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.

a lot of activity

We've been getting some stuff done around the house lately, with some extra helping hands. My brother, enlarging the existing front gardens here, was also responsible for making a broader front walkway and patio.

When the old saggy porch was taken off, there was some rot by our front door. Our friend Chris was helping us with that part, and he was also happy to share (in addition to his expertise) some really nice mahogany decking, his tools, and other lumber. Jake helped him move last week, and I love it when things work out that way.

So our new, smaller and cuter front porch (which will eventually get a little bench where the blue chair is) and expanded gardens came to a grand total of under $50. There is still work to be done in the gardens, some plants to split and move, some new plants to put in, and some mulching to be done.

the new, more welcoming walkway

Sylvan's stone-crushing operation,

formerly his fireplace

I was busy finishing Sylvan's PJ pants. I had to rip out the waistband twice, and finally added a bit more fabric to add length to the crotch. They have been the PJs from Hell, but they sure look cute.

The cozy flannel feels good in our strange summer coolness.

And the Ultimate Playmobil Battle was played out this morning. Something you may not know is that my two boys inherited their uncle's extensive Playmobil collection, and in addition to their own, this means that they have really an outrageous amount of Playmobil (lest you think we exist in some kind of idyllic, plastic-free home, where the children are always making tiny paper houses and playing in the dirt). This collection is sometimes to the chagrin of their parents. There is no way to have the whole collection out at once, so we rotate things in and out, like museums do. I am not sure how many fighters there were today, but I heard that there were 148 war animals (I am not sure if the owl and squirrels and wild boars were counted in that number) involved. Two boys and two men attacked the set-up using the age-old method of wooden spoons and rubber bands.

the cavalry leads

the Romans bringing up the side flank

the Queen, who is also a Mermaid,

atop the highest battlement

The trouble with crafty kids

is that they take your best, tiny, sharpest scissors and don't put them away when they are done.

Apparently, my favorite buzzy bee sharps have not been seen since the day when the boys constructed these tiny paper houses for these plastic cat things. What with our trip away, and the constant moisture (yes, ten MORE days of rain are forecast), I am hoping fervently that they are not mossing over in some hidden corner of our house.

Are you digging the fire upon which a marshmallow is being toasted?

Tiny bluebird in the bird bath, outside Sylvan's creature's home. Inexplicably, it's called Hippopotame, French for Hippopotamus.

I picked up my sewing machine from the Guru today! She's running so smooth right now...And also picked up a refurbished Singer Buttonholer for $13 that happens to work just fine with my non-Singer machine, AND a zipper foot. Do you just love this case?

It feels so vintage and hip, and I can't wait to use it.

And here is a peek at something I am trying awfully hard to get finished by tomorrow, someone's special day. I'm hoping she'll be too busy taking care of the garden and making cheese at a workshop to visit the blog before her day!

This is an un-prettified picture of my workspace. Having had this weeklong-plus break from my sewing machine, somehow I misplaced the right buttons, and my seam-ripper, and other important items. Can you see why it might be easy to misplace things, with this messy workspace? I had to take a break and straighten things up a bit, because I was verging on madness...to-ing and fro-ing between my art/fabric wardrobe and my sewing table, like "did I put the buttons here on the top shelf of the wardrobe? no wait, maybe they're on the table under something...or maybe I should check again in the wardrobe...did I check UNDER the table???" Turned out they were actually still in the bag from the fabric store.

My talented friend Carrie has a similar problem, but somehow manages to create works of wearable art that blow my mind each time I see a new one.

nautical vacation

the little touches matter,

like these peonies from Annie's garden

Very rarely do we get to actually vacation together as a family. And how nice to take a vacation in our own Vacationland playground! But we had that luxury these past few days aboard the schooner J & E Riggin, with our hosts Captains Annie and John, sailing in Penobscot Bay---it's a terrific way to experience Maine. You may remember Annie, who catered my graduation party? She also is a captain and the chef on the schooner all summer, cooking meals for 20+ people using a wood-fired cookstove. Yes, the whole she-bang!

This stove is the animal that cooked us pork loin, peach cobblers, sticky buns, fresh bread (see it, up above in the corner?), soups, and homemade tortillas, to name a few. I'm a little bit in awe of that.

the schooner Heritage (?) rounding the point into the harbor

Yes, it was foggy, but we did have some sun too.

Some of us swam in the 55 degree water. That wasn't me. Check out the death grip to get back up the ladder.

We worked for the boat. Two little helpers also found work in the galley each morning.

hauling up the anchor in the morning,

using my core, because it was seriously heavy

(OK, WTF blogger, why can't I get rid of the underline?!)

furling the sails at day's end

We worked with our hands.

will have more pics of this little number in a few days,

when it arrives at its intended recipient,

who was born yesterday

I made two lanyards for the window pegs in the galley

We laughed and played games.

This is me, spying through the galley windows at an in-process game of Spoons (the rules seem crazy, though I haven't played it yet). The light was too delicious to pass by.

So relaxing, so fun, so much laughter. I wish I had taken some photos of our amazing meals, but the galley is quite cozy, and I never had my camera with me down there. Also, Annie has hand-made all of the quilts on the bunks, yet another photo op missed. I'll just have to get on board again for the photos I missed. The crew of this vessel is a good bunch (both on the boat and on shore...Hi, Elizabeth!), led with kindness and humor by their captains. We're so glad we got to sail with them again!

ten years ago

we were married in the house that has belonged to Jake's family for generations, in Wellfleet, on Cape Cod (it's that little arm that pokes out from Massachusetts), with our little 6 month-old Jonas, and some close friends and family, in a beautiful pine grove on their property that felt like a church.

you can't see it,

but he's wearing my favorite gingham shirt

So we decided to celebrate with an evening out (thanks, Dad and Susan) at Primo, which is primo on so many levels. Remember our date this spring, when we went to Fore Street? We may not get to have many dates, but when we do we like excellent food and good company as the criteria.

The special cocktail of the night was a strawberry mojito with lemon balm. We said: yes, please.

This tiny little puff of cheesy pastry and crab with tiny baby greens was our amuse bouche...

Do you love these knives with the bees on the handle?!

We got to have adult conversation and some great eavesdropping and people watching. The hit of the night, which I am sorry was not so photogenic, was the wild mushroom soup with crostini and wild mushrooms served atop with a few truffle shaves. I mean, we are talking about light (creamy without being overly dairy-laden), completely smooth-textured, rich with morel and other mushroom-y flavors, and basically what I would choose to eat in heaven. We both had it, and I am so glad we opted NOT to share. It would have been too difficult.

my entree:

halibut with farro and wild mushrooms

Jake's dessert of the night has now beaten out my fresh blueberry pie from last summer as his best of all time dessert, below. Apple tart on the left; buttermilk vanilla ice cream with a sliver/crisp of apple, middle; hazelnut tart at right. And get this: the accent was (ready?!) Candied Bacon.

A M A Z I N G

they squiggled Happy on my plate

and Anniversary on his

two chile truffles and a smile of candied orange

(we had already consumed the sour peach gellies)

And today was father's day. Two dads were busy replacing a rotten porch on our outbuilding.

Two crafty dads....

Jake and my dad

(who made the rocket ship)

My new favorite song, yes go listen and watch right now. My spouse of ten years may be pushed over the edge to divorce (or maybe just leaving the room) by my propensity to play a song on repeat when I really like it.