Captain Elizabeth!

Last weekend we took our niece Elizabeth (to us,Tiz) for a kayaking trip. She had been eagerly awaiting a trip for awhile. It was a beautiful day to be outside and especially on the water.

Mark lugged, tugged, pulled and carried the kayak to the dock at the Porter Preserve. There is also a public dock on the Sheepscot River.

Sometimes I wonder if its worth it to go out for a paddle as Mark has to load and unload the kayak by himself! When we get home he unloads...carries...and stores it in our backyard.

Here is our new Captain....Miss Elizabeth. She was well prepared for our adventure, even putting her little camera into a ziploc bag, just in case! She even brought along a water bottle and was ready to go.

The Captain and First Mate.

The "former" Captain and the new Captain.... I didn't have to lift a paddle so to speak at all! I sat back and enjoyed the trip. Elizabeth paddled the entire trip!

We paddled up into the river. The above photo is of the Trevett Country Store. It is literally on the water. It is part of Boothbay, where we live, but we have several "parts" of town. This building houses the Post Office for the residents who live on nearby Barter's Island and Hodgdon Island. They are both connected by bridges to the mainland.

A photo of the drawbridge that allows bigger boats than ours into Back River. We just paddle underneath, no waiting for the bridge tender to open the bridge by hand.

Each lobsterman has to have their own buoys to mark trap locations. They all have their own colors and have to be registered. This buoy is the most unique I have ever seen!

Paddled past a floating raft of traps.

A calm morning to be on the water. We try to get out early as the wind usually shifts in the early afternoon and its tiring to paddle "back".

We enjoyed watching the seals on ledges. We saw several seals swimming nearby, they checked us out as we do them!

See the bench high up on the rock? Thats "our bench", the one that we have to stop at while hiking the Preserve.

The bench occupied one evening last spring.

A wonderful summer day!

On Saturday Mark and I took a scenic drive to Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery. It is located in a small town about an hour from our home. Its a beautiful place, with hills and fields along the way.

First heart! I spotted this as I stepped out of the car at the winery.

The truck and beautiful flowers and chimes were such a welcoming sight.

We could have sat in the chairs for hours....looking out over a field and hills.

Baa...this sheep appeared to be having a nice lunch.

This barn was well- maintained, standing there for many years indeed.

The shingles on the small outbuilding were eye-catching.

The winery is located near a portion of the Medomak Valley trust. After our wine tasting (fun!)we walked down through the fields toward a small brook.

This heart "popped up" on the path we followed.

The brook was very still. It was so quiet and peaceful beside it. The sky was such a lovely blue and soft, puffy clouds were overhead.

A nice place to stop and rest for a bit.

The sunflowers were beaming at us as we were leaving. Mark and I had what has to be one of the best days ever, peaceful, warm and relaxing.

Saturday sauntering

Saturday Mark, BuddyTheElf and I wanted to spend some time outside as the weater was gorgeous. We hiked a trail at Ospry Point in Newcastle where it met up with the Marsh River Preserve.

We headed down the trail towards the marsh, where everything is still a bright green and the trail was nicely marked.

The marsh grass was stunning in its deep green coloring. And the sky was a robin's egg blue with soft, puffy clouds about.

We made our way towards another part of the trail and came upon another view of the marsh. I spotted lots of sea lavendar along the grassy edge, just waiting to bloom.

A heart I spotted on the trail.

The boys always walk ahead of me as they know I stop and start constantly to take photos or explore something!
Mark had the preserve's pamphlet and read that this dark green leafy plant was called "rattlesnake plantain". After I silently screamed "horrors" to myself I learned that in July and August it will produce a white tipped flower on a long stem. Since I left my glasses at home I couldn't see if there were any such things. I must admit I did pretty well with guessing at what photos I was taking!

Mark informed me that this was called a "pile of rocks"! Who knew? According to the brochure these were common. Maybe a spot to collect extra rocks for a job?

Everything was green and lush. The ferns were particularly beautiful for this late in the summer.

Found two different kinds of ferns that were living side by side. They both are very pretty.

Horrors! I couldn't believe my eyes that a leaf was orangy red already. Must be a fluke!

I snapped this photo this evening. Can you guess why?

Kayaking on Saturday

Saturday morning we headed out on the water at 8:30 to do some paddling along the coastline. We were accompanied by Benjamin (my middle child) and his girlfriend Allison. The ocean was flat calm and so glassy as we started out. The breeze was just perfect and one couldn't have asked for a lovelier day.

Around the Hendricks Head Lighthouse.

Along the shoreline into Cozy Harbor.

Just enough water to float under the bridge to Pratts Island!

Heading out to more open water.

Instead of people-watching we like to "cottage-watch". Some of the summer homes on the coast are amazing!

We headed towards a ledge that was covered with seals and on the way we spotted several Harbor Porpoises. That was a first and we were delighted with their "show". Every so often a seal would poke his/her head up through the water and check us out. Ben had a close-up of one that surfaced about three feet from his kayak.

Yes indeed, a beautiful day on the water...very relaxing!