Me On The East Coast

2011: The highlights

2012-01-10T18:19:00.002-04:00

- Read 91 books.
- Turned another page of adulthood when childhood home was finally sold.
- Got spayed and became cancer survivor (sort of.)
- Spent the night in three porn inns, Charlotte's Rose Inn in Charlottetown, the Marco Polo in Cavendish, and my beloved Mecklenburgh Inn in Chester, NS.
- Saw gorillas, giraffes, beluga whales, a polar bear, and a ridiculous number of other animals from around the world in one week in Orlando.
- Reconnected with an old friend and felt (and acted) like we were 19 again.
- Saw Will and Kate!
- Finished a couple of really nice quilts.

I resolve ...

2011-12-29T18:17:00.000-04:00

- To blog more. I can't remember a damn thing that happened this year without it.
- To use a real mug at work and stop using styrofoam cups. They make me feel guilty.
- Ditto reusable shopping bags.
- Remember to bring reusable bags in to store.
- Should I even bother with 'eat less crap and exercise more'? Sure, what the hell.
- Use Kitchen Aid stand mixer more.
- Listen to music more.

- Do all recipes in new Michael Smith cookbook, a la Julie and Julia.
.

Another visit to the Mecklenburgh Inn. I just love this place!

2011-10-24T17:56:00.000-03:00

Will and Kate in Prince Edward Island!

2011-08-24T16:13:00.003-03:00

Time to blog again. We saw Will and Kate in Charlottetown last month! Peter got this great shot of them driving down Great George Street. It looked really cool with the Mounties in their red serge. V. cool.

She's so pretty!

I love them too!

We also saw them as they entered a reception on the waterfront. Peter couldn't see over all the people when he took this pic, but it's a great shot of their legs.

Here's where we stayed when we went to see Will and Kate

2011-08-24T15:58:00.002-03:00

Charlotte's Rose Inn in Charlottetown, PEI.

It's decorated full Victorian.

The dining room.

The front hall.

Bed and bath at Charlotte's Rose Inn

2011-08-24T15:51:00.003-03:00

We stayed in the Jacques Cartier room. It had a very nice Dresden Plate quilt on the bed.

I would also have been happy to stay in the Confederation Room.

I had a great bath.

The excellent breakfast

2011-08-24T15:38:00.001-03:00

Cheesy featherbed eggs.

Yogurt and strawberry parfait.

Lemon bread.

Nooks and crannies, Queen Victoria, and the small details at Charlotte's Rose Inn

2011-08-24T15:29:00.003-03:00

Tea table in front window.

Lots of books on the bedside table.

The snack station.

Peacock feathers and Victoria.

2010: the highlights

2011-01-07T14:49:00.001-04:00

- Saw a ridiculous number of shows in 2010: Lord of the Dance, Stone Temple Pilots (even though I played games on my phone the whole time), a show at the original Tropicana in Havana, plus all the cheesy shows at the resort every night we were in Cuba, Regis Philbin at the Casino, then Regis and Kelly in Charlottetown, Paul Anka, Kim Mitchell, Joan Rivers, Sig and the Hillstrands from Deadliest Catch, the Nutcracker in December, and Oliver! starring the Boy as 'orphan.'

- Read 84 books. That's a lot of lying on the couch.

- Turned 40.

- Stayed in three awesome porn inns, including my beloved Mecklenburgh Inn.

- Finished massive "Shores of Hawk Run Hollow" cross stitch, one quilt top, one lap quilt, and almost finished a small hooked rug.

- Survived changes at work.

- Started flossing more often.

Churn Dash!

2010-11-26T09:01:00.003-04:00

I have an impressive stash of quilt, cross stitch, and hooked rug UFOs, all neglected during the many months I worked on The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I've been on a tear with these Churn Dash blocks since I finished SHRH. I finished the last ten in just two weeks ... a record for slow, plodding me.

Rock mat

2010-11-18T09:13:00.001-04:00

I saw this neat mat outside the door of a jewelry shop in Bar Harbor in August. It's a mat covered in flat stones. I wonder how hard it would be make one?

Finished, framed, and hanging

2010-11-17T16:29:00.000-04:00

A not-so-great pic of the Shores of Hawk Run Hollow hanging in the dining room. Now I'm on a quilting tear with one of my many UFOs.

Joan Rivers tried to steal my boyfriend

2010-11-15T07:34:00.001-04:00

As the casino's photographer, he got to hang with her in her dressing room for a bit when she did a show here on the weekend. She told him she "could tell when someone knew what they were doing," and said he should come to Vegas with her... who knows if she was talking about his photographic skills?! ;)
He also went on an errand to get her M&Ms ... he said she made no diva-like demands about having the brown ones removed.

The show was awesome ... I laughed so hard that I nearly fell out of my seat. Joan has a major potty mouth. I've also never seen anyone in person who's had that much plastic surgery.

The house porn is in the details

2010-11-12T16:09:00.002-04:00

The Mecklenburgh Inn is full of beautiful, interesting, and quirky stuff everywhere: quilts, hooked rugs, antiques, rubber duckies in the bathrooms and beanie babies hanging from the light fixtures, lots of art, etc. It manages to look very cool and eclectic, whereas my place would look just full of crap.

Old sign in kitchen.

Room signs.

Neat antique coffee grinder.

One of many hooked rugs of all sizes scattered throughout the inn.

Seashell wallpaper!

Bacon and eggs stained glass above the front door!

Lots of lamps with nautical shades.

Gorgeous old floors.

Another nautical lampshade.

Butcher block in the kitchen.

There are quilts on the walls, quilts hung over the bannister, and quilts thrown over everywhere to sit down.

Another hooked rug.

