I love a good road trip

My husband and I (and of course, George) are going to be taking a week’s vacation in Maine. In fact, as you’re reading this, we’re probably still en route.

We’ve rented a cottage on the coast within driving distance of our beloved Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park.

Right now, this is probably what George is up to:

We have been so looking forward to this trip and I’ve worked hard this school year. There’s so much to be done before leaving on a long journey too, isn’t there?

Last August, we rented this {cottage} on Deer Isle through Seaside Rentals. We had booked a small place that slept four and was billed as secluded. It was also on the edge of a 98-acre trail which, when I enquired, was told that dogs were permitted on the trail but had to be leashed. The trail was a huge plus. The house came with access to a sand beach, high speed internet access and a small fenced yard.

Perfect!

I wasn’t given the directions until final payment was received, so as soon as we got them, which was just a day before we were to leave (we booked late), we checked google satellite maps and saw a huge structure directly next to the cottage, just through those trees you see on the left. I was really surprised. I called the agency and left a message as well as e-mailing them, but no response.

Needless to say, when we arrived, we were really disappointed to find that our ‘secluded cottage’ was actually just rental income for the castle that was built directly in front of it.

I couldn’t find any photos in my files of the castle. You’ll just have to believe me, please. It was huge. This is no fish tale.

But hey, it really wasn’t all that bad. Because hey, we were in Maine!

The cottage had this nice little deck. But we were a bit chagrined with the slanted way in which the place was depicted.

I mean, the owners’ giant house was right there!

Ok. I’m not complaining. But the internet didn’t work either.

But hey, who wants to spend their vacation sitting in front of a computer anyway? Not me!

This was the beach that came with the house. We knew that it wasn’t private and were told via e-mail that a couple of houses were out there and they used it sometimes, too.

 

This is the view from the road we took to get to the beach, which was just a 5-minute hike from our cottage. In reality, the beach was a favorite kayak launching site, complete with a small parking lot.

But that was all okay, because hey, we were in Maine. And we love it there. Besides, we found another way in to the beach, and could sit on the rocks and observe all the comings and goings, which were really quite interesting.

Oh, and of course, the 98-acre trail that was adjacent to the property forbade dogs. It was a new rule and just in time for our arrival.

There were so many good things about the island though, which made our vacation a good one. One was the drive out to the main road. As we would come out of the wooded area where the cottage was located, we were treated with the view you see above. This was taken from the carport area of another rental.

 

And a short drive down the road, followed by a quick jaunt down a sand trail afforded us the view above. This is the little beach along Sand Road on Deer Isle.

 

And every night, there would be the wonderful sunsets. I would definitely stay on Deer Isle again. It’s always risky when you rent a vacation home, and sometimes it can be disappointing. Hopefully, however, the plusses of the area in which you’re vacationing will outweigh your living quarters. And when the digs are great . . . well, that’s just icing on the cake.

I am hoping that the digs are great where we’re going. But if they aren’t, it will be okay. Because hey ~ we’ll be in Maine.

Until I post again, my friends . . .

Don’t know when I’ll be back on, so this may be my last post for several days.

He has a one-track mind

After dinner tonight, I ventured outside to water the plants. George came along with me and believe it or not, we actually had a lovely conversation.

At least I think we did.

Telepathically.

ME: “Hey, George. Watcha doing?”

GEORGE: “I think I’ll have a lie down and watch you water the plants.”

ME: “Georgie, wouldn’t it be fun to go on a Road Trip this summer?”

(Please note that at the mention of the words Road Trip, George opens his eyes wide. He knows what a road trip is).

GEORGE: “Would you be taking me?”

ME: “Of course we’d be taking you! We’d never leave you at home!”

GEORGE: “Oh, good. I feel better now.”

ME: “I want to go to Maine. Do you want to go to Maine, George?”

GEORGE: “Huh? What’s that? Did you hear that, mom?”

ME: “Yeah, I think I heard something. I don’t know . . . it coulda been . . ."

GEORGE: “There it is again. Did you hear that?”

GEORGE: “Ok. Wait a minute. Now it’s up here. High up in this tree.”

ME: “It’s probably just a squirrel, George. Calm down, ok, and let’s talk about a big Road Trip to Maine. I really want to go.”

