A Little Picture Story in Autumn

Hi! Nice to see you. 

It's time to share some puttering and I promise I won't chat your ear off. Just a little picture story with captions. 

One more thing, this is not to be confused with a house or yard tour. I don't even attempt to do those anymore. I have embarrassed myself one too many times. 😥

~Summer Flowers Hanging On~

~Tired and Leggy~

~Ahhh, that's better...I have plans for the toolbox...stay with me~

~Yes, I climbed the ladder to do this!~

~Very Simple~

~Neighbor is busy doing yard cleaning (and chucking it into the ravine) and I should be, too~

~This corner needs a do-over~

~See, I told ya!~

~The Bigger Picture~

Thanks for stopping by. Now I really should get down to business because I am just goofing off. ッ Have a great weekend!

What Comes After

Autumn has always been my favorite season and I know that many of those who read here share the enthusiasm; however, this year, I began to dread the mere thought of autumn. Because, with thoughts of pumpkins, apples, fires, leaves, and crisp, golden days comes the thought of what comes after. And what comes after has been so vile, so difficult, so obnoxious that the mere thought of it sends a chill up my spine. If I were speaking metaphorically, this may also have something to do with my growing older and now having definitely become old. (To those who wish to admonish me with the classic "you're only as old as you feel" line, I have felt old since I was six. Nothing particularly new here. ☺)

~Fryeburg Fair 2013~

I have been trying to think how to better survive what comes after. One must, after all, prepare well in advance. Ordinarily, this would mean preparing the pantry with comfort foods and making certain that the garage is winter functional...it isn't yet...and buttoning up the house. Then some new bedding might be in order and a way to avoid having to go out. 

When my hometown family went to New Brunswick for a week and I began to look after the grandkitties, I noticed that a whole lot of packages were arriving. I'd haul them inside and that was that until I had to question the number of them upon their return.

My daughter-in-law explained that she had had quite enough of schlepping when Wal*Mart had a perfectly lovely app and that she could order many of her favorite and needed items online and they would be delivered free for a purchase of so much...not that much either. So I asked "schlepping?" And she said, "You know, you have to drive to get to the store and you haul the item from the shelf and drag it all around the store with you and then you put it on the belt and put it back into your cart and then haul it out to your car and put it into your trunk and then you drag it home and haul it out of the trunk and into the house." She added that ordering online meant that all you did was drag it into your house. 

Obviously, that eliminates a whole lot of schlepping. Well, when she put it that way, the light went on immediately.

💡💡💡

So I downloaded the app, set up  my account, and had a fine time receiving my packages without ANY schlepping until the day the delivery truck backed into my house. 

Arrrrgh!

There went all my dreams of hunkering down until spring. 

I need to remember this:

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Matthew 6:34

So it's back to schlepping for me. I have had zero success with my insurance, the delivery service employed by Wal*Mart or with Wal*Mart itself. Who knows the final chapter of this story... (Personally, I think I'm biting this one.)

The End

Closet Explosion

Today when I was out running trash to the transfer station and picking up tomatoes at the farm stand, I noticed all kinds of activity. My neighbor at the end of the street was sitting under her tree reading a Bible; a blonde wearing the biggest pair of sunglasses ever and a large smile was driving her convertible through town; and I returned home to find my next-door neighbor tying his kayak to the roof of his SUV. We are enjoying the warmest days of summer (those poor school kids who returned just today) and in sharp contrast to these folks, this week, I had decided to cozy up to the air conditioner and tackle that dining room closet. 

No, no, that's not it. That's from last Friday when Laurel and I went to the Freeport Town Wharf. Okay, moving on to the important stuff...

There it is! Clean and tidy with everything that doesn't belong out and my vacuum cleaner in. Heretofore, the vacuum has been sitting in a corner of my bedroom. Not ideal.

What? Okay, those are the onion rings we ordered last Friday. We both enjoy them and so split a small order.

All that? That's the stuff that was in the closet, but doesn't belong there. It does look as if the closet was ill and exploded.

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

It has taken me three days to clean that closet and it will probably take me another three days to take care of the piles all around. 

Now this is a good price for lobster, clams, and an ear of corn; however, Laurel and I opted for hot dogs.

Today, I opted for a tomato. After waiting all this time for a fresh, ripe, local tomato, it was pure joy.

And made the thought of spending the afternoon decluttering a little easier to take. 

(I hope that coastal pics made this post a little easier to take, too.)

Of Angels and Gargoyles and Vacations and More

A bunch of Thursdays ago at the end of July, I was in Freeport (flagship store of L.L.Bean) to meet my blogging friend Linda of Sew What and her husband Art. They were in the state to visit Bar Harbor.

I am so glad that they did not allow the foul weather reports ruin their trip because they enjoyed a fabulous week. (There hasn't been any better one in the month since.) I read about their vacation on Linda’s Instagram account. Hope that she’ll share her wonderful Bar Harbor photos on her blog so that you can see them, too. (Her Instagram account is private as is mine.)

You may remember that my last meet was quite recent (the post before this) and that every meet is fraught with troubles. This meet was no exception as I drove for miles in a miserable downpour. Further, Linda and I could both write a post about how not to do a meet. We were both at our destination, but we had failed to give one another cell phone numbers and email wasn't working out so well. They waited far too long a time when I was there. (They arrived ahead of time.) I had told Linda to look for the Hobbit from the Haven and...goodness I missed that description...it was more like the deranged gargoyle from the haunted castle. Wow. I did look a fright. 😳

Nevertheless, the deranged gargoyle did not seem to faze them and we exchanged pleasantries and gifts. I received a very special gift in the form of one of Linda’s angels made from my brother-in-law’s two wives’ wedding gowns. True. You figure it out! 