There are hooked mats on top of tables and chests, and lots of old ones on the floors.

I really love this quilt.

More old hooked mats.

The Meck - The Inside

2010-11-10T18:22:00.003-04:00

The living room. Check out the rug hooked pillow on the chair.

The Paddington Bear can is the cookie jar.

The dining room.

Part of the enormous bathroom in the Mrs. Finney's Hat room.

The bed in Mrs. Finney's Hat.

Ballet slippers hanging from the dresser.

The Winter's Island room.

The couch in the corner of Winter's Island. The bed has a gorgeous old poststamp quilt, plus the one on the couch.

The kitchen in the morning.

The 'Saddle Island' room.

The dining room again.

The rest of the bathroom in Mrs. Finney's Hat. I love the rope ladder towel rack.

The Mecklenburgh - The Porch

2010-11-10T08:26:00.001-04:00

The upstairs porch is a very nice place to sit and read with a cup of tea. It also has a hammock.

It also has a couple of really cute tables.

I really like the fish table ... I wonder if my dad could make one?

The Mecklenburgh Inn, Chester, Nova Scotia - the outside

2010-11-05T08:52:00.002-03:00

I had my annual South Shore/Mecklenburgh Inn getaway the weekend before Halloween. It's the fourth year in a row that I've stayed there. It is my absolute favourite inn in the whole world. Or at least out of the dozen or so that I've stayed at.

Chester has been a destination for the sailing crowd for more than one hundred years, plus the Meck's owner spends the winter cooking on yachts in the Carribbean, hence the sailing theme. I love the nautical flags.

The inn has a great sign.

Pumpkins above the front door.

A good Halloween

2010-11-01T08:34:00.000-03:00

Friday night I saw 'Paranormal Activity 2,' very scary, but didn't keep me up that night. Saturday we carved our Jack O'Lanterns, then went to the Keillor House museum in Dorchester, which was turned into an amazing haunted house. The Boy carved his own pumpkin for the first time, and wasn't the least bit daunted by the haunted house. And the weather was beautiful last night for trick or treating. We even met Darth Vader.

I finished the Shores of Hawk Run Hollow! Go me!

2010-10-18T09:58:00.000-03:00

I fell in lust with this the instant I saw it. I love it. It's so beautiful, so many little details, and it contains everything I love. It makes me think of 'grey ladies,' ghosts who haunt the shores waiting for their loved ones lost at sea to return home to them.
I'm not sure if the designer had a location in mind when she created this, but it's perfect for Atlantic Canada.

I spent more than a solid year and a half stitching this, mostly an hour or two at a time after the Boy had gone to bed. I worked on this during many espisodes of CSI, Desperate Housewives, and Hoarders.

This is by far the largest x-stitch I've ever made, 24 1/2" by 18". There are approximately 58-bazillion stitches in it.

The really great thing about cross stitching is that it requires no talent ... just a lot of patience and a good lamp.

Off to the framer!

Mahone Bay Scarecrow Festival

2010-10-02T13:01:00.000-03:00

This is usually the weekend of my annual October Mahone Bay weekend, but Peter couldn't go this weekend because he has to take pictures of Bill Cosby at the casino tonight. V. cool.. Besides, it's raining this weekend. And we're going there in two weeks. So here are some pics from last year when I went with my friend.

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia is my absolute favourite town in the world. It's all old house porn, adorable shops and restaurants. It's also home of Nova Scotia's phantom ship, the Young Teazer.

The first weekend of October, the town holds the Scarecrow Festival. Hundreds of the most imaginative scarecrows are displayed everywhere.

Part of the festivities is the Pumpkin walk. The lady who owns Jo-Ann's Deli carves 150 of the most incredible jack o lanterns which are displayed on a spooky side street. It's magical.

Picasso jack o'lanterns.

Deadliest Catch!

2010-09-20T10:37:00.000-03:00

Captains Sig, and Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand from Deadliest Catch were in town for a show. It was not family-friendly, to say the least. I'm pretty sure they were all tanked. I've never heard the eff-bomb so many times. But highly entertaining!

This wasn't bad

2010-09-19T10:14:00.000-03:00

It was no "Sixth Sense," but at least it didn't have Mark Wahlberg talking to a plant.

My baby is 7!

2010-09-17T09:21:00.000-03:00

I can't believe the Boy is seven. It seems like yesterday that he was a precious newborn. Now, he's in grade 2, plays hockey, and this week, he learned how to burp on command.

It feels like fall!

2010-09-08T09:10:00.000-03:00

After an entire week of energy-sucking heat and extreme humidity, Earl blew through on the weekend (an entire hour and a half of rain and wind, not quite the recurrence of the Saxby Gale that it sounded like we were going to get) and now it's cool and cloudy.
It's time to get some potted mums and cattails for the steps, and haul out the fall quilts.
I also crave scary reading and movies in the fall (more so than usual). I just finished Needful Things. Am thinking Salem's Lot next.

It's September 1st

2010-09-01T09:40:00.000-03:00

And it's going to be 34 degrees celcius today, in the 40s with humidity. Somehow I just don't feel like bringing out the fall quilts and decorations.

Saw this last night

2010-08-30T08:52:00.000-03:00

I just did not get the book or the hype over it, but I thought Julia Roberts made the movie much more palatable. The biggest 'huh?' scene in the book, where the author is apologizing to a blue ball of light she is imagining is her ex husband, was reworked and is actually one of the most touching scenes in the movie. Good soundtrack, too.

Blueberry season

2010-08-29T07:55:00.001-03:00

Before I put this year's annual 5 lb box of blueberries in the freezer, I baked a pie. The Boy and Peter will not eat blueberry pie. Luckily, I have co-workers who do.

