More vacation 2011 in photos

I took Tammy Trask out on The Cobb for her first kayaking paddle.  Gorgeous, hot day!   We hung out in the shade on the deck for a nice lunch and long chat after our expedition. 

The view paddling back to camp.  

The flowers are starting to fill in nicely.  

Geraniums.

As always, come July, the wild rice and duck weed are in full bloom

The marsh begins to look more marshy now that it's July.

The NitPickers playing at White's Beach Bluegrass Festival.  

Rick and I on a hike in Cobscook Bay State Park where we camped for a couple of days.

At the vista, looking east towards Canada I believe.

The easternmost point in the USA - West Quoddy Head Lighthouse.  I asked the clerk in the little store why it's "West" Quoddy Head but still the most "eastern" point in the US.  She said because East Quoddy Head Lighthouse is in Canada.  

The view from Lubec.  You can see the boat we chartered, The Lorna Doone, for a whale watching tour.  

East Quoddy Head Lighthouse with sardine weirs in the foreground.  

East Quoddy Head Lighthouse.  You can actually walk over to the lighthouse during low tide.  The tides there run between 20 and 50 feet!  

The wind was blowing madly at Liberty Point on Campobello Island so we thought we'd try to recreate the Cadillac Mountain photo I took of Rick a few years ago.  

Me at Liberty Point, Campobello Island.

Me picking rocks on the very rocky Raccoon Beach on Campobello Island.  I camped at this location as a senior in high school.  It was great to see it again.  

Returning to the USA.

Downtown Lubec.  We had dinner at a nice little restaurant overlooking the bay called Cohill's Inn.  

Popham Vacation 2011

We just returned from a very nice week at Popham Beach.  This is our third year of renting a little one room cottage overlooking Popham Beach.  We decided that next year we will bring our camper and use the campground like the rest of the NitPickers.  We only had the truck camper when we started going there and that's just not someplace we wanted to spend a week.  However, with our new 18 footer I think  we'll be pretty comfortable.  What I'll miss the most is the great view (which we won't have from the campground) and the nice deck.  However, the campground is about a third of the cost of the cottage so there's a lot to be said for that.

It was a little overcast and foggy on Sunday and Monday but it didn't rain and it kept the heat down a little.  Robert and Ame came down to visit on Monday, July 4th, and stayed for the fireworks.

Crystal and Rick - July 4, 2011

Robert, Ame, and Rick - 7-4-11

Robert - the Buddha

Sexy man coming out of the sea.

It was a pretty laid back week - spending days on the beach or the deck, reading, sleeping, a little swimming, walks, hanging with friends, and then most evenings spent with the NitPickers playing music.  We had dinner one night at Spinney's - not the greatest food or service but the only restaurant in the area.

June 17, 2011

I left work at 3:00 on Thursday and went directly to camp to kayak for a couple of hours before meeting up with Eddie to go to 223 for a benefit and then we went across the street to Cafe Bangkok for dinner.  We made a short stop at Hattie's and I got back to camp around 10:00.

I was woken early - like 4 a.m. - by several red squirrels chattering at each other over the seeds they discovered I'd put out yesterday.  If I'd been smart I'd have just shut the windows but instead I let them keep waking me up every half hour or so for the next 2 or 3 hours.  I finally gave up trying to sleep around 7 and took my tea and breakfast to the deck and enjoyed the sun.  I decided to forego a morning kayak paddle in order to run some errands so I went to the gym, stopped by Hannafords to get some groceries, and went to Harvey's to get some flowers but they were so unhealthy looking that I decided to wait.  I got back to camp and prepared all the planters and read for a couple of hours before Rick texted to say that he was on his way out.  So I took a quick shower and when he got there we went to The Fat Toad for a drink with Robert and Amy and then to The Mad Dog for dinner.  We made a quick stop in Hallowell and then went back to camp.

Saturday we went into Longfellow's Greenhouse and picked up the flowers and took them back and got them all planted.  Rick had also brought the lawnmower out so he mowed the lawn and things looked pretty nice.  We just hung out and read and Rick fished a bit.

We made barbecue for lunch but got a massive downpour just before dinner so had to improvise and make some baked spaghetti.

Pottery and Lilacs

Here's the fruit of the kiln from Monday's bisque firing.  I used underglazes on some of the pieces.  I've got a lot of glazing to do.  

