In lieu of Crooked Acres Thursday, I’m sharing my vacation pictures with y’all. There are a lot of them, so I broke them down into categories. Y’all know that you can always click on the picture here to go see a larger version over at Flickr, right? If you didn’t, you know now!
Food.
A lobster BLT (and a tank of lobsters) at Newick’s in South Portland, and lobster pie (and a sign over their tank of lobsters) at Spinney’s. When I go to Maine, I eat as much lobster as I possibly can. Not pictured: the lobster roll at the Muddy Rudder in Yarmouth, and the 10,000 whoopie pies I ate while I was in Maine. The Muddy Rudder lobster roll is in my opinion the BEST lobster roll. Huge chunks of lobster and just a tiny bit of mayo.
Popham Beach.
We went to Popham Beach so I could see how much the beach has changed in recent years. There’s hardly any beach there anymore due to erosion. Plenty of people there even though it was colllld. Funny how they didn’t seem to think it was all that cold, while I was shivering the entire time. We drove down to near the fort and had lunch. There were otters in the water watching us watch them.
There was a gathering of the Ancient Riders at the beach, and at some point a foot race around the “pond.”
Wildlife.
Squirrels and birds, birds and squirrels. No cats (my parents haven’t had a cat in years, and my brother’s cat is a scaredy), no dogs (my parents’ dog Benjie passed away last Fall and they’re not ready for another yet). I never did get up early enough to see the wild turkeys that rampage through my parents’ back yard every morning.
Random Pictures.
Panoramic shot of my parents’ back yard (I love their back yard).
The room where I stay when I’m visiting my parents, everything else is pretty self-explanatory. That broom hanging on the brick chimney has been hanging there for years and years. That doll was mine when I was little. It’s in rough shape, but Danielle wanted it and took it home with her. (Danielle is my daughter, also known as the spud, and she lives in Rhode Island with her father. She’s 23.)
Made With Love.
Various hand-made things around my parents’ house (except for the picture of the cottages by the water, which my mother bought and which I absolutely love). Some made by my mother, some by my grandmother, and that “A grandmother’s heart” cross-stitch was, I believe, the very first thing I cross-stitched. That was back when there were two grandchilden (my nephew and my daughter). Now there are five – and two great-grandchildren!
People.
And, the reason I went to Maine in May instead of waiting ’til July or August like I usually do: to meet my grand-nephew, Alexander. He was 10 days old in those pictures, and just as adorable and bright-eyed and alert as could be. That’s Danielle (my daughter, aka “the Spud”) in the blue Tweety hoodie. My nephew Brian (Alexander’s father) in the hat, and Emily (Alexander’s mother/ Brian’s fiance) in that picture with Alexander and Brian. Does she look like someone who’d given birth a mere 10 days earlier? I think not. Horrifying, is what that is. No one should look that good so soon after having a baby!
I bet y’all didn’t know I like human babies as well as kittens, did you? I can hold the heck out of a newborn, and can usually sing them to sleep (Shpadoinkle Day is my song of choice), but Alexander was wise to my shenanigans and wouldn’t drop off, thus ruining my reputation as someone so boring soothing that babies can’t stay awake when I’m holding them.
And that was my trip to Maine! I was in Lisbon Falls, where my parents live (and where I grew up from 6th grade on) – about 40ish minutes North of Portland, and across the bridge from Durham, where Stephen King grew up. Speaking of Stephen King, we went to the same high school, though he was many years ahead of me. And if you read 11/22/63, Lisbon Falls is where the story starts out (and returns to repeatedly), and it’s a real place. So are the Kennebec Fruit Company, and Frank Anicetti Jr., for that matter. Me and Stephen King, we’re like THIS. (Lisbon Falls is also home to the Moxie Festival. I do not recommend Moxie; it tastes like Coke that’s gone very very bad.)
After I said yesterday that it’d only be a matter of time before all the Noms were snoozing on the bed with me after Fred left for work in the morning, not a single Nom was seen upstairs yesterday morning. Of course, Fred leaves for work really early (4:30), so maybe instead of running around like the wild monkeys they are, maybe they went back to sleep like I did!
“I like this Tommy fella.”
Morning sun in the kitchen = kittens in the kitchen. That’s Corbie’s box they’re occupying.
“HALP! HALLLLLLP!” Newbery is such a bratty big brother.
“Who, me? I just thought she needed to be bitten!”
Logie in the sun. Where’d your stripes go, little girl?
This is either Darwin or Razzie. They both have the same shaped eyes, and if I can’t see their tail (or lack of), then I don’t know who I’m looking at.)
It’s a Suggie in a Ham-mick!
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Previously
2011: “HI MAMA!”
2010: Apparently Corbett WANTED to get down, but Stinkerbelle was sitting there glaring at him, and he was too skeered.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “I CAN BE A GIRL!” I said.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.