Wednesday Sunshine

Another hot sunny day here in Maine. It's been beautiful for the tourists and locals on vacation but we sure do need some rain. I have been watering my gardens constantly, sure hate to see the water bill for this quarter. Hate worse to lose my flowers due to no rain so watering is my main job each day. The raspberries are doing great even in the dry conditions this year. It's the best crop I have had since putting in the plants a few years ago. I like to just stand right there and pick them and eat them right off the bushes. Had to teach the grand kids how to pick them only when they come off the plant easily or they will be sour.

Not much excitement around here compared to last week but I will take it. No more fires in our area but things are awfully dry so it's always a concern. To think that 90% of fires are started by people rather then lightening. Sad commentary for people to be so careless.

Went to T's riding lesson this morning. She was disappointed as she was back on the pony this week. No particular reason, the instructor likes to switch them around. She's in with two older girls that canter and do patterns but she still does them at a trot. She looked so tiny in with the bigger horses.

D was with us so I brought along a new coloring book and crayons to keep him busy during the lesson. It got too hot so he sat in the car and watched a movie with the air conditioning on. DILand I took turns watching him as the car was running.



T's been riding her pony here more and having fun with him. He is such a ham and will do anything. He also likes to share her Popsicles! Hubby was cutting the limbs on the pine trees a little higher so that Kip couldn't take her under one and knock her off. The gray house is FIL's, we love having him so close by!

It looks like Kipper is saying that he thinks she is on backwards!

I used to do this by the hour when I was a kid. Just lay on the back of our horses and daydream.

All done for the day. :o)



This is Nick, he is just hanging out which is what he does most of the time. Half his mane goes one way and the other half goes the other way. He is unemployed, he needs a job! Will work for food.

Now that it's summer we are going to the early service on Sundays. We decided to go for brunch at a lovely Inn about ten miles from here. Funsize and one of my other nieces A. went with us along with FIL. It's a wonderful inn with a to die for setting over looking the lake.

The brunch was delicious and we will be going back again soon!

Old Red Barn Co. is having a SUPER give away, a quilt! Go to their site and check it out. The addy is on the button on my sidebar!

The little gals and their Mom over at Cracker Jacks have given me a nice award! Thank you so much Izzy and Emmy, I love it and will put it right on my sidebar today!! If you want to see a wonderful mom blog hop on over and check out Izzy and Emmy's site. Mom is so creative and has made just an absolutely wonderful site about the girls and all the things that they do!

About the Must See Blog award: This award was created for blogs that cannot be missed. Whether you secretly lurk, always comment, or frequently check in to see what’s new, these are blogs that must be tuned into regularly.

The End.

Flowers and Fires!

My gardens are starting to pick up a bit. The petunias have been slow and unfortunately I think they were mismarked as some of them aren't the Wave petunias that spread low, they are standing right up straight. I've been watering every day as we haven't had rain in some time and things are really drying out.

Red Bee Balm

Pink Bee Balm
Brown Eyed Susan's that just popped up beside my garden.

This is mallow and it spreads like mad. I like it though the pink color is so delicate.

The urns on my front steps have really taken off!

Shasta Daisys

The hanging baskets I did out of the leftovers.

We had a bit of excitement here on the farm yesterday. I noticed a helicopter circling down behind the barn in over the woods and at first thought it was Life Flight. At that time a forest ranger came into the yard and said he needed to get through my pasture as there was a fire in the woods. Of course my first thoughts were of the horses so I got them in so the trucks could get through and then got their halters on ready in case I needed to lead them to safety. I told the firemen when they arrived that I had a barn full of horses and how did things look and he assured me that the wind was blowing the other way and didn't think there was any danger. Whew!

They left the big tanker truck on the side of the street in front of our house and went in on smaller trucks with the equipment.

Notice that they are looking at the horses as they go by. :o)

Dad had already taken the first one on the scene in on our Rhino and they came along with another one. Notice how dry some of the back lawn is!

I called Hubby at the office and he came hurrying home. He changed and was going to go in on the Gator but a TV news car came along and he rode in with them. I called our Son as they live just a short distance from us and he came home and went in too.

I stayed with the horses as you never know when the wind can change and it could have headed back towards us. The fire was started by a man that has a hunting camp just beyond our property. Evidently he had not properly put a camp fire he had going out. To say he was careless would be an understatement. With things so dry he never should have had a campfire going in the first place!

