The Precious Gift of a Maine Summer

When I first moved to Maine almost 30 years ago my New York friends teased me that I would be shoveling snow year round. There is a local joke that there are two seasons in Maine: winter and Fourth of July. Nothing could be further from the truth. While we don't have the luxury of a long growing season, we are blessed with some spectacular warm weather for the months of June, July, August and sometimes September.

This year summer really took hold and our temperatures rivalled those of places in the deep south. For example, a couple of weeks ago I took this picture of our indoor/outdoor thermometer.

It was hotter here than in Florida where my sister lives. We don't have air-conditioning in the house -- a stubborn statement to ourselves that, thanks to cool ocean breezes it isn't necessary. That day the breezes disappeared. Even the numerous window fans we have throughout the house were useless, simply pushing the hot air around.

My major concern was for our dog, Isla, a seven year old Border Collie/Aussie mix who is blessed with a luxurious coat of thick BLACK fur. Beaches in Maine are mostly off-limits to dogs during the day...and it was too hot to think about driving somewhere anyway so my solution was to buy a small inexpensive kiddie pool and fill it for her to use to cool down.

What I hadn't counted on is her sheer stubborn streak. I filled the pool and called her over to it. She eyed it warily as if I were coaxing her into a bath of battery acid. I tried taking off my shoes and stepping into the water, cooing my joy and encouragement like a complete idiot. Nothing. I put her beloved frisbee in the water and centered it strategically in the middle so she would have to step in to get it, figuring that once she felt the cool water, in she would go. The stinker stood at the edge and stretched her neck as far as possible to snare the edge and pull it out. She was NOT going in. I even put on my bathing suit, got in and sat in the water, calling for her to join me. She came over to lick my face and swipe a lick or two of the water but refused to come in. It wasn't going to happen. Finally, I simply pulled a lawn chair over, dangled MY feet in the water and gave up on her. At that point she came over, settled down in shady grass next to me and fell asleep, snoring loudly. Obstinance, thy name is Isla!

The garden has loved this weather. We limited our efforts to tomatoes, cucumbers and some basil this year and have been doting on the plants like mother hens. Our efforts have really paid off.

There are hundreds of these beauties on the vines: full-size, cherry, grape and some that will be surprises to us since they never got tags. We've been pruning the vines and keeping a close eye on the vine growth. This year Brendan had the brilliant idea of using tomato cages to keep them upright (ahem...honey, I've been suggesting that for years and you have always dismissed the idea...just saying!) and as a result we aren't seeing the best tomatoes lying on the ground and rotting as we have in the past.

The only bad news with that crop was the startling discovery of these guys last weekend:



It's a Tomato Hornworm and it can devastate an entire tomato plant overnight. I found three of them last weekend and two more this morning. This is the kind of damage they can do to a crop.






That is a cherry tomato that is nearly completely devoured. The not-so-little bastards are feasting on MY tomatoes...how dare they!? We don't believe in putting any kind of pesticide on our veggies so I have been staging a one-woman crusade to spot them and pulverize them. They're tough to see, thanks to their natural camouflage but I'm relentless. No hornworm is going to deprive me of the sweet taste of home-grown tomatoes. This is WAR!

The cucumbers are doing spectacularly. I haven't spotted any grubby little critters feasting on them and they are climbing the stakes I put out for them nicely.

I've had a couple in salads and their sweet, crunchy goodness is so amazing. Once I have a couple good sized ones I'll make my favorite cucumber salad, one of summer's favorite treats for me.

I really enjoy the activity in the garden. In addition to the birds and squirrels who visit our yard year-round (the birds to feed, the squirrels to torture Isla) the insects are so amazing to watch.


Here are two shots of these busy, beautiful creatures at work:






The monarch butterflies go crazy for the purple coneflowers in our yard and are fascinating to watch as they delicately pick their way around the centers.








And they share the stage with the honeybees who seem to become intoxicated by their presence on the flowers, totally ignoring the presence of a camera lens. They are intent on their purpose, working at a feverish pace as if they know that their days of opportunity in the warm summer sun will disappear all too soon.








