Where the Road Took Me: Tandem Glass Gallery & Studio

Yesterday was a glorious day in Maine - sunny and dry, mid-70s. It was a fine day for a little road trip, and I happened to have one on my list: I needed to deliver pots to a new shop in Wiscasset, Mid-Coast Craft. More about them later! Today I want to tell you about my unexpected find.

It being said glorious day, and me in no hurry, I planned to stop at the numerous yard sales one always finds on Route 27 between Augusta and Wiscasset on a fine summer Saturday. The first sign I saw pointed the way down 127, which runs between Dresden and Woolwich (pronounced wool-itch, which always makes me laugh, as wool usually does itch.)

I was surprised to discover the advertised sale was at this amazing glass blowing studio, Tandem Glass. The upper floors arr living space, the lower is studio and gallery. I was immediately hit with a pang of jealousy. Look, there's even a outbuilding which would make a stellar kiln shed! I wouldn't want to mow all that lawn, though.

Inside was even more amazing: a sunlit gallery space glittering with beautiful handblown glass:

And the studio! I admit I am a sucker for a tidy studio - I should probably keep my own cleaner. The furnaces were cool the day I was there. And look at the enticing rack of canes! Materials are inspirational, all on their own.

It's maybe a mile - no more than that - off 27 in Dresden. Worth a trip! 

Unexpected Visitor

Saw this little cutie in Augusta today, on the bank of the Kennebec. To be on the safe side we called the Maine Warden Service, but they said it's not unusual to for seals to swim as far up as Augusta.

Monarch in Maine

Female Monarch Butterfly

I saw this little lady (yes, a lady for sure!) on Macworth Island about a week ago. Because I am blessed with the kind of friends who not just notice things like butterflies, but stop and photograph them, I am starting to wonder if monarchs are making a comeback? I have seen a few more this year than last IRL, but I have seen many more on social media. In addition, my brother, who lives near a wooded area and has a large patch of milkweed on his property, says he and his wife & their little sons have seen chrysalises everywhere.

We so rarely get anything like good environmental news. The globe continues to warm, idiots continue to pretend it isn't, pesticides and habitat loss and even devices like hydro dams, which are meant to do less harm by replacing coal burning electrical generation, all contribute to species loss. Maybe, just maybe we are not going to lose this beloved beauty.

Male Monarch butterfly

I know this butterfly is a female, because the males have oval shaped black dot on their inner wings. Here's one a friend posted:


Yes, that's a marijuana plant it has landed on. Legal in Maine!

What's New Downtown?

This morning I had occasion to walk downtown. One of my favorite things about my city is that I can and do walk to just about everything I need to do here: to the post office, the library, the bank (not to mention the pub.)
Today I was going to ship a package & buy stamps. On the way back, I walked beside the river, in hopes of seeing a sturgeon jump. I did see a few, but nothing like yesterday, when they were popping up like fireworks on Independence Day.) My route took me beside this concrete retaining wall below downtown, and lo! A mural!
That wasn't there the last time I walked by here!

Less noticeable but also fun downtown are edible plantings! I see the city has placed tomato plants among the celosia.

Augusta gets better every day!

Dicker for Deals

I visited a Woolwich (pr. Wool-Itch) landmark yesterday: Ed's Stuff. If you spend much time in Maine - above Cumberland count, that is - and you're like me, you've probably driven by it a hundred times, each time thinking, One of these days I'm going to stop there.

Well, the day finally came! I was driving between two craft galleries - both, somewhat confusingly, called Stable (The Stable Gallery in Damariscotta, where you can find my work, and Stable on Front, where, sadly you no longer can. Both are cute little shops, though, and you should visit.)

Ed's Stuff bills itself as an antique shop, but that would be in the Sanford and Son mold: "We buy junk and sell antiques." But if you are willing to sift through the trash, there are surely some gems.

Lots of trunks, in varying conditions

A big stack of metal bedframes

Buoys

If you want a buoy, Ed's is your place. Buoy oh buoy.

More buoys

Still more buoys

These were a few of the finer used toilets available. 

Ditto, toilets. Some in a functional state, other, not so much.

SOOO many windows. You could build
a boho greenhouse!

If ya want doorknobs, you've come to the right place!

And lastly, this invitation

It was a fun visit! I was looking for stools, though, to go under my kitchen island (the one I haven't finished yet - but I've made a lot of progress!) But I know where to go if I need a doorknob or a buoy.

Free Table Score!

Hey there, World's Cheapest Human here (btw, that puts me in the running for the galactic title. JUST SAYIN) You know what the World's Cheapest Human really loves? Free stuff!

This free thing was sitting on a concrete block next to the giant recycling bin where the City of Augusta asks us to drop our plastic and paper trash. Clearly someone was downsizing but didn't want to actually discard a perfectly good item. Thanks, someone!