The crews were here until about 8 o'clock and the fire warden is coming back this morning to go back in and look things over to make sure nothing has started up again. With things so dry they told me that the fire travels underground and pops up in different places. I am just so thankful that it wasn't any worse and that we have the roads out back so that they could get to the fire in a timely fashion. Otherwise they would have had to walk in quite a distance through the woods.

Well it's now afternoon. The fire hadn't started up again! (doing the happy dance!) There's always so much to be thankful for isn't there?

Hubby and I just got back from swimming over at Son and DIL's house. It felt so good, the water was just perfect. With all the sun lately they don't have to use the heater at all. Poor D has swimmers ear and had to go to Walk In Care this morning. He can't get any water in his ear so I pulled him around on a float. He almost went to sleep, I had a towel over him and something to lay his head on plus his big floppy hat over his face. He was just so comfy!

Have a great weekend everyone!! :o)

Not So Wordless Wednesday

It is super hot and humid here in the Northeast. It was 90* yesterday with high humidity. We just aren't used to that so it kind of drags us out a bit. We try to get all our outside work done in the morning while it is a bit cooler. The horses are ready to go in by noon time and snooze in their stalls under the fans.

The vet is coming today to do Nick's shots. Nick had a touch of colic when it was shot day so couldn't have his. Buddy will get a check up and the other boys will get a pat on the nose from Dr. Stu as they have had all their stuff done.

Now to the Cliffhanger. When we go to the coast to The Lobster Pound the kids always like to walk out on the peninsula when the tide is out to hunt for creatures and pretty shells.

There were two young girls out there when we arrived just hanging out catching some rays but evidently they weren't savvy to tides. The tide was coming in and they were just sitting there as if nothing was going on.

The tide comes in rather fast and before we knew it the girls were completely surrounded with water!

They waited till they were in this condition before they started for shore. The water gets completely over the big rocks that they are on and is probably 6-8 feet deep. They managed to get back in by walking on the rocks, which they couldn't see so it was a rather precarious trip to shore. I don't know where their parents were, they didn't seem to be anywhere around. They finally made it to shore but this could have been a tragic accident.

All the grandchildren love seafood as they have grown right up on it. Jay had some steamers before his lobster and found one of the biggest clams I've ever seen. That's a biggggg clam!

He wasn't sure if he would like one that big but of course we all teased him till he ate it.

I think he had bitten off more then he could chew, so to speak.....

I guess washing it down with some soda helped!

D ordered his regular 4 pound lobster and then said he wanted a 100 pound one. He got a pound and a half which is just right for him but thinks it weighs more!

The kids had fun on the beach after lunch as always.

It was a great day. We always enjoy ourselves immensely when we are there. We always eat too much but that's part of the fun! I have a picture of my son (age 32) when he was about three taken there holding a live lobster, so that shows you how many years we have been going there. I'll have to find that picture and scan it sometime so you can see it!

The Day After The Night Before

It's Sunday night and the big July 4th weekend is officially over. The weather was to die for ALL weekend, with nary a rain cloud in sight. It was beautiful at the lake even though the water is still quite cold. We got the boat put in and took some rides around the lake, watching for loons (saw two) and checking out the new cottages. When I say 'cottage' I am using that term loosely. Why would anyone spend $300,000.00 and call it a cottage? And it's for sale. Yeah right, in this economy, I wouldn't hold my breath on selling it real soon. I didn't have my camera as I didn't want to get it wet in the boat but I wish I had so you could see this 'cottage'. I think next weekend I will take it and just be careful so that I can get a picture of this place.

Our cottage is a cottage. It's not a summer home, it's not a show place. The kids can come in with their wet bathing suits on to get dried off. I do have a nice little kitchen that has had some work done this past year but it is small. I don't want a big place to take care of, I already have a home to clean and take care of. Our camp has two little bedrooms, one with a half bath, and a small living room on the main floor.

The basement has a laundry room, a full bath, the furnace room and a family room. It opens right out onto the lawn about 10 feet from the water. It's very cozy there. At night you can set on the deck and watch the lights of the other camps across the lake twinkling in the darkness. Sometimes a boat will go by with their lights on but mostly it's just quiet with only the loons calling back and forth.

