A DELIGHTFUL DAY

A morning spent picking flowers. An afternoon spent on the farm.

God speed the plough!

POLISH POTTERY

A lovely morning to pick flowers, my vase is Polish Pottery a gift from my cousin Eve and her Mom.

SUNNY SIDE UP

I am posting this update for Miss Eve over at Sunny Side Up. She is patiently waiting to be back on the world wide web, however, she now lives on a mountain top, need I say more. Eve is loving her new home State of Alabama. She has been busy inspecting her new perennial beds, shrubs, trees, and many birds located on her new property. Her neighbor (down the road a piece) owns a menagerie of animals and you guessed it "Guinea Foul." I feel certain Guinea adventures will be in our near future. Finally, dear brave Eve found and shall I say disposed of four scorpions, not one, but FOUR! The exterminator was called and promptly made a visit. Now some of the reasons I enjoy living in the State of Maine there is no worry of scorpions, poisonous snakes or spiders. Eve please listen to me get that fall out shelter built, you know what happened to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz!

IT'S HOT!

What a delightful day it has been. On the North side of my home at two PM it was ninety-five
degrees. Am I going to complain, absolutely not. This is perfect gardening weather! No humidity, and an Easterly breeze to keep the insects away. Yipee!
Winslow on the other hand was hot, but he refused to stay indoors. As long as cool water is available and he can dig himself a hole to flop into he's happy. The idea of giving him a hair cut crossed my mind, but the local weather man calls for thirty degrees tonight, so we shelved that idea. Yesterday I went to one of my favorite plant nurseries, Broadway Gardens located in South Portland. My youngest son had given me a gift certificate for Christmas, (aren't those the best gifts, you just can't go wrong with plants or gardening books) I clipped a $10.00 coupon the nursery provided in the local newspaper. I Purchased an Endless Summer Blue Hydrangea. It presents itself with beautiful showy blue flowers during the summer and is just stunning.
Also purchased, a Lilac named Ludwig Spaeth. It has deep purple heart shaped flowers. I like to plant my lilac's close to my home so I can open the windows and let their sweet fragrance drift in. Oh the simple joys of spring.

More progress was made on the chicken coop this past weekend, it is now enclosed and the roof shingled. My DH left for Plymouth, Mass. for two weeks on business. For the time being this project is at a standstill.

I hope you all had a wonderful day and were able to get outside and enjoy the weather. The seasons here in New England pass by so quickly we need to take advantage when possible. Till next time.

SATURDAY CHORES

Oh what a glorious day, this is the sort of day you never want to end. The temperature in the low eighties, a gentle Southerly breeze. Green is becoming the prominent color in the landscape, trees starting to bud, it is a magical time of year. Today I uncovered my flower gardens. This is what I call my "moon" garden. A Hydrangea tree in the center, white perennials and silver foliage bloom during the summer. Springtime bulbs also find a home here.

My Herb garden being uncovered under the watchful eye of Winslow Homer.

My perennial bed is a color mixture of pinks, purples, whites, lime greens and blues. It appears most plants have endured our lengthy winter and are now just waiting to make their grand appearance.

Forsythia, a sure sign of spring.Yes Winslow you are a good boy. Thank you for keeping Mr. fox out of the yard, now go get a drink of water and find a shady spot to relax, I'll be right behind you.

We all worked under the watchful eye of Emma Lou. Is that an "orb" I see in this photo, oh Lordy, I knew there were spirits in this house, I hope they remain friendly!

A WALK WITH WINSLOW

The sun came out this afternoon so I chucked my rainy day project (I mean placed it aside) put my mud boots on and headed out the door, Winslow Homer was okay with this idea.

Yup, we encountered a flock of turkey's which Winslow promptly put in the tree tops. I don't know who was startled more us or the turkeys.

As we came upon our pond a pretty fox scampered past. Winslow spun into action and was hot on it's trail. This is a very intuitive fox, for you see since beginning our chicken coop he/she has been showing up daily checking out the new "digs" being built in the backyard. Upon returning to the door yard I noticed hawks flying overhead. Now this isn't anything new, but now that I have dainty banty's coming to reside, I'd rather they would fly somewhere else. Winslow is going to be placed on guard duty, maybe even bunking in with the girls. Winslow come back here leave that fox alone. Till next time!

RAINY DAY PROJECT

Today was rainy, cold, damp, and gloomy. Need I say more. No outside work for me. I decided it was time to finish up some of my rug hooking projects. I love rug hooking, designing, color placement, but hate sewing on the binding. I've tried different methods, but still am not fond of this process. The rug below is one I hooked for my mother, I love the end result it is a true primitive!This pattern I purchased at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont during a rug exhibition. My Mom requested bright colors and a primitive design and that's what I delivered.

This is a small runner, a pattern I purchased at the Searsport Rug Hooking store in Searsport, Maine. This was completed in a day. This would be a great beginners project, as it hooks up quite quickly.

