Thursday, July 28, 2011

leaping


People are living in their bathing suits around here. And you know I couldn't resist these little ruby slippers, tossed off under the restaurant table.
Must be summer. A little crazy, a little sanguine, like this pile of noodles: colorful disarray. Everything wonderful, intense, and schedule-less.
Slipway in Thomaston:
best seafood around,
great location

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

If you live in Maine...



You probably didn't move here for Hot and Humid reasons. I, for one, did not. You are already familiar with the fact that Hot and Humid are not my friends. So when it's like this, I can tell because I am wilted and grumpy, and I end up washing a lot of towels (single use only or they smell funky because---surprise---they don't dry) and a lot of linen clothes.

The dress that you can see, above, is pretty much a glorified nightgown that happens to be appropriate to wear to work. When I put it on I always think: "Hmm, am I really just wearing a brown shapeless sack?" Not that I care, on a day when I am preparing to stand in the heat at work and attempt friendliness and patience all day. I'll take anything that helps (mint water is a good plan also). But surprisingly I get a lot of compliments; the buttons down the back elevate it from brown-sackdom.
Today: utter bliss. Waking up, instead of icky damp hotness, to clear, blue skies, and clean-feeling air. Laundry day. I feel like the universe is sending me a Valentine on days like this ("really? you love me this much?").
This is My Weather!
And may I introduce you to my hand-me-down pink, cheetah print, synthetic summer skirt? Pretty much the opposite of the linen dress and not something I'd opt for in H & H weather or for work. But she rocks it in a whole different way. She's sort of a home skirt, an over-the-bathingsuit skirt, a garden skirt.
Note to self from the boys: "these are the only good sparklers to buy, so don't be cheap and buy the lame ones ever again."

Summer. Sigh. Now I need to go out and hang another load on the line!
(Thanks for the nudge, Hilary S. xo)

Sunday, July 3, 2011

what happened to June: Part 3


mr. crafty at work again,
this time to make a hanging fairy house

And then a brief, stressful day of laundry and repacking and reorganizing (some yelling, frustration, irritation, and exhaustion too) before we were off to Monhegan Island. You'll remember it from last year.

Once there: utter bliss. Total relaxation. No meal planning to worry about. No dishes. Big questions like: Is it time for ice cream again? Hmm, which book should I read now?


Lots of hiking, reading, fishing, knitting, fairy houses, and beauty everywhere.


You know. The usual. So much gratitude for this special time outside of time.

what happened to June: Part 2


Back in the land of cool mist and fog...
the flowers were wearing a delicate mantle of dewsparkled spider webs
so we knew for sure
it was enchanted there
A vacation in two parts. First, at Fiddlehead, a little cottage designed to look like several lobster huts put together. With a secret loft room for two scrambling boys.
Reading, rocks, and beach clean-up, listening to waves break from my bed. The crescent moon over the water. Every room looks out on the ocean. Totally relaxing.

you can tell mr. crafty was here

what happened to June: part 1



We were in the land of fancy, beautiful weddings, with many pairs of fascinating, beautiful shoes. It was also the land of hot and steamy and no one was wearing polar fleece at this formal affair!
I was happy in my "dress flipflops," thanks.
(taken through an open window)

Then, home again, where the hot and steamy followed us (briefly). Sometimes, after dinner on a thunderstormy night, all you can do is just lay right down on the cool floor and read aloud by candlelight. (The Penderwicks at Point Mouette---another family favorite in the series!)