Islesboro

A few weeks back, Mr. Cobblestone and I took 

our bikes on the ferry to Islesboro for the day.  

It is an idyllic island with about 

600 residents just 3 miles off the coast.
Although we did not spot any of the celebrities who 
have homes on the island, we did see many of the 
gorgeous mansions and enchanting cottages.  
There were breathtaking views and blooms everywhere.  

Here is Grindle Lighthouse that you see at the ferry dock.

As we rode down to the southernmost tip of the 
island on Pendleton Point Road, 

we passed this church, which I found stunning.

I believe this place used to be a B&B.  

Too bad it is now closed.
 

We had our picnic spot all to ourselves

 ~ a rocky beach with a 

view of neighboring Job Island.  

A fisherman on a lobster boat passed through 
Bracketts Channel

and waved as we had lunch.

We stopped at the little shop in Dark Harbor 
on our way back for an ice cream.

This sign at the ferry dock had us wondering about the obviously large amount of circumstances that prompted the last rule. 

Ewwww!

Where are the new mice, bears and bunnies you ask?  Here, there and everywhere!  I know it has been some time since I've had anything new to show you.  Rest assured they are under construction ~ as it feels is our home as well.

We've bit the bullet and have started the process of re-doing the flooring in our entire house.  Yay!  The fun part was of course going to the flooring store and picking out new materials.  Then the realization set in ~ the realization that NOW is the time to complete some rather messy jobs around the house ~ BEFORE the new carpeting is installed.  So Mr. Cobblestone and I have been busy.  

It started with painting baseboards, which lead to painting whole rooms, refinishing the lower kitchen cabinets and even adding a wall or two.  Please don't report me to the HGVT gurus who worship at the altar of open concept.  Come on ~ our quaint and cozy New England style cape has no business trying to be open concept.  I think the house is happier now that we've put it back to the way it should be.

Rockport Harbor

 

We have manged to do a bit more exploring ~ more about that in a later post ~ and we try to enjoy our harbor as often as we can.

I was happy to spot these buttercups blooming along the 

roadside one evening on our walk to the harbor.  

Did you too hold them under chins when you were a 

kid  to see if that person liked butter?   

Takes you back, doesn't it . . .

Sweetness

To me from Mr. Cobblestone . . . just because . . .

Move over Mr. Groundhog

One of the things I've come to enjoy about the people in Maine is the overwhelming sense of 'doing for yourself.'  Now, that is not meant in the sense of doing only for yourself, as I must say they are some of the most helpful people I've met.  I mean 'do for yourself' in the sense of not waiting for the government to do it for you. 

So I feel quite comfortable following their example and declaring that today, August 2nd, shall henceforth be know as Penguin's Day.  If we have a special day to mark the halfway point of Winter, the day when so many people get excited about the coming of Spring, I see no reason why we, here at the halfway point of Summer cannot herald the coming of Autumn.  

Now I haven't got all the details worked out just yet, but I suppose it will have to involve a group of men in black tie and tails perhaps coaxing a little penguin out of his igloo.  

You will understand that it may take me some time to make these arrangements.  Do you suppose Jon Hamm would be available?  At the very least I will have a little Cobblestone Creations penguin for next year. 

For today, I can leave you with this photo from one of the Celebrate Winter parties that Mr. Cobblestone and I hosted.  It is a darling plate of penguins made of black olives, carrot pieces, cream cheese, red peppers and silly frilly toothpicks.  

I spy some yellowing leaves in my forest . . . just sayin'.

Big City Shopping!

As I may have mentioned here before, although I just adore living in my new coastal town, one of the things I miss is ready access to fabric and craft stores.  

I am quite comfortable (too comfortable?) ordering my supplies online, but nothing takes the place of physically being in the store, right?  The closest 'big city' to us is Augusta, 40 miles away.   And yesterday, we went shopping.

Look at all I brought home with me from the craft stores!

And from a visit to the fabric store, along with a large bag of polyfil, yards of interfacing and muslin, I also found many new small scale prints to add to my collection.

Cannot wait to start on new bears, mice and bunnies.  :)

Oh ~ don't forget the BearHugs4U show starts this 

Friday, March 8th!

Like a fluffy white lamb

March has come ~ and come in like a fluffy 

white lamb ~ a fluffy white snowy lamb!

Yes, it is still Winter, and you know I'm loving that.  We had a gorgeous snowfall the other night, but as neither Mr. Cobblestone or I have the skills (or equipment?) necessary to capture such nighttime beauty on camera, you'll just have to take my word for it. It was one of those snows that coated each and every branch is a thick layer of pure white deliciousness.  Unfortunately, it had warmed during the night and all that beauty was lost by morning.

