lots of spirit

(red shoe obsession)

Happy 3rd of July!

Are you sick of hearing about our crappy Maine summer weather yet? Well, OK, so the weather for this year's parade of boats around the harbor was not like last year's.

That's fine because the spirit of the parade was just as infectious. The Camden Yacht Club's youth seamanship program is pretty special and Jonas is loving it again this year, no comments from him about the weather.

that's my salty sailor at the left,

with two seaworthy mates

And the morning class made these awesome boats out of lobster buoys, which we are just lousy with up here in Maine. They wash up on beaches all over the place, and now we'll know just how to craft them into something new and awesome.

The masts were dowels and the rudders were those thin little slate rocks we have around here, lending a bit of weight and balance to the contraption. I understand that placement of these rocks are key to proper floatation, just like on real boats. They really floated!!!

Whatever the weather, we'll weather the weather and have a happy weekend and summer anyway.

"I'm Having the Creeps Because We Found That Bat Nest."

...about so many things, but definitely about taking off your shoes before going into someone's house.
The paper at left was from this fabulous notecard set, and somehow one ended up in my laundry, got washed and wrinkled and soft. No good for notes anymore, but in a new incarnation in this card. A new favorite and a little bit like a self-portrait.

Below, two new stamps! I just love carving my own, it takes me back to my art school days...
This chicken clucky has been in my head for awhile now, but I made it for Sylvan because I made Jonas his own ATC name stamps for the back of his cards:Old stamp, but I still like playing with it and coloring in all those little spots with my PrismaColors:
Independence Day Festivities...
Parade of Boats and Little Sailors; Jonas is at the end of the line, above. Below, picturesque Maine harbor, with parade coming by!
That's our nautical boy at the tiller, our not-a-team-sport kind of guy, but finding his own ways to be sporty:And of course, we ate too. Below, Garlic Scape Pesto smeared on bread by Jake. It's powerful stuff, amazing in its greenness, and so delicious. Jonas prefers it to regular pesto now. We later added grape tomatoes and mozzarella to what's below:
Chilled lemon cream pie with festive decoration and ginger snap crust:
Yum.

PS The title of the post was from Sylvan at bedtime. He and Jonas found a family of bats living above our woodshed today.