We took the day off and spent it as a family…much needed physically and mentally! Hit up Bangor and Ellsworth; came home by Bucksport, and I took a picture of this little place that has fascinated me for years. It’s right near the entrance to Fort Knox, and I think it would be such a wonderful shop/studio. (Shop on bottom, studio on top…can you imagine all of the natural light you’d have to sew/paint/create with?!) I think I’d even add some skylights to the mix. Add all that to the fact that it’s on the river-I can’t imagine why it’s been abandoned for so long. Even though this house renovation stuff is more than I ever imagined it would be, I’d be willing to tackle this, too.

Happy Weekend!

No Rhinestones for us…and we are definitely the drugstore type of cowboy; not the real thing like Great Grandpa!

But momma insists we have a little of the old west for her sake, so these hats have to do; plus they keep the sun off real good for strawberry pickin’.

And pick we did!

Makes for alot of work, but oh.so.worth.it.

And whaddya think momma should do with the strawberry containers? She thinks they are just too cute to throw away! She says ideas are welcome!

After strawberry preparation and nice long naps, we made pizza.

But not your typical pizza…especially for cowboys. It kind of grossed us boys out at first, until we were talked into having a bite, and then we loved it. Informal recipe? Pesto, grilled chicken, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers. And oil the durn pizza pan-no spray can for this one. The oil made the crust super light and yummmmmy. Yeah. We were pretty surprised we liked it. But ya know what we liked better? Strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream for dessert! But since momma and daddy were wolfing it down in order to saunter to the community movie theater to see Prince Caspian, there wasn’t any time to take pictures of that delightful meal. So you’ll just have to imagine it.

Go pick ya some strawberries and make yerself a pizza. You won’t regret it, pardner.

Here is a varied list for you!

I’m currently munching on the peanut butter cookies that the boys and I made yesterday: 1 egg, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of peanut butter. Whip it all up, drop spoonfuls on a pan, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Can it get any easier than that?!

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2 artists that are truly amazing-The Maine Grind in Ellsworth carries their work, and you can also purchase the prints online here.

Alan Claude? LOVE HIM. I particularly want this print. Here is a close up of Portland Head Light. It’s beautiful!

And this print is delightful. Can’t afford it anytime soon, but maybe someday! It’s by Philip Frey.

Ok, I am in need of art classes.

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Yesterday I received an email from Tintypes, a really fabulous store in Bath. On July 18th from 5-7, they are hosting a gathering focusing on the International Princess Project, and will be selling Punjammies for $30 ($40 after the initial evening), wherein all proceeds go to help women in India get out of the sex trade and start a new lifestyle. Click on the Princess link to discover more about this organization; it makes my heart sing when people start something so amazing as this. It’ll break your heart a little bit, but also make you glad for people who put things like this into action! I do believe I’ll be saving my bucks to buy a pair!

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One more delightful thing? Nonnie and Papa return tonight, and we are going to take the day off Wednesday or Thursday to go strawberry pickin! Shortcake, here we come!

Well, our day-before-Father’s-Day celebration went beautifully. Erick had a Master’s Program admittance test to take Saturday morning, so we met him at Target around 11:00am and struck out for the coast. The boys slept most of the way there which was a wonderful thing…(and Erick was pretty pleased with the way the test went, hurrah!)

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. It was a day full of that air you can hardly feel, although every once in a while it would warm up but a slight ocean breeze would come right behind it and send you back into bliss. And the beach roses were in full bloom. Oh my. They are faves of this family, and always make us think of Bar Harbor because they line the shore walk:

The kids were in their prime. They are SO happy near water…especially ocean water!

Nonnie and Jack in the water-we all had to dip our toes in. Cold at first-not too bad after that. Jack ended up soaked, but none the worse for wear because of it.

The guys spent a large majority of the day finding rocks to throw in the water…

while I spent that same time finding rocks to keep. I also made out well with some tiny seaglass…I have more than are in this particular photo. I really lucked out with some lavender (pretty hard to find) and blue (my fave, of course). And don’t you adore stripey rocks? I do!

We also went shopping a bit and of course ate some ice cream. You can’t walk a block without running into an ice cream shop in BH!

We took one family picture that turned out semi-alright ( most were pretty hilarious due to unhappy children that did NOT want to leave)…

We lingered until 6:00pm or so, then made our way home. Unfortunately the camera was with my parents…on the way home between the island and the mainland, a bagpipe player in full dress was standing on a rocky outcropping over the water and playing like there was no tomorrow. It was fantastic, and so photogenic! Arg! Just picture it, if you will. I assure you it was amazing.

Happy Father’s Day, all you Father’s out there! Since we had our fun yesterday, dad and Erick are at our house tending to housing issues while mom and I are with the boys who are taking a much needed nap. And I think I’ll do the same the minute I post! Have a great week ahead.

New (to me) music find! Love her!

Click here to listen to clips.

Off to Bar Harbor for a day-before-Father’s-Day celebration. Have a great weekend!

…amongst a wonderful many other enjoyable things. The last two nights, however, they have been for listening to raindrops on a tin roof! And making stove-top popcorn with a bit of melted butter and a sprinkle of salt and a handful of dark chocolate peanut m&ms intermingled in the bowl! (Oh my, I’m afraid I give you way too many sweets to think about.  You couldn’t tell I love dessert, could you? I’ve gotta cut it out!)

