An Amber Visit in October

The Apple Cider Donut Machine at Russell Orchards

Amber was able to come visit us and stay a few days during her birthday month.  We picked her up in Boston last Saturday which was convenient because we were invited to a wedding that same day in Gloucester.  After spending the night in Magnolia we headed over to Essex Seafood Restaurant and met up with the Watson's for lunch.  This would be Don, Ada, Donnie, Kirsten and little Lexi.  Amber and I shared some steamers and fried calamari. Lauren had some fried shrimp. Amber and I have been sharing steamers ever since she was about 2 years old.  She loves lobsters and steamers.

We then headed over to Russel Orchards in Ipswich for the sole purpose of getting some Apple Cider Donuts. These donuts are addictive so we paid, went straight to the car, and starting driving north to Bethel while shoving donuts into our drooling mouths.  Our hope was to be far enough away by the time we finished the donuts where we didn't feel the need to return for more. We just made it.

Yesterday Amber and I walked into town to pay the real estate taxes and the water bill.  Paying bills isn't one of my favorite things to do however I enjoy paying these bills the most because I get to interact with the friendly people like Amy at the town hall and Cally at the water department. In this day of online bill paying and regular mail the face to face interaction is wonderful.  In the afternoon Lauren took Amber over to Jackie's used furniture shop and then over to Nabos which is owned and operated by Amanda who is always friendly and full of zest. After dinner we headed over to Gould Academy where we saw a performance by Burlington Taiko.  Sponsored by the Mahoosuc Arts Council this show was impressive. Taiko is Japanese for Big Drums and that's what this performance was all about. It's an artistic, physical and as you might imagine loud show of this group playing big drums.  Taiko has been used for many purposes in Japanese culture over the years including to dispel evil spirits, pray for rain, and the Samurai used them to instill fear in the enemy.  Sitting in the audience you feel these drums as well as hear them. Thumbs up on this show.

In keeping with the Asian theme we've decided to go out to dinner tonight at Cho Sun and get some Sushi.  Right now we're headed up to the gym and pool at the Bethel Inn to burn off some calories before our dinner.  It's also "dump day" so we need to, have to, must, go to the "transfer station" and see if any goodies await us.  Nothing but the best for Amber when she comes for a visit.

Amber at the Bethel Common

Lots to be Thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It’s a beautiful and sunny 28 degree day here in Bethel this morning. In just a few hours Lauren, me, and her parents Frank and Joan will be heading over to Rooster's Roadhouse to eat our Thanksgiving Day dinner. Lauren’s parents ate at Rooster’s Roadhouse last year on Thanksgiving Day when we were still out in California but after they knew we were going to buy this house we live in now. (They have a habit of scoping out the situation as soon as they know something is happening.) So last year they came across Rooster’s Roadhouse by chance and LOVED the meal they had. We heard about how good the meal was so many times from them that it has now become a joke….”You had a good Thanksgiving at Roosters? Really, tell us again, we’ve never heard that story before.”

It has been a busy November, TBTB…Too Busy to Blog. Just over a week ago we got our new washer and dryer installed and Lauren did the first load at the house. That was on Tuesday November 16th where I had Mike Field of Field Plumbing and Heating install the washer hookup and new drain. Then later that same afternoon Brian Strickland of Autumn Electric came over to install a new 220 volt line for the dryer and a 110 volt line for the washer. I had already installed the vent cowl for the dryer exhaust the previous weekend so by the time Lauren came home from working at her new job it was all systems go and ahead of schedule. So we are thankful for our new washer and dryer.

I’m also thankful for my new $5.00 thermometer I hung outside the kitchen window. I get to see just how cold it is every morning and I write the temperature down on the calendar. It has been a mild November so far with many mornings in the mid 40’s.

Now we’re going to go workout and swim at the Bethel Inn before we chow down our Turkey dinner. I hope everyone who reads this has something to be thankful for.

