The Giddy Garden Gnome

No Promises

2010-07-27T13:10:00.004-04:00

My Muse is still in mourning. No matter how much I try to goad her in to coming out from under her cloak, she peeks occasionally, but refuses to inspire me. Today, I have plied her with fresh vegetables from the garden, gently sauteed in olive oil, garlic and topped with a chiffonade of fresh, fragrant basil, and a few glasses of lovely Chardonnay. She is mellow. Perhaps now, we can allow the joy, the anguish and the hope to rise to the surface. We shall see, but no promises.

The past few months have been a frenzy of activity. I received a small sum of insurance money after H's passing and, coming from a financial background, I gave some serious thought to how I would best invest the sum of his gift. Given the state of the economy and the abysmal handling by both the current and past administrations, the stock market was absolutely out of the question. Banks at this time are under fire and aren't paying any decent amount of interest, so my leanings were toward real estate. With so many properties, unfortunately, under foreclosure at this time, I began looking to buy a rental property. My younger son, along with his wife and two children had decided to move here and were looking for a place to rent, sooooo, it seemed like the ideal time. DIL, found a candidate in my price range on the internet, and since I knew the realtor, I made an appointment to view the property. My eldest son, who was visiting at the time, came along to help check things out.

To make a long story short, I put in an offer and after a couple of counter offers by the bank, it was mine!

I have spent the past few months running back and forth, 20 miles each way from my home to the rental home. Each day, I would spend it there painting and generally improving the property. My son and family moved in early in July and we have been busy with the ongoing things that need our attention. All in all, the property was in good shape, but as with any property that has stood empty for any length of time, some deferred maintenance was to be expected. And....... it needs some landscaping!!! Right up my alley.

This week has been spent stacking firewood for the coming winter and, with the help of DIL, transplanting two lilac bushes and a huge spirea.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I've been invited to come over for a celebratory lunch. H and I never celebrated our birthdays, so it will be fun to share it with my family.

Yesterday marked six months without my dearly beloved and I am inconsolable. Life without him is difficult. Even though I am busy with my projects and family, and as much as I love them, nothing can fill the bottomless cavern in my heart. People tell me this will pass but I know better; memories may fade, but they are always with one.

My Muse has indicated she is heading back to her hidey hole, so I will end this post with a smile, but heavy heart. and hope to post again soon.

My hugs to all my family, friends and blogger buddies! I wish you all a wonderful day and please, do not forget to tell your loved ones how very much they mean to you on a daily basis!

Life is one day at a time these days, but still good.

Hugs, Giddy

Of Firsts and Lasts

2010-04-19T15:15:00.011-04:00

I'm finally back home and am so grateful to be here, surrounded by comforting, familiar things. It was nice to spend time with my family in Florida, however, to quote Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home", and home is where the heart is. I'm comfortable being in my own bed, cooking in my own pans, in my own kitchen, etc, etc, etc. I feel John's presence here and am comforted by that feeling.

Unfortunately, I am faced with many "firsts" and "lasts" here at home. Some of them are difficult, such as the first time I went to my knitting group and John was not there to pick me up on his way back from the grocery, or finding the last of the gumbo he made in the freezer and eating it. There are still so many firsts to come; birthdays, holidays, places we visited together, gatherings with our friends. I will survive, heartbroken though I may be.

There was much work to be done in the garden upon my return back home and, although I missed the annual few days when the crocus bloomed, I was pleased that the daffodils, hyacinth and primroses were blooming for me.

This was the only hyacinth the squirrels left for me!Even the insects are out enjoying the nice weather!

Froggy is keeping watch over the blooms

The PJM Rhododendron is just about to burst forth into bloom.....

and the hostas are peeking out, reaching for the warm sun.

My dear friends at Shirley's Yarn shop, where my knitting group, The Downeast Knitiots meets, greeted me back with open arms and hugs all around. What a great group they are. We laugh, cry, fuss and support each other better than any therapy group!

I've just helped Shirley get the yarn shop on Facebook, so if you'd like to become a "friend", just search Facebook for Shirley's yarns. They will be posting all their special sales there, so you can be one of the first to get the word!

My eldest son, Jason, is spending some time up here with me and we have converted the loft area of the garage into an artist's studio for him. Like his father, he is a talented artist, his artistic flair is found in many organic finds. He is currently working on painting masks, created from carved saw palmetto fronds. They are quite colorful and unique with each having their own individuality!

They remind me of wolves!

As I stated before, I'm so happy to be back in my own kitchen, preparing things I love to eat. My latest snack has been roasted red pepper hummus. I had been buying it in Florida, but at $3.99 a pop, I knew I could make the same thing for much less money, plus without all the preservatives.

I made it today and I must say, it tastes even better than store bought! If you want a good, healthful snack, I highly recommend this tasty, simple recipe:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans)
1/4 Cup bean liquid
1/3 Cup Tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Roasted Red Peppers

In food processor, combine beans, bean liquid, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil. Process til smooth. (this will take a while). Add peppers and garlic and process to desired consistency. Garnish with parsley and a few chopped peppers.

Life today is different, but still good.

Hugs, Giddy

Gasparilla State Park in Boca Grande

2010-03-24T15:39:00.005-04:00

John and I had planned on returning to the beach we had visited in Boca Grande while we were down here visiting the children last June, so my next adventure was to do just that.

This morning, I once again took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and set forth with "Lola's" directions. Oh, I haven't mentioned Lola have I? She's the voice on my GPS, so named because whatever Lola says, we do and so far, she hasn't gotten us lost. So, having programmed Lola to get me to the beach in Boca Grande, I set out for my adventure du jour. I left around 8:15 and was surprised that the traffic was not as bad as I anticipated. It took about an hour to get there and when I arrived, I found I was the only soul on the beach as far as I could see in any direction.

and since there was no one there to snap a picture of me, I just got one of my shadow! Traveling alone has its disadvantages.

The weather had recently been stormy and the surf was just beginning to settle down so I was finding some incredible shells and other less savory finds......

This stone crab had just recently passed away as he was still intact and quite colorful among the shells. I actually poked him just to make sure he wasn't still alive.
This poor shore bird looked like the unfortunate victim of a shark attack as the only thing left of him was his head. Needless to say, I did not venture into the water!

I walked up and down the long length of the beach for about 3 hours, searching for large shells that were still intact and found quite a few. It was interesting to note that similar shells were to be found in certain places and not others.

Other than the great variety of shells, I'm afraid I find Florida beaches to be a bit boring. There's not much to see other than a huge expanse of water that slowly drops below the horizon.
I guess I just miss my rocky coastline in Maine.

I did find a few interesting things though. This lighthouse was at one end of the beach....

and this pier to nowhere seems to have been what was left after a hurricane blew through.

Again, since I had no one to take my picture, I just got creative and realized I had a setting on my camera that was "self portrait"

The clouds above also made for an interesting photo.

And, last but not least, when I got back, I unloaded my bounty from the shore.....

I think I might just make a little "faux" beach when I get back home!

Life was sunny today.

Hugs, Giddy

Walk in Lettuce Lake Park

2010-03-21T08:31:00.012-04:00

Yesterday, my son Brian, DIL Amy and kids took me on an outing to Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa. The weather was beautiful (for a change) and we had a lovely time walking along the board walk, looking for wildlife. It was pretty early in the morning and still a bit cool, so we didn't spy any big 'gators, but managed to see one little one.

Ashton and Kaiya had fun atop the tower over looking the lake......

and running along the boardwalk that took us through the park.

We found these three turtles sunning themselves on a log.....

while Brian caught this little lizard who hopped back and forth from Brian to Amy, delighting the kids to no end!

A fun time was had by all and we headed off to a Chinese Buffet for lunch.

I'm finding this is a time of "firsts" in my life without John. We did everything together and enjoyed our life immensely, whether it was something as mundane as grocery shopping or exciting as our annual trek up Champlain Mountain in Acadia National Park.

I ventured out on my own a couple of days ago with a road trip to Historic Spanish Point in Osprey, Florida. I hadn't driven much in the past 7 or 8 years and Heaven knows, the traffic in Maine is not nearly what one finds down here, so it was quite the adventure for me. But, I must find ways to fill the days and I can only go to the YMCA or read so much. Therefore, I gave myself a pep talk, took a deep breath and headed out onto the freeway!

Spanish Point was interesting from an archeological point of view, but I was hoping for more of a botanical garden type visit. The few colorful flowers I found were interesting, but no signs gave me a clue as to what they were. I plan on visiting the Marie Selby Botanical Garden in Sarasota soon.

This "hammock" tree had a very interesting stump.

And this little green gecko was kind enough to sit still for a close up!

According to the literature, all building materials and supplies had to be brought in by boat in those days and the Point turned in to quite the spot for northern tourists looking for a respite from the cold winter days.

My next first was going to a restaurant for a meal by myself. It was quite the strange feeling, not having John sitting across from me asking "what are you going to have". I sat alone at the table, observing my fellow diners and feeling envy that they had someone with whom to share the experience and realizing that this was only one of a long line of many "firsts" upcoming in my life.

Again, another deep breath. Carrying on alone right now is the most difficult.

Life is Good, but sometimes quite unfair.

Hugs, Giddy

Trip to Myakka State Park

2010-03-07T07:23:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, my son, Brian, his wife Amy, my grandson, Ashton and granddaughter, Kaiya took me out to visit Myakka State Park.

We had a lovely time beginning with a picnic surrounded by a murder of crows who sat waiting expectantly for bits of sandwich to drop from the table. Needless to say, Ashton and Kaiya were quite accommodating, despite being warned not to feed the wildlife.

While on the nature walk, we spied lots of birds and other wildlife, but we were surprised to see this wild hog rooting around a bog.

Seven year old Ashton was very interested in the holes in the trees made by Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers.......

....and the different algae and lichen we found.

Some of the fungi looked familiar. I recall seeing lots of these in Maine.

Five year old Kaiya liked running along the path and sitting in trees while having her picture taken.

Ashton managed to get into this shot, as well.

And what's a nature walk in Florida without seeing a few alligators? We were not disappointed.

These fellas were HUGE! I couldn't believe there were people kayaking in the vicinity.

All in all, we had quite a lovely day with lots of exciting things to see and talk about.

Thank you, Brian and Amy for including me in your Saturday adventure.

Life is Good.

Hugs, Grandma Giddy

Time will heal

2010-03-03T09:28:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, five weeks had passed since I lost my beloved John. Time has not yet begun to heal the overwhelming sense of emptiness and heartache. Each day dawns with thoughts of him and the endless hours march by in agonizing slow motion. Some things have gotten better; I can now write about it without melting down into a teary mess, but the lump in my throat remains.

I was hoping that coming to Florida, as we had planned would help ease the pain, but it hasn't and I find myself second guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking; why did I not see how serious his condition had become? Why did he not heed my constant pleas to have a thorough physical? Why was I not more insistent that he do so? Why was he so damned stubborn?

The questions continue to plague me, unfortunately, to no avail. What is done is done and cannot be undone. Try as I might, I cannot awaken from this nightmare. Down here in Florida, I constantly see happy, elderly couples and I wonder why, oh why, could we not have had a few more years together?

I know that this too, shall pass in time, things will get better and in the meantime, I need to focus on the wonderful memories we shared for the 45 years we were together even though those memories bring tears and more heartache right now.

I'm trying. Life is still good, just sad for the time being.

Hugs, Giddy

Where to Begin?

2010-01-31T08:31:00.004-05:00

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

2010-01-22T18:50:00.002-05:00

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

2010-01-20T12:43:00.004-05:00

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

2010-01-10T16:48:00.006-05:00

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!

2010-01-04T14:24:00.008-05:00

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

Happy Winter Solstice

2009-12-21T14:00:00.004-05:00

Last night as the sun set, anticipation set in. After a full day of light snow (only 6 inches of the fluffy, white stuff this time), we settled in for the final evening of autumn.

Today at 7:04 a.m., we finally are making our way slowly back to spring and sunshine. Although the Winter Solstice designates the official beginning of winter, the knowledge that we are headed back to our gardening days warms our hearts.

Christmas is mere days away, all packages have been sent and we are settling down in front of the glowing wood stove to relax for the remainder of the holidays.

H, Spike, Sluggo and I wish all of you a wonderful Holiday Season! May the new year bring you all health and happiness.

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

It's a Zen Day

2009-11-15T09:09:00.010-05:00

The remnants of Hurricane Ida are passing through this morning and it's a perfect day to just sit and watch the rain and fog outside. It has been a while since I've had the leisure to contemplate a posting for the blog, but the many photos I've taken over the past few weeks have given rise to my Muse, who has obviously been in vacation mode for a while now.

We try to begin our days with a yoga session of 20 or so minutes, however, we seem to get interrupted quite frequently when Spike and Sluggo decide our attention needs to be focused on them instead! We haven't told Spike that his pose is called "Downward Facing Dog", not Cat.

On a late afternoon walk up the road the other day with my camera caught my shadow, foretelling the shortening days of autumn and that winter would be just around the corner. We are still having mild days and the forecast is for more of the same once Ida heads up to visit our friends in Canada.

The dried seed heads of the Karl Forster Grass, highlighted by the autumn sun and waving gently in the breeze cause me to pause for a few moments and capture its beauty. Long after being buried in the winter snow, I'll be reminded of how lovely it was.

The hips on the Rugosa roses are turning red against the golden leaves. I've often thought of making a batch of Rose Hip Jelly, but just have never gotten around to it. Oh, well, perhaps next year.

Another one of my favorite vistas is from a short bridge crossing a creek that empties into the ocean. Card's Crossing, as it is named, is beautiful any time of year, but the glorious colors of autumn bring out something special.

H and I are not much on traveling, having done so much of it in our lives, but duty calls and we once again headed west for our annual visit to H's Mother and Sister in Nevada.

Last year, Mom was waiting on her second hip replacement surgery and was in quite a bit of pain, but this year found her very happy and not limping quite so badly. As always, it was good to see her.

