Friday, October 29, 2010

Duh....

How do you know when you need to have your head examined??

When you go to the first ever in Maine Trader Joe's Grand Opening. That's when.

My frozen food I attempted to purchase, thawed and cooked itself before I was able to check out.


Sooo, my question to you.....Do you like Trader Joe's?

What do you like there?

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Road trip......Part Two.....

About an hour away from Bar Harbor and Acadia Park on Mt. Desert Island, is another section of Acadia that is across the water from Bar Harbor and down another peninsula. It's called Schoodic.

This area is far removed from the hustle and bustle of Mt. Desert Island. It's like night and day.

The Park loop is quiet and inviting. We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast, checked in and headed to the Park to see the setting sun do it's thing on the area's beauty.

This is the Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in in Prospect Harbor called Elsa's. It was a lovely, warm and inviting homestead directly across from the harbor.


The view across the street from the Inn. (Notice the light house in the distance.)


A corner of the living room.


The dining room.



The view from our upstairs bedroom. We had our own private entrance from the front porch.


We ate dinner in Winter Harbor. They have their own Village Doctor! 

...and a 5 and 10!

Photo of my husband, Mr. Downeastdoingstuff, aka Birdman (on his blog.) This is the position I see him in most of the time when we are out and about. Heck, even at home he takes many photos of our surroundings!

Down the street was this massive guy. I actually EAT that brand sardines! I didn't think they actually came from somewhere. (yes, I like sardines....me and about 2 other people)

More to come......

Monday, October 25, 2010

Road trip....Part One....

We went away for the weekend, Mr. Downeastdoingstuff and I, up the coast to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This is what I wanted for my birthday, since 'I' don't exactly get a, ahem, BIRTHDAY WEEK

Anyway, it was a beautiful fall weekend so we took off at the crack of 7:30 a.m., heading  'downeast'.

 Ayuh.
Seagulls couldn't be bothered to move from their cozy spots...in the street.

This is looking down Main Street in downtown Bar Harbor. As you can see, tourist season has passed....just the way we like it. (no offense to potential tourists.)

Heading closer to the water.




One of the many hotels dotting the coast. Peak foliage season is past, but there are still some bright colors to tickle the senses.

Wicked good ice cream to be had. ( I would think it is wicked good. We didn't have any, but isn't most ice cream wicked good? We had a beer instead in a bar overlooking the water.) (SOOOOO nice!)



This is from the top of Cadillac Mountain. Those white specks below are where we were in Bar Harbor.


The road to the top of this magnificent mountain  is part of the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park. 

There is a second piece to Acadia National Park, called Schoodic, but that is on the next peninsula of land, about 45 minutes to an hour away. 

We stayed in a wonderful Bed and Breakfast at Schoodic. Those photos are coming next......

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Whooopppppeeeeeee.....

I found a recipe for pumpkin Whoopie Pies with cream cheese filling on the Martha Stewart web site. I've never made Whoopie Pies before, so I was a little reluctant, but my dessert genes kicked in and I got over that ..... pronto.
 
There is one lone whoopie left and I don't know who will nab it first. Since it's breakfast time, I think it's safe for a little while.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it: (click on words)



"BITE ME!!"

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Away at camp....

Our school goes away to overnight camp every year. And, yes, the teachers come with them. Sending them two hours away all by themselves would not sit well with their parents. Well, most of the parents...

This is the view from the deck of the dining hall. It's a little late in the year for my blood, temperature wise, but visually it is a beautiful time of year.
This is the cabin the teachers stay in. There are cabin counselors that stay with the kids at night. (Thank God!) We are right on the lake and quite far away from the kids bunks. They have NO idea where we stay.....and we like it that way!
This is the outside of the Dining Hall.
If you biggify this photo you can see some of the little cherubs up on the hill.
Another view of the lake from the Dining Hall. For some of the children, this is their first overnight. Some are homesick, but they all survive, and in the end are very happy they did.

