more rain

a little more rain today. it does make interesting patterns on our front walk.

and justifies lots of baking. eliot and i have been making scones in the morning at least once a week. the addition of anise seed to our last batch turned out nicely.



and the rain breeds silly indoor behavior. im afraid we do let eliot jump on our bed. when we decided to join him i think he though we were crazy. i sense a christmas card coming on...

kissing lobsters

we have been enjoying the fruits of a maine summer now that it feels like summer again. the sun has been shining most days and the lobster is under 4$ a pound. the strawberry harvest is just about over, although i think strawberries (or maybe root beer??) have been the culprit for my latest headache bout.

i forgot to post these pictures from my dads visit. we went to the trolley museum in kenneybunk. it was really fun to ride on the old trains and check out the storage/work shed. we were able to ride on two of them because the first one broke down.

the very busy day

yesterday was about the busiest day a kid could have. first eliot gets up with his mama as usual and then i head off to work. I therefore i give photo, and fun, credit for the top three pictures to kevin.

daddy and eliot started off on their morning jaunt to the coffee shop when they walked by the fire station near our house. they happened upon it during a shift change so there were firemen and firetrucks all out in the yard. eliot was invited to come and sit in the firetruck and then he actually got a ride in it when the pulled it back into the garage! eliot thinks firemen are the coolest people on earth so the day started off with a bang.


then as they were about to get to the coffee shop there was a fancy harley chopper parked on the side walk that eliot was checking out. the owner of the bike took a fancy to eliot and let him 'ride' it at and play on it. eliot was very impressed as his other favorite people are motorcycle riders.

then, after coffee, they headed to the farmers market where eliot danced and sang with his friend olive to the music of one of our local celebrities Samuel James.

about this time i get home from work, send kevin off, and eliot and i head on our way to the clam festival. he did take a tiny nap in the car on the way to yarmouth so he was rearing to go for the rides and fried dough. i was very impressed at his bravery on the car ride but i guess after a day like he had it was old hat.

he slept extremely well after that very busy day!

a little visitor

we had a little visitor yesterday morning. eliot and i made our way into the living room when i saw this little guy floating above the couch. upon closer inspection we noticed that the little spider had made a perfectly beautiful little web between the couch and the french door that opens next to it. i think the top connection was all the way up at the ceiling. i misted it with a spray bottle to get a better look at it (and picture).

eliot adores the story of charlottes web so this was a real treat. if she had made a web in the kitchen i would have left her in hopes that she would catch a few fruit flies but we ended up putting her outside in the garden instead. Click on the picture to get a better look.



we are headed to the clam festival fun this week. i will get my yearly fix of fried dough and maybe let eliot venture on a ride this time.

CSA and visits

My dad just left from a two week visit to Maine from his current residence in Houston, TX. He beat the heat and brought some sun to us at the tail end. We did lots of fun things while he was here and Eliot thought he was quite a fun guy.

Here they are, Dad testing his linguistic skills with Fox in Sox.

Foraging through the woods at Broadturn farm on our CSA pick up day.

There is a little waterfall with a small pool on the farm property. The water is so high right now and it was so muddy to get down there that it felt like quite an adventure. I have had the desire to photograph Maine waterfalls for a while now. I have a great map (Delorme, atlas and gazateer) that shows their locations. No better time than now to start!

The chickens, ducks and turkey chicks at the farm have been growing SO fast. It is fun to check their weekly progress. This is from last week. This week the chickens are at their awkward teenager faze - in between baby fuzz and real feathers.

A stop to give the baby bunny some clover. I keep forgetting to take a picture of the pigs. I think I am always holding Eliot because I am paranoid he is going to touch the electric fence. Hopefully the sun will stay out for the vegetables to grow! We certainly started this on an off year, but I am happy for it just the same.

is it summer yet?

i dont recall seeing as many mushrooms as i have recently until later in the season but they are interesting just the same. eliot showed me this one he found in the yard. we have had lots of talks about how they are not for little boys etc..so, it took me aback when he came over and showed me one he had freshly picked. he was repeating my words of wisdom the whole time so at least it stuck a little bit, just not enough to overpower toddler impulse.

start with a haircut...

i need to start with the haircut. kevin was much more prompt about posting this on his blog but i had to add it here too, so cute. we went to 'ben the barber' in town. it is a small shop with one seat and a hip young barber. you have to wait your turn, he doesnt take any appointments. we arived early with one person ahead of us. eliot watched as he got his hair cut while staying very safely in my lap. when it was his turn he very bravely sat in the booster seat and held my hand through the whole thing (i did take a few pictures though). he had a very serious face on but didnt move a muscle. for the $8 it cost us i am definitely doing this again! no more mama haircuts for this little guy. the best part was the lollipop he got at the end. he talked about that for a long time.

gratuitous cuteness and he has ears!

a sunny day several weeks ago at my mothers house i dug out the 'tub' and he had a fun nude dude afternoon. we have been lucky to have sun the past two days, too. everyone is talking about it and it seems southern maine is getting their inner solar batteries recharged.


other updates include the headaches getting marginally better. im going to start adding in some eliminated foods soon to see what happens.

i am busily identifying plants for some foraging adventures. the few that i am interested in that are easily identify include: rose hips, wild chamomile, cat tails, clovers and honeysuckle berries with maybe a crab apple if i can find one. i feel a little weird collecting things in public spaces but i suppose it's fair game unless otherwise posted.