Archive for the ‘maine’ Tag
Well to continue the story as I promised in the last post, we (my better-half and I) were in dire need of pumpkins. Why, I honestly don’t know but we can’t live without them apparently. We especially need to find those ever so illusive white pumpkins which are just ghostly enough to make Halloween worth celebrating. After checking prices at Walmart and Lowes the decision was made to go elsewhere so as not to feel any more extorted than normal.
These days the prices continue to climb on just about everything. The love of the almighty dollar leaves little regard for us customers and with the advent of the big box retailers the days of lower prices at roadside stands are slowly disappearing. The farmers no longer try to beat the prices of the larger stores but are certainly happy to match them. That translates to an end of bargain prices for all of us.
Fortunately if you want to spend the time and effort there are still a few farmers who’ll sell their wares at a decent price, collect their profits, and retain their customer base. It’s one of those places that we headed to after our drive to Kennebunkport and the southern coast.
As we arrive at the farm there are piles and piles of pumpkins and squash of all sizes and kinds. These folks cultivate just over a hundred acres every year and they always seem to have excellent results. They actually sell a large portion of their products to local school districts for the kids lunches. I’ve always been a firm believer about "buying local" and supporting the farmers in our area and it’s folks like these that make that happen. They also give me an excellent place to take incredible Fall pictures. Here are a few.
My better-half made her purchases of an assortment of orange and white pumpkins with a promise to return and pick up a few cornstalks and a bale of hay or two. She feels the need to reassure me that we’re almost ready for Halloween and the Fall season. I’m so relieved.
I’ve been sleeping much better lately now that the weather is turning colder. Heat and humidity seem to be my worst nightmare these days. I’ve always favored cooler weather and it seems that will never change.
Today’s forecast was for clear and sunny skies and a temperature in the low fifties. It was dig out a medium weight jacket and jeans because it appears shorts are out until next Spring. The better-half and I had errands to run on her day-off but I was able to convince her to take a ride along the southern coast for a few hours. Traffic was heavier than anticipated and I’m not sure exactly why. I guess everyone was trying desperately to enjoy the sunshine and extend their summer for as long as possible just like we were.
We started our little journey to Kennebunkport by cutting cross country through an area filled with horse farms. We can always find great photo opportunities there.
We made a short visit to the small coastal town of Cape Porpoise, Maine. It was such a clear day I knew I could get a decent picture or two of the Goat Island lighthouse located just offshore at the entrance to the harbor.
These lobsterman pictured below were in port with barrels of freshly caught lobsters. As you can see they’re loading them into trucks for transport to some of your favorite restaurants.
This area is filled with an endless supply of beautiful costal pictures as always. This small harbor was full of lobster boats and many of the visitors were sitting along the shore enjoying the view and basking in the sunshine.
We traveled north along the coast back towards Goose Rocks and Biddeford. There were many terrific photo-ops and we took advantage of them all. There were so many possibilities we actually were forced to pass a few by and we hate doing that. Here are a couple of samples.
It made for a great trip to roam around and enjoy one of our last remaining sunny and warm days. The second half of this trip will be posted in a day or so as we traveled towards farm country looking for pumpkins. We planned on visiting a few farms in our ongoing effort to find pumpkins that weren’t priced sky high as those at Walmart. It seems we can’t really enjoy the Fall season around here without stacking a few pumpkins and cornstalks in front of the house.
C’mon Winter!
I’ve spent most of this Summer documenting my activities in the garden and elsewhere. It was fun for me and I always had plenty of things to do which supplied me with lots of material for posting. With Winter fast approaching material concerning my outside activities will become a little more difficult to find. That’s okay I guess if all you want to read is a continuous steam of snow stories and photographs of more snow. Believe me when I tell you I’m no snow bunny and while I like Winter and snow that doesn’t mean I want to be outside playing in it. That’s for other people to do and for me to talk about, photograph, and make fun of.
Useless Quote #1
“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.” Karl Marx
As most of you know I have a huge collection of material that contains nothing but thousands of facts about everything and nothing. This blog was initially created to share some of that totally useless information and I think it’s time to lay some silly, stupid, yet true facts on all of you once again.
Useless Quote #2
“High School is like a spork it’s a crappy spoon and a crappy fork, so in the end it’s just plain useless.” John Mayer
Here are ten items which might be considered a teaser for things to come. You can judge that for yourself.
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People magazine began it’s Sexiest Man Alive covers in 1985. The first man to be so named was none other than that calm and rational Mel Gibson.
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The first federal census in this country was conducted in 1790. A population of 3,929,625 which included 697,624 slaves was recorded in the seventeen existing states.
