Out and about…

view from Monhegan Island

At the end of September Chuck and I went for a short stay along the mid-coast of Maine. We love it so much here that we hate to leave. We started our visit at the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor. It is a very special place with beautiful plants, trees and views. We love to go to the gardens, Spring, Summer and Fall – it is always beautiful.

love pumpkins!

We walked the trails and took notes on what we might want to add to our gardens — it is nice to go at all different times of the growing season to see what is blooming. I like to have gardens that have blooms from late May until the first frost. I also like to see different types of plants that I may not have seen in bloom – it makes it easier to decide what to plant and where.

The next day we took the ferry out to Mohegan Island. The name of the Ferry was the Elizabeth Ann which was perfect because that is our daughters name.

Ferry to Monhegan Island

It was an absolutely beautiful day. It was a wonderful trip out to the island – the sun was shining, the seas were calm and the air was just the right temperature.

Chuck on the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the lighthouse on Monhegan Island

We wandered around the island – took a short hike and ended up at the Mohegan Brewing Company. We had a very cold beer and sat outside in the sun visiting with some of the other patrons. As is turns out 2 of the people we were talking to were from the same area in NY as we were. We discussed how small a world it is and the coincidence of meeting people who lived and worked right around the corner from us in NY, while having a beer 12 miles off the mainland on a small island in Maine.

Mohegan Island has 75 year round residents – they seem to be an independent brunch who like to live life with out the frills of the mainland. I am not sure that I could live so removed from the rest of civilization but I would sort of like to try. If not for an extended period of time, at least for a short stay. I could sort of imagine spending my days making quilts, spinning yarn, reading great books and cooking wonderful hearty meals. I might add this adventure to my bucket list. Hmmm thinking….

Island where the Wyeth family lived

afternoon view from dock in Monhegan

On the way home from the island Chuck and I sat right beneath the pilot house. The view was so peaceful and beautiful – we saw a whale cut in front of the boat and move off to the port side. I had never seen a whale before and have always wanted to go on a whale watch. Imagine my joy when I saw that amazing animal right in front of me. It was a great day and a wonderful mini adventure.

Since I have gotten home I have been working on quilts. I sent two quilts off to a wonderful organization that provides quilts to kids in hospitals and abusive situations. The groups name is Quilts for Kids. www.quiltsforkids.org – if you are interested in the group check out the website and if you can’t make a quilt you can always send a donation. Several other quilts that are gifts have been made and there are several more in the works.

Enjoy the wonderful weather that we are having.

Be Kind…

Faith

JULY…

Aug3

Fortunes Rock Beach

July is a very, very, very busy month in our family! 6 birthdays, the fourth of July and tons of stuff to do outside. We have had company, we have been company and we had some staycations.

One night we got take out and went to the beach. Grabbed a couple of bottles of beer and enjoyed a lobster roll just like the tourists do.

Chuck enjoying his lobster roll

I went to the Maine Quilt Show which is always wonderful! The quilts are amazing, the people are fun, the vendors are interesting and the friends I go with are the best! Here are a couple of my favorites…

Made by Eleanor Dickens

love the colors and points

Gotta Love those Hexies!

We celebrated birthdays – went to one of our favorite restaurants Street & Co. in Portland and as always had a fabulous meal and lots of laughs…

Nadine turned 50!

Faith had a birthday!

Chuck and Charles had a birthday!

and we celebrated frequently and with great joy!

We went to dinner at the Ramp in Cape Porpoise for yet another birthday dinner. I certainly can’t be expected to cook on my birthday. It was a beautiful evening and I had the seafood stew which has never disappointed! It was wonderful!

Cape Porpoise, Maine

Cape Porpoise, Maine view from the dock.

So in review July has been a very busy but wonderful month. August is here and it will be a bit calmer but no less wonderful. The end of the summer is looming and although I love the cooler weather I am not ready to think about the end of summer just yet. I want a few more days relaxing in my beautiful yard.

