprinkler

none of them aware of the secret hiding places of

newborn robins

sparrows learning to fly

bees teaching ancient arts

buds hiding from the late afternoon

sun

why this world has been

hidden from me

all these years ago I was

consumed

with fun

and the way

summer would not

last

now it is

blooms that might not last

sunshine that

doesn't always shine

or dapple itself on the

edge of my lens

just the

right way

now instead of

come in

for dinner

the discovery never ends

the bounty is

all

around me

shining

available

ready