Deerfield Fair Bound

Tomorrow we head to a campground in Raymond, NH which will be our base of operations for the next two nights as we attend the Deerfield Fair on Saturday. The weather forecast looks downright dreadful, maybe even dangerous with 3 - 5" of rain overnight Saturday. I guess we'll find out again how seaworthy the camper is. Ian will meet us at the campground tomorrow night and spent Saturday morning with us at the fair before he returns to his campus for a rugby club game.

From 1954 to 54

How's that for stringing a couple of numbers together - today is my 54th Birthday. Not doing anything special, a little yard work, watching some football (Packers vs Cowboys tonight - GO PACK). Carol returned today from a trip up north with Lois to visit their mother, Margaret. They had left on Friday.

Yesterday Ian had a woodsman meet at Unity College which is a couple of hours drive north of here. I swung by my mother's on the way to pick her up and off we went. The day began a little foggy as I left about 6:45am but things had cleared up before we arrived at the Unity campus and it became a gorgeous first day of fall. We'd move our lawn chairs from event to event watching when Ian was participating and enjoying the other competitors as well. The teams were made up of woodsman clubs from the University of Maine, Colby College, University of New Hampshire and the host club, Unity College. The were 14 events so things were pretty busy at times. I did mange to get a bit of a sunburn on my face and neck, nothing to serious.

The early morning view overlooking about a
third of the field.

Ian on one of his warm-ups for the
axe throwing event.

Pulp throwing - this is not a warm-up.

Vertical chop - this was the first time Ian
has done this event in competition. The
object is to chop all the way through the
block of wood in the least amount of time.

This is the UNH Woodsman Team.
Ian, middle-right.

Getting closer to Autumn

I began the day by taking the camper to the dealer and have their service department check it for water damage. The model we have has a history of floors rotting where water has sept in. I had notice a little bump under the linoleum in one corner with a little brown build-up along the base of the wall so I thought it best to have them check it out. I hope to hear back tomorrow. Next weekend we'll make out annual trek to Pine Acres RV Resort in Raymond, NH to attend the Deerfield Fair. This is our yearly final trip with the camper before putting it in storage for the winter so it's best to sort out any problems now.

Today's walk was my Western Promenade route. Such a beautiful day, the sky was as blue as you could ask for and the temperatures were in the mid-60s. With the day's light decreasing and temps cooling it won't be long before the leaves begin changing colors and falling off the trees. I made more than my usual effort to appreciate the views that surrounded me.

This photo was a little washed out by the bright sunshine.

Across the water is the main runway at
Portland International Jetport.

Today I decided to cut across the Western Cemetery.
Could use some mowing.

Weekend in Searsport

Carol, myself and our intrepid canine companions, Patches and E'owyn Hauled the camper to Searsport Shores Campground in Searsport, Maine Friday night for a weekend stay.

So after we arrived it turned into a dark and stormy night. It took us about 2 and half hours to get there after having left at about 4:15pm. Once getting the camper setup and the truck unloaded a drizzly rain arrived and we moved into the camper for the evening to have some supper and call it a day... not so fast. The rain had picked up considerably by the time we finished eating. Soon after hitting the sack the wind began playing havoc with the awning which seemed to threaten carrying the camper to Kansas. We each got up, dressed for the weather and went outside to rewind the awning up into it's travel position and that took care of the problem.

Saturday morning arrived promising a fairly nice day. We had some breakfast, lounged around awhile reading then took a ride to nearby Belfast to walk around their downtown shops and visit the harbor area. Belfast is a great little place to wander around, the village area is quaint with a rustic touch.

This strange contraption allowed passerbys the opportunity to pedal with the motion of a fish. I passed, the old football injury was acting up.



A short distance from where this photo was taken was a outdoor fish shack. With seating available and we were able to have the dogs with us we sat down with a helping of fish and chips for each of us and a women working there brought out a small pail of water for the pups.