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There are roughly 47 billion chickens in the world (this fact is supplied primarily as a jab at my better-half). She’s been strong arming me for months to buy a few chickens. Not happening lovey.
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American Gothic, the famous Grant Wood painting was completed in 1930. The couple posing for the piece were his dentist and sister. I hope Mr. Wood was better looking than his sister.
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More than half a million gallons of water pour over Niagara Falls every second. An interesting factoid but who really cares?
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Peter Merholtz is credited for coming up with the term "blog". Never heard of him before and I suspect I’ll never hear about him again.
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The first US intercollegiate athletic competition took place in August of 1852. Yale competed against Harvard in a rowing contest. Yawn. . . . .!
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In Arizona it ‘s against the law to have more than two dildos in a house. Is there anyone out there who wants to move to Arizona anyway? I think I’ll stay right where I’m at.
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The average person in the U.S. eats more than 50 tons of food in his or her lifetime. I’ll bet 30% of this food was purchased from drive-thru’s.
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Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was stillborn. It could really have been interesting if his brother had survived. Just imagine two Elvis’s, what a duet that would have made.
Useless Quote #3
“You’re useless, I’m bored – yes or no” Simon Cowell
Everything you’ve always wanted to know about nothing in particular, right?. I hope to keep these tidbits coming on a regular basis throughout the winter between the snow storms. snow blowing, snow shoveling, and falling on my ass a few times.
I really do like the Fall of the year. It ends a rather busy season that I also enjoy but at times it’s a relief to see it end. The better-half and I finally decided to call it a day with the garden. We began the process of pulling up the plants and removing the fabric from the frames. Then delivering those plants to the compost pile for use as fertilizer two years from now.
The last cherry tomatoes were collected, the remaining cucumbers were picked and should keep us in salads for another week or so. I’ll miss them as I always do once the snow fly’s and because I’m not all that crazy about veggies shipped into the county from south of the border somewhere. Thanks for nothing Walmart.
The remaining jalapeño peppers have been left whole, cleaned and canned for use in the future. They should still retain some crispness since they were only cooked long enough to kill the bacteria on their skins.
Some of the cayenne peppers made their way to the dehydrator and will be dried and ground into a fine powder. A number were also strung on thin copper wires for displaying in the kitchen. They make for an attractive curiosity once they start turning into that bright beautiful red color.
The only things remaining in the garden are the herbs. In a week or so just before the first frost I intend to further harvest a quantity of oregano, sage, parsley, rosemary, basil, and tarragon. Once dried they’ll be used to replace older herbs we have in storage. I’ve discovered that if they’re stored in air tight containers they remain useable for up to two years. Once they’ve lost their fragrance and flavor they need to be discarded and replaced.
I feel a little guilty wanting to see the garden end after all of the time and effort we’ve put into it but at the same time I can’t wait for it to be over so I can kick back and relax for a while. I see Winter as the time I require to rest, recharge my batteries and begin the process of planning an even better garden next year. I’m already considering building a small greenhouse, a larger cold frame, and even some sort of in-ground irrigation system. For me half the fun of having a garden is the process of improving it each year and experimenting with new plants we’ve never grown before.
Our Winters here in Maine can seem endless if your not occupying yourself sufficiently. Snow shoveling and snow blowing will only get you so far.
I’m sitting up in my bed and the electric blanket has been resurrected once again. The nights are chilling down dramatically as reflected by my new morning wardrobe. A heavy robe, wool socks, sweat pants, and an extra cup of steaming hot coffee. Things like that can only be properly appreciated while sitting up in bed at a minimum of level 4 on the electric blanket. Just saying.
Last night no one really wanted to cook the evening meal so we made a trek to the Maine Mall to window shop, eat some almost nutritious food at the food court, and possibly spend a little money. Forgetting that it was a Saturday night was mistake number one. The place was packed with large numbers of rude people all rushing around, pushing, shoving, and generally being ridiculous. I also realized something else as we walked around observing many groups of teenagers huddled here and there looking for things to do. I’m truly glad I’m not married and don’t have any young daughters to worry about.
Any parent that permits their daughter to loiter around any mall just boggles my mind. If any daughter of mine insisted on hanging out at a mall with her friends I’m afraid of what my reaction might be. I can see myself in a tacky disguise scurrying around the mall, hiding behind plants, just to keep an eye on the activities of her and her friends. There are way too many unthinkable possibilities just waiting to happen in this kind of atmosphere.