GEORGE: “You’re taking me, right mom?”

ME: “Yes, George. {sigh} We wouldn’t leave home without you.”

He may be smart, but when it comes to squirrels, everything else just goes out the window.

Hope you liked the photos of our dog tonight. A reader asked for them and it made me only too happy to oblige. All of the pictures used in this post were processed using Florabella’s Sweet Vintage action at opacities between 20% and 40%. I also threw in a little of TRA’s Super Fun Happy at around 15%.

TIP: TRA (Totally Rad Actions) offers three free actions from their Original set and five from TRA 2. To get them, click on the link provided and then click ‘Try ‘Em', on the home page.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Dream a little dream for me, Rose Marie

It rained today. Sweet, gentle and wonderful rain. It had been quite some time since we had any, so it’s a good thing.

And it’s still raining.

It’s funny how some posts that I write seem to hit a chord with so many readers, like the one from yesterday on black raspberries. I loved reading your comments, especially from those of you who had childhood memories that involved picking berries with a parent or grandparent and eating the jam that was made from the fruit. I even had a reader send me her husband’s recipe for freezer jam. Thanks, Leenie!

And speaking of Leenie, a long-time reader of my blog, she has a great little tutorial for shooting photos of the moon. Just sayin’.

I’m posting photos of things I like to eat that involve berries. Above are Carr’s table water crackers smeared with strawberry cream cheese and topped with blueberries. I just love ‘em. And the cream cheese is the low-fat version.

I never buy the non-fat version of cream cheese. It is not good.

I also love Carr’s whole wheat crackers and strawberries. Tastes like a cookie.

My house is a mess. I just think you should know that. It’s dusty. And there are puppy toys everywhere.

And fur.

I dislike my vacuum very much. I have three. Only two work and I dislike all of them equally. At night when I sleep, I dream of vacuuming with {this}.

Someday my dreams will come true.

And pigs will fly.

And I will eat strawberries in a sugar glaze over pound cake and vanilla bean ice cream.

The end.

Love,

I think I would vacuum more if I loved my vacuum. That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Holy strawberries Batman, are we in a jam!

I just loved that post title. But no worries.

When I was a young wife and mother, I used to pick berries and make jam. I would have my young boys ‘help’ me pick them, although I knew half of them were going into their little mouths. I also put up peaches and froze vegetables, although the jam-making was always my favorite. I loved seeing (and eating) the results of my labors and was proud of the little jars all lined up and labeled with the date and the year.

I ended up giving away my canning things at some point and needless to say, it’s been a long time since my jam-making days.

But when I see berries like this, the memories come flooding back.

The perimeter of the grounds here at the manor house are covered with berries and the first ones to come in are the blackberries.

I almost wish I still had my canning supplies.

I said almost.

The taste is indescribable, and I’m sort of surprised that the little critters and the deer haven’t been at these bushes.

This one tasted really good. I ate it right after it made its photo debut.

Ditto for these.

I want to thank each and every one of you who comes to visit this humble little blog of mine. Please know that I appreciate having visitors and the comments that are left. I am touched at your words, laugh at your jokes, and feel as I’ve gotten to know so many of you. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And with that said, have a beautiful day. Hope to see you again.

UPDATE: Dummy me. These are black raspberries. Thanks, anonymous, for pointing it out. I always got them confused. Some things never change. ~C.G.

Spent clover and wild things

Wild thing.

You make my heart sing.

You make everything groovy.

Suddenly I’m in eighth grade again, line dancing to The Troggs’ Wild Thing in the church basement of St. Joseph’s annex building in Somers Point, New Jersey. Whoa, now that’s a memory.

Today was such a stark difference from yesterday’s oppressive heat. The air was actually sweet and I don’t think it got above 74 degrees. It felt good to feel the sun on my skin as it warmed me up just enough. This is how an early summer day should feel.

Just before the rain started yesterday, I took some macro shots of tiny little wild things I noticed while I was walking. Above is a spent clover.

This tiny little flower is a small weed that’s growing on the edge of the patio bricks. The flower itself is half the size of the nail on my pinky finger.

It looks like a little rosebud, doesn’t it? When it’s open it looks like a star.