Out of the mouths of babes

2010-08-28T07:57:00.000-03:00

I'm not sure how we got onto the topic, but here's what the Boy said on the way home last night:

"I thought wives are kind of slaves."

I wasn't really sure what to say.

I saw Paul Anka last night!

2010-08-27T07:56:00.000-03:00

He was amazing! What a fabulous entertainer, a true pro. Before my time for sure, but I got a free ticket, and am very glad I went. I'm going to have to check out Rock Swings.

"Family members survive encounter with whale off NB coast"

2010-08-25T08:36:00.001-03:00

These guys are going to be telling this story for the rest of their lives!

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/1187931

Two PEI day trips

2010-08-24T08:16:00.000-03:00

Peter's mom and I went to Summerside, PEI on Sunday to see the Anne and Gilbert musical. I liked it even more than the Anne of Green Gables musical in Charlottetown. Beautiful costumes and singing, and I even teared up at one point.

I also stocked up on these from Anne of Green Gables Chocolates. I always thought chocolate-covered potato chips sounded gross, until I tried them. They are completely addictive.

Last Wednesday, Peter, the Boy and I went to Shining Waters in Cavendish. A lot of stuff from Rainbow Valley is there. We also went to the Cows ice cream factory outside of Charlottetown and did the tour and ate ice cream. We had a great day. It's really nice living just an hour away from PEI.

Now I'm back at work and have terrible vacation letdown. :(

Bar Harbor beach glass

2010-08-21T09:44:00.002-03:00

One of the Acadia gift shops in Bar Harbor had ten huge jars of beach glass and pottery shards. Someone's been collecting it for a long time!

This is what I found, at a beach in Acadia, and some really nice pieces on a very small beach outside the hotel.

Maine mustard porn

2010-08-20T08:20:00.000-03:00

It's not very often I get excited about mustard. This stuff is made by a company in Maine. It's the only stoneground mustard in the U-S. It's really good, and very attractively packaged.

The first bottle is made with beer from the Atlantic Brewing Company. The other one is from the Jameson Tavern in Freeport, where they have the most amazing lobster stew.

I found these sheets at the LL Bean outlet in Ellsworth. I had hoped to find these in twin for the Boy's bed, but no luck. So they'll just have to go on my bed. He prefers Spiderman, anyway.

Reading material

2010-08-19T07:58:00.001-03:00

Sherman's Books is a really great little book and gift store in Bar Harbor (and Freeport and Camden.) I like to get something local in the way of reading material when I go somewhere, usually a cookbook and something spooky. This time I also got the new Linda Greenlaw, which I've been dying to read. Books are way cheaper in the U-S.

Bar Harbor food porn

2010-08-18T08:06:00.000-03:00

I had lobster four times ... two lobster rolls, lobster bisque, and lobster benedict for breakfast. Of course, lobster is pretty easy to come by at home, but it's more fun when you're away.

All you- can- eat buffet at the BBQ restaurant at the Atlantic Brewing Company. Awesome! Not to mention a very pretty courtyard to eat in.

Lobster Benedict at 2 Cats. Oh my God, it was so good! And also the most expensive breakfast I've ever eaten.

I was very happy to finally eat at 2 Cats. It's adorable.

Breakfast porn in house porn... what could be better?

We also ate at Stewman's lobster pound at the hotel.

I had lobster roll number two.

We had a very nice view of Frenchman's Bay.

And finally, my beloved Jordan Pond House. This was one of the best meals I've ever had in my life! Lobster stew, popovers, lemonade, and a popover stuffed with chocolate ice cream. I was very happy.

Long weekend in Bar Harbor

2010-08-17T09:06:00.000-03:00

What a great time. No inn porn this time, unfortunately... every bloody place was booked except for the most crazy expensive rooms. But there was ocean view porn, gift shop porn, and the food porn ...oy!

Sand Beach

The top of Cadillac Mountain

Downtown Bar Harbor

Finding garbage on the beach makes me happy

2010-08-12T07:43:00.000-03:00

The beach I happened upon that seemed to have a lot of beach glass was not a fluke. I went there on Sunday morning and found a ton of it, including a brown piece with 'JA' on it (javex?) and a pottery shard. I also found a big blue piece. I found a tiny blue sliver in PEI last year, and a lot of blue glass in Cuba, but this is the first blue piece I've found in New Brunswick.

I found all this in two hours. I was giddy with excitement. Apparently it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Another block done!

2010-08-11T07:06:00.001-03:00

This is the block I was least looking forward to. But it went very smoothly, with very little 'reverse stitching.'

There are approximately 58 bazillion stitches in this block.

Here's the last one. I am actually going to finish this thing!

Justice for a crime against inn porn

2010-08-10T07:47:00.010-03:00

The vic: The Ledgelawn Inn, Bar Harbor, an historic 1904 'cottage' from the town's glory days.

The crime: Negligence, abuse, and fraud. Mold, leaks, cracks, bugs, sloppy paint on walls and trim, dust and dirt, hair in bathtubs, crappy service, unrelenting cancellation policy, poor mattresses and linens, etc. Inn calls itself 'luxury accommodations,' and charges accordingly.

Accused: Absent, apathetic owners, uncaring, non English- speaking teenage staff.

Sentence: Bankrupt inn has been sold to large resort-owning corporation. Corp says say they plan to restore inn back into something 'quaint.' Hurray!

Disclaimer: I haven't actually stayed here, but I ogled it mightily the last time I was in Bar Harbor, and have amused (and disgusted) myself over the past couple of years by reading about it on TripAdvisor. Abused inn and house porn makes me very sad. I was thrilled to hear it's been sold and is being restored.

Bay of Fundy beach glass

2010-08-07T11:01:00.011-03:00

I've found a new place to hunt for beach glass...

