Sunday, July 26, 2009

Under Construction…..

 

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   Hey everyone….I just wanted to say so long for now and I will be back in about a month. We are in the process of re-doing our tiny little living/computer room. Our little living room used to be a bedroom years ago. The “bedroom” closet has been used for storage for many things over the years like vacuum cleaners, bags of dog and cat food, winter coats, books, notebooks of photos and Christmas wrapping paper! A kind of catch all I guess. Today, we got rid of all of that and found new homes for some items and threw out the rest. We have a big charge of stuff for the dump! It’s amazing what you can find when you start cleaning out closets! In my living room is a very old couch, an overstuffed OLDER chair, an AGED and decrepit hassock, original 1983 rust colored carpet and plain white walls. Tomorrow, our friend David will be cutting our closet out and it will be wider and taller. It will be our new media center. He will frame it out and sheetrock it. When it is all said and done, the carpet will be torn out and a new floor will go in. The entire room will be painted. We’ll have a new couch and chair and ottoman, new blinds and curtains (never had curtains in here!) We’ll have a new flat screen tv (eventually) and an updated stand for it, along with a dvd player (we have the old vcr!) and surround sound. Also we are getting a new computer table to go kitty corner in our room. New lighting on the ceiling and new lamps will have to be a part of it all. My husband ripped out our old beaten up ceiling fan that was rocking every time it got turned on today! Yes!!  And….last but not least, hubby says he HAS to have a new xbox 360 too!! Of course! So….I will take pictures throughout the whole process and show you all what took place! Until then, our computer will be gone from this room and I will be using a laptop (probably) so I will certainly visit you all!! We have many computers but they are all upstairs in my husband (The Computer Mechanics room!) That’s ok…..a laptop is very easy to set up in my dining room. Have a great August and be safe. I will miss writing in this blog but if we get done quickly, I’ll be backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!! And I will have to update you not only on this but on Port Hole 2009 too. Oh God…..I better get started on that laptop~~~~~:):):)

 

                     

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Monday, July 20, 2009

We’re Doing It Again…….

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Just a few years ago, my brother Arthur and his wife Amy, moved from our home state of Maine to Nashville, Tennessee. Arthur is the brother that always entertained the rest of us at parties and clubs. Although some of us play an instrument, none of us do it as good as him. He works hard at it. He once said to me (I play a little bit of guitar) “Debbie, you have to practice every day.” My father did that. He played that guitar every single day, just to keep in practice. Me?….I just can’t seem to find the time or the ambition to do it. Maybe that will be one of my resolutions for this coming year….but I digress. Since Art moved to Nashville, I feel like the music moved with him. There’s a big void. He carried with him, all my parents old songs and the music we grew up with, as teens and young adults. He is down there in Nashville hobnobbing with the rich and famous musicians and just bypassing us all. Heck….John Hiatt is one of his best friends! They hang out together. Last year, when Art came home, he performed at a place in Portland called The Port Hole. My entire family came and it was awesome! They are coming home the end of July and will be performing again there on August 1. We are calling it PORT HOLE 2009. My brother Arthur’s son Adam and his wife Carey, are coming too. They also live in Nashville and have the cutest little music production studio in their home. Not only do they produce music for others, they also write and perform music as a duo. The name of their band is The Sways. Here is a photo of the two of them.

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This is them at their studio a few years ago. Isn’t it cute? Sways In Studio I am so proud of them both and can’t wait to see them. I will be sure to take photos to share with you all. Until then, here are a few from last year…..Port Hole 2008!!

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stageporthole1 stageporthole2 And then a lady showed up with fake diamond rings for all the girls that looked to be about 10 carats and wigs! Crazy I know. Who do you think ended up with one of those wigs on??? NO!! NOT ME!!….It was my darling daughter Carissa…..vacation 338 who turned into someone I didn’t recognize. She had a lot of fun. So…if you are from Maine and you aren’t doing anything on August 1, stop by Port Hole 2009 down off Commercial street in Portland from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and join in the fun. My brother has some surprises this year. Some he shared with me and some he won’t, telling me that’s why they call them SURPRISES DEBBIE!!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Busy Body At Blueberry Plains…..

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   It has been hard getting back here to post lately! We have been quite busy over here on the plains. The farmers almanac stated that this summer would be a rainy one and BOY were they right!! If I believe what it says, this is NOT over for the state of Maine. So far, they have been right and I am hoping they are wrong for the rest of the season. We have such a short summer here, it is hard to swallow that forecast but what can we do?   Farmers Almanac 2009

   I have managed to get out to my garden, in the rain most of the time, and check on my little babies that are still growing, despite the down pours. Growth is slow because of the lack of sun. The only plants that are going crazy are my tomatoes! They are growing by leaps and bounds. Today it is sunny….thank you god! Our rivers and lakes are extremely high. The farmers almanac even apologizes for bad weather!!!!   Farmers Almanac Apologizes 

   I grew up in the town of Yarmouth. Every year, for as long as I can recall, the town had a big event called The Clam Festival. I went to it as a child with my parents. I walked down to it as a teenager with my friends, and brought my kids as an adult. Every year, the kickoff is on the third Friday in July. It is an event attended by hundreds of thousands of people and it is called the Clam Festival Parade. The Clam Festival  Well look at that! They even have their own website! Imagine!

