Not sick of Maine yet?

Ava is loving my chair!!!!
Yes, you named it, it is a Puff Chair.  And I really, really want one.

We did quite a bit of lounging around, in the sun, and out.

But we did take a day trip to explore.  This is a very cool bakery, in the back of the book store in Blue Hill.

We also did a lot of eating, some of us more than others I'm afraid.
We ate out..........

And sometimes we cooked in.........

I usually have to 'concoct' one dish while I am on vacation.  This one was a lot of fresh vegetables.

Which I eventually mixed in with this tempeh, brown rice, onion and mushroom combo.

The kids just looked at me.  What IS that????
But they love to have Mimi standing ready by the stove, spatula in hand, ready to make them breakfast.......pancakes???  french toast???
That will probably be what they remember best.  With fresh Maine blueberries, of course.

How about a nice bonfire with s'mores, or campfire donuts???

But surprisingly, as beautiful as Maine is, I believe what we loved most about this vacation was right under our noses.

The House

Thought I would show you a little of the house we stayed in while we were in Maine.

I tell ya, I could have stayed right here.  It was so beautiful.

This was a great spot to read in, with a view of the pond.

The master bedroom had a balcony, and the porch wrapped around three sides of the house.

The downstairs was one big room, just made for kids.  There was a weight and exercise room, as well, plus a ping pong table for 4 out in the attached garage.

Just to the right, you can see a putting station for the golf fanatic, and a game of chess to your left.

The kitchen was fully equipped, and lovely........that's all OUR stuff spread around....it was uncluttered when we got there.

The whole downstairs was very open, and conducive to spending time together.

Those chairs in front of the fireplace, were the most comfortable I've ever sat in.  But I have no idea what kind of chairs they are.

We spent some evenings playing Mexican train at that table.  And drinking some wine, too.

Can you blame me for loving this place?  It was everything advertised, and more.
And the owners were just lovely.

I tell ya', I want one of those chairs.

It was a short jaunt to the water.

Vacation.

“Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer.” Earl Wilson




A vacation trip is one-third pleasure, fondly remembered, and two-thirds aggravation, entirely forgotten.  ~Robert Brault


If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days.  ~Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Ah, vacation.

Sunset

There were loons on the pond most days.
But sometimes they were way across on the other side.  We could hear them calling.
If you've never heard a loon call, you're missing something very special.
My grandgirls loved them, and Ava worked on perfecting her 'loon call'.

She kept at it one evening, and imagine her surprise when they kept coming closer and closer.

After a long day in the sun, the soft light of dusk was welcome.

Being out in the woods, on our own almost private pond, felt like heaven on earth.

A glass of wine, a perfect sunset, what more could you want?

It is so easy to forget sometimes, how much beauty there is all around us.

 I knew once, but had forgotten, how sweet solitude was.

We all needed this vacation.

Things have calmed down here.  DH is home.   Now for the recuperation.

I liked the comment from one of you, that "Stubbornness kills more men than anything."
I have been forced to make threats.
No lawn mowing.
No lifting, driving, nothing but resting.

I am tired, and maybe even a little scared.
And I am not in the mood to deal with noncompliance here.
I have had to turn into Nurse Ratchet again.......why DOES this keep happening???  I don't want to be a nurse anymore.  You know that.
But it was almost automatic.
Ordering an unruly patient around......remember, I worked in a prison.

Happy endings, that's what I'm after.
Aren't we all?

Serenity, there's nothing like it.

Let's have a moment of quiet.

OK, so it's a little hectic right about now.  I feel like I am on a collision course with myself.
But DH is stable, and hopefully will come home soon to recuperate.
After a day of craziness, I am ready to lounge on the couch, and reminisce about the loveliness that is Maine in August.

I think that all winter I will be able to pull these pictures up, and feel good all over again.
I am trying to keep some of the serenity I found on 'Golden Pond'.

My kayaks got a workout, every day, several times a day.  The pond was quiet, and beautiful.  The water was warm and clean.  The smell of the pines, the sound of the water on the shore, the creak of the dock.  The warmth of the sun.  A slight breeze.
Are ya' with me??

Little girls playing, laughing.

Good books........

Loons who entertained us, and who lulled us to sleep with their song.....

I only took my camera with the new lens out in the kayak ONCE.  It was just too nerve wracking.
I was rewarded though, with this shot.

Now you get to see how really UNDYED my hair is. Ha!!!
I look so concerned, don't I?

I have to have white hair.....look at the size of my grandson.

Sometimes we just paddled out to the middle of the pond, and sat.
The absence of noise was incredible.

We were all transported away from the daily grind.  There was just no place for it here.

And spending time together is what memories are made of.  

I think someday my grandchildren will remember going to Maine with their Mimi.

Their 'crazy Mimi'.

As long as we all felt this "look of wonder", for even a little while.......that's all that matters.

Thank you friends, for all your kind words of support, and encouragement, and for your prayers.

It really means so much.

From one storm to another

We left last Saturday, for Maine, my daughters, my grandchildren, and I.  We missed the storm, and Irene was almost a no show in Maine.
We didn't mind the first day being gray and rainy, because the weatherman promised sunshine the rest of the week.
And he delivered.

We had a marvelous week.....the weather was perfect.  The pond we stayed on was pristine.  Cell phones didn't work.  There was no cable TV.  There was just us.  Family.  Time to relax, time for quiet.

We love each other, we annoy each other.  We are critical and tough in our dealings with each other,  but  our loyalty runs deep.
We swam, and kayaked, and basked on the raft in the sun.  We cooked, and ate, and went running, played games.  We went on a tour of the area, and one day we went to Acadia.  We took naps.
It was a wonderful time.  There is nothing more important to me than my family.
I have been talking about this vacation for months, anticipating it.  It was every bit as good as I imagined........family dynamics, cranky kids, and all.
And later, not today, I will show you more pictures, cause I have a LOT of pictures.

But first I have to tell you how love can sometimes lead us wrong.

During the week that I was gone, I talked to DH on the phone.  The connection was lousy, we were way out in the woods.  He sounded tired, he said he was tired.  A couple of times, I asked him how come he wasn't very talkative.  He said he was tired.
Finally on Friday night, after hanging up the phone with him, I realized that the nagging feeling I had pushed away was not going anywhere.  So I told my daughters I wanted to leave a day early.
Halfway across the Massachusetts turnpike, I got the call.
His brother got wind that he was not acting right, and he muscled my uncooperative husband to the ER.
I was 5 hours away, when my brother in law called me back and  told me that DH had a stroke, several days ago, and had been trying to hide his symptoms from everyone.
Why you ask?
Because he didn't want to ruin my vacation.  The one I'd waited for all year.

I'm not sure I will ever understand this.  I know that by the time I got to the hospital at 9pm last night, I was just relieved to see him, and to know that he was stable, that he was going to be ok.
I did tell him that as soon as he was better, I wanted to slap him.
He said, " You work so hard, I wanted you to have your vacation."

Now we are waiting for tests to be run.  MRI, echocardiogram, etc, etc
And then on to recovery.
And another brand new perspective.
I told ya, that's what it's all about.
Perspective.

I'm trying to hold on to this one.