Pumpkinfest 2010

Jim and Paula's visit was the weekend after the Fourth Annual Pumpkinfest in Damariscotta. The creative pumpkins are really something to see and there are pumpkin catapults, car crushing pumpkin drops and even pumpkin boat races. The largest pumpkin this year weighed 1475 pounds and is the largest in Maine records. I am hoping that one of these years soon, I am able to design one of the pumpkins for display... one year when a three day weekend isn't planned with an enormous project such as sanding the floor!

So Glad to Meet You.... Again!

By our calculations, other than an all-too-brief time at Erica and Casey's wedding, the last time that my first cousin, Jim Hoffower and I saw each other, he was 14 or 16 (now 61) and I was five years younger (still am for that matter, hee,hee)! Through Uncle Bob & Aunt Marge, we were able to get back in touch through Christmas cards a number of years ago... and were lucky enough for him to accompany Uncle Bob, Scott (another first cousin) and Mary Beth (his wife of this year) to the wedding. Given the confusion of such an event, and the fact that his wife Paula was caring for her parents at the time and could not come to the wedding; we were so happy when he asked to come for a visit this fall. We had a great time getting to know each other and reminiscing about what we were able to remember of visits to Grammie and Grandpa's and tales of the Mills. Uncle Bob and friend Mike, with no knowledge of Jim's visit arrived the same weekend which gave us a mini-family reunion!

A Small Step on the Floor, A Huge Leap for Oak Hill Lodge!

Thanks to our little buddy, who worked so hard on the project, the Lodge now boasts beautiful pumpkin pine finished floors! A terrible job, and one of the last really disruptive projects we need to complete, we tackled the sanding on Columbus Day Weekend. Lawson was with us on Saturday, so as you can see, we put him right to work. He loved the absence of furniture and took full advantage of using the naked floors as a great place to race his trucks. I have been looking forward to putting this project behind us for a very long time and the impact was every bit as dramatic as I thought it might be, especially when we laid the orientals back down. The play of colors between the orangy tones of the floor with the red in the rugs is sensational, and makes me "ooooh" each time I admire it. We went up to the Lodge to add another coat of poly each night that following week until the four coats had been achieved. We had purchased most of the poly on clearance sales and realized how lucky we were to have done so as poly is now over $50 a gallon! I could not believe it! The rental of the large orbital sander proved to be a minor expense, costing us just under $100. This accomplishment allows us to finish off many projects that had been waiting their turn such as the rear wall, the bookcases and baseboards.

What will the Babies All Be?

What will they be?... what will they be?.... a little witch?.. a Bob the Builder?... a princess?... a bat?.... Or something really terrible, I can't imagine THAT!

Halloween is coming and Nana is beginning to wonder, just what will her little babies be????

They are all angels in my book, but something tells me they may surprise me on this day!