Maine summers are unique. Perhaps because they are so short and come on the heels of such polar opposite weather of the winter we treasure each warm day. We also know the countdown has already begun to fall and the winter beyond. When the snow arrives we need to have these memories to warm our thoughts and assure us that summer will return once again.

New FO's...I haz dem.

By now I am sure the whole world has discovered "I Can Haz Cheezburger" and its doggie sister-site, "I Has A Hot Dog." If you have NOT, you are ordered to go IMMEDIATELY HERE and after you have wet yourself laughing, don't bother to change your underwear before going HERE for dose two. If the pictures don't do you in, the captions will.

Anyway, the title of this post was a no-brainer after spending WAY too many hours surfing those two sites. I find myself lapsing into LOLspeak, the official language of these cats and dogs and I can amuse myself for hours in the process. As I have said often, I amuse easily.

All of our crappy weather lately has given me some great knitting time so things have been flying off the needles...um, except for the DNA scarf which is the slowpoke in the mix. But, yes, Meredith, I AM still working on it. You should be able to wear it sometime before the first heat wave of the summer hits. (Damn cables!)

So, in no particular order, here are the latest creations:

My "Hobo Gloves" (at least that is what hubby calls them).


(Dog fur splotch on left glove is courtesy of Isla...didn't see it before I took the pic and was too lazy to take another one after I removed it.)

They are actually called "Hooray for Me" gloves by Marnie MacLean and the pattern is here. They will be great for taking pictures and doing other things outdoors where I need to use my fingers. One of my friends commented that they are good for picking your nose outdoors. Uh...yeah, I guess. (awkward silence.)

My new sweater.



This used some Lopi Lite that was in my stash just waiting for the right fair-isle yoked sweater pattern to cross my path. Thanks to Norah Gaughan and Interweave Knits (Fall 2003), the stars aligned and *voila* I have a new sweater. This was a relatively easy knit that I spent all of our snow day last Wednesday working on. I finished it at around 9:30 that night and discovered that I had bound off too tightly at the neck and couldn't get it over my head! I was ready to shoot myself. But, once again, the wonderful internet knitting community came to my rescue and I found a site about the stretchy bind off which worked like a charm. Phew!

And finally, there is Francois the Lobster.



He was a cute and quick knit up for the Valentine's package we sent off to Meredith. He was also a free pattern and the link to him is here. He was a big hit and a lot of fun to put together.

You may be asking yourself, "Where can I get all of these spiffy pattern ideas?" Well, I'm glad you asked. If you haven't discovered Ravelry.com it's time you did. As a knitter or crocheter you will find yourself in a cyberwonderland that will change your life. Ravelry offers you an on-line community where you can log your projects, catalog your stash, list your future ideas in a queue and keep track of your knitting/crocheting library. And you can see everyone else's projects, stash, queue and library as well. If you see a project you like you can click on it and see where the pattern came from and what yarn was used to create it. There is a HUUUUUGE list of groups you can join with some of the most amazing and unusual affiliations. Are you a Joni Mitchell fan or a Procrastinator or an Empty Nester or a Smartass Yarn Ho? Then there is a group for you with an active discussion forum. There is even a feature called Radar where you can see all of the posts to every forum -- and there are hundreds of them -- as they appear in real time. It is a truly amazing site. The only caution I throw out is that it is dangerously addictive. With over 40,000 members you will be tempted to spend inordinate amounts of time that could be otherwise spent knitting or reading or eating or sleeping or being gainfully employed on the Ravelry site. But I guarantee you it will be enjoyable time spent.

The site is the brainchild of a Boston area couple, Jess and Casey, and their adorable Boston Terrier, Bob, the site's mascot. Since it is technically still in the Beta testing phase, you need to add your email to the request list to be added manually to the group, a process that can take a few days. But it is well worth the wait. Visit the site here and check out the screenshots, ooh and aah over all of the features and put your email address in to get added to the group. You won't regret it!

Here is one more shot from "I Has a Hotdog." God, I love those two sites!!!

loldogs are funny dog pictures!

