Tuesday Talk

I really think I need to get out and build an ark! We have had heavy rain again all day today. Glad I got my mowing done yesterday as the grass has been growing like mad from all the rain and with today's rain it would have been a hay field out there.

We had a wonderful time on the weekend with our southern relatives. The weather which had been rainy all week co-operated and was nice for the party on Friday night. SIL had everything set up outside under an awning and it looked so nice with balloons everywhere and of course lots of great food.

There was a perfect sunset and I took some pictures to show you all.

FIL's lake house is mostly glass on the front so you get a wonderful view.

This is on the inside looking out.

My grand niece brought her new puppy, Newman. He's a Yorkie and is cute as a button! He is going to be walking with us in the Paws On Parade fund raiser.

The kids all went swimming even though it was a bit chilly by the time we finished eating. They like jumping off the dock.

It was a great time. We were sad to see all our visitors leave but I'm sure they were ready to go home after having two weeks of rain here in Maine!

Mom and I just met my younger sister at our favorite pizza place. My nephew that owned it sold it a while back so we don't get down there as much so this was a real treat. Dad doesn't like pizza so he stayed home. It was pouring rain so he put Buddy in the barn. The rest of them can get in and out anytime but Buddy's paddock is separate. I have started riding him again and one of my neighbors yelled from her back deck that it was so good to see him out and about! That made me feel really good. All of my neighbors except one just love our horses. There's always one in every crowd.......

My mother is a good sport. You will agree with this when you see the pictures. My grand kids just love her and like to pester her and then giggle and laugh. On this day she was looking at their pictures that they had been working on and D accidentally got some marker on Mom's shirt. It was an old one so she didn't care and told them to have at it. This is the result. :o)

Almost time to go do chores. The horses can hear me open the gate from anywhere in the pasture no matter how quiet I try to be. I like to get their grain in their dishes before they come storming in but usually they are in there lined up behind me as I measure it out. I tell them to go get in their stalls and they are really good about it and go stand there and wait. They are such good boys, I don't know what I would do without them.

Sorry I haven't been around visiting much so far this week. It's been very hectic and this is the first I've had to get to my computer. Will try to get around to say Hi today and tomorrow! :o)

Random Friday

Another week has flown by. Summer is fast fleeting here in Maine. There are actually some leaves that have turned to gold and brown down in the pasture. A sign of things to come. Today is T's riding lesson which I always enjoy then on to a lunch appointment and back to the dentist. I find that I am clenching my teeth at night and it's making my jaw hurt so they took impressions yesterday and made me a guard to wear at night. That ought to be a sight!

My friend Tina, one of my very first blogging buddies when I started this whole thing has given me an award. Thank you Tina! That is very special and I have already put it on my sidebar! :o) It doesn't seem possible that it has been almost two years since my first shaky attempts at writing a post. I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to do this as I have made so many wonderful friends that otherwise I would have never met! Thank you to my niece Jo-Lynne (Musings Of A Housewife) who has been my biggest supporter and helped me tirelessly with all my questions!

I've had several meetings with the Humane Society board. I must say that I am enjoying it despite getting out of my comfort zone once again. We are working on one of our major fund raisers called Paws On Parade where people bring their dogs and do a 45 minute walk earning money for the society by getting sponsors. There are prizes, T-shirts, tv coverage and a lot of fun. I have been busy putting up posters at different kennels, vets, stores and other businesses. I don't have a dog so I told them I would have to bring a pony! Actually I have asked one of my little nieces to bring her new Yorkie puppy named Newman to walk with me.

Another family get together tonight, this time at the lake. My nephew is getting married and this is their engagement party. The wedding will be help in Myrtle Beach N. Carolina in the fall which we plan to attend. I have always wanted to check out that part of the country as I have heard that it is lovely. I will have camera in hand tonight to get some pictures at FIL's lake house. It's a beautiful spot and has some of the prettiest sunsets you'd ever want to see. Hope the rain doesn't come in AGAIN! It has been rather icky weather the last two weeks while our southern family has been here which is very unusual for this time of year.

The farrier was here last night and did Buddy's feet. They are looking good after his bout of laminitis last summer. That is encouraging, now if we could get the colitis cleared up he would be in great shape! I am trying Bio Sponge on him so hopefully that will do the trick.