It's a beach on a bay that's part of the Bay of Fundy.

I found this much in just ten minutes.
Here's a white piece.

It's a really beautiful beach, and closer than where I usually go beach-glassing.
I'm obsessed with sea glass. Peter thinks I'm nuts. But trolling a beach is very relaxing, and finding a piece is always exciting.

St. Martins, NB

2010-08-04T07:40:00.010-03:00

We did a very quick trip to St. Martins on the holiday Monday. It's my other favourite place in New Brunswick, tied with St. Andrews. St. Martins was a very prosperous shipbuilding community on the Bay of Fundy, and is now a quaint old village that comes to life in the summer.
In this pic, you can see the harbour at low tide, the lighthouse that's now used as a tourist centre, and two covered bridges (the second one is very tiny and off to the right).

St. Martins is full of house porn. Imagine having the Bay of Fundy in your backyard.

The pornalicious St. Martins Country Inn, an old sea captain's house. I have been wanting to stay here for years. I would love to spend a weekend in October here.

St. Martins has a long, rocky beach with seacaves. This is all covered twice a day when the tide comes in.

The Quaco lighthouse, overlooking the bay. So peaceful.

You can't see anything, but on the cliff is the Fundy Trail Parkway. Fundy National Park is on the southeast side of the province, and plan is to eventually join the two. I'll bet I could make a hooked rug out of this pic. Someday.

Remembering popovers

2010-08-02T08:08:00.010-03:00

This was the label from a popover pan I bought from the gift shop at Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor a couple of summers ago. We ate there twice, and I consumed far too many of their signature popovers.

I had the label laminated and hung it over the stove. I never fail to remember those popovers when I see it.

They even have dessert popovers, filled with ice cream and smothered in chocolate sauce. Oh my God, they were good.

We had tea (and popovers) on the front lawn of the restaurant, with the pond and 'Bubbles' for a view.

Must go back somday.

A movie I will NOT be seeing

2010-07-31T07:18:00.003-03:00

Despite my love of horror movies, this looks just a tad too creepy. I couldn't even bring myself to post the entire movie poster.
I must be wussing out as I age.

Interesting

2010-07-29T07:02:00.004-03:00

This is the story of how the innkeepers at the Island Lighthouse Inn on Isle au Haut, Maine (home of the very cool Linda Greenlaw) wound up as innkeepers, and stories about renovating the place, weird guests, etc.

There is another inn currently operating on the island, the Inn at Isle au Haut. Usually when an inn is in such a remote place with 'frontier amenities' (no television, no Internet, no phones in rooms, shared baths, limited electricity, no shopping, almost literally nothing to do but hike or relax) you would expect the rates to be pretty low.
But this place has managed to turn it around into a 'get away from it all' destination ... the least expensive room is $300, with a two-night minimum stay! You're paying premium prices to not have amenities! That's brilliant.

New Brunswick town featured in big glossy American magazine!

2010-07-26T07:05:00.010-03:00

How very cool to see my favourite town in NB in the pages of Victoria magazine.
Historic St. Andrews by the Sea, founded by Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, used to be a summer resort town for the wealthy in Toronto, Montreal, and New England, rather like Bar Harbor.
It's still one of our biggest tourism destinations, with the historic Algonquin hotel, Kingsbrae gardens, beautiful old houses, and the best whale watching. This is where Peter and I went whale watching from last summer when we saw 40 right whales.

I'm jealous of my 80 year-old father

2010-07-22T08:15:00.004-03:00

He and his new ladyfriend are going on a 10-day bus tour of Newfoundland. They're going all over the place, including St. John's and Gros Morne National Park.
I have always wanted to visit Newfoundland, but it's quite a distance, even though it's part of Atlantic Canada. I would love to visit St. John's. Jellybean Row has some rockin' house porn.

Quilt show!

2010-07-18T17:43:00.010-03:00

Tiny adorable Hopewell Cape is home to New Brunswick's most famous attraction, the Hopewell Rocks. It's also where the annual Albert County Historical Society quilt show and sale is held. They had some gorgeous ones this year.

Log cabin

Ocean waves

This was my favourite this year ... nesting dolls!

I have four quilts in various stages of completion and big plans to try a string quilt to use up some of my getting-out-of-hand fabric stash. I can't wait to finish my latest cross stitch project so I can start quilting again.

Here we are at Regis and Kelly in PEI!

2010-07-16T18:44:00.004-03:00

Before the taping began, Gelman (the actual Gelman!) came on stage and showed us the hand signals that would be used, and got us to practice cheering. He also informed us that we were all going to be seen by 'millions and millions' of viewers. That's me in the top one, and Peter in the bottom one. We both look totally deformed. But PEI really is as beautiful as it looked on the show.

The Shipwright Inn, Charlottetown

2010-07-14T06:32:00.027-03:00

The inn is absolutely lovely.

It has a great sign.

The Purser's Room, where we stayed.

An antique top hat, cane, and bag on the top shelf.

Old bottles on the shelf in the bathroom.

I snuck into one of the fancy suites (it wasn't occupied.)

An old log cabin quilt on the wall.

They used old school desks for nightstands! What a great idea!

I loved the old dresses they had on display, but I would be somewhat unnerved if I woke up in the middle of the night and saw this:

The parlor. I couldn't sleep, so I got up at 4am, grabbed a book and magazines, made a cup of tea, and spent a couple of pleasant hours in here.

The dining room. This is the tea, coffee, and snack station that I was very grateful for at 4am.

Nautical china.

A great idea for using old butter boxes. I use mine to store potatoes.

