More From Portland

My niece...loitering

View from the pier
"New Meadows Parking Only. We don't tow. We toss cars over the side!! Telephone Pole to Gate. No Parking!!
Looks like a groovy place to hang out (seriously, I'm joking).
Prayer flags in the breeze outside Mexicali Blues

40 Years Ago

He was the 2nd of four children, born in Taunton, MA to a Canadian mother and a Bostonian father, who moved to Bath, ME not long after he was born.

She was the oldest of six. Born and raised in South Weymouth, MA, the daughter of immigrants from Newfoundland.

They met at a plane crash at the Naval Air Station, down the street from her parents’ house.

He was 20. She was 15.

They were married in 1967: a week after her graduation and almost a month before her 18th birthday. Not long after, he and his army medi-vac unit were flying to Germany, awaiting orders for Vietnam. She went shortly after, living with him in a tiny apartment, fearing when his orders came and rejoicing when they were rescinded…fearing when they came up again and were rescinded again…came up for a third time and for a third time, his unit was spared.

Within a year, she (pregnant) flew back to Boston to live with her parents, her two brothers and three sisters. On her 19th birthday, she gave birth to their first child. He was still in Germany and didn’t know he had daughter.

Finally, his tour was over and he came home to Massachusetts. Within two years, they moved to a little apartment in Bangor Maine, then to a little apartment in Gardiner Maine. It was 1970, when their son was born. Two years later, they bought a house and four years after that, their youngest daughter came into the world.

40 years was celebrated Saturday night with a trip to Portland, with tunes from 1967 playing on the cd player and dinner at Rí~Rá’s...with family, good food, good drink and rich desserts!

The family gathered outside
Jessica, Mum, Dad, Dina, Alex's nose and Derek's Head
Mum
Dad and Dina
An enthused Jessica

Alex and Derek

40 years of trials and tribulations. 40 years of fun and good times. 40 years of love, of memories, of…to quote my Dad…“putting up with a lot of shit.” Mum says, "diddo"

My sister, my brother and I are convinced that if they haven’t killed each other after 40 years, chances are they’re never going to!

I dub thee "Queen of the Bird-Brains"

I’m notorious for coming up with bird-brained schemes for making work easier; schemes that normally result in the work actually being harder.

Last night, I think that had anyone been watching me, A) they would have laughed their ass off and B) they would have officially crowned me Queen of the Bird-Brains!

Let me give you the back story – it’s short, don’t worry. My vegetable garden is in my back yard. My hose is hooked up at the front of the house, (right underneath the only window without a screen). You can also see that there is a fence (you can barely see it, it's at the very back of the lawn on the left side of the picture) that I have to drag the hose around in order to get it near the backyard…only it won’t reach the backyard. It’s about 12 feet too short.
So I have to drag it as far as I can, flip the sprayer upside down and pray that it reaches. I can normally get the front half of the two raised beds, but I miss the very back half and can't reach the gourds, zucchini, squash and pumpkins. I normally end up dragging about 10 buckets of water from the middle of the driveway out to the back yard.
Last night I got the BRILLIANT idea that if I put a trash bag into the wheelbarrow, I could wheel a ton of water out to the garden once and be done with it. Why didn't I just fill the wheelbarrow with water and sidestep the trash bag, you're asking? Well, the wheelbarrow is old and has a few holes in it.

Okay, so there I am by the side of the house, (still in my work clothes and shoes, mind you, because I'm get a little excited when I get a great idea and just go it with right away, wherever I am, however I'm dressed). I have one of those Glad Flexi-Force bags in the wheelbarrow, filling it up like a HUGE water balloon. I tie off the top, smiling and congratulating myself for my genius. I start wheeling it out back and it sloshes a bit, not bad and the sloshed water leaks out through the holes in the wheelbarrow all the way up the driveway. Then I notice little teeny tiny pinpricks of water shooting out of the bag. "It's nothing, it'll make it to the backyard!" I think...and it did, only the water is really sloshing out of the bag the closer I get and it dawns on me that I won't be able to lift this GIANT trash bag water balloon out of the wheelbarrow, nor will I be able to scoop water out of it if I open the bag because it's going to gush all over the place.