H's Sister is quite the crafty artisan and was busily getting ready for the fall craft shows she attends. Her craft room is very well organized, unlike my knitting stashes, which can be found all over the house!

Her resident pet, is a very cute Cockatiel named Poco. He,s quite vociferous and his screeches can be earpiercing, but his cute whistling of Jingle Bells all year long brings a smile.

Normally very shy among strangers, Poco took a shining to H, particularly his mustache and eyebrows. H looked a bit dubious, but took it all in good humor.

After getting back home, we were called to transport two dogs and a cat from our favorite animal shelter, The Ark, in Cherryfield to the local vet for spaying and shots. While we waited for them to be loaded into their travel crates, I visited with the cats in the cat room. These babies are all waiting to be adopted and every one of them is so sweet and gentle. I just wish I could take them all home with me.

Of course, no post to this blog is complete without me telling about my latest culinary adventure. A few weeks ago, H and I discovered we like sushi! So, after a lot of research on the web, yesterday, I made my first batch! Came out quite good, actually, but I doubt if I'd get a "A" in sushi class. "-)

They were very tasty and the little bit of wasabi paste I put on mine almost took the top of my head off. WOW!!! What a natural way to clear one's sinuses!

Halloween was fun for the grandkids and our son sent lots of pictures from his phone, however, this one of little Kaiya had us literally rolling on the floor! Seems her costume was a princess and Mom had given her a ring to wear and she just had to show Daddy her ring!

Speaking of silly pictures, this is one sent from a little gray haired knitting buddy of mine. And, if I don't get cracking, I'm not going to finish the sweater I'm knitting for someone for Christmas!!! And no, I don't expect to get "paid"!

And so ends yet another post. I think I've covered all the excitement.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Mid October Musings

2009-10-19T09:49:00.004-04:00

Sun rise shining on the maples

It's hard to believe that it's already mid October. Where did our summer go???

My garden this year was pretty much a bust with the cool wet spring and early summer we experienced. But, on the positive side (there's always a positive side), our autumn has been spectacular with some of the best leaf color we've had in years. We don't often see beautiful sunrises as we face southwest, but our winter sunsets can be breathtaking.

We've had a few cool, rainy days and guess what Giddy does to keep busy? Why cook and bake, of course! I was perusing some of my favorite blogs and came across this recipe for Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones on Dash of Sass's blog. She always has wonderful recipes that showcase good, healthful, and most importantly very tasty foods. You'll find the recipes, along with step by step photos on her blog.

And, of course, I can't have a baking day without baking something from the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" book (See my post of January 15, 2008 for basic bread recipe details and video). Yesterday's choice was Caraway Rye Bread. It went together easily and came out of the oven looking great. Needless to say, H and I did not wait long to cut in to it. It did not disappoint.
I also highly recommend the book author's blog, Zoe Bakes. She always has something interesting and tasty baking.

And finally, I made a batch of my Guilt Free Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. I developed this recipe with our own tastes in mind and we love them! They're full of whole wheat flour, old fashioned oats, craisins, grated fresh ginger, pecans, Ghiradelli cocoa and Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips.

H and I worked hard the other day getting the deck ready for winter. We drained the fountain and put it in the garage and put all the deck plants into the "winter garden" downstairs. The winter garden is simply a spot in our mechanical room. The heat from the water heater keeps the temperature from freezing and most of the plants do quite well over the long, cold winter. Come spring, I'll cut them all back and begin feeding with Miracle Grow. By the time summer comes along, everything will be looking fine and I will have saved a bundle of money. Giddy is quite the tightwad.

My Muse has left me and Sluggo is bugging me for his lunch, so I'll have to sign off now.

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Road Trips

2009-10-11T14:48:00.009-04:00

Well, folks, life has been a wee bit busy around here. Autumn brings so many wonderful opportunities and it's difficult to pick which ones we will avail ourselves of before the season ends. Soooo, we begin this post with a continuation of the apple picking fun.

As you recall, in our last post, we had such fun at the orchard and before we knew it, we had picked 38 pounds of crisp, juicy apples. Of course, the first order of business was baking a Dutch Apple Pie. Oh, yeah. It was delish! Since it was too much for H and I to finish all by ourselves, we shared it with some friends.

The next order of business was the annual batch of Apple Butter! I think this was the first time H had really tried it and decided it was yummy. He's not big on sweets, but I don't put a lot of sugar in my apple butter. He spread it on a piece of my homemade toasted rye bread and was hooked!

My Mom made that Owl cookie jar in the background and it still holds doggie treats for any visiting canines.

We then made our annual road trip to Eastport, Maine which sits right next to the Canadian border. We stopped by Raye's Mustard Mill for a visit and picked up a jar of Hot and Spicy mustard. They are the last mustard mill in the US and their mustards have a wonderful flavor, tasting nothing like the mass produced mustards found on the grocery shelf.

After our visit to the Mustard Mill, we headed on in to Eastport for lunch and a quick walk around the downtown area. Since it was a bit chilly and windy, we didn't stay long, but a nice couple from Nashville was kind enough to take our picture in front of the giant fisherman.

The trees from the deck are showing color changing every day now.....

and across the bay, Bar Harbor is seeing daily visits from the big cruise ships for leaf peeping.

In between road trips, I still have my volunteer duties at the clinic. In addition to helping out in the office, I also plant and maintain the landscaping. This autumn it is looking particularly nice since I also planted mums which were used for a fund raiser.

Our next road trip was to Greenville, Jackman and back home via the Old Canada Road. This bit of historic roadway was exceptionally beautiful.

These bold fishermen were sitting in the middle of the river in their anchored kayaks.

We stopped by an historic marker and marveled that revolutionary troops could actually maneuver this far north!

The vistas were incomparable!

and the colors, all too fleeting.

On those days where road trips are not possible, we begin our days with yoga and exercise on the treadmill and stationary bike.

Sluggo, loves to participate......

and Spike just looks on in lazy disbelief that anyone would exert that much energy on purpose.

So, Dear Ones, such ends another post.

Oh, and if you've not read enough here, and want to see what my alter ego, The Downeast Knitiot is up to, check out my knitting blog.

Life is Busy and Oh So Good!

Hugs, Giddy

An Apple a Day

2009-09-30T16:06:00.004-04:00

Every autumn, H and I head out to the local orchard to pick our favorite varieties of apples. Today was a beautiful, sunny, crisp autumn day - just the right combination to pick apples. We got a bit carried away this year and before we knew it, had picked 38 pounds! I guess I'll be making my usual apple butter, but I've also researched a few recipes for Apple Chutney. It sounds like it would be wonderful with pork, chicken or turkey. My son, the Chef gave me the idea so I'll have to send him some for his approval!

H picked all the ones high up in the trees......

..... while I get all the low hanging fruit! (no short jokes, please)

Two bags worth ended up being 38 pounds; one bag of Empires and another of Macouns which are a nice, crisp cross of Cortlands and Macintoshes.

Just being in the orchard surrounded by all those apple trees was a treat

Kind of makes you want to take a bite, doesn't it?

Somebody found the bags of apples fascinating......

... and promptly fished one out for his entertainment!

Sure wish we could have taken these two munchkins with us. I know they would have enjoyed it.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

I caught a whiff of autumn.......

2009-09-20T12:20:00.007-04:00

... in the air while walking up the road to fetch the newspaper the other day. I also spotted several maples beginning to turn red. I don't know whether to be sad that summer is coming to an end or rejoice in my favorite time of year!

We didn't have much summer this year and the garden had difficulty getting established, but we did eventually get some nice color in the perennial garden. On the other hand, the veggie garden was a bust this year, however, I did manage to get several meals of green beans and lots of peas.

I planted another batch of peas and am hoping to get some before any hard frost comes along.

The deck plantings did well, although it took lots of TLC to keep them looking good.

I managed to overwinter most of my geraniums, thereby saving lots of money!

The dahlias are looking pretty good!

My favorite pot was planted with burgundy leaved cannas, lime green Marguerite and a Sedona coleus.

The fountain corner was planted with lots of impatiens. I didn't think they would do well with the sun in that corner, but I was pleasantly surprised!

The Rudbeckia have reseeded all over the garden, but their sunny faces are always a welcome late summer sight.

That Joe Pye weed in the middle of the garden was not as tall as in previous years, so I think it may be time to divide it next spring. There's an awful lot of it - anyone want some?

We were busy last week with the annual Veteran's Club Lobster Feed. H and I are always on hand to help cook huge amounts of lobster, clams and mussels.

The "before" shot......

... and one of the after

Ah, but the final product is always the tastiest!

The lobster dinner was delicious, as always, but the really fun part was that I won the raffle for four more lobsters! I took them home, picked the meat off and froze it for another tasty dish. Hmmmm, Paella?, Lobster Rolls?, Cioppino? Boulliabase? Oh, stop me please!!!

Yesterday, H and I headed out to our friend's house and his firing range for a bit of target practice. I finally got to fire the 9mm we had acquired a bit back and to reacquaint myself with the Taurus .38. The guys were quite impressed with my marksmanship. Needless to say, none of the paper targets survived!

H is taking aim

Giddy and Clyde!

And so ends another exciting day in the life of a small, aging but fiercely protective gnome.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Catching up Again!

2009-09-06T09:27:00.003-04:00

Sorry I've been out of pocket for a while, but things have been popping around here.

By mid August, the weather had finally turned nice and the garden duties called for daily maintenance. In addition, I had to make an emergency trip down south as my Mother had been admitted to the hospital.

I spent five days helping Daddy take care of Mom when she was discharged from the hospital and not one to sit around and twiddle my thumbs, I cooked, cooked and cooked more so I could freeze meals for them before I left. I think I ended up with about 40 meals for them. Between Hungarian Goulasch, Chili, Chicken Soup, Penne Pasta Casseroles, Bean Soup, Brown Rice, Cabbage Rolls and various other dishes which escape me now, I think they will be set for a couple of months.

I learned my love of flowers and gardening from my Mom and she has lots of flowers in pots around the yard, so I also did watering and maintenance on her blooms. All in all, it was a whirlwind of chores and not a dull moment the whole time I was there. I think they were pleased.

The Mother in Law tongue behind them is a testament to Mom's plant care. It's almost as tall as me!!

I have always admired the photos of them hanging in their bedroom. They were taken sometime around 1948 or so when Daddy was a dashing young soldier and Mama was a beautiful young, dimpled German girl he met while stationed over there after the war. I tried to take photos of the pictures, but the light was never quite just right. The pictures had been colorized and I was startled to see that they had colored Daddy's eyes brown rather than the deep turquoise blue they had been.

Nonetheless, they were and still are a handsome, charming couple and I love them both dearly!

I think I have inherited very good genes!

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

A Bit of Excitement in the House!

2009-08-16T09:21:00.006-04:00

Last night, around 9:30, H saw something run under the love seat with Sluggo in hot pursuit

We spent the next hour or so trying to corner and catch a baby flying squirrel that had somehow gotten into the house. He got up into the half moon window and then came crashing down with one of the blue wine bottles.

It being well past our bedtime and still no luck catching the critter, we left the "boys" in charge and went to bed.

Sluggo kept a night long vigil........

but I suspect Spike had little interest in losing sleep over something he probably thought wouldn't taste good anyway. The next morning, we found him stretched out and snoozing instead of earning his keep.

In the end, with the help of a fish net, we corralled the little fella and set him free. We're still trying to figure out how he got in the house in the first place!

On a culinary note, yesterday, we had our first "mess o' green beans" fresh from the garden. The pole beans are beginning to produce prodigiously and I foresee lots of yummy meals.

With this first batch, I made a one pot dish of beans, potatoes and smoked sausage. It was a satisfying meal of food for the soul from my youth.

I'm happy to report that one of the BOB houses now has a "NO VACANCY" sign! The condos in the green house have all been occupied. This photo shows what I think is some kind of pollinating wasp checking things out. So far, the other houses have not seen any interest.

And, on a final note, it seems that all that fog and rain earlier in the spring and summer have produced some beautiful Annabelle Hydrangea blooms. I sat next to the bush to show how huge they are.

The weather here has turned hot (ok, maybe not HOT HOT) and the humidity is up so the watering chores have begun in earnest and H has begun spreading watersealer on the deck and we are schlepping plants and furniture back and forth, so I guess I'd better get busy and get the chores done while it's still relatively cool.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

This and That

2009-08-07T16:31:00.007-04:00

Just catching up after a couple of hectic weeks! The sun finally came out and I had to get busy in the garden in between rainy, foggy days. It was so heartening to see the clear, blue skies and we did take off for a quick trip to Canada's Kingsbrae Garden in St. Stephen by the Sea. It was my birthday treat and it turned out to be a spectacular day for a road trip!

I had recalled that one of my blogger friends had mentioned never having seen Hens and Chicks in bloom and I happened to see some at the garden

The sun has finally won out over the ever present ocean fog and the bright skies have really made my own garden colors begin to pop.

The Annabelle Hydrangea with the pink Astilbe nestled against her look sweet together...

and the little antique wheelbarrow which was a gift from a dear friend is filled with many of the geraniums and dahlias I over wintered.

Hansi, the fountain gnome is enjoying the dappled shade provided by the Japanese Maple. I'm so glad I transplanted it this year as I don't think it could stand another winter of having tons of snow plowed on top of it!

Speaking of gnomes, yet another one arrived in our mailbox last week. He's a little bookworm whom we have named "Basil" after our favorite herb and of course, our favorite "Fawlty Towers" character played by John Cleese.

The veggie garden is limping along, but the green bean towers have finally begun producing prodigious amounts of beans. By next week, I think we'll be up to our eyebrows in haricot vert! I can foresee a green bean, potato and smoked sausage dish in our future.

Our neighbors are building a new garage and had to take down several cedar trees which they offered to us. Never being ones to turn down anything free, we of course headed right over to collect what we could. We usually cut it up into kindling and I think we have a few years worth here!

Of course, we have learned over our lifetime that nothing is truly free. H has had his eye on a small, electric log splitter and all this wood gave him the perfect excuse to finally purchase one.

