Maine – Page 7 – Louisa Enright's Blog

Turkey Tracks: Nesting Bird Running Amok

Turkey Tracks: June 15, 2013

Nesting Bird Running Amok

The phobes built a nest over the kitchen door, raised three babies, fledged them early one morning last week before I ever got up, and are now out singing in the woods.

I contrast that with what is occurring on the front porch.

I’ve been vaguely aware of something going on out there. There’s was a large dark bird flitting about the porch and some straw along the roof edge. The bird has only been seen in my peripheral vision, just a fluttering of black motion and then gone. OK, I thought. I can live with a nest up there for the summer. The kiddos will love it.

Here’s what I encountered today when I went out to mow the lawn:

A whole row of half-formed nests.

The ones on the far end seem to be more in earnest:

But as near as I can tell, there isn’t a momma sitting on anything.

There are FOURTEEN of them–one in every pocket along the porch ceiling:

I’ll give it a day or two, then I’ll have to get the ladder and a pail and clean it all up.

Mercy!

Turkey Tracks: June Days

Turkey Tracks: June 13, 2013

June Days

Today is one of those quintessential Maine spring days.

The air is clean, crystal clear, fresh, and smells of the lilac which is blooming everywhere.

It’s sunny, but a long-sleeve cotton shirt feels perfect.

By nightfall, the cool streams in and a sweater is nice. A blanket on the bed at night feels lovely, especially if you sleep with an open window at your head, as I do.

Sister Susan just spent a week here. We got a lot of rain while she was here, but on rainy days we went to movies and found indoor pursuits. (We loved the new Star Wars movie and the Robert Redford film, THE COMPANY WE KEEP.)

We had a glorious time up in Acadia viewing the view from the top of Cadillac Mountain. No camera shot can capture that 360 degree vision of lakes, mountains, ocean, islands, rocks, green trees, colorful mosses, blue sky, sailing ships, and on and on. I have renewed interest in taking the older grandchildren up there this summer.

We had a sunny lunch at the Waterfront one day, and you can see that the harbor is filling up with boats now:

In Belfast, Susan was fascinated with the lively window boxes that are just starting to plump out. Window boxes line the rows of shops in all our little towns and they are so beautiful.

Here’s a close-up of one of the above window boxes. Soon these flowers will spill and drape over the box’s sides.

I love the way these window boxes are enhancing the paintings in the store:

The striped yellow and white petunia in the middle of this window box is the “petunia of the year” this year. I think it’s called “lemon stripe.”

We were both amused at this Belfast visitor:

We visited Mainely Pottery, of course. And, had a late/lunch/tea at Fromviandoux, which is always so much fun.

The lupine is blooming, and I don’t have a single picture. Susan had never seen them and was fascinated. I have posted pictures in the past, so if you search on lupine at the search button on the right sidebar of this blog, you can see lupine pictures.

Susan loved the rock walls you see in Maine as much as I do. This time of year you can see them clearly. Later, perennial plants grow up and fill in the spaces in front of the rocks. Here are two rock walls from neighbor Sarah Rheault’s garden:

And:

The rock walls in my garden are embedded into the hills, so they function differently. Here’s the end of one, which “Sky Watcher” guards. I gave him some shade and a cairn of his own this year:

The garden is lush, lush. The strawberry plants are loaded with fruit:

Beedy Parker’s kale came back AND reseeded itself. It’s blooming now, and the bees love it.

You can get Beedy Parker’s kale seeds from FEDCO. (Their catalog is an amazing document–there is a wealth of information about growing all kinds of plants in it.)

The white violets are gone now, but weren’t they gorgeous! They’ve spread in the shady bed on the north south of the house.

The tomatoes are hanging in there with all the rain. The garlic is thriving. The zukes are up. Ditto the winter squash and many of the beans. The peas are thriving. The cukes are laggards so far, and the cold frame is full of radish and lettuce:

I’m pulling radish now and will transplant some of the lettuce to the radish side of the cold frame.

These summer days stretch before me, beckoning and teasing with all their pleasures. Life is full and rich with…life.

Turkey Tracks: Giovanna McCarthy’s Birthday

Turkey Tracks: May 25, 2013

Giovanna McCarthy’s Birthday

My friend Giovanna has reached the magic age.

She now qualifies for the senior discount at the Belfast Coop.

Monumental!!

We celebrated with tea at Fromviandoux, a wonderful restaurant in Camden, Maine.

