The Rain Falls Mainely On Blueberry Plains

                         

 

    Dylan....Hard Rain     A young Bob Dylan plays about what Maine is experiencing here in Maine. It is getting to the point of being ridiculous now. It has been two weeks or MORE with no end in sight….Rain….Rain….and more RAIN! I am not really sure if I remember what the sun looks like. Some days I feel like I am in a movie and the crew is going to shut off the rain machine at any time. It is not only effecting our crops that we grow here in Maine but the businesses as well. Who wants to buy ice cream when it is raining? Of course golfing is no fun in the rain! Campers at our local camp grounds are staying inside their tents and cabins. Outdoor events are being taken inside. We did manage to get one or two days of “dry” weather, long enough to mow our grass….thank God…because with all that RAIN, it sure did grow a lot!

   What’s going on in Maine? Is there a constant dark cloud that hovers over us and refuses to leave? Is it the largest and slowest stalled out weather front we have ever seen? Has someone cursed our beautiful state and made us the recipients of constantly dripping days and nights? What’s up? I’ll tell you what’s up!….cloudy…gloomy looking skies….that’s what’s up! We are ALL sick of it. Enough already! I can’t tell you the last time I watered my garden….there’s NO NEED TO….the RAIN takes care of that!! Those strange mushrooms are growing again this year because it is so WET!! Even the birds are sick of it and so is my cat Baby and my dog Obie. We need our big orange/red/yellow ball back….right now!!

I will never take you for granted again….I promise! Even if you are hot and annoying at times, I promise I will keep my mouth shut about it….really I mean it this time! Just come on back….we miss your bright, glowing face.

   I just came back in from my garden, and believe it or not it seems to be doing alright. My tomatoes are growing like weeds. The corn is getting taller and the sunflowers are as well. The pepper plants have chew marks on them. The green beans are better and the ugly bugs have disappeared in the rain. I hope they don’t come back with our red ball (if it ever comes back) and start chewing again. The grass has grown probably 3 inches in just a couple of days.

   There are a few pluses to getting this much rain. I don’t think ANYONE’S well will go dry this summer! Everything is green….green….green! My husband reseeded some large patches of our lawn that had gone bald and they are very green. The patio furniture stays clean and so do the cars. It keeps the black flies down and the June Bugs have not emerged yet….they are too busy drowning in the soil! The giant moths that come out at night when the outside light is on are gone! You KNOW how much I love those bugs! :)  So…pray for the warmth of the sun to come back to Maine…..purty please……thanks girls!!

   I hope to be all warm and fuzzy next time I write in this blog and I am hoping it will be from my good friend….Mr. Sun.

 

 

   Meanwhile……my mantra….my chant….my daily prayer will include our wonderful sun. Maybe if I say enough nice things about it, we will see it again. Here’s hoping…..

 

 

 

The Honest Scrap

                             

   Our good friend Jane Gaston at Gaston Studio has bestowed this award upon me! This is my second award since being in blog land and I am honored. Jane is a great writer, whose unbelievable stories from real life, will keep you driven to come back for more .She’s like a drug….you can’t get enough of her. You cannot  just read one paragraph and move on, it pulls you in like a great novel. When you go to her post, you’d better have a little time on your hands and a good hot cup of coffee and a comfy chair, because you are in for the long haul. Thanks Jane! Coming from you, this is pretty outstanding! Now…about the award:

   The award is bestowed upon a blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver's opinion, brilliant. It particularly highlights those bloggers who consistently post from the heart, put their hearts on display, or write from the depths of their souls.

    I am following Jane’s lead here by listing bloggers I believe do the same.  There are so many great blogs out there….as a matter of fact they are all fantastic. Some people don’t care for the award thing and that’s ok. As long as everyone KNOWS I love you and your fabulous blogs, were good…..right?…..Yes….that means YOU!….YOU know who you are! Ok…..drum roll please………….Thank you……………Here we go:

1.  C & G Design   …..This is a warm and friendly woman named Dawn who ALWAYS writes from the heart. She is a kind and loving mom who shares stories about her kids and their adventures as well. I have come to love this blog, her writings, and her amazing crafts! I hope to someday meet her!