This bit of "free" firewood has cost us $300!

We've had quite a bit of activity in the cove this week as mussel draggers have been harvesting a wealth of mussels. Out in the bay, the sailboats have been sailing back and forth from here to Bar Harbor.

Spike obviously has not heard the old saying about curiosity killing the cat. He almost got mailed to Grandma and Grandpa's house the other day!

And, so ends yet another couple of fun filled weeks in Downeast, Maine!

May all our remaining summer days be filled with sunshine and flowers.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

New Occupants

2009-07-24T08:46:00.004-04:00

The BOBs have begun moving in to the condos! Yesterday, as I was meandering aimlessly through the garden as I am wont to do on a daily basis, I noticed that one hole in the BOB house had been sealed!
Notice the sealed hole - it's the second one down on the left.

The female bees lay their eggs in the holes and then seal them up with mud plugs. In the spring, the new bees will dig their way out and begin their task of pollinating plants.

The bees look very much like a common housefly and are not in the least agressive.

More information about these fascinating bees can be found on the website below:

http://osmia.com

It was a beautiful afternoon, and the boys were happy to join me in the garden. They, however, were more interested in the jumping grasshoppers and the chipmunks chirping in the shrubs.

Sluggo was obviously entertained by something as he focused intently for quite some time.

My huge Ruby Spider daylily has just begun blooming. Again, this year, it's blooming about a week or more earlier than in years past. I hope this doesn't portend yet another cold, snowy winter!
The dahlias have begun blooming, as well. I thought I had overwintered all of them, but it seems only the pink ones came back.

This coreopsis "Zagreb" was a pass along from one of my dear neighbors.

The "Jackmanii" clematis is blooming and I see buds on the "New Dawn" climbing rose that is winding it's way through the clematis. It should be a pretty combination!

Down in the shady part of the garden, the Ligularia is blooming a beautiful yellow, and when the dark purple Monkshood begins, they too, will make a nice combination with the silvery lambs ears encircling their feet.

And finally, here's a shot of the new hosta bed and the impatiens, astilbe, catmint and cranesbill on the other side of the rock walk. If you recall, this is the where we dug and found the cleanout to the septic tank earlier this spring. The big pot of geraniums is sitting right on top of the cleanout.
And today, it rains yet again. If this keeps up, we should have a very colorful autumn (providing of course, if the sun comes out in October!) One can only hope that Mother Nature will bless us.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

BOBs?

2009-07-19T18:02:00.007-04:00

Blue Orchard Bees, that is.

If you recall, from a previous post, H and I had visited Thuya Garden in Northeast Harbor and saw these cute, whimsical Blue Orchard Bee (BOB) houses. As most of us gardeners have read, honey bees are being decimated by Colony Collapse Disorder and as we are all dependent on pollinators for our very existence, it makes sense to cultivate breeding areas for a variety of pollinators.

Sooo, H and I are doing our part by making four BOB houses for our garden. They are so easy to make and give us an outlet for our artistic side. I think they turned out really cute!

H painted the one with the kitty in the window. Spike is on one side and Sluggo on the other and
I painted the other three. Now we're just hoping the BOBs will find these accommodations pleasing.

This morning dawned clear, cool and beautiful. We awoke to the thrumming sound of a lobster boat in the bay so I had to get a quick shot of it and the seagulls flying around, hoping to catch their breakfast.
And, as long as I was out on the deck, I took a few shots of the amaryllis which have been blooming for weeks now.

My eldest son sent these to me from his garden in Florida.

This is the first year I've tried Nemesia and so far, I've been thrilled with it. It's been a non stop bloomer and no dead heading needed - my kind of plant. I think it looks very pretty planted with the deep blue Lobelia.

The veggie garden is just now coming into it's own and the other day, I prepared peas and carrots with the Sugar Ann peas I planted in the spring. The Sugar Anns are an edible podded pea and so tender and tasty that it's difficult to get enough to bring in to cook as I tend to just eat them in the garden.

Now, it's off to the garden for more weeding!

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Thuya Again

2009-07-17T09:08:00.006-04:00

Last Tuesday, the sun was shining again, so we headed back over to Mount Desert Island to revisit Thuya Garden. We had been there four weeks ago and due to having substantial rainfall in June, and the lack of sun all month, not much had been blooming at the time.

This time, after a bit of warmth and sun, there were more blooms, but still not as much as should have been by mid July. The trip, however, is always fun and we enjoyed the quiet, peaceful stroll through the garden.

The path up to the garden at the top of the hill looks quite steep, but the pink granite steps make the climb much easier as it winds it's way to the top. In many spots, the granite cliffs give one a feeling of being in an ancient stone cathedral......

and the view from the top is nothing short of spectacular looking down on Northeast Harbor.

The garden itself is full of beauty and whimsy among the more formal parts. This old cedar tree had literally split this huge boulder before it finally succumbed to old age and had to be cut down.

Many of the Dahlia varieties were beginning to bloom, but this pretty one caught my eye.

I took a shot of this rustic bench so H could build one for our garden. How difficult can that be???

The Delphinium were having a contest with the sky to see who could be the bluest!

And the ferns were winning their own contest with the other verdant greens of the garden.

This little Blue Orchard Bee house (BOB), reminded us that we still had to finish our BOBs.

After a lovely time winding throughout the garden, we headed back down the hill and moseyed on over to Little Long Pond for a picnic beside the quiet water of the pond.

And so ended another wonderful day in our little corner of the world.

Life is Very Good!

Hugs, Giddy

What's That Bright Light in the Sky?

2009-07-13T11:19:00.007-04:00

Gasp! Can it really be the SUN????

Maine has had the rainiest, foggiest June ever. I doubt we saw the sun more than three days all month and unfortunately, July is looking pretty bleak as well. However, we did have a few days of glorious sunshine and blue skies last week and H and I took full advantage of it with an annual tradition of attending the Belfast Garden Tour.

We visited 6 lovely gardens and I was heartened to find that my garden was not alone in falling behind due to the gloomy weather. Many of the gardens showed signs of the nasty slug infestation that was so difficult to keep under control. And I awarded myself bragging rights as no one had as many tomatoes as I do! The experiment of bucket versus garden planted tomatoes so far, has the bucket planted tomatoes ahead by a mile. One of the plants has a tomato the size of a baseball - I'm excited!!!

Each of the gardens were unique and one stop on the tour was the Cellar Door Winery near Camden.

The view of the vines from their deck was spectacular with the Camden hills in the background.

However, I think H and I enjoyed the glass of wine on the deck of the winery best!

We met some lovely ladies on the tour and it was very apparent from their accents that they were not from Maine! Turns out they were from Georgia and with H, being originally from Alabama, a discussion of the finer points of boiled peanuts ensued. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly H and I fall back into our southern drawl. The ladies were kind enough to get a picture of the two of us together for a change.

These lemon yellow daylilies were so bright and pretty they made me smile.

Always one to find uses for the pile of twigs I end up with after pruning, I found this little masterpiece quite interesting. Looks like a cute way to prop up the floppers in the garden.

Remember that humongous pile of wood we had delivered to the door yard last month?

Well, there only remains to stack another 1/2 cord and we will be finished with the task!

Yesterday, we stacked 24 wheelbarrows full before the spirit finally gave out......

ah, but there's nothing more satisfying after a long day of stacking than looking at what one has achieved. Our winter will most definitely be warm and cozy.

As lovely as the gardens were, we were happy to get back home to our own for a bit of relaxing in the sunshine. As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home"!

The goatsbeard is in full, feathery bloom right now.

The nonstop begonia is putting out a great effort to brighten the front porch....

and the fern garden out front is really getting lush. I think I may have to transplant the remaining hosta next spring to make room for the lady ferns behind it.

Despite the ravaging of slugs, the cabbages are looking pretty good. Now that I've gotten more slug bait, the nasty creatures shouldn't be a problem. I was getting pretty tired of looking for them every morning with my spray bottle of water and ammonia.

The green beans are finally beginning to climb the poles

The lovage in the background is blooming and is larger than I have ever seen it. It must really have loved the rain, as unfortunately, did the weeds. I've just not been able to keep up with them.

So, Dear Ones, this day finds me finally able to sit down at the computer and blog. And to my blogger friends, please rest assured that I'm keeping up with all of you, just don't have time to do much commenting.

Life is Busy and Blissfully Good!

Hugs, Giddy

The Fog Rolls In, the Fog Rolls Out

2009-06-28T12:19:00.007-04:00

We have only seen flashing glimpses of the sun for the past 10 days now and it's getting to be a bit tiresome. The seeds in the veggie garden are rotting in the ground and the slugs are taking over despite my best efforts. There is no end in sight!

We haven't been able to see beyond Hog Island for days. On Friday, we did have a few brief moments of sunshine, but the fog quickly regrouped and came creeping back in.

Fortunately, many of the annuals actually like the cool mist the fog brings along.

Several years ago, my eldest son brought me a few amaryllis bulbs from his garden in Florida. Those few bulbs are now bursting out of their pots and I'll have to be gifting a few to some of my gardening friends. These babies are so easy. Every autumn, I put them down in my unheated mechanical room, don't even water them all winter long. Along about late April, I begin watering them again and in June, as soon as the danger of frost is over, I place them outside and feed them with Miracle Grow. When they're done blooming, the green, strappy leaves give the deck a nice, tropical feel.

The gazanias don't seem to mind the foggy weather.....

nor do the lobelia and nemesias.

Every year, I anticipate the blooming of the poppies and this year, I counted 19 buds....

unfortunately, the rain has beat them down and they are not in their glory which is sad as their bloom time is so very short.

The Cranesbill is in full bloom along the perennial border......

and the catmint is keeping up it's blooming. It's one of the hardest workers in my garden, blooming almost all summer long!

I have a confession to make. I'm somewhat of a kleptomaniac when it comes to sedums. Just about every public garden we've visited seems to have an overabundance of sedum varieties, and in my need to "help out" these gardens, I tend to prune a few of their sedums. As a result, I have quite a variety, but have no idea what their names are. However, I can tell you which garden I nicked them from! This beautiful bloomer came from my neighbor's garden, but I did have her permission to "pinch" a bit!

Lastly, I'm happy to report that the poor, abused Japanese Maple I transplanted this spring has been deliriously happy in her new spot next to the pond. The Gnome in charge of the water feature has been keeping an eye on her and reports she's growing by leaps and bounds!

And so, my friends, Giddy hopes to have your wishes and crossed fingers for a really, really, sunny and warm July!

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Rainy Day Blues

2009-06-20T09:57:00.008-04:00

Well, friends, it's raining again - for the third day in a row. And not just nice, gentle rain, but big cloudbursts, sending sheets of water zipping down the road toward us! Luckily, we have excellent drainage and none of it is entering the house.

Nonetheless, we are in good spirits and this post will just meander on about what's been happening over the past few days.

Last week, I was stacking some of the firewood we had delivered last week and I came across what I thought looked like a piece of lichen. Much to my surprise, the lichen opened his eyes and looked at me!

The rain has kept me out of the garden, but I've been busy knitting away the hours in the house.

I finished this vest this week.......

and popped out a quick wine cozy.

We did have a beautiful, sunny day last Tuesday, so we took advantage of it to revisit Asticou Azalea Garden and make the first of our summer visits to Thuya Garden in Northeast Harbor.

Most of the azaleas had already bloomed out, but there was enough color left to make for a wonderful visit.

there were so many photo opportunities........

each one lovlier than the next.

At Thuya Garden, the blooming had not begun in earnest, but there was still plenty to delight the eye!

These Himalayan Blue Poppies were stunning.

These cute little Blue Orchard Bee (BOB) houses were peppered throughout the garden. H has promised to make a few for our garden.

http://osmia.com/bluebee.htm

The above link about the bees was quite interesting.

And last, but not least, we discovered who the thief with the sweet tooth was who had been draining the hummingbird feeder on the nights that I forgot to bring it in.

This little guy is obviously a descendant of "Big Booda, the Fat Raccoon", who undoubtedly grew so fat he could no longer make it up the stairs to raid the feeders.

And that pretty much sums up the highlights of the past week. Despite the rain, we are grateful for the cool weather and wish we could send all you southerners a respite from the awful heat you are experiencing.

Life is Good and Soggy!

Hugs, Giddy

Unusual Sunrise

2009-06-15T08:56:00.003-04:00

We are situated on a peninsula and our home faces southwest so we are usually not able to see spectacular sunrises. On occasion, however, atmospheric conditions are just right for some great shots when the sun peeks out over the tops of the trees behind us and spotlights Calf Island across Flanders Bay.

H was up at his usual hour of 5 a.m. and got these great photos. It was a bit foggy out so the close ups look a bit washed out, but as usual, the camera just couldn't quite capture the beauty!

Calf Island stands out orange in the distance.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Where's a Kid When 'Ya Need One??

2009-06-13T18:35:00.003-04:00

Today, we had our annual five cords of wood delivered. The next couple of weeks will find us schlepping this pile, one wheelbarrow at a time, to the area under the deck so it can season nicely until we begin using it in October. We still have a bit left over from last year and that will be used on the occasional cool summer nights to ward off the chill of the evening.

We stacked about 7 wheelbarrows full and then decided to quit and fix our lunch. I suspect it will take a considerable amount of time to get it all stacked.

In the meantime, it was a beautiful day and we dined on grilled steak, steamed mixed veggies and yellow rice.
After lunch, I meandered out in to the garden to see what was blooming.........

the Columbine is in full bloom.......

as are the Centauria.

Clematis "Firecracker" is popping.......

and the viburnum "Marisii" is blooming for the first time!

the tiny blooms of the Cranesbill fill the garden. They are quite prolific with their seeds!

And so ends another day in the life of Giddy's family!

Life is Good, but really busy!

Hugs, Giddy

The Long Road Home

2009-06-11T09:14:00.003-04:00

On our last day in Florida, H and I spent a pleasant few hours early in the morning sitting on a bench in Crystal Beach.

The cool ocean breeze and the birds singing overhead made for a very relaxing respite from the heat.