Here’s Giovanna taking a picture of the awesome plate of sweets that finished our tea.

They asked if there was a celebration when I called for reservations–which is a nice thing to do as it helps them plan.

Fromviandoux’s tea selections also include savory platters–cheeses and pate’s for instance. Also available are many small lunch dishes for those who want something more substantial. They do a really good job of dealing with my gluten issue. Everything on this platter is gluten free, for instance. And they are really good about mixing up crackers and breads with gluten and non-gluten selections so everyone is happy.

Tea is served from Wednesday to Saturday after 2 p.m. Sunday is a day where many dishes are also served.

Tea at Fromviandoux…

Anything at Fromviandoux…

YES!

Turkey Tracks: Golden Brook Farm

Turkey Tracks: May 20, 2013

Golden Brook Farm

Old friend and former neighbor Gina Caceci visited last weekend, and I think we talked nonstop for three days. It was so good to see her.

One of the things we did was to go up Howe Hill to Golden Brook Farm to get some spring greens–which are filling Susan McBride Richmond’s hoop houses now.

These spring greens are the best spring tonic I know.

Susan and her husband Chris added two more BIG hoop houses this year, and no one is more delighted than me. I have so loved watching Susan and Chris, little by little, work on their house, their barns, and their land. Truly, Golden Brook Farm is a real farm, selling beautiful produce, eggs, and seasonal turkeys.

Here are two of the four hoop houses. Eliot Coleman of Maine pioneered the ability to grow food year round in Maine’s winter in these hoop houses. That book is, I think, FOUR SEASONS GARDENING. You can’t sprout seed in the darkest winter months, but you can plant fall crops and harvest and eat them all winter long–with the help of interior coverings. The back hoop house is the newest one and was installed just a few weeks ago.

Here’s what the inside of a working hoop house can look like.

Look at this lush planting of pea shoots–a favorite spring green in Maine:

Or, this one–a kind of cabbage:

Here’s Susan herself.

One day last summer I walked into one of these hoop houses that was filled with ripe tomatoes, basil, and other herbs. I have remembered the rich heady smell for all this past long winter. Warmed ripe tomatoes, basil, and herbs… What a treat.

I planted Sun Gold cherry tomatoes myself and augmented with cherry tomatoes from Susan’s crop. I cut them in half and dry them and have them all winter for salads or just to eat. They’re so sweet they taste like chewy candy.

Think what you might be able to do in YOUR yard with even a much smaller hoop house. They come in all sizes, and some are on sliders so they can be moved to new dirt while the old dirt recovers. You can often find used ones.

Here’s a picture of the back side of the forsythia hedge that lines the road outside the farm. It’s spectacular, even from the back side. Forsythia in Maine lasts for weeks and glows against the sky or with the light on it. We know spring has truly come when the forsythia blooms.

Turkey Tracks: Rainy Day!

Turkey Tracks: May 20, 2013

Rainy Day!

Finally, a rainy day!

My apologies for not posting sooner, but I have been OUTSIDE for days in this glorious spring, putting the garden back into order.

I’ve been in a planting frenzy, actually, and have really needed this rainy day. With the generous and kind help of David Hannan, many tasks have been completed: putting up the chicken fence and the vegetable garden fence, bringing out all the outdoor furniture from the top of the garage, putting away the boarding walk, rebuilding the rock wall on the drive where the snow plow folks couldn’t see where the rocks were, bringing out all of the container pots (I think there are at least 25) and filling them with dirt and planting them, mulching, mowing, weeding, pruning, edging, seeding, and planting a now-shady bed with shade plants and, in the sunny part, an herb garden that I hope will be more permanent.

Electrician David Dodge came and fixed the back outdoor plug and installed a new plug at the front door–which will make mowing with an electric mower and a LONG cord much easier. And once he showed me how to take out the prong-plug expensive halogen bulbs in an under-the-counter kitchen light, I got new bulbs and replaced them. I’m afraid I had to touch the bulbs though–the oils from your fingers can make them blow–but they were too tiny and slippery to grip and get into the two out of four right holes. Anyway, right now, it’s working.

