August!

My, the summer is traveling by fast. Projects, visitors, the boat, the garden, grandkids, events, art shows, all keeping us busy this year.Lots more to go before we shift gears, pack into out motorhome and travel south.
My garden is a bit smaller than last year, I skipped broccoli and carrots and have fewer tomatoes and cabbages. New this year are cucumbers, black beans, peppers and winter squash. The Maine spring was cold and wet in May, slowing everything down. My seedlings didn't do well, so mostly I have plants that I bought. One exception is the heirloom tomatoes from seeds that I saved from last year. They sprouted very slowly, but are coming along fine now. We've only harvested summer squash, green and yellow so far. Slugs are getting to the cabbage again.

Garden visitor

I've had some success with writing for publication. Escapees Magazine has published 2 articles so far. They are publishing another in September, this a feature article running 5 pages with 11 photos about Jekyll Island. They have another in the queu for next year, and one just submitted. I've also had a press release and a short feature in the coastal magazines here in Maine. I'm working on a feature on Mid-Coast Maine, but it's going slow, as the content is difficult to narrow.

Our table at Friendship Day

I've had a little success with photography. My Friendship Maine book has gone through 3 printings and one revision, and I need to order a 4th printing now (I print 10 copies at a time). We had a table on July 30 at Friendship Day, the local summer weekend celebration, where we sold books, posters, note cards and Consuelo sold slippers. We did pretty well I think. The next day was "Art in the Big Tent", again here in Friendship, where I had framed and matted prints. No sales... I think I was priced too high, and/or the traffic wasn't right. I'm not completely turned off, but less enthusiastic about art sales. Meanwhile, we've got a bunch of nice framed prints to put up in our house here.

Friendship Sloops racing in Rockland Harbor

Friendship Sloop Hegira rounding Owls Head Light

I did get myself over to the Friendship Sloop regatta in Rockland to take some pictures. The stance of the event organizers is to take "crew" on boards for sailing as space permits. I got onto one of the boats, but there was no space in the boats racing that day. Instead, on a day with 98 degree temperatures in Rockland, my captain decided to cruise out to one of the islands which had a protected anchoring area and a small beach. He had his son, daughter in law and two grand kids on board, plus anothe pair of "crew" from Illinois. The breeze was light, so we motored out and back. I did catch some nice shots, but I'd like to be in the race next year.
My grand kids Liam and Amelia, ages 10 and 6, spent a few days with us this last week. We had water balloon fights, tripped to Camden, went to the "beach", did some dog walking, watched TV, read books. Consuelo tried to teach them knitting with some small success. We enjoyed their company, but probably needed to be more active. The other grandkids with their dad will be here next weekend for a week's visit.
Our house is getting little new work this year. We spent our budget on a new roof this spring, so major renovations will have to wait until the future. We have some maintenance and repair items yet to finish before we leave for southern climes. We'd like to tear down the kitchen ceiling and put in a "cathedral" type affair with proper venting and vent fan for the stove. It will be a messy job as we have to remove the cellulose insulation above the ceiling tiles which are barely hanging in there right now. Another project is to remove a window in the end of the kitchen and install a pantry to store all manner of things which have no good home now.
We've had a couple visitors from among our Jekyll Island friends so far this year, with others yet to arrive. Sandy and Clive Henery called yesterday, and they are in Freeport now. We'll be having lunch with them on Wednesday. Jim and Linda Strid stopped in for a few days. And Bob and Nancy Hoffman stayed a couple days with us in their motor home while on their way to Acadia. The three of us ferried out to Monhegan Island for a hot walk taking lots of pictures.
Later today I am taking pictures of the "Chowder Cup" sailboat race here. Our pontoon will be on hand to rescue and of the sailors who might get into trouble during the Class C segment of the race. Class C is the smaller boats who will race around the small islands in the inner bay, while the larger boats will sail out around farther marks. Should be fun.
Monday we'll be taking a walking tour of Davis Point, one of the other summer ghettos here in Friendship. In preparation for this, one of the owners of a house that will be open there on Monday asked me to restore an old hand assembled photo taken out their back door many years ago. It was an interesting challenge and you can read about it on my photo blog.