Everything was going along just fine. We'd had fun with the kids, didn't eat too much and blow the diet, got some exercise despite the gawdawful Florida heat and now it was time to quickly jet back the next day to our beloved Maine for some cooling off.

Right.

The clouds were lovely looking down from the aircraft 36,ooo feet above the earth.........

until we began seeing the ominous thunderheads accumulating. If you click on the above picture to enlarge it, you can almost imagine a diabolic head on the right side of this cloud cluster.

The day started off well enough with our 6:20 a.m. flight getting off the ground on time and we were just about to make our final descent into JFK on time to make our connecting flight to Portland.

Oops! All those pretty clouds I'd been photographing from the airplane were a good indication of what was transpiring on the ground - severe thunderstorms in New York. We were being diverted to Richmond,Virginia for refueling and waiting out the T-storms. Darn (this was not the word I was using at the time).

After two + hours on the ground, we were finally headed to JFK once again. H, being the anal retentive personality that he is, had Jet Blue's number in his cell phone and called ahead to get us on the next available flight to Portland at 1:55 p.m.

When we landed, we checked the board and found the flight had been delayed until 5 p.m. Darn (another bad word here). Upon further looking at the board, we realized that our original connecting flight had not yet left and were waiting on a crew. We rushed to the Help Desk and gratefully, got reseated on our original flight! Yay! Only one problem. Our bag would not make the flight and we would need to pick it up the next day - a six hour, round trip drive. But, what the hey, we were exhausted and wanted nothing more than to get home as soon as possible.

H spoke nicely with the Jet Blue lady about our predicament and she told us that, unfortunately, since we were "technically" on a stand by basis, we would have to pick up the bag ourselves. H, being the kind, polite person he is, thanked her and commiserated with her about what a difficult day she must have been having with all the weather delays.

And so, we headed home. Later that day, the nice Jet Blue lady called to say our bag had arrived and that she would talk to her supervisor to see if they could have it shipped via FedEx with whom they had a contract. Two minutes later, she called back to let us know our bag would be arriving the next day!

It pays to be nice to people!

And so, ended the Great Florida Adventure. Giddy is back home, her garden has burst forth with color, and tomorrow's blog post will feature photos of blooms, blooms and more blooms!

Life is Good.

Hugs, Giddy

Giddy's Big Florida Adventure

2009-06-08T08:53:00.007-04:00

The trip began with a last respite at the Portland Jetport before heading into the eye of the hurricane known as "The Grandkids"! We were so looking forward to seeing everyone and the anticipation was high as we lifted off for warmer climes.

Of course, we hit the beaches first thing and it was good that we did as the heat was just about to do us "Mainahs" in.

The Divine Ms. Kaiya happily dug in the sand and helped dig moats around the sand castle we built.

Master Ashton helped find shells after we got out of the water because Gramma was pooped. The waves were coming ashore pretty fast and I took more than one tumble. But hey, one pays pretty good money for exfoliation at spas and the sand did a nice job on my skin!

Grampa sat quietly with Ms. Kaiya and made sand creatures.

Youngest Son, Brian and Dad got to spend quality time, deep in conversation.

After the beach, we headed back to the house for some delicious smoked barbecue with baked beans and potato salad, compliments of Brian and Amy and then launched into the "project" which Gramma had planned for the kids.

We purchased terra cotta pots, paints, potting soil and flowers at the store and then Ashton and Kaiya each painted thier pots (and themselves!).

One would think that by then, the kids would have been worn out. But NOoooooo! There was more in store for Gramma and Grampa. Gramps showed off his artistic bent by coloring with the kids and Gramma danced the afternoon away when Ashton held out his hand and asked "Would you like to dance"? Kaiya joined in for a really fun Conga Line! What a hoot!

After dragging ourselves out of bed, every bone in the body creaking and complaining, we headed up north to see Eldest Son, Jason and his girlfriend, Sabrina.

After yet another delicious meal of smoked salmon, smoked pork tenderloin, coleslaw, salad, yellow rice and black beans and other yummy side dishes, we headed back to our hotel and crashed in preparation for another day.

The next day, we enjoyed another day at the beach with Jason and Sabrina's son, Noah.

Jason entertained us with a few tunes, none of which we recognized, but then he probably didn't know any tunes from our era! He's a fine musician, however, whatever generation he's playing.

Today, we head back to Tampa for an early morning flight back to Maine and gratefully, cooler weather! While Florida is nice and we certainly enjoyed getting to see the kids and grandkids, the heat here is brutal and we look forward to firing up the wood stove if the evening cools off at home!

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Gnomenapping Most Foul!

2009-05-31T08:45:00.005-04:00

What dastardly deed has been perpetrated upon this poor, unsuspecting garden creature? Who, I ask, would be so sinister as to snatch a gentle, earth loving garden sprite? Giddy is not pleased!

We are off to purchase the ransom request of 2 cans of WD -40. No doubt to be used to clean the rust off of the Stihl chain saw we found left in the woods during the pouring rain!

As in most kidnapping cases, we will not be alerting the local constable lest he inform the FBI and the perpetrator spend the rest of his life making small pebbles out of big rocks.

Evil villain! We shall find justice in clever ways, so beware!

The Giddy Garden Gnome
(Who, incidentally, packs heat!)

Catching My Breath

2009-05-28T13:17:00.008-04:00

The weather has been pretty good lately, so I've been frantically trying to get the gardens in order and the pots on the deck planted. Sounds easy enough, but it takes more time than one thinks to get it done right.

Gratefully, today is a dreary, wet day and I can catch up on my blog reading and writing.

I finished this summer sweater just before the good gardening weather set in......

it turned out pretty nice.

Last week, we made time to head over to Mount Desert Island to visit the Asticou Azalea Garden. Unfortunately, we were just a wee bit too early for most of the azaleas and rhododendrons, but the PJM Rhodies were in full bloom. Guess we'll have to make another trip in June to see it in all it's glory!

We made a quick stop in Somesville on our way for a photo op. I couldn't resist the reflection of the bridge in the pond.

The dooryard garden is shaping up quite nicely with many things getting ready to burst forth any day now.

The Creeping Phlox is the one bright spot in the middle of the yard.

His Majesty, Spike has been enjoying afternoons in the garden on the hunt for errant chipmunks. Good thing he's in his harness and I'm able to yank him back before the strike.

A lovely young chickadee couple has leased this house for the season and it's been fun watching all the comings and goings.

We were also graced with the presence of an Indigo Bunting at our feeder.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

And You Wonder......

2009-05-14T14:01:00.004-04:00

why I can't move today?

Yesterday, H and I went to the local soil guy and had our truck bed filled with lovely compost to sprinkle on the garden. It was about a yard and a half and took me most of the day to unload it.

This is a spot on the side of the house where I'll be planting some Collard Greens and pickling cucumbers. It's in the shade in early morning, but gets lots of good sun in the afternoon.

I put lots of compost on the daylily bed up the hill.......

and on the side of the house where I transplanted some of the hostas that had outgrown their spot in front of the house. This is next to the spot where we found the septic clean out.

Next year, I'm hoping H will put faux rocks on the foundation! I made the rock sidewalk out of the rocks that ended up on the backside of the house when they blasted the ledge for the foundation. I have a LOT of rocks!

My good friend, Nancy, gave me this beautiful wheelbarrow and I have all my overwintered geraniums sitting in it soaking up sun before I transplant them to various pots on the deck.

The whole front of the house is blooming in PJM rhododendrons. I sure wish they would bloom all summer long, but I guess we just have to enjoy them while they are here!

Today is quite windy outside, so I'm taking this opportunity to stay inside and try to heal my poor aching shoulder and hands. They took quite the beating from shoveling all that compost!

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

A Treasure Hunt

2009-05-10T10:33:00.006-04:00

For the past 6 years we've been blissfully unaware of certain things about living in the country. One of them was the septic system. We knew not to put anything down the pipes that we hadn't eaten first, and not to plant trees or other deep rooted plants on the leach field. Long time Maine residents also gave us good advice about the tank and leach field and cautioned we should know where the cleanout was.

Delaying way too long, this spring we finally undertook the task of finding the septic tank and its cleanout access. After a bit of research through our house construction photos, I came to the realization that five years ago, I had planted a thread leaf cypress right over the tank! So, the first order of business was to dig up the shrub and transplant it elsewhere.

After we found the cleanout access, we carefully marked it so it could easily be found if we needed the septic cleaned.

The cypress was transplanted to the spot in front of the old wheelbarrow planter and trimmed. I'll keep it well watered and hope for the best.

On Friday, we noticed that our local hardware store had cedar outdoor twin seats on sale, so we hurried out to get one. They were selling like hotcakes and we managed to get one of the last ones. We put it in the garage on top of a tarp so I could stain it before it went out into the yard.

It looked pretty good after I finished........

but it looked even better in the garden!

Up in the garage loft, things are coming right along.....

the cucumbers and squashes are beginning to sprout......

and the geraniums are begging to be let out, however, up here, we still have a chance of frost til the end of the month, so they'll just have to cool their jets for a while longer.

The boys are very happy to see the warmer weather coming. Now they can watch the squirrels and chipmunks up close and personal through the screen door.

Life is Good and warming up nicely,

Hugs, Giddy

The Long Hibernation is Over!

2009-05-05T10:56:00.006-04:00

The last of the snow piles deep in the forest are finally gone and the black flies have begun hovering about as I work in the garden. Yep, spring has arrived in Downeast, Maine and Giddy has come out of hibernation.

The little red squirrels never stopped raiding the feeders all winter long

The Primroses are in full bloom now

Sweet little Johnny Jumpups have reseeded all over, their cute, sunny little faces always elicit a smile.

My Narcissus are actually blooming this year! Now those of you living in the south have already seen these come and go, but they are a sight for sore eyes for us up here in the Great Frozen North.

The Catmint will be blooming soon, bringing happy bees to the garden.

Hosta "Aureo Marginata" is coming up much faster than the other varieties. I guess she's not quite so adverse to the cooler nights.

The bleeding heart has begun blooming, as well.

The PJM Rhododendrons will be in full bloom by Mother's Day if the warm weather keeps up.

We've had a couple of days of rainy weather so I made good use of my time by continuing my quest to bake the perfect English Muffin. My apologies to Pete of Pete Bakes Blog and to Alton Brown of the Food Network. Neither of their recipes quite did it for me. I couldn't get good "nooks and crannies" out of Pete's recipe and Alton's muffins were just a wee bit gummy. Sooo,
I set about to play with the recipe to get just the right amount of texture. The crows had a feast on the rejects.

However, I am happy to announce that I think I've finally hit upon the right formula. It's an adaptation of Alton's recipe and according to H, it's the best one yet.

Just look at those nooks and crannies!

I pretty much followed Alton's recipe, but decreased the powdered milk to 1/4 cup and used only 1/2 TBSP canola oil in place of the shortening (no trans fats for me!). I increased the yeast to 2 tsp.

I did purchase 4 - 3" rings at the local kitchen store. They were only $1.50 a piece so it was a relatively inexpensive purchase. I did, however, resist the temptation to purchase an electric skillet. My cast iron skillet, heated on a low flame works just fine and the four rings fit perfectly.

The dough is quite loose, so I used a 1/2 cup measure to fill the rings after I sprayed them with olive oil spray and sprinkled the bottom with corn meal. After I filled the rings, I sprinkled the top with corn meal, as well. Cover the skillet and "bake" for about 6 minutes, flip the muffins and bake for 6 more minutes.

Hmmm, think I'll go pop one in the toaster now!

Life is yummy!

Hugs, Giddy

Giddy Recycles!

2009-04-30T13:51:00.005-04:00

Never one to waste anything, my latest recycling idea is quite brilliant, if I do say so myself.

As you know by reading this blog, H and I have two beautiful rescue kitties. Spike and Sluggo truly do light up our days and we love them dearly. Not a day goes by that they don't bring a smile to our faces or a hearty belly laugh with their antics. Not to mention that the cats always have the best seat in the house!

Now, the downside of having pets is the, how shall we say it, ahem, the "exhaust" created by them.

We purchase the clumping kitty litter in big 40 pound, plastic tubs, which unfortunately, cannot be recycled by our local recycling company. I have used these tubs for everything from yarn storage to compost buckets, but alas, they still pile up in the garage. What to do? What to do?

Last year, I began buying all my eggs in recycled cardboard cartons. As I used the eggs, I kept the shells in the cartons and then stored them all in the garage with the intent of using them in my flower pots instead of styrofoam peanuts in order to save on the expensive potting soil. Not only will the cardboard help keep the soil moist, but the eggshells add calcium and other nutrients to the soil. At the end of the season, the egg cartons and depleted soil could be conveniently thrown on the compost pile for next year's garden. Perfect!!

A couple of days ago, I found some really nice tomato plants at our local nursery and decided to purchase them even though it's too early to plant them outside, but I knew if I waited, I would not have the selection of these lovely, healthy plants.

In years past, I've not had the best of luck with growing tomatoes like I did when we lived in the warmer climate of Kentucky, so I decided that perhaps growing them in individual buckets would be best up here in Maine. Voila! The need for buckets presented itself and what a better way to recycle the kitty litter pails!!!

The tomatoes spend every warm spring day outside in the sunshine, but I'm able to put them back in the garage in case of an unexpected spring freeze. Once the danger of frost is over, I'll keep them in a warm, sunny spot outside.

And just what is this nasty looking tub of vegetative stuff?

Why, it's seaweed collected while on one of our favorite walks in Sorrento Harbor. This stuff has been sitting above the high tide mark on the shore all winter long and is perfectly dried and ready to be spread on the garden. It's full of lovely nutrients like potassium, magnesium, zinc, selenium and loads of other things good for the flowers and veggies. We'll be collecting more each time we go.

I've finally managed to find the time and left over building materials to create a small planting area on the sunny side of the house. The area was mostly sandy fill, so I added lots of composted cow manure and seaweed and then planted red and white onions and red and green cabbage. It will be interesting to see how things grow. Our friend, little gnome "Dopey", keeps watch over the patch.
We're finally seeing some color in the garden as the primroses are beginning to bloom.

