July 7

Rainy, rainy, and rainy.

And cold.

And the day was made more dreary by my turning on the radio and hearing "Sister Golden Hair" playing. Blech.

I got out to an amazing store that I have visited in the past, but forgot how nice it is. Rooster Brothers has a great selection of cookware and foods. Too bad I'm not the best cook ever, but I can dream. 

Fire in the wood stove and games inside.

The girls made "clay dough" creatures and baked them in the oven. Many games have been played with them since.

I took one for the team and made it out to a beach at nearly 8:00p.m. last night. It was lame, but it qualified for my challenge - feet touched the rocks, nose smelled the salt air. Also, note my vintage CB ski jacket, straight from 1986 high school making a reappearance in my wardrobe. Control your envy, people.

Beach visited: Blue Hill Town dock

July 6

Nice day, visited the camp that the girls will be going to next week. Seems like a fun place. While we were down there, we popped over to a beach near an old inn on Eggemogin Reach. Love that name. Despite the cavorting nature of the girls, it was very chilly with the air blowing off the water. 

Beach visited: The Punchbowl

July 5

Headed out to Branch Lake up past Surry today. We visited a fantastic house years ago called "The Boulders" that is on the same lake. This is a small public picnic area and was very nice. D & I nearly froze, while the girls, who were skeptical at first, ended up jumping right in, wading out to rocks and having "the best Slidey game ever". 

As for me, I perhaps reached a new low in rock picking because I picked rocks off the beach with tweezers. Really, I did. Only my husband would not think anything odd of it.

C worked very hard on a little book with Carol. She very proudly told us the story about a skunk and a hawk. 

D and I ran out on a little jaunt together and ended up at Central Harbor by the Brooklin Boatyard. Really, really astonishing to look out at all of those beautiful boats. Such love gone into them.

Beach visited: Branch lake

July 4

Happy Fourth of July! 

We had a great time with the girls riding in the Brooklin town parade with friend Jordan. After the very charming parade of old Mainers in their antique cars and cute kids on bikes, we had lunch at the town park where they had games and stuff. 

Since we were nearby, we had a lovely stop at the always wonderful Woodenboat school and offices. I never tire of seeing those beautiful wooden boats at their moorings. The girls watched some sort of critter in the water - looked very much like an eel.

The girls made a cake for the cookout and then we took a very quick kayak from the town dock and scurried home before it stormed. Good time had today!

Beaches visited today: Wooden Boat beach, Sand Beach by the town dock

July 3

Today we headed into the bustling metropolis of Ellsworth to order new appliances for J & C. Of course we were out so long, far from sustenance that we had to stop at Dunkin' Donuts, much to the girls' delight. 

In the afternoon, I went with C to the beach to collect crabs so she could run a crab stand. I loved the time spent with her, as she rambled on about things. She had many delighted customers and then we took the little critters back to the beach. Poor things - you wonder what they told their friends and families about their adventures.

This evening, we went to see the Blue Hill Pops Singers, of which J is a member. The girls enjoyed it and then I brought them home at intermission. They have burned the candle at both ends these days. So much to see and do each day.

Beach visited: The Causeway

July 2

First thing this morning, Carol and the girls picked strawberries at the neighbors and made jelly. So nice because it remains a little overcast and foggy. A good time was had by all and after a rest time....

..exploring an island at low tide. The scenes are so picturesque around here that it's hard to believe that it is all real. 

Beach visited: The Nub at low tide

First Day in Maine

We've settled in and had a very nice day here. The girls first set about familiarizing themselves with the house and surroundings. We had a lovely walk through the woods to the beach where we picked around among the rocks and found tiny crabs, a million periwinkles and lots of beautiful mussels shells. It started out foggy and overcast but was comfortable down by the water.  After we had a laid back lunch and a rest time, back out to the farmer's market and then to the library for books and a violin and cello concert for kids. Very nice with such a beautiful library. C's goal for the day was to see a loon, and by george, we saw a pair swimming together at the end of the day. Now that we know where they are we can watch for them. Lovely dinner and now reading in bed. Ahhhhhhhhh, summer!

Beach visited: Our beach!

School Garden

I've been very busy for the past few days working on the new school garden. Very exciting if we can just figure out exactly what to do first! There's always the optimal way, and then there's the way that will be almost as good and twice as quick. Currently, I'm exhausted from moving and coating an enormous pile of pine boards that will be the edges for the raised beds. I found a recipe for a nontoxic coating that consists of paraffin, linseed oil and mineral spirits, and so I made it and slapped it on. It is a very nice finish, actually and I'm thinking about using it on our interior doors that are not coated yet.

Anyway. The garden. Trying to push and get at least the beds framed in. It is going to rain starting tonight so it has but a damper on our plans. But I am excited to get going.

On other fronts, I am trying to get a plan started in my mind for some projects for when we are in Maine this summer. I'm planning on sewing a little everyday, knitting, and working on my photography. Even though I tend to think that this old camera isn't good enough anymore, when it used to be so cutting edge in my mind several years ago. It is still the same camera. I just need to use and learn to photoshop my photos when they are too dark or light. 

Now dinner. Homemade pizza.