This wild morning glory is just a tad bit bigger than my thumbnail. My husband had told me about it, growing amidst the grass of the lawn, but he couldn’t find it to show it to me. It was because it had begun to grow dark with the storm coming in and it had closed up.

I think it’s beautiful.

The weather was perfect for walking today and I’m proud to say that today I went around the outer loop of the property a total of five times (this is a record for me) and the inner loop twice. Woot! I want to be ready for a hike at Acadia National Park when we go this summer.

So how are things in your neck of the woods?

Love,

While I was sleeping

I enjoy sleeping late on the weekends and for me, sleeping late means getting up around 8 am. I mentioned yesterday that my husband (and the dog) were discussing the fact that I’m on a three hour time difference than they are.

And thank heavens no, the dog doesn’t answer back.

While I was sleeping this morning, I happened to have missed an awesome sunrise. But I didn’t really miss it, because I got to see it through the eyes of my husband via the beautiful photos he took.

This was our sky on this hot morning in Maryland.

You can barely see our house on the right. I just can’t believe this gorgeous color, can you? My, oh my.

I love these ever-changing colors. And the clouds! They are just so beautiful.

{This} is the first post I did entitled “While I was sleeping”. I’d just begun blogging and it was one of the first times my husband used the new camera.

I think he’s come a long way, baby.

All photos taken with a Nikon D80 and the 18-55 kit lens that came with the camera.

Love,

PS ~ The weather broke finally and the breezes coming through my living room window as I write this are incredibly sweet and cool. Oh, happy day.

The three H’s

One from the files to share with you on this terribly Hazy, Hot and Humid day we’re experiencing. Watching the news this morning, I see that there are many sections in the country who are suffering from the heat. Hopefully we’ll be getting a thunderstorm here in Maryland later this afternoon and it will cool things off considerably.

This evening is graduation at our school and I’m the official unofficial photographer. I don’t recall how I was awarded this position, but I don’t mind. Too much. Basically, I line up the seniors under the front portico of the school and take their picture. Actually, that part’s a breeze, as I’ve lined them up in advance and they all know exactly where to stand. Then I go out to the receiving line in one of the courtyards and take candids. Sometimes I’m lucky. Sometimes . . . not so much.

My husband told me that he and George were discussing the fact that I am on a three hour time difference from my husband. On my days off, I go to bed three hours after him and wake up three hours later than he does. Although I agree that it’s true, I’m wondering what’s wrong with waking up at 8 am on Saturday and Sunday. And I’m sort of concerned that he’s having a conversation with the dog about it in the first place.

Now to head out for my daily hike while the path is mostly in the shade.

Love,

PS ~ You may have noticed that I’ve changed my profile pic. I couldn’t stand seeing myself in winter gear with the mittens!

Scarlet tanager sighting and a little gift

As I write this, we’re waiting for a storm to blow through. George is acting a little anxious, although it doesn’t seem as though the weather’s going to amount to much.

Today while on my daily walk, I saw a brightly colored bird flit across the path about 25 yards in front of me. It rested on the limb of a tree and I suddenly had a perfect view of the most striking red/orange colored bird. I stopped and rested on the hiking poles, just watching it for a little bit. The bird then flew down from the tree, landing closer to where I stood. I managed to get a really good look at him before he finally took off. I could see that the bird had black wings and a brightly colored feathers that were almost a neon color.

And no, of course I didn’t have the camera.

A scarlet tanager is what I thought it to be. And so when I got back home, rather than using one of the many bird books we own, I looked it upon Flickr where I discovered thousands of photos of the little bird. This is the one I chose after asking the photographer for permission.

Isn’t he beautiful? I feel lucky to have seen him because the scarlet tanager is a rather secretive little creature. I read that they preferred the forest canopy and that’s why they’re often overlooked.

 Photo courtesy Laura Meyers on Flickr. You can visit the photographer’s site {here}.

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Before I went on the walk, however, there was a package waiting for me when I arrived home from work. It was from a blogging friend who lives in the Big City. She often sends me little things through the mail and it’s always fun opening them.

Today’s parcel contained a very tiny pot with a cool-looking lid.

She tells me that it’s a dream catcher she bought while visiting TN recently.

It’s very tiny and sweet.