A Fall Weekend with Friends

Moose

This past weekend our longtime friends Doug and Ellen Guidry came to visit us and check out the Bethel area.  It was Ellen’s birthday on Saturday and her wish was to see a moose.   As you can see by the picture above we were able to deliver her birthday wish.  We saw this Bullwinkle in Grafton Notch State Park after we had checked out Screw Auger Falls.  It was off to the side in the woods when I spotted it so I pulled over and shut off the engine.  Instead of going further into the woods like I expected it would, it walked up the embankment into the middle of the road, stopped and posed for us while we took this photo.   We continued on our leaf peeping journey working our way into the center of Andover, ME where we stopped for an ice cream cone at the Andover General Store and Diner on what was likely the last day for this season to get one according to the nice young girl who was working this day. We then showed Ellen and Doug the swimming hole at the Andover Lovejoy Covered Bridge which Ellen told me reminds me her so much of the swimming hole of her childhood in Pennsylvania.

 

Saturday night Lauren cooked up a fabulous dinner of Baked Haddock, Sunshine Squash, and Roasted Red Beets.   The beets and squash were locally grown in Bethel while the Haddock came from our lobsterman Tucker C. Jordan of Cape Elizabeth who sells it here at the local farmers market.

On Sunday before Doug and Ellen left to head back to Gloucester, MA we all stopped at the Swain Farm Stand to buy some squash and take pictures. This is the first year I ever ate Sunshine Squash and it is now, officially my favorite squash of all time.  It is a deep red orange color when cooked and is sooo…Delicious.  If you have never tried it before please do and then tell me what you think. 

All weekends must come to an end and the Gids eventually had to go. Thanks for coming to visit us Doug and Ellen. We really enjoyed your company and having you visit helps the house feel more like a home. 

The Pace of Life on Main Street in Bethel, Maine

Apple Picking

Sunday Lauren and I went apple picking at Lyon Orchards on Grover Hill Road in Bethel which is only 3 ½ miles from our house.  It was an overcast and cool day which was perfect for apple picking.  The Lyon Orchard is a picturesque place with rows of apple trees the follow the gentle slopes of the hillside.  They have five varieties of apples; Cortland, Red Free, Macoun, Red Delicious, and Macintosh. What I noticed most was how healthy all of the apples looked and how so many were growing on each tree so close together.  They were absolutely vibrant and we ended up picking 16 pounds of them for the two of us.  When we returned home Lauren made what I believe was the most delicious apple pie I ever tasted.  The crust didn’t come out picture perfect but I did not care because flavor trumps look any time.  I came across this article written by Donald Bennett on the history of Lyon Orchards and Herbie Lyon; http://www.thebetheljournals.info/Names/Herb_Lyon.htm

This apple picking adventure reminded me of a time when I was nine or ten years old and my brother Erik who was six or seven were trying to pick some apples off of one of those old abandoned trees out in the field behind our house in Easton, Mass.   The tree was big and overgrown while the apples were high and out of reach.  My genius idea was to grab the steel rake, throw it up in the tree where the rake would get stuck on some branches and then with the long handle hanging down, grab hold of it and shake the living daylights out of the tree branch until the apples fell to the ground. 

I remember telling my brother to stay the heck out of the way while I threw the rake up in the tree branch. The rake went up, hung on the branch for a brief second and then fell down; right on Erik’s head with at least one tine that poked into his head and another that poked right through his lip.  I imagine that didn’t feel too good and he started to cry and bleed at the same time.  I did what came natural to me at that age… I yelled at him.  I yelled something like “You jerk…I told you to stay out of the way” and I’m sure that made him feel better.  Yes, he needed some stitches which by this time were something my Mom was familiar with.

I feel bad about yelling at my brother that day, so Erik I’d liked to say I’m sorry for yelling at you then.  I should have waited until after you had your stitches. J   Hey I know why don’t you come up and visit soon and we can go apple-picking?  Don’t worry, we don’t need a rake.