Ok, about this cat thing...

I have gotten some "feedback" about the comment about my sister's cat in my shawl post. Let me clarify something. They started it. I wasn't born disliking cats. We actually had a cat when I was young who earned my respect and admiration. Puss was a champion hunter, a no-nonsense "doing my job so leave me be" kind of creature. My only complaint about him was his tendency to leave his trophies just outside the front door where a moment's inattention meant a squishy step on a dead rabbit, mole or mouse. One summer my sister and her little friend Debbie thought it would be fun to dress him in doll clothes and carry him around like a baby. He tolerated it for a day or two but clearly was not amused. He finally made his feelings known by planting his front claws in Debbie's face, barely missing her eye. For this little episode of "kitty road rage" he earned himself a trip to the local animal shelter. Grossly unfair? Yes...but the trip probably saved my parents a messy lawsuit and cancellation of their homeowner's policy.

My relationship with cats went downhill from there. Our next cat, Romper, declared me the enemy from the get-go. My shoes mysteriously filled with catshit. She chose me to yowl at in the wee hours. My stack of freshly washed clothes was her bed of choice. We got off to a bad start and things only got worse. Ok, I wasn't totally innocent, I'll admit. One evening when she wouldn't leave me alone as I was trying to study in my room I dropped her down the laundry chute...but I knew there was a stack of clothes at the bottom to cushion her fall. My departure for college and subsequent apartments finally gave us the "time-out" that we both needed from each other.

Living on my own I switched to dogs, a mutt named Ralph and a Golden Retriever named Molly. I fell hopelessly in love with the canine species, enjoying the way they gave so much to our relationships, always wanting to please.

Then when Meredith was about three she asked for a kitty. We were "between pets" at the time so we cautiously agreed to give it a try for her sake. Brendan felt the same way I did about cats but she was so insistent. Enter Wilbur, a small Maine Coon kitten, cute as a button but with a huge attitude problem. No warm-and-fuzzy cuddle sessions for him. He entered the house in the attack mode and set his sights on making our lives miserable. I was his special target. It was as if Romper had come back to finish the job of tormenting me begun so many years earlier. Ambushes from under beds and tables were part of the morning routine. I resorted to putting panty hose on in the car each morning to ensure I had a pair without rips. His favorite technique was to wake me up about 3AM by climbing on the bed and trying to separate my big toe from the rest of my foot like a piece of the toughest beef jerky...and through three layers of blankets! I wasn't about to turn the other cheek. He loved to jump on the side of the bathtub as I was drawing Meredith's bath to watch the water come out of the faucet with intense fascination. With a little pop as I walked by he suddenly found himself in the tub, staring up at me with an evil glare. I knew I would pay for that moment of temptation and I always did. The war between us kept escalating at a dizzying rate.


He went to work shredding our furniture, earning him a trip to the vet's to be declawed. We had him neutered on the vet's advice, both to prevent him from passing on his orneriness but also to "calm him down." HAH! That only seemed to make him madder! His nastiness earned him the nickname "Wilbur, the demon cat from hell." But we held on in deference to Meredith's wishes. Then came the night she told me to shut her door at bedtime because she was afraid of Wilbur. That was all I needed. The next morning the ad went into the paper and by the end of the week he had a new home. We all breathed a sigh of relief... and went out to get a puppy. Lady, that puppy, was with us for 16 years, a treasured, loving member of our family.

Some people are cat people. We are dog people. A lucky few are both. Just as the world needs right-brained and left-brained people, visionaries and realists, Red Sox fans and Yankee fans, it also probably needs cat people and dog people. We know where we stand on the issue. I respect that some people have loving relationships with their cats. I probably never would. Cats always seem to me to be very two-faced...all over you when they want something but otherwise acting as if they can't be bothered with such inferior creatures as we humans. Even my sister who has always worshipped cats admits that her current cat is an ungrateful, nasty creature who only shows any interest in her at mealtime. She volunteers at a cat rescue shelter to get her feline affection. I once suggested that she make her own aloof and nasty cat part of the adoption process she works on, a suggestion she chose to ignore. I guess that's what makes her a cat person...and me NOT a cat person. I'll take my goofy, affectionate, tongue-lolling dog, thank you very much. She loves me no matter what, with food in sight or not, totally unconditionally!