After leaving the village we stopped and bought some corn on the cob to go with supper and headed back to the campsite. Searsport Shores ocean frontage isn't a sandy beach or rocky coast. Its more of a access to tidal flow and easy access by kayak to the ocean. You're able to interact with the shoreline as the tide moves in and out. This makes the third time we've been here.

We'll...

New green area in Portland.

I had a Doctor's appointment this afternoon so I took an abbreviated walk at lunchtime. The photo above was taken on Spring Street where the YWCA formerly stood. The last time I walked by here the demolished building had been cleared leaving a empty, ugly lot. Today there was freshly laid sod, new young trees and a small neat parking lot. It looked as green and blue as the picture shows, a bit surreal standing next to it. A couple of years ago the YWCA's funding was down so they had to close. Portland ordinances would only allow the site to be used for "affordable" housing as the dorm rooms available at the Y were considered to be. There was no interest in developing the site as such so here it is, a bit of green space. Nice work anyway.

Health care for the PT

The sky to the east this evening - that's quite the reflection of the setting sun. We had some heavy rain today, these were the remaining clouds trudging eastward.

I took the PT Cruiser in for it's first interval service, 15,000 miles. It was a little over that. I didn't take it to the dealer I bought it from. They are in Bridgton, about a 30 minute drive, then I'd have a one hour drive back into Portland. If I left it there and used their loaner I'd repeat the time on the other end which I did when I needed a repair two months ago. At that time it actually took two visits - a diagnostic and they had to order a part, then the actual repair. Both times I had to leave the car and go to work. I won't do the math for you but you get the idea, that's a lot of travel time to get your car fixed. So for today's service I went to a Chrysler dealer on the outskirts of Portland and took the bus back into town. Half hour in - half hour back. I could have gone in their shuttle service but sometimes I like to take public transportation, it can be interesting at times.

Will Blog for a Topic

In the harbor today - the Carnival Victory

Took this picture with my cellphone during my noontime walk. Many of the passengers immediately get on buses to go to LL Beans and other places. A lot of folks stay right in Portland and enjoy walking and shopping in the Old Port area. Livens things up more than it usually is.

Quiet day at the office, I was busier once I got home. Cleared some brush from the edge of the driveway then cleaned out the charcoal grill. Need to get a few things ready as we are going to a campground in Searsport Friday. Today's big event... the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football! GO Pack GO!

Hanna's gone

So it goes with visiting tropical storms that make it this far north - they make a soggy mess and move on to oblivion over the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Hanna dumped more than six inches of rain overnight in about 10 hours. We have good drainage at our house on Ledge Hill so it's just a matter of falling asleep to the sound of heavy rain and wind which I don't mind at all.

Last night's Netflix movie, Unleashed, was better than I expected. Jet Li did a good job playing a crime thug's pet "punisher" who is practically treated like a dog but manages to meet some nice people that takes him into their family. It's a violent story with a soft side. It also starred Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins.

While at Lois and Jim's today I attempted to setup file sharing between their three computers using the wireless network. Only two thirds successful, unfortunately not between two of the computers that it would be useful. And they say this stuff is suppose to be easy. I can't tell you how much time I've spent trying to get it right on my own system and it's still not quite right.

We had a few minutes with Ian as he stopped at the house on his way back to college from the OA event he attended. We may not see him again for three weeks when we go to the Deerfield Fair in New Hampshire. He may have a woodsman meet in Maine in two weeks that I might be able to attend while Carol and Lois travel north to visit their mother.

Oh, and hooray for the start of the NFL season - Go Green Bay Packers!

Hanna's here

I've been able to pick up on my reading now and then. Not any long duration, just a section or two of a chapter at a time. I also started the first story in the April-May issue of Asimov's.

Just this evening the leading edge of Tropical Storm Hanna has arrived. I thought I could get the charcoal grill up and running and burn some meat before she reached us but the drops started coming before the coals were ready so I wheeled the grill to the front of the garage and finished the carnage there. Hanna should be through our area by sometime tomorrow morning. The lawn definately could use a good soaking.

