Snow Birds

The enjoyment of a Maine Summer is all the sweeter knowing you can handle a brutal Maine Winter, much like we've been having this year.  Henri plans to eventually turn us into snow birds, but for now, I'm content to enjoy the bright spots of our winters.

I'm reminded of an old Maine expression that goes:  "If you can't take the Winter, you don't deserve the Summer." 

Guess I'll have to come up with a retort for that when we eventually head South for the winters. 

So that's why I've decided to take lots of pictures showing I do indeed deserve the summers.    

Although the birds are the ones doing the enduring, as I sit inside by a cozy woodstove with my camera.

I'm not saying we've completely lost it with this year's huge amount of snowfall, but secretly we think the starlings mean to taunt us with the sight of their snow dotted feathers.   

No, really, we're good.  But now is that a downy woodpecker?

Why yes, I do believe it is.  So, how's the weather been lately in your neck of the woods? 

Getting Through Winter

At the peak of our winter this year, here's what it looked like outside our place. 

But life has a way of providing warmth both physically and inwardly when you least expect it.  Like yesterday when I received this cheerful and very warm  sweater cowl from my sweet friend Vicki over at 2 Bags Full that I was lucky to win in her most recent giveaway.  Vicki also sells these lovely upcycled sweater cowls in her Etsy Shop that she creates out of retired or vintage sweaters.

She also included this beautiful card with a handwritten message sending me more warm hugs and bloggy love. 

And then, out of the clear blue my sweet friend Kat of Low Tide High Style brightened up my day with a beautiful metallic print of her amazing photography!

Kat just recently opened an Etsy Shop too where you can order notecards that she had made up from her beautiful captures.  They are the perfect breath of fresh air when Spring can't come quick enough! 

And now I will show you something that my dear Henri gave to me too.  Permission to paint over his beloved knotty pine wood in this one small area of our home.  (We have a whole room full downstairs, but for now I'm just happy for this one small spot over our woodstove.) 

All I can say is Ahhhhhh!   I have been wanting to do this for a long time. 

It's amazing how a small thing like this can really change the entire mood of the room. 

So take that Winter. How much worse could  it possibly get now anyway?

Oops! Well actually, Henri took this one in the parking lot of our local Home Depot a couple weeks ago while I was inside buying the paint to cover that knotty pine.    It IS kind of scary though, isn't it? 

Local Dives

This past Sunday we met up with friends at a local place known as The Galley By The Bridge.   I love this place. Especially in the middle of Winter.  The traditional rush of  tourist season where lingering too long after your meal would be rude, no longer applies this time of year.  Besides the casual atmosphere, variety of menu offerings (even pizza!), and the panoramic views from every table, there is another reason why I enjoy coming here.   

There is a display case full of treasures recovered from a few of the locally known shipwrecks that occurred in this area a long time ago.   You see, the owners of this place are local dive instructors.  A husband and wife team with over 30 years of experience diving together.  

  I am smitten with this pattern of transferware. 

The notes included along with each treasure, no doubt add to my fascination with them.  Before 1900, the town of Sorrento was part of present day Sullivan.  Who knows, this soap dish may have been slated for delivery to the Hotel Sorrento. 





And here is a stack of ironstone treasures that I have found in the area.  Except all of mine were found above water. 

 Meakin transferware plates that I have hanging on my wall. 

Here are some of my old bottles too. But they don't have any barnacles like the ones in the display case at the restaurant. 

There are numerous other fascinating items in the display case, but due to the glare from the glass, the other pictures I took did not turn out like I had hoped.  So instead, I will leave you with a picture of Sorrento's Treasure Island, which may have gotten its name from something I recently learned from the owner of this restaurant. 

Apparently there is an abandoned gold mine located there.   But I will have to wait until July to find out more about this, when he is scheduled to give a lecture about it at our local historical society. 

Kindness That Warms The Heart

Today I received a surprise package in the mail from Rachel, a blogger friend that I had the pleasure to meet in person this past summer.    Oh if she could only see the ice forming in the very ocean that she and her husband went kayaking in while on their honeymoon here. 

When I saw her name on the return address of the parcel that was delivered to me today, it made me smile.  When I saw what was inside, it warmed my heart.  Because she knows I love sprinkles. 

And then to discover that she hand made something for me too.  I was so touched by that. 

Rachel's thoughtfulness came from her desire to participate in a Pay It Forward event.  A powerful gesture to inspire kindness to others. 

No matter how remote we may be from each other in distance, this world of blogging has a way of drawing us closer. 

  

Connecting us with people that we may have never known,

oftentimes inexplicably, from just the random click of a mouse. 

Things That Caught My Eye Today

Sometimes while we're out walking, I remember to capture a shot of what may be an unusual sight in other parts of the country.   

Part of someone's morning commute.  Because it's not like you can just walk around to clear off the other side. 

And then, imagine going to such great lengths only to remember it's a Sunday, or that you forgot your keys.   Yeah, that would not be fun.  As I watched him head back to shore just moments later, those are the thoughts that crossed my mind though.   

As I stood on shore watching and snapping pictures, I couldn't help but imagine that not much in the scene I was gazing out on had really changed in the past 100 years or so.  Except for maybe the bench, of course.  

The scene is Sorrento's Village Green, looking across Frenchman's Bay toward the mountains of Acadia National Park.  A place that I'm lucky to be able to visit every day.

I even found a lovely piece of sea glass along the shore right there today.   Often, whenever I find a piece of sea glass, it  makes me wonder how it came to be mine.  This particular one, deposited right here at my feet, completely smoothed and hydrated from a 50+ year journey that perhaps began as a bottle of 7up. 

And of course, it's always the bright colors that catch my eye.  Especially in winter.   

And especially if they're right outside my livingroom window. 

A Painfully Beautiful Time of Year

This little birdie doesn't seem to mind the blizzardly conditions our Winter has bestowed upon us this year. 

Within this clump of clinging white outside our window the birds gather to wait their turn at the feeders. 

No church services until July at Sorrento's Church of the Redeemer.  Pity, as most of the summer parishioners may never know what they have missed out on during the winter months. 

We may as well let them believe that winter here is just grey and gloomy.  And that the sun never shines. 

And the only thing the moon shines down on is a frozen tundra in the middle of winter. 

Never to be seen peering above blue skies near dusk. 

Impatiently awaiting its turn after sundown. 

If you finally tire of winter, inside a reprieve, tucked here and there can help tide you over. 

Courtesy of someone who had the forethought to plan for times such as these. 

Even if it is just more white. 

If someone in your household feels the need to make a statement about the conditions this time of year. 

I always find it best to just humor them and snap a picture.  And be thankful that at least he hasn't lost his sense of humor.