Vacation part III

 I tend to pack a lot in a week, I love seeing new places and there is plenty to do in the Freeport area. Less than a half hour, we went to Mackinac Island for a walk around their paths.

The paths go around the island, so a lot of views of the ocean and the islands. We could see an island in the distance. On one was an old fort.

I realized when I got in closer, there were seals, sunning on the rocks.

There were lots of places to get to the shore, so Bean loved that.

Another day we went for a paddle on a lake above Brunswick. It started on a river, into a nice sized lake. It was a bit windy and I forgot to get my seat cushion and gloves, so it was a wonderful paddle, except for being uncomfortable.

And one day we went for a bike ride on the Lisbon rail trail. It was a nice paved path, along a river with waterfalls along the way. The nice thing about paved trails is, we can take Bean in the carriage.

On the way back we saw a big dam. A lot of rivers with dams to control the waters, during rainy and dry seasons.

And every day after dinner, we went for walks. There were a lot of new trails in the camp, that went through fields, into woods and up and down stairs. I definitely got a lot more exercise that week. Now it is just hot, too hot to even go paddling, so hoping to do some swimming this weekend. 

Camping week

 

We have been camping all week and have I done any crafts, nope! We have been busy, out and exploring and walks at camp, so at night, I am too tired to do much. Since we are leaving tomorrow, I will show a few photos from camp and a few more extra posts this week, to share the places we went and reviews on others.

This is our camp, still setting up. No one is in the front sites, so we have a nice spot with lots of grass. This is at Wolfs Neck Campground in Freeport Maine.

There are different points surrounded by water, at camp. Sadly, the tide is always low when we can paddle, so we couldn't paddle from camp.

At the higher tide, the kids like to swim and Bean loves that they play with him.

It is a working farm, so we can walk around the roads, past fields and have views of the coves. It is a nice place to stay, though some kids seem to be running around on their own. Most of the time it is quiet and everyone goes quiet after 10:00pm. We did get some heavy rain one night, and today some rain in the morning, but were lucky enough to get a nice afternoon, so we could enjoy our last day. 

I hope everyone had a good week and I will be posting again, after I get home.

Friday finishes!

 

This week I finally finished the hearts I made. I tried a different way to sew the first one and messed it up, so just three for now. I use wool for the backs and sew them in reverse, then I cut a slit on the back and turn them right sides back. Then I stitch up the slit and cover it with a wool heart, that I blanket stitch. I kept it simple and made them into bowl fillers.

I also made two new pieces, a kitty doll and a kitty pillow. This time I changed up the pillow to give it a little more character. The little kitty looks bigger since it is in the forefront of the camera.

Today we went for a ride so I could get some more felt. After we drove around. the beach areas. With the snow and ice, we couldn't get into any parking areas and it seemed all the birds are further in the coves, since the inner areas are frozen.

We stopped at the boat launch and I went to the cove side, but it was covered in snow and ice.

I did catch a seagull as it was flying off with a clam.

After we stopped at the breach way and watched, as they piled more rocks along the sides. It is great for protecting the inner areas and the boating passageway, but sad to see the area we used to park out, disappear, along with the dunes. I do hope they clean it up and restore it, when they are done.

At home, I have been visited by a few hawks. This Red-shouldered Hawk was in my big tree, watching the birds at the feeder. Not as many critters out in the yard with the snow, so they start going after the birds.

A fun thing I found last week was an online app, called chatGPT. It is free to use but you can only do a few photos without paying. I hate taking pictures of myself, but this way is fun. since my hair was pulled back, it changed it to pure white. Bill and I are so fair, so it tends to wash out our hair in photos.

I hope you all had a nice week. We had plans with the kids, but as usual, they are sick. So, hopefully we can get out this weekend and enjoy a few nicer days. You know it has been cold, when 40 degrees seems warm.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I tried a comfort pillow. It is something the kids can hug and use as a pillow, so perfect for kids who might have to go to a shelter in an emergency. It is fairly easy to put together and can be done in different types of fabrics. I hand stitched the details, by using a tighter blanket stitch, so it is durable and will hold up to snuggles. I do need to tweak the pattern, his ears are too pointy, so I will round them off.

It has been too cold to get out for walks, so we go for rides along the ocean towns to enjoy the views. The cove at the point was frozen over.

At home I have had a lot of birds visiting the feeders and for that reason, more visits from the hawk. This guy was a big one, he is way up on a tall tree, half way across the yard.

And lots of snow, for once it didn't rain and the snow has stayed. The bad thing is, the cold has made the snow hard and dense, so it's too much for Bean to play in.

Today we got out for another ride and were able to see the remains of a shipwreck on the beach. This is the area that has the breakaway, that is being repaired. The storms have uncovered this ship and it is estimated to be about 40 feet wide and 100 foot long, but no other data on what ship.

The rest of the ship is in the water, under sand. It's amazing to see and wonder what it was like, before it went down. 