The Rock Arabis is blooming in the middle of the vegetable bed. I'll have to definitely move it this year!
Pansies always bring a spring smile to my face....

However, the Italian Parsley seedlings look as though they need more sun.

All in all though, I'm so happy to finally be able to get dirt under my fingernails again!

A dirty life is a good life!

Hugs, Giddy

I'm Back!

2009-04-22T16:28:00.007-04:00

The past three weeks have just flown by with way too much to do. We headed south to visit with my Mom and Dad and while we were there, H and I cooked up a storm for them. By the time all the slicing and dicing was said and done, we had about 75 meals cooked, individually packaged and squirreled away in their freezer.

H made a big batch of his yummy Chicken, Smoked Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo and a double batch of 15 Bean Soup.....

while I made Chicken Parmesan, Cube Steaks with Mushrooms and Gravy, a big pan of cornbread to go with the soup, and together, we made Chicken and vegetable stir fry and egg rolls.
We think Mom and Daddy were pleased.

It was a fun visit with them and we look forward to another one soon.

In the meantime, when we returned home, the weather had turned to springlike warmth and it was time to get out in the garden and get things cleaned up. To that end, we spent the next few days cutting back perennials, getting the deck furniture unwrapped, brought the deck fountain up, but didn't get it going yet, but did open up the pond. Gunther Gnome is holding up the water fall tube until I can figure out a new configuration for the water flow.

I transplanted the poor Japanese Maple that had been bent to the ground for the past two years from the snow plow. I think it will be much happier planted next to the pond.

Now what do the above potato, carrot and broken light bulb have to do with each other, you ask?

When I tried to use the oven, I discovered the appliance light inside had burned out and as I tried to unscrew it, it broke off. I attempted to use the time tested method of using a raw potato to retrieve the broken part but it didn't work. So, instead, I used the end of a carrot, which worked infinitely better! Just another little hint for the time you need to retrieve a stuck bulb.

The boys, of course, were not pleased that we had left them for a few days, but they were well cared for by our friends who looked in on them frequently. We got a few dirty looks from them, but they eventually came around to loving us again.

Spike just glared at us for a few minutes...........

while Sluggo just regally ignored us for a while.

I don't often air my Libertarian leanings, but unable to attend any Tea Parties on Tax Day, I protested by hanging a tea bag from the pocket of my shirt and emailing my representatives in Congress. I may be one lone voice in the wilderness, but each voice, like each vote counts!

And so, dear ones, as the sun sets on another day on the beautiful, rocky coast of Maine, I look forward to dragging myself back out to the garden tomorrow for yet another round of pulling weeds, turning soil and breathing deeply of the fresh spring air.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

And so it begins

2009-04-05T10:45:00.006-04:00

Spring, that is. Yes, dear friends, spring has finally arrived here in Downeast Maine. The huge snowbanks are melting quickly these days and wee bits of green are emerging from the soil to greet the sun ever higher in the sky.

And the sleepy plants aren't the only ones to enjoy the warmer days. Even though there may still be snowbanks surrounding us, we Mainers take every opportunity to sit outside on sunny days.

A couple of days ago, we had a 50 degree, sunny day and I took the opportunity to do a bit of cleanup in the perennial beds. I raked piles of leaves out of the sunny side, but they were still frozen in the shady side. There is still so much work to do!

I've begun starting a few seeds. I saved all of the cardboard egg cartons over the winter and use them to sprout seeds. These have Italian Parsley in them and the directions said to keep them in the dark until they sprout, therefore, they are sitting in the closet as I write.

The Genovese Basil has already sprouted!

Whenever a bit of Jade plant drops off, I can't bring myself to toss it into the compost pile and now, I've got another "orphan" to find a home for.

Last year, I trimmed the Schefflera at the Clinic and rooted the trimmings. I gave all the ladies in the Clinic one and kept the runt of the litter for myself. The "runt" has grown quite nicely!

I over wintered the tradescantia "Purple Queen" in the background and it will be ready to set out around June.

Since most of the days are still chilly and rainy, I've been doing lots of baking, as well. I had a bunch of bananas in the freezer, so it was time to make Banana Bread again. However, since I like to experiment with recipes, I deviated a wee bit and added some good Ghiradelli cocoa, substituted dark roast coffee for the water, whole wheat for half the flour and voila!, I had a luscious Mocha Banana Loaf.

I was going to put in some grated orange rind too, but I forgot. Oh, well, maybe next time.

I also made pita bread for the first time. What fun that was to watch the dough puff up in the oven.

The recipe is from the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" book. I then cut the pita breads in half and each half into triangles, sprayed them with olive oil and baked them til crisp. Sprinkled with Seasoned Salt, they made a wonderful chip for dips!

The boys have been very good all winter long, so we got them a little surprise the last time we went to the pet store. They love their new perch and so far, have been sharing the top seat quite nicely.

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Spring Has Sprung!

2009-03-20T11:35:00.005-04:00

And I, for one, am ecstatic and began the day with a colorful plate of fresh Florida strawberries I found earlier in the week.

OK, now that I've calmed down and faced the reality that March is not a spring month in Maine, it's time to at least begin planning the garden.

I had every intention of taking a few of the hardier plants out of the winter garden room downstairs and moving them to the sunny loft in the garage, where I've set up a potting/seeding station, however, when I went outside, I felt it was still just a wee bit too cold. Not to be deterred in my celebration of the Vernal Equinox, I ventured out and cut a few pussy willows that I had spied blooming while on my walk up the drive yesterday.

Just the thing for my Grandmother's vase.

Despite not being able to take anything over to the garage, I brought a couple of overwintered geraniums upstairs to clean them up by removing all the dried leaves and give them a nice watering and bath.

The one on the left has several buds just about ready to bloom, so I put them in front of the south facing sliding glass door in the bedroom so they can soak up the sun.

I also cut back the rosemary sprigs I had rooted last autumn. They look pretty puny, but with a wee bit of good old Miracle Grow, some sun and warmth, they will take off!

I've begun picking up some seeds as I see them on sale in various stores. These are just a few packets, but I have more than I need stashed away!

I'll start putting the cold hardy ones out as soon as we get back from our visit with my Mom and Dad.

Last Sunday, we had a nice warm day and decided we would drive over to Sorrento for a walk to our favorite beach and look for sea glass. Since the tourists have all been gone for the winter and we've had several stormy days, the pickings would undoubtedly be good.

And, I was right! The beach was loaded with glass, but I only picked up ones that were either unusual in color or shape. Brown is all over, but green, white and especially blue are harder to find. We left loads more for the tourists when they return this summer.

H was the winner of the hunt as he found both of the "bluey's!

We also headed over to Bar Harbor on Tuesday to wander the streets and see which stores were open. Most of them were still boarded up for the season, with signs out front stating when they would reopen, but we stopped in to Sherman's Bookstore to browse and then headed to Geddy's for lunch. It's always nice to visit off season and we like to look across the park at the Bar Harbor Inn and reminisce where our adventures all started and we ended up in Maine.

And now, for the cat segment of the post!

Sluggo, it seems, has found a new favorite spot sitting on top of the fridge. He's been looking at how he might make it on top of the cabinets, but I don't think he's quite agile enough to make it. At least not yet!

His Majesty, Spike, just looks bored with the whole thing.

And so ends our first exciting spring day of the year!

Life is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

It's Thawing Out!

2009-03-08T09:31:00.005-04:00

Finally! The weather forecast is showing temperatures in the high 30's and 40's for the foreseeable future. Yesterday, the high temperature was 52 whopping degrees and the sun was high in the sky! Whoohoo! I stood out on the deck, toasting the glowing orb with a nice glass of Merlot and soaked in the Vitamin D. I deliberately ignored the snow still on the ground. The birds were chirping, the squirrels were mincing about and all was right with the world.

However, we are still planning on heading south next January to visit with the kids and grandkids, and maybe miss a bit of the inevitable bad weather of winter. With that in mind, we purchased a nice traveling kitty condo for the boys.

And what a deal we got! This same item sold for $119.00 at Petco. We just happened to be at Ocean State Job Lots last week and found it for $29! Oh, how I love a deal.

Now, if the boys will just agree to enjoy their trip south with us. We've had the condo set up in the living room for a week so they could get accustomed to it. Even threw in a few of Spike's favorite treat of boiled shrimp, however, I think they still remain dubious.

Last night, the boys were entertained by Big Booda, the raccoon who was helping himself to the bird feeder.

I've been frantically knitting, trying to finish most of my UFO's (unfinished objects) and finally put the last touches on my cotton sweater.....

I also finished another market bag for a special person who likes to frequent Friday Green Markets. It should be on it's way in tomorrow's mail!

Last, but not least, we found this cute little guacamole kit at the Bangor Air National Guard Base Commissary. It has all the necessary ingredients; avocados, tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno and lime. All that for only $2.17! I'd show a picture of the resulting guacamole, but we ate it before I remembered the camera. DEELISHUS!

And now, I hate to run, but the sun is shining again! YAY!!!

Life is really, really, good.

Hugs, Giddy

Giddy's Got the Cookies!

2009-03-04T16:19:00.005-05:00

Sigh! Will this winter never end? H and I have always loved the winter months, but this constant onslaught of nor'easters and bitterly cold weather is beginning to wear very thin.

So, what's a housebound gnome to do? Can't get my fingers dirty in the garden yet, so why not play with something chocolate to pretend they are covered in warm, wonderful garden soil.

As you may have noticed in many previous posts, I am a huge fan of Zoe Francois' baking. Her blog, Zoe Bakes is wealth of yummy recipes, helpful hints and makes great reading on a long, snowy day. The other day, she had a recipe for Chocolate Ginger and Grapefruit Biscotti. Perfect! H is of Italian heritage and I love chocolate, ergo, a great combination!

OK, I rooted through the pantry and unfortunately, I did not have crystallized ginger and no candied grapefruit. However, I did have a knob of fresh ginger in the fridge and some dried apricots in the pantry. Perfect!

First, I peeled and diced the fresh ginger, added it to a saucepan with 2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar and simmered it until the ginger was soft and the water had all evaporated, leaving a nice, sweet coating on the ginger. I let it cool while I added the rest of the ingredients, substituting diced dried apricots for the candied grapefruit. (see recipe on Zoe's blog).

After shaping the dough into two logs and placing on a parchment paper lined half sheet, I baked them for 35 minutes.....

I let the logs cool for about 1/2 hour and then, with a serrated knife, sliced them and returned the slices to the baking sheet, popped them back into the oven for 15 minutes, turned them over and baked them for an additional 15 minutes.

The resulting biscotti were deeeelicious dunked in a nice morning caffe latte or better yet, a nice glass of wine for a late afternoon break!

Next, H was determined to brave the cold and grill hamburgers. Would I please make some hamburger buns, he asked? No problem, says I.

I think I have this recipe just about down to how I like it. The trick is to make a very loose dough and handle it as gently as possible. The resulting buns are so superior to the ones you get in the store and hold up much better to those nice, juicy burgers.

The tiny Maine shrimp posted on a previous blog came in handy for a salad the other day.

Little Sluggo watched all the goings on from his perch in the kitchen window......

While Spike kept a close watch on Sluggo as he is often the first to find a fun time!

Give a cat a box and he's happy for hours!

And so goes life in the Great Frozen North! Spring is on it's way!

Life is good!

Hugs, Giddy

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-02-25T14:28:00.003-05:00

The Good Guys!
Since it's impossible to reach our compost bin because of the snow, we throw scraps out to the crows every day. These guys do a great job of cleaning up anything we toss to them. They are the best scavengers and show up twice a day to see if there's anything on the "buffet". It's getting so I can call them and they come flying in.

They're also great "watch dogs". They make a huge ruckus whenever they spy the fox in the yard.

Our steep driveway, fondly referred to as "The Luge" has been particularly slippery this year with all the snow so we've had to have it sanded several times already. It's now looking pretty bad. It's difficult to tell from the photo, but those side walls are about three feet high!

The really ugly part of the door yard right now is the nearly 7 foot high wall of nasty, dirty snow plowed up against the front of the house.

As cold as it has been, I imagine we will still be seeing this pile in June!

On the positive side, the garden has had plenty of insulation this year and the spring and summer show of flowers should be spectacular!

Life is good

Hugs, Giddy

"Nuff Said!

2009-02-23T12:05:00.008-05:00

That is NOT a smile on my face, it's a grimace! Last night, we had another 12+ inches of heavy, wet snow. We lost power last night and the generator is sucking propane out of the tank at an alarming rate. The wind is picking up and I fear we will be losing more trees as many of them are bent to the ground from the weight of the snow.

We looked out the door this morning only to see the truck was covered and we had very little room to maneuver the plow in the dooryard. Fortunately, we have a wonderful neighbor who came over with his John Deere snow blower and helped us out.

Yesterday, knowing the storm was coming, we headed in to town to stock up on a few supplies. On our way back home, we passed a local fisherman who was selling Maine shrimp on the side of the road. The price was too good to pass up - .75 cents a pound. Wow! we thought. What a bargain and promptly purchased ten pounds.

Oh, but little did we know how much work we were in for. Maine shrimp are tiny compared to Gulf shrimp.

By the time we boiled, beheaded and peeled all ten pounds, we ended up with about 4 pints of a pound apiece. I'm not sure the juice was worth the squeeze, but they are pretty tasty with a bit of cocktail sauce.

Another project was making my own curry powder. I purchased the seeds and other spices online from Penzey's spices. We have been ordering our herbs and spices from them for years and have found the quality to be fresher and far above what one can buy in the grocery stores.

First I toasted the seeds in a large skillet......

fennel, poppy, black pepper corns, cardamom, brown mustard, cumin, coriander and chili seeds were toasted until fragrant but not burned. After they cooled, I added ground cinnamon, fenugreek, turmeric and ginger and then ground it all together in my old coffee grinder turned spice grinder.

