Where to Begin?

Last Tuesday afternoon, my dear soul mate, lover, best friend and husband of 45 years passed away unexpectedly, literally in my arms.

I am lost without him and inconsolable. My two sons are here helping me cope, and together, we have cried, laughed and regaled in fond memories of my dear, sweet, John,

I'm sure that in time, my Muse will return to me with fond memories and allow me to once again fill this blog with thoughts and pictures of our beloved Maine, but until then, I will sign off for a time to heal and spend time with my boys.

To those of you who still have your loved ones near, please hug them and tell them you love them every single day. Our time in this world is so very tenuous and the moments precious. Hold them close.

Sleep well, my Johnny Angel, til we meet again. I have loved you so desperately all these years.

Speechless

I am always in awe of our winter sunsets, but tonight's truly left lacking for words! I looked up from the computer and saw the sun setting over Calf Island, grabbed my camera and stood on the deck clicking away.


the purples and pinks slowly morphed into golds and teals .......

and then burst forth into fire in the sky, raining the fire onto the cove's surface.

I stood on the deck, shivering in the cold, but too entranced to stop snapping photos. And, finally, the last of the golden rays dipped beneath the horizon, leaving a faint glow.

Words cannot describe the beauty nature provides us.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Sigh

It's snowing again. Not that I mind the snow; it's beautiful. However, I am beginning to get somewhat tired of shoveling and plowing. I was supposed to go to my knitting group, The Downeast Knitiots today but there was just too much work to be done clearing the snow that fell overnight. I have a new post on my other blog, The Downeast Knitiot, if anyone is interested in catching up with my projects and Sluggo, my Quality Control Cat.

Yesterday, before the snow began in earnest and the roads were still fairly clear, we headed over to the Town Office to pay the second half of our property tax and renew H's Conceal Carry gun permit. The office is located on the shores of a quaint Maine harbor and as I had the forethought to take my camera, I got some nice winter photos. Of course, I'm sure those of us living in the Great Frozen North will not be amused! "-)

This is a picture of the giant fisherman standing next to the only sardine factory remaining in the US, so the next time you open that can of sardines to put on top of a cracker, think of Giddy!

We drove by one of our favorite stops in the Schoodic portion of Acadia National Park....

however, it was much to cold to stop by for a picnic beside this towering spruce tree!


I seldom get the opportunity to photograph a sunrise as it comes up behind us, hidden by a hillside of spruces, but I did manage to get a shot of it sneaking up over the trees and illuminating a snow capped Cadillac Mountain across the bay.


And, so ends another post, written while we wait for the snow to end so we can head up the hill with the plow yet one more time!

Life truly is good!

Hugs, Giddy

Now, the work begins

The Holidays are finally over, the work of undecorating, packing things up, putting everything in its place and bringing order back to the house is here.

Spike and Sluggo have been a huge help with checking things over before we packed things up again until next year.

I've been doing a lot of knitting, having knitted everyone a sweater for Christmas. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of them before I packed them up to send them to the kids and grand kids in Florida, so I'm hoping I'll get some pics soon. I understand the one I did for Ashton needs a bit of work as he couldn't get it over his head! I'll have to fix that when I get down there next month.

Jason was kind enough to send a picture of the blue Gansey sweater I knitted him......

and I did manage to snap a quick pic of the Yankee Knitter pattern I did for Brian.....

The boys both live in Florida, and from the looks of the temperatures down there this week, it looks like the Christmas gifts are coming in handy!

After doing the sweaters, I decided I needed something fairly mindless to knit, so I decided to use up some of my stash of various wools to knit a kitty bed.

I was planning on felting it, but as soon as I finished it, Spike hopped right in and has claimed it as his own.

It had been a while since I had baked bread when Pete, of Pete Bakes posted a great recipe for another no knead bread, this one had beer in the ingredient list and sounded really great, so I tried it.

It turned out beautifully, but I still prefer the basic "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" recipe, which takes even less time. Sorry, Pete!

Tonight's sunset started out a beautiful blue, pink and purple.........

and ended up a fiery red. A fitting end to a beautiful, albeit cold, Sunday!


Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Happy New Year!

The New Year's Eve moonrise was quite lovely as a nearly full moon rose from behind the trees and the next day,.........


2010 was ushered in with a three day snowstorm up here in the Great Frozen North! It began innocently enough with a little light snow, the kind you sit admiring from your arm chair, glass of Chardonnay in hand and a toasty fire in the stove.

Then, day Two arrived with yet more of the fluffy white stuff and our world view was one of glistening beauty and through yet another glass of lovely wine, we marveled at Mother Nature's bejeweled cloak.

Day Three, the Siege continues! As we threw another log onto the fire and watched what had now become a raging blizzard, we grumbled under our breath and decided it was time to break out the bourbon. We couldn't see squat outside because the howling wind had whipped the snow into a freaking white out. We begin to realize that tomorrow was not going to be much fun when we'd have to get out in this mess to begin plowing and shoveling the now 18 inches of snow which, according to the weather report had thus far fallen. We won't even mention how deep the drifts were apt to be.

Day Four. I gingerly open the front door to peek out and assess the day's chores.

Little Sluggo, who was born at The Ark Animal Shelter, had never set foot in snow and zipped out between my legs onto the front porch. He found himself standing in three inches of cold, wet stuff and for a split second, his eyes widened to the size of two golden saucers. He immediately whipped around and high tailed it back into the house!

For one brief moment, I stood admiring the beauty of the frosty, glistening landscape and then, reality set in. This was gonna be a lonnnngggg day.


And so, the work began. H manned the plow while I threw the shovel over my shoulder and sang Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go and began clearing the first of several necessary areas.

I wandered a bit up the hill to see how badly the snow had drifted and found this cute snow goblin sitting in the woods. Mother Nature does have a sense of humor!

After about 2 1/2 hours, we cried "Uncle" and went back inside to nurse our poor, tired muscles.

Now, since this is technically a gardening blog, not a venue for griping about the weather, I should mention a few "green" things. For the first time since I was gifted a cute little Christmas Cactus by a dear friend, this plant has finally bloomed at the proper time. Last year, it bloomed off and on during the year and did nothing for Christmas. She is, however, making up for lost time this year and is covered in gorgeous blooms. This photo shows her with lots of buds which have since blossomed. I have to try to get a good shot of her in her glory.

A close up shows off the delicate beauty of her blooms.

I told my grandchildren that I would be trying to grow an avocado tree for them as a gift when we visit them this winter. I started two seeds and this one really took off. The other one is just now beginning to send up a shoot.

H has been after me for a long time to submit some of my photos to our local newspaper. Last week, I finally relented and sent in a shot of the Winter Solstice sunset. Much to my surprise, when we purchased last week's Ellsworth American, we found my photograph featured as the front page banner! Wow! I am so honored.

And so, Dear Ones, I end this post with a wish for all of you. Please have a warm, wonderful, happy, healthy new year. Keep your loved ones close and tell them often how much you love them. Don't let things get in the way of life's pleasures. Life is too short to worry if your house is clean enough or worrying about what people may think of you if you have dirty knees or fingernails from digging in the garden.

Mother Nature offers her bounty and beauty. We just have to open our eyes and enjoy it.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy