Type something!

After a few moments of trying to come up with a title and subject "that's" what I came up with, brilliant. Now lets roll (is that a copyright violation?).

Monday night I finished the town and church newsletters for September, looking good if I do say so myself. Still have to upload the church's to their website, always loose ends. There's not much I do that doesn't leave a pile of loose ends. Tonight I worked on website updates for a Maine professional association I maintain. The town website always needs updating and I'm way behind on my email correspondence.

Things are going well for Ian at college. Taylor even visited on Sunday, she took the Amtrak Downeaster down and back from Portland. First couple of days of classes have gone well also.

Sister Judi and household have had to ride out Tropical Storm Ernesto, from the weather maps it appears to have gone right over her house. Hope all is well there.

We're going camping this weekend, Newfield, NH, not far from UNH so we'll hook up with Ian. Lois and Jim are going too. I hope to visit Portsmouth. Other than trucking through on I-95 or stopping at the liquor store I have no experience visiting there. I think they have a nice downtown area that's easy to get to and walk around. The dogs are going to the kennel, sorry Puppies, dog management is difficult from a campground and sight seeing. They made it to the last campground Carol and I went to and we had both of them at the camp for a week. I need a break from them. I still feeling great from the week at the camp.

The "going to college" theme

Often as a week progresses along I realize that despite all the different things that may be going on there is a purpose or a theme underlying the time period. The one event or activity which my thoughts revolve around. Often the theme has something to do with Ian, much is the case this week. Today we loaded up the truck (and moved to Beverly...Hills that is...[oops, I digress]) and headed to UNH for Ian to move into his dorm room and begin his freshman year. There was quite a traffic jam getting onto campus but once we got to his dorm it all went rather well.

It almost looked hopeless with all of Ian's stuff piled up in a
empty room. Then Ian and his Mom went at it and after a
little while Ian's room looked really nice.

Deciding where to put things.

Installing a bulletin board.

Occupancy complete, it's a good start to a new experience.

The other end of vacation

Home again. Ah, humidity, I'd had forgotten how that feels. Still have a little sorting of things to put them back in place after unpacking. All three of us glided into the various things that we have going on. I really glad we came home yesterday and have a day home before going back to work. It's raining this morning which is a good thing as I'll be able to focus on indoor activities today. I have to websites to work on, the church newsletter to start amongst an assortment of other stuff. Upcoming, Ian goes to college on Friday and the town newsletter for September is next weekend's task. I did just have a vacation you know, just a little is enough.

I'll give the voting for the best sunset picture of the week a couple more days - if you read my blog and haven't left a comment with your vote - Come On, jump to it!

Here's the vacation crew, me, Carol, Taylor and Ian. Eowyn and Patches.

Vacation wrap-up

Well, our last day here has concluded. Tomorrow morning we head for home, back to work on Monday.

Carol accompanied her mother to an early morning appointment. More reading for me, Ian and Taylor were between several things around the camp. In the afternoon Carol and her mother visited Alton at the nursing home then Margaret joined us for supper. Nice day weatherwise, sky was very clear. Evening is really mild, great for sitting out.

Morning mist across the lake.

Here's the last entry for the "Sunset of the Week" contest.
Please leave a comment on this blog with you vote for the
best sunset of the week.

Watching Patches around here you'd think this
was where he was born.

Big Sky at Madawaska Lake

I'll spare you the mundane details of a wonderfully laid back day on vacation, so we'll do a pictorial version - though I will mention that we had dinner at Eureka's.

For Maine this is real "Big Sky" territory.
I loved watching this continuous parade of
clouds journey by.

Yours truly doing what I like best on
vacation, reading at lakeside. Finished
it tonight by a campfire.

The building to the left is what remains of "Stan's",
the last place you could go to get a 10 cent cup
of coffee.

This is where we're at, note reading chair to the right.

E'owyn says not to forget to let you know she's here too.

Forgot to mention, yesterday was Patches' 7th birthday.

Believe it or not this was a salvage expedition,
successful, retrieving a couple of plastic oars
that had sunk in the lake.

Today's sunset with bonus shots, this evening was
a spectacular display well beyond what I had
hoped I'd see. Let me know what you think.

