Category: Turkey Tracks: My Life in Maine

Our Life in Maine, My Craft Projects, Quilting, Recipes, Book and Media Reviews

Jackpot Update

I finally got to the point where I had time to run down where the DNA dog testing on Jackpot went missing–for me, anyway. Sure enough, the Maine vet had the report and emailed it to me.

I sent it on to the amazing foster person–who is Irish–as I thought the new owners might like to have it. And I sent it to Glenna Tucker at Sweet Pups Nation Rescue and Sanctuary as Jackpot had two litter mates.

The DNA is NOTHING like I expected. I thought Jackpot a hound/terrier mixture–a “Feist” dog. Nope. There is a pointer bird dog, but no outright hound in the mix. No beagle or Basset hound. And no terrier either.

The foster person who took Jackpot from me and helped get him to a happy home has kept in touch with me, and she sends me current pictures from time to time–as she did this time after my email as Jackpot recently spent a long weekend with her. She is happy that she helped me get to South Carolina and to land on my feet here–and she was so much a part of making the move happen so that I could handle it as it was so, so hard for me to give up this adorable little dog.

Jackpot is about 7-8 months old now. She wrote the following:

“The little love bug has landed on his four feet too, smothered in love. He was back for a long weekend; it was so good to see him. He hasn’t gotten a whole lot taller. I think he’s stretched though; he seemed longer; his coat is so soft, a little thicker; he has grown into his funny ears. He’s still the same cautious, mad, fun, snuggly, adorable little dog, maybe slightly more mature, and his itching has completely disappeared. He is still a baby. He’s in heaven. The last photo, his ears were up, pointy, makes him look so different.”

Look at this trickster look. And note the snuggly blanket and the toys.

You can see the depth of his soft winter coat here. I want to leap through the frame and love on him.

The pointy ears. LOL. He’s such a sweet, sweet boy.

I’m delighted that his itching has stopped. He had a lot of detoxing to do, but he got and is getting what he needs.

Here is the DNA profile. Note the strong Akita on one side. There is a “mixed breed” marker, so maybe there is some hound/terrier there.

Anyway, I was so happy to get this Jackpot update.

Farewell: Moving Van Wednesday and Thursday, December 14 and 15th

Hello everyone!

This post will be my last post in Maine. Next week, after getting to Charleston, SC, hopefully on Sunday, I’ll work on changing the name and regional focus of this blog. I’m thinking of something like “Living in the Low Country” or “My Low Country Adventure.” If YOU have ideas for a catchy new blog title, let me know in the comments?

The movers will be here Wednesday and Thursday, and I am mostly ready. I will leave here Friday to meet my two sons in Portland. They are flying in to drive me to Charleston. With my mast cell disorder, it isn’t wise for me to try to drive myself. What if I get triggered along the way and have a bad reaction? I will bring my own food in a cooler, but triggers can happen with chemical smells created by too many people sharing in a small space all their body and laundry products. Or, in a hotel room that likely gets sprayed to control insects and/or has residues from cleaning and laundry soaps.

The second contract on my Maine house failed late Tuesday last week. But I’m moving anyway. I have an excellent house caretaking team here, and all agree that I should just go ahead and leave the house in their capable hands–so I don’t have to hang around here all by myself (again) during the upcoming holidays. Thus, this Christmas I will be with family after many, many years of being alone in these winter holidays.

I want to be with my family–and I’m very much at peace with this decision to go. The house will sell when it sells, and it will sell at some point. It is a beautiful house–and I have loved every minute of living in it and living in Maine and living in the Camden community.

Somehow I’ve erased by mistake my favorite picture of the house and garage. Oh my! But I used my favorite fairly recent picture as the wallpaper on my iPad Pro, so I was able to at least get a screenshot of it, though I could not get rid of the time stamp from last year.

Here’s the house from another angle.

