Up, Up and Away!

Today was the Annual Special Olympics "Fly In" at DeWitt Field in Old Town. Butch took his first plane ride. It was a beautiful day for a plane ride and Butch got to see a good friend.






Take off was a little rough, but once we got the feel for the flight and the microphones, all systems were go.


















By the end of the flight, Butch was instructing our pilot, Jim, on how to land the plane.

A blast from the past.

On the way out of Lee the other day, we stopped at the Lee Flea Market to see what all three vendors had to offer. There were no flea market finds until we met Eric Shory. Eric swears he is the guy that moved the first camp Mom and Dad built on Silver Lake (over 50 years ago), in order to make room for the house they built. He informed us that it was for sale and we should check it out. I was reluctant but Matt insisted we take a look at the old homestead. So back into Springfield we went. Take a left at the Lowell farm, go past the Alfred Clements farm for about 5 miles, and there it is. I must say, it looked better in its hey day at Silver Lake. No one in town knows what the asking price is or how much land comes with it. After looking at camps all day built in 2001 or 2003, as opposed to one built over 50 years ago and has been moved a few times, I wasn't impressed. I guess I'm just not that sentimental.

Mallett Hall!!!

Of course we stopped by Mallett Hall. Mom painted these beautiful sunflowers!

Camp shopping!

Matt and I went camp/land shopping in the Springfield, Lakeville, Lee area today. We looked at three camps: one was out of the question yet had 46 acres, two were really nice camps with less land. It's a beautiful area with access to many lakes.











We liked this camp. It is new and has 36 acres with it.


We are calling on this one tomorrow!












This we really, really liked. It comes with 10 acres.

Big Doings!

Giant spiders have invaded Maine. Annie keeps a watchful eye on the one on our fence.

Scenes from Saturday

I was glad when Johnnie and Kim pulled into the yard so I could stop doing chores. For my birthday they brought me an apron that reads: "Susan feels better after she wines a bit," and a beautiful candle.

No way quay!

Matt and I finally finished a week long scrabble game. It was down to the wire when he scored with Quay, (that doesn't sound right?) He got a triple word score for the word: quay. Who knows what a quay is? Not me, so we checked with old Mister Webster. Quay: a platform that runs along the edge of a port or harbor, where boats are loaded and unloaded. Matt scored with quay and won the first game of the season by 60 points. This is war!

"Hon, we need to ...." Whenever I hear these words I know that it is something I need to do by myself. Tonight, it was to clean up the endless pictures of nothing that I have on the computer. Thought I would share a few before deleting.








Flowering maple tree that has taken over my arbor.














This is a magazine rack Mark made for me about three years ago. I finally got around to painting it and adding bling.

More birthday presents!

I have been telling Matt for 2 weeks that I wanted pumpkins and corn stalks for the front yard. For my birthday, he brought me home both. Annie and I played ball tonight and decorated the front steps.

Home alone

Matt is on-call this weekend. Saturday he was called out to Bar Harbor, from there he had to go to Skowhegan, and then on to Dexter. Since it's raining, I hibernated watching Food Network and took my new cook book for a test drive. These are Spicy Oatmeal Raisin cookies. They are great with a cup of coffee for breakfast.

Tonight I opened a can of whoop ass.

Come early Spring, we retire the Scrabble board for outdoor activities. Another sign of fall around our house is when I dig out the board and the games begin. I am ready to kick some Scrabble ass!!!

Birthday's Everywhere!

Like Emily, I received my first birthday present of this holiday season! Mom and Dad sent this great dessert cookbook. All recipes start with a cake mix and are so easy. I am not a dessert cook, so I think this is my parents attempt to say "have more sweets the next time we visit."

We took the boat to Schoodic Lake today for one last boat ride. It was a beautiful day to be on the water. Schoodic is in Brownville Maine only about an hour from our house.

To me, the best part of boatin is floatin and the best part of fishin is readin.














Matt and Mark reeled in two big bass. It is quite exciting when you realize you have a fish on the line and am not merely hooked on bottom.

Changes!

My family, (who all deserted me and moved south), have probably forgotten the beauty of fall in Maine. Here is a few pics Matt took the other day to remind you.

Live party music!!!

Phyllis's surprise birthday party was great! About 30 people showed up to celebrate the occasion. Their new home looks great! Butch provided the live music. He took requests, but Happy Birthday is not yet in his song book. But man does he play a mean Elvis!



Matt and I took a break from the festivities and walked down to the stream on their property. It's called the Black Stream and guess what? You take the Black Stream Road to get to it. Matt said it was a great place to put in a canoe and go hunting. I asked is that legal, "hunting from a floating object, especially a canoe?" He said "course it is." Sounds to me like a good way to accidently shoot your foot off. Tippy canoe and all.

Tator State

Of course I made this arrangement? Not. I bought it at my favorite craft store with a 50 percent off coupon.












My friend Phyllis, Butch's Mom, turns 70 tomorrow. After a trip to my favorite craft store and a few glue gun burns, I made her this wreath. Big party tomorrow night at their new home in Levant. It's a surprise for Phyllis!.











Matt worked up in "THE COUNTY" yesterday and came home with cukes, tators, the best corn, and some homemade relish called "Lady Ashburn Relish."

More signs of fall!

Everybody is a weather man. Now that the season is turning you hear things like: "can you believe the leaves are changing?," "I had to turn the heat on this morning," "God it's cold." These are comments usually made by a true Mainer. Yes folks, I can believe it because it happens every year at this time.

Fair days. Cool nights.

This is the John Deere product I wanted,











and this the one I got.

The Carnie Life!!!

This is my new best friend, the bloomin onion guy.













This looked like the exact same ride I went on when I was 10, so I didn't go there. I think the exact same guy was operating it.













Emily, I tried to win you a Miss Kitty but I suck with a water pistol.















Matt tending our booth.