Scary bird

George the border collie got a souvenir from Maine last week. My husband bought him a stuffed bird from the gift shop on Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park. We visited there early last Friday and took a walk around the trails at the top of the mountain, stopping afterward at the gift shop for coffee and for a look around.

This isn’t just any stuffed bird. It’s an Audubon real-life sound peregrine falcon and George is almost afraid of it.

To listen to the cry of a peregrine falcon, click here and scroll down to 'Calls'. Warning: turn down your speakers. I cannot stress this enough. Our stuffed bird has 3 seconds of screech, then a pause, then 3 seconds more. And believe me, it’s more than enough.

Even in the store, George was wary of this new gift. He really didn’t want to have anything to do with him while we were in Maine.

Fast forward to this week and we find George preferring the scary bird over all the others from the toy box. I’ve been calling it scary bird when I play with him and when he chooses the bird from among the other toys in the box, he picks it up very very gently. I think that he finds the screech as annoying as I do.

But let’s get back to the story.

Last night, my husband and I were sitting in the living room watching Wipe Out and suddenly George wakes up and wants to play. Yes, we watch Wipe Out. It’s our secret obsession. Well, I guess it’s not so secret anymore, but any show that makes my husband laugh out loud is The Best Thing Evah in my book, so we watch the show every night it’s on. And well, here’s how the whole toy conversation went down:

(Aren’t you glad you come here? A thrill a minute, I tell you.)

HIM: George, go get your Paraguay falcon.

George looks at my husband, turns his head to the side and begins wagging his tail.

HIM: George, go get your Paraguay falcon.

George continues to look at my husband, still wagging the tail and waiting.

ME: Um, honey. I don’t think he calls it that.

HIM: Yes he does. We’ve been tossing it around this week. (Repeats the order).

George continues to look confused yet there’s a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. He has no idea what toy his master is asking for.

ME: Well, maybe he knows that it’s not a Paraguay falcon and that it’s really a peregrine falcon.

HIM: He knows what it is.

ME: It’s a peregrine falcon. Per-a-grin falcon.

HIM: Yeah. What I said. A Paraguay falcon.

ME: George, go get your scary bird.

George runs over to the toy, picks it up gently, trots back to me and deposits the toy in my lap.

ME: It’s scary bird. Just call it that, honey.

And so christens the new toy. They all must have names, you know. A border collie has a huge vocabulary but you have to keep at it.

As I write these words, I wonder where in heaven’s name my mind has gone to be writing this kind of drivel for all to see and sharing pictures of what amounts to be chewed dog toys.

I may need help.

I love basil, and other randomness

I’m taking a break from all the Maine vacation photos I’ve been forcing on you to bring you random thoughts about the universe. Or rather, my universe – which exists in this little section of Maryland on the top of a hill surrounded on all sides by Surburbia.

Long post alert for those in a hurry.

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When I arrived home from work today, I made a salad that I’ve have been having nearly every day at about the same time. The counter in our kitchen always seems to have freshly picked tomatoes on it, and by the sink, I usually keep a vase full of basil from the garden. When my eyes see the both of them together, I will not be satisified until I have a caprese salad.

Today, after arranging everything on the plate, I suddenly decided that it looked nice enough to photograph, so I took the plate into the breakfast nook, adjusted the camera and was almost ready to take a shot when my cell phone rang.

I put the camera down and answered the phone. When I was finished, I sat down to eat my salad and it wasn’t until I was half-way through when I realized that I hadn’t even taken the photos yet. I had the camera sitting right there and had completely forgotten what I was doing.

So I took the pictures anyway.

And I think the half-finished plate look is working well here. At least, that’s my story. And I’m sticking to it.

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Last year, I bought some Celestial Seasonings ‘Cold-Brew’ teabags in the peach flavor and had forgotten that that it was in my tea cabinet until my husband pointed it out to me today when I was jonesing for some iced tea quick. I’ll be the first to admit that I have issues with tea, specifically for the apparent massive collection that I have of it. I just wanted to say that CS Cold-Brew in Peach tastes really really good.

So I thought I’d try it with a little vodka in it.