I was in dire need of a few new T-shirts and was intent on finding some. We visited a store called ‘The Hot Topic’ where we seemed to be a little out of place. It’s very much like a ‘Spencer’s’ without all of the sexual paraphernalia. My better-half and I were the only people in that crowded store over the age of 25. I made my way to the back wall because I’d been told they have offer quite the collection of T-Shirts made with images of vintage rock groups.
I decided some time ago to make a few changes to my boring wardrobe. I concocted a few new rules to help make my life a little easier when it comes to making a personal fashion statement.
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No more white T-shirts of any kind. Being as clumsy as I am makes white t-shirts a nightmare. Everything I eat eventually leaves it’s mark somewhere on the front of the shirt..
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No more stupid or cute sayings on my shirts. It make me either look stupid or uncute.
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Buy only T-shirts about classic musical groups. There aren’t any current groups I’d allowed to be displayed on this body.
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No more extra-large shirts. I’m now just a large and proud of it.
I found a few shirts (see the photo’s) I absolutely loved, made my purchases and we headed to the food court.
It’s a place with long lines, plastic sporks, and borderline delicious foods. There were representative kiosks from most Asians cultures as well as many of the standard American calorie and fat factories. We pigged out on a selection or two from Arby’s because the lines for Chinese food were too damn long.
I think it’s quite possible the decline of this county was part of a well planned attack initiated many decades ago by the Chinese. I’ll bet years ago they decided as a first step towards invasion to build as many Chinese restaurants as they could in the US and get a large majority of the population addicted to their food. If by chance over the next decade we begin to see Islamic restaurants springing up everywhere it could mean only one thing. Eventually this country will be the prize that goes to the winner of the Chinese/Muslim food wars.
With indigestion in our near future we left the confines of the mall and headed home. That Arby’s feast was so good it keep coming back up all night reminding us just how good it really wasn’t.
Lesson learned, no more fast food from the food court.
What’s your morning routine? For most of my life I’ve had a routine and I stuck to it regardless of the day, the month, or the year. It also was flexible enough to change when necessary to fit my always changing lifestyle. I have to say that my routine these days is by far the best it’s ever been.
I’m sitting in a nice warm bed and into my second cup of coffee while watching and listening to one of my favorite chick flicks, Return to Me. My better-half has left for work, the cat has been fed, and I just finished off a bowl of crunchy cereal covered with berries and almond milk. Now it’s time to write this posting before I finally roll out of bed and officially start my day.
With Fall now rushing upon us and Labor Day behind us, we decided to make our farewell visit to the nearby tourist trap, Old Orchard Beach. We expected much smaller crowds because many places close up for the season just after the Labor Day weekend. It was warm and sunny and the crowds were even smaller than we anticipated.
We were both surprised to see that the vast majority of shops and restaurants had already closed their doors for the year. I’d intended to do some shopping at a certain store but because it was on the grounds of the amusement park it was fenced off and locked up. That’s what I get for delaying my visit to avoid the crowds. Another casualty of my claustrophobic need to avoid large groups of insane people.
The beach was almost as empty as everything else. Just a few die-hard beach people refusing to accept the fact that Winter is fast approaching.
We made our way to The Pier and the local Irish Pub. They were open for business and apparently trying to rake in as much money as they could from any straggling tourists. The prices were too high but the food was almost as good as the cold beer or so says my live-in beer expert. I had the vodka tonic which wasn’t all that bad either.
We ended the evening with our mandatory visit to the Arcade for my better-half’s minor obsession with Skee Ball. Don’t ask me why she has it, I just don’t know. We walked around for twenty minutes or so and decided to call it a night. The Summer is over, Fall is beginning, and we’ll be shoveling the white stuff all too soon.
Just so you know the little guy on the right is me. A little bit taller and always keeping an eye out for trouble. And in my humble opinion a whole lot cuter too.
Today’s my day to brag a little. We finished the last of the canning yesterday which means that within the next three weeks I’ll begin to close down the garden for this year. I have to say it’s been a great gardening summer with more enough rain to keep the plants happy and a level of production at least 30% better than last year. This first list is the approximate amounts of veggies we harvested over the last three months.
- 10 – pounds of cherry tomatoes
- 6 – pounds of jalapeños
- 2 -pounds of cayenne peppers
- 6 – pounds of snap peas
- 4 – pounds of black beans
- 30 – pounds of zucchini
- 2 – pounds of kohlrabies
- 50 – pounds of cucumbers
- 4 – pounds of Beets
- 5 – pounds of radishes
- Two additional plantings of lettuce.
- Two additional plantings of snap peas.
- One additional planting of radishes
We then took most of them and processed them into the following list of usable foods for the winter months.