At this point, the sloshed water is leaking out the side of the wheelbarrow with force. Again, brilliance hits, I'll just cozy the wheelbarrow up to the side of the raised beds and let the leaking water spill into the bed. Of course, it's going everywhere: in the bed, around the bed, all over where I'm walking. And the wheelbarrow is bulky and I keep slipping in my little black dress shoes, in the mud that has now been created all around the beds. It's just a mess!

Finally, the water in the bag is at a manageable level and I can pick it up out of the wheelbarrow, thinking that the little pinpricks will let me water the garden gently...like a gentle rain storm. Only, there had been so much water in it and so much pressure that apparently the seams of the bag weakened, causing the bottom of the bag to burst...all over the bottom of my shirt, the front of my pants and into my shoes!

Fool that I am, the moment it bursts, I try to salvage some of the water, so I'm running with it to get it into the garden before it completely spills out!

Can you picture it? Me standing in the middle of the raised bed (the one on the right). My hair is pulled up in a twist with the ends spilling out (looking quite nice, I might add). I'm wearing a fabulous green top, wide legged black dress pants that have a thin white strip to them, slightly pointy toed flat black dress shoes. I'm completely soaked and holding a white plastic trash bag with water still leaking out of it, into the dirt at my feet, spraying mud onto my shoes and the hem of my pants.

Note to self: Change before getting involved with gardening projects.

2nd note to self: THINK before you act on one of your bird-brained ideas.

3rd note to self: Buy a longer hose, dammit!

One Year Ago Today

One of the things I really love about having a blog is the ability to go back to previous posts and see what was happening on Mt. Vernon Street. One year ago today, the sky looked like this:

and I was scramblig to find a gift for Maddie. Today, the sky looks only slightly less grey and Maddie's birthday has not only been remembered, but her gift has already been purchased and shipped.

Maddie, like most of my friends (and family for that matter) has a twisted sense of humor. So this year's gift is (she doesn't read this, so I don't have to worry)...

The Avenging Unicorn

from the weird and wacky Merch-Bot.com

Having a bad day? Boss being a jerk? People just suck? Send your Avenging Unicorn after them! Comes with four interchangable horns (classic spiral, chrome, glow and pearlescent) to spear the boss, the new age lady or the mime through the chest! As the Merch-Bot description says, "It's like voodoo dolls for your true enemies."

The first time I saw this, I lost it. I loved it! Yes it's sick. Yes it's twisted. And yes, it is just perfect for Maddie! Her birthday is Monday. I can't wait for her to see it (sure beats the failed attempt at a wrap skirt)!

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Sweet Monday

Cracked ribs will not be keeping me from Wendy's Sweets Party - per my promise:

Sinful and sweet, blissful brownies from Simply Divine Heavenly Brownies of Maine

I will be certain to bring along plenty for everyone, especially of this one and this one and this one! Yum!

Oh, I better bring a lot of milk (regular and soy for anyone lactose intolerant) along with me - you really need something to wash these down after you've savored the chocolatey goodness!

I hope everyone enjoys the brownies!

********************

Oh btw, the ribs are feeling better (thank you and you and you and you for the well wishes!)...so long as I don't cough, or sneeze, or laugh too hard or breath too deeply - but they're so much better than on Saturday!

:^)

They Call Me "Grace"

You don't realize just how much your ribs are tied in to your range of motion...that is, until you crack them.

I actually did it on Tuesday. I was walking the dog. It was a beautiful morning. I looked up to admire a Red Maple and WHAM! STUMBLE, STUMBLE...SLIIIIIDE! And I was on the ground, half on the sidewalk, half in the mud.

My first thought? "God I hope no one saw me!" I jumped up, brushed the mud from my right hand while looking around - it was 6:00 in the morning, no one was awake enough to see the foolish, klutzy girl spread-eagle on her stomach. My left hand was scraped and bleeding, my left knee was raw, bloody and burning like there was no tomorrow.

Apparently I hit the ground hard enough that I also cracked my ribs on the left side. Seriously, I have no idea how I did it. The sidewalk was level, clean...maybe I am just a klutz!

I've still been going to work, but bending over to get things, turning certain ways, reaching over my head...it's all very bad! And not taking it easy, giving the ribs a chance to heal...well it's really catching up with me today.

Don't you hate it when you have a million things planned for the weekend, things that require your full range of motion and you have to scrap those plans? Maybe it's the Universe's way of saying, "Slow down!"

Here's to conceding to the ribs and doing things that don't require much movement.

