The last of the garlic scapes on my September windowsill in the kitchen, which looks out to the forest where...
Visitors watch me as I cook.
Sweet September views. A Bald Eagle soars above the sailboats.
I love looking into windows and through to the other side. This was taken as I walked through town.
Ok, I'll admit it, I just love looking in windows. Period.
Sometimes I just want to knock on a door and say thank you for having such a beautiful little home.
O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, the wide gray skies!
Thy mists, that roll and rise.
The woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with color...
World, world, I cannot get thee close enough!
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Thank you for the many birthday wishes and all the wonderful e-mails and cards. Lori, I love the birdie purse, Eleanor, those socks are wonderful, Lynn Karlin, the book, Loving Where you Live is great and so is your new raw foods calendar. Sharon and Jim, I enjoyed all the goodies, Gin Gin, love the vase, Eleanor, your kitchen creations rock, Beth Fisher, wow the French linens are gorgeous, Marilyn, the antique Francis Hodgson Burnett is an amazing find and better gift. Heather and Doug, your creation added pounds to my body, but they were great. Jeffrey, the antique acorn and leaf bracelet is a treasure. Sara, Moses, and Luke, I love the Luke handprint. You are all the best.
One of my readers wrote recently and said she felt that I am pulling away from blogging. Well, I am not doing much blogging because of time constraints, but I do post a photo and comment on facebook every few days. I think I live a simple life, but it takes lots of work to live simply and blogging takes many hours out of my day. I find that many are cutting back and spending more time on facebook and twitter. How do you feel about it?
Won't you join me for the last chords of the September song? Let's take a walk, maybe even a boat ride in Maine. I won't have lots of writing in this, but the photos are the important thing. Enjoy every peep into a window or walk through a neighborhood called Bayside, or on Peaks' Island, or a sail on the sea, or relaxing on my porch with Audrey, or...
I love tiny houses and buildings. Ok, I'll adopt this one in Rockport Harbor. This would be a perfect studio.
On the outskirts of Bayside I yelled when I saw the sign for this library.
Little library for grown-ups.
Little library for kids like me.
Great place for children.
Went crazy for all the little cottages and wanted to adopt this one...
...or...
...hmmm...
...maybe one of these?
Ok, I'll admit it...I have a thing for yellow houses, porches, and porch rockers.
Who wouldn't love to sit and rock here?
It is easy to find great ideas as you walk through nice neighborhoods. Here is a bent wig trellis that is helping Black-eyed-Susan climb. Looks like Ozark herbalist Jim Long has been here.
This is a simple fence, but by turning the cross rails into planter boxes the owners made more garden space and great impact. I love this and plan to do it in our garden too. Copy Cat.
Loved this whimsical mailbox.
This is a tiny cottage (honestly, it IS tiny) behind a mansion. Gutsy color scheme. Wish I had the nerve.
You don't need my words to figure this one out.
Stacked stone sculptures on the island.
Rugged individualism is a hallmark of Maine. I laughed when we saw this on Peaks' Island. Rugged individual indeed.
Back home Jeff and Nick set out in a dory (while I cook dinner for friends). Is that fair?
Jeff thinks that is fair because he cleans up my kitchen disarray. I am great at messing up a perfectly neat little kitchen.
I did manage to take time out to feed my girl Audrey. What a sweetheart.
Table is set, candles are lit, and pumpkins parade across the fireplace.
The September moon rises over Pemaquid Point...
...and when I walk into the kitchen to make cole slaw, well, this charming girl is smiling at me and I just could not bear to chop her up. She sat on my counter and greeted guests for me.
What a hodge-podge I've shared with you, but to me this is some of the essence of Maine in September. We love every minute of our time in Maine and hope you have a place you cherish.
Love to you all,
Sharon
25 comments:
Hello dear Cousin Sharon... I am so sorry I missed your birthday!... I do hope it was a happy one... how sweet you received a little handprint of baby Luke!... that would be my favorite as well... I do not do Facebook or Twitter so I miss so many things you write... I am sad that alot of bloggers who I have followed or have followed me for years are no longer posting... I look forward to each and every one of your posts!... they always make me smile... like seeing precious little Audrey in this one... what a little doll!... I too love to look in windows as Jack and I take our morning walks... some homes look sooo cozy and inviting, I want to knock on the door and see who lives there... I often wonder if anyone looks at my home and thinks these things and wonders who lives inside?... your views out of your window are spectacular, love your sweet Woodpecker right there looking in at you... and the moon rising over Pemaquid Point takes my breath away!... Happy Autumn to you sweet lady... much love, xoxo Julie Marie
Love that you shared your walk with us and a peek at those little cottages. It must be difficult to wind down the season and begin to close everything up for winter. Our days have been so perfect - if only Fall could linger for more months.
Have had similar thoughts the last few months - the care and feeding of a blog takes time and effort....something that is in short supply. My own blogging has been hit or miss and I don't see that improving. I get a tremendous boost from the quilting forum on FB that I joined. Things may be trending that way??
Oh, I really appreciate the little September dose of Maine, Sharon! Beautiful!
Longing for a place of my own to cherish and in the mean time was grateful for a peek into this wonderfulness and your views....
I loved the "hodge-podge"....needed a little 'hodge-podge' tonight I think....
...so, thanks friend....happy Autumn for you....
Liz~*
Oh lovely this and thats...this is one of my favorite poems, too. Charming homes you've shared with us. I am sure that a homeowner would be thrilled to hear such a compliment from you! Do it...perhaps if the owner is outside on the porch or tending the garden. You'll see a smile so big. One last thing: that harvest moon photo is fantastic.
oh sharon, really it all takes my breath away. i love all the tiny houses and libraries and gardens green, the water and serenity. i can't blame you at all for wanting to revel in your time there. (i love looking in windows too, and love the idea of you thanking home owners)and audrey. so so sweet.
i don't have f.b. or twitter, just a blog. i do know that they all take time and attention and there is only so much of that in a day. i personally hope you and jeff keep this space, as long as you can.
