Maine! Bar Harbor to York Harbor

 

Acadia coastline

 September is a wrap! (I am beginning to be alarmed at how quickly time passes. Someone needs to study this. I think time is speeding up.)

September saw us off on our big, beautiful trip to Maine. It was wonderful! We planned it months ago so when the departure date drew near all we needed to do was pack and go. We made this trip with our friends, Tim and Kay. Tim has always wanted to see Maine and I am ALL about Maine, so his wish was the prompt and I put it into motion. We divided the trip into three sections that would allow us to explore the coast from Bar Harbor down to York Harbor. We flew to Bangor, rented a car and drove to our first VRBO in Bar Harbor. We spent three days exploring a ninety mile radius of Bar Harbor with the highlight of this leg being Acadia. Next we drove to Boothbay Harbor to our second Airbnb and did the same, driving and exploring for three days. A highlight of this portion of the trip was our visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and a drive to Freeport to go to LL Bean. Finally, we drove to York Harbor where we stayed at the York Harbor Inn. York Harbor is dear to my heart because we lived there briefly in the late 1980's and our second daughter was born there. We return to this lower section of Maine as often as we can. This leg of the trip was all about relaxing and visiting favorite places.

The view from the deck of our first rental house

 It was fun to explore the beautiful rugged coastline of Maine. Everywhere we turned there was beauty. We walked a lot, ate a lot, drove a lot (over one thousand miles), and rested a little. Kay and I visited every quilt shop that happened to be along our way down the coast. (Sew Chateau in Lisbon Falls was my favorite and Fiddlehead Artisan Supply in Belfast was also fantastic.) Our husbands were gracious and happy to accommodate our stops as we were with their requests to stop at three Irish pubs and one brewery. We also stopped at every antique store we passed, sometimes making u-turns if need be. It was a treat to see shops full of actual antiques. I am still excited to think of all the beautiful antiques we saw. It was a good thing we were flying home or I may have been more tempted to take stuff home with me. As it was, I used my backpack to carry home a piece of Beaumont salt glazed pottery stamped with York, Maine. I cushioned it with a bunch of fat quarters of fabric I purchased. Kay always keeps an eye out for salt glazed the pottery for me since she knows I collect it. She spotted this piece in a shop in Camden. It was a great find for $25. Camden was a darling, vibrant town to walk around in and have our lunch.

Beautiful hydrangeas everywhere

 

Actual antiques inside!

Striking stand-outs of the week were the amazing hydrangeas we saw everywhere. They were giants compared to how they seem to grow where we live. Also, the cool, fresh air of Maine was invigorating to our heat-weary souls. We had a relentless, hot, dry summer at home and the cool air was a balm to our lungs and health. We were also treated to a glimpse of fall color in the trees. It lifted our spirits to think of the approach of fall when we returned home. We also enjoyed the lighthouses we visited and The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens near Boothbay Harbor are a huge stand-out. 

The one down side of our trip was the crowds of people everywhere, especially in Acadia and downtown Bar Harbor. I guess we expected September to be less crowded since schools were in session, but so did everyone else. So, everywhere we went there were lots of older visitors like ourselves. 

Ending our trip at the York Harbor Inn was special for me. We were young and broke when we first lived in York Harbor all those years ago. Back then, with a toddler and baby in car seats, whenever I drove past the York Harbor Inn I could only imagine what it would be like to stay there. Thirty-nine years later we got to make the dream a reality. There is a beautiful park overlooking the harbor across from the inn and we used our last two days to relax a little more. We visited the iconic Nubble Light and Goldenrod Kisses, ate lobster overlooking Long Sands Beach, took local walks and ate our meals in the pub at the inn. Our final drive was up to Portland for our flight home. It was certainly a memorable vacation and it met all of our expectations. I am sure we will go back again if we are able. We would prefer to drive and take more time to linger at our favorite places.

 

The first rental house had beautifully terraced gardens down to the water line.

We walked on the 3/4 mile long breakwater to see this Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. I did not like this walk. The cracks between the boulders were large and the moving water on either side made me dizzy. But it was a neat place, nevertheless.

 

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Acadia

Portland Head Light

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Our last stop, the York Harbor Inn

York Harbor from the park across from the Inn.

The iconic Goldenrod Kisses. Steve watches while they make the best salt water taffy ever!

Of course!

Hmm, August Disappeared

 If I had to sum August up in the briefest way, I would say August was the unbearably hot month of tomatoes. We chopped, canned, sauced, baked, and ate tomatoes almost every day of the month. 