I’ll take pictures soon. Meanwhile, here’s how the green scrappy quilt is coming along. I’ve been quilting in the late afternoon through the early evening, and that’s been so relaxing. This quilt is a green copy of Bonnie Hunter’s “Blue Ridge Beauty,” in her book LEADERS AND ENDERS. I’m calling my version “Camden Hills Beauty,” and right now, the trees on the Camden Hills are so fluffy and are so many greens that I know this quilt is well-named. The block is a traditional Jacob’s Ladder block, but I love Bonnie’s method of combining color with neutrals. I used light greens, but Bonnie uses true “neutrals” in her quilts and just mixes them all up. I LOVE this quilt!

Here’s a close-up of some of the blocks. You can see I’ve mixed in some color–bits of pink and orange. I like the way they are working in the quilt.

I started sewing together rows in the last few days–and realized I need 14 rows, not 12!!! So, it’s back to piecing more blocks. But that’s ok as I’m really enjoying this project. AND, my green stash is diminishing, diminishing–which is a lovely feeling of usefulness.

At night, in front of the tv, I’ve been appliqueing the “Green Turtles” quilt turtles for new granddaughter Cyanna. I am on the eighth turtle–of nine. So as soon as I get the Camden Hills quilt off the design wall, up will go the Green Turtles. You can see some of the blocks on the left side of the first picture.

The 14 rows will mean the quilt will have the DARK line predominant, which is better visually I think.

Turkey Tracks: Pea Soup Fog

Turkey Tracks: May 13, 2013

Pea Soup Fog

Friend and old neighbor (Falls Church, VA,where I lived for nearly 40 years) Gina Caceci visited this weekend. It was so great to see her. And I let her get out of here without getting one single picture of her. But, I think we talked nonstop for three days. And did a little driving around to see the sights.

We had “soft” days while she was here–and they were badly needed. It has been soooo dry here, with fire warnings and “no burning” allowed for weeks now.

May and June can be quite foggy on the coast, and we’ve had a fog bank sitting on the coast for about a week now. I have always been fascinated with how the fog can move in and out, like a slowly flapping curtain in the wind. Sometimes as you are driving along the coast road, the fog will start to come across the road, moving in with long, white fingers. And sometimes it’s really dense, so that visibility is only a hundred feet or so. That would be called a “pea soup” fog, and that’s what we’ve had off and on for two weeks now.

I tried to get some pictures. Here’s Camden Harbor–can you see the island at the mouth of the harbor? Beyond is a solid white bank where you can’t see a thing. And there are islands and boats all out there in the white.

To contrast, here’s a picture I took of Rockland Harbor one day last week. There is nothing so blue as Maine water when the sun is shining. See the light house at the end of the breakwater? That breakwater is a mile long, and people walk it for fun. The white balls in the water are boat moorings, so you can see that boats are not yet back in the water in any force.

Here’s a video of Rockport harbor in the pea soup fog:

And, here’s another, which features lobster traps being staged for use. I love the lone dorry (I think that’s right) tied up to the float.

I love the “soft” days of spring. I don’t know how to describe our Maine woods in spring except to say that tree tops look “fluffy” and soft with the emerging green leaves–that spring green that is probably my favorite color. I didn’t get a good picture this year of a lone tree with the green leaves against the blue sky. Those leaves are like lace clusters. And, I suspect, the moment has passed for the year.

Here’s a picture of a budding tree draping over the Camden Library amphitheater entrance. The picture I took of the library itself came out wonky. I probably had a wrong setting by accident. I’ll get one soon. Our library is gorgeous and has gorgeous views of the harbor.

This picture of our Main Street, taken from the northern end of town, just below the library, is nice. See the church steeple and the trees of the village green at the south end of the street. Camden is a beautiful little New England town. But we are surrounded by little towns that are each beautiful and special.

So, happy spring everyone!

Turkey Tracks: “Blossom,” the wedding quilt

Turkey Tracks: May 13, 2013

“Blossom,” the wedding quilt

Daughter-in-law Tamara Kelly Enright and I wanted to make bride Ashley Malphrus (now White) a wedding quilt. The wedding was April 21, 2013, and it was gorgeous. The ceremony was held with one of the low country rivers as a backdrop–green lawns, big house, big white tent. It was lovely. Ashley and her mother, Allison Malphrus, had thought of so many thoughtful, sweet touches all during the wedding. I’m always in awe of that kind of thoughtfulness as I’m not good at it.

Last Thanksgiving, Tami and I picked out contemporary, colorful Kaffe Fasset fabrics–and Mainely Quilting shopowner Marge Hallowell cut us a big array of the Kaffe Fasset prints. With a “layer cake” design, one starts with a 10-inch square (in our case), cuts off four borders, which leaves a central square. Different borders are put onto different squares, and the result–after using these bright modern prints–is a very contemporary, colorful quilt.

