Sunday, December 12, 2010

Saturday Farmer's Market

 It's quite a gift to live in a town that has a great winter farmer's market but the Bath market is only the first and third Saturdays of each month (except this month) so it's really wonderful to have the Brunswick market available every Saturday. 

Here are some shots from the Brunswick market at Fort Andross where there is everything from winter veggies, baked goods, handmade soy candles and great spices to fresh seafood and pottery. Love it!



Did I mention some goofy, crafty marketing by some of the vendors?

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Shop local

Had such a fun day yesterday with my friend, Clarkson. She has had a personal tradition of shopping the midcoast for Christmas pressies by herself most years but this year we made a day of it together. We managed to actually get some gifts while we were having fun and checking out local shops that were relatively quiet because it was a Tuesday. 
So the itinerary went like this:
Stop at Treats for sustenance on the way to Rockland (a girl needs to have a few calories on board for a serious hunting and gathering expedition) then worked our way back down the coast stopping at towns along the way. 
Stacy, the owner of Treats, does such a beautiful job 
of making all sorts of tempting goodies. 
Hard to make any decisions.


But, decisions were made then, strata in hand, we headed to Rockland 
where a good selection of stores including the Farnsworth gift shop, Archipelago, 
and, of course, the Black Parrot made for some great gift gathering.


After stopping in Damariscotta for lunch and a visit to the Weatherbird, 
we hit Wiscasset again to end the day at Rock, Paper Scissors. 
Anyone who knows me even a little knows that this is one of my 
FAVORITE stores and it never disappoints.



Sunday, December 5, 2010

Feeling the pressure

I typically start well before the holidays, as many do, with the greatest of intentions to get a jump on things and look forward to cruising into the season with a beatific smile on my face and eggnog in my hand. Not really sure that has ever happened but it's still something I dream about. This year is no different from the past. 


Did have some time today to work on my handmade gifties. 



After a nice walk (hard to see Zuri against the leaves), where Lori promised to bring over some of the red velvet cupcakes she was about to make, 

I spent some time at my 'workbench', also known as my kitchen island, working on some cards made with hand cut stamps. It took so experimenting to get the ink coverage right but all in all, most of them turned out okay. It was made all the more enjoyable by listening to 
http://www.newyorker.com/online/podcasts/fiction
Thank you, Ellen for turning me on to them.



Of course, I'm not gonna show the finished products but you get the idea.

BTW, never did see any of those cupcakes...

Friday, November 26, 2010

THANKSGIVING

I was lucky enough to have an old friend and her nearly four year old daughter come to Maine to spend the long holiday weekend with me. Lynne and I go back over 20 years to when we waited tables together in a restaurant in Baltimore. We then were roomies for two years when we were in graduate school at the same time. Despite months passing without contact, we manage to pick right up where we left off and she has been great about making the effort to trek up to Maine to visit on a fairly regular basis. It is a real gift to have her and H. here for Thanksgiving.
We enjoyed some doll time
although the girls weren't sure what to make of all that.

And a walk down the lane in the cold sunshine.

And of course, a lovely dinner

followed by a dessert with assistance making the whipped cream


The next day, we even ventured out to some local stores for Black Friday


Now everyone is safely tucked in for the night...









Tuesday, November 23, 2010

B'day weekend in Beantown

Some time at the conference (not the best one I've ever attended). 


Some time walking along the waterfront near the Convention Center where the conference was held.



An almost-full moon.

Some time shopping. Two of my faves: Anthropologie and Paper Source are mandatory stops when in Boston. Was so excited to be in each of those places that I didn't even think to take pics except when I saw these...

They weren't for sale but were all around as seasonal decor. Just rolled up felt in acorn caps yet genius in their simplicity. What do you think Ellen? Could do this with other fabrics too. 


And... some time dining and imbibing. 

















Tuesday, November 16, 2010

No rifles here

A minor mystery was solved this afternoon just by answering the phone (and a bit of internet snooping). Over the past few years, there have been periodic messages left on the home machine that involve gun orders and gun repairs. Have to say that many times the actual messages have not been entirely intelligible but we tend to get the gist but still a bit creepy. 

So when the phone rang today and the caller ID showed an auto repair shop (that I later discovered was in Tennessee), I picked it up and said hello. There was a bit of a pause before the fellow on the other end of the line said, "Good afternoon, I was calling about my rifle you just repaired." To which I replied, "not me", and told him he had called a private residence. He was then kind enough to recite the number he was trying to reach and turns out that the only difference in our numbers is the order of the second two digits in the area code which turns out to be in Kentucky. 

