Wordless Wednesday: perhaps, a connection?

The Presumscot, I presume?

One of the [many] wonderful things about Portland, Maine, is its close proximity to so many lovely places to hike around. I've shown you several of these locations in posts from earlier visits (just click on the "Maine" label on the right) and my short New England sojourn last week gave me new opportunities.

A short drive from my kids' house is the delightful woods you can see above and below here.

We're on a path traversing the Presumscot River Preserve, part of a longer trail that would take more energetic hikers (or those with longer legs) all the way to the seashore. After a short while our walk began to parallel the river with the somewhat odd name...

...before it ended at the [supposed] falls. Here's a warning sign for paddlers about the upcoming white water, whose graphic is somewhat misleading...

Actually, I wouldn't call this stretch of river a falls at all, but it is a pretty gnarly set of rapids, and portage warnings are for sure appropriate...

As you can probably tell from these pictures, the woods here are really nice, even though, unfortunately, we were a bit too early for fall color—it will be amazing in a few weeks!

still green!

But, as often on wooded hikes, there's more to see than just the trees (see what else there is in a redwood forest here). In this preserve a highlight was the fungi, reminding me in some ways of the amazing mushroom garden we discovered almost a continent away, in the very different ecosystem of the New Mexico mountains.

I have a feeling mushrooms are more often a sight along walks in the woods in Maine than New Mexico, and Portland's been getting a lot of rain lately. We even encountered a group of mushroom collectors; but we were happy just to enjoy seeing and snapping these scenic growths...

But, of course, the main attraction during all Maine activities is the great company that joins me for them!

Wordless Wednesday: what a good idea!

Double my pleasure

Henry blogged for the first time in a year the other day; I know I haven't had that long a hiatus, but it sometimes feels that way.

A crazy summer of upset travel plans and super-exciting family happenings just didn't leave me with enough mental energy to blog. But I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things today.

Here's a taste of the most wonderful of the news that's kept me from the blogosphere:

Yes, that's TWO new granddaughters, born within a month of each other. Both are doing very well and providing endless Gramma-fun.

I'm in Maine right now visiting the New England granddaughers and not only is the Gramma-ing fantastic, but the weather is, too! It's lots cooler than at home and will be getting downright chilly before I head back south. Hopefully before that happens the beginnings of fall color will be apparent, but even now there are neat things to see on walks around the area.

These lovely morning glories (although still blooming into the afternoon) are climbing over the fence around the community garden.

Usually I'm disappointed when I see the photo I've taken of a really luminously-colored flower, but these are so richly pigmented that I think their purple glow comes through pretty well in the pixels.

Some more flowers spotted at the garden...

Aren't these blooms bright and cheerful?! And they're big, too. Here's a shot with sleeping baby in it for some scale:

Of course, since fall is approaching, fruits are part of the picture, too. We went apple picking yesterday at what I think you'll agree is a very productive orchard...

Stay tuned for more Maine scenery and kid pix!

a young apple-picker

Wordless Wednesday: Florence remnants (?) over Baltimore

Wordless Wednesday: our little forest

Mountain DIY redux

As some of you might remember, I and a bunch of energetic and wonderful friends did a big DIY painting job at our Colorado cabin last summer.

This summer was nothing on that scale, but rather a series of nice, minor improvements that we think have spruced up the look of the place immensely.

First of all, the large garage door you see above, which used to be a rather unattractive red (and also rather beat up and worn out). Isn't its new green lovely?! The green matches the paint we used on the deck railing last summer.

Another project was the covering of the ugly black beams in the cabin's mudroom with a nice chocolate-y brown to match the house's exterior. I didn't take pictures of that project since it's not completely finished. Next summer we're going to take down the dowdy wallpaper covering the mudroom walls and replace it with something more appropriate. I'll wait until it's totally transformed to show it off.

My other big project (in addition to some other people-doors in the garage) was the kitchen cabinets.

Here's a shot of the kitchen at the outset of the job...the upper cabinets are still in their old black-and-white coloration. I started on the bottom ones, which as you can see are only just partially done...

The cream color I used isn't all that different from the white they were before, but the big difference, imho, is the covering of the ugly black hardware with nice creamy enamel. Thanks to Garry for advising me on the type of paint to use for this work; it seems to be holding up well!

Here's the finished product, of which I am pretty proud. Especially considering that I did this all myself...

Fortunately, the kitchen isn't too big...lack of storage space does have some advantages!