This gives you an idea as to the size. I guess I could put all my bad dreams in this little cache pot, which is perfect because I don’t have many of them.

Hope that statement doesn’t bring on a nightmare tonight.

You know I love taking macro shots. And I love the colors of this. Thanks, Daryl!

It’s a Q&A Free Friday (I just made that up). So no questions this week. It’s going to be a busy weekend and I enjoy responding to everyone’s answers. I just won’t have any time this weekend to do so. On that note, until tomorrow then . . .

A vision softly creeping

I was feeling a little overwhelmed at work today, with the school year winding down and the massive workload that comes along with it. When I came home, I changed my clothes, put on my new hiking shoes and poured a glass of my husband’s homemade sun tea.

Then I went out back under the umbrella and sat there in the silence with my drink.

It wasn’t really silent, though. I could hear the following, in no particular order:

Birds chirping in the trees

A woodpecker drilling a hole

Cars in the distance

The droning of a bee in the flower pot behind me

The wind rustling the leaves of the tree in front of me

The wings of a bird flying close by

And I thought to myself, “It’s so good to be home.”

And then I thought, “This iced tea rocks.”

My husband gets a gallon jug, fills it with tea bags and water and lets it sit in the sun for several hours. Then he adds just a bit of sugar. The odd thing is the tea bags he uses. There’s no rhyme or reason, and he just grabs one of everything he can find. It tastes really good, though. And um, I do have a lot of tea.

Thanks for coming by. Always a pleasure to have you visit.

Hello there!

Until tomorrow . . .

Reflections

I have promised myself that I will not sit on this computer all night, working on photos or visiting blogs, or reading mail, or working on a post. I can take a break sometimes and it’s ok.

Yesterday, I worked on another watermark; this one a combination for when my husband takes the photo and I work on it in Photoshop. After I finished the watermark and put it on this photograph, I was surprised to see that I’d put my initial first rather than his. (But I think it looks better this way, truth be told).

Yesterday I also walked the entire outer loop (around the property) a total of four times and the inner loop twice. And I was proud of myself. Walking just makes me feel better. And four times around is a lot.

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.  ~John Muir

[Hiking] is the best workout!... You can hike for three hours and not even realize you're working out.  And, hiking alone lets me have some time to myself.  ~Jamie Luner

The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.  ~Jacqueline Schiff

If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.  ~The Houghton Line, November 1965

“My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now and we don’t know where the hell she is.”  ~ Ellen DeGeneres

And on that note, I’ll just say ~ until tomorrow, my friends . . .

I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything’s right

Something came in the mail for me last week and I wanted to share my new-found shoe loves with you.

My husband bought these for me in preparation for our big trip to the Maine coast this month. My old walking shoes were a little down in the heel (literally) and new ones were in order.

We’ve always bought our camping/hiking supplies at REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) and these were no exception. In fact, we’ve been shopping at REI long before anyone had even heard of the internet. We’d go to the closest store, which is in Conshohocken, PA (just outside of Philly).

These are my new Salomon women’s trail-running shoes, not that I intend on doing any running on the trails. I can’t tell you how surprised I was to get a pair of shoes in the mail that actually fit. They run true-to-size and I will honestly say that these are one of the most comfortable pair of walking shoes that I have ever owned.

I’m not writing this because I was paid by any company to do so. I simply love the shoes.

And the color. I love the color.

The only drawback for me is the lack of ankle support, however the edges do come up a little higher than my regular sneakers. My husband recommended these shoes to me and I especially like the nifty no-tie laces. You just sort of pull them up using this little lever . . .

. . . and then stuff them into the little sack that sits at the top of the shoe.

This is a view looking down at them from the little storage sack.

The shoes have OrthoLite foam insoles, which feel great and are washable. You can take these shoes right of the box, slip them on, pull up the laces and you’re ready to go. I was so surprised at how comfortable they feel.

And when I’m walking, it’s all about the comfort.

Another pair came in the mail as well. These are my new Keen H2 sandals. They’re for walking on those pebble beaches of Maine, and just kicking around outdoors. The jury is still out on them, though they are really comfortable.

I hope you kick up your heels and have a great week.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

The post title is from the lyrics to Paolo Nutini’s New Shoes.