The aroma in the house was incredible and the veggies vindaloo I prepared for lunch was delectable.

When there's 90 inches of snow on the ground outside, our home inside is always warm, aromatic and delicious! However, I think H and I are definitely contemplating becoming snowbirds next winter and heading south to be with our kids and grandkids.

Life is sooooooo good.

Hugs, Giddy

A Plethora of Pizza

2009-02-19T13:08:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, a friend and I made pizzas for the folks at the Franklin Veteran's Club. We, of course, used "the recipe" from the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" cookbook for the dough. We both made huge double batches and we only used the Olive Oil dough which Heidi made.

So, here I was with a humongous batch of dough. What to do? Well, according to H, the only reasonable thing was to make more pizzas and put them in the freezer for future consumption. Thus, the title of this blog - A Plethora of Pizza!

We ate one and are looking forward to the rest one of these days. YUM! Oh, and I did make one boule too.

Most days, when the cats get into romper room mode, I don't have the camera handy. The other day, I was sitting at the computer, downloading photos and I happened to catch sight of Sluggo out of the corner of my eye. I could tell by the look on his face that he was in a feisty mood.

Spike was sitting on the island minding his own business, watching the birds and squirrels on the deck. Sluggo had stealthily leaped up on the stool........

Sluggo, sneaked quietly up, surprising Spike.

I got this shot off just before Sluggo, the Thug, pounced on Spike and the romp ensued. Notice Sluggo's ears pinned back and the hair standing up on his back!

The resulting chase was too funny to watch. They ran chasing each other from room to room. One minute Sluggo would be the chaser and the next would be Spike in hot pursuit of Sluggo. Whew, that was a lot of energy being expended.

Today, we were expecting (according to the TV weatherman), 3 to 6 inches of snow. H and I got up early and began plowing/shoveling around 9 am as there was already about 5-6 inches on the ground. It is now 1:30 pm and as far as I can tell, there is another 2-3 inches on top of what we had already and it's still coming down. So much for AccuWeather!

This brave squirrel was hanging on desperately despite the wind whipping him about.

The trees are beautiful cloaked in white, even though I've really had just about enough of the montone color.

I guess the grill will have to be idle for another few weeks! Oh well, there's always PIZZA!!

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Late Winter Doldrums

2009-02-16T14:14:00.005-05:00

My Muse has once again flown the coop! Like me, she is tired of the dirty snow, the ice that has built up in the door yard and the wind which keeps blowing the cold arctic air in our direction.

It wouldn't be so bad if we could get out to hike in the fresh air, but with over 2 feet of snow still on the ground, that's not possible. Yesterday, in desperation, I walked up and down our long, steep driveway 6 times just so I could get fresh air and exercise. At least that was over a mile.

On a bright note, I did notice the pussy willow was beginning to bloom!

I have not been idle on these long winter days and nights. So far, I have finished knitting numerous market bags, dishcloths, socks and, TA DA!, the sweater is finished!

And here is my latest pair of socks.

The winter sunsets continue to amaze us with their beautiful colors.......

These Mourning Doves are regular visitors to the deck buffet.

And through it all, the cats do what cats do best!

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

And on it Drags!

2009-02-09T10:40:00.007-05:00

Winter, that is. We had one glorious day yesterday. The temperature got all the way up to 47 degrees and the sound of melting snow was music to the ears! For the first time in weeks, we went outside without jackets on and soaked up the warm sunshine and natural vitamin D.

Unfortunately, this respite from freezing temperatures was all too brief, and today, we are back in the deep freeze. H and I have been pretty good about maintaining a good exercise schedule, and since it's too cold and icy to walk outside, we spend 30 minutes most days on the exercise bike or the nordic track and several days a week doing our yoga. We miss the fresh air though, that comes with a brisk walk outside.

The day before yesterday, we had sea smoke on the bay.....

and yesterday, we had record breaking warm temperatures. The sky had an eerie glow and looked for all the world like we might expect a thunderstorm!

Sluggo hunkers down in his basket for several naps a day....

I'm almost finished with my cardigan. I just have to sew on the band with button holes and then sew on buttons. I tried to get an updated picture of my project, but it seemed that Spike thought I was knitting it for his comfort!

In our attempt to keep from putting on those "winter" pounds, H and I try to eat healthfully. Our meal of spinach stuffed meatloaf, steamed veggies and a baked sweet potato really hit the spot the other day.

Another one of our favorites is one we had frequently while stationed in the Azores - Caldo Verde, which is just a soup of kale, onions, garlic, potatoes, and andouille sausage. Just the thing for a cold winter's day.

I was rummaging through my photos this morning and found this one of a visit with my eldest son in Florida. Gee, a day at the beach sounds pretty good right about now!

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Got Snow?

2009-01-31T15:01:00.005-05:00

Yep, we sure do!

Warning: Those of you residing in the Great White North, just move on over to a warm climate blog now. You will not find the following in the least bit interesting!

When I last posted, we had over 50 inches of snow on the ground. H had managed to plow most of it off the drive way and door yard. We then had another 6 inches of light fluffy stuff which we plowed 3 inches of until it got dark and looked like it was letting up. Oh, the snow let up all right, but then came the sleet, freezing rain and rain. We awoke to a good 4 inches of crunchy ice. Not fun. Our steep driveway was a sheet of crunchy ice and the truck barely made it to the top of the hill. "Uncle"!!! We called our trusty local plow guy and had him come widen and sand the drive. H went out this morning and shoveled the dam the state plow made at the top of the drive.

It's been a long week.

This is the view from the top of the driveway

That little piece of wood sticking up behind me is our sign post at the top of the drive. The box for the newspaper is buried under the snow, so the paper delivery person is just chucking the paper in the middle of the drive these days.

The front gate hasn't been closed in weeks!

Our little garden weather station is all but buried under three feet of snow.

I think this view is a whole lot better. But, as the saying goes, we wouldn't appreciate spring nearly as much if we didn't have winter.

Besides shoveling snow, I've been busy knitting away on a Fair Isle v-neck cardigan. I'm finished with the body and am now working on the first sleeve.

Hope everyone is staying warm out there and as you may expect, I'm reading a lot of southern blogs these days!

Life is GGGGood!

Hugs, Giddy

Digging Out

2009-01-22T07:57:00.005-05:00

Man, did both the local and national weather service miss this one! We were supposed to get 5-9 inches of snow over Sunday and Monday. Piece of cake. We were prepared, right? Well, before all was said and done, we were inundated with 22 inches of white stuff.

It started out with a nice, fluffy snowfall, slowly drifting down during the day. It was beautiful. That evening, it turned to sleet and later rain, which caused us to have a nasty layer of ice under the next layer of fluffy, white stuff, which turned in to heavy, wet stuff.

We had plowed and shoveled until late Sunday afternoon and thought we had seen the end of the storm, which up to that time had dumped about 15 inches on us. Harumph, so much for 5 -9 inches. Then, waking up on Monday, we were surprised to find that Mother Nature had wickedly dumped another 8 inches of snow on us. Up and at 'em again with the plow and shovel, however, this time, it was not nice and fluffy and easy to move. Instead, it was a wet, heavy blanket with a layer of ice and slush sandwiched in between. YUCK!

This picture was taken *before* we plowed for the second time on Monday.

By the time we finished up, this pile was taller than me!

H's bumper sticker reads "Stop Global Whining". 'Nough said.

Life is pretty white and cold this week!

Hugs, Giddy

Sneaky Darned Cat!

2009-01-18T13:38:00.005-05:00

His Majesty, Spike has been awfully nice to me lately. I suspected that he was just in a loving mood, or perhaps a bit cold and wanted a wee bit of warmth. But, NO, he was after my chair!

There I sat, contentedly knitting my latest Eco Market Bag and enjoying the fact that Spike had graced me with his presence. Notice, how he is slowly eking his way down into my chair.

I got up to fetch another hank of yarn to begin another project, and before I knew what had happened, Spike had co-opted my seat!

That look says it all, doesn't it? "Ma, you're not really going to boot me out of here, are you? Not when I'm so comfortably ensconced"?

Well, you know the old saying, "If you want the best seat in the house, move the cat"! Unfortunately, I'm just an old softie and elected to move myself over to the couch. Sheesh.

I have finished two more market bags since the weather has been too cold to venture outside. And, I gave one of my previous ones away to a friend, so he and his wife could begin a more eco friendly lifestyle.

He, however, did not understand the concept!

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

It's a Deep Freeze Downeast

2009-01-12T15:18:00.005-05:00

Well, it IS January in Maine, after all! Cold is to be expected and cold is what we have. Last night we got down to 0 degrees and the rest of this week is not looking to get any warmer. However, on the positive side, we did gain 18 minutes of daylight.

The full moon we've had for the past couple of days, while beautiful, has kept our bedroom lit up like Broadway, making sleep a wee bit difficult. I really must do something about that one of these days. I have a few ideas, but finding the time to do sewing eludes me. Right now, I'm into declutter mode. Each day, I try to do one small decluttering chore; files shredded, magazines tossed, a cabinet cleaned and reorganized, etc.

Photography has taken a back seat these cold days, but I did notice the setting sun glinting off the snow covered spruces in the front yard yesterday, so I dashed out to get a quick shot.

This morning was really bitter cold, but the sunrise was gorgeous! I jumped out of bed, grabbed the camera and did NOT open the slider to get these photos of the sun highlighting Cadillac Mountain with a soft, pink hue. I expect the shot would have been better had I opened the door, but unlike H, who trudged up the driveway to fetch the newspaper, I'm not that crazy!

Since it's too cold and icy to get our exercise outside, H and I spend 30 minutes most days downstairs in the family room, he on the stationary bike and I on the Nordic Track. If the Sopranos are on the TV, it makes the time fly.

Now, mind you, we are generally up with the chickens and once the sun drops behind the hills, we are ready to get comfortable and settle down for the evening. First order of business is to change in to our "comfies", then stoke up the wood stove and then decide what the evening's televisual feast will be. After leaning back into our life sucking chairs, I pick up my knitting and with a cat or two to help keep my tootsies warm, we spend a quiet, toasty winter evening.

Life in the Great Frozen North is good!

Hugs, Giddy

Pasta with Sausage and Peppers

2009-01-11T09:14:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was one of those days. I had the "cookies". So, what's a girl to do, but tie on the old chili pepper apron and get down to business.

All the ingredients were in the pantry and fridge for a warm, delicious Peperonata Pasta.

First into the pan was a wee bit of olive oil in which to brown the Italian sausage which had been sliced into thin rounds. After browning, the sliced onions and cubed red and green peppers were added and sauteed for a few minutes just until barely soft. Some of my homemade marinara and a bit of extra chopped garlic was then added and the whole thing brought to a simmer while I put the penne pasta on to boil.

The results were pretty tasty!

Earlier, I had put a couple of bread doughs together; one of our favorites is the boule from the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" bread book and I make it quite often. Today, however, in my quest to try every recipe in the book, I tried the "Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Inspired by Chris Kimball" on page 78. We were not disappointed. This is now another one of our favorites.

If you have not visited the co-author, Zoe's website, taking the time to do so is definitely worth it.

We didn't waste a minute cutting into the boule, either!

The day before yesterday, when we were in the grocery, H noticed that mussels were on sale, so we had to pick up a bag of those for lunch that day.

I sauteed a small amount of onion and garlic in a large, shallow pan, added some sliced lemon, splashed it with white wine and after picking over and cleaning the mussels, threw them in to the pot, put on the cover and steamed them for about 7 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and enjoy!

A couple of croutons topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and julienned, fresh basil and a glass of Chardonnay, rounded out what was a lovely, light lunch.

My final photo of this post is not one of my best efforts, but the rising, nearly full moon night before last caught my eye. It was swathed in a light cloud cover and stood out starkly from the
dark spruces in the foreground. There was something quite magical about it, and despite the blurred photo, it's one of my favorites.

And now, as we watch yet another beautiful snow falling today, I wish all of you a warm, wonderful Sunday!

Life is sooooo Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Egg Rolls, Yarn and Plants

2009-01-07T15:14:00.006-05:00

Oh, how to get it all in?

H and I have been very busy, as always. After spending hours shredding old files the other day, we needed a quick trip into town to pick up a few essentials. We had been talking about doing some egg rolls to go along with our frequent dinners of stir fry, so we picked up a package of egg roll wrappers.

A half pound of ground beef was quickly sauteed with a chopped onion, lots of grated ginger and a couple of garlic cloves.

Added to that was a melange of veggies: thinly sliced cabbage, finely grated carrots, red pepper, celery and some bean sprouts that I had sprouted earlier in the week.

Sautee everything together in canola oil, add a bit of red pepper flakes, fish sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce and then place about 2 tbsp of the mixuture on the egg roll wrapper.

Wrap up, folding the ingredients into the wrapper, pull in the sides and continue rolling. Add to 350 degree hot oil and fry til brown on all sides.

Serve hot with hot mustard, soy sauce for dipping or sweet and sour sauce. These freeze beautifully and when thawed and heated in a 350 degree oven til crisp, are every bit as good as fresh. Of course, we had to sample them to make sure they were freezer worthy. Some of them actually made it to the freezer!

Now, since this is technically a garden blog, I have to post a few photos of my winter garden. Every autumn, I bring in a few plants to overwinter downstairs in my unheated mechanical room.

Asparagus fern, geraniums, tradescantia, spider plant and much more spend the winter down here. They look pathetic by June, but with a few good snorts of Miracle Grow and a bit of sunshine and warmth, they perk right up.

My Bay Tree, which I purchased from Ebay 5 years ago for $4.95, has grown into a lovely 4 foot shrub and is quite happy spending the colder months in front of the office window! I recently received the White Flower Farm catalog in the mail and was quite surprised to see that a puny 24 inch plant in an 8 inch pot was priced at $99!!!

My favorite yarn store, Shirley's had a 20% off sale on all yarns, so being the knitiodt that I am, I purchased enough Bartlett wool to knit two large, felted tote bags later on this winter. To a knitter, there is nothing lovelier than being able to root around one's stash of yarn, dreaming of future projects. Aren't the colors luscious?

