The Days Are Shorter

Not sure if you remember I posted this plant on my walk and everyone but one person thought it was poision. Well she was right elderberry!!!

I am once again cleaning out. This time the kitchen. I have boxes that are going and I am passing along my ice cream maker. I thought I would give it one last whirl before it goes. Vanilla choc-chip. It is good but it is time for it to go.

Since I had 2 egg whites left over from making ice cream I made a few meringues.

I dug up a couple of potatoes just to see how they were doing. Pretty good I would say.

Today I made bread by hand it came out great!

The days are getting shorter and the nights are pretty cool.

Tonight we will go into the 40s.

Fall is showing on the trees.

We have no plans for the long weekend which is unusual but it is freeing. 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Maine♡

After husband got his foot seen to and some meds we headed back to Maine, Wells beach. This time we were staying in his cousin's cottage.

This is sunrise this morning. The sun was bright red coming over the horizon.

Our daughter and grand joined us for an overnight. What laughter and pure joy we had. 

We had rain off and on for the first two days. The last two days were beautiful.

Friday we went to a small fair. These sweet cows were waiting for their 4H turn to be judged. 

Rain or shine the ocean is always lovely. There were a few very high tides do to the moon.

I got several walks on the beach.

But sadly all good things come to an end. We are home. 

I have some gardening to do and laundry to catch up on.

We feel very blessed to have time at the beach now and then, with great friends and family.

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Have a wonderful week!

Beach Time

Friday we headed to the beach.

It was overcast and breezy but time with our sweet friend made the day wonderful.

Seagull waiting for a handout.

Lobster role and chowder make for a great lunch.

And a little shopping.

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Husband had a sore foot that turned into a swollen foot. So home we came to see the Dr. Some pills and a night in his own bed and he is ready to go back for a few more days of fun, hopefully tomorrow.

The hurricane is many miles off the coast but it is causing rip currents and high seas along with a full moon tomorrow the tides will be high.

Have a wonderful week♡

Zinnias!

while I have been busy I haven't taken a lot of pictures.

My sweet zinnias are in full bloom.

I vow next year to buy lots and lots of zinnia seeds. They are so beautiful this time of year when everything else is fading.

And just a few brighten up an area. Last night I hosted our women's group we were a smaller group of 7 instead of the 12 to 13 we usually have. But what fun we had catching up! New grand baby,wedding,vacations, etc etc.

I love this group so much. 

My naked ladies are so beautiful in full bloom. 

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Today husband had a dr's appointment an hour south of us. So we took the opportunity to shop at ALDI's on the way home. It is much to far for us to go there on a weekly basis. I love their cheese selections and I stocked up on a few canned goods. I also grabbed some of their grass fed ground beef.

Tonight we went to concert on the common. Burgers from the fire dept. 10.00 bought 2 cheese burgers and 1 hotdogs and 2 drinks,and I didn't have to cook!

I finished my book this week in record time for me. Great read.

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Tomorrow is the local church sale yippee. Even though I need nothing! But I am having thrifting withdrawal. Been staying out of the crowds this summer. 

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We have such fun plans for the next week. Time with friends and family and some time at the beach in Maine. 

Summer I will miss you even though July was steamy.

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Have a wonderful week!

Summer Days

We pulled the kayaks out for a few hours paddle on a pond very close by. 

We watched these 3 loons who were very vocal when we first got on the water. One of these loons is a new baby that just got its adult feathers. They were teaching it diving. I could sit for hours watching them. One took off and circled around and landed. They are large birds, so they are not comfortable out of the water. The landing was a bit rough lol. 

And the waterlilies were not blooming yet. It was a nice late afternoon paddle.

Sat we headed to Waterville Valley NH about 40 minutes from us.

When my daughter was young in the winter, I was up there a lot, but I had not been up there in many years. It is basically a ski resort but lots of hiking and other things to do in the summer. Well, we went to see a laser show. It was not worth the wait, but we had a good time anyway.  

My tomatoes are starting to ripen so I made a tomato pie.

Wow! it was so good if I do say so myself. I used lard in the crust just like my grandmother used to (It would be her birthday today). It was tasty and flaky. 

And I made a banana bread. I had a few frozen bananas to use up.

Can you tell we have had just the most wonderful weather lately.