Our Miss Pea made this button for her readers, isn't it cute! Thank you dear Pea!

T had a great lesson yesterday! She cantered for the first time!! She was so proud of herself! This is the resident barn cat. He was lounging on the hood of the owners truck. By the looks on his face I don't think he appreciated being disturbed to have his picture taken.........

This is the resident dog, Diamond. He always greets us when we arrive for lessons.

Lesson is over, time to dismount!

Someone sent me a story about this mother bear and her five cubs. The man that discovered them waited hours to get a family picture and was lucky enough to get a follow up the next spring! Aren't they incredible!? I guess it's unusual for a mom to have so many cubs. I don't know if these pictures were taken in Maine or not but they look just like our Maine black bears. How would you like to meet them on the walking trail? This has been happening in the town next to us recently. Several hikers have met up with a mom and cubs. Yikes!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!! :o)

Lobster, crabmeat and steamers, oh my!

It must seem to you all out in Bloggityville that we do an awful lot of 'seafood eating' here in Maine. Well it's true, especially in the summer when we can go to our favorite haunts and enjoy the beauty of the coast along with the delicious food.

Sunday after church the whole family headed to the Lobster Pound for our annual reunion that we have when our southern cousins are in town. We look forward to the together time as much as the to die for seafood and we are never disappointed. I think there were 27 of us on this trip. Son, DIL and the grands were in Bar Harbor for a convention and couldn't make it this year but you can't be in two places at once.

The weather was gorgeous, sunny, warm and a nice breeze. This is a shot of the rocks that I posted a few weeks ago where the two gals were when the tide came in and they had a near mishap. You can see how deep the water was to cover these big rocks!

There were lots of pretty boats moored in front of the restaurant.

My niece Jo-Lynne (dcrmom) and her beautiful family is here from Pennsylvania.

One thing you'd think I would learn and that's not to stand beside a beautiful, slim, young woman! Way to feel old......sigh........

We cracked up as we discovered we have the same Fossil handbag except for the color! Great minds think alike they say!

There was a young man trying to get airborne with some kind of kite thingy but he didn't have much luck. There just wasn't enough wind.

Lots of ducks swimming around. Bottoms up!

My friend Pea over at Pea's Corner is having a nice give away this week. All things blueberry! Go on over to check it out and throw your hat in the ring but don't be disappointed when I win!! heehee!

Guess that's it for tonight. I'm really behind getting around visiting everyone as we had such a busy weekend so will try to do as many as I can now! :o)

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

While SIL and I were happily shopping the men were on their way to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play Oakland. Hubby, BIL and the two nephews had great seats waiting for them thanks to one of the companies that we do business with. B, the one with the Sox shirt on, has been a life long fan and knows more about the game then I will ever know in my whole life! That's his triplet brother pushing him, his Dad in the blue striped shirt and hubby was taking the pictures.

They were treated to a tour of Fenway and even got to come down on to the field to meet some of the players.

This is B getting his shirt signed by one of the players!

The clouds rolled in and the rain started pouring down so there was a rain delay for about a half hour.

Here they are in the stands watching the game once it started up again.

Someone was nice enough to take a shot of all four of them for us.

They had a great time and and we hope to do it again soon. Of course that would mean that SIL and I would have to do some more shopping.........ahem.......it's rough but somebody has to do it!

My niece, L who is the third triplet in this crowd was headed off to summer camp for a couple of weeks. We took her to meet her friend that she was riding with along with all her luggage! The weather has been horrible for camp so I hope she is having a good time and that next week the weather will be better. I think they were going to go white water rafting today and of course she will have horsemanship every day. My niece is on the left, you all have seen pictures of her riding Nick in some of my past posts.