   Some of the best memories of my life, come from being at that big festival! My brothers drove old cars in the parade and sometimes I rode in the cars. As a child, I rode on top of the big fire truck and threw candy. I marched in the parade as a brownie and girl scout and then later in the high school band. My fathers band would play at one of the local clubs or under a tent at the fair and so did my brother Arthur and a band he would throw together. My grand parents had a big old Victorian house on West Elm Street. My grand mother had died and my aunt and uncle lived there still. I never met my grand father, he died before I was born. The property went right to the road. The parade starts at the Yarmouth High School and proceeds down West Elm Street….right past my grand parents home. That is where we always set up chairs along the edge of the property. My entire family would be there. Cousins and friends knew where to find us on that Friday night. That beautiful old home has since been sold. My aunt and uncle have since passed and I truly miss being there. Over the years we have found other places to watch the parade.

   After the parade, my parents would have a huge gathering at their house around the corner. You could walk from my grand parents there and we often did. My parents home would be filled to the brim with young and old. Out back on the attached screened in porch, is where the musicians would gather, playing all the old tunes. Five foot two, Bill Bailey, Tiger Rag, Crazy, and many more I cannot recall right now! My brother would show up with his guitar and friends that also played. My father had friends that played mandolin and piano and the harmonica and anyone was welcome. Often times there would be a party on the porch, a party in the kitchen and one in the living room all at the same time! Neighbors would hear the music and stop by. People would walk by and hear it and stop in. I remember one year, my mother said to me… “ Debbie, do you know who those people are in the living room?”  “No mom I don’t!” But that was ok….those were the days when you could trust just about anyone and we made friends with all. They were there for the music.

   They are setting up the carnival in Yarmouth as I write. The kiddie rides will start probably tomorrow. It is usually Smokey’s Greatest Shows that haul into town during Clamfest. The parade will be this Friday night and the festival will be officially underway right through Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. I don’t spend a lot of time down there like I used to, but the memories I have of those days are wonderful and precious. My dad died in 1993 and he loved the clam fest. It was quite fitting that he died the week of the festival on July 14…..and it will be 16 years tomorrow that we lost him. I can hardly believe it and I still miss him every day. The roads to the funeral parlor were so crowded with people from the festival, we had to wait to have his funeral AFTER it was over! Can you believe it? Years later, I went to a psychic and she mentions this WAITING to me. (More on that some other time.) The funeral was not a common one. It was almost like the ones you hear about in New Orleans. It was so crowded, people were standing in the entryway. We had his Les Paul guitar on a stand in front of his casket and his banjo was there too. My brother played a couple of songs my dad wrote and there was more music. I read a poem my dad wrote when he was younger. A fellow musician and friend wrote a long “send off” that was quite apropos. It just went on and on like that and it was fabulous. My dad would have loved it. This time of year will always have great significance to me…..the wonderful Clam Festival and my dad’s passing right in the middle of it. image

image Both will always be remembered with great love.image

Friday, July 3, 2009

Heading Into The 4th…..

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   Happy 4th to you all! We will be busy tomorrow so I wanted to get a shout out to you all. We hope you have a safe and happy fourth! It is not just the fourth for us, it is also my mother and father in law’s anniversary. We don’t have specific plans yet but I know something will come together! What are you all doing for the 4th? Any big plans, or is it just another day? It is of course a big day for the firework folks.

image We used to go every year and would never think of missing the sky light up. Over the last several years, we are not a big fan of fighting the crowds, and the kids are all grown up. I need to insert a news flash here…OH MY FREAKIN GOD…..are you ready for this??????? I am officially staring out my window at something I have not seen in a long….long…..time!!!!! Guess what it is??????????????????? YES….IT LOOKS FAIRLY FAMILIAR…..I AM TAKING IT ALL IN BECAUSE IT IS A RARE OCCURENCE HERE IN MAINE THIS YEAR…..IT’S A BEAUTIFUL THING……WHOOPS….IT’S GONE…..OH MY GOD IT’S GONE ALREADY….YES, MY FRIENDS, IT IS THE SUN!!!

   Sorry about that….I got excited for a minute. It’s almost rare,  to see such a thing, the past two weeks. Have fun and please let us all know what amazing events came out of YOUR 4th of July day!!image

   I need to get Obie one of these outfits….                    image I think he would wear it well. :)

   Or I could get him a plane to ride in?image That would probably make him motion sick though…..A giant oyster shell would maybe suit him better..

image This one might work. His legs are very short and he is kind of built a little like this guy here.image A simple bowtie would be efficient too.image WE could go all out and decorate him like a Christmas tree…..he might enjoy that…image ……or I could put crepe paper all over him….image and parade him around? We’ll see which one he likes and let him choose the best costume…..or NOT! :)

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