low tide

Also on the Lewellyn Peninsula, Wales. July 2009

mosiac

On the roof, as before. June 2008.

house on stilts in wales, at low tide

On the Lewellyn Peninsula. July 2009

three water buffalo

At Santa Clara vineyard, the North Fork, Long Island. August 2009.

magic barcelona gaudi rooftop jazz night

My childhood friend & I were spending a long weekend in Barcelona, stayed @ the fabulous OMM hotel, while her husband had a conference on a cruise ship with 2000 law partners. We kept seeing this Gaudi roof from across the street at the rooftop pool, and discovered - purely by accident- they were having their first champagne jazz night that night. And really good jazz, too!

Magic, magic night.

in hyde park

Near the Serpentine, August 2009.

what my father saw

The view from my parents' deck at their summer home, July 2009. My father died six years ago, and every time I look out from this spot, I think of how happy and peaceful he was that last summer, sitting in this same spot and looking out at the water and the sky and the peaceful world around him.

more queen anne's lace

As before: North Fork, July 2009

clover

North Fork, Long Island. July 2009

long island corn

From the BBQ at the Annual Riverhead Policeman Pool party in Baiting Hollow, August 2009. Nothing touches fresh Long Island corn for sweetness and yumminess.

annual riverhead police pool party

Once a year at my parents' summer place, the pool is opened up to the nearby Riverhead police force and their families, as the gated community's way of saying thank you. This year they brought a giant bouncy castle, provided by Doug's Rentals. We normally stay away but as we were at the pool and didn't realise it was that day, they asked us to stay and eat the most amazing BBQ spread with them. In fact they were surprised more people didn't go.

It was like the most perfect summer day. Pure joy.

queen anne's lace

At my family's summer home, Baiting Hollow, North Fork, Long Island. July or August, 2009

safe passage

From the boat, Zannone, near Ponza. July 2007

la cava, secondo

Zannone, one of the two uninhabited islands near Ponza. July 2006

zannone

Zannone is one of the two uninhabited islands near Ponza. Shot from the boat, July 2009

boat people

Also from the boat, Zannone (near Ponza), July 2006

la cava

At, I believe, Zannone, one of the two uninhabited islands near Ponza.

gelati stand

At Val's Magic Beach, on the island of Ponza. July 2006

beach crowd

At what I call 'Val's Magic Beach' because I can't remember the name: it took us a long time to get there on our last day, via bus, which isn't easy because the island of Ponza has so few actual roads, and never any cars that I saw. Everything happens on the water, via boat.

So it was a shock to arrive at this part of the island and see... Jones Beach. Still: it was pure magic. In every way.

why blue

A Carin family inside joke. In memory of Martha.

Welsh seaside, July 2009

postcards from wales

Lewellyn Peninsula, July 2009. Wish you were here.

Actually, wish WE were still here! Two variations.

raspberry sorbet

@ the Serpentine cafe, early September, 209

sand castle

My mother taught me how to make these 'dribble castles' when I was a little girl. I made this one on my birthday this year, 13 September, on one glorious last summery Sunday, on a Bournemouth beach. To me, this is more of a birthday cake than a real cake, and all the more poignantly beautiful because it will only last til the next wave whisks it away.

branksome beach

Take the image of the previous post, and turn your back to it. This is what I saw, seconds later. A different world.

That's 'Old Harry', the rocky point in the distance.

branksome

Branksome Chimes is a small stretch of beach in Bournemouth, on the southern coast of England. It is one of the few places where you'll find a)soft sand and b)relatively warm water, relative being the operative term, this being the English Channel. It's due to a shallow water shelf for several miles out (the rest of the Channel is notoriously freezing, and deep). Still, this last day of summer - on my birthday, mid September - was quite a bracing day to swim in. And yet, swim, I did.

You'd really have to see this shot blown up large, to see how surreal it looks. It just feels very English seaside to me.

room with a view

From our lovely cottage last September on my birthday, 2008

moo

On the grounds of the farmhouse we stayed in, with the Adams family for Dan's birthday. July 2009