2. DowneastDoingStuff ……. Elenka, is a  down to earth fellow Mainer who is an incredible artist and blogger as well. She definitely writes from the depth of her soul.

3. Note Songs …..Oh my….Sheila! Talk about a sweet person, that is full of life and speaks to us all with a song in her heart….literally! Each post comes with a song she has posted along with her writings….hence the name of her blog! A great lady!

4. Rural Maine Life ….. Kathleen is also from Maine….hmm,,,is there some kind of theme happening here?…oh well…She’s a wonderful Maine gal who really knows how to get those auction deals and share them with the rest of us. She also makes some beautiful crafty stuff.

5. Smart Mouth Broad …..And Last but certainly NOT least is our girl Smart Mouth Broad….I just like saying the full name. If I ever had her for dinner, I would have to print that name on a card and put it next to her plate! Love it! You’ll get a real big kick in the (arse) reading this girl’s blog. She’s a scream and always from the heart with a little tongue in cheek thrown in for good measure.

 

  Ok….that’s my list and I am sticking to it. Thanks Jane for the award and the chance to highlight a few of our bloggers.  As long as we all remember that it is NOT about being awarded that counts, it is about being decent and kind, tolerant and understanding of one another that is important.  I don’t know many bloggers….just a hand full and that’s alright with me. Keep it simple is my motto. I can barely get to most of you now, but when I do, I am happy to be there. Hey….while I have your undivided attention….what do you all think of a once a week blog where we all submit one recipe we can all copy and use. Like for instance….one week would be a particular type of salad or ??…whatever? I am looking for a good potato salad recipe right now. I’ve never found one I liked. So….tell me what you think? Maybe some of you already do this? Thanks again Jane….glad to have you back!

                                  

Trying To Get Back Here…..

   

   Every time I sit down to start a post in my blog lately, the phone rings or I forget I have to be somewhere or my cat baby is meowing or Obie wants my attention! I can barely get to my garden to check on those weeds! It has been raining here for days. Everyone is complaining about it. It’s great for the garden but also good for those darned weeds….which are multiplying as I write. I have some weird gold/yellow/green bugs that are dining on my green bean leaves. Last year they piggy backed all over them and I hand picked them off. I don’t have time lately so I may have to re-seed the beans. It really ticks me off when bugs invade my garden. That’s the price of planting an organic garden I guess. I will have to research this some more.

   All is well over here on Blueberry plains. We had a great Fathers Day get together here. Woody and Alice were here (my father and mother in law) and Joe (my brother in law) and my kids, Kyle and Carissa. There were also many dogs! Kyle brought his dog Katie….Carissa brought her dog Piper….Joe brought his dog Jecoda, and of course Obie loved every minute of it! He thought the whole thing was about him! My cat Baby hid upstairs the whole time….sneaking down about a half hour after everyone left…..very carefully…and lurking around the corners, just in case!

   We had a nice meal of homemade chicken fingers, a pot of yellow eye beans, pasta salad, and for dessert we had a brownie pizza. That was a little rich and you really had to have a long sweet tooth to enjoy that one! We all had fun. The boys mostly did computer stuff in the living room and us girls chatted in the dining room and laughed and laughed. We had a ball.

   I had a surprise for my father in law that I had been working on for about 3 weeks. I was not able to blog about it because he reads my blog! His blog is called Good Old Beans. He loves birds and creatures of the wild and outside he and Alice’s home, he created a bird feeding station. He affectionately calls it GOODOLDBEANFEEDINGSTATION. So….I made him a sign that said just that for Fathers day. Here is a picture of it from his blog. Would you believe I forgot to take pictures that day!

