Portuguese Festival Provincetown

It was the first sunny day we've had in seemingly weeks and I was in Provincetown yesterday to meet up with a large portion of my extended family. I had cousins here from Florida and Connecticut and we threw together an impromptu family reunion during the Portuguese Festival.

It was the perfect backdrop for our family since we are all descendants from Portuguese roots- like so many of those who settled in Provincetown. (that's why they have the festival every year)

There were dancers in the street, booths with an array of things set up, and a large tent (see it at the left?) with Portuguese food like Linguica and Squid stew (ewe!). Guess where we were? If you guessed near the food- you're right.

Here are some of the Perry men enjoying the day with Porco and Portuguese beer.

Here's a nice photo of my mom and Sienna enjoying the festivities. Sienna actually tried linguica and liked it. (I don't cook much Portuguese food at home) Meanwhile my sister's younger kids were eating squid stew eagerly while I cringed!

My with her 4 kids in one spot at the same time- it's a miracle!

Here's another miracle, this is the entire family (that was there). It was so nice to see my cousins from Florida since we don't get to see them too often. We had a really fun day.

Did I mention we drove down the Ptown in my mom's convertible? Oh, and on the way there we rescued a box turtle that had been hit in the road and brought it to Wild Care in Orleans. They said it may make it because the shell is like bone and it can grow back together. So send the little fellow healing energy as you read this. And thanks to my friends at New Image Hair Salon for lending me something to transport him in.

:)

Sienna's 8th grade Graduation

Last night was Sienna's 8th grade graduation. It was very nice and not so sentimental that I had to break out the Kleenex!

My cousin was there with her 4 kids (here are 3 of them) because her son graduated too. It's always like a little family get together when we go to events at the school.

Her little one, Daniel is so cute! Well, so it my little one. Ok, she's not that little anymore, but still cute!

Graduation/Birthday Party

Saturday evening was our graduation/birthday party for the girls. It was supposed to rain so we put a tent up, but the weather held out very nicely.

The kids always love the Karaoke machine. And if you look closely in this photo you can see some angels floating around (light orbs). Maybe it was my dad and/or aunt Fran.

The 'bigger kids' hanging out. Brielle has some really nice friends -good kids. We've been so lucky in that respect.

Here is a present that Grandmom made for Brielle. She put together a bag of toiletries for college and in it were a bunch of 'love notes' so she will feel loved even when she is away at school. Look at that face...I think she's thinking "ya, but where's the money Grandmom?" ha ha


Sienna got some more birthday goodies too (as if one party wasn't enough!)

And here is one of the USUAL family gifts- something either from the recycle shop at the dump, or something that one of us didn't want. It's kind of a family joke. Brielle is always a good sport. mmmm chocolate milk in a box! (actually it's not so bad)


My sisters and nephew. I have no idea what the heck they are doing, but they were having a good time.

Here's Sienna's birthday cake- a cell phone created by my sister, Grethe. It says Happy Birthday Senna because that's what her 4 year old son Quince calls her.

And Brielle got a graduation hat cake made by my mom. Both are such talented cooks. (Thank God because I'm not!)

That's all for the party. The very next morning I had to drive Beth to summer camp in Connecticut (3 hours away). She was a little nervous but also very excited.

Tonight is Sienna's graduation from 8th grade. What a week. I will be so glad when I can just relax and maybe get back to painting!

Sienna's 14th Birthday

Yesterday was Sienna's 14th birthday! Here she is with the "cake" I made. It is Oreo cookies with frosting on them and Hershey bar squares standing upright, and sour patch kids laying down. Ok, she doesn't like cake, so I tried to make something that she DID like!

Then I stuck the one candle into a marshmallow and frosted it on the cookie. And you know what? She liked it all! I think it was the best cake I've ever made (or at least the easiest!)

Aunt Fran died at 104 Years Old

Today was my Aunt Fran's funeral. She died on Monday and was 104- the oldest living resident of Provincetown.