They do workshops on relationships, bullying, decision making, adventure (ie. high and low ropes courses) and team building. Afternoons and evenings are spent doing fun things.

It's a wonderful program and our kids are very lucky to have this opportunity.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Stuff......


Yesterday we had Mr. Stanley Steemer come and super steem [sic] our rugs in the family room and the hallway. Since those rugs have beens wicked scuzzy for a while and because our own Hoover rug shampooer uses only two tiny round toothbrushes to 'scrub' the rug at snail speed, we had to take drastic measures. Yes, Stanley Steemer is as drastic as we get. Whew.

Although, we did have Stanley Soot come several times to clean our chimney in the past. That was a hoot.

To prepare for our scuzz expungement, we had to remove stuff from the room and put it in our summer porch. Within 20 minutes the summer porch was jammed to the rafters with stuff.
We are not hoarders in our main house. (DO NOT look in the two attics.....ever....) The stuff we have is regular stuff. And the stuff was all in order as we had a family gathering 4 days before, no clutter to be seen. (Don't look in the attic.) 

It made me realize that I can never move. I starting looking around to see what I would take with me when I retire and move to Tahiti. 

It's going to be very expensive.  

I need to start heaving things right now.  

Even all those hundreds of Beanie Babies we got Baby Downeastdoingstuff, you know, for investment purposes.

And my trolls, too? Say it ain't so.....

Help.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Good Luck my sweet nephew...

Last weekend there was a farewell dinner party for a member of our family who is moving to California. He's young enough to try this drastic move of his dreams. Taking practically the clothes on his back, early Monday morning, off he went.

Now, I would have to rent two or three 18 wheelers to transport the clothes on my back, plus some other stuff.

This is why he's the one doing this adventure and not me.

I think, however, he will find a few differences between Maine and California.

Such as.....

In California, your fastest commute will be down your driveway.

In Maine, you consider it a traffic jam if there are four cars waiting to pass a tractor.  

In California, your monthly house payments exceed your annual income.  

In Maine, your neighbors house foreclosed after an unlucky 24 hour mini-cruise on the Scotia Prince.

In California, the primary bugs you worry about are electronic.   

In Maine, you think a mosquito could be a species of bird.

In California, your car has bullet proof windows.  
      
In Maine, you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked.

In California, you pack shorts and a t-shirt to ski in the snow and a sweater and wet suit for the beach.
 
In Maine, if you have to dress up you wear a tie with your flannel shirt.
In California, getting from point A to point B, no matter what the distance, takes about "20 minutes."  
In Maine,  you measure distance in hours.

In California, you know how to eat an artichoke.  

In Maine,  you eat ice cream with flavors like Moose Tracks and Maine Black Bear.

You never step foot in McDonald's.  'In N Out' is where you go.  
   
In Maine, you can make a meal out of a Jordan red-dye hot dog, a bag of Humpty Dumpty chips and a soda.

When in California, you keep in touch with your relatives that love you dearly
via email, texting, skype and cell phone.

In Maine,  you keep in touch with your relatives that love you dearly via email, texting, skype and cell phone.

So, my dear Z, do keep in touch. We wish you the best of luck, surfer boy.

Love from Maine......

Monday, October 4, 2010

It's a sign....

I've been collecting pictures of signs I encounter on my travels.

Time to share.

Awww, how endeering.... 
(Belfast, Maine)


Redundancy? 
(Belfast, Maine)


No spell check in Florida...


I don't even think spell check could rescue this one.  ????


Good Message.


If you P in the lake, the Sopranos will be notified and they will get their stuff in here.


There was an old  bike leaning against that tree. What a lucky gal.


I think this was in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Tough place.
They don't even need the MOB closet.

The best one I saw this summer was outside of Meredith, New Hampshire at a motel.
We should have turned around to photograph it, and Mr. Downeastdoingstuff asked me if he should, but in a blogger lapse I said no.
This is what it said:

COME STAY WITH US
CLEAN ROOMS
HEATED POO

When your 'L' falls off, it's bad for business methinks.