  This is a picture of it once he took it home. It is made from a piece of baseboard floor molding. It was many colors as I could not choose which was best. After many layers of paint, it ended up red, white and blue. I noticed there was a flat area in the center on one side…perfect for stenciling the letters! I tried to draw a rooster and a couple of birds….Hey…I’m not an artist….I tried! On the other side, I painted a checkerboard pattern…part of it is red and white and the other blue and white. I think he was happy with it because if you go to his blog, you will see that he hung it up on his feeding station! Pretty cool. Well…..it is time for me to take Obie for his glucose level check. We are hoping this is the last time for a while. He’s lost weight but we are not sure how much? I am real curious about that. He no longer looks like a sausage shaped Beagle….he’s looking more cut and healthy and Russell Terrier like. That little bit of weight loss makes a big difference on a small dog. I will check in with you all as soon as I get more that 5 minutes in my very busy life lately. It’s been a little crazy!!! Until then…..have a great week!

                       

A Visit Last Fall…..

 

Last fall, when my garden was at it’s peak, I called my girlfriend Jo-Jo and asked her to come by. She has 3 adorable children. I thoroughly enjoy watching these kids walk through my pumpkin patch and choose their own pumpkins for Halloween. Usually I have a basket full of veggies and sunflowers for them to take home. Here are some pictures of these yummy, full of life kids, and their beautiful mom…..

All you have to do is tell them you are taking a picture and they pose!

Aren’t they adorable? the child standing is Gabe, the baby. He is so animated.

Big brother Jacob can make some pretty strange faces too.

Maya has her hands full being the only girl and big sister in the family! There’s mom….my friend Jo-Jo….they had a fun day. They took home some corn, beets, strange looking carrots and gourds, purple beans and cucumbers, spaghetti and butternut squash and pumpkins. I am looking forward to seeing them at the end of the summer once again. Jo is an awesome mom. She makes all of their Halloween costumes every year. She sews individual blankets for these cherubs too. Each child is treated like a king or queen on their birthday. She makes all of their absolute favorite foods on that day….no matter WHAT it is. When she can, she has a special day for each individual child. She takes one child out shopping, out to dinner and maybe to a movie or museum. It makes them feel important and individual. I dedicate today’s blog to my friend Jo-Jo……One of the most awesome mom’s I know! Oh and I almost forgot….she is a police liaison….which means she works for the police department as a counselor. Not just ANY counselor though. She wears a bullet proof vest and goes into dangerous places to talk to troubled people. She talks people down off bridges, she goes out on suicide calls, and deals with the homeless, just to name a few of her sometimes dangerous jobs. She does all that, and still finds the time to be the most engaging mom I know. Way to go JO~JO!!

Funny Signs…..

   Someone sent me an email the other day and this is what was in it….hysterical…..

                  Pictures you don’t see everyday.

 

Looks like UPS wins!

 

Oh Come On! Just One!

 

Start With Spelling!!!!

I think it was the Fed-ex driver!

I bet this is by the school that teaches Arithetic!!

Sometimes a name change is the best idea!

Take me to the cleaners baby!

Major dilemma in California!

 How do you get there from here??

Everything you need for a shotgun wedding!

It’s a good deal but oh those college costs!

???? McLogic gone wrong?

Excuse me?

Still dead huh? Go figure?

What?

Mass suicides….cows going over the edge…tonight on Channel 13 news!

Good job!!

Load ‘em up with burritos, mom!!

I’m confused?

How the hell can I write if I’m illiterate??

I can’t even comment on this one.

Beautiful, lush, lawns of dirt!

Speling iz knot imprtunt fir astranawts!

Make up you mind!!

Don’t drink and make signs!!

Now didn’t that make you laugh as hard as it made me laugh?? I needed a good laugh. Only in America! See you soon….I’m still trying to get caught up and check in on all of you! :)

Gratitude Plus…..