I will miss the lush green of a Maine summer, hikes through beautiful woods filled with ferns and the smell of fir trees, the cooler temps, the SNOW, the bracing sharp clean air, the very different and beautiful light changes in a place so far north and east, the stunning sun rises and sunsets, the dark sky filled with a huge moon and bright stars, many vistas from high hills that look out over the bay… I can go on as Maine has been a gift of the soul.

But I’ll be regaining family and a kin network that is much closer, access to a beautiful beach, a place filled with parks and nature walks, a new house to make a home, and a whole new adventure. I’m excited about the change and the new explorations to come.

Here’s one more picture, but there are many on this blog taken over the years.

I have been so busy since Tuesday doing the last packing and organizing. But here’s the progress on the 1 1/2-inch blocks from the Cotton+Steel project of the last two years. The two patches have all been sewn into four-patches.

And here are the four-patches being joined into strips that when sewn together will make a 4 1/2-inch (unfinished) block.

Four blocks make an 8 1/2-inch bigger block.

But then what?

I can set these blocks with sashings. Or, even, wonky-sashing settings. Perhaps that solution would depend upon how many blocks I wind up with–though I can augment somewhat from the bin of 1/1/2 C+S strips.

Or I can set them all together–or at least some of them–to make some sort of medallion center.

However, due to the lack of CLEAR darks and lights, the above bigger joining seems somewhat incoherent to me. So I’m NOT going to go this direction.

Right now with the move, I might be able to carve out enough time in the next few days to make all the 8 1/2 inch blocks, which I’ll put back into the bin holding the leftover C+S pieces and blocks, like a good pile of Churn Dash blocks, the 2-inch squares, and some other odd leftover pieces–some sewn into pieces that can be used somewhere.

I’ll try to post again when I am in Charleston. Meanwhile, enjoy this season of dark nights and starry skies and all the gatherings you might have that hopefully include good food and much cheer.

I wish you all JOY!

LED Lights

I am not a particular fan of LED lights. They take some time to heat up, for one thing. At least the LED spotlights in the ceiling of my quilt room take time to fully illuminate.

BUT, a clear pattern has emerged where the non-LED bulbs in the dining room chandelier have pulled a lot of voltage, so over time that high voltage load will burn out the dimmer switch–which first grows way too hot to the touch. It is very scary to touch a switch that is…hot.

This is the third time that I remember where the dimmer switch had to be replaced. And this time the electrician told me to replace the “regular” light bulbs with LED light bulbs.

Off to Home Depot I went, where I discovered a box of eight LED lights in either “daylight” or a softer white–for about $15. I came home with daylight, which may be too bright, but they can be dimmed too.

The lights are bright right away as well, so this light dimmer switch issue may now be solved.

Plus, the lights themselves have this kind of funky, but cute interiors (hidden by the lamp shades) that feature three bars that light up and are very bright–made more bright by the “daylight” choice.

I have learned a LOT during this move I’m making to South Carolina.

Knitting Kitchen Cloths

Two events started this knitting project: (1) I mailed to Charleston the EPP hand-sewing project I had put together to work on until I can move into my Charleston house as it would take up too much room in my car AND (2) when sorting “stuff” for the move I found a bag of cotton yarns I had purchased so grandchildren could learn to knit. But, the three covid years didn’t deliver grandchildren to my house in Maine who wanted to learn to knit.

I really love to have hand work to do at night–so I started knitting these cloths for the kitchen. It is a good project as my stack of these cloths, which I use to dry my wet hands, was growing low and some cloths were getting worn and shabby looking.

I’ve finished the top three cloths now and am working on the fourth one.

The 4th cloth is being knitted in a moss stitch, which I’ve never made before now. I like the seed stitch (see the aqua/purple cloth), and the moss is the same except one starts with even stitches (seed with an odd number of stitches) and in moss one knits TWO rows that are identical and then two rows that start by knitting a purl into a knit and a knit into a purl, as with the seed stitch.

You can see the moss stitch creates wonderful texture.

The other two completed cloths are just a garter stitch (all knitting all the time)–and all of these choices (garter, seed, moss) give a heavier texture to these cloths, which I think is needed.