Enjoy the sunshine…

Be Kind..

Faith

It has been a busy time of year for me…

Dec1

I have been having a lot of fun and having a lot of great adventures. In mid-August I went to my parents house for a party. I met 2 of my sisters and their families there and we had a party. Our parents were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Wow! 60 years is a really long time.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

We had a really great party! We sat around the dining room table and laughed and told our the nieces and nephews funny stories about their parents and grandparents. My parents have been a wonderful example of love, family and fun for the past 60 years. We all have wonderful memories of growing up laughing, teasing each other and developing a great sense of humor. It was a wonderful party!

in late September for our 29th wedding anniversary Chuck and I decided to take a day off and go to the Common Grounds Fair in Unity, ME. After sitting in traffic for 30 minutes without moving an inch we decided to redirect our fun. We went to the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor instead. We had a very nice lunch and then walked around the gardens. It was a beautiful fall day.

Boothbay Harbor

Funny Selfie – aren’t all selfies funny?

After walking around the Gardens we went into town. We walked around town – had an ice cream cone and then headed home. I am pretty sure we must have stopped at one or two quilt shops along the way – it is so hard to pass by one.

I have been doing a lot of sewing and quilting and cooking. I canned some wonderful salsa and some very sour pickles, I made several dinners with home grown peppers. Aren’t these beautiful!

homegrown peppers

We went for a lot of walks near where we live…

Life is good in Maine. I will show you more pictures of my adventures tomorrow.

Be Kind…

Faith

Let the good times roll…

Jun28

In a few hours the first of our 4th of July guests will arrive. For the past 10 years all of our kids and other various friends and family have been joining us here to celebrate the Fourth of July. This year we will total 15 for the weekend and 20 or so for the actual Fourth of July celebration.

We went to the market yesterday and will make 2 more trips before next weekend is over. It is a wonderful family reunion every summer. We will spend time on the beach, in the pool, and around the fire pit in the backyard. We will play games and tease each other and reminisce about visits to the emergency room during past visits. It seems that there is always one trip to the ER for some sort of injury, usually it is nothing life threatening but on one occasion it was an almost ruptured appendix – Elizabeth.

The lounge chairs are out, the inflatable rafts are blown up, the flower pots are planted and the yard is looking beautiful. The menus are still being tweaked to satisfy even the pickiest eater, and I am getting excited. This is a tradition that I started to make memories. I wanted our children and grandchildren to always have the happy and fun memories of coming to Maine in the summer.

Last night we started the first fire in the new fire pit. It was a very relaxing way to end the week and a great way to get into a vacation frame of mind. For Chuck and me it will be a “stay-cation” but to be honest there is really no where we would rather be than here surrounded by family and friends.

If you are traveling this weekend stay safe and have a wonderful trip. If you are enjoying a “stay-cation” have a great time.

Be Kind….
Faith

The windows are open….

Jun16

and after the damp cold spring and long snowy winter that is a wonderful thing. It will require practically daily dusting to remove the pollen that is coming in with the fresh air from all of the surfaces in the house but it is worth it. Summer officially starts in 5 days but in my mind as soon as I can leave the windows open summer is here. I love this time of year – well, lets be honest I love every time of year. I love all of the seasons for different reasons but that is a topic for another day. Today is about how everything looks bright and fresh and happy outside right now. I love the poppies and the irises, I love that the peonies will be blooming shortly. I love the blue skies and the big puffy clouds.

This past Sunday was fathers day. I had a nice phone conversation with my father. Chuck got 5 very nice phone calls from the “kids”. It was a sunny day and the weather was beautiful. We had a nice quite day.

I have gotten a lot done the past few days. I am working on a new quilt – it will be a gift but I am pretty sure the recipient will not see is here. I got the pattern from the Missouri Star Quilting website. If you are looking for a new pattern you might want to check out this website – there are a lot of fun easy patterns. This is a picture of the blocks on my design wall – this is not the final layout just a peak at the finished blocks. I will move these around a lot before I decide on the finished quilt. It is so much easier to use a design wall than it is to crawl around on the floor.