And so, another busy day ends for Ms. Giddy and her ever helpful elf, H with another colorful sun setting over the mountains of Acadia.

Life is warm, wooly, and good

Hugs, Giddy

Happy New Year

2009-01-04T16:42:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and you are now ready for whatever the new year brings.

H and I decided that we really needed to get on the stick and do some serious decluttering. Tucked away in our downstairs storage area, we had files from our Inn at the Park Bed and Breakfast business dating back to 1997. High time to shred those things and get them out of our lives. Actually, we only need to keep files for seven years, so we are woefully behind in purging activities.

Soooo, today, H and I spent two and a half hours shredding files. The poor shredder overheated on several occasions.
We ended up with an entire contractor bag full of shredded paper, and that was only one year's worth!

In the meantime, I mixed up a batch of English Muffin dough and made another batch of French rolls for the coming week or so.

These rolls just keep getting better and today's lunch was roast beef and cheese sandwiches with fresh basil.

Taking a cue from Joy over at Garden Joy for Me, I took a few minutes to try to organize my copious photo collection. I deleted quite a few less than perfect photos and enjoyed viewing many of the ones I took this past summer. I was quite enamored of the ferns. So nice to remember how glorious green is!

Ah, yes! Summer will come again. I believe Crafty Gardener has a countdown on her blog - only 74 more days!

Life is Good.

Hugs, Giddy

Shrimp!

2008-12-30T15:12:00.005-05:00

It's shrimp fishing season in Maine, a time which we look forward to every year. Maine shrimp are not nearly as big as the Gulf shrimp most folks are accustomed to seeing. They are small and have a very sweet flavor and it's a lot of work for the amount of usable shrimp we get, but they are well worth the effort.

We purchased five pounds worth this morning and spent the afternoon prepping them.

First, we rinsed them and then Spike and Sluggo, the ever curious duo had to inspect them.

After giving them the sniff test and deciding they were not interested in the smelly little crustaceans, they went on to other, more exciting adventures before their designated nap times.

Never ones to waste anything, after boiling, beheading and peeling the shrimp, we put the peels and heads into a pot and simmered them to get all of the good flavor out of them.

After straining all the liquid out of the pot, the little carcasses were strewn upon the compost heap. After the crows have their fill, there won't be much left for the garden.

The resulting liquid was then brought to another simmer; carrot, celery, onion, bay leaves and parsley were added and then simmered until the broth was reduced by half. The resulting flavorful shrimp court bullion will be frozen and added to the next cioppino or boulliabaise I make.

On another topic, I noticed this beautiful knitted hooded cardigan in one of my knitting books. It's a gorgeous lacy pattern and I couldn't wait to get started. I made a working copy of the pattern, made sure I had the correct size needles and stopped by Shirley's, my favorite yarn store, and picked out a lovely raspberry red cotton yarn.

The problems began as soon as I reached the lace part of the pattern. For some strange reason, I kept coming up short on stitches and after "tinking" (that's knitting backwards, or tearing out all the work you've done) numerous times, I became disgusted and put it away for a while. I'm happy to report that I've begun again with renewed vigor and think I've found my problem. We shall see. I'll update occasionally.

In the mean time, I've made several eco market bags as they are mindless knitting and keep my fingers occupied while sitting in front of the tv in the evenings. Here is a picture of the latest one but I have to run out to purchase another ball of yarn for the handle. These bags take me an evening or two to knit and make great gifts. Rather than wrapping my gifts in paper, I just put them in these bags. They stretch nicely and can be used for grocery shopping, a book bag, or whatever.

The pattern is free and can be found at:

http://tidewater.seventybyheart.net/patterns
Mineco

I also finished another hat - this one is for me for a change! Kinda looks a little "gnomey" don't you think?

Life is sometimes frustrating, but still good!

Hugs, Giddy

Christmas, 2008

2008-12-26T09:59:00.008-05:00

We had a lovely time yesterday. Good friends joined us for Christmas dinner of Hungarian Goulasch, homemade spaetzle (little German noodles) and braised red cabbage.

The appetizer was hummus which I made very quickly in the food processor.

Ingredients were:

1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 large handful of fresh Italian parsley
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
a few dashes of hot sauce
enough olive oil to make a smooth paste
top with finely diced red pepper and capers

H cut whole wheat pita bread into chips, sprayed them with olive oil spray and baked them in a 425 degree oven til crisp and lightly browned. Sprinkle them with seasoned salt. YUM! A nice, healthy and very tasty appetizer.

The rolls, of course, were baked from a recipe from the much mentioned "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" cookbook. I made them from the Eastern European Potato - Rye dough.

Dessert was an old Italian delicacy called Panforte di Siena. It's a very dense, moist, spicy, fruit and nut filled cake, almost more of a confection. A tiny slice goes a long way. These honey cakes were first baked in the 13th century in Siena. I googled it and found the recipe and historical information on the net. Quite interesting.

The day was full of fun, good friends, good wine and good food and as the sun slowly sank in the west, a warm, holiday glow filled the house.

As we watched the sun, slowly sink behind Mount Desert Island, contentment and happiness settled in......

..... and Spike, draped over the back of the couch, was obviously the most content of all!

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

The Morning After

2008-12-22T15:50:00.003-05:00

Last night, the wind howled and snow swirled. Outside, the snow was steadily accumulating all around us and Mother Nature was in a whimsical mood. H opened the sliding glass doors to look out on the deck and see how much had accumulated. The wind was fierce and he quickly slammed the door shut. The resulting impact knocked snow off the door and left this impression of a black cat trying to get in out of the storm. Too weird!

This morning, we opened the door and tentatively looked out to see what the night had brought us.....
....this was about 8 inches of snow on the front porch.

Our beautiful wreath given to us by a dear friend was coated with the glistening stuff.

H and I, decked out in our long underwear and woolies, ventured out to begin what was to be a very long morning of plowing and shoveling. But first, we had to dig out the front gate so we could get out of the yard!

Yes, there is actually a truck under all that snow.

The deck had even more snow on it as we had not shoveled the initial 3 inches off before it started snowing in earnest. Big mistake. This morning, the grill looked like a space alien with his conehead sidekick.
You can see from the front door how the wind slammed the snow about last night.

Although H was a real trooper and managed to get the door yard plowed, the State plow truck had built a huge four foot wall of snow at the top of the drive and we were unable to get enough traction to plow the 13 inches of snow off the uphill driveway. Soooo, we ended up calling the local plow guy to come plow us out and we're still waiting for him to show up. Needless to say, he is quite busy today.

After all was said and done, this was the 13 inches we got overnight. We had already plowed 3 inches the evening before in hopes that we would not get so much overnight. So much for hope!

All totaled, the storm left us with 16 inches of fluffy, white snow. And it's only December. Oy!

Life is Good, honest it is

Hugs, Giddy

Hunkering Down for the Blizzard!

2008-12-21T10:21:00.003-05:00

The hatches are all battened down, the pantry and freezer are stocked, the generator is ready to fill in if necessary, the wood totes are full and I have several knitting projects in the works. I think we're ready for the blizzard that is predicted for us beginning later on today.

When I looked outside early this morning, I could see something was brewing. As I looked across the bay toward Mount Desert Island, I could see sea smoke rising from Frenchman Bay. That, and a steely cold sky usually portends some "weathah" coming our way. Sure enough, the weatherman is predicting a nor'easter along with high winds - a BLIZZARD!!!!

I dragged out the North Seas Shawl I knitted over the summer and put it on my chair so I could throw it over my shoulders as I sit knitting my new "big" project - a lacy, hooded sweater.

I also finished another Eco Market Bag with some of my leftover cotton odds and ends. This project is really easy, doesn't take much paying attention and is cute. I'm going to fill this one with lots of baby items for a friend who recently had an adorable baby girl.

Sluggo has already claimed his spot on the ottoman which is close enough to the wood stove to be really warm. He uses his favorite fleece blanket to "make biscuits" before settling down for a snooze.
We'll check in again tomorrow to let you know how we survived the Winter Solstice Blizzard.

Happy Winter Solstice to All! Now we get to watch the sun slowly come back north. Can spring be far behind??? (Only in my dreams)

Life is good in the GFN (Great Frozen North)

Hugs, Giddy

Lobstah!

2008-12-19T08:06:00.003-05:00

The lobster fishing industry is having a huge problem this year. It's not that there is a lack of the tasty crustaceans, but rather the selling price for them has dropped while the price of fuel for the boats and bait for the traps has gone way up!

Some of my friends husbands are lobster fishermen and in my feeble attempt to help them out, I purchased 4 lovely, lively lobsters from them, fresh off the boat. Now, I don't know how much folks are paying for thier lobsters elsewhere in the nation, but these babies were $3 a piece. No, that is not a typo.

If you are in the least bit squeamish, skip to the next paragraph, because these guys are about to be plopped into the lobster pot filled with boiling water and Old Bay Seasoning. The trick here is to take them right out of the fridge where they have been sleeping in a cold stupor and pop them in before they know what hit them. And if you are really feeling badly for them, just remember that they are just giant ocean dwelling cockroaches!

But, they sure taste good!

My other project over the past couple of days was to bake some hamburger buns. This recipe is so easy and the buns are by far superior to the soft, pasty ones that come packed 8 to a package in the grocery. Not only that, but have you ever read ingredient list of those things?!!!

These buns hold up to H's juicy pulled pork barbecue and freeze beautifully. I usually make 1/2 dozen at a time.

The Recipe:

1/2 C. Skim Milk
1/4 C. water
2 TBSP butter - melted and cooled
About 2 - 2 1/4 C. All Purpose Flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg

Warm milk and water to about 100 degrees. Add the yeast and let sit til it begins to foam.

Mix about 1 3/4 flour and all remaining ingredients with the exception of the butter in the mixing bowl of your mixer. Add the yeast mixture and cooled butter and beat til smooth.

Continue adding flour in small amounts until the dough is smooth and not too sticky. You want a fairly loose dough. Knead with your dough hook for about 5 minutes more. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise for 1 hour.

Scrape dough on to a floured surface and divide into 6 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or grease the pan). Flatten slightly with floured hands. Cover and let rise for 30 - 35 minutes.

Bake in 425 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until nicely browned.

This recipe is easily doubled

And, so ended another lovely, warm winter day.

Life is Good (and tasty)

Hugs, Giddy

Howling Winds, Again

2008-12-11T15:36:00.005-05:00

We here in the GFN (Great Frozen North) are accustomed to cold windy nights and days, but yesterday was a doozy! The wind and gusts were by far not the worst we have ever experienced, but it seemed so much more frightening. I think it must have been because the wind was pushing directly toward us from the south. We normally get it from the north east, just giving us a glancing blow, but this wind buffetted the house with a direct hit. We thought the sliders were going to come crashing in at times.

We hunkered down for the duration and today, warily ventured out to see if there was any damage and how much. H's first sight was shortly after daybreak when he ventured up the road to fetch the newspaper at the end of the drive. There, he spied a huge spruce which had been uprooted and was perched on Route 1 almost over the center line. Fortunately, the Maine Dept of Transportation was on the lookout and promptly came by and cut it up. Unfortunately, they just left the rest of it for us to take care of later!

In the background, you can see stacks of Poplar from a previous blow down.

All totaled, we lost about 10 trees, but we couldn't get out to cut and stack them up as the wind and rain were still a huge problem.

While we were not without electricity, our satellite was wavering in and out, so I could not finish this post until today.

I spent the time going through photos on my computer and getting a few chores done. I also made a batch of English Muffins - they are delicious!

They may not be as even and pretty as Thomas's, but they sure do taste good!

And just look at those nooks and crannies! Can't you just imagine the butter melting into those toasted babies? Yum!

Not one to sit idly, twiddling my thumbs, I also knitted up this really neat bag. Just the thing for when the cashier asks if you'd like your groceries bagged in paper or plastic. My answer is always, "No thanks, I have my own bags".

And, of course, the boys were on task chasing all the Asian Beetles that seemed to come out of the wood work and buzz around the lamps. I guess they gave up on the mouse in the family room. We haven't seen hide nor hair of the little rat so maybe he was fortunate enough to find his way back outside.

And so ends another couple of days in the Great Frozen North. Hope your week has been warm and wonderful.

Life is Good,

Hugs, Giddy

Fa la la la...........Oh, Bother!

2008-12-05T16:55:00.006-05:00

I am so in awe and envy of my fellow bloggers who spend hours planning and decorating for the holidays. My attempt at holiday decorating is quite sparse in comparison.

Now, I'm not exactly a Grinch, but I find the whole holiday business tiring. For one thing, the meaning has gotten way too lost in history. What started out as a celebration of the sun wending it's way back north to warm the earth and an anticipation of the return of earth's fertility and bounty has often turned into something quite different.

I love anything made of natural materials, and our good friends graced us with a homemade wreath of balsam, pine cones and reindeer moss. Just the perfect thing to decorate Giddy's door!

The only other decorations in the house are ones made by my mother. Her ceramic Christmas trees are dear to me and grace our home every year.

Mother Nature did her part yesterday by blanketing our little corner of the world with about 5 inches of sparkly white stuff.

Of course, it also has it's downside!

Oh well.

Life is always good!

Hugs, Giddy

A Faerie Tale

2008-12-01T14:50:00.010-05:00

The faeries and wood nymphs came rolling out of the woods, groanin'. Their full tummies had about all the Thanksgiving blessings they could manage.

"Dear Giddy", they implored, "What in the world are we to do with all the leftover mashed potatoes"! We made wayyyyy too many and we don't want them to go to waste".

Now, Mother MacCree would not approve of wastefulness, so Giddy put on her thinking cap and came up with a solution. "Why, make Colcannon, she replied".

"Sigh, said the faeries and the nymphs, but we and the Leprechauns have had Colcannon up to our eyebrows. Can ye not come up with something new, hip and with it? Not that we don't like Mother MacCree's Colcannon, but we'd really like something that we can serve as a side dish, not a main dish. Can ye help us, Ms. Giddy"?

