Maine-ly Speaking!

Hello from Maine!

I arrived in Portland yesterday morning and was met at the airport by Carol who owns Threads Galore Quilt Shop in Rangeley! Carol puts on this Quilt Camp every year, and it is she who is responsible for contacting me a couple of years ago and seeing if I wouldn’t like to come up and enjoy Maine in the height of fall color and teach at Quilt Camp!

I’ve never been to Maine before, but if I was going to come at all, I knew that this was the PERFECT time of year to do so.

Rangeley is a few hours drive from the airport, up in the mountains ---and Carol had planned a little scenic route for us to take so I could see a bit of the coast as well as inland.

Our first stop?? The LL Bean Flagship Stores in Freeport! FUN! I had to take a photo op with the world’s biggest LL Bean Boot :cD

From here we drove our way along some country roads that looked very much like this:

All the way til we couldn’t drive much farther….and we stopped here for lunch:

Isn’t this cute? Look at those pumpkins! This is Cook’s Lobster House on Bailey Island –and you know you can’t come to Maine without having LOBSTAH of some sort!

If you look at the map on the left of the place mat, you can see the red star marking where we were! There is water on ALL SIDES of these narrow islands that are linked together by bridges.

And this, my friends, is a Maine Lobster Roll! MMMMMMMM! ((Yes, this should have come with a foodie post warning, at least to get Amy to avert her eyes because she doesn’t LIKE seafood at all! LOL!!)) Sorry—can’t help myself!

Me, by the dock, complete with lobster traps just sitting there. Carol was very indulgent in helping me find places to get good pics! I suspect you’ll be seeing lots of them over the next few days!

I love this shot of the rocky coast line! It was “ALMOST” wanting to be sunny…just not quite…but almost!

As we drove our way inland and up toward the mountains, this was the kind of scenery that beckoned us to stop:

Oh, how I love mirror image photos with still water! The trees really are much more vibrant that this…we are just lacking some sunshine and blue sky to really bring out their color.

My internet connection is precariously iffy. Sometimes I can get a phone signal if I go outside and watch my phone until it goes from No Service to Searching to showing that I have 2 bars. And if the wind changes, I lose signal completely.

The wifi where I am right now seems to be much the same way, so I’m hoping I can even upload this post!

And that goes for any future posts I try to send while I’m here…will they go or not? It remains to be seen! Wish me luck! I'll keep you updated as much as I can!

Hike to the Beach!

Monday was a bit of a reprieve with some time to do some sight seeing and some sewing during the day hours as I didn’t have to meet up with the guild board until 4:45 so we could grab a bite to eat and run on over to set up before the evening guild meeting started.

Almost a WHOLE day for ME!!

I woke up, spent a few hours cutting, kitting and sewing, and around 11am found that my mind was wandering --- it was GORGEOUS outside and the trails were beckoning!

My hostess, Julia, had explained to me that if I go right back out through their back yard, take a left..follow the pipeline area….it joins to the trails of Calvert Cliffs State Park!

A State Park right in your back yard?! WONDERFUL! And the trails in this park go all the way to the Chesapeake Bay! EVEN BETTER!

I pulled on shorts and a tshirt and my running shoes. Julia followed me out onto the back deck and sprayed me down heavily ((cough cough!!)) with bug spray, and pointed my way through the trees, being sure to tell me which landmarks to look for so I could find my way back to the house.

I set out on the trail, my ear buds plugged into my ears and my ipod playing something peppy to quicken my step and get my heart rate elevated. ((Yes, the previous night’s feast of crab and everything-else-under-the-sun-deep-fried was telling me I need to BURN some calories!)) Isn’t the sun dappled forest floor so pretty?

And look! My first VISUAL clue that Autumn is REALLY here. From the rest of the trees you really can’t see it yet…..but look at those reds! BEAUTIFUL!

I found myself following trails up and down hills, over little wooden bridges and walkways, crossing streams and rivulets, just listening to the birds and the sounds of small “plops” from frogs jumping into the water as I passed. This pond was FULL of lily pads!

A wooden board walk took me past the really mushy marshy area…..this must mean I am getting closer to the beach! I can “ALMOST” smell that sea air!

And there it is….I can see water just over the crest of the trail ahead! I’d reached it! It was close to 2 miles from Julia’s house at this point….

And there it is! The beautiful Chesapeake Bay! Hurricane Irene had quite an impact on this area, causing lots of downed and uprooted trees and severe land erosion.