A day in Pompeii

One of the earliest memories I have of reading was a story in a book my grandmother gave me about the eruption of Vesuvius and destruction of Pompeii in 79AD. Ever since then I have been fascinated with the idea that an entire city can disappear in a matter of hours. On Monday, May 21st Meredith and I visited Pompeii and it proved to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

We left Naples at 8:00 on the Circumvesuviana Rail line, basically an above-ground subway train for people commuting in the area. We arrived at 8:30 and grabbed a coffee and pastry at a concession stand just out side the gates. It was already very warm and predictions were for the temperatures to go into the high 80's so we armed ourselves with a couple of hefty bottles of water.

As we approached the gate we noticed a number of dogs lolling around on the cool marble floor.



As the attendant was unlocking the gate the dogs began lining up to go through the gate. It was so funny to see them waiting impatiently for him to let them in, almost as if they were headed to work. Once we got in I didn't see them so I don't know where they went.

We paid the admission charge and headed into the city.











Back in 79AD this walkway would have led right down to the Bay of Naples. It is now several miles inland.










Vesuvius dominates the landscape to the East. It looks so placid although we did notice steam escaping from the sides as the train went around it. A litte disconcerting, given its history.











Walking up the entrance ramp it was eerie to think of how many millions of people had trod these same cobblestones when Pompeii was a vibrant city and had rushed back down them to the bay in a vain attempt to escape the hot ash on that August day.














Looking back towards the entrance way

















A side street with Vesuvius in the background.

















Yes, that is Vesuvius again in the background.


















Meredith in the Temple of Apollo. Getting there early meant we didn't have to face the hordes of tour groups and school kids who showed up later. The ruins had a serene quiet feeling to them.










The Basilica area, Built in the second half of the 2nd cent. BC, as part of the plan to create monuments throughout the city. At the back is the tribunal, where the magistrates sat, reached by a wooden staircase. The building was dedicated to administering justice and for business negotiations.











View to the Southwest (looking towards Sorrento and Capri)















Another view of the Temple of Apollo














A narrow alleyway



















It isn't hard to envision this column supporting the roof of a busy shop or a portico. The ash that fell on the city in those first few hours reached temperatures of close to 700 degrees fahrenheit and was heavy enough to collapse any structures that it didn't incinerate.















The Macellum, the main food market adjacent to the larger Forum














The Temple of Jupiter
















A classic Pompeiian scene
















It was suprisingly full of trees and flowers, a stark contrast to the ruins










The streets were paved with very large flat stones fit together like giant jigsaw puzzles, with raised sidewalks to provide smoother walking surfaces and elevation above the street grime as well as protection for pedestrians from the chariots. The streets were often flooded to clean them using water provided by aqueducts built by the Romans.












Large stones were placed in the street at intervals to provide stepping stones to cross. They also provided some traffic control by keeping the chariots and wagons on track. The ruts made by those ancient wheels are still visible in those street stones. At the intersections, a single stone in the middle of the street would indicate a one-way street, two stones meant two way. There were street signs with pictures of men carrying vases, indicating a pedestrian-only area.












A household cooking oven.


















Painted walls of a modest household
















Meredith walks through the Temple of Apollo


















Podium in the Temple of Apollo











The oven in one of the city's bakeries



















The inner garden area of a wealthy resident's villa. It is surrounded by a peristyle (a covered walkway supported by arches or pillars). The bedrooms would have been adjacent to this garden area.











The atrium at the entrance to the household. The pool in the center was designed to collect rainwater.














A floor mosaic at the entrance to a villa









Gorgeous lush tropical foliage. The climate was VERY hot but also very dry.





















Columns everywhere...








...making for great photo ops!
















Amazing landscape!










And Vesuvius is always looming in the background.















