Author: Bridgette Mathews

We started today with our first morning Novena to St. Joseph at Felicia’s who so graciously opens her home each year for us to gather and share our intentions. This year we are holding weekend Novenas in the mornings so those who can’t make it at night can join us. Viva, Gesu, Maria, Giuseppe!

Year after year local families gather to carry on the italian tradition of the Feast of St. Joseph for our children and future generations.   This year’s Novena to St. Joseph begins tomorrow and will last 9 days until the feast day on March 19^th.   Last weekend Sista Felicia and her crew lovingly washed, repaired and presented all the Saints to their Altar in preparation for the Novena.  This year the color Blue was selected because it symbolizes heavenly grace, hope, good health, and the state of servitude. As you all know the Virgin Mary is often depicted wearing blue clothing.  The altar this year is for all Children.  This past year so many families have suffered unimaginable heartbreak and worry for their kids.  The health, safety & wellbeing of our Children is weighing heavily on every parents mind these days.  Prayers to stop the violence surrounding us in society, and prayers for all illnesses, that have struck so many families this past year are needed more than ever.  Together we will petition St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother to keep our children healthy, safe & happy.   St. Joseph, Pray for Us.

I’ve been a little m.i.a. from the blog these past few weeks but I’ve been enjoying some downtime in Arizona visiting my oldest daughter who moved out there last August.   We had some fun exploring the Sedona area and Grand Canyon, but my husband was in his glory sitting in the stands of his first Spring Training game with the Cactus League in Phoenix.   Great day watching the Cubs vs Diamondbacks in the warm Arizona sunshine!

Yesterday was the annual pasta making day at Sista Felicia’s as we prepare for the St. Joseph’s feast day next month.  Many hands make light work…along with lots of laughs and memories.   This year we donned our “house aprons” like our grandmother’s and aunts used to wear and we could definitely feel their presence!

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It was nice to have a little reprieve from winter yesterday but today with are reminded that it’s not quite finished with us.   Here’s a few chilly scenes to share from my time up North this weekend.   Hoping all of those school vacationers in warmer climates are bringing it home with them this week!!

I’m always on the hunt to find new ways to shoot the same old scenes and this weekend while up in North Conway I played around with a 60 mm Lensball I bought last summer but never even took it out of my camera bag until yesterday.   It’s definitely a challenge to figure out how to shoot a scene with, but it certainly gets me thinking of some old home town scenes that could be shot differently! (I should add that this is a single exposure flipped in post processing so that the train image in the ball was the focus)

The perks of having an office overlooking the harbor is the ever changing views!  When I came in to work in the morning I couldn’t even see the harbor but by noon the fog was lifting and gave us these ethereal views of the FV My Grace coming by Eastern Point Lighthouse and unique panos of our inner harbor.

Not much of a sunset last night but there was a bit of an afterglow so I stopped at Dun Fudgin to catch a pic!

…and while I was there…who doesn’t love a red boat house!

While all of you are receiving roses and candy today, hubs and I got each other THIS for Valentine’s Day!   Now we can just run down to the basement after work instead of trudging to the gym!   The bonus was that we both survived assembling it together haha!  Don’t be jealous!   Wishing everyone a wonderful Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday!

Some buoys hanging out at Lane’s Cove.   Hoping they can help float us through this long Thursday into Friday!   Have an awesome day!

Halibut Point is a great walk even in the winter!  Lots of icy reflections and textures on the quarry.

The boardwalk at Lighthouse beach will need some TLC after this winter!

Still a beautiful viewing spot for sunset though!

The clouds did not play nice during the rise of the super moon last night…still a beauty!

These “ice sailors” were enjoying the blue skies this past weekend on Niles Pond.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen ice sailing in action but it’s fun to watch!

Apparently the Dutch were some of the first to experiment with ice sailing, not to break speed records, but to transport goods across frozen lakes and rivers.   They modified their traditional vessels by strapping blades or runners to the hull so that their shipping businesses would continue to be profitable during the long winter months.  In the 1930s and 40s it was quite the sport in the US before the automobile took the speed spotlight.  See link for more info.

It was a beautiful day Saturday to be playing tour guide to a friend visiting from NY and we ended the day down at Lighthouse beach for sunset.  The ripples and broken clouds made for some great textures!

Strolled around Eastern Point lighthouse yesterday with a friend from New York and tried to find a new perspective…so we got low and found some fun puddles to play in.

These pics were taken in just a small little puddle of water with the camera lens right up against the edge….here’s Nicki getting her shot.

Ran out for a quick sunset last night.   The sun is setting farther to the left these days so after checking out a few of my usual spots, I decided on Lanes Cove where thankfully the tide was low enough to get down on rocks just before the sun dipped below the horizon!  

This caught my eye on my morning coffee ride…something about a red barn or house when there’s a little snow on the ground.   A quick click for now but I’m going to have to revisit this spot again when we get more snow.  

Anyone else notice that its not pitch black out when you get out of work at 5?  I was so excited the other night to leave the office and not need a flashlight to get to my car!   These longer days also mean I’ll have to be getting up earlier for sunrise, but I will take advantage of the late mornings for now.   Enjoy this view of our beautiful slumbering city in the not-so-early morning hours!

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