Exploring Ogunquit

Yesterday, Colette and I took off for a bit of exploration.  She will need to start baking for the opening day of the farmers' market soon, so we decided to go have a bit of fun while she has some time.  She chose Ogunquit, Maine as our destination.

Our plan was to walk at least part of The Marginal Way, a meandering paved path on a bluff, with a sweeping view of the ocean.  My girl at the start of the path!  Love her!

The landscaping of the bordering hotels is just gorgeous!  In late summer, I've seen these same flower beds full of blooming dahlias, but for today it was all about giant allium.

The beaches and ocean here in New England still make me stare in wonder.  Compared to the beaches I grew up with in southern California, there are so few people!  And they're shallow for so far from shore.  All that ocean and not a single boat in sight!  And the air at the beach is so fresh here!  I can't explain that, so if anyone can, please leave and comment and tell me why the beach air in southern California leaves your hair and car sticky, but the beach air here is just fresh.

I enjoyed seeing how everyone seemed to be able to pull up their own little private patch of beach.

A classic New England weathervane.

Then we retraced our steps back to our car, and we drove down to the main part of the beach for a short walk to admire the beach grass, dip our toes in the water, and look for shells.

We then wandered into town and explored a few shops.  This place will definitely be where we stop for a bit to eat in the future.  Although a gourmet food market, they have a hot grill too, and the fabulous aromas coming from there made us hungry!  Great selection of cheeses!  And just look at the flavor of that gelato!

We got refreshing smoothies at a nearby bakery and coffee house and called it a day!  A good day!

Fearless in the Kitchen

Colette is fearless in the kitchen.  Fearless that girl is!  This week she brought out her favorite baking cookbooks and spent a day pouring over them for fresh inspiration, marking all the new recipes she wanted to try for this year's farmers' market.

And yesterday?...this!  Homemade bagels!  Delicious!

Fearless, I say!

The Graduate

Today was Max's last day of school!  He is our last homeschool graduate, and we couldn't be prouder of him!  Early last summer, he got a part-time job.  In the fall, he was juggling his homeschool coursework, a co-op pre-calculus class, English 101 from a local community college, a business internship, AND his part-time job.  He was one busy guy!  But he has proven he can shoulder adult responsibilities well.  Week before last he bought his first car.  And next week he starts a full-time job.  One more year, and he wants to move on to his goal of doing maritime law enforcement with the U.S. Coast Guard.  Such a delight to see God blessing His hard work and plans!

Open for the Season

We are open for the season!  It's visiting season...at least at our house, and our first guests of the season came last week.  My brother, sister-in-law, sweet niece, and irrepressible nephew were her for a four-day stay.  They were the first of a steady stream of people coming to our "B&B", as we say, between now and mid-October. We feel very blessed to have so many friends and family coming to stay.

The first day of their visit, my brother and Max hiked Mt. Washington.  Although it is right here in New Hampshire, it is home to some of the most severe weather on the planet.  Fortunately,they had fabulous weather...sunny, high temperatures, and visibility for 70 miles from the summit.  So proud of them to have reached the summit!

While they were hiking up, my sister-in-law, Colette, the kids and I hiked down.  Down into the Quechee Gorge in Vermont.  Here's a view looking down towards our destination, at the far end of this photo.

Down at the river's edge now.

Other highlights of our day included a visit to King Arthur Flour.  Baguettes in hand!

A stop at the Cabot Cheese Shop.  When he saw this photo, my nephew exclaimed, "I look just like a cow!"

And a delicious stop at Morano Gelato!  Yum!  One of my favorite places on the planet!

The next day was a simple day full of family time.

I suggested we play a card game, and my nephew said, "Card game?  I only know how to play blackjack and poker!"  Not surprisingly, he won.

There was cousin time with their second cousins.

We enjoyed some really delicious, light and smooth root beer that they brought with them, as they had already visited Colonial Williamsburg on their trip.

And there was some fun exploring happening too!

Precious times with family!  

Baby Shower Tea

A week ago, Colette and I hosted a baby shower tea for Felicity!  It was an intimate gathering of a few of her friends...in the evening...with dessert!  Photos are less than stellar (my apologies), because I was busy hostessing and enjoying myself, but I wanted to share just a few with you.

We set the table with an eclectic mix of china teacups, water goblets, napkins, and silverware.

We arranged each individual plate with the tiny desserts and had them ready and waiting in the refrigerator to serve once the guests arrived.  Each plate had: a Piourline cookie, a rabbit-shaped sugar cookie (from my grandmother's recipe), lemon mousse with blackberry and blueberries in phyllo cup, an enormous chocolate-dipped strawberry, and chocolate mousse garnished with raspberry and mint leaf.  Each person's chocolate mousse was piped into one of my antique crystal salt cellars and served with a teeny spoon.

Happy soon-to-be-mom-of-FOUR!

She had a friend visiting from out-of-state with her own daughters.  We set up a separate table in a corner of the dining room for the little girls, with their own tablecloth, cheery daffodil snipped from the front flowerbed, and teacups.

Everyone talked around the table for hours...sipping tea, admiring the cute baby gifts (oops...no pictures of those), and enjoying having a really girly night with friends!