An Indoor Cat Ventures Outside

Where to start? I guess let me say that we are loving our Maine adventure. We continue to spruce up the house and have a to do list that is a mile long. The biggest projects that we tackled since my last post were converting a teenagers small,Tiffany blue bedroom into a calm, less teenager looking office and having several precariously positioned trees removed from the back yard. 

We had a  visit from friends this weekend and as we were walking to the car on the way to dinner I said, " we spent 3 hours working in the yard today and you can't even tell." I then went on to say, "note to self, when buying a house with a yard like this, be prepared to maintain it". As we were getting settled in the car, I pondered that thought and did a mental groan.  I hate yard work.  My friend Judy once called herself an inside cat. I loved that description and it fits me. I prefer to deal with the tasks associated with being indoors and watch supportively from the relative safety of a window while lawns are mowed or leaves get raked. I came to the frightening realization that the indoor cat was going to have to venture outside if I wanted to prevent our yard from becoming the scourge of the neighborhood.  Sigh...

If you've read this blog in the past, you're probably related to me and therefore my revelation about yard work is nothing new. But do you remember my comments last spring/summer about how fanatical our neighbors were about their gardens? Last year was a gift, we watched with anticipation as each plant revealed itself. I discovered I have peonies, a bleeding heart, azaleas, irises, ornamental trees, tulips, daffodils, a variety of hostas, and tons of lily of the valley in our yard.  We also have leaves. Lots and lots of leaves.  So this year we need to clean things up in hopes of not killing off all the perennials and pissing off the neighbors.

Naturally I didn't take any before pictures but we spent 5 hours cleaning up this area near the street.

I'll admit when we first started raking, I was reluctant to pull anything as I was sure it was a prize plant or ground cover that I didn't recognize. It took about 30 minutes of the thorny vines tangling in my sweatshirt and poking through my new gardening gloves before I started cutting and hacking with reckless abandon.  There were vines growing up into the tree and wrapped around branches. I felt like I had stepped into a scene from Jumanji.  I was unraveling thorn ridden vines from trees and pulling 4 foot pieces out of the poor tree. In front of the white/pink tree is a bush that looked like it had bloomed but it was actually the vine that had wound it's way to the top of the shrub. I've never seen anything like it. I was on a mission to get rid of it. I'm now paying for my earlier enthusiasm but it was worth it. I had a leaf bag full of these vines. The dump is closed on Sunday so I'm a little worried during the night they'll start growing again. They kind of freaked me out...

See that green piney looking thing on the right? Anyone know what it is? Besides ugly? 

Well, after 5 hours, 6 bags of vines and leaves, and 6 bags of mulch later, we had to stop. Actually, I had to stop. My husband kept going and planted a flat of begonias near the back deck. We're limping around but we had a blast today. Looking back on the day, he can't believe we have a rock wall and I can't believe I agreed to go back outside again tomorrow....

What's Old is New Again

A long weekend but a short visit.  We made the trip up to Maine knowing that we'd be coming home early Sunday morning. Lots of traffic but the ride seemed even longer because we were transporting something that continuously rattled and vibrated for the entire ride. Every bump in the road was nerve wracking and anxiety provoking. I was convinced we'd damage our special cargo. 

What were we transporting you ask?? Dishes. But these are no ordinary dishes. I recently inherited a set of Haviland china that had belonged to my great-aunt. It is over 70 years old and I didn't want it on my conscience if it was reduced to shards of porcelain. My sister, the original recipient of the china, is downsizing and she shares my fondness for antiques so she passed the set over to me. I'm thrilled to receive this family artifact for sentimental reasons but also because we have a dining room in Maine. 

My Aunt Mary spent a lot of time at our house when I was growing up and she loved to dine. She was the well to do, well dressed relative that was always ready for a party. She spent most holidays at our house so I don't ever remember her using the china but according to my mother she used to have elaborate dinner parties when she was younger. Her kitchen was in the basement and there was a dumb waiter that transported the food to the dining room. It fascinated us to no end as children. I'm thrilled to be in possession of this set of dishes- imagine the stories they could tell!

