Adding to the Wall

Rearranginging photographs on the wall is sometimes a need for a bit of change in your life. Other times it's because there has BEEN a bit of change in your life! Can you spot my reason for adding a new photo to the wall? 

The day after Thanksgiving Jubal married Casey in Hawaii after a whirlwind 4-months of dating across the ocean after getting to know one another at her brother's wedding in July. So. Just like that, I am a mother-law.If you are wondering why why you haven't seen this on FB, it's because they wanted to keep it low-key and asked that nothing be posted. Once you've read this, keep me from becoming an outlaw and keep it off FB as well!

Anam Cara

A Medieval keep in New England? 

Who knew? 

Tell and I traveled with the Gillespies to the unusual home of David O'Connor and Paula Salazar in Barrington, N.H.

Would you tent in the woods for two years while building a replica of a 9-10th century castle?

They did, and the result is Castle Anam Cara, a strange mix of Medieval living history and ninja warrior course.

"Lord Duncan" spent significant time outside, immersing us in the everyday activities necessary for survival in the harsh Medieval environment.

I'm fairly certain that today's generation wouldn't need "safe places" and coping mechanisms like coloring, play dough, therapy puppies and bubble blowing if their days were consumed with planting, harvesting, preserving and building, the reward being survival.

Even at 11, performing these activities in the chill of late November gave Tell an understanding and thankfulness of the ease of our lives in this millennium. 

Called inside by "Lady Espringale", we were seated around the banquet table where a slice of bread was given as our plate and we enjoyed simple foods that would have been available in the Medieval times. A well summarised history of the era accompanied the meal.

The highlight of the field trip for all involved was the wearing of armour and wielding of swords. It was an accomplishment that all limbs and toes were accounted for when we left.

Our hosts truly expressed the feel of "Anam Cara"...soul friend, as they presented the complicated and interesting era of Medieval history in a hands on way. I would highly recommend this place.

Up, Up and Oh. Wait.

For quite a few years I have desired to view the lift off of the hot air balloons at the Great Falls Balloon Festival. This year I gathered the family (and little Kingsley) and we made the trip into downtown Lewiston.

Parking was very easy. For a small donation to one of the local sports teams, we could use the Public parking garage just a block from Simard-Payne Memorial Park, site of the launches.

The atmosphere and food had the feel of a fair as we shared fried dough, fries, and free pizza samples. Nolan also indulged in a bacon cheeseburger, his mouth chewing in rhythm to the strains of "cheeseburger in paradise" being belted out into the evening air from across the park.

Where there are crowds of people, I occasionally find myself wondering about them. There are those times when you don't need to wonder. They will tell you about themselves without a word. I think we can safely assume this man was part of Red Sox Nation:

 

I've seen worse tattoos.

What I haven't seen yet is a hot air balloon launch. The breeze that created such a lovely August evening also caused the grounding of the balloons. At 7 pm we headed home, disappointed that my only balloon viewing was a large woven basket, with two helium-filled spheres, tethered by string, swaying in the background behind it. 

Dismantling

Between our obsolete furnace in the basement and some Hodgdon prepared lobster, Jim spent last Saturday pulling things apart.

The lobster is long gone but the impact of the furnace dismantling continues. I was able to use the huge space to create an area for crafting. Thank you, Jim!

Back on the Paddle Again

One muggy morning this week, Nicole and I met at the Foreman's who are on their annual trek to visit family in Pennsylvania's Amish country. 

During their excursion last year, I used those two weeks to paint their back porch, build a pallet arch and create some small gardens off their back porch as a surprise 50th birthday gift for Sandy. My gardening project coincided perfectly with the arrival of my parent's and grandparent's new home which necessitated the removal of quite a few of Dad's well established plants and bushes. I was glad to give them a new home on Centre Street. 

You might occasionally find Sandy out singing to her plants but you won't ever find her weeding them so Nicole and I thought this might be something to do during her absence this year. After a couple hours of work, Nicole and I were thrilled to discover that the garden was indeed, still there. 

 I hope Nicole is just as thrilled to discover that my blog is also indeed, still here.

Last week, as she, Jen Hodgdon and I dipped our kayak paddles into the ripples of Duck Puddle Pond, Nicole reminded me that it had been months since I had written anything on my blog. Thank you for the gentle prodding, my friend. I'm back on the paddle again!

Morning Miss

Early morning cross-state travel to the AT? No need for coffee while driving to keep you alert. A trailer wheel guard flying toward you on the highway accomplishes the same thing. Thankfully I was not following our big van too closely and it was a miss. The cause of the mishap was our trailer tire, which was quickly swapped out with the spare. And how many people does that job require?

One James to inflate the spare,

One Greg to apply the spare,

And one big crowd for the heavy looking on.

The incident was merely a bump in the road to our destination near Falls Village, Connecticut. By early afternoon we were on the trail,

and by early evening, with socks drying in trees, fellowship over supper, 

and devotions in the dark, we were settled in at Limestone Shelter. It would be a cold night of sleep to come.