This was as close as I could get to the Calvert Cliffs --- they are all taped off as a danger zone, lots of roots from trees are visible along the top ledge, the land from waves just washed right out from under them….click the photo to enlarge to see better.

I wasn’t the only one enjoying the beautiful October day! As I walke3d farther down the beach I turned to take this picture of folks just enjoying the day also. Love those horse tail clouds in the background! Can you feel the sunshine? It just might be the LAST of Indian Summer we get around here!

I love to watch the waves lap at the shore!

There was a family with young sons just a digging away in the rocks and shells at the edge of the waves, and they were whooping after finding some “treasure.” I had to be nosey and go see what all the fuss was about!

The father and sons had been digging for sharks teeth --- and they found some! What an awesome treasure hunt to be on with the day so beautiful. Get AWAY from the TV and computer games and enjoy some nature….they’ll go home with quite a tale to tell!

I still had another 2 miles to hike back to Julia’s house, but I was reluctant to turn my back on this beautiful remote little beach and walk away from it. I just wanted to stay there and stop time. I hope I get a chance to make this hike again!

On my way back, I caught a glimpse of a tree root in a sunny spot on the trail…..but wait! That is no root! It started moving! It was a fairly LONG black snake ---I’m not crazy about snakes, but this one was harmless…and headed AWAY from me ((Which was a good thing.)) It was off and into the brush before I could even get my camera out of my pocket. Just as well, little snake! I’m sure it was enjoying the last hint of warm weather before it hibernates under ground too!

This little jaunt took less than 2 hours of my time. It took my joy meter from empty to full, just that fast! Next time you have some time….get out there. Visit a park, a stream, a beach, a pond, ANYWHERE. Get out and notice changes in your own neighborhood…what a beautiful world we live in!

As this posts, I’m on a plane to Portland, Maine! I’m teaching at a retreat in Rangeley, and I have no idea what my connectivity will be while there. I’ll try to keep you updated, but if this blog is quiet for a few days, you’ll know why!

Evening Edition! Free Kindle Book!

I just arrived home a while ago. Sadie was ecstatic…and so was I!

It was also raining, so I opened the garage door to pull Shamu the Van into the garage, and…ooops. There is STUFF in the way on the floor, so I had to unload the car from the driveway in the sprinkles. That’s okay. It wasn’t a cold windy downpour, just a gentle October rain, and it smelled so good!

I drove up to Maryland on Friday….and I was a bit disappointed in the fact that there really wasn’t any color yet! But OH…in a matter of 4 days MY have things changed! The only thing missing was a bit of sunshine and a blue sky to contrast all the golds and yellows and reds, but you can’t have it all, can you?

The FALL COLORS are HERE!

While my laundry is running ----so that I can pack it all back up in my suitcase again and head off for Maine in the morning…I’m going through emails and google reader and catching up on things and I found THIS!

Penumbra, by Carolyn Haines, is free on Kindle. This standalone novel was named one of the best Mysteries of 2006 by Library Journal.

Book Description
Jade Dupree is a beautician and an undertaker’s assistant with a gift for smoothing the ravages of death from the faces of her clientele. But her strange talent isn’t the only thing that sets her apart from the townspeople of tiny Drexel, Mississippi. Jade is half-black and the unacknowledged bastard daughter of Drexel’s “first lady,” the imperious Lucille Longier. J

Jade’s half sister, the pale, fragile, and legitimate Marlena, is married to Lucas Bramlett, the wealthiest man in the region. While the entire town knows of the blood bond between the two women, no one dares speak the truth out loud. Though her talents as a hairdresser are highly sought after by Drexel’s elite, Jade accepts that she’ll never truly be part of the town and lives her life the best she can.

But on one hot summer day in 1952, Jade’s world is turned inside out when Marlena, on a tryst with her lover, is savagely beaten and her young daughter kidnapped. Determined to find her niece before it’s too late, Jade accepts help from a white sheriff’s deputy, Frank Kimble. The forbidden attraction that ignites between them threatens to add to the violence already brewing in town.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

It was STILL free on Amazon, I just checked. The other links for Nook and Sony may show that it isn’t free anymore, but since I don’t use those products, this is the best I can do!

Besides…I’ve got more packing to do!

Maryland Crab Feed!

Yes, I know, it’s another foodie post!

What can I say --- I love food, and if you haven’t experienced a Maryland Crab Pickin’ there is nothing like it!

It’s MESSY!

And as Carol told us, when she treated us to this delectable feast, “The dirtier your hands get, the better the crab tastes!”