- 10 – pints of hot mustard dill pickles
- 15 – pints of pickled zucchini
- 12 – pints of pickled jalapeños
- 8 – pints of pickled veggie mix
- 24 – pints of hot B&B pickles
- 1 – pint of pickled jalapeño/habaneros
- 13 – quarts of roasted corn/black bean salsa
- 9 – half pints of radish relish
- 18 – large loaves of zucchini bread
- 5 – quarts of pickled kimchi
- 12 – quarts of chili for freezing
- 4 – pounds of kale, frozen
This last list are the herbs I harvested during the Summer to help refill our stocks for winter. We use a great deal of them in every meal we make and we also supply to to family and friends when requested. They’re extremely easy to grow and dry and taste great.
- 1 – quart jar of dried oregano
- 1 – quart jar of dried parsley
- 1 – pint jar of dried habaneros
- 2 – quarts of dried chives
- 1 – quart of dried garlic chives
- 1 – pint jar of dried jalapeños
- 2 – quarts of dried kale
- 9 – pounds of dried sunflower seeds
- 1 – quart of dried Cilantro
- 1 – quart of dried Basil
All of this was from a 350 square foot garden.
Gardening is not as easy as most people think but the rewards make it well worth the effort. My better-half and I really want to know what we’re putting into our bodies. While it’s almost impossible to do that 100% these days, it gives us a little more peace of mind than the average person. Along with gardening we’ve become two of the biggest pain-in-the-butt label readers anywhere. It’s something everyone should learn to do because it’s enlightening and at times a little scary.
The better-half has a few batches of jam to prepare in the next few weeks but there’s no rush. All the necessary berries are in the freezer and can be used at any time. I always look forward to the blackberry jam made from the berries we picked, there’s nothing better.
Happy Labor Day for what it’s worth. It’s one of those holidays that has slowly morphed into something it was never meant to be. It currently is the day to celebrate the end of Summer instead of a celebration of the citizens that made this country great. I understand that everything is destined to change at some future point but sometimes it’s not all that great.
My better-half had the day off which is always something to celebrate so we decided to do a little cruising around southern Maine to enjoy the sunny and warm weather. Cameras in hand we made our way south along Rt. 202 towards the city of Sanford. I enjoy returning to Sanford because I lived there as a single parent to my cat for nine years. It was fun to cruise around and see all of the changes that have taken place in a town that really needed a lot of change.
In the small village of Alfred, ME we made a quick stop at the Notre Dame Monastery. This is a religious group of Brothers who maintain and work a large farm as well as a bakery and a small gift shop. Much of the money raised by the sales of baked goods helps to fund the York County Community Shelter. It’s home to some homeless folks, victims of domestic violence, and a variety of court ordered individuals.
We love stopping to get pictures of their large sunflower patch and to visit the bakery. We picked up an incredibly delicious loaf of wheat bread, a cookie for her, and a raspberry crisp for me. Everyone needs a little sweetness once in a while.
We decided we should stop in some small out of the way place to enjoy a good hearty breakfast. Years ago we occasionally lunched at a little hole-in-the-wall located just outside of Sanford that unfortunately went out of business shortly thereafter. It’s since been reopened with a new owner and a really nice face lift. It’s now called Mel’s Raspberry Patch.
The place is small with maybe ten small tables and six stools along a counter. We plopped at the counter, ordered coffee, and then our meal. Some things haven’t changed. The food is still great, the people are still friendly, and the morning newspaper is still free and readily available for reading. I had my standard breakfast: Two eggs sunny side up, two sausage patties, crispy home fries, toast coffee and jam. The better-half ordered the same meal with bacon and the food was delicious. The conversation with the waitresses was light and fun and it was a nice start to our day. The total bill with tip was less than $20.00.
From there we headed south through Sanford with the intention of cruising east along the border with NH to visit some old haunts and see the sights. We visited the towns of North Berwick and Berwick before ending up in Somersworth, NH. Actually Somersworth is the other half of Berwick which straddles the state border. We’ve always enjoy riding through this somewhat rural farming community which offers lots of opportunities for picture taking.
We cut cross-country and made our way slowly northeast to Rochester, NH where the better-half had an attack of shopper’s withdrawal. I was forced to stop at the local K-Mart so the better-half could run free for an hour. I just have to let her loose occasionally or she gets testy just sitting in the car. I don’t totally understand her need to run since I always leave the car window cracked just a little.
