The Maine Sights

I thought I'd give you a little tour of some of the sights I've been seeing while I've been chauffeuring Colette to her job in Maine. Maine is beautiful at any time of year, but summer and autumn are definitely when it shines! Being further north than we live, there is more autumn color to be seen here. But still...it's a wee bit early, and it's just beginning to pop everywhere.

Given almost unlimited time to myself, my first choice of activity is to go antique shopping. And Maine, especially up and down Highway 1, is loaded with intriguing shops. Give me a three-story barn full of antiques, and you could lose me for hours!

Having run through most of the antique stores in the area and lugged home a number of small items...yet another walking stick, a small iron to use as a doorstop in my sewing room, a deer antler, a dried gourd, etc., I turned my attention to exploring bakeries and small restaurants. They all need exploring, right? 

Super good, jumbo biscuits here! And they make them into sandwiches!

And I finally made it to the locally-famous, Musette, where I had a super fluffy waffle stuffed full of ham and roasted peppers and onions. Highly recommend!

Sometimes I just enjoy driving and "getting lost" in an unknown area, which is the advantage of the modern age when you can just Google Maps your way from lost to the closest bakery! Win, win! While "lost", I happened upon this scene and had to pull over. It just took my breath away...England has met New England in a glance. Just look at that view!

But by far, my favorite way to explore places is on foot. After consuming the fluffy omelette with great enthusiasm, it was time for a long stroll. The town I was in then, Cape Porpoise (which has the cutest name!) is chock full of iconic Maine sights, and it was a joy to have time to savor them.

I've visited farm stands and garden centers. This one is Snug Harbor Farm. A large, white patty pan squash and a luminous, pale green bird bottle gourd came home with me from here.

Last Saturday, because it was the weekend, a flea market was happening, and I was able to go. This carved eagle, holding the Coast Guard's motto of Semper Paratus (always prepared) in its talons, came home with me. Perfect, since our son's a Coastie! It's probably going on the gallery wall in the family room. And, yes, these trips are starting to get expensive. More walks...less shopping. 

Today, it is raining and only in the 50's. And of all days, I completely forgot a jacket. But I've been doing a bit of wandering, because autumn is too pretty not to.

But I've been trying to redeem the time too, and have been blogging, typing for hours and hours on a project for our town's historical society, returning emails, and more. I've been reading. And I'm doing all the hand sewing I can possibly do. Today, I brought our Christmas cards along, and if time allows, I will be signing all of them and addressing them. Christmas is coming!

Christmas Doings at our Home

Christmas is nearly here! The month of December is nearly over. We are about to turn the calendar page to 2017. And my blog image is still stuck in autumn. 

In late-October, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and started on a treatment plan. Instead of blogging in the evenings, I needed to heed what my body was telling me and rest and attempt to release the tension wracking my body. You see, hearing what it's saying is easy. Knowing what I ought to do is easy. But heeding what my body is saying is the hard part. But I'm getting better at it. And my sweet family has been a big help, enabling me to still enjoy the holiday season and rest when I need to do so.

In quick highlights, here's a glimpse at the Christmas doings in our family...

In early December, we drove north to spend a day with Max and take a plate of Christmas treats to the Coasties on his boat. Posing here before one of the many lobster trap Christmas trees that highlight the town greens of coastal Maine towns.

We fetched our Christmas tree from our local cut-your-own, family-run business, which is down a narrow, bumpy, dirt road. And the family offers their maple syrup for purchase with your Christmas tree. Love it! 

Decking the halls tops my list of favorite things to do at Christmas time! This year, I used these beautiful metal wreaths (an antique store find) mixed in with the ribbons on the stair garland.

My favorite new vignette this year though was this tray on the front entry table. Super simple! Quick instructions: take one large, silver tray and add clear glass cylinder candle holders and multiple mercury glass candle holders, add tea lights and various height white candles, fill in the gaps with mirrored and ivory-colored ornaments. Light and watch the magic happen...the ohhs and ahhhs!

The family room decked out for Christmas.

I've been having fun playing with the tabletop contents of the sofa table this year, with the intention being to provide interesting things for the grandkids to look at and/or touch. Top row, left to right: a glittery lamb under a cloche and on a majolica plate (to remind us that Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God), an antique basket full of mercury glass acorns and pinecones (because the real variety abound on our property), baby Jesus in a manger, a stack of antique Dickens Christmas books. Bottom row, left to right: a stack of coffee table Christmas books, a clove-studded orange in a pewter porridger, a book entitled An American Christmas, a book of Christmas poetry with a magnifying glass, and an antique crockery bowl filled with walnuts for cracking and eating.

My shop did fabulously this season, and I am immensely grateful for all my wonderful customers! Thank YOU!

We had our annual Christmas party. I felt well enough to bake cookies, but hired someone to clean my house for the first time in my life. Oh my. That is strange, and kind of wonderful! Those are cookies lined up as far as the eye can see.

Hubby and I are ready for the party!

It has been a delightfully snowy December! We don't always have snow before Christmas, so I'm really happy about this! Our front door on a snowy morning.

Lots of snow means lots of snow blowing! And lots of shoveling! But there's no shoveling for me this year. It's my season to just provide the hot coffee afterwards.

A gorgeous scene from rural New Hampshire as the storm moved out that evening.

The grandkids came over this week for a fun morning of candy making!

And now the presents are wrapped and under the tree! Max is home for Christmas! Everyone is spending Christmas at our home this year, and we are rejoicing at that!

A very blessed Christmas from our family to yours!