It doesn't seem possible that these young people will be 16 this month! I remember the day that they were born, three months early, and we jumped in the car and headed for Boston to see SIL, their mom. We couldn't see them as they were in the NICU but just knowing that they were okay despite their early arrival was such a relief. BIL and SIL sure had their hands full for a few years and now that the triplets are teens I think things are just as busy! When they were born L. my niece weighed 2 lbs. 5 oz. B weighed 2 lbs. 5 oz and N weighed 2 lbs. 6 oz. They would fit in the palm of your hand! Now they are teens in high school, busy with school activities, church and friends. What a joy and a blessing they have been to all of us!!!! :o)

T had a riding lesson this morning so of course I had to snap a few pictures. It was raining but that didn't bother the kids or the horses a bit. There were four in this lesson and the instructor kept telling them to spread out and then they would clump up again. I bet she told them 15 times to keep a good distance between them.

Guess that's it for tonight. More rain on tap for tomorrow so we're really getting rather soggy around here. The lawns are sure green though, not brown and dried up like they were. I feel badly for our southern relatives who are here at the lake house for vacation. I don't think the sun has peeked out all week! Hopefully next week will be better. :o)

Recipes and Shopping

Millions of you have asked for the pumpkin whoopie pie recipe, well not millions but at least ten so here it is:

PUMPKIN CAKES

1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar

3/4 cup canola oil

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin. NOT pumpkin pie mix.

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 and 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven 350* Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl use an electric mixer on medium speed to mix brown sugar, oil and vanilla until well blended, about three minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth after each egg. Add pumpkin and mix until incorporated.

3. In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Add half the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down sides with a rubber spatula, add remaining flour mixture and mix well.

4. Drop 2-Tbs. portions of batter onto prepared baking sheets, two inches apart. Bake 11 to 13 minutes, until puffed and set but still soft when touched lightly with fingertips. Let cakes cool for three minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling about 20 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter. (NOTE: I made mine too big with HEAPING Tablespoons so I only got about half what the recipe makes.)

5. Prepare filling while cakes are baking and cooling. In large mixing bowl use an electric mixer on medium speed to mix the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add vanilla and half the conf. sugar on low at first to combine then on high until smooth. Add remaining confectioners sugar and mix until smooth about three or four minutes. YUM!

6. Assemble whoopie pies. Spoon filling onto the flat sides of half the cakes, dividing it evenly. Top with the remaining cakes. Serve immediately or wrap each pie individually in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to two days or in the freezer for up to two months.

NOTE: it was very hot and humid when I made them so they were a tiny bit sticky but it sure didn't affect the taste! Now I want to see pictures of your kids/grand kids with the frosting all over their faces too! That's all part of the fun!! :o)

Enjoy! Makes about 20.

We had a fabulous time on our weekend get-away. We had lunch at our favorite restaurant on the way down and had heaping bowls of lobster stew again! I could eat that every day of the week! Our son and family was in Portland and called us and wanted us to meet them there for dinner so we changed our route a bit and headed there. We did some school shopping for T and D at the big Portland Mall at The Gap and Old Na*vy. T likes everything you pick out for her, D is very particular and likes to pick out his own things. Now isn't that a switch? We were horrified that The Dis*ney Store has closed so now there isn't one in the whole state. Sigh.....so much for Christmas shopping there.

We had dinner at a nice steak house and we love those blooming onions.

T and D did some coloring while we waited for our meals.

After dinner they headed back north and we headed south to Boston. The traffic wasn't bad but it started raining about half way there and got heavy at times. We got in about 8:30.

The next morning Hubby's Sister and family met us at the hotel and the men headed for Fenway Park and we headed out to do some shopping. SIL always takes me to some of my favorite places that we don't have in this area so it's a real treat. I had never been to Trader Joe's so we took a look around in there and it is an interesting grocery with mostly organic type foods that looked really good.

We also hit Chico's, Talbot's, Appleseed's, Home Goods and Coldwater Creek. We did quite well....ahem.....at each place........hey, we were supposed to be shopping, okay!? She took me to lunch at another of my favorite places that we don't have here, Not Your Average Joe's, and had yummy crab cake blt's. Just look at their window boxes, they were beautiful!

We did see a few horses and went to a tack shop where I got a few Christmas gifts for the kids. While getting gasoline I noticed the local mounted police vehicle in the parking lot and asked them if I could see the horses. The first guy said they were 'busy' but the second one was much nicer and opened the trailer door so that I could see the big horses that they use. Only got a parting picture.

This is getting rather long so I think I will put all the Red Sox game pictures in my next post. They did win against Oakland btw! Go Sox!!