   Yesterday was my beautiful daughter Carissa’s 27th birthday. My husband and I headed out early yesterday morning for the city. The plan was to go to her apartment and spend the morning with her and my son who is living with her. I gave her a choice of money or a gift and she chose money. She is leaving today to go on her annual birthday camping trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, with a bunch of her girlfriends. I used to go there when I was younger and had a great time doing it. I once went to a place called Thunder Hole in Bar Harbor and while taking a photograph of it, my camera fell into the hole! Yup, Thunder hole swallowed my camera right up!

Carissa is a very gregarious girl. She has a ton of friends and really knows how to enjoy life. The other day she had an ugly dress party with a bunch of her girlfriends. What’s an ugly dress party you say? I said the same thing! The girls dig out their ugliest dress they own and put it on with ugly accessories like beads, hats, shoes…etc. Many of them end up going to Goodwill and buying old lady dresses….Carissa did that. I don’t know why she didn’t just come here….I know I must have plenty in my closet! The pictures of the gathering  on her face book are pretty funny. Carissa is a guitar player and dancer and lover of life. She scared the pants off me once by going skydiving with friends here in Maine. We have the video to prove it and when I watch it, my heart misses a beat. She is always doing something fun….that’s her. I taught her how to play guitar as well as my son when she was younger. Here’s a photo of her learning a song many years ago. We were at my husbands parents home for the  holidays, and yes that is me next to her coaching her…I’m getting brave.:) In the background is another relative with her new baby. We had fun spending a little bit of time with her yesterday. My husband brought his pc tools with him and cleaned up her computer for her. She sat with him,  while they went through files and updates together. I left and took my son grocery shopping. It was actually speed shopping!! My husband had an appointment back home and we were squeezed for time. We ran through the grocery store and he managed to get about 170.00 worth of groceries in a very short time, while mom was prompting him!!  “Do you really need to eat that junk? How about some fruit and fixings for salad? They both eat on the run a lot. They also work at restaurants and grab grub from there when they can. He hasn’t been shopping in a while! Then it was the terrible task of carrying all those groceries up two steep flights of stairs! I carried four bags and that was enough for me. I’ve got bad knees and i couldn’t take it. We left late and my son missed his bus to work so we decided to drive him there and gave hugs and kisses and goodbyes and happy birthdays to my adorable daughter. Last night she was going out dancing. She let everyone know where she was going and that she would have her birthday suit on! Some people wondered if she meant she’d be nekked? No….not until she goes camping!

   Because of what happened to my dear friend Ann’s son this last week, I was feeling especially grateful, to spend this time with my kids yesterday. How precious is life. Here today….gone tomorrow. She is getting through all this with the help of family and friends and God. I drove by the makeshift memorial this morning and there were many teens standing there grieving, still. Next Tuesday, there will be a large gathering that we will all attend, at the local high school, Josh went to. We will be there and then attend another gathering later, at the local legion. My heart is ripped in two about her loss, I can ONLY imagine what she feels. I pray every day for her.

   My mother in law Alice has lost three sons. Can you imagine? She and my father in law Woody have seen so much grief in their lifetime. Yet, they carry on in life, making the best they can out of life, through unbelievable strength and courage, and love for one another and family. I don’t know if I would have that strength or not. I miss my brother in laws a lot as do they….every day I am sure. Sometimes life hands us seemingly more than we can handle, but somehow we get through it, with the help of God’s sustaining love.

   Thank you all for your prayers for my friend Ann….it is so appreciated! You are all a kind and loving bunch and I am glad I have met you in cyberspace. I think that deep down most people are inherently kind and you have proven that theory here, with your thoughtful and loving comments.

   Some of you have asked about Obie? He is doing great! He is back to his old self, for now anyway. He has lost some weight and looking good! It’s ME that has a hard time NOT giving him treats! We have the insulin shots down pat and he really doesn’t notice it is even happening most days. He’s too busy thinking about cleaning up Baby’s dish of food! She is better too. She came down with a kitten cold, sneezing constantly, runny eyes and nose but still eating and drinking water. That is passing. Who knew cats got kitten colds!:)

   My garden is doing awesome! I just went out and weeded it after 4 days of steady rain. The sun is out today…hooray! My hubby is mowing the back forty and all is well. I am headed out to pick up a funeral bouquet for Ann and family from a bunch of us. I am in hopes of seeing her. I’ve tried to give her some space to grieve. Sometimes it is too much to talk to so many people.