I have literally wanted to stay here for more than 10 years, after I first heard of this inn in a cookbook of inn recipes in 1999. I was not at all disappointed ... the Shipwright Inn is pornalicious!

Regis and Kelly in PEI!

2010-07-13T08:06:00.007-03:00

We went to the Monday afternoon taping of Regis and Kelly in PEI! The morning show was live, and the taping we went to will air on Wednesday. Regis is so funny! Kelly is so skinny!

We had pretty good seats ... we could see R & K, and there was a giant screen.

Stephen Moyer from "True Blood" was a guest. Peter Facinelli from the Twilight movies was at the live show. Charlottetown was swimming in vampires Monday morning.
There were a LOT of people! The line must have snaked back for at least half a kilometer. Some people got in the line the night before, in the pouring rain.

I thought they did a beautiful job of showcasing the Island. I was very proud of the Maritimes.

I'm out of control!

2010-07-08T08:07:00.006-03:00

I had pretty much lost hope of getting tickets to Regis and Kelly when they come to PEI next week, but here they are! Stephen Moyer from True Blood is going to be one of the guests at the show we're at!

We're staying at the Shipwright Inn in Charlottetown. I've been wanting to try out this inn for a long time.

I think we're going to have a good time!

We also stopped in Lunenburg

2010-07-06T06:53:00.013-03:00

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia must be one of the coolest places on earth. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, first settled in 1753.

It's also the home port of the Bluenose 2, a replica of Canada's famous racing schooner, the one featured on our dime. It wasn't in port on Saturday, but I've seen it several times, so that was fine.

There are fish sculptures hanging from the utility poles, an homage to the town's fishing heritage.

Best of all, Lunenburg is known for "the preservation of its distinctive domestic architecture." That means that Lunenburg is house porn central. The dormer that sticks out over the front door is an architectural feature unique to the area, known as the "Lunenburg bump."

I love Lunenburg!

I never get tired of visiting.

Suttles and Seawinds - quilts by the sea

2010-07-04T07:05:00.011-03:00

Peter and I made a day trip to Nova Scotia's south shore yesterday. We stopped in Mahone Bay, where I popped into Suttles and Seawinds to visit the quilt barn. So inspiring.

(pics are blurry because I had to

stealth-shoot them without a flash - taking pics is frowned upon)

Canada Day!

2010-07-02T07:23:00.002-03:00

Fiddler Natalie MacMaster played a free concert downtown as part of the celebrations. She was amazing! She certainly makes fiddle playing look cool.

A light at the end of the tunnel

2010-06-30T07:05:00.002-03:00

Finished another block of The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow... just two left!

All Hallow's Eve at King's Landing, '09

2010-06-29T07:10:00.013-03:00

Last fall, Peter and I went to an All Hallow's Eve dinner at Kings Landing historical settlement outside of Fredericton.
Along with a meal in the incredibly porny old King's Head tavern, which was beautifully decked out for fall, it featured a bunch of ghosts and ghouls walking around wailing and looking scary. They performed vignettes during the meal. I will admit that all the screaming and chain-clanking got to be a little much after the first hour.

Then, we spent the night in Fredericton at The Very Best, a lovely porny inn I've wanted to stay at for years. I correctly surmised from the name that the owners were Miramichers ("How's she goin', eh? Oh, very best!")

Crab attack

2010-06-26T08:02:00.003-03:00

The Boy and I were at the beach a couple of weekends ago. We saw an Atlantic Rock crab, the biggest one I've ever seen. I picked it up to show the Boy (I wanted him to think I was cool), thinking I could hold it in a way that it couldn't pinch me.

Wrong-o.

I shrieked. The Boy shrieked. Two kids he was playing with shrieked. I managed to shake it off, and it scurried away and buried itself under the sand. It broke the skin on my right middle finger, and it hurt for about four days. My ego is still smarting from the amused looks of the other beachgoers, who undoubtedly (and rightfully) thought I was a moron.

High-waisted jeans

2010-06-24T08:02:00.003-03:00

I know they aren't the most flattering look, but it's kind of ironic that they're so mocked, in these days of low-waists with the accompanying butt cleavage and muffin tops.

Lupins!

2010-06-23T09:12:00.006-03:00

June in Atlantic Canada means lupins.

I could have spent a fortune at LL Bean

2010-06-14T17:36:00.004-03:00

Oh, yeah ... I did!

- Boots! My friend said she wouldn't be caught dead in them, and Peter laughed at them. But I love them. And they will keep my feet warm and dry for the next 20 years.

- Adorable whale sheets for my bed and funky fish sheets for the Boy's.

- Really adorable purse-sized mini tote. It has whales on it. I'm all about the whales.

- Super-adorable set of dishes with blueberries on them. The plates are enormous!

- LL Bean coffee.

- A fleece pullover ($19.99 at the factory outlet store.)

- $7 slide-ons.

And, to complete my LL Bean financial meltdown, I ordered the blueberry platter and serving bowl that go with the dishes and another set of sheets online.

I heart LL Bean

2010-06-06T08:49:00.015-03:00

My lack of wealth may prevent me from spending my days hiking in national parks, biking (in a skirt) with flowers in the front basket, and maybe some kayaking or sailing before retiring to my seaside mansion for a lobster dinner, but at least I can buy stuff to help me pretend! ;) The Freeport LL Bean is so cool. It's not just a store ... it's a bunch of stores all together, called 'the campus.' There were many, many cool aspects, from the giant boot, the door handles, the 16,000 dollar bed. They have a riverbed aquarium with a bubble thing that you can stick your head in to observe the fish. I spent a good 15 minutes in there once having a staring contest with a rainbow trout.