We feed the birds. Mostly sunflowers - tons of birds love sunflower seed - but also thistle (finches!) and suet (woodpeckers.) I've had a hummingbird feeder before but no hummingbird has ever touched it with a ten foot pole, or a pole of any length. or touched it at all. We maxed out on hummingbirds with two, this one time, but we usually do get one, and she prefers monarda and trumpet flowers. (And also scarlet runner beans, but we don't have any of those this year.) Before this things bloom. Nada. No hummingbirds.

But that's all changing now. My old feeder was pink (and so ugly it hurt to look at it, I'd take a photo but it might be considered vandalizing the internet.) I'm told they really only like a red feeder. But no red dye in the food, please, it isn't good for them, I'm told.

I'm waiting for my sugar syrup to cool right now. Here's the mix:

4 parts water
1 part sugar

They like cane sugar better than beet sugar - if your bag of sugar doesn't specify, it's probably beet. I just used what I had in the house, if this doesn't bring 'em I'll try cane sugar next.

Woolie Bear Wisdom

I'm not much of a believer in folklore, horoscopes, fortune cookies, or any other woo-woo - unless it tells me something I want to hear! In this case, this woolie bear is telling me to prepare for the mildest winter ever.

The wives' tale tells us that the broader the brown band in the caterpillar's middle, the warmer out winter will be. I have never seen a wider brown stripe on a woolie bear, ever! Gentle January, here we come.

In actual fact, the brown strip is wider when the previous spring was earlier. But what fun is that? Even the easiest winters in Maine are hard, and long. It's good to have something to give us some hope!

Then Leaf Subsides to Leaf

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay. -

Robert Frost

I've been meaning to take photos for this post for over a week, and I almost missed the window: the brief hour of gold. 

I took a walk today on Macworth Island, just north of Portland. A causeway leads to the island, which houses the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf. It's an easy hike, about 2.2 miles, with lovely views. It's good to go early in the season - Macworth has a very small parking lot, and when that lot is full, no more visitors are allowed. Even today, only one spot was open when I arrived, although there were more by the time I left. 

Must Eden always sink to grief? Maybe. But Macworth abides. 

Hartland, Maine

So many questions.

Woolie Bears Don't Lie

Woolie Bears are the Magic 8-ball of caterpillars. According to folk wisdom, one can predict the coming winter by observing the relative width of the brown band in the woolie bear's middle. When the caterpillars display wider brown bands, the coming season is predicted to be milder. Narrower brown middles conversly predict a harsh winter.

So, what does woolie have to say for himself? Is his middle wide or narrow? He (ze?) has four-ish brown body segments out of thirteen. (No, I can't see thirteen, but that's supposedly how many they have.) According to the (recreational and pretty much unscientific) research by Dr. C. H. Curran, the average is between 5.3 and 5.6 brown segments. So that can't be good.

Last year's woolie bears were pretty short-centered, also, and last year's winter? Was a bitch. In fact I've seen very few woolie bears this year, perhaps as a consequence. The same dynamic that blessed us with very few Japanese beetles to destroy our roses and raspberries has taken most of our woolie bears with the other hand.

As it happens, the caterpillars and the almanac are in agreement, as they were last year: Harsh winter. Our fuzzy little prognosticator says: Outlook not so good.

Lonesome Rowboat

Deer Isle, Maine

Starfish Like Jewels

at the reversing falls, Blue Hill.
The photos don't do them justice; they are peach and amethyst and ruby. So beautiful!

A Walk in the Maine Woods

Now that spring is here - well, sort of - it’s a great time to go plant-spotting. There are well over 200 plant species on Maine’s rare, threatened and endangered list. Who knew, right? Some are so rare that there are estimated to be fewer than 5 individual plants in the entire state! Others are well-established in Maine but threatened globally. On your next outing, see if you can spot these plants from the list:


Showy Lady’s Slipper
Rarer than either the pink or yellow varieties, there are estimated to be between 20 and 100 Showy Lady’s slippers in Maine.





Spotted WintergreenSpotted Wintergreen grows in only 13 locations in the entire state, with fewer than 20 individual plants. Its southern Maine habitat has been reduced by de-velopment. In June white blooms on short stalks make it easier to spot.


Slender Blue Flag Iris
Slender Blue Flag likes both salt and freshwater marshes, and costal meadows. Though threatened in Maine - fewer than 20 plants are known to grow here - the population of Slender Blue Flag is believed to be globally secure.

Tide Pool and Cairn, Ogunquit, Maine

A gray November day, but not too cold; thought we'd get out before winter closes in.
This was taken on the Marginal way in Ogunquit, a lovely walk on classic stretch of Maine's rocky coast. The walk is about a mile and a quarter; you can download a .pdf map here.

If you're in Ogunquit, go see my friend Rick and Rick at On the Main! They sell pottery and other fine handmade items.

Baby Hawk Wing Moth

That's how I prefer to think of this ginormous Tomato Horn Worm, happily munching away on Sun Gold foliage. My hubby has created a sort of Hornworm refuge in our one raised bed that is a little too shady to produce much fruit. They are hungry little bastards, but osrt of pretty, as well; and when they finish demolishing plants, they will go away for a while and come back like this:

 

3 Tugboats, Belfast, Maine