A Good Day's Work

I was supposed to spend the afternoon with Suzie at the campground but she was sick, so we rescheduled for Friday.  That left Bill and I with an unexpected day together with no plans.  Very unusual!  We decided to clean the shed, which has been on our "to do" list for a while now.

We started with this...

And ended up with this after about four hours...

Much better but we still have the other half to clean, maybe next week!

We put a couple of wheelbarrows full of junk in the trailer for the dump and a bunch of stuff into recycling.  I also posted some items on FB for sale, two of which are sold but haven't been picked up yet (or paid for). 

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;o)

Spur of the Moment

I spent most of the morning having coffee with Lt. Dick Bond at Springvale Station.  He is on the verge of retirement after 42 years at the SFD so I thought I should pay him a visit before he leaves.  The only problem with visiting is that I can never get away when it's time to leave.  I didn't get home till sometime around 11:00.

We had been talking recently about how we haven't done much of anything this summer, between me working and Bill in the clinic.  Bill suggested we load up the bikes and take a ride from Scarborough to Bug Light in Portland, so off we went.

When we left the Wainwright Fields, it was mostly sunny, breezy and about 82*.  It's a 5.5 ride, completely paved and takes us about 35 minutes.  We find it very picturesque, with views of Portland and Casco Bay.

Looking at Casco Bay Bridge across the Fore River

Admittedly, this doesn't look like much but whenever I ride along this section of the trail, I am reminded of my good friend, Anna.  She always wanted to "live on the water" and after her divorce, she fulfilled some of that dream by renting an apartment in the building behind this photo.  As it turns out, she met her current husband, James, and lived for several years on a sailboat On The Water.  She always said you must be precise about how you state your intentions to the Universe.  Sadly, she is now totally disabled by Alzheimer's Disease and is living in a facility; however, I never fail to think about her and the great times we shared.

The trail takes you behind the Easy Day, a new venue which houses a bowling alley, bar and lounge inside, as well as an outside patio.  Bill's son, Scott, manages the inside bar.  There are nice views of Portland and the Fore River.

The trail goes through Mill Creek Park with nice gardens, a pond and lots of ducks!

There are pretty pink water lilies here, trust me

From here, it's a short distance to Bug Light Park.  I have decided...I love this little park.  It has great views of Portland, the harbor, Fort Gorges and several islands in Casco Bay.

Eastern Prom

Portland

Bug Light, Casco Bay Ferry, Little Diamond Island

Fort Gorges, Little Diamond Island, Great Diamond Island, Peaks Island

It's such a beautiful spot!  We spent about 30 minutes or so just sitting and enjoying the scenery and salty smell of the ocean.  I planned ahead; we even had a snack!

We try to take a picture of ourselves, which with the CamMe app, is so easy we took two!

 

Bill did a great job of framing the lighthouse between us.

We stopped a couple of times on the return trip, mostly for me to take pictures.  I love this little respite for those walking with their furry friends.

They provide water, treats and poop bags.  The "dog's" name is Panini.

Wish we lived closer to Bug Light, we would spend a lot of time there.

haha, as it turns out...the last time we made this ride was September 1, 2013 and it was almost the same time of day.  Weird!

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;o)

Puppy Parade Transport 8/3/14

Last year, or maybe it was the year before, I signed up with Martha's Mutt Movers to help transport dogs from point A to point B.  The drivers and the coordinator are all volunteers!  When you sign up, you can indicate how far you are willing to drive.  I signed up from Portsmouth, NH to Augusta, ME.  Transports are regularly posted, with each leg listed and volunteers sign up to fill a specific leg.  I think I have transported three times, the most recent being Sunday, August 3rd.  

Bill joined me this time as we picked up five puppies in Portsmouth and delivered them to a rescue at the Yarmouth info center.  They were all very good travelers and slept most of the way.  One of them, Daisy, preferred to ride shotgun, rather than in a crate.

It makes me feel good to know that I helped get some dogs to a better life, maybe even saving their life in the process.

The pictures aren't great, but you get the idea.

A car full of crates full of puppies

The puppies were crated and weren't supposed to be placed on the ground.  The crates all had puppy pee pads in them and I gave each of them chew toys, which kept them busy until they fell asleep.