I have also been spinning again. I purchased some wonderful fiber from Weston Hill Farm – www.westonhillfarm.com – but I haven’t really started to spin that yet. It is so beautiful that I want to practice some more before I spin it. I have been spinning some fiber that I purchased at the Common Ground Fair last September. It is such a relaxing craft. I really enjoy it and I will have lots of wonderful yarn to knit when we hit the next season that I love.

I also finished a penny rug this week. I have it sitting on top of my Treadle Sewing machine. I will probably not leave it there forever because the sun will fade it too much, but I like it there for now.

I am hoping that the weather stays nice so that my veggie garden does well. We are trying something new this year. We have black poly with straw over it covering the garden this year. Our hope is that this will cut down on weeds, hold the heat in the ground for the plants and help everything grow a little faster and bigger. I will let you know how it works.

Garden and Pool

the garden

I hope you have a nice day and that you are able to enjoy the sunshine.

Be Kind…

Faith

Great weekend….

May11

What a great weekend I had!!! First of all Spring has arrived and by Spring I mean warm weather without humidity. Happy Dance!

raffle quilt in progress

On Saturday a group of ladies from my quilt guild got together to assemble our Raffle quilt. It is such a good way to get a lot done in a short amount of time. It is also a great way for beginners to learn new the finer points of getting your quilt to lay flat. There is nothing worse than a wavy quilt. It is impossible to get it to lay flat and it is equally impossible to have it quilted.

Georgette, Carol and Terry

Denise, Jane, Iola and Judy

Here are a couple of shots of our group at work. We had a wonderful time and when we were done the hardest part of the quilt top was complete. I have a couple of borders to add but they are measured and ready to be sewn on. I will then applique some flowers around the edge to make it even prettier than it already is.

Of course Sunday was Mother’s Day – there was also a Marathon that was going right past our road. A dear friend from Albany who grew up with our son was in the area with some of his siblings to watch his wife run the Marathon. So while they waited for Avery to complete the run (she did very well but says she will never do it again), they came to our house for a little Brunch. We had homemade muffins and fruit salad.

George, Katherine, me, Tommy and George plus a little bit of Chucks finger. 😉

It was so beautiful that we decided to eat outside. I have not seen these wonderful young people is a long time and it was so wonderful to catch up with them and hear about the exciting lives that they are living.

The crew with Chuck.

I am so appreciative of the friendships that our children have developed over the years. They are friendships that will last for the rest of their lives. It is very easy for them to communicate with all of the new technology – one of the positives of the times.

After the kids left we went up to Portland and Chuck purchased me a wonderful a unexpected surprise Mother’s Day gift. It is a Ball Fresh Tech Canner. I will be able to can goodies from the garden without all the steam in the kitchen. I will post some pictures when I use it.

The day was completed with lunch sitting outside by the river at Run of the Mill restaurant. It is a microbrew pub and it is in an old textile mill in Saco – great lunch.

It was a sunny, warm day and I really enjoyed myself. I had great chats with my 2 darling kids and a nice conversation with my own mother. So overall it was a great weekend.

I hope yours was as well.

Be Kind…

Faith

Spring is trying so hard to get here….

May3

my view this morning

This was the view from the car window this morning on my way to the post office. How beautiful is that?!?

We spent part of Saturday trying to get some work done outside. It has been a very slow, cold spring here in the northeast this year. The trees are budding and the tulips are above ground but is has been a slow moving process.

I am always excited to start to get some thing into the ground. It is ok to plant lettuce, onions and peas this time of year. They do not mind the cooler temperatures. With that in mind Chuck and I decided it was time to get to work.

getting the garden ready

We like to use as much organic material in the vegetable garden as possible. We will, after all be eating the fruits of our labor. I am not quite so picky with the flowers as I am the veggies for obvious reasons. I will give the flowers a shot of Miracle Gro every now and then but never the veggies.

