I have created a monster

Meet my dog’s newest obsession. I’d like to introduce you to Squeaky Toy, something I picked up for George at a WalMart down in Biloxi. It’s also something that he hasn’t put down since I first gave it to him four hours ago.

This is not an exaggeration here.

 

It all began when we were visiting our friends last week. They have two dogs named Bella and Dinky. The Dinkster is an elederly female daschund that has been in their family since their children were young. Dink still gets around ok, and although it always took a day or two when we visited, she and George have always gotten along.

It’s mostly because George is a gentleman and he knows his place.

And then they got Bella. I have no photos of them and please forgive me here because I didn’t feel like picking up my camera much during this last trip. With the exception of taking photos at the casino pool and some family pics, I basically didn’t use the camera at all. I get like this sometimes.

But back to Bella. She’s young, she’s a little bit crazy, and she runs in circles in the yard as if an unseen force is chasing her. At first George was a little freaked out by her over-exhuberance and wouldn’t give her the time of day. But after a couple days, he was running with her as if they were old friends. She even let him play with her toys.

With the exception of one.

It was her squeaky toy. And by the end of the week, we began to notice that whichever dog had the squeaky toy was the alpha for the moment. My husband and I saw George one extremely hot afternoon, laying outside by the pool with his arm around Bella’s squeaky toy. He was not going to give it up. This is when I decided to get him his own and bring it home.

 

 

I just remembered it four hours ago and gave him his new prize. I couldn’t believe how excited he was. And in those last four hours, we have played toss, fetch, catch, and I even took him for a walk in which the toy accompanied him. When he wasn’t squeaking it, he was dropping it on the path for me to pick up and toss.

After four hours of this, I thought I would lose my mind. If I put it down, he brings it to me, places it next to where I’m sitting and does the border collie stare-down.

My husband took him for a walk just to get him away from me.

 

I have truly created a monster here.

Hello again

 

Home again, home again. It’s good to be home. I spent a week visiting with longtime friends, one of which was scheduled to undergo surgery last week, so we went to help. We managed to have a couple of fun days before all that, though.

 

Early last week, we all went to a casino in Biloxi to have lunch with a couple who was staying there. I’d never met them before, as they were friends of the people we were visiting.

 

We ate by the pool in a private cabana. The friends I visit here are in the casino biz, so we tend to go there a lot when we’re in town.

 

It was hot but the humidity was very low, so the weather wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be.

I love how the sky looked that day.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever had lunch in a posh poolside cabana before. Try saying that three times real fast.

Even with the fans, it began to feel a little warm in the enclosure, so we all took a dip in the pool, which was wonderful.

 

And the view out back wasn’t too shabby, either.

I’ll write more tomorrow. It was a long drive home, and I’m a little tired. So until then my friends . . .

Ice cream castles in the air

Today was glorious. It was a perfect summer day, complete with soft breezes, sunny skies, and temps that were – dare I say – pleasant.

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The little wrens are doing fine. My husband saw them today over by the garden and told me not to worry. It will be interesting to see if they nest in the same place next year and I’m glad I grabbed the photo from yesterday when I did.

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Here’s something that happened last week: One of my YouTube videos went a little viral.

Last year, I made a video using some of my pictures and set it to music by Neko Case. When it got up to 7,000 views, I was pretty astounded but attributed it to the fact that I had titled it after the artist and included the name of the song.

When we got home from Maine, I noticed all these YouTube comments from that particular video in my inbox. They were literally pouring in by the hour. The hits on the video kept climbing and when I last checked, it was over 100,000. What happened is this: A TV show called True Blood (which I’ve never seen) used the same Neko Case song at the end of their season finale. Apparently, the scene involved some pretty steamy sex in a forest between two of the main characters. A lot of people who watched it did the same thing that I do when I hear a song I love. I go to YouTube and look it up. And apparently, my video turned into some kind of chat forum for the season finale of True Blood.

From what I’ve read, that is. I’m really not into it.

 

As an aside, I hadn’t viewed this video in awhile and it wasn’t until I told my son Matt who wrote back telling me that if you search’ neko case I wish’ on YouTube, mine is the second video to come up. “And oh,” he added, “do you think I could have a copy of the photo of us when we were little – you know, the one at the end?”

What the hell? There’s a photo of us in there? I had forgotten about this. In any case, here’s the video in case you haven’t seen it. It’s really not all that and a bag of chips, but the music is cool.

Neko Case – I Wish I Was the Moon

 

And speaking of cool, I like these cloud photos which were taken by my husband last August. I found them in the photo files.

 

Normally, I’d be in the pool right now, having a cocktail (it’s the weekend, man) and getting some sun but I’m packing to go away for a week.

And when I say the pool, I mean the kiddie pool. I don’t have a real pool.

 

I’ll try to post a couple of times while I’m gone.

 

I have one more week of vacation time before the school year starts and this is the last possible week I could take it.

We’ll be visiting friends.

And I’m sure it will be hot.

 

But I’m not even going to think about that.

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Until next time, my friends . . .

Early August sunrise

As I write this post, there’s a little bit of drama going on our back yard which was inadvertently my fault but I’m hoping it will all work out well. I’ll get to all that in a moment, however. When it all unfolded, I was quietly sitting with my laptop in my favorite spot here in the living room and looking at some photos that I’d found on the camera disk. My husband told me he’d taken them early yesterday morning on his walk with George.


And they really are lovely.




He was standing at the western edge of the property; the house is at the lower right of the picture above.





You can see it better in this one.





I love how the colors of the sky keep changing.

And although it’s nice to be able to stay in bed before the sun comes up, there’s few things as magical as watching a beautiful sunrise.





I couldn’t believe this one. These are the true colors of the sky and I love that blue.

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Back to what’s going on outside . . .


In July before we left for Maine, a Carolina Wren decided to make her nest in one of the hanging baskets on the little porch out back.

Here’s what the back porch in early June, when the hanging baskets were small. Right now, they’re overflowing, and the wren fashioned herself a private little nest in the New Guinea impatiens basket at the far right.


Porch in June


The babies were born a couple of weeks ago and there are four of them.

 

I took this photo six days ago.

 

 

And tonight, as I do every night, I watered the plant as gently as I could and to my surprise and dismay, I startled three of the babies out of their nest.

 

 

I watched as they flew from branch to branch on the big bush, trying to hold on and finally coming to rest on the ground. Their attempts to get back to the nest failed and at one point, I snuck outside and got the photo below.

 

 

You can still the little tufts of feathers sticking out of this little one’s head ~

We continued to watch as the mother finally showed up and began directing her brood to the safety of the garden. The light is fading and I hope they all get to where they need to be.

I felt badly about it for awhile, but after reading that the young ones are usually ready to leave the nest in 12-14 days, I realized that’s right on the mark here. I just hope they stay safe.

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Excuse me, but is that a chicken on the kitchen floor?

 

This afternoon at our house.

 

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When I walked in the door from work today, I noticed that there was a roasting chicken lying on the kitchen floor. It was partially frozen, wrapped in a ziploc bag and lying on a kitchen towel next to the box fan. I found my husband and asked why there was a chicken on the kitchen floor and he told me that he was using it to help cool the breakfast nook.

 

What?

 

He said that he was thawing it to grill for dinner and thought he might as well put it to use to help to cool the room. So he put it behind the fan so it could draw the cold from it. “Why waste the coldness”,  he said, “right”?

 

George and I looked at each other, and I swear the dog rolled his eyes just as I did as I walked away.

 

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My husband does not want to be bothered to go to the barber shop and is constantly trying to get me to cut his hair. I’ve told him time and time again that I am not even remotely qualified to cut hair. I’ve proven this on a number of occasions, yet he still asks if I will cut his hair.

 

When I came home from work today I noticed that he’d given himself a hair cut. I told him, “Wow – you do a pretty good job cutting your own hair. It looks good!”

 

And then he turned around and I said “uh-oh”.

 

He really should not be cutting his own hair.

 

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Half an hour ago, I went into the kitchen to get a glass of raspberry iced tea. My husband was at his computer in the breakfast nook, but looking out the window. When he noticed me, he put his finger to his lips for me to be quiet, then pointed to his head, and then outside. “Head,” I said. He shook his head to say no. “Hair?” I asked. He shook his head yes. Then he points outside.