I finished hand sewing the binding just before the wedding and mailed the quilt to Tami. It’s BIG, and I didn’t want to carry it on the plane. Tami and I delivered it the Friday before the wedding, as I didn’t want to have it at the wedding tent. I also wanted to explain that the quilt is an heirloom quilt, to be used and loved, but also to be cherished in the way of being a little careful with it.

Here’s “Blossom”–and it’s not a great picture of it. But you can see how big it is.

Here’s some blocks close up. I quilted it with a bright pink thread, and that is wonderful on both the back and the front. I used a “Sweet Pea” pantograph, but both sides are busy enough that you don’t really see the pattern. It will catch Ashley, some day, when the light falls just right on the quilt. I did the best job ever on the quilting.

Here’s the backing and binding–so you can see how they play with the blocks:

And here’s what “Blossom” might look like folded on the foot of a bed:

The name “Blossom” describes the quilt, yes, but it’s also meant to wish, for Ashley, that she blossoms with her marriage, that her marriage blossoms, that the blossoming creates fruit, that in turn, blossoms, and on and on and on…

Turkey Tracks: Dogs Being Dogs

Turkey Tracks: April 7, 2013

Dogs Being Dogs

First, watch this video I took the other day outside Boynton McKay, a favorite lunch and/or coffee spot here in Camden, Maine. Local people often tie their dogs outside, where they wait patiently for their owners to eat. The lighter lab I see frequently. S/he behaves impeccably to passers-by.

So, what you have here is dogs doing what dogs do. I didn’t see the second, dark lab as I came toward Boynton McKay. But surely the woman walking the dog did. So,what you have is TWO dogs waiting outside. TWO equals trouble. They will now back each other up. Add in that they are feeling insecure because their owner is inside and they are in that big wide open world outside all alone. Add in a third dog, a big dog, too, and you get…what you see in the video. Even the best of dogs will behave this way.

Lesson: if you are walking a dog and come upon TWO tied dogs outside of a store, give them a wide berth. Stop above them as well and speak reassuringly to them.

Turkey Tracks: Current Projects

Turkey Tracks: April 6, 2013

Current Projects

Spring is on the move, but we’ve had a chilly, if sunny, week.

One of my current projects is to practice taking more videos in order to learn what works and what doesn’t. I erased quite a few for various reasons. One reason is that it is very hard to hold the cameras steady. Here’s one of the Camden Harbor at low tide, with the spring-full river pouring into it. At high tide, the water would rise to a foot or two below the docks. The wind is high and the noise of it and of the river interferes a bit with what I’m saying.

It’s elver season, and people trap them at the mouths of rivers–as near as I can determine. Elvers are little eels that fetch the most astonishing prices per pound. These little guys are sold alive to the Japanese, mostly, who then raise them to be much bigger before eating them.

Have you ever eaten eel? It’s delicious actually. You could try it in a sushi restaurant. It’s cooked with a sweet sauce of some sort.

Anyway, here’s the video:

I’ve almost finished a pair of socks for my sister-in-law, Maryann Enright. She chose the yarn just before John died. We had a nice visit one day around early December to our newest yarn shop in Rockland, Maine, called Over The Rainbow. It’s a fabulous yarn shop, and we are so lucky to have it. I think these socks might be a bit wilder than Maryann imagined, but she will rise to the occasion with them. The yarn does not have black in it, but deep navy and dark plum and a tiny bit of dark brown.

I am working on an applique quilt made with big blocks of green turtles. I have not done any applique in some time and am very slow at it, so I refreshed my skills (ha! that’s a joke) with this little Easter Card for Maryann–in a class at Coastal Quilters taught by Barb Melchiskey, who is a master appliquer. If I were doing this card again, I’d chose either a colored card or a colored background. The two whites aren’t working so well together, and I don’t like the lines running away from the eggs. But the eggs! Ah, the eggs. Perfect for this very eggy household.

The turtle applique quilt will get a lot of quilting to bring out texture in the blocks–on the domestic machine. But, here’s one block ready to go. Now I need to do more. I have not decided whether to do 6 or 9 blocks…

What is really drawing me is the scrap quilt taking shape on the design wall. This one calls me from other rooms to work on it. I have fallen in love with Bonnie Hunter and ALL of her books: LEADERS AND ENDERS, SCRAPS AND SHIRTTAILS I AND II, and STRING FLING. She embodies the kind of work I love best to do–make functional quilts that people can curl up under or into and use as much of the stash fabrics as possible.

Bonnie’s motto is reuse, repurpose, recycle. She has a monthly column in QUILTMAKERS and her web site is awesome. There must be 50 free quilting patterns on that web site. She’s coming in May to our state guild, Pine Tree Quilting Guild, on May 5th, and I will be there to see her quilts and meet her, God willing and the creek don’t rise.

Bonnie Hunter also promotes Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s new book: 15 MINUTES OF PLAY , which is so much fun. Both Hunger and Wolfe are having way too much fun with their quilts, and both employ string piecing methods to great advantage and fun in their quilts.

Anyway, Hunter uses a method that I really like. She cuts any pieces of fabric in her stash smaller than a fat quarter, or at the biggest, a half yard, into strips: 3 1/2 inches, 2 1/2 inches, 2 inches, 1 1/2 inches. (I also cut 5 inches as I have rather a lot of those now and want to make a broken dishes block with them.) These measurements work well together. She divides these strips into light and dark piles. When she starts a project, she’s already done a lot of cutting. And she can cut the strips further down with rulers, like the Easy Angle ruler, into the shapes she wants. (She also likes the Tri Rec ruler set.) I’ve been using the Easy Angle ruler, and it makes PERFECT half square triangles, as long as you have an accurate 1/4 inch sewed seam.

This quilt started using Bonnie’s method described in LEADERS AND ENDERS, where you keep a basket next to your machine with some block parts in it–like two-inch squares. When you would need to cut thread on another project, instead, you just feed a light and dark set of squares through the machine and cut off the piece you wanted to free on the back side of the needle. In no time, you have a pile of sets of two squares sewn together. You can finger press those and sew them to another set for a four-square–and so on.

Well!

Here’s what happened in short order at my sewing machine–the idea came from Hunter’s LEADERS AND ENDERS. And it’s putting a real hurt on my green stash fabrics!!!! I’m no longer just piecing squares through the machine while working on another project. I’m making time to make as many blocks as I can.

Here’s the block: a form of a Jacob’s Ladder block, depending on where you locate the dark and light of the half-square triangles.

I iron the half-square triangle blocks along the way, but I don’t iron the whole block until I’ve finished it. I’ve had to trim up very, very few of them. All have been a bit too big–with stretching from ironing mostly I think. None have been too small. Most are perfect.

The squares quickly overflowed from the basket as I cut into my stash.

The basket got filled with half-square triangle pieces:

And I have a pile of strips all cut and ready to be cut further–and separated by value–so Bonnie is right that just a bit of cutting each day delivers a lot of sewing for days to come. She also says that she groups medium and dark values together and relies on the REALLY light fabrics to create contrast in a quilt like this one.

I finished and mailed a beautiful quilt for a beautiful bride, Ashley Malphrus, who will be married in Charleston later this month. I will put up pictures when I get home from Charleston, and the bride has seen the quilt. But I am delighted with it.

So, I will leave you with this picture: the last bouquet of flowers from our CSA, Hope’s Edge, last summer. Those days are coming around again. Look at all that green in the windows.

Turkey Tracks: Beaver Dam

Turkey Tracks: April 2, 2013

Beaver Dam

I’ve been fascinated with the beaver dam at the foot of Howe Hill, where we live.

Below our house is a wetland that is fed by the stream that runs just beyond the wood line that flanks our house. Our stream feeds into a stream that runs through culverts under the road intersection below our house where Howe Hill Road meets Molyneaux Road.

Across Molyneaux Road is another wet land that feeds into the larger stream that runs all along Molyneaux Road and gets fed from yet another stream a bit further along that comes down from the higher elevations up Howe Hill.

Anyway, there has been a beaver dam all winter controlling the wetland stream across Molyneaux Road. Now, though, with the spring melt-off, there is a little waterfall over the dam.

I stopped today to take a video so you can hear the rushing sound of the water–a familiar sound these days as water is pouring off all the mountains.

	celiamalm on Happy Birthday Soup
	celiamalm on Spring Garden Time
	louisaenright on It’s A Sunny Sunday
	Tracy on It’s A Sunny Sunday
	Andrea R Huelsenbeck on Yeah! The Improv Quilt Is Off…

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31