I have four more cotton balls, and they are all solids, so I will have fun with both the seed and moss stitches that create so much texture.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo

I finished watching all 16 episodes of the South Korean drama series EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO Tuesday night. It is hosted by Netflix.

What a treat!

Attorney Woo is on the autism spectrum. She has a photographic memory and is a genius with regard to South Korean laws. But, as she is autistic, it takes some time for her colleagues to appreciate her amazing skills as she is very different than they are.

However, over the 16 episodes, her colleagues not only learned to appreciate her, they have grown to love her and to work together to protect her. Happy endings are part of comedy and romance, and at least some courtroom dramas, and this series brings all these threads into a satisfying ending by the last episode.

The first two episodes set up the characters and then the series just takes off and soars. Each episode features a different legal issue and different issues for an autistic woman to learn to manage, but each episode also shows how the characters stretch and grow. A full range of emotions is present, and I often found myself laughing out loud or feeling really sad about how things are developing. And one learns a fair amount about South Korean culture along the way.

There are subtitles. But I think it is worth reading them in order to experience some of the very good foreign tv series that are now available on our streaming platforms these days.

There will be a season 2.

Below, is a link to Wikipedia if you want to know more:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Attorney_Woo

Quilty Order Out of Chaos

I’ve been working for some days now–when I have time between packing, organizing all the “moving” parts of the move (pun intended) to South Carolina, and the general upkeep of the house and cooking–bringing order to the 1 1/2-inch squares created by trimming in the Cotton+Steel project of the past years.

The pile is going down–even though I have had to cut more neutrals in order to make a 4-patch that has neutrals and colors. On the right, you can see layered blocks ready to sew.

I’ve reached the point where I can organize better by color.

Here’s a picture of strings of sewn two patches on the ironing board that are ready to be ironed.

Next I’ll sew two 2-patches together to create a 4-patch that when used, will form diagonal lines in this project–as can be seen in this picture, which also includes the 2-inch 9-patch blocks that will also form diagonal lines.

I’m not sure how I’ll use the 8-in blocks I will create with the 1 1/2-inch squares. Maybe I’ll surround them with sashing so each block is set off by itself and can shine. Maybe I’ll just but the finished blocks back into the C+S “parts department” bin.

In any case, the time spent organizing, piecing, ironing, and planning is soothing to me–so I try to make some time each day for this project.

Blender Drinks

Turkey Tracks: Recipes

I’m late to the party on making blender drinks, I think.

But when I got so sick about a month ago now and couldn’t eat, blender drinks were the way back to getting sufficient calories, thanks to suggestions from my homeopath.

What I like about my blender drinks, rather than juicing, is that one is eating the WHOLE food, and the fiber from the pulp is needed in one’s gut.

You can use a high-speed blender or, even, a food processor to reduce your ingredients to a drinkable or spoonable texture. The more water one adds, the thinner the texture.

I err on the side of more veggies and less fruit. Too much fruit is too much fructose sugar, so while I want the vitamins and fiber, I don’t want to overload on sugar. Of course many of the veggies I love also have sugars included. But on days I make or have blender drinks stored, they can be used as a dessert.

Note that I can’t do citrus, but that YOU could–and the addition of orange, lemon, or lime, would make your blender drink have a sparkly taste–or so I imagine.

AND, I use organic ingredients.

I have frozen local organic blueberries, so I start with a half cup of those. And, an apple I’ve seeded but not peeled. I have some frozen peach slices from a neighbor’s gift of fresh peaches last summer. And, I froze a bag of my raspberries last summer as well. I limit fruit to 1 1/2 to 2 cups–and a big blender batch makes enough of these drinks for two days. (I wouldn’t keep drinks longer than that I think.)

For veggies, anything goes: carrots, beets, celery, cucumber, bell peppers (red pepper has a lot of vitamin c) the leaves of greens (kale, chard, lettuces, a wedge of cabbage), leftover cooked broccoli and/or cauliflower. Use what you have on hand.