The reason being is that the crabs are steamed, and then sprinkled heavily on the outside with Old Bay seasoning, so all the flavoring bits are on the shell. If you don’t dig in there and get the seasoning on your fingers, you won’t get any on the crab meat itself!

One dozen crabs ready to be shared by the 6 of us! Tables covered with brown paper, and plenty of napkins near by!

Other required equipment? A Bucket-O’-Mallets, and some little sharp knives!

Carol showed us how to hold the crab so we could pop off the “top” of the shell and clean out the parts we didn’t want…..she made such quick work of it! And boy are those little morsels of meat tasty!

Here I am, ready to give it a go! And crab picking is such a social thing….since to get enough meat to fill you, you could sit there for hours picking at little bits of meat from the legs and the claws. It’s a perfect time for great conversation and lots of laughter! And as we learned, not ONLY are you sure to get some flying bits on yourself….but on your neighbor as well!

I had to laugh at the sounds of hammering mallets coming from every corner of the restaurant….tap tap tap…POUND POUND POUND!! :cD Don’t expect a quiet meal if you are going crab picking!

By the time we were done, this was all that was left! What a feast! We also shared orders of oysters, clams and shrimp. But never fear, we DID have some green vegetables too..

However, I must confess that since the green beans were breaded and fried, I'm really not sure that they count as a "good for you" green thing anymore!

I think I’m going to have to do lots of hiking this next weekend in Maine ((Weather and time permitting)) to work some of this crab fest OFF!

I'm on my way home this morning....it's a 7 hour drive! My plans are to throw everything in the laundry, pack it all up again, have dinner, get a good night's sleep and off I go to Maine early Wednesday morning!

More Quilting in Maryland!

Back to Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy for another day of quilting with the Pax River Quilt Guild Gals!

I remembered to take pictures of the “Honor Code” that was found on walls in the hallways, on chalk boards ((Yes, it was an old black chalk board, not a white marker board!! Chalk boards bring back so many memories, I like them best!

And even in the cafeteria area.

What an important thing for kids to learn and learn young!

We had a smaller class, Sundays are sometimes like that, and because we were smaller we could have group discussions on things like

“If you could tell a new quilter what the most important tool is, what would it be?”

“If you could learn one thing early on, what would it be?”

“How often do you change your rotary blade?”

“How often do you oil your machine?”

“If you were new to quilting and just starting to accumulate fabrics, what would you look for?”

“If you are shopping just for stashing, what sizes of cuts of fabric would you buy?”

The answers were varied and helpful! And on the last question it was “Anything from fat quarters to 1/2 yards, to full yards, to 3 to 6 yard cuts to..just buy the whole bolt!” LOL!!

Of course, all these discussion topics were directed to benefit our brand new quilter, Jennifer --- this was HER first class EVER!

And it was so funny…..Jennifer hates to iron, and every time I’d say “Okay, now go press these units like this….” She’d roll her eyes and say “But I don’t like ironing!!”

So we re-instituted my number one rule of NO WHINING!! We just about put THAT on the chalk board too! LOL! It was all in good fun.

Here’s a glance at the chalkboard in our room:

Another important message that kids need to learn early, and that we need to be reminded of every day. I remember being told also that our lives are also shaped by the choices we DON’T MAKE. If you don’t choose, the choice is often made by your not chosing –and you might miss an opportunity.

I wish all of our schools could focus on things like this! That goes for work places and other places too.

Another thing you can do when a class is small is take off on other hot topics like…

“Can you believe that Bank of America is going to charge $5 a month for you to use your debit card??” (((OH, this has us ALL up in arms and I’m thinking of changing my bank after 20 years…*SIGH*))

And when topics get TOO HOT TO HANDLE we get back to QUILTING! ((I’m still mad as a hatter over this bank thing and need to look more into it. Sheesh.))

		HIdden Spools, Leonardtown, MD 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We had a great time! And I really love teaching the beginners. I had an opportunity to take it all the way back to demos on how to cut fabric. We talked about grain line, and the importance of seam allowance.

I remember being a new quilter, and feeling overwhelmed and intimidated by those who knew more and had been quilting forever.

Back in my early years --- as a new guild member ((I joined my first guild when I was 26)) I so vividly remember working SO HARD on a block for the president’s quilt…only to bring it to guild, turn it in, and have it rejected because it measured 1/2” too small. I was crushed! I had worked so hard on this thing, but no one had told me that the side of the presser foot on that machine was NOT 1/4'”. I honestly didn’t know.

I hope Jennifer will keep at it! We need to love those newbies and encourage them all we can. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?