Ms. Giddy took pity on the poor babies and set about to come up with something one could do with cabbage, onions and mashed potatoes that would suit the woodland resident's needs.

First, Ms.Giddy thinly sliced the cabbage and onions and sauteed them in canola oil til soft.....

then, added the cold, leftover mashers.......

she added one egg and mixed well......

then, Ms. Giddy, who fancies her fine self as a bit cosmopolitan, with her wee wet hands, made little patties of the mixture and dredged them in Japanese Panko bread crumbs. Now, isn't that hip, and new? She then put them into a frying pan with a wee bit of canola oil and fried the tiny beggars til they were nice and golden brown on both sides. Oh, the joy! When ready to eat, they can also be topped with a nice shred of Cheddar and put under the broiler!

The faeries and wood nymphs were beside themselves, but the Leprechauns had long since tired of the process and heid themselves off to their hidey holes to count their gold coins and enjoy a wee dram of their Jamison stock.

In the end, the faeries and nymphs carefully wrapped their treasure in plastic wrap and then in aluminium foil and stored them beneath the twisted roots of cedar trees to freeze over the long, harsh winter for future meals. They were soooo happy and thanked The Giddy Garden Gnome for her inovative interpretation of a wonderful, Irish favorite.

Although Giddy was simply happy to help her friends, as payment for her services, they spread Irish blessings and good luck to all who sample her recipe.

The end.

O.K. kiddies, now that the tale is over, it's back to reality. For those of you who may think the Leprechauns shared their bottle with me, please rest assured that I'm as sober as the proverbial judge! The wee folk just got into my imagination today!

The next part of this post is the saga of "The Rat"!

We awoke this morning and noticed the "boys" were no where to be found upstairs. "Oh", says I, "I think they must have found a mouse downstairs".

Upon further investigation, it was apparent that Spike and Sluggo were on the hunt.

As suspected, I found them downstairs in the family room having obviously cornered the vermin under the armoire. They were both on point, taking their task quite seriously.

Unfortunately, despite my assistance with the flashlight and a long stick, we could not flush the prey from it's hiding place.

I left the boys to their chores and had to leave for another assignment. We will continue to monitor the situation and report accordingly.

Life, and sometimes a wee bit of fantasy, is Good!

Hugs, Giddy

Oh Joy!

2008-11-25T16:15:00.003-05:00

I don't just love to cook, I LOVE to cook! Thanksgiving dinner is one of my favorites and I plan for it months in advance.

Today, H was off on a road trip with his friends from the Veteran's Club so I got busy and started cooking and baking right away early in the morning.

In the time H was off on his road trip, I put together a crock pot full of Hungarian Cabbage Rolls for dinner, baked three pumpkin pies, two of which will be donated to the Veteran's Club for their annual Thanksgiving Dinner for veterans who have no family nearby and would otherwise be alone for the holiday.

Another pumpkin pie and a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie will be for our dinner on Thursday, along with Cranberry Ginger Sauce, Cranberry Orange Relish, and bacon cornbread for the Cornbread, cranberry and pecan stuffing which I'll put together on Thursday morning along with a traditional bread stuffing.

Am I pooped? You bet. If only Sluggo could take my picture instead of the other way around. You'd probably find me in the same position in front of the wood stove!

Last night at 4:50 pm, the International Space Station flew directly overhead and that baby was hauling, well, you know what. I tried to get a picture of it, but it was going so fast and I had the camera in zoom, so this was the best I could do:

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance for another shot before it was out of range. Oh well, at least I saw it!

Off to put my feet up now.

Life is good but tired.

Hugs, Giddy

15 Bean Soup

2008-11-24T15:01:00.006-05:00

Yesterday dawned bright and beautiful, but boy, the wind was howling and the temperature was bone chilling cold. Not having anywhere to go and nothing better to do, I decided it was a great day to do a bit of baking and cooking. I needed to bake a couple of wheat loaves to dice up for Thursday's turkey stuffing, so I got that going first thing. The recipe I used was from my favorite bread book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day". If you haven't checked out Zoe Bakes site yet, it's well worth a peek.

The next item on the agenda was a favorite - 15 bean soup.

To begin, head to the well stocked pantry to assemble the necessary items for the soup.

This is only one small part of the huge pantry we have downstairs. H and I awhile back decided we could not depend on our shrinking 401K and now deal in "grocery futures". We delight in finding a deal at the grocery store and stock up accordingly. Loss leaders in the weekly ads catch our eye if it's something we normally use.

Anyway, I digress. Having loaded my arms with ingredients from the pantry, I headed back upstairs to prepare the mirepoix.

Classic mirepoix consists of equal amounts of finely diced celery, carrot and onion. I used 1 carrot, 3 stalks of celery and a large onion. My personal preference is for only 1 carrot as I feel that too much of it makes the soup seem a bit sweet.

The beans were carefully picked over, rinsed and soaked the night before.

An integral part of this recipe is careful supervision by one or more cats, although the boys were more interested in playing "swat" with each other!

The veggies and about 4 minced cloves of garlic were sweated in about 2 TBSP of olive oil just until soft and the onions glassy.

Add three cans of low sodium chicken broth, one can of petite diced tomatoes, 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender - about 1 hour or so. Needless to say, this pot simmered on the wood stove til the early afternoon. About 1/2 hour before they are done, add 1 TBSP each of dried oregano and basil and a TBSP of chopped fresh rosemary, pepper to taste, and salt if you think it's necessary. Now, I could stop right here, but H thinks he's missing something if he doesn't have meat in his dish, so I chopped up one half of a smoked sausage and added that for his Highness.

The resulting potage was scrumptious and just the thing for a cold November Sunday lunch while watching a great black and white, classic movie on TV.

In addition to the cooking and baking, I've been keeping my hands very busy with my knitting. I finished a hat, scarf and mittens for H's Mother, a hat for his sister, a pair of socks for me, two hats for some young folks and I started on a new shawl, but ran out of yarn, so it will have to be put aside til next week when I can get back to Bangor.

Some days, I just don't seem to have enough hours in my day!

Life is very good!

Hugs, Giddy

First Snow!

2008-11-22T14:25:00.005-05:00

Last evening, we had another beautiful sunset that gave the house a warm, rosy glow.

The whole house was bathed in the last golden rays of the evening sun

However!

This morning, we awoke to snow! We were not expecting any here on the coast so it was a bit of a surprise. (although, I learned years ago not to be surprised by weather, having lived with Mr. Meteorologist for over four decades!)

It was a light, feathery blowing snow, heralding the advent of the winter season, just a wee bit early for my taste, but it is lovely. By the time it ended, we had over an inch.

The porch pumpkin had a snow toupee this morning!

And I guess it will be time to replace the autumn door wreath pretty soon!

Oh well, not to worry, there's plenty of wine in the cellar, a few scented candles glowing and a toasty heat coming from the wood stove.

Life is Good and Warm!

Hugs, Giddy

Rx - A prescription for a cold and the budget

2008-11-21T12:53:00.001-05:00

A cold is a nasty thing. The stuffy nose, the hacking, the sneezing, can't sleep. The best thing I've ever found for an old fashioned cold is a good, old fashioned bowl of chicken soup, and I don't mean one of those found inside a red and white can!

Yesterday, H and I were out doing a bit of grocery shopping and I saw they had whole chickens on sale for .89 cents a pound. I picked up a small one for $3.50 and after getting back home, proceeded to throw it into the old stock pot along with a laundry list of other ingredients. I'm sure every one has their own favorite recipe, but here is mine. It includes lots of flavorful antioxidents and fresh or dried herbs.

Cover the bird with cold water and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, add:

3 whole carrots, peeled
3 stalks of celery
1 large onion stuck with 3 whole cloves
a large handful of fresh parsley
2 large sprigs of fresh sage
1 Rosemary branch
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
10 pepper corns
3 bay leaves
1 tsp turmeric (antioxident and gives the soup a beautiful yellow color)
3 or 4 slices of fresh ginger (also a great antioxident)
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 - 3 hours (I do this on the wood stove - saves propane).

The aroma filling the house is marvelous and will soon put you into a deep relaxed state while waiting for the soup.

After the requisite amount of time, let the bird cool and pick off the meat. Feed the scraps to the crows - hey! They gotta eat too, ya know.

Now, take the breast, cut it into large dice and make a great Curried Chicken Salad for tomorrow's lunch or dinner. This bird's breast made enough for two meals of chicken salad for H and me.

There was enough meat left for plenty in the soup and then some left over for chicken enchiladas later on this week.

Chop the veggies and with the meat, add to the chicken stock......

Voila! You now have a wonderful, nourishing soup, guaranteed to unblock your stuffy nose and warm your belly. Not only that, but you have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, two meals of chicken salad and enough for the enchiladas. That's a lot of meals from one small chicken!

Oh, and let's not forget that the "boys", Spike and Sluggo also got a treat in their dinner bowls!

Life is Good with soup!

Hugs, Giddy

November sunset and other stuff

2008-11-20T16:03:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was one of those rare moments when I looked out the living room doors and saw an amazing sight! The sunset was so dramatic with the sun shining a bright pillar of light up into the heavens. I must have taken a half dozen shots, but this one was the best. This is the time of year when the sunsets are spectacular and I keep my camera handy during the afternoon hours.

And, speaking of afternoon hours, that's the time the boys have a snooze. Spike likes the back of the love seat and Sluggo prefers to lay on the tiles in front of the nice, warm wood stove. Gee, do ya think they're spoiled????

Yesterday was also our day to run to the Ark Animal Shelter to pick up two cats, a small Pomeranian and a Yellow Lab to transport them to the vet for various and sundry procedures. The little Pom whose name was "Chubbs" was in a crate and yapped the whole trip while Tiana, the Lab sat patiently in the back seat of the Jeep. Nary a peep out of the cats. Normally, we have quite a chorus in the back.

I always take some baked goodies for the ladies at the Ark. After all, they deserve something for all good deeds they do. I took them a plate of the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies I made.

A busy day, indeed!

Oh, I also found a really neat site. It's called Pete Bakes and is really interesting! Check it out when you have a free moment.

Life is Good

Hugs, Giddy

Trip to Reno

2008-11-17T13:07:00.005-05:00

Nope, this was not a gambling junket to the biggest little city, but rather a visit to H's mother who resides in Carson City.

Warning, this rant is LONG!

I'm not one to whine much, but I have to tell you that the trip out and back were horrendous! We began our trip by leaving home at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. The trip to the Bangor airport takes about 45 minutes and even longer in the dark. For those of you who live in populated areas where there is light from stores and street lights, you cannot even begin to imagine how dark it is up here in northern New England. Fortunately, we had a full moon to help brighten our way.

The flight from Bangor to JFK went off without a hitch and seeing how we had a 2 1/2 hour layover in JFK, we were not worried in the least about making our connection in Salt Lake City. Oh, foolish country bumpkins! About 1 hour before takeoff from JFK, we were apprised that there was a hydraulic leak in the aircraft which would need to be repaired before we could take off. The watch and wait began in earnest. We were finally able to take off around 11:30 a.m. and our flight from SLC was due to takeoff at 2:56 p.m. Mountain Time. We landed with 10 minutes to spare, however, we were in Concourse C and our gate was in Concourse B. H and I ran as fast as we could, but alas, we missed the flight by two minutes. TWO FREAKING MINUTES!!!!!!!

The next flight to Reno was at 8:30 pm. so we sat, cooling our jets for another five hours. By the time we made it to Reno, we had been up for over 21 hours. Gratefully, we had made reservations at a hotel five minutes from the airport. We arrived at the Atlantis hotel/casino and walked in to a wall of horrible tobacco smoke in the casino, checked in and got to our room as quickly as possible. The saving grace about this place was that it only cost us $100 for the three night stay. After about two more hours to settle down, we finally got some sleep after being up for 24 hours. I don't remember ever staying up that long, even in my teens!

The view from our 9th floor hotel window was nothing but lights across the city. There was a neat fountain below us that changed colors.

In keeping with the Atlantis theme, the lamps in the room had dolphins on them.

The visit with H's Mom was enjoyable and we were able to take her to a couple of appointments, go grocery shopping and help out a bit around her house. Mom has macular degeneration and is not able to see much, but with a bit of help from a magnifying device, she was able to enjoy a few photos and a video of her great grandchildren.

Friday found us gratefully winging our way back home. The flight from Reno to Los Angeles was beautiful and I managed to get a photo of the sunrise over the Sierra Nevada Mountains from the window of the plane.

After having been patted down in Reno because I won the jackpot and was chosen for the random "extra" security screening, we landed in Los Angeles only to find that we had to take a bus to the Delta concourse and this meant having to go through security once again. Sigh.

You would have thought we were Ma and Pa Kettle wandering through the LA airport. Everything seemed so big, bright and loud! H and I just hunkered down til time for our flight to JFK, which proved to be uneventful until time to land. The landing gear was down and were were just about to touch down when the pilot hit the throttle and took us straight up! Seems the plane in front of us had not yet cleared the runway. Soooo, off we took, went back around and got back in to line for another attempt at landing. Twenty minutes later, we were finally on the ground, but could we deplane? NOOOOOO! They couldn't get the walkway to connect up to the plane, so there all us 250 passengers were, standing in the hot airplane, sweating like little hogs about to be sent to slaughter. Fifteen minutes later, they finally found someone who could operate the darned thing and we got off the plane. Of course, we deplaned at Gate 11 and had to get to Gate 23, so once again, off we ran because our plane was due to leave in a very short while. I'll spare you the rest of the sordid tale, but suffice it to say, we got back to Bangor at 11:30 p.m., tired, hot and hungry, but eternally grateful to be back safe and sound in our beloved Maine.

Note to self: Do not, I repeat, do not ever book us through either JFK or LAX again!!!!

The boys were happy to see us again and after getting the wood stove up and running, we were all warm and happy to be together again.

And as Dorothy says, "There's no place like home"!

Life is truly good.....

Hugs, Giddy