More Highlights of the Trip Back East

On our drive from Connecticut to Massachusetts we spotted this tanker.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

An Olive Oil tanker truck!

Another novel idea. It's been so long since I've seen this  living in Alaska~

Apples that grow on trees!

Meeting up with blogger friend Corrine from Dosfishes in Massachusetts.

We had such a good time that we availed ourselves of their wonderful hospitality on the way back through.

Aside from her wonderful art, this gal can cook too!

We made it to Maine to see the folks~ It's nice to have a cousin that owns a seafood restaurant in Bar Harbor! "The Fantail" if you happen to be in the area. I recommend the Lobster mac 'n' cheese and the steamed clams. Goes well with Blueberry Ale.

The beginnings of fall colors on our beach walk

nom nom nom, a seaweed eating rock!

Nothing like the evening light on an autumn day

The first bursts of color 

One of the vignettes at our seaside camp.

I come from a family of collectors.

Blue Hill  view from our cottage

Stonington, Maine after the tourists have left.

A quiet scene

This is what you get to look at when you're stopped for bridge construction

"What is hip? Do you think you know"

An idyllic rosehip shot

Scary cat for Halloween

I remember this building from childhood, I'm so glad they preserved it.

A quintessential piece of Maine nostalgia.

 We made it back to Alaska from our New England trip. We landed smack back into the beginnings of winter~ snow that's covering the ground and staying, grey skies and ice. The leaves are long gone.

 Soon though, as it gets colder it will be less grey and we'll have sparkly sunny short and very cold days and with a bit more snow cover we'll be able to cross country ski or snowshoe the trails near the house.

 I'm in the midst of my winter pre holiday shows with some Anchorage, Alaska bead shows and a few more Fairbanks shows before we head south for the winter. The trip back east was a nice extension of the fall season and of course it was nice to be able to help out the folks and spend some quality time with them.

 I'm finally starting to catch up with some blogs since I've been on limited internet access for over three weeks now. ~~~~~~~~ Stay tuned for my upcoming   ~~~~~~~~   

 F I R S T   B L O G V E R S E R Y  Giveaway which will be announced on October 30th.               

Could I Call It A Business Trip?

Whenever I go back east I indulge in some serious junking and antiquing as it is oh-so-very satisfying and such good deals abound. I have my folks keeping a good eye out for the types of things I use in my art and resale. Because it was the end of the season I think there were even better deals and what could be nicer than going on an autumn drive with the folks to do a bit of junkin'. We had to pick up another suitcase to bring it all home!

One place we went to in had more than half off on most everything in the shop

I considered these old maps to be quite a score

1901 map of Rome in Italian

( I have an idea of who may covet this one!)

When you work with vintage paper, what's better than a vintage paper cutter?

Thanks to my Mom who gave this as an early birthday present. Thanks Mom!

A packet full of good stuff

A holiday packet too

I'm into light metal

The most expensive item-~ A spice tin box $20

The most amazing gift from my Dad. He found tintypes and cabinet photos for 25 cents a piece at a church sale. Thanks Dad!

More of the fatherlode!

Bits of lace

A somewhat distressed scrapbook

A roadside flea market yielded these instruments of torture

Last but not least a vintage brass speculum!

Very duck-like I think

(we'd best not think of the stories it could tell...)

and yes I'm weird for buying it... but for a buck wouldn't you?

Will I ever catch up?

I'm wondering if I'll ever catch up with my blogging since our trip back east. It doesn't help that the dial-up I've been complaining about isn't even working since somehow our phone is kaput and between the weekend and holiday it hasn't gotten fixed. Added to that is  a double header of shows in Anchorage ( six hour drive in what are now winter conditions, snow and ice) I need to regroup and repack for that and be ready to have another 10 days away from home. I have lots of my Maine junkin' finds to show you coming up and a head swimming with ideas of how to use them. Until I get back on track I'll leave you with the update on Candace the traveling doll (original post)

Candace - our traveling doll is visiting the wonderful Lorna of  Artymess and I have a few shots of her visit to show  you.

Lorna must be one of the best fiber arts teachers for secondary students.

I wish that I had a teacher like her when I was young.

As you can see Candace was allowed to visit school one day.

Stop by Lorna's blog to see some of the finished projects

A Maine Saltworks

The first  solar evaporation room

Mighty steamy and hot here in the second evaporation room.

The third evaporation room where they let moisture drain out.

Smoking the salt, "it takes patience" she says

the shop

Maine Sea Salt Company

We took a diversion from our cleanup and closing up activities helping the folks close up the summer cottage for the winter for a day of driving and antiquing in the country.

We found the Maine Sea Salt company which is the first saltworks in Maine to be set up in 200 years.

I had just been reading a fascinating book on the history of salt so this was right up my alley.

You'll get a report on the wonderful finds of that day on another post.

Visiting the Folks in Maine

Wonderland~ Acadia National Park ~ Mount Desert Island Maine

Textures of the tidepools

Amazing colors up close

A Crunchy Tapestry

My own arrangement

A view from our camp~ That's Blue Hill

(not this visit though)

We haven't had any sun or anytime to take photos on this trip because we had some end of the summer projects helping the folks close up camp so I've posted some photos from a previous visit.

I'm running out of time here at the internet cafe in Ellsworth so I'll leave you with this salty taste of Maine