I think her whole point of cruising today was to finally end up in Lebanon, ME that as a town has little to be proud of except for a longstanding flea market. It was located approximately ten minutes away from Rochester but on the way we ran into another flea market (junk sale) in the parking lot of a small strip mall. I was once again strong-armed into pulling over to spend twenty minutes handling a lot of junk that was cheap, dirty and more than a little disgusting. I think the better-half feels she’s required to make a purchase of at least one item no matter where we stop. She threw her questionable purchases into the trunk and we moved on down the road.
We made a really short visit at the flea market in Lebanon but was once again disappointed. It was Labor Day and we expected a large crowd. We were the crowd. We made a quick stop, one minor purchase (required) and headed home. All in all a pretty nice day.
As the summer continues to wind down we’re slowly preparing for the end of the garden and this years growing season. We still have a few tasks that need to be completed before I take it down for the last time. We have what seems to be an endless supply of cherry tomatoes this year which we’ll be eating steadily until the first frost. My better-half has taken steps to can a few quarts of those tomatoes and they’ll be delicious during the upcoming Maine winter. Even though they’re canned they taste better than those hot house selections available in the food stores.
This is the first year we’ve grown black beans and I have to say they grow fast and in great numbers. We spent a hour yesterday shucking the beans and delivering them to the dehydrator. We can store them for a longer period of time once they’ve been sufficiently dried.
We also planted three varieties of kale which are in need of processing in some fashion. Earlier in the summer we blanched a quantity which went directly into the freezer. I harvested what I thought was a large quantity of kale leaves yesterday thinking I would dehydrate them and store them in jars much like dried parsley. Then they could be used in soups or sprinkled on almost any food as a flavor enhancer. I really do love the smell and taste of kale and look forward to using it as often as possible. Unfortunately once dried and crushed my large pile of leaves turned into a single quart jar full.
‘Picked’
‘Blanched’
‘Iced’
‘Finished Product’
I’ve been maintaining a fairly accurate record of what our garden has produced thus far and I’ll be posting that list within a week or so. I feel the need to brag a little because this garden has produced more than we could ever have hoped for.
As you can see the concord grape wine has taken one more step towards final bottling. It looks and smells wonderful and I managed to sneak a taste and it was excellent. A few more weeks and this batch will be finished and bottled.
What does beautiful weather and a lack of humidity mean to you? To me it means a day in the woods and swamps with my camera and a gallon of bug spray. This summer hasn’t allowed me as much time as I’d like to roam around. We’ve been much too busy to take the time and I’m not at all happy about that. So today I decided to make time for a little of Mother Nature’s healing influences.
I’ve been attempting this summer to collect as many photo’s as possible of the illusive dragonfly. I packed up the car and made my way back to my favorite swamp for another attempt. In years past there were a constant supply of dragonflies beginning in July and lasting until Labor Day. This year has been quite a bit different possibly due to the higher than normal rainfall. The number of dragonflies in the skies around our home has steadily increased over the last few weeks and I’m hoping for the best here in the swamp.
As I arrived at the sanctuary I discovered a few vehicles parked around meaning other visitors in the area. Hopefully they’re here to pick black berries and aren’t stumbling around near the swamp scaring the wildlife away. I cover myself in bug spray and head into the woods. The milkweed pods are in bloom in really large numbers this year. I’ve also noticed a much large number of thistle plants as well which always makes for interesting photographs.
The closer I get to the swamp the more dragonflies I’m seeing and as I enter the swamp they’re everywhere. I also notice that most of the ones I’m seeing are all the same color. In a normal year I would see at least a dozen brightly colored variations but not today.
There are a few mallard ducks flying around but they refuse to sit still long enough for me to get a few photo’s. They seem a little jumpy which could mean a few visitors had been in the area before my arrival. I stumbled into an area with a large cluster of dragonflies so I stood perfectly still and waited for them to come around to check me out. This was my best picture of the day. This guy was a rather small specimen who’s actual size was only about an inch and a half long.
Since the selection was somewhat limited I decided to move on to a secondary swamp located nearby that usually has large numbers of frogs and turtles. I hope to find a little more activity there. It’s unusually quiet today which can only mean previous visitors which for me isn’t a good thing. I arrive in the area and there’s no wildlife activity at all except for this stupid frog. No dragonflies, one frog, and no turtles. I decided to call it a day and began my trek back to my car. It seems today was a wasted trip.
As I made my way along the trail I came upon that group of visitors. They were all clustered around my favorite blackberry patch filling up their containers. It appears a number of new people have stumbled onto the patch which translates to less berries for me and my better-half. We’ll need to stop by in a few days and hopefully collect enough berries to make our usual batch of summer jam.
We shall see.
