mamarochat

Hi, my name is Karen. I live in a small town 35 miles S/W of Boston, Massachusetts. I am married and have 2 children, a son 25 and a daughter 21. We have 5 cats, all of them rescue cats. They all showed up at our backdoor at various times looking for food and finding their forever homes.

I enjoy walking around town, in the woods,and on local biking paths. Where ever I go I carry my camera. I take photos of anything that catches my eye,scenery,buildings, signs, birds, and other animals. I have started making postcards of my favorite photos.

When my daughter went off to college I was little lost. Soon there after I took on 3 projects. The first one I call my owl project. Every week I have made some sort of owl craft,cards,ornaments, key tags, magnets, etc. I am no longer doing this project but I left it listed here in case others find some inspiration with it.

The second is something I planned to do when I was in high school but never got around to. Now I have the time. I want to visit all 351 cities and towns in the state of Massachusetts. Not just drive through but actually visit and see the local sites.

• Update: on 11/10/13 I visited my 117th town. I have now seen 1/3 of the towns in the state. Yay!

• Update: on 6/8/14 I have reached the half way point ! The town of Lanesborough , Ma was a fitting stop for my 175th town. I drove to the top of Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. It is literally and figuratively all down hill from here. :D

• Update: on 1/18/15 I made it 2/3rds of the way through my quest by visiting town # 234.

• Update: on 12/8/15 I have now been to all 343 mainland towns. The 8 remaining towns are all island towns. I plan to visit these in the spring.

*Update: on 6/25/16 I visited my last town, Gosnold, on the Island of Cuttyhunk. Gosnlod is the least populous town in the state with only 75 year round residents.

*What's next, you might ask. I had so much fun traveling around Massachusetts that I have decided to move on to neighboring Rhode Island. It shouldn't take nearly as long to visit all of RI. There are 39 cities and towns in the state. :D

The third project I call Mama Rochat's Mail Club. I write letters, send cards and holiday themed packages to my daughter and her friends at college. Some are for her friends from her high school days but many are her fellow college students. Members are suppose to answer my letters, some do sporadicly, but I know they are busy with their schoolwork. I send them mail anyway. I know from feedback from my daughter that it brightens their day.

I enjoy reading, mostly mystery novels. I like Janet Evanovich, Robert Parker, Dick Francis and Dean Koontz.

I like romantic comedies,musicals,dramas, and Disney.

Bright colors, blue,orange, green, yellow

cats

horses

owls

herding dogs

totoro

fine point Le Pen

stationery

postcards

stickers

office supplies

vintage and retro

dark chocolate

gnomes

mushrooms

dragons

elephants

penguins

hedgehogs

sea animals

old barns

flea markets

antique stores

pressed pennies

No religious cards please. I do not mind handmade, vintage or interesting ad cards. I also like illustrated postcards. If possible I would prefer non-tourist postcards. I know this is not always possible and that's OK. Postcards of strange roadside attractions and unusual or funny signs. I have no problem with Zazzle postcards.

I am looking for postcards of NFL stadiums for a coworker. I have Arrowhead Stadium, AT& T (Cowboys Stadium),Cardinals Stadium, Georgia Dome, Gillette Stadium, Invesco Field, Lambeau Field, Qwest Field, Reliant Stadium, Soldier Field

I am looking for vintage postcards of Massachusetts. I am planning make a scrapebook of my travels around the state and would like to include current postcards with vintage cards . Kind of comparing now and then views of places I have been.

sewing, photography, making note card and postcards from my photographs

please at this time do not send fb, slams, or crams.

unused non-tourist postcards, color wheel, address labels, anything totoro, shipping labels, deco packing tape, sealing wax and presses, postage stamp craft punch, casino dice for a friend, pressed penny album

My nephew is trying to complete his state quarter collection. He is looking for these elusive coins:

Washington D.C.-D American Samoa-D&P Guam-D

D is from the Denver Mint and P is the Philadelphia Mint (for those who might be wondering, located on the head side of the coin to the right of Washington's pony tail :) )

I like black tea, flavored black tea, earl grey,herbal teas, chai, fruit teas to mix with black tea for iced tea. I really like blueberry and peach but can not find them locally. Also Twinings Christmas Tea.