I just talked to my daughter a few moments ago, and she is all packed and headed for Bar Harbor! She’s excited. Now my son, on the other hand, has to work and can’t go. BUT!….he has ALL that FOOD to come home to…..all by himself for 4 days! Oh God….can you tell I am a food junkie? Geeezzz

   We are Grateful Plus up here in Maine on this glorious day!

                  

A Terrible Tragedy Has Happened….

                    

   There was a terrible accident two nights ago in a nearby town. I had just let Obie outside and standing in the doorway, I could hear the sirens blaring down the road. It sounded like a long line of rescue and police going by. I wondered what was happening and where was this occurrence? I said a silent prayer and went about my business. I watched the news that night. It mentioned some teens were in a car accident nearby. The driver seemed to sail through the intersection and was hit by a commuter causing a terrible crash. The commuter, as well as two boys in the other car, were taken to the hospital, some in critical condition. There was a third boy in the car, and he was killed on scene. They were not releasing any information, regarding him, until his parents were notified. My thoughts were of the families of these boys and I hoped and prayed they could get through this tragedy regarding the boy that was killed and that the ones taken to hospital would recover fully. What a terrible ordeal to go through.

   Then I got the phone call. It was innocent enough. I have a new friend whose name is Debbie as well. She was calling to chat. She is fairly new to the area and has twin 15 1/2 year olds. One was home sick and the other had just been let out of school early. The realization of this accident had caused a good deal of the students at school to be quite upset. The name of the boy who was killed had been released. Teens were crying all over the school and the principle made the decision to let them all go home so that they could deal with their grief. Then she mentioned the deceased boys name…..Josh. “Excuse me….what was that name again?”…I said. “My kids tell me his name is Josh”…she said. When I heard the last name I almost dropped the phone. It was my friend Ann’s son and he was 16 years old. I thought I must have heard it wrong. I got off the phone and called my cousin in that nearby town. There it was again….Josh…..and this was the second confirmation. I called my friend’s house and her mother’s cell phone…no answer. I called many other friends and found out nothing more. Then, while on the phone with a friend, my husband hollers to me from the other room…. “Debbie….it’s on the news!” There it was, on the noon news, a makeshift grave that his buddies from school had made at the scene and it definitely was Josh. Now I truly believed it and I burst into tears.

   I tried his mom’s once more and then gave up, thinking I would find out more today. Last night, at around 10:00, the phone rang, it was her. I cannot tell you how hard it is to talk to a mother who feels as though someone just tore her heart out, and stomped all over it. We sobbed together on the phone. When I was done talking to her, she talked with my husband for a while. It was so heartbreaking…..I can’t even begin to tell you the whole story behind it…..she loved that boy so much. The first thing she said to me was “Oh Debbie…I just wish he knew how much I loved him.”  “He did Ann…..he did.” We will all be there for her and her family as much as we can. He was 16 years old and he was a handsome and friendly and active student….just getting started in life. He just got his license a few months ago and he was NOT driving when this occurred. It’s a terrible tragedy but I know he is in God’s hands now and he is looking down on his mom and his sister and the rest of his family and friends. She’ll never get over this but she will hopefully get through it, with the help of friends and family. She has a daughter in her early twenties that will be right beside her. I know you don’t know these people but you may know someone like them. Please say a little prayer for Josh and for Ann even if you don’t know them. I haven’t heard any more yet about the other boys in the hospital. They are in my prayers. I dedicate this blog posting to my friend Ann and to her loving boy Joshua. May he rest in peace.

Live in the present moment and find your interest and
    happiness in the things of today.
                                                                            - Emmett Fox

          You never know what is going to happen in life.