T-Minus Ten Hours To Trailtime For Turtle 2

As the sun sets on this Tax Day, our packs and poles have been stowed away in the trailer and all that remains for Atira, Nolan and I to prepare for this year's AT Hike is to get some shuteye. 

Keeping Track of Jack

In honor of National Pet Day, I'll introduce you to a new member of the family. He is Tell's Teddy Hamster, bestowed with the name Jack. Our adventures with the rascally rodent began early, as his first act at Brook's Feed and Farm was to bite Tell's hand. He clearly never learned the very relevant "hand that feeds you" proverb. Despite that, Tell stuck with his choice and Jack was placed in a thin carboard box that was to keep him confined for the 10 minute journey home. I suspect this box was not designed by an actual hamster owner. Envision a piranha to flesh and you understand why two minutes into the trip, with Jack's head poking out, we were hauling the plastic hamster ball out to replace the cardboard box.

Since his arrival in March 1, he has escaped twice. His first taste of freedom was courtesy of me forgetting to put a cover on his cage and lasted from Thursday night until Monday morning. I was never so glad to see his furry little face peeking around the soccer ball in Tell's closet.

Fast forward to the following Thursday for the next escape. While his owner slept soundly,

 I placed him in his ball and went to the kitchen table to do some work, not knowing the cover had not clicked securely. Walking across the floor, around 11pm, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of an abandoned sphere.

 "Not again." With only Nolan awake writing a paper, I searched for a while,  before deciding to be still and listen for hamster rustlings and hear them I did.

 At 1 o'clock in the morning Nolan and I were involved in our own miniature version of a greased pig scramble. It's a shame for that much entertainment to have been deprived of an audience but our successful recapture did give Nolan the second wind that he needed to complete his paper. 

Jack was not happy to give up his freedom and will no doubt try again...

LOVE-ly Afternoon

A normal Valentine's Day in our marriage consists of Jim being reminded of the day by my cousin Greg or some other acquaintance and a quick stop at a grocery store for a bouquet of flowers. I accept this reality of who my husband is and am thankful that his love for me is clearly shown year-round in many other ways. My brother does special days very differently however, and so Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a lovely double date with Chobie and Laura beginning with lunch at Thr3e Wise Men in Muncie. Following our meal, Chobie suggested that Laura and I might enjoy a manicure. The nail salon that we stopped at had about a 45 minute wait, which prompted some shopping where we were prime examples of the difference in how men and women buy clothing. Laura and I tried our clothing on, did the mini catwalk, and gathered multiple opinions. The guys just held their item up and confidently proclaimed, "Yep. That'll fit."

We returned for our manicures only to find that there was still a wait. We decided to go elsewhere and left with complimentary gift certificates for our troubles. I laughingly suggested to Laura that she might continue to get free nail service if she just "stopped in for a manicure" each time she noticed the parking lot full. We found a less crowded salon and my first manicure came out quite nice.  I was also able to talk Laura into a "wild" neutral color instead of her usual clear.  I topped off my Valentine's afternoon sharing a Starbuck's with three of my most-loved people. Well, not "a" Starbuck's. I don't love them enough to share a drink with them; I definitely had my own.... It was a lovely afternoon.

Muncie Musings

Undoubtedly, Atira and Tell enjoyed the extra space in the backseat on the journey out to Indiana but Nolan's presence was missed. He had flown out a few days earlier with some friends from the Waldoboro youth group to attend a Biblical counseling conference in Lafayette, not too far from Anthony and Laura's place.

His eccentricity always makes life more interesting so it was nice to have him back with us for the remainder of our vacation.

The Indiana Romanos were enjoying an unusually quiet weekend which still included a Father-Daughter dance for Chobie and Ally and a soccer practice for Nicholas on Friday night,

By Saturday lunchtime, after an Anthony-coached basketball game for Nicholas, our weekend was reserved for complete relaxation.

Whether they are playing games, baking,

creating mini-movies or watching a Back to the Future marathon, I am always thankful that the young cousins treasure their time together.

Cincinnati Museum Center

In my trip prep I discovered that the Cincinnati Museum Center, only slightly out of the way to Anth and Laura's, was hosting an exhibition of Lego art by Nathan Sawaya. It was immediately voted as a "must see" stop.

If you ever get the opportunity to see his work, don't miss out. It was amazing.

The first gallery's floor was filled with the reflection of thousands of translucent Lego pieces hanging high above that recreated the glass window of Notre Dame. The walls held Lego replicas of paintings such as Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Wave, Starry Night, Rembrandt's Self-Portrait and the Mona Lisa. 

The gallery beyond included "The Scream", which Atira sought to replicate , and a three-dimensional version of Whisler's Mother.

Sawaya's renditions of famous sculptures from antiquity were displayed in the third gallery, along with a 1:1 ratio rendering of the smallest "head" statue from Easter Island that boasted over 750,000 Lego bricks.

The remaining galleries contained Sawaya's original artistic designs. 

The exhibit was thoroughly enjoyable and  even provided an outlet for expressing your own Lego creativity at the conclusion. I didn't bother to photograph the bridge that I attempted...