This is the product that we use and it has worked well in the past. It just give the garden a pick me up.

Many years ago we bought a little tiller – actually I think the technical terms is “speedy hoe”. It helps blend the compost into the garden a bit easier and more thoroughly than by hand.

Chuck hard at work

So my Lettuce, parsley and onions are in the ground. We got some rain on Saturday night so everything is watered in. Now we wait. Hopefully we will have a productive garden this summer and we will have wonderful fresh veggies for our salads.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Be kind…

Faith

Oh baby it’s cold outside…

Jan27

Big Old Oak tree

So I decided that I was going to write a post about warmer things. It will be mostly pictures of warmer, sunnier days. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the seasons of the year and living in the Northeast gives us the opportunity to experience them all. So here are some warm memories.

Bonfire at the beach

I love the memories that we make in the summer at the beach.

Columbine

Iris and Poppies

I love the beautiful flowers in my garden.

wonderful memories with people we love

The beach, the pool, the fourth of July!

the beach

4th of July

the pool

Just a reminder that the snow will melt and the winds will warm and more memories will be made.

In the mean time stay warm, bake bread, make soup and cuddle under homemade quilts.

Be Kind…

Faith

Latest Quilt challenge….

Aug28

Fabrics for Challnge

Back in April we signed up for a challenge at Evergreen Quilters – we were given 21 8″ blocks. I wrote about it here – https://quiltingonthecove.com/2013/04/03/faith-in-me/. I had an idea of what I wanted make but I have to admit that I procrastinated for over a month and then I started cutting and paper piecing the background. I used my Electric Quilt program to print up several various 4″ log cabin blocks. My plan was to use the fabrics to make a background for my garden. The lower part of the quilt is the ground and the steps into the garden. There is a stone path and as your eyes work upward the sun is setting. I was thinking of a fall sunset with all of the reds and oranges as the sun goes down. Ok, so you may need to use your imagination but that is what creating a quilt from a disjointed pile of fabrics is about.

Flower Garden Challenge Quilt

I added bias cut stems and 3 dimensional flowers. I am really pleased with the final outcome.

3 Dimensional Flowers

I neglected to take a picture of all of the wonderful creations that my fellow quilters made. Silly me, but they were amazing!!!

I have a ton of projects in the pipeline – several with deadlines. So I will be very busy in the next few weeks. I also have pickles to pickle and salsa to make so it will be a crazy few weeks. Life is good – fall is coming and I am ok with it all.

Be Kind…

Faith

Too many cherry tomatoes….

Aug25

Too many tomatoes!

I planted 3 Sweet 1000 cherry tomato plants. So I have tons of wonderful sweet cherry tomatoes. The solution to that is fresh Checca Sauce. This recipe is adapted from Giada DeLaurentis – Everyday Italian Cookbook. It uses a lot of cherry tomatoes and it is fresh and delicious.

Here is the recipe:

12 oz. of cherry tomatoes halved (I used more like a pound)
3 Scallions (white and pale green parts only) coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 oz. of Parmesan cheese coarsely chopped
8 fresh basil leaves-torn
3 T olive oil

4 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2″ cubes

1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lb angel hair pasta

In a food processor, pulse first 6 ingredients, just until tomatoes are coarsely chopped – do not purée them. Transfer to a bowl and add mozzarella cheese and salt and pepper. Toss the sauce with cooked pasta immediately.

Delicious

Enjoy!

Be Kind….

Faith

quiltingonthecove

A peek at my life. My quilting, my cooking and a look at the beautiful place that I live!

Archives

Out and about…

JULY…

It has been a busy time of year for me…

Let the good times roll…

The windows are open….

Great weekend….

Spring is trying so hard to get here….

Oh baby it’s cold outside…

Latest Quilt challenge….

Too many cherry tomatoes….