Add a chunk of ginger–for me about 1/4 inch thick and the size of a quarter.

And, I’ll confess I’ll sometimes add just a dollop of maple syrup (dissolves more easily than honey)–which gives a base note that is lovely. But if you want to use local raw honey (a tablespoon a day is a good health measure), that would be lovely too.

At first I kept the mixture in my blender in the refrigerator so I could re-whirl it before pouring into a glass, but I discovered along the way that if I just poured the original mixture into glasses and covered them with the silicon covers I like, it is easy enough to just remix the drink with a spoon. And, I could grab a drink without the to-do of remixing in the blender container, which was now clean and stored.

The stretchy round silicon covers have reduced the use of plastic in my kitchen down to almost no use. These lids are not expensive, and the sizes range from very small (a soda can or a can of Bar Keepers or Comet) to ones that will cover a fairly large bowl. A quick check on Amazon also showed that now some rectangle lids are available. The lids can go into the dishwasher and be used in a microwave.

Hmmm. Rectangular lids will have to wait until I’ve made it to Charleston, though. And maybe in that more urban environment, silicon products will be in local stores.

Note: pure silicon does not show any white when you pinch it. The color is true throughout.

A Sunny Saturday

Turkey Tracks

It is a sunny, cold morning here in Maine. And I have been steadily working away this morning at organizing all the moving parts involved in my move to Charleston, SC, in mid-December. And, with catching up with emails and messages to friends. I am making great progress in crossing off items in my many “to do” lists.

In just a bit I’ll stop working here and make a stir-fry with a package of gifted deer meat that I’ve been hoarding. I love deer. And lamb. I find that one either does or does not like these stronger, gamier, meats.

I’ve been able to carve out a bit of sewing time in recent days. I now have made four rows of the Traverse Block-of-the Month project designed by Tara Faughnan and hosted by Sewtopia. I did not want to fall behind during the move, and I’ve taken four of Tara’s The Color Collective classes and made her astonishingly gorgeous wedding quilt pattern, so I did not have any trouble with making these rows–once I got over the exacting flying geese rows, which I seemed to have made much harder than they needed to be.

The green and yellowish row of little squares is surrounded by its two sashing rows as I had those fabrics on hand, and it will sit at the top of the quilt. (See the previous post for a picture of the whole quilt).

So now what? I opened the box of what’s left from my year(s) long Cotton+Steel projects. There are bags of 1 1/2 and 2-inch squares, some rectangles of two blocks, and the long strips cut for the Churn Dash blocks (only a few of those left now). Sewing the small squares into blocks is fairly mindless and soothing, so that’s what I did yesterday.

The 2-inch squares will make a good size lap quilt. The 1 1/2-inch block measures 8 inches finished–and I’m not sure where that one is going yet. And I will need a few more Churn Dash blocks to make a good lap size quilt, but not many.

It’s good to have this sewing time while I wait for the Due Diligence period of the contract to finish on December 5th. After that, I will do the last of the serious packing and cleaning.

Time is moving fast, even during this quieter period.

Another November Update

Hello friends.

The contract about which I last wrote fell through. But there is another one now, so I have a new closing date (December 28) and a new moving date (December 15). The due diligence time (8 days this time) started today and will end December 3rd. And a formal inspection will be done tomorrow. During due diligence buyers can back out of the contract if an issue is found that they feel makes buying the house not a good idea for them, for whatever reason.

The great news is that if this contract holds, I’ll be able to buy “my house” in Charleston after the December 28 closing here. I am trying not to get completely giddy over that possibility.

Both sons are coming on the 16th (we are meeting in Portland near the airport) to drive me to Charleston as I cannot fly and don’t feel like I could drive myself down the I95 East Coast urban corridor for 20+ hours. But what a gift to be with both sons at once in a car for 20 hours! My life in Maine has not included driving in urban traffic or for long periods of time, so at almost 78 I feel so grateful for all the family support I am getting to make this move not only happen, but to be a happy occasion.

