Apples

I love the memory of our crab apple trees on County Rd. in Eastport. Each spring they were alive with blossoms and many childhood hours were spent climbing the branches and sampling the tart fruit. Anthony and I loved rolling the undersized apples onto the pavement of the only thoroughfare into our town and waiting for the passing cars to completely pulverize them. My own little apple tree, in our yard, invokes the memory of those enjoyable times so I was very pleased to notice that this year it produced fruit for the very first time.....only two apples, but it's a start!

37 Years On Planet Earth

Saturday marked my birthday, which was spent in the White Mountains with my family, in-laws, and our dear friends, Heather and Todd Pendleton, along with their kids. We drove over to Warren, NH on Friday and stayed at Moose Hillock Campground for a couple nights. We discovered this campground last year with the Fishers and have really enjoyed it. Plans are already being made for a return trip or two next summer......gotta fit the Fishers AND Pendletons in! With such a full weekend behind us, I believe we were all looking forward to our restful beds this evening. The possible exception was four year old Tell.......

(6:48 pm this evening)

Me: Bedtime pretty soon, Telly!
Tell: It's almost time to go to bed?
Me: Yep.
Tell: Oh, darn it!

Spend Some Time

While Jim and his parents feasted at Old Country Buffet with Jubal, Nolan and the youth group, Atira and Tell nicely played together.This freed me up to spend a few enjoyable hours visiting at the house with my Aunt Suci, something I should make time to do more often. I love my strong, beautiful aunt.

Take time and spend it with those you love . Tommorow is not a guarantee.

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From One Thing To The Next

I waited up until Jubal arrived home from the seventh and final week of CGN, putting me in bed at midnight only to be up again and on the road to Waldoboro by 8 this morning. After an obligatory Dunkin' Donuts stop, I arrived only slightly late for the Coastal Christian work day, where I had the privilege of, among other things, cleaning bathrooms with Don and Nate Fisher. Jim said he's sorry he missed that episode. Shortly after eleven, I headed home via Damariscotta, stopping at a veggie stand that my friend Liz Brown tends, to visit for a bit. Not only was it an enjoyable chat, but I couldn't resist picking up some fresh cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, corn on the cob and farm fresh eggs. Isn't summer lovely? Except for the Wiscasset weekend traffic.....that I could do without. It was my companion for much too long today, but the family held lunch for me and I arrived home to enjoy it with them, complete with homemade bread....mmmmm. With the men refueled and ready to work, I headed downstairs to dictate the light, switch and outlet placement for our bedroom project. The last thing on the Saturday agenda was to check out the Outdoor Arts Festival in Brunswick with Lyn, Nolan and Atira. Weaving through the booths lining Maine Street, we saw woodturning, stone carvings, music, textiles, photography, spinning and a vast array of ink and painting styles. Nolan was particularly interested in one booth filled with the Pop Art style so I wouldn't be surprised if that comes out in his next painting. We ended the day back at a wood turning booth purchasing a beautiful pen for Dad. Nolan thought he might enjoy a "welcome home from camp" gift. A long day is complete and sleep beckons.

Want A Lick?

I received this photo tonight from my friends Peg McConnell and Greg Hodgdon along with their respective families. It came with the accompanying text, "Want a lick?" They are very aware of the fact that I do not even eat or drink after my own husband, so I'm absolutely not licking an ice cream cone after these two. As a matter of fact I had this very discussion with some of my Buxton friends last night when Heather asked to try my blackberry lemonade. I don't know what my facial reaction looked like but it clearly communicated that I would not be party to such an event. Just a couple weeks ago, I took Atira and Tell to get an ice cream and was trying to show Tell how to turn the cone while licking the bottom of the ice cream to keep it from dripping. Try demonstrating that to a toddler without ACTUALLY licking his cone. It's not as easy as it sounds.

So to answer Greg and Peg.......

THOUGH CONE BE SWEET
WITH ICE CREAM THICK,
IF TONGUE HAS TOUCHED,
I'LL TAKE NO LICK.

Painting

Jim's mum spent some time oil painting outside with Atira and Nolan this afternoon. Nolan finished a western cabin scene with a mountain backdrop, while Atira's canvas has the beginnnings of a vase with flowers. Hers has yet to be completed. Tell joined in, painting watercolor fish in a highly impressionist style. Lyn is taking time to teach them oil paint techniques and skills during their painting sessions, so we are likely to see improvement in the paintings that follow.