Kayaking, Swimming, and Lobster

Amber, Tommie and Maya came up to visit us this past weekend and Kayaking, Swimming, and Lobster pretty much sums up what we did. First we had a campfire Friday night and cooked up some chicken and eggplant on the grill. Then Saturday we went to the Farmer’s Market in Bethel and picked up eight live lobsters from Tucker C. Jordan who’s a Lobsterman from Cape Elizabeth, Maine. www.mainelobsterboys.com
Next we trucked over to Virginia Lake and spent a wonderful afternoon swimming and kayaking. We had the whole peaceful beach and lake all to ourselves for most of the day. It’s hard to believe it was a Saturday in August. It was overcast but still warm and wonderful. Later that evening, back at our house, we lit the campfire again, put on our pot of water over it and then cooked those lobsters to perfection. The day was a 9.5 with the ½ point taken off for being overcast. We were going to try to see a movie on Saturday night but ran out of time.
On Sunday we HAD to go to dump to do some shopping as well as take over our trash. I scored a wire basket from a locker room which I can use to collect my golf balls in. Amber scored a Bundt pan. I can’t remember what Lauren picked up. It’s a little gem over there at the dump aka the “Transfer Station” and as someone told me they have an excellent return policy :)
On the way back from the dump we stopped at “Gourmet in a Pinch” to pick up a breakfast sandwich, muffin and coffee where they do a wonderful job with the food and the service is friendly.
After Amber and Tommie left to head back to Mass Lauren and I decided to see a matinee movie after all. It was my first time seeing a flick at the Casablanca Cinemas, it’s very cute and of course the service here is friendly too. They had four choices and we felt like comedy so we picked “The Other Guys”. That was a mistake because it just wasn’t funny. So if you’re considering seeing it, I’d say make another choice.
Thanks for the visit Amber, Tommie and Maya. There are only so many summer weekends you get in your life and we are glad you spent this one with us.

FREE

During the past few weeks we have gone swimming in two glorious lakes. The first picture is of Roxbury Pond in Andover which I had mentioned in an earlier post and it is a nice shallow yet good size lake with warmish water. It’s warmer than the ocean and most of the rivers anyway. The second picture is of Virginia Lake in Stoneham and this happens to be part of the White Mountain National Forest. This lake is a little more difficult to get too but equally warm and beautiful. The next pictures are of the blackberries we picked and the tasty blackberry pie that Lauren baked…mmmmYum! All of these things are free and fun. Sure, if you want to get technical we spent a little gas money to get to these places and the pie crust cost something but it’s close enough, so I’m calling it free. Did I ever tell you I Love Summer?

A Late Afternoon in Andover, Maine

Wednesday I knocked off from working just after 5:00 pm and Lauren and I drove up to go swimming at the covered bridge in Andover, Maine. I guess technically, looking at the map it’s considered South Andover. It’s about 18 miles from our house and a beautiful ride though that valley that probably has a name but where the Ellis River serpentines its way south toward the Androscoggin River which it joins at Rumford Point. The Andover Covered Bridge which is also known as the Lovejoy Bridge was built in 1867. There is a plenty of perfect white “beach” sand on the east side of the river bank where you can plunk down your towel before you jump in for a swim. The water was cool and refreshing. The scene was… well…did you ever see an ugly wooden covered bridge? It was beautiful. We stayed for about an hour and then decided to drive over to a nearby lake which we heard was another good swimming spot. The lake apparently has three different names, Ellis Pond, Silver Lake, or Roxbury Pond, so take your pick. It was a beautiful lake with the sun getting ready to set beyond the tree covered hills on the west side, a couple of kayakers, a water skier, a few kids happily swimming from the dock of their family cabin, and multiple other conversations carrying over the still water of a peaceful summer late afternoon. Lauren did a solo swim at this lake which was quite a bit warmer than the Andover Bridge swimming hole.
We then continued to drive to the east side of the lake to check out the summer camps and cabins which eventually turned into a dirt road. Now I love dirt roads even though you shake, it’s loud and you stir up dust as you drive along. You really know you’re in the country when you are driving along a dirt road. Just before we crossed Garland Brook I spotted two Moose off in clearing maybe 100 yards away. We just stopped the car and watched them. They watched us… and after about 8 minutes of that they decided we were boring and headed into the woods. Naturally we forgot our camera which we seem to do a lot on occasions like this. The pictures above are from other times when we actually remembered our camera.
My plan was to take a road I saw on the map on the north side of the lake that heads back east toward Andover. It was 7:30 pm now beginning to get dark and I think Lauren was beginning to get nervous, out in the middle of nowhere… on a dirt road….with me. She took out The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer to check out my plan. Then she got technical on me and pointed out that the dirt road we’ve been shaking are brains around on for the last 15 minutes was considered a “Other Passable Road” according to the map legend and that the next road I was planning to take was called a “Unimproved Road”, and that the next thing below that would be called a “Trail”. So in a sign that I must be maturing in life I turned around and headed back in the direction we came.
We made it back to the center of Andover just before 8:00 pm and were hungry. Luckily we made it in time to eat at the General Store and Diner before they closed. What is the best way to end a day in Maine? How about a Lobster Roll on a toasted bun, with French fries and homemade Cole slaw for $7.99? Yes, we took two. Mmmm…Per-fect-O! So far this is the best tasting and best lobster roll deal I’ve come across. But we are not done as we seek to find more swimming holes and eat yet more lobster rolls. Thanks for stopping by. - Pete

Spring is here!