(i was in slo this weekend and thought of you! happy belated birthday dear sharon!)
xxxxxxxx lori
You bring me to a part of America I have never been. I love your photos. Therefore I prefer your blog and Edna' poetry. xo Jenny
Good morning dear Sharon and belated Happy Birthday. Your gifts sound wonderful.
Your post was a true delight and it was good to read. I'm not a FB person, and do know that blogging takes time.
Enjoy the rest of your time there in lovely Maine and thank you for taking the time to share with all of us here in blogland.
FlowerLady
I love Maine..I could live in your area if my family folloed me:)
Charming..how sweet of you to stop and thank people..must make their day!!
I read this post as I sit in the airport lounge waiting for my flight home. 4400 Kms and eight hours. I can't wait to be breathing island air again. I hope you continue to blog. Blogging is like a conversation. It can be sustained, lively, casual, intense but it is always about connecting. I find FB and twitter to be less about connecting and exchanging thoughts, and more about sending out bulletins. Not much
conversation, in my experience. Thanks for such a lovely bit of poetry, photos to send me dreaming and for sharing what must have been a lovely evening.
What a lovely glimpse of Maine you shared. Charming houses, sparkling water, window gazing - it's all good. September is going out with wind and rain here. It's a good day for staying indoors.
Sharon,
Thank you for sharing September in Maine. How lovely! I have only been to Maine once and it was in September, so how nice to have your photos and words to walk along Memory Lane with me!
Hi to you all,
Lots of e-mails from those of you who think that blogs are the most personal and deep of our communicating on line. Hmmmm. The fact that facebook seems to be more "bulletin" than personal is true.
So please bear with my lengthy absences and I will continue to communicate with you. You do the same!
Love,
S
Hi to you all,
Lots of e-mails from those of you who think that blogs are the most personal and deep of our communicating on line. Hmmmm. The fact that facebook seems to be more "bulletin" than personal is true.
So please bear with my lengthy absences and I will continue to communicate with you. You do the same!
Love,
S
Sharon, I hope you continue your wonderful blog! Enjoy so much your garden videos and Maine pictures. Whatever happened to your sunflower garden? Hope it was a success. I, too, do not follow on Facebook, so have been missing hearing from you. I will be in SLO at the Remnants of the Past on Nov. 10th to see Susan Branch. Hope to see you there, too. Dee Dee
The dory picture made me smile because it reminded me of Sweden -- the rocks, the blue water -- and then I spotted the Swedish flag.
So many beautiful photos of nature and charming cottages; makes me want to visit Maine even more than I already did.
Christina (in SLO)
Hi Christina,
When I went to Sweden to speak at a Childrens' Gardening conference, I felt right at home. It feels so much like Maine with the rugged coast, islands, the brilliant skies. You owe yourself a visit to Maine. It is so wonderful.
So now, here I am in SLO too, eating breakfast with the hummingbirds and picking bouquets, lemons, and limes in between working on my book.
When my son was born I drew his birth announcement and the words on it were, "Oh glorious life." It is, isn't it?
Happy day,
Sharon
Dee Dee Osborne,
Hi dear. Did you ever tune into the Central Texas Gardener show I did last spring. Thought of you and how you are in Carmel and yet watch CTG, which is one of the very best gardening shows still around. I love it.
The night before Sue's book signing is a big one for me because we are throwing her her very first book celebration party. We are cooking outdoors in a wood-fired oven, four chickens, steak, homemade pizzas galore, and so much more. It will be a joyful celebration for us all.
Did you know that Sue and I have been friends for 30 years and found out that we are distant cousins? This was discovered in a graveyard in Andover, Massachusetts, a stronghold of the Lovejoy family.
I will probably attend Remnants too. It is such a great show, but can't go on Saturday as I will be cooking all day for the party.
Thanks for your sweet words about blogging. It is such a personal expression of things, but it also takes so much time. I just received the entire manuscript of my new book and am combing through it now. Then, onward and upward to the book I am currently writing...oh, and then there is my boss, THE GARDEN. So much to catch up on.
Cheers to you and thanks for the words,
Sharon
Such an idyllic location, Sharon. I must put a trip in that direction on my "to do" list. That list grows longer every day.:-)
I'm sure I missed your birthday, and that is something I should remember. Are you usually in Maine to celebrate it?
That Audrey! She is certainly the lucky one! Eating out of your hand!:-)
Enjoy these October days!
xo Nellie
Lovely peeks at windows and homes..an open window is just an invitation to slow down and peek. A hjoy seeing a vase with flowers, or a comfy couch, hearing music,k smeeling apple pie...seeing a home inside brings a feeling of happiness to the viewer..non?
Ronelle
Well I live finding you, a girlfriend if a girlfriend! And you live in my favorite part
I'm very late to the conversation, but feel the need to add my two cents worth. I post of FB, but I love, love, love reading my blogs. It's just more fun! We can learn much more, and see much more of the lives that we choose to share. I think FB is great for sharing quickie updates and keeping track of friends.
Hi Michelle,
And thanks for your two cent$ worth!
I have received so many e-mails about this. Guess I will keep on keeping on! You keep on reading too, ok?
All joys,
Sharon
First time I have read this blog. I will be back for more. The Susan Branch book looks beautiful.
Tereese
tereeart@yahoo.com
I can relate to any type of house "peeping" activities too. Those were all lovely snippets to see. September in Maine can be bittersweet when you know what follows. You have captured that feeling so well in this post. xoxo
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