Vacations must end!

This vacation was bittersweet. I have always wanted to go to Old Quarry to paddle, but this year I am not in the best shape with my injuries and watching Nick, wore me out. We were able to enjoy a lot of things and the camp was a nice place to just walk around and relax, but I really wanted to paddle to the islands and the boat rides were more than I wanted to spend right now.

We were able to get out for one paddle, one I had always wanted to do. It is in a protected area, so we avoided the winds and fog and there are islands all around. The main reason for this paddle was to go to Holbrook Island, which is part of the park we started in. It is a large island with a beach and a campground and the perfect way to spend the day.

I had the map in my photo brain, so we headed out towards the island. The paddle was in a river that led to thePenobscot bay, so I wanted to go to the mouth of the river, since it was not far away. We could see Castine and the area we had visited earlier in the week.

Bean is giving me the, hurry up and stop taking photos so we can get to the beach. He knows kayaks lead to beaches.

 We landed on a beach, that had no signs, so we figured it was ok. You can see the lighthouse sticking up, at the end of the point on the right.

This is the view to the left of us. We did paddle over to the middle of the two islands, now I wish we had gone all the way, but I had no idea what islands they were and if they were private.

It wasn't until we got back home and I looked at the area we paddled in. And that is when I realized, the island I thought was Holbrook, was a private island, duh. I knew it didn't look as nice as the photos but when we headed from the launch, we were actually on the opposite side of what I had in my mind from the map. So, this photo was taken at the launch, from across the road, the island on the left is Holbrook and the island on the left in the last photo is Holbrook, I could kick myself, lol. Next time I will use my phone to keep track of where I am. You can get turned around with so many islands and coves and with low tide, the islands connect with sandbars.

So, I missed out on landing on the island, but we still have a wonderful day of paddling and beautiful weather.

And we made it to the hill for a spectacular sunset. The sun was just going behind the mountains in this shot, I love how it cast beautiful colors through the clouds.

We had planned on an extra day to go home, but I woke up before 5 and decided to just go home. We saw a lot of places we wanted to stop at, but hard to get in with a trailer. Places to visit on another trip. We did stop at the Rockland Prison store, the prisoners make wooden items to sell to the tourists. I found a wonderful bird feeder, now I need to set up a river to put it on;) I also found the ship at a local thrift store in Blue Hill. The money goes to the local pet shelter.

I made Bill pose for a photo.

And of course we spent lots of time on beaches, most were rocky but a lot of granite. I did find some treasures to bring home, some I plan on painting and the one in the back, is a whale shape. It sits on it's own, so I will paint him and sit him on a shelf. I was surprised to find sand dollars on one beach, they were just sitting there, no others around.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. I think it is time to hit the ocean, and hopefully we can steal Nick to have some fun on the beach with.

Vacation sights!

It is a good thing I take photos, or I would forget what I did, lol. My short term is on the fritz, but I have been on meds again and slowly getting back to my normal. We did a lot in a day, a lot of driving so we didn't get to go to as many places as I wanted, but we did enjoy some wonderful rides and sights.

One thing is, Bean is getting tired of having to stop to have his photo taken, so he is becoming a smart alec. I wanted to take a photo of them walking through the Lupines, that are all over the islands. So, when I told them to smile, this is what I got.

One day we drove to Acadia to walk to Bar Island. The island is accessible at low tide only, so you can walk across to the island and hike up to the top and we made it at the right time, this year. The problem was getting a parking space, there were none. We drove a street up and found one, right at the access road, so much better than parking in town. 

The walk was fun and cooling with the cross breezes and the views at the top of the island, were spectacular. This is looking down at the sand bar and Bar Harbor. We also went to Thunder Hole and the tide was just right to watch the waters come in and pound into the hole. You can see a video on my You Tube Channel.

On the day we went to Nervous Nellies, we also stopped at the Haystack School. They have a public area that you can walk down the stairs, to enjoy the views. The school has art classes and beautiful condo style lodgings on the sides of the hills. 

The last stop was the Tennis Preserve, which I thought was an easy walk, but turned out to be a long walk and lots of hills, roots, rocks and mosquitos, but the views are beautiful. 

On rides we saw some beautiful sites, this field of flowers had a gorgeous view and I think it may be a future design element. 

And at one causeway, we spotted these boaters. Something seemed off to me, and I stopped for a closer look, can you see why? 

We also did a hike up the quarry, we had a path, right from the camp. It was fun climbing around and exploring and this is the view we had, haha. The board shows you what you are supposed to see.