I guess once you cut your lawn for the first time of the season it has to be spring. I cut my lawn for the first time last Saturday with the new Honda lawn mower I bought. All I can say is the lawn mower is wicked nice and my lawn seems wicked big. It’s looking nice after I made the cut and raked up all the twigs and thatch in the lawn. No sooner did I finish that and about 200 dandelions popped up out of the lawn two days later. Some people consider dandelions weeds but I actually like them. I think they look beautiful with their bright round yellow heads in contrast against a dark green lawn. I don’t intend to purposely get rid of them except when I mow them down next time. But I won’t dig them up or put weed killer on them. Give me dandelions any day just take my bamboo.
So new events since the last time I wrote would be; I paid my taxes so now I’m broke, our neighbor caught a raccoon that was rummaging around our barn in a Hav-a-Hart trap and relocated it for us, and we now know we have a Porcupine that comes into the barn because I’ve found two quills recently where it seems it has a fondness for the wood which is part of the stairs. It just chews away on the wood. We joined the Bethel Historical Society and attended a talk there two weeks ago.
We also joined the CSA at Middle Intervale Farm in Bethel. If you don’t know, a C.S.A stands for Community Supported Agriculture and what it really does is build a relationship between you and the farmer who grows the food you put in your mouth. When I go to the “supermarket” I have no idea who grew the lettuce, tomatoes, and asparagus or raised the beef I bought to eat. At the CSA I do know. Cynthia Flores and her helpers grow the veggies and John Carter raises the Angus cattle for the beef. The other benefit is the food we purchase here will only travel 3 miles back to my house before I eat it and not a few hundred or a few thousand miles. So with the CSA you pay them some upfront money and commit that you’ll be a customer and for that they give you a dividend of extra food. For example $150 will buy us $160.50 worth of food so it’s equal to a 7% dividend. This farm has a wonderful farm stand where it’s done on the honor system. You select your items, write down your name and amount and leave the cash in the cookie tin unless you’re a CSA member where you just log your purchase. Lauren and I went there yesterday because they just opened for the season. We bought some fiddleheads and some Angus T-bone steaks for the grill and had a feast. Yum!
We finally went to Massachusetts on Monday to pick up Dusty our cat that was staying with Amber, Tommie and the in-laws. It’s been two nights in Maine and I think she likes it. She has new places to explore, new smells to smell and maybe she even missed me and Lauren.
Today a young deer crossed over our lawn and then went across the street to the brook and golf course but Dusty missed that sighting. Finally the picture of the Turkey above Lauren took on Monday in front of Rite-Aid which is the busiest intersection in Bethel…..not that we have a lot of busy intersections to choose from. We’re enjoying spring and hope all of you are too!

The First Meal

Today is our official 1 month celebration of living in this house and we have lots that we’ve accomplished. One big accomplishment was having our first dinner guests for a sit down meal. My sister Anna, Doug, and their daughters Helen and Ella came for a visit last Saturday and were our very first dinner guests. This is yet another example of how Desire Moves because Lauren had a strong vision of having family over for some homemade beef stew served in blue bowls and on red plates around a big table in the dining room here in Maine and… it happened! Lauren bought the bowls and plates at Crate and Barrel in California with a gift certificate that some of her friends had given her from work as a going away gift. Doug helped me bring in the dining room table from the barn to set it up and minutes later we were having our first meal. The beef stew was delicious as Lauren had the beef slow cooking in a Crock Pot from the night before and pre-roasted the vegetables before adding them in near the time of eating for a great texture and taste. Served with hot bread, butter and beer it was Delishio! Nice job Lauren.