I cut some lilacs from a tree out front of Chris and Sara's new apartment.  I'd been jonesing for some lilacs and the minute I saw their tree, knew I'd found a way to satisfy my craving.  I love lilacs!  We planted a couple of bushes last summer but only one flowered and I wasn't sure if I should cut the flowers yet as the bushes are still so small.  However, when I got home today I noticed one of the major branches of the bush had broken off - probably during the hail storm we'd had earlier, so I finished the break and cut the flowers and added them to my bouquet I'd gotten last night.  Our lilacs are a much brighter purple than the typical lilacs.  They are so beautiful and they smell so great when you walk into the house!

Memorial Day Weekend - 2011

I got home from camp about 10 a.m. on Friday to help Rick get the new camper hooked up to his truck, backed down our driveway, and packed up.  I anticipated the hooking and the backing part to be more difficult than it turned out to be.  It all went pretty smoothly and we got it all packed up and drove it out to Glen and Holly Bowman's in West Gardiner for their annual Memorial Day Weekend picking party.  No hired bands - just 50 or so campers, tents, etc., and lots of people hanging out and playing music all weekend, predominantly, though not exclusively, bluegrass music.  We had dinner plans with Lance and Regina - (Lance is new faculty at UMF) so our plans were to just set the camper up on the site with the rest of the band and head back home to get ready for dinner.  The weather started out drizzly but by the time we got to the site it was very hot, sunny, and humid.  

We got it set up and everything was go except the water didn't work.  There was water there, the pump was running, but the water just drizzled out of the faucets, at best.  We messed with it with help from Woody for a while without great results.  We knew if anyone could figure out what the problem was it would be this crew as they all have a great deal of experience with campers but we figured we'd bring back enough water for the weekend in case we couldn't figure it out.

We were hungry by then so decided to make a short stop at The Fat Toad to visit with Robert and have some lunch.  We were out of there within an hour, made a stop at The Evil Empire to get a new camp table (Rick stole last year's camp table for his music equipment in the new room) and some other things.  Got home in time to take a short snooze and showers and headed out to Hallowell about 5:30.

We met up with Regina and Lance at The Liberal Cup and had good conversation and a nice meal.  It was the first time I'd met either of them and it was fun getting to know them.  They were in town to find a home before heading back to Illinois on Monday.  Apparently they found a nice house on a small pond in Weld that they took a year's lease on.

After dinner we took them on a tour of Hallowell, walking down to the river, pointing out all the pubs along the way, showed them the interesting artistic display of junk down beyond The Wharf, stopped into The Wharf to briefly check out the early show, then walked back to Hoxter's and listened to Pat Pepin's band for a couple of beers.  We then went back to The Wharf for the later show with Stevie Jones' Dirigo Band and some more conversation.  We parted about 11 p.m.  I think they quite enjoyed the night out, as did we.

We were back at the campsite Saturday about noon and after a bit of tinkering, Richard discovered a plugged filter in the water line, removed it, and our water was working fine.  He's a genius!  They picked most of the afternoon and evening with lots of people stopping by, many with instruments, many just to listen.  We slept well in the camper and repeated the events on Sunday, making a nice dinner of spaghetti and Italian sausage and a bottle of Clos du Bois.  Somehow managed to stay up until about 3 a.m., slept well again, woke up Monday morning and headed back home.  Again, we were worried about having to back the camper back into its spot off the driveway but it went in there much slicker than anticipated.  Even the dumping of the poo into our septic system wasn't nearly as gross as we'd expected.  All in a day's work.

Rick mowed the lawn and then we watched Black Swan and the latest episodes of Treme and Game of Thrones we'd taped while away, and I ran a load of bisque in the kiln.  

Chris and Sara got the keys to their new apartment Tuesday afternoon so we took a truck load of their things up for them Tuesday night.  A nice college student's apartment - a little dingy, but spacious and a great location just a quarter mile from campus.

Friday, April 27th

I came out to camp Wednesday after work and a trip to the farmer’s market on the Gardiner Commons where I picked up some greens, fresh new baby carrots, fresh baked rye bread and a sweet zucchini bread.  Unpacked and put my things away, refilled the feeders with the last of the seed, and brushed down all the kayaks, some of which had been setting unused since fall.  It was very windy and the stream was fairly rough.  I went for a quick paddle across the stream to the marsh that is only accessible during early spring.  The water was much calmer there but there was little wildlife other than the red winged blackbirds singing and flitting around.