 

Oh, I figured. It’s a game. “Your hair is on the picnic table?” I asked. No. No. No, he indicated, shaking his head. He points again to his hair and then to somewhere out the window. I’m wondering if he’s put his hair outside or something . . . I mean I’d already found a chicken on the floor, maybe he’s done something interesting with all of the hair he’d cut. “Um, your hair is on the bird feeder?” I asked.

 

He points again to his hair and then out the window. I don’t understand why people think that if they keep giving the same clues, someone will finally get it. When I shook my head to say no, he finally said out loud, “There’s a hairy woodpecker out there on the feeder. Hairy woodpecker. You are terrible at this game.”

 

I laughed because I was thinking exactly the same thing, only the other way around.

 

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George wants to thank you for all the sweet comments yesterday and I had to tell him firmly that he cannot have his own blog. I can barely keep up with this one!”

 

 

And because you know I can’t have a post without a single photo ~ This was found while antique shopping with Lili in Ellsworth, Maine. I almost bought it for my husband but it was terribly overpriced. Would have been fun, though.

 

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And speaking of fun, I hope it doesn’t sound as if I’m making fun of my husband because the last thing I would want to do would be to hurt his feelings. In public, no less. It’s just that I often find everyday life with him to be interesting, amusing, and a host of other emotions that I won’t even go into here. I just think these little quirks of his are sweet, is all.

 

And I would miss them very much if he was gone.

 

Thanks so much for visiting me today here in Blogland. It’s always good to have you stop by. See you tomorrow, folks ~

George overload

Several of you have asked how George liked his vacation to Maine, and I think he had a pretty good time. He’s great during long trips, and he loves being with us. And well, I think I’ll just let him tell you himself.

Take it away then, George.

 

 

Hi. I’m George and I’m a border collie. My humans took me on vacation with them again and I was hoping we would visit my favorite place. I knew we were going there when the ride was really long. And then I could smell it. We were in Maine! I love Maine. And I love that the cat has to stay home.

 

I went on many adventures. My humans called them hikes. Here is a picture of me with dad on top of Schoodic Mountain. No, wait. I think it’s called Schoodic Head.

 

Here I am on another adventure to Eagle Lake. It was hot in Maine this year but I was happy.

 

I got a new toy and I played fetch with it a lot.

 

Over and over and over. Everybody knows I like fetch.

 

I got up early every day with dad.

 

And we watched the sunrise together.

 

Things smell different here. I think that’s one of the best parts. Did you know I was born here? I don’t remember any of it, but it smells familiar.

 

I found a boat with my name!

 

No, I didn’t. I cannot tell you a lie. My mom photoshopped it for me.

I want to say for the record that this is as far as I go at Thunder Hole. This step right here is it for me.

I do not like loud booms.

I do not like their sound.

I also do not like it

when there’s children running round.

I hope you like my poem. Little people and loud booms aren’t my favorite things.

 

I love Maine. I hope I get to go back soon.

Thanks for visiting me today.

George

The best lobster roll on MDI

In the years that we’ve been visiting Mount Desert Island in Maine, I’ve had my share of lobster rolls. Some were pretty good and some were not, but it wasn’t until I found what I consider to be the Holy Grail of lobster rolls that I knew how good this sandwich could really be.

True story: The first time I ordered two of these and they told me the price, I cancelled the order. My husband, who prefers to wait in the car, told me to go back inside and order the damn things. We were on vacation, and it’s not like we’re going to have them again this trip. I’m glad I did because they were delicious. But at $15 per roll (they’re now up to $17), it’s a very pricey lunch.

Let’s head to Northeast Harbor for what I believe to be the best lobster roll on Mount Desert Island.

 

It’s beautiful here at the harbor. But it’s a little too hoity-toity for me. However, we’re here for the lobster rolls at the Colonel’s Restaurant & Bakery on Main Street. And I’ve just spent an entire morning hiking at the national park and dang-it, I am hungry.

 

As you can see, they don’t use the traditional grilled hot dog roll but rather a grilled round roll. We had ours on wheat. But it’s what inside that matters, and the Colonel’s simple blend of mayonnaise and herbs is pure perfection.