What a time to be out "sculling".

The sky was practically on fire!

Vacation beat goes on

Today was golf day, we went to the Caribou Country Club. It’s been a year since Ian or I have golfed and it was at CCC. Carol hasn’t golfed in two years. So I thought it was wise to pay for 9 holes, it turned out to have been a good choice. You can get tired swinging a golf club if you haven’t been doing it regularly. Not that it affected my game which begins at the “not great” level. Taylor came along for the ride and caught up on some reading. We had paid for a couple of golf carts. It started out with perfect weather, beautiful blue sky dotted with impressive cloud masses drifting along, warm, not humid. Then at the eighth hole a marauding dark cloud mass came through getting things wet but no thunder or lightening so we played on. None of us had a good score but that didn’t matter, it was good day to be out together. Afterwards Taylor and Ian headed back to the camp (dogs had been left in the camp) and Carol and I went to visit her father in the nursing home after catching a little something to eat and a coffee at Tim Horton’s. We found Alton hanging out at the window in his room watching the traffic in and around the parking lot outside the window which was mostly what we talked about while we were there, he was looking good and enjoyed the company. A quick stop at the grocery store to restock after last night’s cookout and back to the camp to enjoy the nice weather there. It’s been a very nice evening here. Sitting out on the shore after dark while talking with Ian I saw a meteor and a bat was busy flying around us.

Ian and Taylor rowing to somewhere.

Patches at shoreside.

Taylor at the setting sun.

Wednesday's sunset.

Another day at the lake

Cool and cloudy at the lake Monday, the wind kicked up as it approached noon so shorts and t-shirt were not the fashion of the day. Doesn’t matter, it’s still nice to be here. Casual breakfast, started a new (used) book, cleaned out the gas grill then cooked up some hotdogs. Read some more, took the dogs for a walk with Carol. Margaret stopped by this morning and she, Carol, Ian and Taylor cut up four bags of string beans sent up from Lois for canning. Later Margaret returned for supper after which she and Carol huddled up looking at old photos and filling in some genealogy gaps. Unfortunately the cloudiness prevailed into the evening so there is no sunset photo for Monday.

Today played out a little differently, after breakfast Carol left to pick up her mother to go to Houlton then Oakland on the genealogy trail, visited a cemetery and took some picture of grave stones. Later in the day we were to host a cookout to have relatives visiting from away over to the camp. Meanwhile back at the camp Taylor, Ian and I tidied up the place, more reading for me while Taylor and Ian took the dogs for a walk. The weather had improved though still a strong wind blew across the lake. A little while after lunch Ian and Taylor took a dip in the lake. I made a trip to the post office then returned to the camp and copped a nap. After getting up Carol still had not returned, Ian and Taylor were laying out on the shore ramp. Across the lake though there was a cloud bank which the wind was blowing toward us. The waves became rougher, the clouds came closer, Ian and Taylor abandoned the ramp and as the rain reached us it blew right onto the porch. As the storm arrived on our shore there was a sudden large flash overhead followed a heartbeat later by one hell of a bang. Too close to thunder, then the storm after a good dump of water moved on by. Carol returned soon after.

The cookout went from what we expected to be about 12 people to at least 20. Carol had bought some extra food but she still needed to pull every bit of meat we had in the frig to accommodate everyone, and I cooked it all on the small gas grill. Between what we had and the side dishes people bought every thing turned out pretty good. The whole event was a little more than we expected to take place here during our vacation but it did turnout very well though it did go by in a blur. After everyone left the four of us settled down and played Texas hold-em. Lets see if I can get this guest list right: Margaret counts as a hostess – Gerald and Rita – Floyd and Mabel – Carolyn and Melvin – Debbie, John, Lily and Brianna – Stacey, Chuck and their two kids – Erica, Noel, and their two kids (Erica was the flower girl at our wedding, 1975) – Lance, Janelle and Madison. Whew!

Tuesday's sunset for your consideration, vote
for your favorite on Saturday.

At the camp to begin our vacation

Greetings from Madawaska Lake. We had great weather to travel by, Carol's mother, Margaret, met us when we arrived.

Carol and her Mother catching up on the latest happenings.