Justin and Keeley texted me they had arrived to kayak with me so I paddled back.  I was a little worried about Keeley going out for her first time in the windy conditions but we decided to give it a try.  By the time they got all sorted out with paddles and life preservers and got into the water the wind had died down some.  She caught on very well after a few tips.  We paddled downstream into the wind, keeping close to shore until we got to the narrower part of the stream and crossed over. Not a lot of wildlife about still except for a pair of loons playing further down the stream and a few of the other usual characters – red-winged blackbirds, swallows, etc.  On the way back there was a bald eagle overhead being harassed by a couple of osprey. 

We returned and the mosquitoes and black flies became very aggressive so Justin and Keeley headed home and I went inside and toasted a slice of rye bread, piled on some greens and cheese with a little mayo, the fresh baby carrots, and a Beck’s made a lovely dinner.  

I read for a while but the music from peepers and other unknown night critters serenaded me to sleep fairly early, waking to a foggy morning but a brightness overhead that promised some sun.  It became very windy by mid morning and stayed that way throughout the day.  I took another paddle around the osprey island and down to the early spring marsh returning to camp and my book for the reminder of the day and into the evening.  The poor little red squirrels are sitting on the squirrel box, empty of seeds as I only had enough to fill the bird feeders.  Occasionally they’ll jump to one of those but caution doesn’t let them remain there long.  I suspect Cobby (who was by last night) has been terrorizing them and keeping them on their toes. 

So it’s Friday morning and it feels like Sunday morning as I’ve been here for what feels like two days, not seeing a single person yesterday.  Nice.  I woke up a little before 5 and had to take some photos of the stark beauty.  I would love to stay a couple more days but other plans call.  We’re to load the new camper this morning and drive over to Glen and Holly Bowman’s for a weekend of bluegrass jamming.  It’s only a few minutes from camp so maybe I’ll escape back to my fortress of solitude here if the need arises.  I completely understand Rick’s love of bluegrass picking but it’s quite another thing if you have no musical talent and remain but a spectator.  I need to remember to bring my djembe out to camp where I can drum with only the non-judgmental critters as my audience.  

A heron video I took last Friday on The Cobb

A quiet little video of a heron out on The Cobb, on Friday the 13th of May, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVDLNT3p_8

And here's a still of when he finally did take flight.

Here's another photo of him perched in a tree.

I got up early on Friday morning and cleaned up the studio from some glazing I'd done several days ago, wedged up some porcelain balls and threw six tumblers.  I then took a short nap and threw some stuff together and drove out to camp, stopping in Augusta to buy a Brita water filter pitcher.

Got to camp and filled the feeders and then jumped in the kayak.  I paddled for about 2 or 3 hours; went over in the cove across from camp and then down to the Route 126 bridge, and then back around the back of the islands where the osprey nest used to be.  That's where I took the video.  I came back to camp and put things away and headed back home to shower and get ready to go to Guthrie's.

I slept in late on Saturday and then spent a few hours cleaning, sweeping and washing the kitchen floor, vacuuming, dusting, laundry, etc.  Rick had to go up to campus for graduation.   Sara graduated but the ceremony was held inside and tickets were scarce so I didn't attend.  It was nice to stay home alone, even though I spent most of the time cleaning.  Once Rick got home we spent most of the afternoon and evening watching movies.

This morning I got up before 5 a.m. and went up to the studio to trim the tumblers I'd thrown on Friday. I also put up the rest of my pottery collage posters.

I thought we had a graduation party for Sara today but found out about 10 a.m. that the party is next Sunday.  That was a big relief because I really just wanted to vegetate, which is basically what I ended up doing.    I did actually get around to painting these tumblers I'd made a couple weeks ago with underglazes.

Loons, Eagles, and Assholes

Discovered Friday morning that our neighbor somehow managed to get a building permit to build a house on a beach front lot to which 40+ families in the Tobey Development have a right of way.  We dealt with this issue two years ago at the Planning Board and they agreed that the ordinance did not permit a home to be built on the lot.  Somehow, under the cover of secrecy, he managed to slither back in this spring and get the permit.  We'll be consulting with an attorney tomorrow to see if there is recourse.

Friday was a beautiful day but I couldn't stand to sit on my deck and listen to the construction noise as they further raped the beach front lot with more tree cutting and digging.  So we decided to take some supplies to camp so that we could go back out there Saturday afternoon to spend our first night.

We went to Danielle and Shawn's adoption party Saturday and headed right out to camp afterwards.  Unfortunately it started raining just as we left the party and was still raining when we got to camp.  We hung out for a bit and by 5 p.m. the sun was out and the wind had died down.  So we unloaded the kayaks and went for a paddle.

