Friday, August 27, 2010

Mainely Hikes…

Maine vacations always mean lots of hiking…

Our first day found Mr O and I hiking up the Asticou Terraces Trail to the Thuya Garden. 

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This is not only a short, sweet hike with a beautiful view of Northeast Harbor…

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…but it also has the garden at the end as a reward.

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Without children, we spent much more time relaxing in the garden than we did hiking…

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It is a garden of perennials and raked paths.

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Our second hike, up Penobscot Mtn Trail, was our most strenuous…undertaken before the younger children arrived…

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The view…well a picture is worth a thousand words…

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We try to do this hike each year…just to prove we can…This is our two family group…minus me.

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This hike also has a reward at the summit… we get to cool off in Sargent Mt Pond…IMG_3304

We have learned to wear our bathing suits on this hike…

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On the way back down the view is just as fine…

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After the children arrived we did two hikes that our nearly five year old grandson could hike.  The first was Flying Mt…

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It has just enough challenge…and just as fantastic views.

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The reward at the end of this hike is picnicking and wading on the shores of Somes Sound.

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Our last hike on this trip was up Day Mt…

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…another climb that is child friendly…

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…and still has a beautiful view.

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Maine is for hiking…

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Maine Interlude Repeated…

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My very sporadic posting will be interrupted by our annual vacation to Maine.  There we will enjoy family, friends, food, hiking, reading, and relaxing…but not the internet.  I will be taking three cameras with me…plus my iphone…so I should to have plenty to share when I return…

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

A Birthday Sandcastle…

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Sometimes frosting just isn’t needed…

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…if you have a fancy cake pan…and make Vanilla Blueberry Pound Cake…

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and decorate it with turbinado sugar…that looks just like beach sand…

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…and blue pennants made of ribbon…IMG_6703

…And eat it at the beach.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A Summer Philosophy…

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"I look back upon a day spent in what the world would call idleness, and for which I myself can suggest no more appropriate epithet, but which nevertheless I cannot feel to have been spent amiss. True, it might be a sin and a shame in a world such as ours to spend a lifetime in this manner; but for a few summer weeks it is good to live as if this world were heaven."

-- Nathaniel Hawthorne

I will have to agree with Mr Hawthorne….

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

At the Fair…

Recently my grandchildren have been enjoying the book Angelina at the Fair  that was given to their Aunt E in 1986.   It is inscribed “Happy 4th Birthday E!  We’ll be going to the fair soon – Just like Angelina!”.  The story concerns an adventurous mouse who takes a younger cousin to a fair where they go on a ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and a Haunted House before the little cousin gets lost.  

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Maybe because of this story, when he heard that we were going to the North Stonington Fair Mr J immediately was interested in riding the ferris wheel. 

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It was difficult sitting through dinner…

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The animals were a little more fun…

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Dels Frozen Lemonade was enjoyed…

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Ribbons were earned for being good farmers…

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That ferris wheel was always within sight…

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And finally we were there…

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He wasn’t frightened at all…

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We could see Mom and Miss E waving from the train…

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Unlike her brother, Miss E really didn’t like the rides…

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Mr O got some great shots of us on the roller coaster…

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I like roller coasters and now have someone who will go on them with me…

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Miss E did not want any help catching this fish…

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Before we left the fair Mr J got to go on a pony ride…

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I have been going to county fairs since I was in a 4H club showing my rabbit.  It was nice to return with grandchildren and to remember how hot, dusty, and fun it had been.

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Simple Things of Summer…

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There is a birthday party going on over at Christina’s blog, Soul Aperture…and what better way to celebrate than to join Se’lah and list a few of those simple things that make me happy. Here is just a small summer edition…

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  • Summer birthdays top the list…
  • Hair that curls in the humidity…
  • Ice cream cake…
  • Road trips…

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  • A backyard pool…
  • The smell in the air after the start of a rainstorm…
  • Outdoor flea markets…
  • Mowing the lawn…

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  • Dining al fresco at a city restaurant…
  • Riding in the car with the windows down…
  • Listening to the cicadas drone…
  • Queen Anne’s Lace and Bachelor's Button on the roadsides…Just the names of those wildflowers…

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  • Water lilies in the pond
  • Having a really good belly laugh first thing in the morning
  • The smell of a ripe cantaloupe melon…the taste of cantaloupe with prosciutto…
  • Tide pools…

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  • County fairs…
  • Swimming in the ocean…
  • Listening to thunderstorms…
  • The color gray of rain clouds…

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  • Breakfast on the porch…
  • Reading a good mystery book…
  • The smell of honeysuckle in the air…
  • Listening to baseball on the radio…

This list is never ending…Summer is full of wonderful, simple things…

Monday, July 12, 2010

A Perfect Day For the Beach…

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On the holiday weekend, the state beach was full and cars were being turned away…but our little sailboat could easily take us to a quiet,  almost empty beach…where the sand was so hot our feet burned and the water was so cold our skin tingled…

Sailing back, Mrs R and I tried to remember the lyrics to “A Perfect Day”…because it was a perfect day.

 Lou Reed
Transformer (1972)
Perfect Day

Just a perfect day,
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It's such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow.

 

Thursday, July 8, 2010

The Pursuit of Happiness…

Deciding how I was going to spend this 4th of July holiday was not easy for me this year.  For the past 59 years I always knew that I would be spending the day celebrating my sister’s birthday and this would be the first that I have spent without her.  I thought of going away…but happily ended up spending time with my daughters, their husbands,  my grandchildren…and of course Mr O.

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We had a peanut hunt…I can remember doing this at my grandmother’s house when I was their age.

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Some of us got wet.

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Some tried to relax.

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We grilled.

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And we played with sparklers.

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I do love sparklers!