This is the stage of the large theater taken from the right side of the seating area. Behind it is a smaller theater. The day we were there local children were there dressed in traditional first century costumes re-enacting games that children of 79AD might have played.

Throughout the ruins there were representations of the people who died in the eruption. Contrary to common belief, they are not lava-encrusted bodies but rather plaster casts poured into the cavities in the lava formed by the bodies which had decomposed over the centuries. They were an eerie sight.

By this time we had been on the sight for nearly four hours. We had not seen the entire city but its vastness made that extremely difficult. Also, we were noticing a dramatic increase in the groups of school children and the tour groups and were ready to surrender to the heat and leave to find something to eat. We visited a few more public areas including the Amphitheater and the Forum, then left the ruins and headed for the modern town of Pompeii.








Gorgeous flowers along the street leading to town... a stark contrast to the bleakness of the ruins.








We found a wonderful little restaurant with a sidewalk cafe. We ordered Bruschetti which was absolutely delicious and then treated ourselves to some delicious gelato for dessert.




The ashtray on the table was a reminder that smoking is still very pervasive in outdoor restaurants, although Italy has banned smoking in indoor restaurants.


After lunch we headed back to the train station and returned to Naples. We were pretty tired from the walking, the heat and the hot sun but did a little bit of exploring along the Naples waterfront and the main street, visiting a few shops. Some of the garbage had been removed, although there was still quite a bit on the streets. We headed back to the hotel for a nap and then returned to our favorite restaurant from the previous night for a delicious lasagna dinner. Then it was time to head back to the hotel and get our things ready for the trip to Rome.

Next post: Day 1 in the Eternal City

Some weeks it just doesn't pay to get out of bed!

I have obviously pissed off somebody upstairs because, to put it mildly, this week has SUCKED!
An unexpected major car repair, a flat tire, the death of the garbage disposal, not to mention the ungodly cold, all conspired to make this a week we wish we could just wipe off the calendar.

And just when we thought we had hit rock bottom, this happens:



Yeah, those are crutches, that's an aircast on my foot that is elevated above heart level to reduce swelling. All that is missing in the picture is the four times daily ice packs and the bottle of pain relievers.

I was walking the dog Tuesday night and was about a half mile from home when I tripped on some broken pavement (not even on ice, mind you!) At precisely that same moment Isla spotted her favorite ballfield and bolted in a frenzy of excitement. A car was coming towards us so I instinctively held on to the leash for fear that she would get hit. My mistake. I went down in a heap, twisting my ankle grotesquely in the process. Isla got very upset and starting jumping all over me, making it impossible to stand up. The woman in the car stopped to ask if I was alright, convinced, I'm sure, that Isla was in attack mode. I foolishly said yes and off she went. When I finally stood up I immediately knew something was very wrong. And, of course, I had not thought to bring my cellphone so was forced to hobble the half mile back home in the bitter cold, navigating some very treacherously icy sidewalks along the way. (An aside here: WHY THE HELL WON'T PEOPLE CLEAR THE ICE OFF THEIR SIDEWALKS IN THIS WEATHER???) When I finally made it back home, sobbing like a baby, my ankle was swollen up like a softball. When Brendan insisted that we go to the emergency room I didn't give him an argument. Two hours later, with x-rays completed, the verdict was a severe sprain and I was ordered to bed for the rest of the week. So here I lay, knitting, napping, watching crappy tv, reading, napping some more, catching up on emails, IMing Meredith, napping even more and hoping desperately to get on with my life sometime soon.

All I can say is: THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...back from my alien abduction

OK, so I've been missing from the blogging scene for a little while. Funny how life gets in the way of things. My last real entry was sometime in late October. A lot of yarn has flowed over the needles since then ... and do I have spectacular pictures to show for it, excusing me for being so neglectful of my blog? Of course not.

Here's a quick summary of my life over the past 2+ months...

Early November: trip to Vermont to celebrate Meredith's 21st birthday



AMAZING dinner at Butler's Restaurant in Essex (The New England Culinary Institute)





Along with some spectacular scenery along the Kancamagus Highway...





