As soon as we got to the other side of the stream we saw this beautiful juvenile eagle perched high in a tree.

We explored around the area for a while and noticed some dark clouds moving in so headed back to camp.  About half way there we came across a couple of very vocal loons and I took this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7PYrfBD3L4

Deck furniture returns

I enjoyed a nice Sunday around the house, cleaned the studio and then had our first barbecue of the season.  Rick brought the table and chair set from the cottage and Jared helped him with the grill.  Justin and Keeley came over for hot dogs, hamburgers, and salad.  Keeley made a delicious chocolate and vanilla pudding pie.  

I don't think we had the deck at this time last year.  It makes spring feel like it comes earlier because it's so much warmer up there off the snowy ground.  

There's still more than 2 feet of snow off the front of the deck.  It had been in the high 60s or low 70s earlier in the day but got pretty chilly by the time we finished dinner. Came inside and lit some logs in the fireplace.  

Yesterday I did a bisque firing using a cone 04 in the kiln sitter.  It fired for about 6 hours before the kiln sitter shut it down.  The bottom witness cones were 05 06 07 and the 05 and 06 bent fairly well.  The witness cones on the top two shelves practically dissolved, leaving parts of the cones on the shelves.  Guess those two shelves are hotter than the bottom one.

Pottery Notes: Second Successful Glaze Firing

I had been having trouble with the kiln.  I tried to fire it twice last weekend and neither worked properly.  I foolishly discovered that I had mixed up which was off and which was on for the switches, so I was starting with it completely on and gradually turning it off.

I figured it out by opening the lid and and starting from scratch and watching the elements come on as I turned the switches.  We also used it to heat the garage up so that we could work out there.  

We cleaned the garage and then built shelves for the new kitchen pantry.  I love how much it holds and it really helps in decluttering the kitchen.  

So after we finished working in the garage I loaded the kiln and started it about 5 p.m. and it was done firing by about 11:30.  I think the pieces came pretty nice, mostly.

Left is brown clay with true celadon and underglazes; center is porcelain with true celadon;
and right is also true celadon on porcelain.

Tumblers with oil spot glaze.

Two tumblers on the right are seaweed glaze.  They look rather
metallic - much like a raku firing, but more controlled. The tumbler on the left is Vert Lustre outside, shino inside with shino dripped on outside.  I really like that combo and think I'll use it for the teapot I made Charlie. 

Royal blue with chun plum and true celadon. Really nice combo.

These all have true celadon.  Much darker on the dark clay.  I'm not
sure why the two porcelain pieces look so differently.

Various underglazes with blue rutile glaze inside.

Teddy bear brown underglaze with colored underglazes on top.  I ended up giving this and some other pieces to a
colleague who was collecting things for her friend who was moving into a new apartment after having been in a
homeless shelter for a  year.  

Te

Royal blue and root beer glaze. Definitely not my favorite.  This royal blue is so much lighter than the royal blue on the small mug above.  I usually do a full 3 coats but I may have dipped the mug. . . hmmm... I really liked the way that came out better.

Teapot I finished building today.  The Chinese
letters are supposed to say Life

I made it for Charlie and got the Chinese letters from his book which in full
is called Life Lines but I decided to just use Life.

These are 4, 5, and 6 cones.  There was a Cone 8 in the kiln sitter and it clearly
got up to Cone 4, and just touched on Cone 5 I'd say.  

Perigee Moon

Last weekend was a "super moon."  The moon orbits around the earth in a slightly eccentric circle, resulting in it being a little closer sometimes than at other times.  When it's closest, it's called perigee. So anyway, I heard from friends at pottery on Saturday that Reid State Park would be staying open late in order for people to have a good site from which to view it.  So Rick and I decided to take a trip down to get some photos.  We went to JT Maxwell's in Bath for dinner beforehand, and then arrived at Reid about 8:00.  I wish we'd gotten there earlier, as the moon was rising, because that's when it was at it's most impressive.  It didn't look much different than usual by the time it was high in the sky.  However, I wanted to get some photos so that's what we did.

I wanted to get some classic moon photos - where it appears someone is holding it or whatever.  Rick was very cooperative - move a little to the right, back to the left, up a little bit, hold it right there!  click.  It was much more difficult than I'd imagined to get the angle and the spacing of the fingers, etc. just right.  But I was fairly happy with the results.

Step one - lining it up.

A little closer . . .

Ooops - too far to the left . . .

A little frustration creeps in . . .

Voila!  Close as we could get.