last day.

Our last day on Martha's Vineyard is waning with a light shower, which seems a nice way to end the visit. We managed to squeeze in a morning at Espresso Love and another big canoe trip before the skies clouded over. Just now, we're back from town, where we grabbed a gift for the neighbors who are taking in our mail, a souvenir for ourselves and a dozen shrimp for tonight's dinner.

Rob is busy packing the car. I'm in denial.

for a slow day, a lot to do.

Yesterday (Thursday), the forecast called for rain. So we planned accordingly: Instead of a day of canoeing or golf, we figured we'd take advantage of gloomy weather and take a tour around the island. No matter that it turned out to be a beautiful day when the clouds lifted (sans rain) mid-morning.

We started with a drive toward Vineyard Haven and then headed on from there. We stopped in at Chilmark Pottery, where we'd picked up a couple of fun pieces (currently in use at home as salad bowls) on an earlier trip. We weren't in the market yesterday, so we moved on. We stopped at an adorable little farmstand called Fiddlehead Farm (cute!); they weren't yet harvesting much of their own produce (tomatoes are still a week off here), but they had a bunch of neat gourmet and imported items. From there, we wandered on to Martha's Vineyard Glassworks, which we'd also visited previously. We watched the glassblowers work and bought two "floats" -- brightly colored globes modeled on those used by Japanese fishermen to float their nets. They're super cool garden accessories (we have two at home in the bed by the front door) and these will go in the back by the patio. Nice souvenirs.

Then we moved onto Chilmark Store, which was insanely busy with the lunch crowd. No wonder: they make a wicked good New York-style pizza. We fueled up with a couple of slices (and a few bits of whole-wheat crust for The Hairy Friend).

Next stop: Morning Glory Farm for some lettuce and tomatoes for last night's dinner, and then to Edgartown Seafood for a slab-o-halibut. Rob grilled the fish on the charcoal barbeque out back; it was perfect, with a salty, peppery crust on top and nicely moist inside. If I never have fish again, it'll be OK. We topped it with a tomato/garlic/basil/balsamic/lemon/oliveoil combo, much like what Uncle Dave & Regina did last weekend. Awesome.

a two-hour tour.

Again yesterday, Wrigley donned his yellow Float Coat and hopped willingly into the canoe, and we enjoyed a couple of hours paddling around Edgartown Great Pond. We explored far and wide, going up into several coves and checking out the homes scattered along the shore. It was bright and sunny, an ideal day to be on the water.

Today is the opposite: cloudy, rainy and dark. Which is perfect: It gives us reason to do some on-land exploring. We'll hit Morning Glory Farm early for some produce for tonight's dinner, then maybe head over to Chilmark and other parts of the island.

Speaking of dinner, last night's was again epic: Fresh (!) scallops the size of my head, pan-sauteed and then served over a succotash of sauteed onion, corn and teeny green beans, with a butter/lemon pan sauce over the top. I will never have better scallops. Eating seafood out here completely ruins it for the stuff we get at home.

We just might not leave.

wrigley the canoeing dog.

On Saturday, while the whole crew was here, there was an Important Canoeing Adventure. Dave, Harry, Alicia, Rob, Wrigley and I launched two kayaks and a canoe onto Edgartown Great Pond and went in search of a specific target. We all (Wiggy included) wore the appropriate, Coast Guard-approved PFDs (that's personal flotation device, in Wrigley's case a.k.a. a Float Coat). The mission? Investigate a white buoy in the pond, to which on previous trips Harry had tied various items, including a plastic shovel. Today, we aimed to attach a plastic airplane, secured with a piece of twine. The goal is to see if what's been left previously is still there on subsequent visits. Wrigley was a huge HUGE sport about the whole thing. Note to family and friends: This will likely be the photo on this year's Christmas card.

too much of a good thing.

Perhaps inevitably, we woke to a bit of dog barf on the floor by the back door this morning on Martha's Vineyard. Inevitably, because over the weekend when the whole crew were here, Wrigley was the beneficiary of some dinner-table generosity. Several of the treats were willingly given (Uncle Dave's oyster, Grandma's bread); others not so much (the two chunks of english muffin snatched from Harry's hand at breakfast). So there was barfing. Easily cleaned up, and now Wrigley is hiding under the dining table.