When I was around 10 or 11, I read through the Anne of Green Gables series. I adore how Anne always looks for those places or things that give her “scope for imagination”…a girl after my own heart! I picked up the first book in the series a few days ago and started to gobble it up again. The big difference between now and then? We are practically living in that scope for imagination. Sitting in my bedroom in New Mexico, I could only dream about living the life that my kids are now living, and that they are living right in their own backyard!

Yesterday my mom unearthed the very last bag of strawberries we picked last year in the back of the freezer (wonderful surprise!) so we invited friends over to feast on these for lunch…(thank you imagination)

After lunch was wrapped up, the big girls browsed magazines and fabric remnants (yay!) while the little kids used their scope for imagination to utter capacity in the wilds of the backyard…

Quite a good day for scope, I’d say.

Augusta! Yarmouth! Freeport! Bath! And it all began with a coconut coffee and a cranberry orange muffin…(although the guy behind me at D&D ordered a cinammon coffee and a chocolate chip muffin, which sounded excellent as well!)

Mom, Debbie and I hit the road early and shopped and dreamed and gained inspiration at every turn. I picked up some vintage bottles at an antique store for a new art idea that I’m thoroughly excited about, and we also have some great new pillow ideas. Nothing like 3 creative heads bouncing ideas around together!

The weather was beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. And we pretty much wrapped up the day with a shop I’ve blogged about before, but the amazing Gayle of Ornament allowed us to snap pictures to our hearts content. THIS is what I want my house to look like…classy and casual, beachy and romantic, mix of old and new. *OH* how I long for a white couch to sink into. (Crazy thought with my 2 little boys running around, right? Especially since I wrote about that grand ol’ sandpit we have in the backyard!) Prepare to feast your eyes…

LOVE these plates. Bought the birdie salt and pepper shakers.

Aren’t these hats amazing?

Ok, I’m ready to go back. If you want to go, you can find it at 11 Centre Street in Bath (Maine of Course!)

Thank you for letting us run amok, Gayle!

I’m convinced that some of the most picturesque views in Maine are seen traveling along I-95. It’s gorgeous! Only awful thing is that even if you have your camera on hand, by the time you stop to take the “picture” you want, you’d have to hike a 1/4 mile back to take said picture, just praying that a weary traveler wouldn’t plow you over. THUS…I’ve never stopped. Too much hassle, but such a shame.

Last night we spent the evening at the Home Depot clearing them out of their 70% sale stock, and were physically exhausted and verging on cranky when we checked out. The drive home made our spirits skyrocket. It was special-effects-movie-worthy. The time was around 7:15, and the sun was beginning to set. It had rained off and on during the day; those wonderful little showers that are here and gone, here and gone. Puffy, blue-grey clouds in between sunshiny blue…add the colorful sunset into that mix? Wow. Then add all of the spring greens to boot…I love spring. About as good as fall for color, with all of the shades of green intermingled with the purple and white and pink flowering trees. The sun’s rays were shooting out from behind clouds, and every once in awhile we’d drive into a pockets of very fine mist. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that drive-it’s seared into my memory. Ryan and Jack were on cloud 9 because they’d had the run of Home Depot (they CRAVE big, open spaces, even if they are inside). Happy kids, happy mom and dad. Great night.

Today mom and I dashed to Portland and spent about 10 minutes in every little shop we could fit in. It was a crazy whirlwind of running around, but it was another beautiful day in Maine. Have I ever mentioned how much I love this state?

Erick’s at “our” house now…so odd to say “our”. So odd that I feel like I just bought a house I’ve probably spent a grand total of 45 minutes in!! Thank you SO much for all of your well-wishes. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am about decorating, heehee. I’ll be posting pictures of the whole process. We are going to spend the 3 day weekend working like crazy-unfortunately without any plumbing because we have to get pipes fixed first. So that’s probably what we will start with. Good idea, you think?

G’night!

Alright…now time for the good stuff.

Friday night we hooked up with The Romantic Family and had a super time, not leaving until after 10pm. After 10, you say? That’s right late for us! And we didn’t want to leave…coulda stayed all night! So, obviously, that was a great kickoff to the weekend.

Saturday we were up and about a bit late, but decided to head for Bath by way of Augusta (had to stop and dream at Lowe’s). The sun burst forth and warmed us right up-it was a Godsend of a day! I’m so drawn to Bath-it’s just full of fun things to do. And I rediscovered what is now in the top, oh, 2 of my favorite shops. It’s called Ornament, and I could have very well bought them out to decorate my house, had I the funds. The nice thing is that they are very classy, with high end furniture (of which we could never afford) but they also carry things that I can actually purchase on our little ol’ salary. Great mix to appeal to the masses. I took a picture of the front of the building, but it was quite sunny! Didn’t turn out all that well, but I’ll post it anyway. The other pictures are just here and there…

*Rock Stash*

Very “Maine”

Check out the fabric find, honey! YAY! (It’s gorgeous, by the way. Primed for the overhaul they are going to preform on the house once we are finally in a place of our own).

One happy family! The way life should be.

“Hey Mom! Guess what I spelled!” I hear from the backseat of the car on the ride home…

Which brings me to ask…anyone out there have good resources to refer when it comes to a 3 year old just itchin’ to read and write? I’m absolutely not on the ball, but obviously have to get in gear, because Ryan is So ready. I’d love recommendations if you have any.

Keep those house prayers a comin’! Just set a tentative time of 3:30 tomorrow to sign the papers, although nothing is official yet (a few missing pieces left to gather).

Hopefully I’ll have good news to report tomorrow!