I don’t know, it was cocktail time and I felt like being wild and crazy. But oh, it was bad. Oh, not good at all.

And then I took a second sip. Ugh. Not good still but I wanted to be sure.

By the third sip, it was actually tasting a little better.

And by the tenth, I wondered why I hated it so much in the first place.

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Last night, I watched a movie on Netflix that I can’t stop thinking about. I’d originally seen Life As A House at a theatre when it first came out ten years ago and was moved by it then but had forgotten much and was wanting to see it again.

The movie stars Kevin Kline in one of his best roles, in my opinion. He plays a man who’s keeping the shattering news of his terminal illness to himself while at the same time trying to build the house that he’d been dreaming of for years. Hayden Christensen delivers a stunning performance with his portrayal of the estranged son whose entire being is transformed by the end of the film. Kristin Scott Thomas, Mary Steenburgen, and Jena Malone round out the casts’ core characters. It’s a little bit of a tear-jerker, but a telling look into the fragility of the human condition. But the star of the film for me is the location, breathtakingly set on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. My favorite scene involved a sunset and that's all I'll tell you about it, other than how good I felt after having viewed this little gem of a film.

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My cat thinks she is the Queen of Sheba. And it makes it very difficult to go up and down the steps.

I’m just sayin’.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Maine macro photography

I hope you aren’t minding the way I go on and on with my Maine posts, because I have another one for you today. Just looking at these photos makes me feel cooler and with this wicked awful heat, a temperature change is what we all need (at least those of us in the States).

There are cairns all over the place in Maine. I found this one marking one of the trails through the woods at the rental cottage.

I saw this on the floor of the deck and thought it was interesting. And I love the autumnal color.

Speaking of color, I found this magical mushroom while walking the Pigeon Hill Trail across the bay from the rental cottage. It’s like totally groovy, dude.

I love ferns.

I once knew somebody named Fern. She was a yoga instructor. Her profession and her name seemed to be a good fit and she sort of whispered when she talked.

I found that very annoying.

But speaking of mushrooms, I think this one is really cool. I love the color, too.

It looks yummy to me. When I was a child, I once ate some very pretty mushrooms. My mother happened to catch me as the last one went into my mouth, and I remember waiting for the doctor to come and then being forced to drink something horrible that made me throw up.

Learned my lesson, I will tell you that.

And I'll explain later why the doctor actually came to the house.

I found this butter knife in the utensil drawer at the rental cottage. No other silverware. Just this lone butter knife.

I took its photo to make it feel special.

I love cupcakes. ‘Nuff said.

Luv you, too.

‘til tomorrow, my friends . . .

PS -- The doctor who came was our family doctor and the best friend of my father. I don't think my mother was able to go out to get the medicine for me, so he brought some over and stayed to make sure I was ok.

The Kaunila Cottage in Milbridge, Maine

Last week, my husband and I rented the Kaunila Cottage, a new listing being offered by a rental agency that we’ve used in the past. The cottage is located on Bar Island, just outside of the town of Milbridge, Maine. It boasts wonderful views and sits directly at the southern tip of the island on several wooded acres along the rocky shore.

The views from the deck are incredible, as was the wonderful cool air coming off the water.

The rental agency also provides kayaks and these two were waiting for us when we arrived. This is a perfect place to kayak, by the way.

A short stroll through one of several different paths leads you to the rocky shore.

We’ll take the path directly in front of the house. Come on, I’ll show you.

The scent of the sea is strong here, and the woods and the damp earth smell glorious.

Isn’t this beautiful?

Many of the rocks here are large and smooth making it very comfortable to hang out and enjoy listening to the sounds of nature and the occasional lobster boat. This was shot at almost high tide.

But you probably want to see the inside of the house as well, don’t you? Let’s head back up there, then.

 

This art work on the side of the cottage greeted us when we arrived. A neighbor told us that a prominent Maine artist owns the property. I wonder if this is one of her works.

The inside of this basic Maine cottage is light and airy, with lightly stained pine throughout. Expansive windows allow you to feel as if you’re outside. A small kitchen includes all the necessities, and there is a simple bedroom in the back. There is also a tiny sitting room that has a pull down ladder which leads to a nice little loft.