Frick & Frack

Cap't. Jack

Cap't. Jack was a cute little guy with only one eye.  The woman who drove the leg prior to ours said he was very noisy the entire time she had him, not very happy about being crated.  Guess he wore himself out!

Then there was Daisy.  She started riding in Bill's lap but I was concerned that she might pull his tube, so we stopped and switched drivers.  She didn't seem to mind, as long as she had a lap underneath her.

Keeping an eye on my driving

Possibly her first "selfie"

snug as a bug in a rug

141 miles round trip; looking forward to our next one!

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A Perfect Pickin' Day

Blueberry pickin, that is.  After two days of hot, humid weather, today was much cooler and a lot less humid.  The blueberry fields opened on Monday, which makes this the earliest I have ever picked blueberries.  Hopefully I will be able to go again before we go to camp.

The bushes were full and the pickin' was easy.  I fashioned a carrier for my bucket by using a dog leash, slinging it over one shoulder and fastening it under the bucket handle.  Two hand pickin' made filling my bucket a lot easier. 

In less than an hour I picked over 4 pounds of blueberries, to the tune of $10.50.

I actually put a jelly roll pan of them in the freezer already, knowing we wouldn't eat them all before they started to go bad.  I usually wait too long before freezing them and end up throwing too many away.  This way they were frozen within a couple of hours of being picked and there are still plenty to eat.

Blueberries have to be one of the easiest fruits to freeze! AND, tomorrow I will have fresh berries on my cereal.  (A cup of blueberries only has 84 calories...yay.)

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Bad Choice

Today I chose to clean the house really well because we are having friends over tomorrow night.  It was hot and humid, too hot and waaay too humid.

The sweat was literally dripping off my nose.

Yucky!

I would never have taken this picture were it not for the iPhone.  Some things just shouldn't be photographed.

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;o)

It's Strawberry Pickin' Time

WooHoo!  Wendy and I went to pick strawberries today, which we both admitted we hadn't done in a long time.  It was sunny, cool (mid 70's) and windy as Hurricane Arthur had passed by off the coast yesterday.  Unfortunately, it rained, hard, for the past couple of days.  I suspect the picking was better before the rain but we still found plenty to fill our boxes.

half way full

It didn't take long for me to remember how hard picking is on one's back and legs.  Even worse, I worked my legs at the gym on Thursday, so I was already hurting.  

The charge for the box was $1 and the strawberries were $1.80/pound.  In the "olden days" we paid by the quart, so it was easy to know how much we were spending.  Considering how many strawberries people could pile onto a quart container, it only makes sense that they started charging by weight.  My berries totaled about 7 1/2 pounds, the charge being $14.11.  Wendy spent a little over $15.00.  We were back in our cars and headed home in less than an hour.

Knowing it was strawberry season, I have been craving homemade strawberry daiquiris.  Using our old recipe, I enjoyed my first one in a long time.  Here is the recipe for those interested.

In a blender, mix the following...
1/2 can frozen limeade (about 6 ounces)
3/8 cup confectioner sugar (add more or less depending on personal taste preference)
2 cups strawberries
Rum (as much as you like, again depending on personal preference)
fill to the top with ice

Blend till smooth.

This made approximately 4 cups.  I guestimate that each serving is only about 160 calories.  You can keep any extra mix in the fridge for the next few days.

When the kids were small, we made the mix without adding any alcohol so they could enjoy the summer beverage along with the adults.  I didn't add any alcohol to this mix either because Bill doesn't drink alcohol and I wanted him to be able to have some if he wanted and quite frankly, I don't like much alcohol in my alcoholic beverages.  Go figure.  Anyway, I used 1 cup of the mixture and added only 1 1/2 Tablespoons of rum to my glass.  It was perfect and brought back good memories.

Cheers!

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Happy Birthday USA

Celebrate Freedom!

This is the only patriotic "quilt" I have made and technically, I made it for Bill several years ago.  I'm not that happy with it and vow to make another one...some day.

AND, I didn't get it hung up till the 5th.  No worries, I celebrate the holiday, any holiday, all month long.

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;o)