Maine Spring

Lobster stuff in storage

If you read this blog regularly, you'll notice that when we arrive at our summer place, whether Minnesota or Maine, blogging and photography nearly stops as we invest our energy in opening up the house and getting some necessary work done. It's not new and different territory, so I don't generally feel like writing about it. The result is that I may go for several weeks without posting. Such is this case this year. Now we're getting caught up on housework, taking a few more pictures, and as of today, anyway, spending a few minutes to write.


We have been enjoying the Maine spring. It comes later than most anything south of us, even southern Minnesota. I think we've only had one day over 70 degrees this year, and it's the 1st of June. It's been sunny, and most days in May, our perception of the weather has been better than the forecast would indicate. We've had many sunny days when rain was expected. And the coolness has been nice. Not too cold at night (mid 40's) and not too hot during the day.

We've been working on the house, I left out "hard " from that last sentence, because we've been getting things done, but taking it easy, too. Partly, this is due to the heavy colds both Consuelo and I have had over the past 3 weeks, it took some of the wind out of us.

What we've accomplished so far this year:
1. Cleaned everywhere
2. Primed all the ceilings that were replace last winter, after we left (most of the house)
3. Removed the remaining wallpaper in the living room and primed and painted walls and cieling.
4. Painted ceiling in dining room
5. Replaced all the furniture that was moved out for ceiling work
6. Bought and placed new sofa, including removing door casing to get it in the room
7. Installed indoor-outdoor carpet in kitchen
8. Installed new light in dining room
9. Moved sewing room downstairs to kitchen dining area
10. Got pontoon ready for water
11. Installed sump pump and dehumidifier in basement

In addition, we've decided to minimize our trips to town, which entails buying larger quantities of food when we go, organizing our parts lists for the house purchases, and cooking more at home, including making our own bread. We're averaging one trip a week.

There's still a lot to do, and we'll keep chipping away at it. Meanwhile, we'll stop and smell the roses, too. At least we will when the roses come out.