This pattern also comes from Searsport Rug hooking. This is a "hit or miss" pattern which uses accumulated worms ( wool strips) from previous hooking projects. I need to hand saw the binding, then steam press. This will take me at least the rest of the week to accomplish, wish me luck!

NATURE

Today was a beautiful sunny day here in Southern Maine, Winslow and I took full advantage. First we uncovered daffodils, did some raking, brought out the bird bath and added two new Blue bird boxes to the yard.

With those chores completed I decided it was time for Winslow and I to take our first walk of the season. It is a lovely trail behind our home, down a hill, around the pond, pass the stream and loop back up again. The birds were singing and there was a slight breeze. Next month this walk will be almost impossible. With May comes the arrival of Black Flies, Mosquitos and Ticks. You practically have to wear armour to keep yourself safe! Ticks have become a real problem in Maine. Winslow is a victim of Lyme's disease. A back paw limp turned into full paralysis over a short period of time. DH rushed him to the Emergency Animal Hospital as it was the Christmas Holiday and I happened to still be on the island. His kidneys had begun to shut down and it was a matter of wait and watch. Enough said, he survived, still thinks he is a big dog in a little body and is loved dearly.

IN EVERY WALK WITH NATURE ONE RECEIVES FAR MORE THAN HE SEEKS.

JOHN MUIR

DAYS OF SPRING

A quick weekend trip to the island to finish up a survey job. Soon it will be time to slap a coat of paint on these chairs, plump up the cushions, and enjoy this view. Oh, and don't forget the lemonade!

Daffodils are finally making an appearance. Oh happy day, we here in New England have waited so very long for the magic of spring to begin.

The Magnolia tree is covered in buds and a few have started to blossom.

When I returned home I found DH working diligently on the chicken coop, as we say in Maine he's a keepa!

Winslow Homer where are you, get back here! Till next time.

EASTER

Good Tuesday evening. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Easter Holiday. My DH and I welcomed my parents, my mother in law, our two sons, one new girlfriend, and a special niece and her husband. These blue peeps just happened to show up on my counter top Sunday morning. This special mohair peep was knit by my niece, she has other lovely knitting projects on her blog called "missthesea." She also was born an islander and continued to live on the island until college. She and her new husband now reside in Portland. I love my little peep.

Since the men folk in my family are now grown adults, no longer in need of Easter baskets, I or shall I say the Easter Bunny brought chicken feeders filled with what else, jellybeans! Saturday my DH did a little more work on the chicken coop. Yes thats my honey, isn't he cute! Now get back to work!

PRIMITIVE RUGS

As I look back I guess I have had birds on my mind for quite sometime. This is a primitive hen and pennies I designed and hooked a few years ago. This is one of my first projects. A rug hooking kit I purchased at the Door Mill Outlet in Western New Hampshire. This is the project that got me hooked on primitive rug hooking, you can be as creative as you want and really can't go wrong. I now look forward to having real hens, I hope I take to them as well as I did rug hooking.

HAPPY EASTER

Good Sunday afternoon. Best Easter wishes to all of you out in blogland. To my brother Kris, sister- inlaw Jovan, Papa T, cousin Eve and her family, Happy Easter from your family in Maine.

ISLAND LIFE

One never knows what one might encounter deep in the woods. This is what my Dad and I stumbled on when surveying Wednesday morning. The truck appears to far gone to tell what the make is, until I spied this logo. A Chevy Deluxe. You have to wonder how and who left it behind all those many years ago.

A Muscle shell left behind by an Island Gull. Gulls forage for food along the shore, they drop a shell on the rocks till it cracks and the inner contents exposed to be eaten. Some of the grounds around my parents home. My Dad encompassed the yard with stone walls. Later in the spring fields of Daffodils and Jonquils will be making an appearance. If you are wondering if there is wild life here on the island, the answer is yes. Deer, raccoons, squirrels, rodents, fox and last year the one and only turkey made her appearance. All have made the journey from the mainland. We can't seem to figure out how the turkey made her journey, it's to far for a turkey to fly and no one claims to have brought one over. A mystery remains.

This is the home my brother and I grew up in. We are very fortunate to have both of our parents healthy and active. Many special memories were made here and continue to do so.The West end of the Island. Ponce's Landing. A small restaurant opens in the summer, the Post office is attached and is opened year round. The US mail comes daily to the island via Casco Bay Lines. The large white building is the main store on the island, but is only opened in the summer for groceries. Islanders are able to get gasoline here three times a week. Grocery shopping is done on the mainland and then shipped out by ferry. There is an elementary school on the island, grades six through twelve commute to the mainland via ferry and then bused. Islanders are a hardy stock!

This is the break water a place where lobster men moor their boats for safe keeping.

Time to leave the island behind and head back to my country home. Winslow Homer is patiently waiting for his supper!