Things are shaping up to be a great evening.

Patches, Ian and Taylor settle in at the shore.

Oh look, a picture of a sunset, what a surprise.
Check in all week, reader's can vote for their
favorite sunset on Saturday.

La-la-la VACATION!

Not that I'm in a hurry for summer to end but I have been anxious for my vacation to start. Another trip to the camp at Madawaska Lake, this time for R&R purposes. We leave on Sunday and return on Saturday. Ian and Taylor will be there as well. Both dogs will come along so we won't be missing much there. Maybe play a little golf, some bike riding, reading and a dip in the lake now and then. I think the forecast calls for cool nights so I'll split a little firewood for the woodstove and for campfires. I hope to come up with an interesting blog or two. Check back often and I'll post another sunset picture, no two are alike.

Some views around Portland

Here are some pictures I took on my lunchtime stroll around Portland a couple of days ago.

Portland City Hall going through
some renovation work.

From Federal Street looking at the intersection
with the upper end of Exchange Street.

On Fore Street looking up Exchange Street.

End of an Era

Last week a long-time colleague at work left the company. Bart Furey was here when I hired on into a rapidly growing graphics department. A lot has changed over the last 17 1/2 years since then, Bart and I were the last two left of that group which had grown to eleven in 1989. Because of the changes of how work is done here now-a-days Bart decided to persue other interests, photography being the main one. Aside from the work he did at this company Bart was very astute in his understanding of all things vehicular and pretty handy on things mechanical in general. We had many interesting conversations on many subjects and he and his ways will be missed. Good luck in all things Bart and I hope to see you soon.

Organics spoken there

Now trust me, I haven't gone over to the environmental flower child side but I visited the Wild Oats store in Portland today. Wow, what a neat place to buy groceries. A very well laid out store with a lot of helpful people in the aisles (I'm talking Monday here). Boy, if everything wasn't 10 - 15% more that the regular stores I'd wouldn't mind a bit if Carol shopped there all the time. They sell sandwiches out of their deli counter and even have table and chairs to sit down and eat at. Maybe this happens all the time in other parts of the country but this is the first I've seen it in a grocery store and I'm not counting the Wal-Mart Supercenter snack bar. I'll go back soon, the chicken pesto sandwich sounded good to me, $6.99. Maybe I'll pick up a few grocery items while I'm there.

a little more from the campground

Carol working on her Swedish weaving.

I'm always this happy.

Pretty nice campsite to have, someone left
Saturday morning and someone else was
moved in by Saturday night.

A tree would be nice, I think our's and the campsites
to either side were the only ones without a nearby tree.

Whatcha doing?

I'm ready to go home...

Kicking back at the campground

Wi-Fi at our site, 3 bucks for 24 hours, not as good as free but tolerable.

Back in time a bit - Ian got home from NOAC, pulled in around 12:15am Friday morning. We had left the truck at the BSA Pinetree Council Service Center parking lot for him to drive himself home after the car pool from Manchester Airport returned the group from their trip. He had a good time though it was hotter there than here for the week. He took some great pictures, particularly from their day in Chicago. I'll try to find time next week to post a few. So Ian had Friday morning and afternoon at home before leaving for Camp KV. Taylor came over to visit him and around 3:30pm Carol, the dogs and I took off with the camper leaving Ian to prepare for another week away. He left the house around 5pm for camp, he'll be back Saturday morning.

We arrived at Beaver Dam Campground in Berwick, ME after a 1.5 hour ride. It's a very well kept campground with a private pond. Fishing (no license required), a beach area, pool and other standard features though better than most rural style campgrounds. We have a view of the pond from our site. They also have a fenced in dog run area. This is Eowyn's first time in a campground so I'm working on her campground manners - no barking at every dog she sees - yes, we like to hang around and not do to much - stuff like that. If she'd follow Patches' lead it would be a piece of cake as he barely pays any attention to other dogs and if it wasn't for the rules he wouldn't even be on a leash. She'll get use to it, frequent walks and more attention than usual. We'll hang around until late afternoon when the sun comes around the west end of the camper then take a ride over to check out the town of Berwick. By the time we get back the sun will have gotten down behind some treetops and life at the campsite is good again.