 

 

There were other happy ways we spent the month. We had Tuesdays with Violet and those were a delight. I think Violet and I have the same energy. We also like to be a little goofy. We played jacks, pick up sticks, tiddly winks, nerf softball, splashed in the blow-up pool, baked, picked from the garden, sewed, played hide-and-seek, chased each other around the house, swung on the basement swing, and went to the mall once. Violet also turned nine years old this month.  

August was also spent at the sewing machine. The new sewing machine is a game changer. I discovered that sewing gives me the most joy and relaxation. It entirely occupies my thought process and prevents it from running on high speed and thinking in circles, or going off in a million tangents. I can remain focused and therefore have less opportunity to think off and away in the abstract. Sewing is straightforward. For some reason I needed this lately.

The more Steve talks about retiring from full time work, the more I think about aging, what comes next, and how do we approach these last couple of decades of our lives. It certainly brings mixed feelings. I am excited about having more time to do things together. But, ironically, it means time is running out. 

Our last adventure in the month of August was taking the Potamac Eagle train from Romney, WV to Petersburg, WV. This month we celebrated forty-six years of marriage and we booked the Club Car with a light breakfast, lunch, and five-course hors d-oeuvre dinner on board the train. It was a six hour round trip ride with a three hour layover in Petersburg. The train ride itself was lots of fun, the food and service were great, and the club car was very comfortable. The train follows a branch of the Potomac River, through a gorge named "The Trough" by George Washington. Lots of bald eagles live along the river and it was exciting to spot so many along the way. We found that the three hour stop in Petersburg was a little long as there is really nothing to do in Petersburg, WV. There was a cavern tour that we did not book. Had we done that, it might have been time better spent. 

We are on to September!  Here is hoping the temperatures will come down and we can open the windows to let some cool, fresh air into the house!

 

The July Garden

 

Once again, I underestimated what a little garden can produce. Since returning from the beach we can't seem to keep on top of the tomatoes, green beans, basil, and zucchini. The Swiss chard and Serrano peppers are also giving us a run for our money. We are eating our summer annual favorite dishes like tomato pie, batter fried zucchini, beans and greens, and tomato salad. Stuffed Serrano peppers are a new addition to this summer's menu, since we have not grown them before. Steve accused me of buying the Serrano peppers and perhaps I did. He said they are not a pepper he would have chosen to grow. I do not remember if or why I bought them. But here they are and they will not go to waste. Even the green beans that are too big and tough have a use. I throw them in the field for the deer to enjoy. (Although the deer still came up to our yard and ate an entire potted impatiens right off the patio.) 

 

Rather than make and freeze pesto as I usually do with the basil,  I am dehydrating the leaves and storing them in jars. I will find more use for dried basil than I will for an abundance of pesto. When Violet was here this week I asked her to help me dry a batch of basil. She embraced the task. We gathered up a huge armful of the herb and clipped off all the flower heads. Then we immersed them in a cold water bath in the sink for washing. Next, Violet plucked off the nicest leaves and we laid them all out on dish towels to air dry. After this, we placed them individually onto the dehydrating racks and slid them into the dehydrator. Ten hours later, Viola! I was amused at how much in love Violet was with the basil. She was like a cat in catnip. She took deep breaths of the aroma, chewed on the leaves and gobbled up a tomato salad with mozzarella pearls and chopped basil for lunch. Her mom said she ate the same thing again for dinner. We spent a delightful day together, gathering vegetables from the garden and bagging up loads of stuff for her to take home.

Although the cherry tomatoes are healthy and prolific, they are not the tastiest we have had. I do not recall the name of these but they are not the Cherry 100's which are the best and always sweet. 

 

The yellow tomatoes are delicious. This heart-shaped tomato made my tomato sandwich (on white bread with loads of mayo, salt and pepper, of course)

Our all-time summer favorite, tomato pie.

 

The Italian plum tomatoes are used for canning salsa. Once we have enough salsa to last the year, I will can the rest as plain tomatoes. Those are another year round staple in the kitchen. In the background is sweet pickle relish. We do not grow the cucumbers for this but instead buy those and make a small batch of relish because we enjoy it on hot dogs and in tuna salad, etc.

 These chipmunk holes are right off our basement entry. We walk over them every time we go back and forth to the garden. This path has so much foot traffic, I am surprised this is their prime choice of entry. They started with one hole last summer and are now at three. The holes were smaller last week until we saw two huge black walnuts sitting beside them. Then the little rascals enlarged to holes in order to fit the walnuts down.

We are in a drought this year and the landscape looks tired. The vegetable garden is giving all it's got and is wearing out from producing. I suspect I will be wrapping up the canning and freezing very soon. I will begin pulling up tired tomato plants and doing a bit of garden clean up. I am tired as well and ready to put things to bed. The garden has given us all we need or want for the fall and winter ahead and for that we are thankful. 

