Monday, July 21, 2008

Isn't this little guy cute? It's a puffin with some nesting material. These birds look more like cartoon characters than REAL birds to me. Where we live in Maine is the best place to see them. There are tours that can take you out to Machias Seal Island where there seems to be a large concentration of Puffins along with other amazing birds. Weather permitting, you do get to see some awesome coastline and lots of birds. If a birding tour is something that interests you then you need to visit Captain Andy Patterson's web site.
It is http://www.boldcoast.com

I hope you have noticed the new feature on my side bar. It is hopefully a more organized way I can let everyone know what I am going to be doing this next year since we will finally be home and I can get back to work. I have actually been working the whole year we have been gone. If you want to hear more, please put your email address in the subscribe box. I will not do anything with your email address except send you about four newsletters over the course of next year. I will explain more about my newsletters in my next post.

Posted by Mary at 01:26 PM CST

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Everywhere we have lived in the past, the townspeople had the usual garage and two cars. If they had teenagers, maybe there was a third car. I have had to reorient my thinking up here. Not only do people here have the usual cars/trucks, but they have things I have never heard of before and it’s not just one or two folks that have these different things - it’s everyone! We are strange because we JUST have one car here, but then we are from “away”! Since this is a working fishing village, there are the lobster boats of course, but then the lobstermen need a skiff (small motor boat) to get out to their lobster boats. There are the forklifts (bobcats?) that are necessary to move bait around. In the summer, most of the men use their scooters to get around town and the wharves. No family would be complete without a skidder. What IS a skidder you might ask? Well, it is a huge machine they use to haul logs out of the woods (it’s mainly a winter machine, unless you need it to pull someone’s tractor or car out of a ditch). Finally, there are the four wheelers! Even children as young as two have their own little mini four wheelers. The toys just get bigger as they get older!

Posted by Mary at 03:08 PM CST

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The saga has continued with my black fly bite. I went from looking like I had been hit by a frying pan to looking as though I went a few rounds in the boxing ring. My eye became swollen shut yesterday, but today it is open again thankfully. Apparently these black fly can drive even the animals crazy. I guess it is a small price to pay for the bunk house we had delivered on Monday when I got the bite trying to make sure the little house was placed where I wanted it. It is very plain at this point, but we plan to embellish it next year. I have always liked "out buildings". This garden pavilion at Monticello is one of my favorites. I am not quite sure what the function of this pavilion is. Maybe you just go in and sit down with a cold drink after you have worked in the garden. I think other beautiful structures on a property really add interest when they have the same workmanship and detail that the main house has. It will be fun to add the extra details to our new little house. If there had to be a hiccup, better my bite than problems with the bunk house. If you are interested in garden houses, pretty sheds, etc., there is a wonderful web site you should visit. It is
http://www.gardensheds.com Be sure to visit their gallery pages!

Posted by Mary at 01:54 PM CST

Monday, July 14, 2008

Growing up in Texas we had a lot of scary bugs. Many of them were very serious insects that could possibly kill you so my husband and I have never paid much attention to "normal" bugs. Here in Maine they have flies. In fact, there are LOTS of different kinds of flies. There are the "no see-ums," the green fly, the deer fly, the horse fly, and my favorite, the black fly! (I am sure I have forgotten some other kinds of flies.) The black fly are supposedly around only the first part of the summer (not true!!!). They are deceptive little things. You think they are gnats until all of a sudden you have enormous welts where they have bitten you. We have been working outside quite a bit recently in the late afternoon which must be their favorite feeding time because I now have a giant welt on my neck and head. It looks as though someone hit me with a frying pan! Not only are these big welts ugly, but they itch for days. Having grown up with scorpions, black widows, and tarantulas I feel kind of wimpy complaining about flies!!!

Posted by Mary at 07:17 PM CST

Friday, July 11, 2008

I always look forward to Fridays and Saturdays in our village because that’s when the “Downtown Coffee Shop” is open! This is exciting because it is the only store in town. My friend and I do our usual walk and then stop in for a cup of coffee and a muffin (which probably negates all the walking we’ve done). It is a place to see people from town and sit and talk for an hour or so. It’s the kind of coffee shop that is not a serious money making business. Two of the women forgot their money this morning so they had to put it on their “tab” to pay tomorrow. Several of the talented town’s people have their photographs, paintings, and jewelry in the shop. I am trying to figure out how I can feature some of these talented people on my web site so you can meet them and see their work as well.