Something that actually costs more in the U-S than in Canada

2010-06-04T08:22:00.005-03:00

In this era when there are thousands of different kinds of tea available, King Cole still reigns supreme in Atlantic Canada. This is the tea that everyone will drink, be they tea snob or a just-once-in-a-while tea drinker, and a box can be found in most homes in the Maritimes.

A box of 60 two-cup teabags goes for $3.99, and often can be found on sale for half-price.

Imagine my suprise to find this display at the British Goods store in Freeport... $9!!

Also, it comes from New Brunswick, but there's a Nova Scotia flag on the sign.

And there was shopping!

2010-06-04T07:59:00.005-03:00

By God, there was shopping. I went to the Christmas Tree Shop for the first time ever. How could I not have known about the Christmas Tree Shop? I bought a bunch of stuff, including fake Nantucket baskets (fake is fine with me!) that I've only ever seen on ebay, usually starting at $15. I bought four at the CTS, and they ranged in price from $2.99 to $6.99!!
And I found grits! I love grits, but you just can't find them in Canada. Or at least not in my part of Canada.
There were several trips to LL Bean, but that's a whole other post.

And lighthouse porn ...

2010-06-02T09:52:00.008-03:00

We made a trip to the stunningly beautiful Portland Head lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth. The only negative thing was that the gift shop wasn't open. :(

We spent little time in Portland, most of it in the awesome Christmas Tree Shop (!), but from what I saw it looks like a lovely little city. My Dad's great aunts lived there, way back when. Must drag Peter here someday.

There was inn porn

2010-06-01T07:19:00.014-03:00

We stayed at the White Cedar Inn in Freeport. It's about a 3 minute walk to LL Bean and the rest of the shopping action. It was a very nice inn, and I was sorry when it was time to leave and move to the Econo Lodge for our second night (way cheaper, meaning more money for shopping.)

Freeport!

2010-05-30T20:50:00.003-03:00

Spent last week's Victoria Day long weekend on a girlfriend-shopping getaway in Freeport, Maine, home of LL Bean.

LL Bean is open 24/7 ... I took the pic shortly before 5am, right before I went in and bought a pair of Bean boots! It was awesome!

Thoughts on season 10 of DWTS

2010-04-20T08:52:00.004-03:00

- I'm not a Kate-Hater, but she is possibly the worst dancer to have ever been on the show. It's actually painful to watch. I'll bet Jon watches it and laughs hysterically.

- I'm rooting for Pam Anderson. I can't believe I'm saying this, but she seems like a pretty cool chick.

- I miss Samantha Harris and her awesome ball gowns. She always looked like she was going to the prom. Brooke has a much skankier style.

- Nicole looks like a snake. I mean, she physically looks like a snake to me, in the way that some people resemble animals. And I'm not just saying that because she's young and gorgeous and a wicked dancer.

"His legs flail about as if independent from his body!" (Chandler Bing on Michael Flatley)

2010-04-16T06:59:00.003-03:00

This was in town this week. I enjoyed it immensely. Peter, however, spent most of the show posting politically incorrect comments about it on Facebook and Twitter.

Best inn porn movie ever

2010-04-13T07:00:00.011-03:00

I watch this movie about once a month. It's about ... uh, some woman and some guy ... whatever! Who cares what it's about?! Look at the inn!! It's right on the beach!

Look at the cool swinging doors in the kitchen!

Look at the antique furniture and the old stove!

And the gorgeous black and orange mill wheel quilt on Jean's bed, and the string quilt on the rack next to the cool old sink in Richard Gere's room.

And my favourite ... the beaded curtain thing in the doorway to the dining room. I have paused and zoomed it, and while it's kind of blurry, I've been able to make out a bunch of different shells, coloured glass beads, and what appears to be cinnamon sticks.

And get this ... the current owners of the actual house have moved it down the road to somewhere more stable (it was falling into the ocean) and are decorating the interior to look like the movie and renting it to tourists by the week!!

Key West On My Mind

2010-04-09T06:58:00.008-03:00

I love this book. I don't know how many times I've read it.
It ties in with my favourite fantasy of being the innkeeper of a fabulous porny inn, although it didn't work out so well for the author.
It also brings back memories of the trip Peter and I took to Key West in '07.
We stayed at the totally gorgeous Artist House, and I read the whole book sitting at the table in the totally gorgeous courtyard, while Peter happily basked in the totally gorgeous hot tub/pool thing.
That was such a fun trip.

I need a vacation!

Something I didn't get around to blogging about last year

2010-04-08T09:11:00.006-03:00

Peter and I booked a whale watching trip in beautiful porny St. Andrews -By-the-Sea one day last summer. It was raining and we figured it would be cancelled, but we went anyway. It wasn't cancelled, and it turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life, right up there with giving birth to the Boy, except that it wasn't incredibly painful.

We went out pretty far, and wound up surrounded by approximately 30-40 right whales, about 10 percent of the earth's population, according to the marine biologist on board. We saw males and females, young whales and old whales, and we even saw mating behaviour (that's when the females roll over and show the boys her stuff). Some of them came right up close to the boat. It was pretty cool. And Peter got the most amazing pictures.

Completely stupid ...

2010-04-03T21:51:00.001-03:00

... and funny as hell!

Awesome book

2010-04-02T09:50:00.003-03:00

I patiently waited for five years for this book to be completed, after the author came to our local Chapters to do a reading from another book she had out. She told us she was working on a new book, about a woman in the 1860's who goes to sea.

It's really, really good. Some of the descriptions, especially of the rotting food and the lack of hygiene on board, made my skin crawl.

More PEI lighthouse porn

2010-03-30T09:51:00.007-03:00

- The West Point lighthouse at sunset. It sits on the Northumberland Strait, which separates PEI and New Brunswick. You could see the lights of NB from the beach.