 

And the crispy and zesty fries that go with it are out-of-this-world good.

I kept popping one after the other into my mouth as we headed to our favorite picnic spot on Sargent Drive which runs along nearby Somes Harbor. Luckily I had enough fries left to grab this photo.

 

The original Colonel’s, along with a couple of surrounding buildings, was destroyed in a fire in 2008. The new Colonel’s includes 1-bedroom suites above the restaurant.

And their baked goods are heavenly.

Colonel’s, Northeast Harbor

 

While waiting for our lunch to be prepared, I always like to stroll along Main Street and look at the shops. The art galleries, in particular, are my favorite. My husband and George usually elect to stay in the car and wait.

On another note, we bought lobster roll for dinner one evening over in Winter Harbor, bringing it back to eat on the deck of the cottage. The lobster roll from Harbor Girl Emporium Café was pretty decent, but my heart still belongs to the Colonel.

 

Here is a fantastic recipe for lobster rolls from Rebecca Charles, owner of the Pearl Oyster Bar in NYC and author of Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie: Three Generations of Recipes and Stories from Summers on the Coast of Maine. (I love this book).

I also love sarsaparilla. I just thought you needed to know that.

Pearl Oyster Bar – Lobster Roll Recipe

Until tomorrow, then . . .

Along the Great Head Trail

One of our favorite trails to hike at Acadia National Park is the Great Head Trail. This trail is a beautiful and brisk jaunt along the easternmost edge of the island and offers breathtaking vistas of the water as well as an old ruin. There are two ways to get to the trailhead. You can either park at Sand Beach and pick up the trail at the eastern edge of the beach or you can do what we always do, which is to enter the back way.

If you go, take the Park Loop Road and make a left immediately before the park entrance, where the toll booths are located. Then make your first right and head to the parking lot on the left. Hike up to the trailhead, where you will come to the sign you see below and go left.




I brought the little camcorder with us on this hike and this is one of the first views you will be rewarded with.

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When it’s bright outside, you can’t see a thing in the viewfinder, so I had no idea what I was filming and how straight I was holding the little camera.

The hike is under 2 miles so it really doesn’t take very long. A little further up the trail, you will come to a crossroad. It doesn’t matter which way you go because it’s a loop. We did something different this time and headed up the rocks you see below, which is probably what contributed to the screaming of my knees that night.

It was a painful night.




If you look closely, you’ll see George and my husband. You might also see trail markers of blue painted at intervals on the rock.




At the top, you have a great view of The Beehive. My husband has goaded me for years to climb The Beehive with him, but I have steadfastly refused. I refused because I know my limitations. And I refuse to succumb to peer pressure.

Besides, I know several people who have hiked this trail, and each has told me it was really hairy.




You soon come to Sand Beach and the panoramic beauty of it all.




We took a little break on the cliff that overlooks the beach. George loves this trail.

Interesting fact: Part of the 1999 movie, Cider House Rules was filmed at Sand Beach.




Now the trail heads east a bit more, hugging the perimeter. That’s when you come to the one little dicey bit.

Well, for me, it’s dicey because of my *&(^$%** knees. My husband and the dog clambered right up it like they were kids. Which one of them is.

I took a short video before I started up.

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It’s really not all that bad. And if you don’t have bad knees, it’s rather fun.




And there’s a wonderful ring to help pull you up that I’m sure my husband didn’t even need.

I used it, though.

At the top, we always take another break to enjoy the scenery. In the center of the photo above, you can see my husband and the dog. But just behind him lies a jumble of stone.




This is all that is left of the tower built by JP Morgan for his daughter, Louisa Saterlee. Given to her, along with Sand Beach as a wedding gift, the tower had a tea room, a salon, and an observatory.

It was lost in the Fire of 1947 which destroyed over 17,000 acres on Mount Desert Island and left the town of Bar Harbor in ruin.




You can still see the stone floor of the tower. It’s in such a magnificent location. All of the land that was owned by the Saterlees was donated to the park.




And then we follow the blue trail markers back down. I highly recommend this trail if you are ever to visit this magnificent park.

Next up ~ the best lobstah roll on the island.