Posted by Mary at 01:44 PM CST

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Shortly after we arrived in Maine many of the coastal areas were shut down for clamming and harvesting other shellfish because of red tide. I think “Red Tide” sounds more like a movie title, but it is, in fact, a natural occurrence of algae bloom that can be poisonous. Therefore, the clammers that I always love watching in our bay are not out digging at low tide. Our bay is considered the best for clamming in Maine. I heard the locals say it is because of the sand that is here instead of it being mud. They say the clams just taste better. I am no connoisseur. All I know is I LOVE the clam chowder here! Hopefully, this red tide won’t last all summer. I need my fix of MAINE clam chowder, as well as some fried clams. It makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Posted by Mary at 03:39 PM CST

Monday, July 7, 2008

With the 4th now over, I feel as though I can catch my breath again. It is amazing to me how much fun you can create when you live in a small fishing village. The 4th of July activities lasted for two days, which is usual in our village. For the past two years we have been here it has only lasted one day though. Because this year the holiday fell on a Friday it lasted the usual two days again. The celebration started with the traditional parade which is mainly the children riding their bikes, or tiny four wheelers all decorated. Several were decorated like their father’s lobster boats. Then the games started. There was the chewing gum contest to see who could blow the biggest bubble first, the cracker-eating contest to see who could eat four crackers the fastest and then whistle. It was quite a challenge! The day ended after a town lunch and more games. The next day there were lobster boat races in the harbor, then crate races between two piers (the water was only 48 degrees!). Fifty kids signed up for the privilege. The town baseball game was next. It was between the old guys (Dad’s that are in their forty’s and fifty’s) and their sons who are in there twenty’s and thirty’s. There was also a town picnic while the game was going on. The day ended with a concert by the harbor and the big finale was the fireworks over the harbor. It was a perfect holiday celebration. The only way it could have been more perfect was if our kids had been here to enjoy it with us.

Posted by Mary at 10:30 AM CST

Thursday, July 3, 2008

When Mainers talk about people that come up here just for the summer, they refer to us as people from “away.” While that could make you feel like a complete alien, I don’t mind it at all. I view it another way. Because this State is referred to as “Vacationland,” they accept those of us who just come to enjoy Maine in the summer. Frankly, I would not want to be here in the winter. Actually, South Carolina sounds nice for winter. I know I’m a weather wimp. We deserve to be called people from away because we don’t endure the harsh LONG Maine winters. We just come along once all the bad weather has disappeared and it is beautiful. We are true “fair weather“ Mainers…except for the fog!

Posted by Mary at 02:07 AM CST

Monday, June 30, 2008

There are tons of moose here in Maine; at least that is what one is led to believe. There are certainly signs on most of the roads warning that they might be present. In one of the shops in town, they have some wonderful pottery with a moose as the focal point. What is also interesting is that in order to hunt moose in Maine, you need to win a lottery for the privilege of hunting them. For those who win this lottery you can actually go on “moose safaris”! Personally though, I have never seen a living moose. I did see a dead one by the side of the road last year. It was HUGE! They are such a curiosity to me. I really want to see one…from a distance. They look like such mournful creatures though, don’t you think?

Posted by Mary at 01:23 PM CST

Friday, June 27, 2008

I have never been jealous of other people's gardens until this summer. In Massachusetts, the woman who lived around the corner from us used to garden in what looked like a beekeepers suit because of the mosquitoes. Her garden was beautiful. It should have been! She went to great lengths to make it look that way. In Illinois, if your garden is fabulous it is usually because you pay someone to keep it looking that way. Well, up here there are wild flowers galore. While there are still the cultivated gardens my favorite spots are the numerous meadows filled to the brim with wild flowers. The flower pictured is a lupin (it can also be spelled lupine). It is literally everywhere up here. You find them by the side of the road, in overgrown fields. No one tends these flowers, but they just appear every June. Some of our closest neighbors have loads of lupins in the meadows by their houses. The reason this really bothers me is because we have gone to such pains to create a meadow full of wild flowers. We now have a lot of charming wild flowers, but not a single lupin! We finally BOUGHT one and planted it! Maybe we’re trying too hard.

Posted by Mary at 01:56 PM CST