The cottage states that it only sleeps two, but if the owners were to utilize the loft area, a small family of four might be comfortable here.

 

Comfortable is a relative term, however. And although I loved the simplicity of the cottage and its vintage furniture, I found it lacking in comfort. The double bed is very old and needs replacing.

But hey, it sure wasn’t anything we couldn’t live with. Because with a view like this, affordable rates for the week in high season, combined with the fact that pets are accepted, the Kaunila Cottage is definitely one I would recommend.

With a small investment on the owner’s part in a more comfortable bed and seating conditions, I would highly recommend it.

Coming up tomorrow: some local hikes.

Until then, my friends . . .

PS – Thank you for all the wonderful comments. You guys really are the best. And although I’d love to respond to every one of you, please know that I read each comment with fondness, and I so appreciate your visits and good thoughts.

Our trip to Maine begins

I wasn’t really sure whether or not I could go for an entire week without the internet during our recent vacation to a little island off the coast of Maine. But I did it, surprising myself (and my husband).

At the rental cottage, I didn’t have phone service either, but I really didn’t mind. It was a truly relaxing vacation. And one that we both badly needed.

It began a day early due to the fact that my husband desperately wanted to escape the heat that was forecast for our area last Saturday. It bothers him so much more than it ever has in the past. We left in the early morning hours, driving as far as Freeport, Maine where we got a hotel room for the night.

I love this welcome sign along the Maine Turnpike.

This is the first time I was able to get a photo of this sign. Rushing by in a car driving 75 mph, it’s difficult to hit it exactly and the past few times I’ve been to the state, I’ve made a concerted effort to be waiting with my camera for the sign to come in view, to no avail.

This time, I sort of forgot about all about it, then was surprised when I saw it coming into view, so quickly picked up the camera and was able to get one single shot.

Victory is mine.

We’re very early risers, so we were up and out of the hotel room by 6 am to begin our plan of driving slowly north up the Coastal Highway (Route 1). And when I say that we are early risers, I really mean that my husband is the early riser. I would have been more than happy to sleep in until a more civilized hour. Like 8 am, for heaven’s sake. But he promised me coffee and a donut and I am a sucker.

Unfortunately, he lied about the donut.

We drove through some rain and all the wonderful little, and some not-so-little, towns like this one along the coast. This is Camden above.

So many of the towns were so quaint and beautiful but it was a bit difficult to get pictures with the rainy weather. Crossing over the Sheepscot River, I looked to the right and saw the beautiful colors of the houses and boats at the edge of the town of Wiscasset. I quickly put the window down for the shot.

I made my husband pull over so I could take a picture of these brightly painted boats in Lincolnville. The rain had slowed to a soft mist at this point.

We made our way further north, arriving in Ellsworth (George’s home town), where we bought sandwiches for a picnic brunch and continued north from there. We stopped to eat at Schoodic Point on the Schoodic Peninsula, part of the Acadia National Park system, where I shot the photos below.

The sun had come out and the weather was miraculous. I say that because it felt so completely perfect. The scent of the ocean, the cries of the sea birds and the coolness of the air combined with the beautiful soft warmth of the sun soon had smiles on everyone’s face – even the dog.

I know that I sound like a complete romantic, but I yam what I yam.

George looks a little more relaxed while sitting by the point this time. The tide was lower than when we’d been there last and the surf was much more gentle. I know it’s difficult to tell, but we were all quite high up here.

We spent some time at the park here, then climbed back into the car to see if we could find the rental house which was another half hour or so north. Check-in wasn’t until 4 pm, but we figured we would at least try to find the place. And if it was clean and ready, then we’d go in.

And it was.

And we did.

And it wasn’t nearly as rustic as I thought it would be.

Well, mostly.

To be continued tomorrow, my friends . . .

I’m back and I’ve missed you

It’s been a long week and I’ve just returned home from a wonderful one spent on the coast of Maine and will tell you all about it soon.

But for now, it’s late as I write this – and it took especially long for us to get home, so I’ll just leave you with a few photos I took this week.