During radon testing in the failed contract due diligence period, it emerged that there is an air/radon problem here, but that knowledge emerged only after the contract fell through for some other reason. Plans are now in place to mitigate that issue asap.

I have learned a lot about air radon and radon mitigation over recent weeks. It takes 48 hours for a machine to test for indoor radon, while doors stay shut except for going and coming. It’s winter, so all the windows are already shut. The mitigation will involves drilling down through the utility room slab to install a vent pipe (powered by a fan) that takes the radon air outside and over the roof–and that drilling is complicated by the radiant heat pipes in the lower floor. But there is a very nifty infrared camera that can show where the pipes are–but shows the pipes clearly after the heat is turned off overnight and restarted the next morning. Brrrrr!

Since I can’t do any more packing until the due diligence period is over, I got bored. I unpacked the Janome 6600 and its Sew-Ezi portable table–which positions the machine so it is flush to the table top–and set up a little sewing station in the quilt room that is now full of packed boxes and items that “will move” from other parts of the house.

I have four monthly fabric packets from Sewtopia for the Tara Faughnan designed block-of-the month Traverse quilt project. Each month’s fabrics makes one of the rows in the quilt–and some months have multiple rows of the same design that are repeated on the quilt. I am working on row 4 now, and it has 3 rows. It’s the row at the top of the quilt with the small green squares.

Here is a picture of Tara Faughnan’s sample quilt–done in the Windham Artisan “shot” cotton solids, which I chose. Other choices were Kona solid cottons in colors or neutrals or the Artisan cottons in neutrals. All of these quilts are beautiful, and the rows are fun to make, though the two flying geese rows were super challenging for me as each row needs to measure 72 1/2 inches.

Sooo…

I will be less anxious when the due diligence 8 days are over and the air/radon problem is mitigated, but I’m getting much better at just letting what I cannot manage go. All is just going to be what it is, and I am flexible with what life puts in my path for the most part–even when disappointment occurs.

I will miss Maine, for sure. But I miss my family much more. And I’m truly excited about living close to them again. The years since John died in January 2013 have been so good for me as I learned I can live on my own and that I can cope when life gets messy.

I suppose in that way I am choosing to be happy, no matter what. And I have so much for which to be happy.

PS: I learned this week that Jackpot has been adopted by a local family–after he visited them with his foster caregiver to see if JP and the family were happy with each other.

November Update 2022

Turkey Tracks

Hello Everyone!

The house has a contract, but we are in the middle of the “due diligence” week, so things won’t be “firm” until after the required 7 working days are over on the 15th. At that time, the buyers will have to put down some earnest money that they would lose if they back out of the contract.

The formal inspection meeting is tomorrow afternoon.

The closing is scheduled for December 13th. The movers are coming December 7-8. And I will pick up my two sons at the Portland airport on the morning of the 9th, and we will begin the drive to Charleston, arriving at the latest on Sunday the 11th.

The family has been combing Charleston County for a house for me since this house was listed, and they and my agent Lisa Barkley found “my house” last week. I put a contingency contract on it, and it will also close on December 13th. I will be present for that closing, and a local lawyer here will represent me in Maine. The house is new and has all the spaces I’ll need for my quilting/sewing passion. As soon as the due diligence week is done and if all goes well, I’ll schedule the movers for the Portland to Charleston leg.

Jackpot is thriving with his foster caregiver and his new best buddy, her dog Dino. He is now also getting lots of running exercise, which he needed.

After getting some sort of serious gastro illness, which made me not want to eat and which gifted me with DIL Tami flying in to help me–alongside my homeopath who brought me food, remedies, and treatments–I am recovered and now am plugging along with what has to be done here and making great progress too. I can’t really tear up the house until the “due diligence” is over on the 15th.

So now, all fingers and toes are crossed that all continues to fall into place.

Send me loads of good luck, good energy, good prayers, good wishes, and good thoughts.