Cape House Randoms, Summer 2023

Sam and my mom on their phones, a common state of being, especially for Sam!

My friend Jen's kids started painting seashells last summer when they rented the house and left them out on the tree stump in the back. It's a great way to liven up a tree stump!

As close as I get to having an English garden...

This guy who lives up the street has always taken such pride in his house and in his car collection.

I finally got a "gurgle pot," a classic New England staple that I didn't even know about until recently. (And I call myself a New Englander!) It's a fun water pitcher that gurgles when you pour from it.

And it's in navy blue, one of my favorite colors!

One of the disappointments of moving to my new place is that I can't have DISH satellite TV there. I love DISH and I miss it and its beautiful monthly Dishscapes. But at least I've still got it at the Cape house! 

Me and the August Dishscape 💖😊

I took updated pictures of the house and yard for my Cape House blog post that I send to people who are interested in renting. Because of all of the rain we had this summer, the grass was nice and green, so I was able to replace the old yard pictures that had fried brown grass in them with these nice new ones. 

It's great having the fire pit set at the house now. I'm glad I didn't have to sell it when I moved.

Even though it was a huge pain in the neck to transport these and get them in, I'm really glad that I still have my navy blue front loaders too! I replaced the old washer and dryer that didn't work the best with them.

I replaced three of the fence rails in August. You can see two of them here.

I love the Cape house and I'm so grateful that I still have it. It's a blessing that I don't take for granted. I'm in the process right now of paying off the mortgage completely, and then it really will be mine, all mine! Unless I remarry (and maybe even if I do), I plan to move here permanently sometime after Sam graduates from high school. Oh, and I have a new nickname for the house: "Cape Coddage." (Get it? Cape Cod + cottage? I know, I'm a genius. 😉) I'd like to get a plaque with that on it to hang by the front door. I have a number of home improvement ideas to do at some point, but for now I continue to enjoy it and love it just as it is. 

Beauties and Wonders at the Cape

 The Cape always has beauties and wonders to see and enjoy every summer (and every season). Some of them are familiar old friends, others are new, and all of them are lovely in their own way.

It wasn't a good summer for hydrangeas (they didn't bloom at the Cape house for the first time ever!), so these ones outside of Marion's Pie Shop in Chatham were an especially welcome sight.

This isn't particularly beautiful, but it was a wonder, at least to me! For the first time probably ever, I saw a rabbit stretched out relaxing on the lawn. They're usually so bashful and shy but this one made itself at home!

Of course, as soon as I got too close, its shyness came back and it popped back up into regular rabbit position. 

But then I saw it a little later relaxing again. What a cute little fella (or lady)! I'm glad it felt so at home in my yard.

"Our beach" at the end of the street is always a beauty to behold. I love it.

Especially in the evening near sunset...

This one especially merits a 😍

We went to Gray's Boardwalk one evening and enjoyed the views, found our family's personalized plank on the boardwalk, and got a semi-decent Christmas card-candidate family picture.

I love that our Mayflower ancestors sailed across Cape Cod Bay behind us on their way from Provincetown to Plymouth over 400 years ago.

And one last one of the soft sandy white entrance to our beach...

For so many reasons, I love the beautiful, wonderful Cape!

Out With the Boys at the Cape

 Clever title, I know. 😁

We ate a delicious Mexican lunch under a huge beech tree at a restaurant in Hyannis. It was really cool! I'd eaten at Anejo several times before but never out in the back outside. I can't believe I didn't realize that huge tree was back there.

I got avocado tacos for the first time and they were so good.

John had two more friends stay at the Cape for a day and two nights. These guys have so much fun together. (And I am a very nice mom.)

We ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants that we eat at every summer, Lobster Boat. It's only open in the summertime.

My lobster roll, fries, and coleslaw were delicious!

Once John's friends had left, I took John and Sam to the Inflatable Park, where we've gone every summer for years. It was nice to have it just be us back at a place that we know well (despite its massive changes over the last few years). They had a fun time, but gone are the days when we could spend nearly a whole day here.

They both went surfing...

You can see Sam up at the top of this one. He'd been swept away!

Sam fought the good fight during their jousting match, but John won in the end.

Last one standing!

This thing was fun. They were attached to a rope thing and had to race against the resistance it provided and see who could get the farthest and stick their bean bag thing on the velcro strip farthest away. (Lots of "things" in that sentence, sorry! 😆)

It was a fun week at the Cape with the boys. It was different this year because John's friends were there most of the time, which made it a little less fun and relaxing for me but a lot more fun for him!