The Table

My family contributed many pieces of furniture from the cellar and attic to help us furnish the basics at the house. One of my favorite pieces of furniture was a table that my sister originally bought for her house in Kennebunkport in the late 1970's. When she redecorated, she gave the table to my oldest brother and his family grew up eating dinners, doing homework and projects at the table. It had been relegated to the cellar and was offered to us. It looked a little beat up and tired but had "good bones" so gladly accepted the gift. We have continued to have many good family times around the table, eating, laughing, playing games (We've had quite a few games of cribbage on the table and even taught my nephew, Will, how to play) and making plans for the house. The now famous Lafayette Room name for our guest room came while joking around at the table. On our trip in August I refinished the table and it looks fabulous! The table has many good family times left in it for years and, hopefully, generations to come.

Visitors From Pennsylvania

Bob's sons, Scott and Brian, visited with Katt and her niece for the first time this summer. They live in Pennsylvania and drove over. It's not a short trip so we were very excited they made the trip. It was their first time in Maine. We did the typical things of visiting a lighthouse, having lobster, shopping in Camden and then a day in Acadia National Park. We couldn't get enough of those popovers at Jordan Pond!



Picking wild blueberries.

They were yummy!



Lobster!



Pemaquid Lighthouse

At the top of Cadilac Mountain

Jordon Pond

The Bridge to the Island

The only way onto Rutherford Island is via the 75 year old swing bridge. The state will be replacing it soon as it often does not work properly, it is so old, and sometimes gets stuck. With increased summer traffic and more boats, I had to wait about 50% of the time when going somewhere in the car. Fun if you're not in a rush. You just turn off your motor and wait!

Two Weeks in August

I've been looking forward to this all year. 2 weeks in Maine! My sister, Nancy, has always said that I always bring good weather when I come to Maine and this trip certainly was no different. Fabulous weather and connecting with my family, new neighbors and friends in South Bristol was wonderful. Sometimes I feel like I live a double life, my west coast life of accomplishment and hard work and my east coast life of connecting with my roots and family and relaxing. Light years away on many levels but all part of who I am.

 Each trip seems more relaxed as we get more and more accomplished. We had not completed taking down the wall between the 2 small rooms downstairs in the spring. I wanted to wait for my sister in law, Gayle, to help as I knew she would enjoy completing this task. How often do you get to take a complete wall out? She and a friend came up to help us early the first week we were there. I don't think the friend knew exactly what he was getting into and how hard he would work that day. He was a huge help and we accomplished a lot. We went out to dinner that night at Shaw's in New Harbor.

 

Our new living room taking shape.

    

The wall came down! No more "pink room".

No chimney and no wall! This really opens the space!



 We had our contractor do the seams for the drywall we had hung on our last trip in the master bedroom so when we arrived, we were ready to prime and paint. There are a lot of things Bob and I can tackle but doing seams takes skill and I didn't want to be looking at uneven walls for the next 20 years. The room is really beginning to take shape! Of course, Bob didn't even need a ladder to do the ceiling. It's good to have a tall husband sometimes!

I should have made the bed!



A real closet taking shape.



Something needs to be done with that door!

I keep thinking the Lafayette Room (the guest room) is done but there always seems to be something else! We did more touch up and I really think its done and ready for guests. The bed is still in Kennebunk but we'll get it on our next trip.

Time for some new electrical!

A fire waiting to happen!

I really wanted to work on the downstairs hall  and stairway and get it cleaned up. It's an area that we use every day and knew, if it looked better, it would make me feel like we were making progress. Lynne, Bob's sister, is an amateur artist and we have asked her to do a mural on the stairwell wall. It will really be cool!

I stripped the railing and got it down to the original wood.

A mural on this wall of something "Mainey".



The Work Continues With Our Contractor

There is a lot going on at the house even though we are not there. Our contractor, Greg, has been busy. He has taken all the siding off 2 sides of the house in preparation for new windows and shingles. The sill needed to be replaced and a new foundation poured on one side of the house and the chimney is gone along with the old furnace in the cellar! More still to be done but moving forward.

 

 

We also requested a new bathroom floor and the master bedroom wallboard seams be completed before we arrived in August. This is a job better left for the professionals. We'll be looking at these walls for many years and they need to be right!