Coastal Maine

 

What a great weekend we had at the coast and the lake.  It was glorious weather with temps near 90* inland but much cooler near the water. Mom and Dad stayed home and took care of the boys.  Scoot continues to settle in and the grands LUV him!  They came in the other day and said they found his itchy spot and it’s on his forehead.  He puts his head right down so that they can scratch it with their fingernails.  :o)  Funsize and I tried to get some good pictures of him but he was pooped from our ride and the ole’ ears were just not going to go up for us.

We took a ride to the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park for lobster stew and popovers which is always a treat.  I’ll meet you there in a few weeks Jo-Lynne!  Yum!  There is a very interesting pergola outside of the entrance and it is covered with wisteria early in the season.  It makes for lovely cool shade while waiting in line to get into the restaurant.

After we ate the we rode around a small part of the park and got some pictures.  I love all the stone over passes.  These were put in during the Depression by John D Rockefeller to create jobs for folks in the area.

The rocky coast of Maine.  We do have beaches but mostly the shoreline is like this.

Always lots of boats.

I would like to have walked out on this little peninsula and just soaked up the view.

Something caught my eye and it was mom duck with two ducklings.

 

Here is the very patient Hubs waiting in the car for me.  xoxox

 

There are lots of wonderful Inns to stay in.

Mountains surround the park.

The next day we stayed at the lake with lots of friends and family joining us.  Again it was gorgeous lake weather.  We decided to make some ice cream with the grands sooooooooooo with direction book in hand and the ice cream maker we started the process which according to the book would take about 20 minutes once we got all the ingredients in.

Miss T breaking the eggs.  Yep, six.

DIL reading the directions and of course I was putting my two cents worth in.

Mixing things up.

Who had that camera!!!

See that little arm around me?  Oh how I love those grand kids!

Stirring up the ice and rock salt.

I wish I could show you yummy ice cream being consumed by all but after letting it churn for two hours it still wasn’t thickening.  We finally put it in the freezer where it remains………..

Six cups of heavy cream----$9.54

three cups milk-------------$1.00

Six eggs-------------------$1.30

Sugar----------------------$1.00

Rock salt-------------------$1.79

Fun of the experience with the kids----------PRICELESS!

(Remember that ad?)

The construction continues here at the house.  I am VERY WEARY of it all to be honest.  Having people in and out from 6 AM till 4 PM every day is exhausting, plus all the sawing, hammering etc… It wasn’t so bad until they took out the big doors and windows and covered them with plastic, that doesn’t cut the sound at all now….. I keep telling myself that it will be well worth it when it’s all done.  :o)

It’s going to be a scorcher today.  My sis and husband are staying at the lake this week so I may go down and sit with them a while.  They are predicting heavy rain and thunder storms this afternoon so I’m keeping an eye on the sky, don’t want the boys out if there is a storm!

Horse? What new horse?

 

 

Okay, I know I am a worry wart.  I think that comes under a grandmother’s job description doesn’t it?  D gets so caught up in the excitement of the catch I’m always afraid he might tumble into the lake headfirst.  He didn’t really like me hanging onto his PFD (personal flotation device) I think we used to just call them life jackets, but he was a good sport about it.  :o)

It was just glorious weather on the Saturday before the 4th as you can see by the beautiful blue sky and puffy clouds.  It was actually the best day of the holiday weekend so I was glad we chose that day for the family get together just in case the 4th tanked.

The Hubs spent his time going from the front of the boat where T was to the back where D was helping bait hooks and taking off some of the more feisty sunfish.

My nephew and his soon to be wife were out in the canoe.  They are getting married in October.

 

 

Funsize and my sister Jill.

 

Son bringing in a new thing to haul behind the boat and thrash the daylights out of anyone willing to go for a ride.  I did that last year…….my bladder just can’t take it………ahem…….

 

 

My BIL who always mans the grill.  Thank you Ray!!!!

 

The Hubs driving the boat.  I like to just sit or stand and enjoy seeing all the cottages along the shoreline, the loons and the young people having fun at the beach.  I don’t care a bit about driving.

 

I love this one with Grampie and D fishing together.

 

It’s a whopper!  Well sort of…….

 

Just look at those beautiful clouds!

 

Time for a nap!

 

A little target practicing under Dad’s watchful eyes.  Not bullets, just tiny paintballs, not even the regular size, these splatter very easily.  Hmmmmm……I wonder if they were shooting at the garage?

 

Who is that masked kid?!

 

Another sleepy kiddo at the end of the day.  What a great day!

We have a new family member.  He’s here on a two week trial but I think we know what the answer is going to be.  :o)   He is sweet and gentle and BIG!

His new barn name is Scooter in remembrance of my friend Barn Goddess and her horse Scooter.  It’s funny, she has been on my mind lately, before we even knew this horse was in the works, so it just seems appropriate that this will be his name!  We have two weeks to try him and make sure he is a good fit for our family.  So far so good!!!!

T  giving him a bath.  He got kind of sleepy as you can see.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed that everything keeps going as positive as it has so far.   :o)

4th of July weekend

We had lovely weather for the holiday weekend.  It was sounding iffy at best but we only had one thunder storm and that didn’t last long.

It was wonderful growing up in the country, much more rural then where I live now.  We had two little stores and a post office, a small school for grades kindergarten through eight and a town hall.  We were always busy as kids playing outside, riding our horses, going to the lake and building stuff in the woods.

On July 4th there was always a big celebration and parade. This has been going on for years, I was just a child when I first remember going to it.  It has grown over the years and now people come from the surrounding communities.  It’s not fancy, city folks would probably snicker a bit but it’s a fun day and I wouldn’t change a thing.

I think of Cliff when the tractors go by, I’m sure he would know the name of each one, right Donna?

Antique cars

A few horses.

The town fire truck and many, many more things to watch.

Our old family homestead is still standing and it always brings back so many memories to see it.  I don’t like the modern door that they have put in, I remember the big old heavy door with the big key to lock and unlock it.

The barn is just about falling in.  It makes me sad as I remember the hundreds and hundreds of happy hours we spent in the barn playing and tending to the horses.

The side porch used to be open and we had a big wooden double swing that we loved.  We could really get that thing going.  My room was the second floor one with the bay window.  There were hardwood floors in the living room that my mother would clean on her hands and knees and polish with a paste kind of polish.  The living room was right under my room and also had the bay windows.  I remember how the sheer curtains would flutter in the breeze in there in the summer time.  Probably where I got my love of sheer curtains.  :o)

Of course anytime we go to Burlington we have to go see my uncles cattle.  They are so cute and they come running when he yells to them.

This is Chucky, he is eight days old.  What a cutie!!  There was one three days old but she stayed out of sight.  :o(

To think they grow up to look like this!  I need to cut their bangs!

More to come but duty calls.  Why is there always so much laundry after a long weekend????