Friday drive

Last Friday Ken and I took a drive to my hometown in central/western Maine: North Anson.

Along the way we stopped at the Wire Bridge in New Portland.

We hadn't visited the Wire Bridge in years, not since my stepfather's death in 1981. My mother had lived in North New Portland while married to my stepfather. He loved the wire bridge and made sure his stepchildren admired it during visits with him and my mother.

After my stepfather died, my mother moved back to North Anson. That pretty much ended our visits to the Wire Bridge.

 The bridge is a unique bridge, in that it is a suspension bridge, one of four built in Maine in the 1860's. It's now the only one still standing,...and still usable.

 It's probably the only bridge of its type in the entire U.S.

 On Friday Ken and I walked across it, viewing it from all angles.

Ken pointed out, just as we started the walk, that the bridge sways. That's the nature of a suspension bridge.

We also drove across it in order to continue our journey to North Anson.

We both enjoyed seeing the old bridge again. It's still a beauty, despite its 150+ years.

Izzy dolls (I think I'm addicted)

I came across the Izzy Doll pattern while looking on the internet for a simple, knitted doll to make for the Operation Christmas Child shoebox.

Now it seems I can't stop making them.

If you can knit a simple rectangle, changing the yarn color every few rows, then you can make Izzy dolls.

But if you crochet, there's a pattern for crocheted Izzies, too.

It's fun to try making each doll unique. Some have braids, some have pony tails, some have simple hats.

The little "brother" was knitted with size 5 needles, using garter stitch throughout.

The bigger siblings were knitted with size 6 needles, and I used stocking stitch throughout. I like the stocking stitch better.

Once the rectangle is completed, a seam is sewn up the back, the head is stuff and cinched, then the arms are defined and, finally, the legs are defined.

Easy peasy.

My little family of Izzy dolls has grown to six as of this morning. I plan to make one or two more, then I really must call it quits. There's other Christmas knitting to be done!

Lobster sandwich, anyone?

Last Friday was the annual Lobster Box Lunch fundraiser, sponsored by Alpha Delta Kappa, Maine Beta Chapter.

A∆K is an organization for teachers and retired teachers; our main purpose, other than being supportive of our fellow teachers, is to help various groups through altruistic programs. We give scholarships to aspiring teachers, donate to the Red Cross, pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, donate money to our local food bank, etc.

I'm the designated "Lobster-getter" for the Lobster Box Lunch, so last Thursday I drove to Portland, turned onto Portland Pier, and drove to the end. I'd contacted New Meadows Lobster days earlier to place our order.

As you can see, it was a stunningly beautiful day to be on the Portland waterfront.

In the distance here you can see DiMillo's Floating Restaurant. The restaurant was once a ferry in Norfolk, VA. It's been a restaurant in Portland for at least twenty-five or thirty years now. Ken and I have had many fine seafood dinners at DiMillo's.








And here's New Meadows Lobster. I phone the company several days in advance to place my order. This year I ordered 76 pounds of fresh lobster meat, knuckles and claws only.

The two-pound packages, packed in styrofoam coolers and surrounded by lots of ice, are sealed and ready for me when I arrive. I'm nervous driving back home, because I'm carrying around $2400 worth of lobster meat in the trunk of my car. There it sits, safe and sound, until 6:00 the next morning.

...at which time I deliver the meat to our box -lunch-preparation headquarters. There, many of my fellow A∆K members and I (about fifteen of us), madly assemble the sandwiches.

Each of us has a specific duty:

1. Unpack the meat, open the two-pound bags, add a little mayonnaise, or
2. Assemble and wrap the sandwiches, or
3. Pack each box with a sandwich, a homemade brownie, and a bag of potato chips, or
4. Check the order forms and  place the correct number of pre-ordered lunches into boxes and bags for delivery.

Here's one of our lobster sandwiches. As you can see, we don't skimp when we fill the buns.

So we work non-stop from 6:00 to 7:30 a.m., not even taking time for a cup of coffee. By 7:30 we're done and doing clean-up detail.

We're a well-oiled machine. This year we packed 380 lunches.

The best part, for our customers, is that these lunches cost only $10.

How to babysit your houseplants

Usually when Ken and I are away from home for more than a few days, our friend Lynn looks after my houseplants.

On our last trip a couple of weeks ago, though, I had a dilemma: Lynn would be on the trip with us.

I pondered this problem for several days. We'd asked a neighbor to check our house regularly, but I didn't feel right about asking him to water my plants. Besides, I was afraid he'd prove to be an under-waterer or an over-waterer.

A couple of days before we were to leave, I googled "care for houseplants while away," and I came across this suggestion.

I didn't know if it would work, but I decided it was worth a try.

The day before we left, I filled jars with water and set them above the level of the plant pots. Then I cut lengths of cotton clothesline, placed one end into the soil of each pot and the other end into the jar of water.

Early the next morning, before we headed to the airport, I checked the set-up and could see no indication that the cotton clothesline was even slightly damp.

That worried me. Maybe this system wouldn't work and I'd come home to dead plants.

But it did work! As you can see from the water level in these two bottom photos, the cotton clothesline did, indeed, provide a means for the soil in the plant pots to stay slightly moist.

My houseplants were happy. I was, too.

It's quick, it's simple, and it works.

Did we visit any yarn shops while on the trip??? You betcha!

We hadn't been in the rental car for long  during our two weeks in Washington State, British Columbia, and Alberta before Lynn and I, in the back seat, began complaining. The back seat sat low, and the neck guards on the seats in front were unusually high. We had to crane our necks if we hoped to see anything directly ahead of us while on the road.

We "girls" quickly learned to use this discomfort to our advantage, though: We made it clear to Ken and Jim that we HAD to visit some yarn shops.

We didn't get a chance, finally, to do this until we reached Victoria, well into the second week of our journey.

Our first stop was the Beehive Wool Shop. Oh, my. It didn't disappoint. What a lovely shop, full of wonderful yarns and friendly, helpful staff.

Lynn and I both got a little carried away here, but  since we'd waited so long, or so it seemed, to even enter a yarn shop on this trip, and since everything looked so enticing, we couldn't be  helped.

My haul is the first photo at the top. The navy-isn hank at the bottom of the photo I've just now wound into a cake so I can start knitting myself a cowl this evening.

Here are Lynn and I as we left the Beehive Wool Shop, all smiles. I might add that our husbands sat patiently on a park bench strategically placed just outside the shop. That kept them at bay while we drooled over the yarns inside. There's nothing worse than trying to shop for yarns if your husband is standing beside you, trust me.

The next day, still in Victoria, we reminded the guys we needed another yarn fix. This time it was The Button and Needlework Boutique.

I'd never seen so many buttons in one place in my life. Ironically, however, I didn't buy any. I did find another skein of yarn that I needed, or thought I needed.

Our third and final yarn shop visit was at So Much Yarn in Seattle. I'd visited this shop almost exactly a year earlier, when Ken and I drove out to Oregon and Washington. The shop is located near Pike Market and is easy to find. I found this yarn shop to be as friendly and helpful as ever. And oh, the yarns!

 I bought a skein of sock yarn here and some adorable buttons for a future baby's cardigan.

So Lynn and I got to see three excellent, well-stocked yarn shops, and we came home happy.