When our son was young we spent tons of time at the lake usually with a bunch of his friends along. We loved having them and I loved cooking burgers, chicken and hot dogs for them on the grill. They swam and fished and rode the 4-wheelers and swam some more. Those were fun days, I enjoyed every minute of it. They learned to water ski and knee board. They liked us to take them way out into the middle of the lake so that they could jump in and swim around. They liked to go to the big rock and lay in the sun, then jump in and get cooled off. They made campfires at night down on the shore and cooked marshmallows. They slept in tents. They played paintball in the woods. Such fun days.

Now we don't go nearly as much as we used to but it's there when we want to. Our grandchildren and our sons friends children are coming down now and doing some of the things our son and his friends used to do. Some things never change, thankfully.

My niece from out of state was here over the weekend with her family. We always love to see them and spend time together. She loves my horse Nick. She rides him every time she is in Maine. Sometimes he can be a brat as he doesn't do much here other then look pretty so he doesn't think he should have to work. Tonight she rode him and she did such a great job with him. He tried to give her a run for her money but she is getting more accomplished all the time with her riding skills and he didn't get away with anything!

Today we all went to the coast for our lobster feeding frenzy! I think I will put pictures of that in my next post. Again, it was gorgeous there although a bit chillier then inland. Funsize and I had to buy sweatshirts as we didn't take any jackets with us. It doesn't take much of an excuse for us to shop you know...... Well more about that next time. Also about the two girls that got themselves stranded when the tide came in faster then they thought it would. A cliffhanger..........

Oh BTW the peanut butter cups were a big hit. I wouldn't have eaten as many myself if I had checked my schedule and noticed that I have a check up tomorrow. The first thing they do is put you on the scales! GROAN!!! Be sure your sins will find you out!!!

Happy 4th of July!

Had a strange thing happen today. The phone rang while I was in the barn doing chores so I picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. It said Conn. Dept. of Cor*rections! Hummmmm....now I wonder who that could be? I said Hello and a recording said "this call is originating from the Conn. Dept. of Cor*rections and may be monitored....." I hung up quickly!!! Now I wish I hadn't as I am wondering who it was. I'm sure it was a wrong number, and they haven't called back again but my imagination can sometimes work overtime...........I need to stop watching all those real life police shows!!!

The kids buzzed over in their Rhino tonight in time for supper. It's always a delight for me when they drop in unexpectedly and I can throw a few more plates on the table. What a blessing having them live so close by. D ran over yesterday through the woods with his walkie-talkie so that he could talk to his Mom and let her know he had arrived. It's about a 3 minute walk for the kids, or should I say run, as they do it much faster then I do! In the winter I can see their house when the leaves are off the trees but not in the summer.

Mowed for a couple of hours today plus did some weeding in my gardens. My those weeds can peek up through quickly! Did some deadheading and put some plant food on my veggie garden. The farrier came tonight and did Buddy's feet. He says they are coming along really well since his episode of foundering last summer.

The boys were naughty today and got into the tack room and ate all the horse cookies and pulled out a couple bales of hay into the middle of the barn! They were having a great time until I looked out and saw what was going on and went out and shooed them out of there and locked the tack room door. Hubby says I leave it unlocked quite frequently and I probably do as they can't unlock it themselves because Dad put a special lock on it. They all looked like the cat that ate the canary when I walked in the barn! I wish I'd had my camera! :o)

I found a yummy recipe for homemade peanut butter cups in one of my magazines that I think I will try for the 4th.

1 cup creamy peanut butter -- divided

4 and 1/2 teaspoons butter -- softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

4 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55 oz each) coarsely chopped

colored sprinkles optional

In small bowl combine 1/2 cup peanut butter,butter, confection sugar and salt until smooth, set aside.

In a small microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate chips, candy bars and remaining peanut butter, stir until smooth

Drop teaspoonfuls of chocolate mixture into paper lined miniature muffin tins. Top this with a scant teaspoon of peanut butter mixture. Top with another teaspoonful of chocolate mixture. (add sprinkles if desired) Refrigerate until set. Store in airtight container. Makes three dozen.

I think these will be a big hit at the 4th party! :o)

Our town always puts on a great fireworks show the evening of the 4th. I'm usually too tired from the days activities to drag myself down to watch them but Hubby usually goes. I can see some of them from the house and of course hear them. It doesn't seem to bother the horses but the cats get a little tense.

It's now Thursday. I've been to the grocery store, got my car washed, and mowed for another couple of hours. I want everything to look spiffy for the holiday. Now I think I will mix up those peanut butter cups. I hope there are some left for tomorrow.........ahem......

Have a wonderful 4th!