I had planned on going tomorrow evening down to Portland to meet Heather, Alyssa, Nicki and Annah at 7pm for a pedicure, but as it turns out it was tonight and I missed it! Nicki called at seven to see how close I was.......hmmm.....I was home, so......not very close. So much for smooth, fresh feet and painted toes. 40 minutes later I did meet them for a bit of shopping and dessert at Ruby Tuesday's, however, so the night was not a complete loss for me.

Out and About

Mobile Blogging from here.

Jim's parents ventured out in the van alone today, after acclimating themselves to traveling on the opposite side of the road for a week. All returned safely.

We are missing the company of Jubal at home this week. They were short handed in the dish pit at Camp Good News this week and he agreed to help out.

....and for something completely unrelated to the above items....I just finished a late night conversation with Jim who is now having difficulty getting to sleep. I'm quite sure a midnight chat does not help this predicament. While beginning this post, and listening to his tossing and turning, I heard a loud thud next to me. "ooooh. What was that?" I asked, already suspecting an Australian skull. "My head." was Jim's reply, followed by, "I wish it had knocked me out."

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

"Cup" Cake

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug

Instructions:

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa: Spoon in egg: Pour in milk and oil, and mix well:

Microwave on full power for 3 minutes: Wait until it stops rising and sets in mug:

Tip contents out and enjoy!

Thanks to my brother in law, Ray, who passed on this recipe to Jim's parents. Lyn and Nolan took the time after supper to make both the cake and some Australian custard to drizzle over the moist dessert......and all via the microwave.

A Day Out With Thomas

• The family, minus Jubal, pleasantly avoided the peak Wiscasset traffic and arrived around 11 to spend the day at the Boothbay Railway Village. The Village is hosting "A Day Out With Thomas", or as Tell calls it, "The Thomath Fethtival". Besides all the activity stations for the kids, the village also has an extensive collection of antique automobiles and machinery to keep the adult interest. The highlight was, of course, riding on the narrow gauge train, pulled by none other than Thomas the Tank Engine himself. I didn't see Tell exhibit any large bursts of enthusiasm during the lengthy ride and I wondered if he was perhaps a bit bored. My thinking was corrected, however, at the completion of the journey. Tell stood up in the carriage and matter of factly stated, "That wath fun. I love Thomath." No fanfare, just the simple toddler truth.
  

Gramma

What Grammas do is teach your children new skills that they would never learn from you, like crocheting. This is what I found Atira doing when I arrived home this afternoon. She and Jim's mum were enjoying some sunshine and the crochet needles were flying. She also helped Tell make his hand-picked blackberry muffins, which were quite yummy. I think the kids are enjoying their Gramma time.

Whistle While You Work

Well, Jim's dad has been here a total of three days. That includes the day after they arrived here at the house and went to bed at 3 o'clock in the morning, after 24 hours of travel from Australia. Still suffering from a bit of jet lag, he has already fixed our tipsy recliner, stained, polyurethaned and installed a new door in Atira's bedroom and begun the construction of our new bedroom downstairs. All of this has been occasionally accompanied by his infamous whistling. Jim's family can gauge Buddy's working mood by the type of whistling they hear. So far, so good........

Late Night or Early Morning?

The Aussie inlaws arrived safe, but very weary, from a very long journey and everyone is finally able to enjoy the softness of a bed at 2:50 in the morning. Good night..... or good morning. Either way, I'm going to sleep.

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SF

Jim's parents arrived earlier this afternoon in San Francisco and have been waiting through a layover. We just received word that their flight to Boston, due to arrive at 10:30, has been delayed 30 min. Jim and I are currently cruising 295 to Portland so I think we'll have time to stop at Burlington Coat Factory to check out their clearance sundresses. Thanks to my good friend Nicki Redlon for the tip! We're topping off our summer wardrobe for our cruise in November.

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Visitors

In about 1/2 hour Jim's parents will be soaring through the Sydney skies on the way to our home to spend a three month holiday. Jim and I leave for Boston tomorrow to pick them up.

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