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?

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.

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...