This was on her coffin at the wake last night. Now I see where I get my love for dark chocolate M&M's from! They drove her coffin down the wharf before the funeral to honor her since her photograph is so proudly displayed on the other wharf. She and the other 3 ladies were all old Portuguese fisherman's wives; most of the old townies are Portuguese from the Azores. Aunt Fran was the last one living, well until Monday.
Someone had put flowers under her photograph. That was very touching.

It was a beautiful day and I rode my motorcycle up there. I had lots of quiet-inside my helmet- time to contemplate the day. I consider it more like Aunt Fran's birthday and I can't say that I feel sad, in fact I feel happy for her. She's finally free of her encumbering earthly body. It's the people that loved her that I feel sad for because we will all miss her beautiful presence. I know she is happy and free.

Today is also Sienna's 14th birthday. I'll report on that later.

D-Y Graduation 2009

Well, she did it! Brielle graduated from D-Y High yesterday. It was very hard to hear her name being called to the podium- I had all I could do to hold back the tears, but I made it through without making a complete fool of myself. We were all so proud.

WEven her little sister was proud of her. It was a long day-I think because it so was emotionally exhausting for all of us; lots of mixed feelings even for the kids- relief, and fear all rolled into one.
But in the end, the gladness and feelings of accomplishment won out. The future will start tomorrow but there's no sense wasting time worrying about it today.

Brielle's awards ceremony

So far it's been a crazy month with both of my girls graduating (one from high school, and one from middle school). Last night was Brielles senior award ceremony. See her beautiful smiling face? I sat for about 3 hours on the hard wooden bleachers just to watch, and it was SO worth it!

She ended up getting four scholarships! And here's her very proud mama.
Tomorrow is the actual graduation. I better bring lots of Kleenex!

One happy painting!

I just received this wonderful gift from one of my dear customers from Maryland! I feel so honored that she spent hours of her time creating this for me.
Nova (don't you love her name?) is also an artist and loves to do this patchwork style. The photo really doesn't do it justice though, there are areas that actually have sparkles on them and the colors are all so bright and uplifting. You can't be sad looking at this painting!

The really neat thing about it is there are 'things' hidden in the patchwork! (you can click on it to make it larger)
See if you can find:
3 large flip flops
Seahorse
Several dolphins

Well, that really made my day. :) Thanks so much Nova!

Whohub?

I was asked to fill out a questionaire about art. To see my enlightening (ha ha) answers, follow this link; (you can scroll down or search 'Breten Bryden')
http://www.whohub.com/en/authors.php

8th Band concert

Last night was the final middle school concert and possibly the last ever for Sienna since she may not take flute anymore. It was pretty emotional for her as she and the other 8th grade students said their final good bye's to Mr. Graf, the band teacher that they have studied with since the 4th grade.

She looked so pretty in her sparkly, dark green dress. Grandmom and Leon even came to see her play! (Leon is taking the photo- he's my mom's fiance)

After the concerts we always end up taking a lot of photo's. This was such a nice one of me and Brielle that I had to include it.

Brielle with her little cousin Lauren. We see Laurens family at all the concerts and school things because their son is in the same class as Sienna, and in the band. It was a 'family' sort of night.

Walk around the harbor

Sienna and I took a walk after dinner the other night at Sesuit Harbor (which is on the bay side of the Cape) in East Dennis. It's one of my favorite places. On the weekends there is a lot of activity with all the boats coming and going.

But you can always find a little nook where it's relatively quiet to sit and enjoy the view. Here's a funny little boat that I just had to take a photo of. It looks like someones toy that they put in the bathtub. It was also in the Hyannis Christmas Boat parade all decked out with lights. (who could forget a tiny little boat like this?!)

Here's Sienna doing her 'thing'. She has such a fun and free spirit. I constantly learn from that and it helps keep me young at heart. Me and my lamby. (I think she's saying "Mom, you're squishing me!")

There's nothing like the smell of salt air on a warm breeze, and watching the boats stroll in from a long day of fun on the water. Everyone seems to be at peace. Cape Cod is such a beautiful place. I feel so blessed to live here.