Bait and Switch Blade (Or The Beginning of Our Summer)

About the time the lupines start to fade here, it's about time to complete a few of our summer chores.

Like purchase some bait for our lobster traps. Mackeral, ewwww.

And then spend the better part of the afternoon stuffing bait bags that we put into zip lock bags to store in an old freezer. Henri always seems surprised that I don't mind doing this with him. Frankly, so am I.

The next mildly unpleasant chore is to take a trip out to our mooring to clean off all the built up kelp and barnacles.

Where to begin.

It took Henri about 45 minutes to cut through all the lovely aquatic debris while I sat back and enjoyed the scenery.

Back home on a rainy day, Henri decides to spend his Father's Day gift certificate on something more eye-catching than the rotted-out split rail fence that we just gave the old heave-ho to.
I just love the look of a white picket! Only 2 sections for now, but we can add on later.

And now hold on to your horses for this one. Yep, that's Henri sporting a new shirt, getting ready to walk down the Downeast version of a runway.

Another tie dyed one, you ask? Nope, this one is batik. Here's the close up detail, just in case GQ is reading.

We have a new friend that often greets us on our walks.

We noticed a new sailboat out in the harbor the other day too.

The fog had rolled in, but the boat's colors stood out nicely.

Of course I had to use my zoom to find out where they hailed from. (Sorry for the fuzzy image.)

Here's a sailboat just leaving our harbor. Off in the distance you can see the sea smoke around the islands.

I also thought I'd show you the finished version of some of my homemade raspberry liquor that I've been enjoying since May 1 of this year.

And, just in case you're interested, here's the link to the post that tells all about how I made it.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer too!

Felted Purse Paired With Raku Fish Pin

First, a little documentation of a sunny day in Maine.

Here is my hand knitted wool purse that has been keeping me busy during our rainy spell. It did not come out as I intended, but if you haven't seen the original pattern you would not know. I used a pattern out of Ella Ray Book #8. This is the pre-felted picture of it.

Here is the finished purse with one of my raku fish pins added to it.

Rather than drill a hole into the fish, I wrapped it with black linen thread to secure it to the purse.

Did I mention the sun was out again today?

Proof, just in case anyone in Maine missed it.