Online "Christmas in July" Teddy Bear Show

You won't want to miss this fabulous show!

Many darling Wintry Friends are sure to prompt thoughts of wonderfully cool Winter holidays to help you fight the current heat wave.

Friday July 13 at 8:00am 
until Sunday July 15 at 8:00pm 
(eastern time zone) 
at

www.BearHugs4U.com



See one-of-a-kind teddy bears and friends 
created by a select group 
of talented and well known artists. 
Preview bears from each artist are pictured 
on the site right now so pop on over for a look.

These will be the first new Cobblestone Creations 
mice and bears available since my move to Maine.

Olad is one the the bears I will have available.  
I also have two other bears in the show 
along with five cute little mice, 
all in a holiday theme.
Be sure to shop early in order to snap up 

the one that tugs at your heart. 

http://www.bearhugs4u.com/

Details for my giveaway coming soon!
It too will begin Friday July 13th at 8am.

Our New Home

As you can well imagine, the past few weeks have been quite busy for Mr. Cobblestone and me as we have been moving into our new home in Maine.  It has been quite the adventure and we are both simply thrilled that we decided to take this leap into a new life. 

I've decided to take a short break from unpacking boxes (and boxes and boxes) to post a few pics for you.   Our home is a darling two story cape, only 1 mile from the harbor.

These pics are the ones from the real estate listing when the home was for sale.  The previous owners took all their furnishings, of course, but the pics will give you some idea of what the house looks like.  

We are located on a beautiful wooded lot 

that measures just under 2 acres.

 

It has a great wrap around deck,

 and a large living room and kitchen.

 There are two more bedrooms upstairs.  

The larger one has been turned into Mr. Cobblestone's office.

 And this precious space is now being converted into my studio.  

I will be sure to share pics when it is finished.

 We've already been hard at work making changes to the home to make it ours.  The first changes were to the family room.  We removed an over sized shelving unit to give the fireplace its proper status in the room.  And we removed that hideous wood-burner insert to expose the brick hearth. 

 Ah yes, much better!

There is still a lot of laura-ing to be done to the house

to bring it up to my decorating standards, 

(hey, you saw my other house),

but I'm sure we will enjoy the process.

Stay tuned ~ I'm in the mood for a mouse giveaway!!!!

The Bean House

Perhaps I mentioned here earlier that one of the challenges during  our move to Maine has been in securing temporary housing while we are both selling our home in WI and purchasing our new home here in Maine.  For the month of June, we have been quite fortunate to have an apartment at The Bean House in downtown Camden.

THE BEAN HOUSE

Aside from it being an extraordinary lovely old Victorian house, it has a special place in our hearts because it is so very close to the place where we first fell in love with this region.

Back on that cold blustery October day when Mr. Cobblestone and I were strolling the main street in Camden, I experienced that maybe-I-shouldn't-have-had last-cup-of-coffee-this-morning feeling.  Yep ~ I had to pee.   

Remembering a conversation I had with a volunteer at an information center the day before about how when she and her husband were sailing the coast, she found libraries to be very nice "ports in a storm" during rainy days. 

CAMDEN LIBRARY

I spied the Camden Library at the top of the little hill at the end of the street of shops and headed that way to check out the restrooms.   They were of course as far away from the front door  where we entered ~ down the stairs and tucked into a corner.  But they were there!

The library itself was darling and a lot larger than it appeared from the top street.  Its bulletin boards were filled with community activities and events.  Camden appeared to be quite a vibrant little town.  But the kicker was the view when you exited ~ the view of the harbor and adjoining amphitheater! 

HARBOR 

AMPHITHEATER

It was one of those times you felt as if you've stumbled onto 

a movie set!  Could such a place be real?!!!   

(Actually, Camden was the location of a famous movie from 

the 50's ~ but more on that in a later post.)

So what does this have to do with the Bean House?  Well, it's right across the street from the library!  Literally just steps away from those gorgeous views. 

THE BEAN HOUSE SEEN FROM THE LIBRARY 

 THE LIBRARY SEEN FROM THE BEAN HOUSE

I plan on walking over whenever I get the chance to park myself on one of the benches on the library lawn and gaze at this as often as I can.

Before we leave this apartment, I am determined to count just how many exit doors this house has!  ;)

Need a new car?

Another stop last weekend was at the  
Owl’s Head Transportation Museum 
which came highly recommended by the locals.   
We were not disappointed. 

This museum “exhibits and operates a large collection of pioneer-era aircraft, antique automobiles, engines, bicycles, carriages and motorcycles.”  

Currently they have a special exhibit of MGs  and BMWs
which may be of interest to certain 
members of the extended Cobblestone family.

Not only do almost of of the specimens still work, 
you can actually takes rides in them!  

 No pop-up nav system visible here.  ;)

And if you are so inclined, you may 
purchase select vehicles.

This photo they had above 
the bicycle exhibit has me stymied. 

Sidesaddle?!!! 

How does that work!

Shopping in downtown Rockland, Maine

The mid-coast region of Maine is dotted with numerous quaint little towns.  Rockland is the one where we’ve been staying this month as we go through our move from WI to our new home.  

Exploring this tiny town has been fun as it has many adorable little shops along its Main Street.  My favorite by far is a darling place called Seagull Cottage.  It is one of those places  that makes me feel right at home with the colors, sights and sounds of the shore.   

Even I have to giggle at that last line, because anyone who knows me knows I am definitely not a beach person in the traditional sense of “Let’s put on our swimsuits, grab the picnic basket and umbrella and go sit in the sand and sun.”  Ugh !  Not for me.  I’m more the “Let’s get our jackets and wander the deserted beaches on this cloudy day, being careful to not step in any seaweed or other slimy things that have rudely decided to deposit themselves in our path.”  Yep, I’m that kind of beach person.  Hey, just trying to keep the balance in the universe.

But Seagull Cottage is a little piece of heaven.  

(Suppose it could be name that attracts me?  

It's very close to Gull Cottage a la The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. . . .) 

 

Another store that caught my eye:

Hmmm . . .  not quite the Macy’s I’m used to.

Moving tomorrow to The Bean House ~ stay tuned!

More from Maine

Mr. Cobblestone and I spent the Memorial Day weekend exploring Rockland, which is where the hotel is located that we’ve been calling home this month.  Aside ~ the month cannot end too soon for us.  Although it is a very nice, clean, new hotel, enough is enough.  Besides, we’ve got a very interesting place to call home for the month of June.  Details coming soon.

Anyway ~ we started the weekend with some unnerving excitement as Mr. Cobblestone’s car started acting up.  Turns out I did not get the memo about having to really put your back into screwing on the gas cap when one is done filling the tank of hubby’s car.   

Result: I think I should never have to pump gas again.

We strolled along the Rockport boardwalk 

and mile long breakwater later that day.  

 

boardwalk

The breakwater is constructed of large granite cubes.

 It is quite an uneven surface the extends out into the harbor.

On Sunday we visited Birch Point Beach Park.

Even though I was snug inside my jacket for most of the time, 

there were actually people swimming at the beach. 

 *shiver*

If you look closely you can see me perched on a rock 

enjoying the peacefulness of the view.

They  were all lovely spots that I’m sure we’ll enjoy often.

I continue to need to remind myself that we live here!