We also stopped in Castine to enjoy the views from the docks and the forts. One reason we like that area is because they have a wonderful dog beach and we explored that for awhile and I even found three small sand dollars, I never knew they were up this far north, now I do. Bill and Bean are exploring the old fort.

I did take a lot of photos, boats and scenery, but the fog kept getting on my lens and leaving spots, so a pain to clean up, someday I will get to them and some might end up in a design. One thing I love is sunsets, and we were able to get another clear night and headed up to the hill to watch it. The sad thing was, when we got to the turn off, the police had it blocked off. There was a bad accident with one driver getting killed, so we headed back and watched it as we drove down the road. I was able to find a spot that the sun was still coming through and I loved the colors in the sunset and sky. 

Tomorrow I will finish with our paddle and last day, I hope you are enjoying seeing a little of what the Downeast area of Maine has to offer.

Art in Maine!

The one thing that you see a lot of in the Blue Hill, Stonington area is art studios. Lots of painters and pottery but I avoided most of the galleries since they are a bit pricey. Then there are the places that sell pieces that are slapped together to sell to the tourists, not what I would buy.

There is one place that is a must stop, if you are in the area. It is called Nervous Nellies Jams and Jellies. I knew they had art done by Peter Beerit, but I didn't realize how extensive the art and displays were, until we arrived. Peter came to Deer Island to start a jelly business and little by little, he has been creating sculptures from found items and building towns based on his travels.

The minute you come in, you are greeted by this lovely couple for a cup of tea.

Bill and Bean are spending time in the jail for smiling too much.

The sheriff is relaxing in his office, unaware of what is going on outside.

Unbeknownst to the sheriff, a jailbreak is in progress.

There are characters in every building and the surrounding areas. This guy is just chilling.

The piano Player....

Bill is getting his fortune told.

After a stop to get some jelly and maple syrup, we found an entire scene of characters, including a castle.

And back to Peter's studio, where a group of characters, were swapping the local gossip, on his porch.

It is a wonderful place to visit and Peter's art is sure to put a smile on your face. He is continually adding to his towns and characters, and there is much more than I have shown here, and more to come. He also has living characters, who visit the bird feeders, that is builds. This little guy was enjoying his perch, waiting for us to leave, so he could raid the bird feeder.

I hoped you enjoyed seeing a bit of Nervous Nellies with me. More to come this week, places we visited, our adventures and misadventures.

Anniversary Camping!

Well, we made it back, the week seemed to go by too quickly, but it is nice being at home and having my modern conveniences again. I went tired, spent the week tiring myself out and been going non stop since we got home, so I am tired, lol.

Since we did a lot and I have lots of photos, I will be doing more blogs this week of our adventures. Today I will give you the low down on the camp. First we had a beautiful spot on the water with wonderful views. The bad thing was, it was so foggy the first few days that we couldn't enjoy the views and the fog was so thick, it was like rain and we were cold and everything was wet.

Of course Bean had no problem with that, the minute we got there and he saw the beach, he was ready to go, he loved playing and exploring. Another wonderful thing about Old Quarry is, he is a dog lover and Bean could go off leash anywhere he wanted, as long as he behaved. Of course Bean was thrilled to have the freedom and meet lots of new people and their dogs.

If you would like to see a video of our camp and the surrounding area, you can go to my YouTube Video. I have others, but need to put them up.

We had come here because it is a kayaking center, and there are islands all around to explore.  I was not sure I could handle a long paddle and the fog was not something I wanted to get lost in. But, lots of others were going out and enjoying the area, I do wish I had longer since I was feeling better by the end of the week.

The fog did lift and one morning we were up to see the lobster men, putting in their pots.

On our anniversary we had dinner on the dock and a wonderful view, as well as lobster fresh from the ocean.

And with the fog ending, we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset from the docks. Even with the fog, we were able to get out for walks and exploring, further inland. We also got to do a few things that we missed on previous trips, as well as find some fun new places, so I hope you will come back and follow along, as I post more this week.

I really enjoyed camping at Old Quarry, but it would be better in warmer weather, which is why they are always booked. The other down side was, the owner just had lung surgery and our camp fire goes straight to his bedroom, so no fires after 9pm. That is when we like to relax and just sit by the fire and with the cooler air, I really missed having one. It just wasn't worth having one while it was light out and then have to put it out. The other bad thing was, everything is far away, so we spent more time traveling than I would have liked. I hope everyone had a wonderful week!

Weekend Wanderings!

Another weekend of shopping so we only got out one day, but it was the perfect day to get out for a walk at the light house. We usually go off season and when we got there, the parking lot was full and people were parked on the grass, but we lucked out and found a good spot.