So, the dishes are in their new home no worse for wear after the bumpy car ride.  I need a few finishing touches before I'm ready to host their next dinner party but here they are and they seems to be settling in nicely!

Apples

There is nothing like biting into an apple you just plucked from a tree! I had an enormous Honey Crisp apple on the way home from the orchard and it was amazing!!  So were the apple cider doughnuts that found their way home with us. We've been apple picking 3 times in the past 2 weeks. We found a great U-Pick spot in town and have stopped in twice already. The third apple picking adventure was in our own backyard. You may recall that we have 3 apple trees and we harvested the crop last weekend. We picked 15 apples off the trees! Not too bad. But I have to admit I'm a little hesitant to bite into them. I'll cut one open and see how it looks inside and then decide if I'll use the or not. Let's just say the don't look as pretty as the apples we saw at the orchard.

It was fun to pick them though.

Here is the what we got from our trees:

And this is what I made from the yummy apples at the local U-Pick orchard:

Time to get pie number two out of the oven!  

What a Summer!

It's been a while since I've posted. It's not because I've lost interest in this blog, we've just been enjoying the summer. We spent a week in Maine, after my nephews wedding in mid-July, the following weekend friends and family were camping at a local campground and we spent time with them at the beach. After a two week absence (weekend in NH at the lake and a weekend at home) we just spent a glorious weekend in Maine and it was everything a beach weekend should be- hot during the day, cool at night, plenty of time to visit our favorite spots, walks on the beach etc...

Even though we've been enjoying the summer, it doesn't mean the work at the house stopped. My husband has been a painting machine- touching up the exterior, the front door, and some areas of the front porch. He's replaced smoke alarms, washed windows, put down drainage stones around the foundation, tightened up the deck chairs and dozens of other chores that need to be done in a house. And we are still searching for a dresser for the guest room.

Although we were only away for two weekends, the landscape was different. Thank god for perennials!! There is a beautiful plant with white flowers with purple centers- kind of like a morning glory but not. There are some very pretty new flowers by the front door but unfortunately they have some kind of mold on them so who knows if they'll be there next weekend.  You know what else won't be there? My impatiens. They are GONE! It's not like the heat got to them and they wilted. It's like I never planted them at all. Gone! Either a neighbor was envious of them and took them(ha!!! You should see the gardens in the neighborhood.) or a deer or some other animal made a snack of them. Oh well, at least the begonias were still going strong.

As much as I hate to admit it, summer is slipping away.  The beach was virtually empty today as compared to other weekends. It doesn't seem possible that next  weekend is the unofficial end of summer- Labor Day. It certainly goes by fast but I'm looking forward to a long weekend and everyone says that September is one of the best months at the beach. I guess we'll find out.

Laundry Anyone??

Much to the chagrin of parents, children often have more fun playing with the box than the item inside the box. I know as kids we could spend days with a giant box that held the new dishwasher or TV. We'd decorate the boxes with crayons, cut out windows and we'd beg to be allowed to sleep in our new fort. I'm experiencing something similar at the house in Maine. We have a clothes line!!

I've never had a clothes line in my forty plus years on this earth.  Growing up, my friend's mom used one regularly- even used one inside in the winter. Summer vacation rentals had the obligatory metal structure for wet suits and towels which we used. In Maine, our back deck anchors one end of a clothes line, which stretches across the yard to a tree. It was there when we bought the house and I never gave it a second thought. Friends commented on how helpful it would be to hang beach paraphernalia to dry. Whatever.  Then we had a week long heat wave and as you may recall, we don't have AC. I needed to do laundry but really didn't want to add a single degree to the already sweltering first floor. My husband suggested using the clothes line and it was life changing!!! I've always heard people talk about sheets fresh from the line but didn't get it. I do now! The first load dried in no time at all due to the outrageously high temps. I folded each article of clothing as it came off the line- no more laundry basket full of clothes to fold.  After posting my "discovery" on Facebook, friends sent me tips on the best types of clothes pins to get and how to put the clothes on hangers attached to the clothes pin for fewer wrinkles. I can't get enough! I had a blast working through the suitcase of vacation clothes, beach towels and some sheets this afternoon. I must have done four loads of laundry without thinking about it.  I completely understand that this new found laundry joy is going to be a fleeting obsession- I mean, it's laundry after all. By Sunday, I'm sure I'll be over my fascination but I'm going to strike while the irons hot (ironing is NOT life changing, by the way) and wash everything in sight.