- Me stuffing rocks in my pocket. That was some beach. I was having a Moment.

- Pebbles, beach glass, pieces of clam shells and an oyster shell from the WP beach, all made perfectly smooth by the crashing waves.

PEI lighthouse wish fulfilled

2010-03-23T08:07:00.009-03:00

So, being a bit of a lighthouse freak, I had always wanted to see the lighthouses at the extreme ends of PEI, East Point and North Cape. Two years ago we did East Point. Last summer we did North Cape. But it was so much better than just that. We stayed at the West Point Lighthouse Inn in West Point, at the western tip at the bottom of PEI. An inn inside (mostly attached to) a lighthouse! The North Cape lighthouse was overshadowed by some kind of power plant and interpretive center. But the West Point lighthouse blew my mind. The black stripes are an unusual touch in this region.

Hooked chair pad

2010-03-19T08:58:00.003-03:00

I did a ton of crafty stuff last year. Like this hooked rug chair pad. I thought it looked pretty good, until the Boy asked why there was an owl in the water (it's supposed to be a boat!)

I really liked this book

2010-03-17T07:48:00.001-03:00

I have no idea why. It has to be one of the most depressing books I've ever read.

Whale sign!

2010-03-16T09:31:00.004-03:00

The "food and lodging" sign is on the LL Bean website. It's $119. Mine was free. I sent the pic off to my Dad, who cut the sign out, and Peter painted it. Cute, huh?

Little Things

2010-03-13T07:56:00.005-04:00

It's weird how happy some stupid little thing can make you. For instance, this adorable little pewter coffee scoop. I got it last fall on my annual fall weekend trip to my favourite Nova Scotia porn town, Mahone Bay. It came from the pewter-porn- shop Amos Pewter. Every morning when I use it to scoop coffee grounds I marvel at it's clever fusion of adorable-ness and functionality. Using it instead of an ordinary spoon makes the act of making coffee a little more fun. Also, whenever I see it, I get a pleasant burst of happy feelings remembering what a good trip it was. I balked at paying $21 for it at the time, but couldn't resist it. Now I see that it was well worth it.

This is pretty interesting

2010-03-07T08:44:00.003-04:00

If you're a "Little Women" fan. I love LW. I still have my first copy at my parent's house somewhere. I found a big blunder in the bio ... it says that Jo is the mother of Demi and Daisy, who are actually Meg's kids!

The movie with Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder is also awesome .... totally porn-alicious.

Her family's home in Concord, Mass. is still there and open for tours. Very cool.

The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

2010-03-02T07:28:00.007-04:00

Nearly halfway finished! I'm totally in the zone... it's all I want to do these days. If my zeal lasts, I should be able to finish by the end of the year.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-28T22:13:00.001-04:00

I actually teared up during Oh Canada.

Finished object '09

2010-02-28T06:43:00.006-04:00

2009 was a major crafty year for me. I had lots of FOs, including a couple of quilts.

I bought the pattern for this quilted wall hanging and the fabric for the sky and water in 2003 or 04 when I was on maternity leave with the Boy. Last year I finally got the bug to do it. It's paper pieced, and was small enough that it went together quickly and was a lot of fun. I added the clouds myself, because it just seemed to need something else in that spot.

Now I just need to hang it properly.

Cuban music rocks

2010-02-16T07:39:00.006-04:00

I had no idea Cuban music was so cool. And catchy.

This is the house band at Breezes Jibacoa, Akarey. They were so awesome. I could have listened to them forever.

The kitchen staff rocks out with the band

2010-02-16T07:38:00.001-04:00

Cuban Bee Gees

2010-02-16T07:37:00.001-04:00

This sounds suspiciously like "I've Got To Get A Message To You."

We did two scooter tours

2010-02-13T11:19:00.007-04:00

They were so much fun! I would love to own a scooter ... a pink one!

- The tallest bridge in Cuba, which we saw on our second scooter tour.

- Scooter driving lesson from Orlando.

- We went to the town of Hershey (there was a sugarcane factory there.)

- We stopped at a bar, where to my amazement they had Coke! Apparently Cuba is allowed to have Coke made in Mexican factories.

- On the second bike tour, we went to these really cool sea caves.

- And we stopped in a village on a cove that used to be used by pirates as a hiding spot, because it's very hard to see the entrance from the ocean.

Beach glass!

2010-02-12T09:57:00.006-04:00

One of my favourite things about our vay-cay in Cuba was the beach at the resort. I love beachcombing, especially early in the morning while it's quiet. Look at the all the beach glass I found at the resort! I was so obsessed that I was doing sweeps of the beach at least three times a day. In the middle pic, I'm the tiny figure near the water, head down, on the hunt. I brought at least 200 pieces home in an empty tissue box. When we got home, I scouted out the antique stores for an old bottle to keep the beach glass in. I found the perfect one for only $6.50. My searches for beach glass may have been my favourite thing about our trip.

This was so good!

2010-02-11T08:52:00.002-04:00

And it's full of porn! House porn and gourmet food store porn and kitchen porn! And how nice to see a love story involving grown-ups. I can't wait for this to come out on DVD so I can buy it.

:(

2010-02-10T10:44:00.003-04:00

Captain Phil was my favourite. Deadliest Catch just won't be the same now.

Flora and Fauna

2010-02-09T10:19:00.009-04:00

There were goats everywhere. We also saw a cow tethered to a sidewalk.

It must be nice to live where it's green all year round. The plant with the graffitti was bigger than a truck.

The Beach

2010-02-06T14:49:00.010-04:00

- The beach. I love beaches. I am a total beach girl.

- There's a big reef off the beach, so the sand wasn't powder like at the resorts in Varadero, but there was lots to look at under the water. I snorkeled for the first time! It was really, really cool. I have got to learn how to scuba dive.