One of the reasons it was so crowded was, we came just as the couple was saying, I do! The guests drove and the wedding party came in a trolley, what a fun way to travel and a beautiful place to say your vows. Though they had an audience of picnickers, as well.

We walked around the lighthouse and went down to the other side to enjoy the views of Newport and the sailboats. Bill decided to take a rest while I walked around and took shots.

The tide was going out, so it was the perfect opportunity to explore further down the coast. We usually stop at the end of the walk and come around, this time we scrambled along the cliffs. With the low tide, we could walk through the crevasse in the rocks.

I thought we could come up eventually, but then we came upon the end and there was no way I could get across that. It was a beautiful gorge and it was mesmerizing, watching the water come in and out.

Looking back, you can see how far away the lighthouse is, my short walk turned into a hike and scramble over a rocky landscape, but it was fun exploring a new area.

On the way home, we stopped to enjoy the Ospreys, I guess he bought dinner home, she was enjoying a fish he had bought to her. We may be leaving a day early. I know I cannot handle a full day drive, so we will leave in the afternoon on Friday and stop midway, that way we can enjoy the ride. Hopefully we will have wifi and I will post from camp.

Friday Almost Finished!

This week I have been catching up with the house and preparing for our trip. I am one of those who hates coming home to a mess, so I am doing what I can now and getting things packed in the trailer, as well as organizing to make better use of the spaces and cabinets. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can sit outside, I hate being cooped up.

I finished my stitchery but I still have to make the mini quilt for the line and a border and I am not in the mood to think right now, lol. So, it will wait, maybe i can finish it this week, but I have one week to cook and pack and I am limited with my diet, so I want to make sure I have foods prepared ahead. Of course we will eat out, lobster is abundant in Maine;)

On this piece I wanted to use color since it is a summer piece and I wanted a happy piece to hang.

I also have nothing to work on and like I said, I have enough to think about, so I have no desire to do too much prep work and another stitchery seemed the perfect thing to make, to keep my hands busy this week. This is another pattern from Kathy Schmitz, I was thinking I might make it into a large pillow with a border, a nice gift idea.

I was going through old photos and came across some from our first kayaking trip to Maine. We stayed at a camp that was on a point, so we had water access and as you can see, a beautiful place to put in.

But, this is also where we learned, pay attention to tidal flats. This was also a tidal flat and when we came back that day, this is what we ran into. We had no way of getting in, so had to go around to the point and still wade through mud to get back in, then Bill had to lug the kayaks up a steep flight of stairs on the cliff, to get the boats up, not fun. The camp we are staying at is for kayakers, a direct ocean launch so we can always get back. The bad thing is, we may not be able to get to some areas with the mud, but I think I have found some great places to explore without paddling too many miles.

I hope you all have a good weekend. It looks like we are going to get a heat wave, so time to hit the beaches.

Weekend Wanderings!

This weekend we had decent weather, so we got out when we could, before the rains came. Saturday I  got some art supplies for our trip and hit every store that carries hiking boots and none in my size. One place was trying to sell me a size 8, on my feet they looked like clown boots, lol. So, I will just bear with mine for now, they are slightly tight from shrinkage but usable and maybe we can find some up north.

Sunday we had Nick, mom and dad needed to get things done and Nick needed some fun outdoor time. We decided to take him to the Fantastic Umbrella Factory, not even sure if they sell any umbrellas, lol. We got to enjoy the chickens who were out running around that day.

This chick was in the cages, I guess she is a prize hen. I finally got a clear shot with the new zoom through the wire. Love the pattern and tufted head.

Nick enjoyed seeing the Emu's and wanted to go into the bamboo forest. A fun place to explore for a little guy.

Strange rock cropping found here;)

He decided to get a stick, to ward off monsters, then he and grandpa had a sword fight.

Coming back we came though the gardens and found these unique sculptures.

This one was for sale, not sure who wants a piece with bird doo on it, lol.

We stayed out of the main stores, Nick is a bit too hands on, and on occasion, known to pocket items he likes, lol. We took him to the store that sells fun items and candy. He got a sugar daddy and a pretty shell.

The next stop was Ninigret Park, an easier walk for Nick and small beach areas. With the clouds looking ominous, I decided this was a good place for walking and some beach time. Checking out the views on the pond.

Digging for steamers, this a popular place for digging since the waters are low in a lot of areas. He was raking up clams and the life saver is to hold the bucket of clams.

Exploring the beach,  while enjoying his sugar daddy. The wild roses were in bloom all around the area.

Coming back I could tell he was tired, so grandpa gave him a ride. It was a fun day and we got to enjoy some time with Alex when we took him home. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.