November

Greetings folks, this is a quick one, just an opportunity to share some photos... of the timber frame Mike is building in our front yard, of our daytrip to NYC and of Maine

Andrew and Mike laying out the frame

Willy desperately wanting to join them

Mike will have to tell you what this is

the beginnings of the 'small' frame-- small if you're 6'8", I guess

Willy in NYC, thinking about the merry go round

greeting cousin Stella

Rick, Stella, and James
tell me this is not a cute baby!

In Maine on a walk

James chillin'
The Maine coast
Willy is wondering why he has to hold the camera

The Samoset Golf Course

Mighty in Maine

Weee're back.
This is what James said every time we exited from the elevator into the lobby of the Samoset Resort.


Mike was given a scholarship to attend the Timber Framers Guild Conference, so we packed up the car and headed to Maine on Thursday, returning Sunday. As we entered the Resort area I saw a guy in casual clothes with a beard-moustache combination getting out of his car. I said "look honey, I think he must be with the Guild", to which Mike replied-- "this conference is going to be nothing but fleece and facial hair". And boy was he right. I think James and Will were the only unadorned menfolk. And menfolk is the word. Let me put it this way-- when the Guild publishes a calendar, I will be first in line. We met lots of nice people who do all sorts of interesting work in sustainable building or craftsmanship. We were both able to take in a lecture or two, and learn a lot.

Maine is gorgeous. Every bend in the road presents one LLBean-worthy cover shot after another. We do have some photos... but they are decidedly less beautiful than what I describe. The Samoset is a large-scale seaside resort which was encapsulated in a foggy cloud for nearly our entire stay. It was not cold, it was a humid but temperate fog... but it did not lend itself to photo making. We will download a few of our shots soon.

I worked to entertain the boys in hotel-land. Hmmmm. It was interesting. Most of the activities the hotel is known for were just not available in Fall/Winter. I can say that we were thrilled to find that the Samoset has closets big enough to host a pak-n-play, which means Willy had his own room, and was able to keep to a somewhat normal nap schedule. To entertain James from time to time I streamed this program called "Mighty Machines" on my laptop. Its basically footage of trucks and you know, machines, doing things. Oh, with goofy voice-overs. This show has a contagious theme song that is still coasting through my brain. They also had a playroom, which was a godsend-- activities and toys galore. We also managed to hike around the golf course paths, and collect rocks on the shore. There was a lighthouse, but at the end of a long 'path' made of huge slabs of stone. It was not really stroller-worthy, so we only checked it out a little. Will and James were the stars of the show-- many folks enjoyed seeing them and were glad we brought them. That was nice. We felt they were a little young for the scene, but still it was good to have support.

Our quick tour would not be complete without telling you about lobster. Yes it is everywhere, and yes it is glorious. The hotel had lobster rolls (a sort of lobster salad sandwich), lobster bisque, and extraordinary chowder. The food was part of a package deal, and the hotel did not serve steamed lobster... so on our way out of town we stopped at a hole in the wall called-- I am not kidding-- BULLWINKLE'S--- and sat down to enjoy the last three lobsters in the house. I had one, at the exorbitant price of $10, while Mike had 2 for $15. It was unbelievable. Fresh, delicious, and inexpensive.

We will be back.

Thomas Time

James had a great time on his first Halloween. We saw a great train costume at the parade we went to last weekend and copied it to make this Thomas out of a diaper box, paper and a bunch of duct tape.