with thin petals

It's funny, sometimes identifying a flower is easy, sometimes hard. It took a few tries to identify these delicate beauties; they wear the name daisy fleabane. In spite of the name, this flower is in the aster family.

opening

I love wandering through gardens in the early stages of flowers opening.

painted

I've always loved the painted look of rocks on the Schoodic Peninsula.

simplicity

Sometimes looking up through a flower's petals creates a simple but beautiful scene.

yikes! no water...

It started mid-morning. The water from the kitchen faucet seemed to be flowing less then normal. Hmm... it must just be my imagination. Nope! I looked out of the front door to see water pouring from the sewer covers. Uh oh.

One of my neighbors had noticed a little earlier and jumped through some hoops to figure out who to call. The water department is closed on Sundays, no help there. She ended up calling the police department non-emergency line. It turns out there was a major water main break just across the road from us, and it appears that to prevent flooding the entire area the water was directed into the sewer lines. The pumping station on the corner was totally overwhelmed, unable to keep up with the unexpected water flow. By early afternoon the water was turned off.

I spoke with someone from the water department who drove by just a while ago. While it is possible the water main will be fixed later today the water won't be turned on until they can verify there is no bacteria present in the water. Given the time it takes to test the water it sounds like we will be lucky if water service is restored by late tomorrow.

I assume that water will always flow from the faucets whenever it is needed; it's quite disconcerting when it doesn't.

updates in the evening:
I just got home from a pleasant early evening walk to find that the water is back on. Phew!

A bit later... an automated phone call from the town said not to drink the water until testing is completed and an all clear call is received, probably tomorrow. I have plenty of bottled water for drinking and cooking, and I'm delighted that the plumbing (all of it!) is now back in order.

solstice

Today marks the arrival of the summer solstice. While my preference has always been for the cooler temperatures of spring and fall, for the tulips and iris of the spring, the shapes and colors of summer flowers make me smile.

emergence

I am in awe of the figures that sand sculptors create. The annual Hampton Beach Sand Sculpture event started last weekend with the "by invitation" sculptor creations beginning on Wednesday with packing sand into forms. The sculpting started on Thursday and finished today. I wanted to see the work in progress so I took time away from work yesterday afternoon to head to Hampton Beach.

The detail that is possible in sculptures created from sand is simply amazing.

More sand sculpture photos can be seen in the gallery emergence.

If you're in the area and are interested in seeing the sculptures they will be left in place until the end of 4th of July weekend.

sunlit

A sunlit wild rose seems to rest on a fence railing.

does false blue indigo = purple?

This flower wears the name "false blue indigo". I see the color as more of a purple than a blue, and the definition of indigo states that it is the color between blue and violet. It's a beautiful flower, isn't it?

on a curved stalk

I usually see foxglove in bright pink; today this light-colored beauty jumped out at me.

photos! Acadia

Photos from last weekend's Acadia visit are ready for viewing in the gallery gray sky to sun in Acadia.

gray sky to sun in Acadia:

...there are even a few photos of Suze & Mom (and a phone selfie of me) in the gallery as we wandered Acadia.

Interested in words too? You can find my ramblings in the blog entries tagged Acadia 2014-06.

tiny and bright

The Tower Hill Botanic Garden was my afternoon destination. It's still early for most of the flowers in the formal gardens but there was plenty to enjoy.

Tiny flowers popped with bright colors, chipmunks busily ran across garden beds and down into their hiding spots, and people wandered, looking, enjoying.

More photos from today's garden walk can be seen in the gallery Tower Hill Botanic Garden - 2014 starting with this photo and ending here.

curves

I love the look of the petals of a pink peony, flower tipping slightly towards the ground.

magic, Schoodic Peninsula

The Schoodic Peninsula is a favorite spot to wander, to sit, to enjoy the rocks and the ocean. In this photo the gray of a diabase dike runs through the granite of the peninsula.

blooming

When I last visited the gardens of The Stevens-Coolidge Place a few iris were in bloom but most were wearing closed buds. This evening there were so many flowers in bloom that I didn't know where to look first. Fabulous!

late day light

Saturday was a perfect weather day, sunny and dry. Cadillac Mountain beckoned late in the day showing off in the late day light.

a long (wrong) way home

We left Bar Harbor yesterday morning heading for the Bangor Airport. I dropped Mom & Suze there at noon expecting that their 1:30 flight home would get them into Philadelphia just after 3. As they prepared to board a plane I jumped on I-95 heading to the southwest and home.

I was enjoying a stop to visit a friend when I heard my phone. The time was 4:00... I said hello to my sister only to have her tell me that she was in Boston. Uh oh! One of the side windows in the cockpit cracked during flight so a decision was made to land in Boston. Landing a plane sporting a broken cockpit window was likely the right decision but the airline's (US Airways, who else?!?) decision to have a single person rebook everyone did not show a reasonable level of customer service. Add to that the fact that in addition to the partially flown itinerary from Bangor to Philadelphia, the airline had just cancelled two Boston to Philadelphia flights. Where there should have been three flights there were none.

That meant that there weren't any Philadelphia-bound flights to switch to. There were JetBlue flights but US Airways wasn't offering to buy tickets on a competitor's planes. (And yes, I do think they should have offered and should have paid for the flights.) Luckily Suze figured out she and Mom could get home via LaGuardia. What should have been a non-stop flight home turned into 3 flights - Bangor to Boston, Boston to LaGuardia, LaGuardia to Philadelphia. Oh yikes, the close to 10 hours it took to fly home probably matched the time it would take to drive.

At least there was a Legal Seafoods in the terminal in Boston so they could have something yummy to eat before getting on the next flight.