Dianthus in the rain:

Oh, and panies, too.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Experimentation

Playing with make-shift filters (windshield, dark rain guard, and golden sunglasses)

Scenes from the State House

These are things that I see everyday that I take for granted, until I see a group of young students wander these halls, wide eyed, in awe and wonder. I get so caught up with the hussle and bussle and chaos that I forget to look around me...really see the history...think of those who walked this floor before me.

Tuesday Music Love

Falling in love with:
Brandi Carlile ~ The Story

Still in love with:
Feist - The Reminder

Dredging up some old loves:
Rancid

Social Distortion
The Violent Femmes

Wanting:

Johnette Napolitano ~ Scarred

(also falls into the old loves category!)

Clothes Horse

Now that my garden is growing and requires little attention other than watering, fertilizer and admiring (for the time being), I'm in a summer clothing making mood.

I’ve been scouring the internet for freebie patterns and had to share what I’ve come up with:

* Amy Butler's Café Wrap Skirt (scroll to the very bottom - it's so cute!)

* Hancock Fabric's Poodles in Paris Skirt/Dress (don't let the name fool you into thinking it's some cutesy poodle skirt kinda thing. It's actually quite lovely! Though I'm not one for strapless, that can be adjusted)

* Burda's Empire Top (love it! sooo comfy looking!) and skirt

And have you ever been to the Naughty Secretary Club site? Yes I know it sounds vaguely pornographic, but they have some really nifty bracelets (I'm lovin' the blue bakelite), hair clips and purses! Oh my!

~:o:~.~:o:~.~:o:~.~:o:~

Tonight, Melissa and her girls are coming to visit. YIPPEE! I may have to suggest a trip to my fav ice cream place, Webbers, for homemade ice cream! There is nothing more fun than watching little kids eat ice cream...especially when you're not the one who has to clean them up afterward!! ;^)

Have a fab evening all!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My first foray into the world of strawberry rhubarb pie. Though I've eaten many, I've never actually made one...so last night, as I looked at the beautiful stalks jutting forth from my rhubarb plant, I thought, "I need to make a pie!"

So I dragged out my gram's trusty Fannie Farmer Cookbook (this is a 1945 edition). You can see it's been well used!

I used the "Plain Pastry" recipe at the bottom of the left hand page for the pie crust (the cooking instructions are on the bottom of the right hand page - click on the pictures to enlarge)
This is the easiest pie crust recipe I have ever used! But I do add just a little sugar (less than a tsp) to it, so it doesn't taste too floury.

Then I used the "Rhubarb Pie" recipe at the bottom of the right hand page for the filling
But as you can see, I added the last of the strawberries from last season (I can't wait for strawberry season!!! Just a few more weeks and the should be ready here in Maine!)
How yummy does that look?

The baking instructions are kinda funky. It calls for baking it on the bottom rake of the oven for 10 mins at 450 degrees (to thoroughly cook the bottom), then you move it to the middle rack for 40 mins at 350. If you make this, remember to turn your oven down! I forgot. DUH! But I timed it for 20 mins, just so I could check on it. I ended up turning it down to 350 for only 10 mins and it came out beautifully, despite my screw up!
And it really tasted yummy!This was the easiest pie I have ever made!

What I did on my Memorial Day Weekend...

4 days off =

Project #1:

2 1/2 truckloads of brush raked, loaded & removed

1 lawn mowed

14 bags of topsoil, garden soil & manure loaded onto a cart at the garden center, loaded off the cart and into my truck, loaded out of my truck and half to my parents truck, while the rest was lugged to various spots around my yard

1 pile of compost raked and spread across the base of the hill

2 raised beds planted

Over 1000 vegetable & flower seeds planted

To create this:

Just call me Farmer Tiff!
******************************

Project #2:

1 clean house

6 boxes of x-mas decorations moved from the porch to the garage

9 totes moved off the porch...then back onto the porch :^P

3 bags of garbage tossed

1 twin bed moved from an upstairs bedroom downstairs to the porch (by myself I might add)

1 set of curtains found & 1 created

All to create this space:

Imagine:

Your sitting on a very cushy bed with a homemade quilt draped across it. A gentle breeze is blowing and the scent of lilacs, fresh cut grass and lily of the valley waft through the air. The urge to nap overtakes you and you are lulled to sleep by the sound of birds chirping and singing to one another as they swoop into the sugar maple to munch on the newly filled feeder.

Welcome to my cozy little den of Zen.