But we did have a fun night of it.  Many (middle-aged) kids were outside playing and we found a snowman in our front yard, courtesy of our neighbors.  By morning, the poor dear had fallen over, yet was still smiling.  Just goes to show, you can enjoy Winter, every single bit of Winter, even the tail end.

Here's how he started out:

We did try to get some photos that night.

 

While I was taking pics of the snowman that morning, I also caught our turkey flock parading down the street.  It always amuses me how they follow each other single file down the road.

I also caught this Tom displaying himself.

And earlier this morning, these 

lacy tracks they left on our driveway.

~*~*~*~*~

I will have a new bunny (or maybe two)

available this coming 

Sunday evening, March 3rd.  

Here's a little tease for you!

~*~*~*~*~

And don't forget ~ the online show starts a week from today!

March 8-10

I'll have little bears and mice and even a nice big 12" girlie bear.

Nemo

Funny thing, blizzards.  

As in real estate, it's location, location, location.  

While we on the midcoast of Maine all experienced the 

howling winds and horizontal snowfall, depending on where 

you were, you got either dumped on or blown clean.  

Mr. Cobblestone and I had about 2 ft of snow 

blocking our doorways, but for the most part did not 

have a lot of clean up to do, thanks to our neighbor 

who was kind enough to come over with his plow 

and clean out out driveway.  Thanks, Joe!!

Here was the scene in downtown Camden, 

just 2 miles from our home:

I think it all has to do with how protected you are 

(ie: our forest) and the direction of the winds. 

 It's hard to capture depth in a photo, but believe me, 

the forest is absolutely lovely, and so 

deeply covered that I will not be 

venturing out there today.

Here's one of the snow piles generated by the plowing 

of our driveway ~ nearly a story deep!  

 Can you spy Mr. Cobblestone's car?  

Yep, it took us a while to dig that out.

Other neighbors just down the street were busy 

pulling about 3 feet of snow off their roofs, 

while  our roof was blown almost clear.  

Here is  the deepest spot we had.

The wind created some interesting art for us. 

Sunday was a bright sunny day for shoveling,

and we are now cleared and 

ready for the next snowfall. 

Care to peek inside my studio?

As many of you know, Mr. Cobblestone and I recently 

moved from WI to Maine ~ and are loving it!  

One of the perks of our new house is my studio room, 

which had been a small bedroom tucked up 

under the roof of our cape cod style house.  

It is not exactly the way I want it just yet, so I won't 

be showing you everything here.  

When it is done, I'll try to post one of 

those fancy-schmancy 360 videos for you.  

But over the past weekend, we hung some 

new cabinets that Mr. Cobblestone made for me 

from shutters that used to hang in the dining 

room (ugh!) ~ that Holly Hobby style just 

did not suit our taste (see photo at end).

The large window in the room has been flanked by 

two of the new cabinets.  The shelf under the window 

holds many of the furry friends and trinkets I have 

received from artists from all over the world that I 

have met online.  Seeing them each day makes me 

smile ~ as do the prototypes of my mice from 

all those years ago. 

I think I've improved, don't you?  

Did you spy my toolbox in the lower corner?

Two smaller cabinets are on this wall, next to the 

door we made into the 'closet' under the roof.  

It's a great place for storage bins full of fabric.

 Here are those cabinets opened to 

show some of my teacup collection waiting 

for little potbelly mice to reside in them.

Two more cabinets by the door into the room.

 

There was a built in desk in the room 

when we moved in ~ a perfect 

spot for my sewing machine.

I added the skirt underneath made from the curtains 

that used to hang on the windows in this room

(Scarlet would be so proud!) 

and the cork boards to the closet doors.

The closets have shelves with smaller bins

that hold my fabric, wools, ribbons, etc

carefully sorted by color and type.

And here is a pic of the dining room with the shutters.  

They as well as the plate rail and tiny blue valence 

were one of the first things I took down when we moved in. 

Fabric for new drapery is still leaning 

in a corner of an upstairs bedroom.  

Sigh . . . someday . . .

Anniversary Celebration

It's been almost one year to the day that Mr. Cobblestone and I first fell in love with the Camden/Rockport area of Maine from atop Mt. Battie.   

To mark the occasion, we had a picnic there last weekend.  It was the absolute peak day for Autumn color and I have a few photos to share with you.

Looking down on Camden Harbor.

 On the other side of the bay is Acadia Park.

 Don't you love that one bright red tree among the golds and greens?

The red arrow shows the approximate location of our home.  

I still cannot believe we are so close to the shoreline.