It is a wonderful weekend, even if it seems as if only yesterday that this was my Meredith:




















How can she POSSIBLY be 21? There is NO Way!


Mid-November: I am back in Burlington to pick her up for Thanksgiving Break, a luxurious full week at home. We also start bringing some of her things home in preparation for her Spring semester Abroad in Italy. We have a great time with her that week, including our annual Mother/Daughter "Black Friday" 7AM run to the mall. Gotta love the adrenalin rush beating back the sale-crazed masses. We hit the motherlode as we look for dressy grown-up clothes for my little pookie to wear during her stay in Milan since word on the street is that jeans and t-shirts aren't going to cut it. She's thinking Manolo Blanick... I'm thinking bankruptcy court. My Meredith is a fashionista shoeaholic. Sending her to the fashion center of the universe is a bit like sending a hardcore alcoholic on a five month pub crawl.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving has me back on the I-95/101/I-93/I-89 loop up to Burlington and back to bring her back for the final push. I think her RA is beginning to think I've moved into her room. God forbid... those days are but a hazy memory although I love her room!





































(By the way, in case you missed it, the Yankees are her life. Pinstriping her room walls with ribbon was the ultimate homage.) Dorm rooms sure have come a LONG way since my undergrad days in the Stone Age. Kinda makes me want to go back to those days...ok, maybe not. I value sleep and peaceful evenings far too much to survive in that world.

Early December: back to Portland for the wild ride that is the holiday season. ("I AM being jolly, dammit!") Time spirals out of control, the "to do" list just keeps getting longer and longer and I have to fight back the urge to get in the car and drive off into the sunset as far as my gas tank will take me. I start to envy people in the Witness Protection Program. They don't have a triple digit Christmas card list to finish. Scrooge has nothing on me as I grouse and grumble. The annual craft fair at work is a chance to showcase (and sell!) some of the knitting projects lying around. Mental Note to self: start building inventory a lot earlier next year (instead of working feverishly the two weeks before!) The Maine-made products baskets are prepared for the out-of-town relatives. I write the annual "year in review" newsletter for the pile of Christmas cards. Errands, lists, parties, decorating the house, baking cookies, delivering cookies to friends, craft fairs, shopping for the family... by mid-December I've developed a nervous tic and the inability to finish a complete sentence as my mind races out of control.

Mid-December: It's time for the final pilgrimage to Burlington to retrieve my finals-weary darlin' and her roomload o' stuff for the final trip home. We schlepp like nobody's business and shoehorn everything into the car for a wild ride home. ("Mirrors? We don't need no stinkin' mirrors!")

It occurs to me that poor Isla still doesn't have her own stocking for the mantle. (We guiltily used Lady's old stocking last year.) So, having so little else on my agenda, I decide to knit her a Christmas stocking. (WHAT was I thinking!?!) Amazingly, I do it and here is the result:



Such a beautiful receptacle for the coal she is on track to get from Santa. The dog has some serious listening issues. Of course, Santa ends up relenting and brings her bags of snacks and toys. What a sucker the old fat man is.

It's now late December and Christmas is breathing down our necks. The Christmas cards are sent off with a sigh of relief. We make our trip up to the Christmas tree mountain to cut down the tree we chose in October. Things start to come together at the house. Here are some pictures to prove we pulled it off:







<=so many cookies






Isla wonders where the coffee-table snacks went. It was such fun to bury her nose in the chex mix =>










<= sideboard splendor







Meredith's "shoe" tree =>








I manage to knit one of the socks I had planned to give Brendan for Christmas. He looks a little puzzled when he opens the package with only one sock. I reassure him that the other one is on its way (I finished it the next day). When Holiday season 2006 went into the history books, we survived another Christmas with only a few ruffled feathers. We took pleasure and comfort in the traditions we have developed over the years and ushered in 2007 with a new tradition: the New Year's Eve Sushi making party! Good times!

Now it's on the next adventure, Meredith's departure on January 14th for a semester in Milan Italy. You have to know there will be some "interesting" posts as that chapter in our lives unfolds. Stay tuned...