I hope you all had a nice week and not snowed in. We are missing the next big one that is hitting the south, but still under frigid cold conditions. A great time to stay inside and work on projects.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I got another idea, like I need any new ones. But this one is something I can do in my spare time, use up excess fabrics and do something good for others. I found some patterns for little teddy bears and made up a few to try them out. 

I read that police take stuffed toys to give to kids in crisis and also at shelters. They like small items that the kids can carry easily. I will have to check the local stations and find some shelters, to see what they take and what materials I can use. If anyone has experience with this and knows of places in the New England area, I would love your feedback. 

I have collected different ideas, so I will try some to see what works best and easiest to accomplish. Another idea is animal head pillows, something easy to make and something the kids can hold and use as a pillow in the shelters. The original pattern I found for the bears can be found at, Shiny Happy World.

I also finished punching my hearts, now I need to figure out what to do with them. I may make a garland with them.

We got enough snow last week, that I finally got to try out my new cross country skis. Bean loves running around with me, but also wants me to play ball, which is hard to do on skis.

We always get more activity at the feeder, not much to eat in the winter. This White-breasted Nuthatch decided to hang out with me on the porch.

I guess it felt safe with me there, so it took a little nap.

I also got peanuts, the Blue Jays love them and they are gone in minutes. 

Today we did some shopping before the mobs took over. We are expected to get snow starting Sunday afternoon, so we are all set when it hits. 

I hope everyone is staying safe this weekend, I know a lot of you will be hit with various storms as it comes through. 

Fall adventures!

 

( A day late, since Blogger decided to act up last night and not let me post photos. )

This week I have been working on a quilt and another project that will be done by next week. Our church is having a yard sale, so I spent a lot of time, gathering up items. 

With the nice weather and fall foliage, I am enjoying getting out, to get some exercise and enjoy the beautiful colors. Last Friday we went to a pond that has a nice trail around it. 

The colors were popping all over.

After we finished the hike, we drove up to another area that has a trail to a rocky cliff. We ended up taking longer since I took the wrong trail, then got to the right one and took the wrong path, but we finally got to the right path and enjoyed the short hike up. 

The next day we went to pick up the boys but got our signals crossed and they weren't home. So, we went to a nearby area, the boyscout camp, to do a short hike. We ended up going around the whole pond, which can be quite the hike in some areas. Lots of old log bridges, planks and rocks.

lt was Quite the hike, but beautiful views and a nice stop at the rocks for a snack break. When we came off the path, we walked to the smaller pond.

Yesterday we went for a ride to a local pond and enjoyed the views. It was a cloudy day with some sun, so a lot of the photos went dark and it is hard to get the full effect of the beauty, of the fall leaves.

We walked along part of the bike path. They still have not leveled it out and there are a lot of areas that have caved in, but still nice to walk on.

Then we rode into Connecticut to check out the farms in the area. I thought this barn was a nice scene with a bit of fall to the side.

Then we headed to Mt. Misery. In this area, farmers were giving land and nothing would grow and with all the bad luck, they blamed the devil and moved away. We hiked up the steep side, which I forgot was steep and rough.

But, we made it to the top.

Beautiful views for miles, but hard to capture all the colors.

I decided my knees couldn't take going back down the steep side, so we took the easy way back, an old fire road. It was nice getting out and the air is fresh and cool now. I hope you all enjoyed your week and following along with me, on my adventures.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I wanted to try something new. I had seen a quilted ghost and thought it would be fun to try one. First I sewed 41/2" blocks together. 

Then  I used a coloring page ghost and printed it out on printer paper, so it was a bit small. Then I put it on freezer paper and traced around that and retraced again to make it larger. Then I put the freezer paper cut out onto the back of the fabric. Added a backing and batting, right sides together with the batting on the back of the back piece. I left the freezer paper on and sewing outside the cutout and just went about it to add a little extra sizing and curves. I cut off the excess after sewing. I left an opening on the side, then turned it back to the front sides. I sewed along the outer edge with a machine, closing the opening.

I hand quilted it with floss and added eyes and a mouth. A fun project that you can do in a day and a great way to use up scrap fabrics. I use rug tape on the back and stuck it to a wall.  

Last week we went for a bike ride on a paved path. We tried a new route that went through a lot of woods, so it was nice and cool. It was shorter and with an electric bike, I had enough energy to go a little more in the opposite direction. We went by a pond and took a break there.

I spied a Blue Heron in one of the coves.

Another day we did a couple of walks at the park by the ocean. 

I spotted an Egret, trying to catch fish, but ended up with weeds.

And a Green Heron in the pond.

Today we went to the island. Bean hasn't been out with us as much, so we thought he needed a fun day. We took a walk around the lighthouse area, where he got to meet new people and pet by the kids.

After we took him to the beach, so he got to walk in the water, while I looked for glass. The tide was high so not much to find. 

I hope you all enjoyed your week and are enjoying the nice fall weather.