Nancy Drew would be proud.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

A fifteen minute break

Sometimes that's all it takes to clear my head. It was so beautiful yesterday that I just had to leave the office for 15 minutes and drive around in the sunshine. So lucky to be so close to such beauty!





Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veteran's Day

T
hank you!



I listened to this show on Sunday while working on my quilt binding and it made me cry a couple of times with the sweetness of some of the stories. I love the Vinyl Cafe, even if the cadence of Stuart McLean's voice takes some getting use to. He is a great storyteller. This show comes out of Canada so it was for Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day.





Monday, November 8, 2010

Wind storm (and...we still have power)


Following a night of howling winds and lashing rain, we woke up to find a tree across the driveway and another tree down in the backyard. 


While this is obviously not what a homeowner wants to see, we can't help saying how lucky we are that a) nothing hit the house and we are all safe, b) the tree out back missed the new deck, and, c) we have such good great neighbors to help out.


Following a not-even 7a.m. call, Tim was over in a flash with his chainsaw to help clear the driveway. What a guy! Thank you SOOO much.


Ironically enough, this is one half of a double trunk tree that was scheduled to come down a week from today. The tree people will still have the other portion to cut down and this to clean up, but you can see that nature felled this with the least amount of damage. As you can also see, it even missed the raised garden bed (ignore the rain drops on the lens and Max skulking around). No telling if the tree folks will still make it here as scheduled because surely now there are likely to be folks in more desperate need.




Sunday, November 7, 2010

Stocking up

This Saturday was a hunting and gathering day of the best kind. First it was up the coast to take advantage of the "late risers" sale at Alewives with a stop at Rock Paper Scissors on the way. Two of my favorite shops anywhere so it was a great way to start the weekend. Then later, in the afternoon, headed to Portland for a stop at Artists and Craftsman then the new Trader Joe's before dinner at the new noodle bar, Pai Men Miyaki. Yeah, it was a good day although the crowds at TJ's were CRAZY!




Paper (no rocks or scissors)


Corner of Alewives (where I cowered for a moment or two in a state of confusion).


So after recovering from the state of confusion, 
this is what I ended up with. Don't know 
why but I was drawn to greens and melony shades of orange.
Have some ideas where this may lead but nothing concrete yet. 
Currently being inspired by Elizabeth Harman's new book:



Part of the grand plan for some handmade holiday gifts
via Artists and Craftsmen. 


And finally, 


a yummy dinner.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Altar books and the nature of letters

Yesterday was the third time I've taken a class with Sarah Shepley at Joy's studio and each class has been a unique experience. We do the same basic format but the variations are endless and the mix of people in the class is always interesting so it never feels redundant.  Every time I do this, I think how I need to do more of these on my own time at home and this time is no different but I mean it


Joy's space is peaceful and inspiring (just like it's owner) and such a special place filled with light, views of the trees, abundant species of birds at the feeders on the deck and, best of all, more art doodads than one could ever make use of in one day - or one week for that matter. 
This was the first time I had a vision of what I wanted to accomplish in one of these classes. 


Last weekend, while cleaning out the basement,  I came upon a stash of letters from Cathy, my best friend from med school and one of my dearest friends ever, most of them written in the summer between our freshman and sophomore years. She and I have just reconnected after a few years so it was all the more significant to find these now. They are an eloquent record of the intensity of that first year of school as well as the significance of our friendship. They pack quite an emotional impact for me. 


Letters. Epistles. Missives. Records of points in time. So marvelous now, in this age of ephemeral communication, to possess. We sent these pieces of our emotions off to the recipient and, for the most part, didn't expect to see them again. Just luck if they happened to survive moves, mold, moods.


These particular letters survived and I am so grateful. I made reduced copies of the originals and cut them up along with copies of illustrations from an anatomy text to make this book to send off to my old friend in hopes 


Sarah demonstrating

My work station

Right outside the window.

Finished :: outside

Finished :: inside





Thursday, October 28, 2010

My Own Private Idaho

Forgot my thermos today which gave me a great excuse to leave the office for 15 minutes to get a cuppa joe and cruise around in the beautiful weather. Just the mini break I needed to clear my head. Hipstamatic gave the experience an artistic spin.




Later that same day...