Maine Summer, June/July, 2009

We had a large family reunion this summer and everything other than the reunion seemed to be on hold as we prepared for it...and then the recovery period after it was over. We even joked that our lives were 'pre-reunion' and 'post-reunion'. So now I'm catching up and here are some pictures from the beginning of the summer.

The dogs love it here because of the relative freedom they have, available land for exploring, generally cool temperatures, children to play with and several houses to find adoring humans in. Here they are playing ball with Mia.

This is my little herb garden in front of the camper.

This summer the Lupine were gorgeous until a storm with lots of wind and rain weighted them down and knocked them all over. I took these pictures before the storm. We've actually had an excessively wet and cool summer until just recently (August) and I heard this year has broken the record for wettest June and July. These Lupine photos were taken June 13.

Bill started raising meat chickens in May and here they are in mid June. They are long since in the freezer now and are delicious! They had a good life until it was their time.

Day Lilies

My father doing some yard work. You can see by the polartec vest that it's chilly out.

Mom and I spent time in the garden weeding and planting around this time. You can plant some vegetables here in late May but some have to be planted mid-June when it starts to warm up. By this picture date of June 18 everything was in I think.

Our scarecrow did a good job keeping the crows out of the garden and the electric fence Bill put in was 100% successful keeping the deer out. They are a huge problem here (there is no legal hunting on the Island) and some of the flowers in unprotected gardens were never seen thanks to deer eating the blooms. We've had a doe and 2 fawns here this year and they're beautiful if a little pesty.

We put up bird feeders this year and this one at our window attracts finches since I put thistle in it. This is a Goldfinch.

On one of the first days it felt a tiny bit summery we took a walk out to the ocean at a place called Ship Harbor. It is said that during the Revolutionary War an American vessel, trying to evade a British vessel, slipped into Ship Harbor at high tide. They successfully avoided capture but their boat became stuck in the mud and thus the name Ship Harbor.

My parents.

Bill and I

They would love to have been set free here on the shore.

First of the cousins to visit this summer, my cousin, Jan, and grandson, Nathan, and in the picture with us are my brother, Lunn and daughter, Mia.

Next the Reunion.