I had some credit built up at the bookstore so I could purchase this book for 3.99. what a wonderful read it is so far!

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I am having a few women over for drinks and appetizers Tuesday evening. 

and there are a few other fun things in the works. 

Have a wonderful week!

AHHHHHHH

The heat and humidity finally broke! We have had rain and hot humid weather for crazy long stretches. The Silence of no fans running makes sleeping so much better. We are going to get some of the hurricane but after that we should be good again.

Our resident frog hanging out in our little pond. And we are hearing the peepers at night now. 

I got this plant when I retired last year. I wintered it over in the house,and it was looking pretty dead. I put it outside this spring gave it some fertilizer and said grow or compost. Grow it did! It is loaded with buds.

I thought the chipmunks got my naked ladies but here they are!

Last night a car show and 2 different concerts in town.

I am not a car person but it was fun to look.

But of course my favorite the Scooby-Doo mystery machine.

             

Is it me or is bread shrinking?

Not that I need more bread but yikes! This is a name brand bread. 

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It has been a great few days. Time with my grand,a birthday for me,a good dentist appointment, my pulled muscle is fially getting better and I am back walking and great weather.  I have a few plans for fun in the future and pre football starts tonight. Life is good. 

    Have a wonderful weekend.

    

The Heat Goes On and On

This spring this hydrangea looked so pitiful I thought it was dying.

But look at it now! 

Pot of geraniums with some zinnas. My gardens are heat weary. 

I buy mixed packages of zinnias and put them everywhere there is a bare spot. I love them this time of year. We have had so much heat and humidity that everything is a bit stressed. I still have something eating my tomatoes makes me so angry!

Now this my friends is a BLT. It comes from a local grocery store.

for 3.99. I took half the bacon off and made twice baked potatoes with bacon and cheese.  

Sat we went for a walk around the next town over. They changed some of the sculptures out this year. 

This one made me smile.

This one is called self-examination yikes.

This one is called Karibu Troli- Guardian at the bridge

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Sat night we went to a local Masonic lodge for a ham and bean dinner. They have them quite often, but we had never attended. 

10.00 for adults 5.00 for children I was more than shocked at the spread of food. 3 types of beans, meat balls, ham, salads, potato casserole, mac and cheese, etc etc etc. Plus, you could choose the type of pie you preferred for dessert. We left feeling full and vowing to go back. 

I read that a local green house was having a celebration. 

There was a pie baking contest for 100.00 gift certificate.

Since I enjoy making pies, I gave it a try and voila I won!!

side note: I was the only entry lol lol lol.

But I was happy to take the gift certificate to save for next spring. 

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This summer has been so humid and so hot I hate to rush the seasons but come on fall. It is supposed to break mid-week this week I sure hope so I have had enough!

Have a great week

Define "Good" Bakery

I recently read that a bakery in a very small town very north of us could be called one of the best in the country. 

Soo, we decided to give it a try. I am all about bakeries.

Up through the notch in the Mts. 

Clouds were threating.

And in the notch where weather gets caught was rainy and very low clouds no mountains to be seen. 

We make it to the little town. Where there is chess in the park. 

I don't play chess, but I love that it is there. 

Then on to their Main St. Where the pots and plantings were beautiful!

We got there just a bit before noon. Time to check this place out!

Not many choices for lunch but we both ordered BLTs on their handmade bread. A really lovely black raspberry iced tea and a pastry out of their smallish pastry case that was almost wiped out. 

The sandwiches came I got the ends of the tomato in mine and about 2 slices of bacon hmmm. Husband's sandwich seemed better and had more bacon. The bread, amazing! Pastries good. 

We decided to bring home some bread. They cut it there if you want. Honey oatmeal and some french bread. Both very very good. I was going to bring home some Pizza dough, but they were sold out. 

Were we late to the bakery? Did we hit it on an off day? 

On the trip home we decided that it was not a good enough experience to make another trip of well over an hour. To try it again. 

We do not have a bakery here in our area. I am always looking for a fix! Give me an old fashion bakery with pies, cakes, apple squares, soft fluffy dinner rolls, really great donuts, and I could go on and on!! And maybe it is a good thing there is not one here. 

That is my sad tale. Who decides it's a good bakery? Do we all have our own version of it? 

Do tell!