We have been doing so many little projects that I’m starting to lose track of what was done. We’ve cut doors to make them fit better, primed and painted the kitchen ceiling, painted the bathroom floor, installed two new sets of accent lighting in the kitchen which required installing junction boxes and we put in a new countertop in one section of the kitchen to make it clean and workable. For the counter we used ¼ inch birch plywood and then put three coats of Good Stuff on it which makes it a food safe surface. Good Stuff is more like a paste then a poly-urethane so you apply it with a rag versus a brush. To be honest, I don’t know how this can be food safe because you need to have ventilation when you apply it, you’re supposed to avoid eye and skin contact and it ate through the fingertips of the latex glove I had on. The pictures above show how the kitchen looked when we bought the place and then how it looks now. We’re calling this temporary because we have plans (in our mind) to really re-do it nicely when we have the money (in our pocket).

I also started to cut some of the limbs on the pine trees in our yard which I’ll be cutting down to allow for more sunlight and it will also make the yard look bigger and our stone wall will be more noticeable. There’s also a fair amount of bamboo I have to get rid of. It’s not the nice tall bamboo that Panda Bears eat. It’s about 4 to 5 feet high and from everything we can tell and from everyone we’ve talked to this could be a real challenge.

Finally I need to talk about “noises in the night.” When we moved into the place we replaced and installed a bunch of new smoke alarms. To be exact five new smoke alarms and one carbon-monoxide alarm and they are all battery operated. About a week ago at 3:05 AM one of them went off. It only beeped once but it was loud and one beep was all I needed to bolt out of bed to see if the place is on fire. I couldn’t smell smoke or see flames upstairs so I ran down stairs and checked out all the rooms and the basement. Nothing, no smoke, no flames, just one loud beep. I chalked it up to weird smoke alarm behavior and eventually went back to sleep.

Three nights ago at 5:15 AM Lauren and I both woke up to this sort of high pitched squeaking sound. I jumped out of bed to try to figure it out. What was it and where is it coming from? At first it sounded to me like a bird had somehow gotten into the house and was now flying around frantically trying to get out. But as I searched around the sound had stopped and I was stumped. So I went to the bathroom, because I usually do that anyway once a night and heard the noise nearby again. With my flashlight in hand I aimed it at the noise just in time to see the tail end of a mouse scuttle under some boards in the floor. I told Lauren what our noise was and she laughed saying something like “Oh brother…. a raccoon, mud, and now a mouse. So first thing in the morning I went to Western Maine Supply and came back with eight mouse traps. I smeared peanut butter on all of them and set three in the basement, three near the area where I saw the mouse and two in the ell to the barn. I felt confident I would have one by the next morning but when I woke and checked all the traps, nothing. Mmmm?

Oh well… we went to Portland today and had lunch with Amber and Tommie and to give Amber “The Pickle” which is the green van we have borrowed from Lauren’s parents for the last two months to take back to Gloucester. Of course it was nice to see them…because it always is. We ate at Gilbert’s Chowder House having some seafood and chowder. Speaking only for myself I’ll give it 3.5 out of 5 Lobster Claws…Sorry Gilbert….the chowder was too cool to begin with and the clam cakes were…eh…okay but not great. Your waitress was very nice though.
We made it back home about 5:30 tonight and lo and behold… I got one. Sorry Mr. Mouse but the trap I had set pretty close to where I saw him was too much temptation. It must have snapped perfectly and then it fell eight feet down hitting the bathroom floor landing just one foot away from the toilet. Can you imagine….? Oh well, never mind. Here’s to one month of living in Bethel and more adventures! Thanks for checking in.

I SPENT THE DAY ON THE ISLAND

The nice thing about owning a home that has soooo many projects to work on is that when I wake up in the morning I’m not exactly 100% sure of which one I will tackle and what I will accomplish. Well today I spent most of the day on the island. In our kitchen we “had” an island that was, shall we say “custom-built” and which was a little oversized given the space of the kitchen. Lauren said it was like having a Mini-Cooper parked in your kitchen and I have to agree with her. So with hammer and reciprocating saw in hand and safety goggles for my eyes I began to demolish the sucker. It was satisfying de-construction and I’ll reuse the butcher block top for a future work bench and some of the plywood to patch up part of the barn. The rest of it made it to the transfer station before it closed today but not before I had a tasty pork burrito at Hot Taco topped with a little Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero Sauce…mmmm...baby!