↑This was where the Blessings Angel landed at my wee haven. In her new incarnation, she lives once again with my sister and her husband. My sister was so tickled with her. She said that the angel was not just going to be an angel on the Christmas tree. She'd be an angel all year around. ↓

The angel was not all... Tea towels, a candle, tea time napkins and more. I have been enjoying my gifts, Lin. Have you seen them showing up at Instagram?

As we “meet people” say, meeting someone you have known through blogging or even Instagram is as pleasant and easy as can be. Linda was a delight with her gentle sense of humor and her husband is a dear and patient man. Time flies and all too soon it is over.

Art and Linda  

My nod to their Bar Harbor vacation. ッ

Thank you so much for everything, Dear Ones! If you ever visit Bar Harbor again...

Dear Folk and Gentle People

Finally! We met. ッ

It was a wonderful opportunity to meet Mr. and Mrs. T on Saturday last, she of both Across My Kitchen Table and Mrs T's Christmas Kitchen fame. 

Actually, our meeting was a lot like sitting at her kitchen table happily chatting until first the mosquitoes and then the drunk showed up. < thud > Into every blogger meet a clinker must fall. Sigh.

The Ts love getaways and had been in Maine to attend a wedding up Bangor way. They were killing two birds with one stone so to speak. We had been scheduled to meet last year, but then my father passed away unexpectedly. Mrs. T’s father passed away not long after. Life happens and plans must shift when it does.

Except for photos of her adorable little girl self, Mrs. T does not share photos of herself. I recently caught a glimpse of Mr. T in passing so I thought I’d probably be able to figure out whom I was meeting.

As I skidded into the parking lot, Mr. T was the first one I saw. He was sporting four things: Mrs. T, a t-shirt created by his grands, and two black eyes. Gotta love a grandfather who proudly wears his grands’ gift. (The black eyes? Not my story to tell. 😉 ) Sara is just as lovely a person as you can imagine she would be from reading her blog: warm, attentive, gentle, and godly.

We discussed many things. Mrs. T mentioned how much she would like to meet a certain blogger...hope that happens! She said how much her life has been blessed by blogging. Yes, we do find our own here.

We exchanged gifts...these are mine...she knows my color well! You might have to visit *this post* if you don’t recognize the other. I had never seen them before reading there, but I have the feeling that some of my readers will recognize that darling box.

Using my crocheted hot mat to protect my mixing bowls

As we were saying our goodbyes...in fact, I was already in my car...I realized that you might not believe me if I didn’t have pictures. Mr. and Mrs. T indulged me and I have two. The first is a very nice photo...the second is even more wonderful and my favorite after employing my photography trick. You know the one...

That is not a wee hatchet in Mr. T's pocket... I had to look twice! 

Such a cute couple!


Thank you, dear folk and gentle people, for coming my way, which was quite a bit out of yours. I appreciate it very much. ♥ It was a joy to meet you at last!

A Blueberry Day

Do you just love those days when something fun or interesting turns up that you had not planned for? Out of the blue it comes and usually begins with a phone call. 

Mine went this way...

"Hey, Mom, my car's going into the shop today and I was wondering if you'd be able to pick me up and we could hang out together for the day." 

You know the answer to that! My gears began turning immediately: We'd go out for breakfast and afterward we'd clean the garage. ツ

Breakfast went off without a hitch, but garage cleaning was not in my daughter's plans; a trip to Vassalboro was instead.

our route in red

She wanted to purchase blueberry bushes. Hmmm...interesting...okay, I was in.

 arriving at Fieldstone's Garden

grape arbor🍇

 Laurel searching for her blueberry plants

 there it is!

 pleased with her choices...a smaller, tart blueberry and a large, sweet blueberry variety named Patriot

Wish that truck were ours...it would have been easier getting these plants home.

 Now that shepherd's staff has presence!

 holly

 limelight hydrangea

 garden art

 this plant stand/torchiere became Laurel's birthday gift to Michelle...

 Variegated maple, which can no longer be sold as it's invasive

 checking out, but we'll definitely be back another day...

All plants at Fieldstone's are native plants hardy to -40°F...very important in Maine.

Thank you for joining me on this blueberry-finding road trip. 

Procrastinating

Not sure if procrastination is a problem for you, but it certainly is with me. I can procrastinate for hours, days, weeks, even years. I am not proud of it. I am just being honest with you.

As you know, I am "supposed" to be decluttering. I have done some decluttering, but that was boring as all get out. 

So I turned my attention to projects. This old window style mirror, a Wal*Mart purchase for $7 in the 1990s has been a lot of fun in the garden. If it breaks, I don't care. Well maybe a little bit...

It used to hang on the side of the barn a few years ago. You can see that here. Now it is disguising the mess I made power washing the fence. ツ I also repainted the potting bench that John made me some years ago. It was looking pretty scruffy as you can see below. 

Hope that you enjoyed a lovely Independence Day or Canada Day, if you live in North America. My family gathered at my son's home poolside. Most swam, but Michelle and I sat on the deck and chatted. Then we abandoned the deck and the outdoors for air conditioning...ahhhh... And we'll get to do it all over again when we gather at my sister's on Sunday for a family BBQ and another 4th of July celebration even if it'll be the 8th. 😉

It's been so warm, though not topping 100°F, that all my flowers are drooping by afternoon. My mission today is to find them some filtered light. Even though well watered, they seem to be as miserable as I am. I am not complaining. Really, I am not. I don't have to shovel snow and that is a great blessing.

Leaving you with a photo of my "mirror ball" petunia. They are so uniquely marked. You can see what I was describing above...the slight wilt to the blossoms by afternoon. 

Off to get my chores done before the heat truly sets in... 

Thank you so much for all those wonderful tips on my last post. They were fabulous!