This is actually one of my favorites and was one of the first ones I took upon arriving. I used my new 70-300mm lens.

This is a partial view from the rocks in front of our rental cottage. We stayed outside of Milbridge, closer to Steuben.

I enjoyed some fresh Maine blueberries. That might be a piece of blueberry pie under those berries. It might be under that ice cream, come to think of it.

Oh, Lord.

George got a new hat.

Nah, I’m kidding.

My husband was just playing around. George looks silly, though.

He looks better in this picture.

Here we are, driving down the dirt road to the cottage. George often likes to hang right next to me there when we’re in the car, where he has a good view.

More tomorrow, my friends . . .

So kiss me and smile for me; tell me that you’ll wait for me

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn
The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

As you’re reading this post, my husband and I (and George, of course) are on our way back up to our beloved Maine. You’re really not that surprised, are you?

When we returned from our first visit in June, I thought that would be it. But my husband was so happy there (as was the dog) that I thought it might be nice to be able to take them back. And so I began to look for places that we could afford because I had another week off that I needed to take before the summer ended.

It quickly became apparent, however, that not only would we never find a place for what we could pay in high season, but the cottages we wanted (on the water) would not take pets. It wasn’t until I contacted a realtor we used a couple of years ago that I began to think that maybe this idea would work. She said that since we had rented before, she could get us into places that didn’t advertise as pet-friendly.

So this opened up a lot more rental properties from which to choose.

Although we prefer Saturday to Saturday, I did find a Sunday to Sunday rental that’s much further from the national park than I would have liked, but it’s affordable. And it’s right on the water. It’s a little rustic but I can handle that because hey . . . (you know what I’m going to say already) . . . we’ll be in Maine.

This incredible heat has gotten to my husband. Maybe it’s the whole cancer thing, I don’t know. But I do know that I need to get him away again. Unfortunately, because the place is a bit lacking in the modern technologies, there will be no internet. I think there’s a TV, but heavens knows what we’ll be able to get on it. And there’s no washer or dryer. But hey! There’s a LOBSTAH POT!!!

I won’t be home until next Sunday evening, so there won’t be another post until then. I’ll try to take lots of pictures and hope you don’t forget about me in the meantime.

Love,

PS – Photos are of the George Washington Bridge in NYC in the early morning light during our last trip this past June. Traffic was light, which was a first.

More Mathews photos. Because I like it there.

I want to apologize for not getting around to visit all the blogs I usually do. This really bothers me and after a couple of days of it, I begin to feel guilty. I grew up Catholic, so feeling guilty is something I’m used to. (No offense).

I’ve had a stressful week and am going to need another vacation after all this. Luckily, I have a plan.

Tonight, just to chill out some, I played with some photos I’d taken at last weekend’s Blog Fest held at the home of Chesapeake Bay Woman in Mathews, VA. I used some new actions from Florabella called Florabella’s Luxe Photoshop Actions.

And I love them. Here, I’ll show you some of the photos on which I’ve used them.

I think I’ll call this one Bent Tip.

Taken one morning at a cemetery outside of Mathews along Rt. 14. I love this fence and used Florabella’s Cashmere action on it.

Cashmere here again.

We had a couple of tours while at Blog Fest and two of them were led by Miss Pookie, a lifelong resident of Gwynn’s Island. She took us to the waterfront home where she was born and told us a little of the history of the island and its residents.

This little cat was sitting on the woodpile when we arrived and we didn’t even scare it. I used Florabella’s Heiress action.

Miss Pookie also took us to an old building that used to be a church. Florabella’s Pandora action, as well as [this trick].

CBW’s mom, Maryann, peeking in the window. Florabella’s Gypsy action used on this shot.

I love these pink chairs and the aqua color of the porch roof. That’s a boat tied up there on the porch, too. Florabella’s Gypsy action again.

I bought a single hammock stand chair very similar to this one for my husband’s 40th birthday, which we spent in Ocracoke, NC. That was many years ago and whenever I see a chair like this, I think happy thoughts of days long gone. And I smile.

I have packing to do. I am totally serious about that vacation.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .