Common Ground Fair Weekend

Judy, Katie, and Raf came to visit for Common Ground Fair weekend.
The food is the best.

There are lots of animals to see.

A team of mules.
Bright and Lion wanted to get 'patted', and kept moving closer and closer.
This llama stood up to have his picture taken.



We enjoyed listening to Nathan's very talented sister, Siiri and her husband, Garrett perform with their band, Tree by Leaf.

And seeing their beautiful children with their faces painted.

Judy gets inspired looking at the yarn.

Felted soap was popular this year.

We ate lots of good things all weekend long - blueberry and raspberry pancakes for breakfast. I picked the berries earlier in the summer and froze them.


Veggie Lasagna with tomatoes, peppers, zuchinni, spinach, basil, and oregano from my garden.

We stopped by the Apple Farm in Fairfield and enjoyed hot cider and donuts, and brought home a great big bag of apples.

Toasting marshmallows for s'mores indoors - a tradition Katie loves. What a great weekend.

Dinner in China Town

I met Katie and Raf for dinner when I was in Boston last week. We ate at Pho Pasteur, a Vietnamese Restaurant in Chinatown. I first heard of the place when Katie blogged about Pho Pasteur last year.
I ordered Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) with extra vegetables.


It comes with a plate of bean sprouts and basil. I would never think to add basil to a chicken soup, but it is so good... We had fresh spring rolls as an appetizer.

What a treat.

Making a Nantucket Basket

I always loved Nantucket Baskets, but since they are so expensive I never bought one. When I got a chance to learn to make one, I was so excited. Here's our teacher, Nathan Taylor, a master basket maker. Nantucket baskets are made on a mold.You start out putting in these pieces.

Then add the weavers.

Here's my basket in the making.


Jackie, Diana, and Loyce are busy at work...

After the first day here's how my basket looked.

Towards the end of the second day, I was finally ready to put on the rim.


Cutting off the ends.

Putting the nails into the rim.

The finished product. Yea - I did it!

My late summer garden

I decided to plant a border that would look good in late summer. It has coneflowers, black-eyed-Susan's, sedum, lobellia, turtlehead, asters, and phlox.


The phlox looks good in this garden too. Pretty soon the asters will bloom. They are the last flower to bloom in my garden.

It's fair time

Fall is fair time in New England. One of the first one's I usually go to is the Skowhegan State Fair in August. This is the 188th year for this fair - it started in 1819.

I love looking at the animals.
Watching the tractor pulls...
And looking at the award winning vegetables.

Looking forward to more fairs.

It's harvest time

Since the 3rd week of August I've been enjoying the 'vegetables of my labor'.

It was such a rainy summer, but I kept replanting and replanting. It all paid off.

This is the first year I grew red cabbage. It's great for making slaw.

Lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchinni, beans, swiss chard, peppers so far...

Visit to Portsmouth, NH

I always enjoy stopping in Portsmouth, on my way to and from Maine. There are great shops, restaurants, and this time of year, flowers.



The North church in market square built in 1854.


I love walking up and down the streets.
There are great window boxes.

Its so much fun to meet Judy and Sarah in Portsmouth for dinner.

A visit to Stroudwater Village - Portland, Maine

The Tate House in Portland, Maine was built in 1755 for Captain George Tate (1700-1794) and his family in the Stroudwater Village section of Portland. I love the fence.

From their website:

Tate served as the Senior Mast Agent for the British Royal Navy, overseeing the cutting and shipping of white pines from Maine to England. By law all white pine trees over twenty four inches in diameter were the property of the King and were marked with the sign of a “broad arrow” (three axe slashes). George Tate was responsible for the overseeing of the marking, removal, and loading of these “sticks” (as they were called) into the holds of ships waiting in he Fore River so they could be transported to the great shipbuilding cities in England.



It's fun to take a walk around Stroudwater village, Portland's first settlement.
I need to get back there someday to go into the museum.

Remembering September 11, 2001

I will always remember September 11, 2001. This 'USA' field was first planted near Keuka Lake in NY in 2001. We went looking for it when we were there in June, and were glad to find it planted again this year.


I will never forget that day, and how eerie and quiet that afternoon was when all the planes were grounded. In memory of all those who were lost that day.