Beach Observations

1.  There really is no better place to people watch than the beach. Get yourself settled in and watch the show.  Observe the newly arriving folks selecting a spot- most often they chose their spot based on how tired they are from lugging their stuff from the parking lot.  Watch them set up camp. Exactly how much stuff did they bring? Chairs, towels, umbrellas, sun shelters, water toys and wet suits? What's in their cooler? Are they spray on or lotion sunscreen people? It's amazing how much spray on sunscreen is lost in the breeze. Swimmers or sunbathers? Are they here for the duration or just a quick stop? I'm surprised how many people haul tons of gear to the beach, only to leave an hour later and the whole process starts all over again. It never gets old.

2.  Since when are beach umbrellas a requirement? I'm not complaining, in fact, I'm a fan of beach umbrellas. We spent a lot of time at the beach as kids and there were no umbrellas anywhere in sight. We sat there and baked for hours each day with no relief from the sun.  When we began hitting the beach as adults, the first thing I noticed was that everyone had an umbrella. We picked one up and haven't looked back- it's become a necessity.

3. It's really quiet at the beach.  In the past, one of the key factors that determined where you'd plant yourself for the day was based on who your neighbors were. You didn't want to sit next to the people with the giant radio because odds were they'd be blaring music you hate. Then the guy behind you would try to drown out that music by cranking up his own boom box. Earbuds have eliminated the dueling radios. Teens and adults are listening to iPods and the only sound you hear is the occasional crying baby, laughing child, murmurs of conversations depending on how the wind is blowing, the waves and seagulls.

Funny thing happened to me last weekend while walking the beach by myself. I am passing by a family group- most members sitting down chatting but the Dad and a walking but not talking toddler were  playing with sand toys.  The toddler, a boy, makes eye contact and then he makes a bee line for me. He is grabbing my leg and indicating he wants me to pick him up and get the sand off his hands. Dad is 3 feet away and he and I are laughing at how the child thinks he knows me. He calls to his wife and says, " look at your son.." Everyone in his family laughs but this kid really doesn't want me to leave. He is desperate for me to pick him up and is about to start crying. I manage to break away and resume my walk. He chases after me until his Dad scoops him up and returns him to his toys. The whole thing was extremely cute and then I noticed the little guy was wearing a Yankees t-shirt. Maybe he wanted to be adopted into a Red Sox household???? :)

Simple Pleasures

We all run around at a frantic pace- it's the way of the world these days. I've never been a gardener and house plants in my care are essentially on death row awaiting their execution date. Lately, however, I've taken to spending a few minutes each day with the flowers- not smelling them necessarily, deadheading them.

A few years ago, we did a major overhaul to our backyard, including lots of plants and flowers.  We watered them faithfully and most of them survived. Last summer we got two large hanging baskets along with two large pots of flowers for the steps. I managed to keep those flowers alive well into the fall. I spent 15-20 minutes most nights pulling the faded blooms from the plant. It was oddly therapeutic. This year we replaced the hanging baskets and pots and I find myself out there in the wee hours of the morning plucking the deadheads.

In Maine, we can't keep hanging plants, they require too much water and being here only on the weekends is a recipe for plant disaster.  However, I still manage to get regular doses of plant therapy. We found a seasonal coffee shop that has 3 enormous baskets of petunias hanging out front. On the way in and out, I pull off as many dead flowers as possible- much to my husband's dismay. The young owner of the shop saw me one day and thanked me for helping out. It had been pouring rain for a week and she was afraid the plants were done for. We chatted a bit and she gave me the green light to deadhead the plants to my hearts content. We stopped by today and I was happy to see the flowers were making a spectacular comeback. I could happily spend an hour with those flowers. It's a good thing being at the beach is it's own kind of therapy otherwise I'd be applying for a job as a weekend gardener at the coffee shop.