Holden Beach, NC

The colors!

Our long awaited, family beach vacation finally came to pass. It was such an enjoyable time away that it has been difficult to transition back to home. The colors, the ever changing sky, the tides, the relaxation, being surrounded by my sixteen favorite humans, the laughter, the love, the total disconnect from reality, I will have the fondest memories of this time away.

Last Christmas we gifted our four daughters and their families a beach vacation. The July reservation date finally came to be! Every one of us truly looked forward to this week with great anticipation. We rarely gather as a complete family. With school and work schedules and some families living so far apart, it just cannot happen often enough. We approached the vacation with plans for many activities we would do together and we ended up doing only half of what we planned. The water and sand were so inviting that we were content to sit or swim at the shore every day. 

My favorite memories include bobbing in the waves together, parking our beach chairs at the water's edge and staying until the surf forced us to back up, the grandchildren digging in the sand... a lot, evening walks searching for treasures, gathering for meals at the big table, slow mornings, slow days, slow evenings, playing the spaghetti and marshmallow challenge, excitedly showing each other our found ocean treasures, having the children and grandchildren all together, morning coffee on the deck, watching the kids play freely, planning our day according tot he tides.

Being cooled by nature's air conditioner

There was lot of texting and sharing all week since we have been home. Photos and memories ping back and forth between the girls and Steve and I. I am glad they brought home so many fond memories. It is everyone's hope that we can do this again some day. 

A game of whiffle ball while we watch a storm in the distance.

 

Two of Mari's aunts braid her hair before heading down to the beach.

The tallest spaghetti structure that remained stable with a marshmallow on top. 

                           

Everyone in one place! 

(One SILwishes to remain unknown on the internet : )

                  

Things in the Works, Things I Appreciate

It is not a new song, but it caught my ear and my heart this week while I was driving. We have so many things to appreciate and be thankful for!

Tess will be knitting two airy shawls for me. One in cream and the other in watermelon. They will pair perfectly with sleeveless summer dresses. I am in awe of those who can knit.

All year we look forward to tomatoes and basil from the garden. Combined with fresh mozzarella balls, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, it is a favorite summer staple in our kitchen.

Thank goodness the rug hooking urge returned. I took a few months off from it and worried it might never return. I pulled this Karen Kahle rug out out and got back to enjoying the creative process.

I have been alternating between hand quilting and rug hooking all week. When my fingers start to hurt from the needle, I switch to hooking. When my neck hurts from hooking, I go back to the quilt.

While I both hook and quilt, I have been listening to The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help. I am halfway through and enjoying the story and characters immensely!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating Claire Today!

 

Claire turns forty-one today! As our firstborn, she made our foray into parenting very easy. She is sweet, quiet, kind, funny, and adventurous. I am feeling old today as I look at this photo. It feels like it was a dream or a lifetime ago that Claire was born. She is still a joy and I greatly admire the woman, wife, and mother she has become. I called her this morning to wish her a happy birthday. I asked her how she was spending her birthday and what would she buy with the birthday gift we sent. She said she was volunteering at VBS all week and she was going to spend some of her gift money on a special Boba drink, without the pearls in it. Yup, she is still an easy child. : )

 

A Wedding

 

Tess and Blake got married (again) this weekend. Five and a half years ago they eloped to Charleston, SC and got married. It was during the pandemic and what more can I say about that. Now they are double-married, as we like to tease them. It was a very small ceremony with the immediate family and a couple of close friends attending. Our friend, Debra took lots of beautiful photos but I like this one the best. This was the moment when Father Xavier pronounced them husband and wife. I love Tess's beaming smile. What makes it even better is the smile on our friend Bill's face as he watched on from the altar where he was serving as Acolyte. Steve was Blake's witness and I am behind Tess as her witness. 

Everyone came up to the house for lunch after the ceremony. Blake wanted to grill hamburgers and hot dogs so that is what we did. It was their wedding day and it needed to be as they wanted it. They baked their own cake, too! It was a three layer vanilla cake with a pink buttercream frosting with a hint of raspberry flavor. It was topped with pale, yellow carnations that tumbled down the side. It was both pretty and delicious. It was such a happy day and it felt good to relax and visit with our guests. 

Father Xavier is moving to a new parish and we will miss him very much. He is the kindest, loving, wise, and gentle priest I have ever known. And he has a sense of humor, too! 

 

Steve and I signed the marriage certificate as Tess and Blake's witnesses.

The night before the wedding, Tess and I gathered lavender and yarrow from the garden and added white flowers from the market for our table decoration at the house.