Tonight's movie is Unleashed starring Jet Li. I've got to start finding better movies to watch. We have plenty of good dramas on our Netflix list, just no good action/adventure movies now which we haven't already seen.

Trying to get the train back on the tracks

Updated September 5th

I was on quite a streak recently averaging a blog a day for about twelve days. Once I hit the weekend I fell completely off the tracks. Time and mental energy were a little scarce in the evenings. So here is my attempt to get back on the track.

Before last weekend Ian headed out with some friends to camp and hike around Mount Katahdin. He returned Saturday early in the evening when we then had a supper of Swedish pancakes and heard Ian's stories of his trip.

Friday we had supper at Lois and Jim's as it was the first chance I had getting her wireless network up and running.

Saturday Carol and I started Deck 3 on our backyard project, a triangular piece that connected to both Deck 1 and 2. Almost finished it but had to clean up for supper, the rest could wait until the next day. This night is Ian's birthday supper, three days early. The Netflix movie of the week, Jumpers. My advice, don't... jump or watch it. Should have known better, it starred Hayden Christensen, aka, Anakin Skywalker in the Star War movies, blah.

Sunday I started by replacing our wireless router, the old one went on the fritz Saturday, Carol went out and bought a new one. I must have spent three hours setting it up which included 45 minutes on the phone with the manufacturers' tech guy trying to get my laptop to connect. So much for "easy to set up". Before I was finished it was time for Ian to leave for college to begin his Junior year. He was leaving a day early to help out on some work for the Woodsman Club. Where did the summer go. It's been a part of a good summer with Ian around the house. After he left, I had finally resolved the router problem, had some lunch and Carol and I put the finishing touches on the deck - including hauling out the patio furniture.

Monday, Labor Day. I worked on the church's newsletter and was able to send it out for proofing. We went out to run a couple of errants and had lunch at Tim Horton's. For supper I cooked out on the deck and enjoyed the cool early evening air.

Enough for tonight, check back and maybe I'll conclude this saga.

NEXT NIGHT: Well I'm back to wrap up this blog. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for the most part were close to routine. Good week at work. Watched the RedSox win some games. Watched Governor Sara Palin's speech and those preceding her's. Caught up with Ian on the phone to hear how the first couple of days of classes and other activities were going, club rugby being one of the activities. Carol made camping reservations for the weekend after the upcoming one. Carol's been pretty busy of late putting together a Merit Badge College for our and other local Boy Scout Troops to attend.

Today I went out to lunch with Michelle and Dick from my department at work. We went to Marcy's (Surprise!). I had the grilled chicken sub and a gallon of coffee. Ian came home briefly on his way to an Order of the Arrow event north of here so we were able to chat a bit before he was on his way. He'll be back on Sunday before going back to college. Carol and I then went out to supper at a place in Poland. I strained my diet a bit with a fried shrimp plate. After that, since it was a nice slightly cool evening, we took a long, roundabout way home with all the car windows open followed by ice cream and for me a half hour walk to get the remaining steps I needed for 10,000.

After having mentioned Marcy's there were a couple of observations I made when I went there last Friday which I wanted to blog about at the time but for reasons I referred earlier I wasn't able to. Both were of the actions of young adult males. The first while I was sitting at the counter a fellow leaned across the seat next to me and got the attention of the cook and said to him, "Hey, I'm moving away today and I wanted to thank you for all the great meals you've cooked for me, thanks." The cook, who co-owns the place with his wife, had a pleasantly taken aback look on his face as he said "you're welcome." I could understand the guy's sentiments, I hope if I move on someday I do the same. Then on my way back to the office as I walked along the sidewalk from a loaded up car passing by, a pottery object fell shattering on the pavement. With the slow moving traffic the driver continued a short distance where he could pull over. As he was doing that another young fellow stood up from one of the street benches and gathered up the shards for the driver. I note this because I often see what appears to be apathy from the behavior of many young adults I see downtown and other places and I think I need to reconsider these thoughts as false perceptions on my part. We all have some "junk" floating around the old cranium that needs a bit of a shaking up occasionally. Should happen more often, especially as we get older.