iphonography and Should I Keep This iPhone?

I've been experimenting with hipstamatic app on my new iphone. I'm also trying to decide if having this fancy phone is worth the extra $30/month. I know actually for me it isn't worth it, and yet I want it! Maybe my old phone was so old as to be totally outdated with its clumsy keypad. I never used the PHONE part that much, but liked having it for when I wanted it. I'm old. Yes, I like having internet access whenever I want it. Do I want it $30 a month worth? Probably not. Yes, I love having a fun camera that takes nostalgic shots and now I can leave my better, real camera at home. Worth $30? or $15 a month? Doubtful. I love the ease and friendliness of the iPhone too. $300 extra dollars a year? Geeesh. I'm playing with the NOTES app too, and like jotting down the notes formerly taken by hand with pencil and notebook which I could never find or keep track of. How about the instant weather report, the maps and search for local fare? All terrific stuff, but the $$$$ is questionable and STILL I want to keep it.
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK? I'll send a lovely postcard to everyone who responds. THNX.

Quiet Days l

Things are pretty quiet these days. Anyone recognize this?

Beth has a new cat - Abby. She's Patches and Quetzl incarnate, a playful kitten and full of joy. You can't see Beth's new BEES in this photo, but soon you will.
All my Mexican toys are jammed into this shelf/cubby in our living room. I love the color and spirit of Mexico and here if I stand very close, I can breathe in the feeling I had there.

A Few Days in the City

A short trip to Boston brought me much joy. Just opened was a Dale Chihuly installation at the MFA.

These are actually glass baskets, inspired by Western Native American ones. They are exquisite and wowed me with their tribute to the human imagination, most notably Chihuly's.
Called Ikebana Boat, this structure is filled with glass flowers and reckons back to the artist's youth spent in his mother's garden.
Amazing fiery plants appear to be growing in the grass in the courtyard, with statuary overseeing it all. Please, can they stay, after the exhibition has moved on??
In the new cafe is a spiky cactus-like plant that reaches toward the ceiling and radiates brilliant light.
The most meditative of Chihuly's work concludes the exhibit. These cool, light shafts emanate out of birch logs.
In Dylan's Mexican bag, featured here, I snuck in a ball cap. Thank goodness, as it turned out to be his favorite part. He wore it everywhere during the time I was at his house.
and Yes, he liked the toy too, so primitive and folk-arty, so non-tehcno, but he liked pushing the button and seeing the tiger and trainer go at it. They DO look a bit fierce.
Sophia incorporated Soledad's doll into her fantasy play right away. This whimsical little chica now plays with fairies and Barbies.
The loteria game was a success with both kids, separately. And being so young, it is no problem learning the Mexican names for the objects, including Muerte with his scythe.
Through it all, my diligent d-i-l plumbed and plumbed some more, as well as cooked dinners and made the yummiest cookies on the planet, for which I am ever grateful.

First Post!

This blog is the same as the former www.mifflettes.com. That blog too was called GRAMILY but now the url address is merely what you see: http://gramily.blogspot.com. I hope this isn't too confusing for any readers. As it is, I test readers' patience by not posting for months at a time. Here we go.

T and I had separate Latin American vacations this winter. While on his, T collected all the little gems that are displayed here on a Japanese enamelware tray. There are some real gems. The bouquet was exquisitely preserved and pressed, flat and tied with lovely orange ribbon. I barely managed to get it from Houston to Boston without destroying it, while he carried it around for a month.

He reported being in sand dollar heaven and brought back far more sand dollars than you see here. These are the survivors.

Heart rocks, heart shells, heart fragments all added up to a great cache. One is suitable for making into a necklace. It even has a tiny hole at just the right place and is PINK!
The snow isn't quite all gone, but my first robin made an appearance today. That is always a regional joy, a once a year event that makes my heart beat faster for a couple of seconds. Welcome, Robin Redbreast, to Maine!