- Beach glass.

- A Portuguese man o' war. Very pretty colours, but they're nasty little buggers.

- Sunset.

Havana!

2010-02-03T09:05:00.009-04:00

Havana is beautiful (the parts that aren't crumbling, that is)! And huge! And old!

-Me with the famous "Cigar Lady" of Havana. The poor thing clearly has never had any sort of dental care in her life.

- The lighthouse and fort at the entrance to the harbour. Pirates used to come here! Real pirates, the Johnny Depp variety!

- A view from the tallest building in the city, where we had lunch.

- The Capitol building, where I got very lost looking for a washroom.

- The Old City.

- The Ambos Mundos Hotel, where Ernest Hemingway used to stay before setting up a home outside the city. We drove past his favourite drinking hole, the Floridita, but didn't stop. I had really wanted to visit his home, Finca Vigia, but we just didn't have a chance.

- The obligatory picture of the Ministry of the Interior building with the iron portrait of Che Guevara in Revolution Square.

Cuba!

2010-01-28T08:20:00.005-04:00

Peter and I finally tried an all-inclusive vacation down south last month. We went to a place called "Breezes Jibacoa," halfway between Havana and Varadero. It was pretty damn fun! We hung out at the beach, went hiking, kayaking, paddle-boating, did a day trip to Havana and went to a show at the Tropicana. I had all kinds of new experiences. I tried a cigar for the first time (one puff... gross), learned how to snorkel and ride a scooter. Oh, and I saw a guy masturbating in the bushes, and I also saw a man with no legs peeing off a bridge! Good times!

Las Vegas is cool

2009-12-10T07:41:00.010-04:00

And very big. I never had such sore feet in my life.

I gambled exactly three dollars, and I think Peter gambled ten.

We saw Craig Ferguson at the MGM Grand the first night, did the haunted tour the second, saw a Cirque show (Ka) the third night, then it was Donny and Marie at the Flamingo, immediately followed by the topless show Fantasy at the Luxor (Peter insisted, since I made him go to Donny and Marie) and our last night we caught Blue Man Group at the Venetian.

We ate our asses off at the buffets, but that was okay because we then walked our asses off the rest of the day. I also spent a lot of time napping. We also went to the Hoover Dam and the Liberace Musem. And it still felt like we hardly saw anything.

I can't believe it was February when we were there. That's a long time ago.

Most embarrassing read of '09

2009-12-09T07:19:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I read the Twilight books. Hey, I used to be a 14 year old girl.

I even saw the New Moon movie last night. I will admit I quite enjoyed it.

Surprise Read of '09

2009-12-08T09:20:00.007-04:00

I am not a book snob. I will read anything. However, I have never been a fan of mysteries, and had dismissed the whole genre of 'theme mysteries' as kind of lame.

Then one day on Amazon, I stumbled upon the Gray Whale Inn mysteries by Karen MacInerney. They're set on one of the islands off Bar Harbor, Maine, and the protagonist is the owner/innkeeper of an old porny inn! Along with murder solving, the books are full of descriptions of inn porn, and the protagonist is always baking.

Since I love Bar Harbor and my favourite fantasy job would be to run a porny old inn on the coast and bake all day, I gave the first one a try and immediately snatched up the other two, and am now anxiously awaiting the release of the fourth. I even emailed the author and asked her to kindly hurry up.

Oh, and they have recipes!

Peter and I Went to Cape Breton This Summer (pics below)

2009-12-07T09:42:00.007-04:00

We:

- Hiked the breathtakingly beautiful Skyline trail on the Cabot Trail.

- Did not encounter any coyotes, but saw a family of three moose, just a few feet away. Peter was very happy to finally get moose shots.

- Went on a puffin tour near Baddeck. After having been thwarted by rain in past attempts to shoot pics of puffins, Peter finally got his chance. Also saw many seals. V. cool.

- Toured the Glenora Distillery, the only single-malt whisky distillery in North America. You can't tell from the pic, but it was absolutely pornalicious, with beautiful gardens and flower beds and vines over everything. I had the most attractive dessert ever in the restaurant's courtyard, a brownie with whisky sauce. And the tour was very interesting.

- Went to the rug hooking museum in Cheticamp. Cheticamp is famous in the rug hooking world for the different style that developed there, using very thin yarn instead of wool cut into strips. It's absolutely gorgeous. The museum was fabulous. It featured many works of the late Elizabeth LeForte, a rug hooking freak of nature. I was in awe.

- Went to a fiddling performance at the Red Shoe Pub in Mabou, home of the most famous of Cape Breton fiddling families, the Rankins. The pub is owned by the Rankin sisters.

- Went to the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. Very interesting.

Cape Breton Pics

2009-12-07T09:29:00.016-04:00

Bookclub Christmas Bash

2009-12-05T08:20:00.002-04:00

Did my usual giftbag with biscotti, Second Cup hot chocolate and a bookmark. This is what I came up with for this year. Well, I found the quote and image, and Peter did the grunt work.

I joined my bookclub in January 2006. I'm very grateful for it.

Here's what we read in '09:

- The Lace Reader Brunonia Barry

- What They Wanted Donna Morrissey

- A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hossein

- The Book of Negroes Lawrence Hill

- The Senator's Wife Sue Miller

- Water For Elephants Sara Gruen

- American Wife Curtis Sittenfeld

- Skeletons at the Feast Chris Bohjalian

- Three Day Road Joseph Boyden

- Where White Horses Gallop Beatrice MacNeil

A lot of war this year. My favourite pick of '09 was Water For Elephants. The Senator's Wife, my pick, caused the most heated discussion.