US Airways is one of my "I don't like" airlines. What do you think the merger with American Airlines will bring - a better combination or a bigger non-customer-focused airline? I hope it's better.

It was a good weekend; it's just a shame that there was a "wrong way home" at the end.

to Schoodic!

What a wonderful day! The sun was shining, the sky wore bright blue with fluffy white clouds, and we went to one of my favorite places, the Schoodic Peninsula!

The boat and the shuttle buses haven't started running yet for the season so we drove back to the mainland, headed inland a bit until we found Route 1, then started driving to the north and east. When a sign on the road pointed to the Schoodic Peninsula we turned and drove to the tip of the peninsula.

Denise said that Schoodic is her favorite part of the park and it's turning into my favorite spot too. Sherry (Denise's mom) and Suze really enjoyed our visit there. They found a good spot to sit and watch the waves crashing into a slot in the rocks while Denise, my new friend Blue, and I did a bit of wandering on the rocks. So beautiful!

We ended our day on the top of Cadillac Mountain as the late day (just before sunset) light turned it into a place of pure magic.

--- Rover

introducing Blue

Oh! A new companion just joined our adventures! She told me her name is Blue, and she is a flying pig. She's just a little smaller than me and she is excited to wander with Denise and me. Here's a photo of the two of us on the rocks of the Schoodic Peninsula.

Say hello to Blue!

--- Rover

setting sun

As the sun set this evening the few remaining clouds were painted pink.

looping

It was a day of looping the pieces of Acadia that live on the eastern side of the island. Denise borrowed a CD driving tour of the park from Evin so we could listen to stories about the park and the landscape as we were driving. We never listened before; I think I even learned a few new things as we wandered.

The weather was much better than yesterday's solid rain but we still did get a bit wet. The day went from dry to drizzly to dry to rainy to dry. Everyone was glad to have raincoats (or dry camera bags) to hide from the wet. It was a little warmer today but still not warm enough to be wet and comfortable.

We stopped at a few places and walked a little bit. Denise always likes to see the space behind Sand Beach with mountains reflecting in the water so of course we stopped for a beach walk. Next we stopped at Thunder Hole so Denise's mom and sister could stand and watch and listen. Denise and I did some wandering on the big rocks there. We stopped in a few more spots and walked on the path next to the very rocky shore high above the water. We could hear the ocean, and sometimes we could hear birds singing.

Lunchtime brought a repeat visit to Jordan Pond House. We were lucky; the heavy rain came while we were inside!

The top of Cadillac Mountain was almost totally fogged in. Hazy shapes of trees were visible, so beautiful! As we descended the mountain the sky started to clear.

--- Rover

dog on a wall

Look! I found a dog on a wall today. This big guy lives in the Coffee Hound Coffee Bar in Bar Harbor. I think the shop was named after him, how cool!

--- Rover

a very rainy day

It was a good day, but oh, so rainy!

Denise and I started our day with a walk at Schooner Head. The clouds were low and there was a bit of fog too. We couldn't even see a line of horizon where the ocean and sky meet; it seemed that both blended together. It was very beautiful!

After our walk we headed to the airport in Bangor to meet Denise's sister and her mom. We waited just a few minutes before they walked into the airport... it was time to head back towards Bar Harbor and Acadia. Our first stop was at the LL Bean Outlet store in Ellsworth to see if we needed anything. It was a good thing that we stopped because Suze & Sherry both found rain jackets - and they really needed them today! The jackets got a good work out since shortly after that the rain switched from an off and on to a very steady all day type of wet. (I have to admit I stayed dry in the camera bag; I could have jumped into a pocket in Denise's jacket but I was pretty cozy where I was!)

Lunch at the Jordan Pond House was soup and yummy popovers. Afterwards we were going to walk on Sand Beach and stop at Thunder Hole but the cold rain changed our minds. We'll try again tomorrow!

It was a good visiting day, a good start to our long weekend in Acadia.

--- Rover

to downeast Maine

It was a gray afternoon, turning rainy as I drove into Maine. The rain increased in intensity, turning into a heavy downpour. Luckily it diminished and then disappeared once I moved past Portland - it would have been a very long drive if the heavy rain had continued.

There was still a bit of lingering light when I arrived at my home for the weekend, Evin's Holland Inn. It felt like a good time for a walk to the water.

delicate

A tiny flower in lavender stands close to the ground, so delicate.

sharing Acadia

Oh wow! Time is quickly flashing by... Denise & I visited Acadia in early May and we're about to visit there again. This time Denise's mom and sister Suze are going to meet us in Maine for a long weekend. It's a really long drive from their house so they will be flying into Bangor; we will pick them up there. Bailey (the crazy dog!) will be having his own special vacation close to home; he'll be playing with Sue at Sue's Pet Pampering while his people are traveling.

I'm helping Denise figure out the spots that we shouldn't miss. I want to get to the Schoodic Peninsula because I'm pretty sure Mom & Suze have never been there - I know they visited Acadia a long, long time ago, but I think they only wandered on Mount Desert Island. And I think Denise might want to stop at Maine Kiln Works again. We stopped there for the first time in May when Denise's friend Lorah saw the sign. Funny, we've driven by there many times before and never stopped. I have a funny feeling that this may become a must stop place on the way to walking on the rocks at the tip of the peninsula.

Hmm... I wonder if I should call Denise's mom Sherry. After all that is her name.

What a treat! Another spring-time trip to Acadia. And... I wonder if we'll be able to find flowers in bloom this time. When we visited in May there weren't any flowers even though there were some at home. The seasons seem to lag ours by a couple of weeks, so maybe. No matter though, this will be fun!

--- Rover

from our May trip, a shot of me on top of Cadillac Mountain

dressed in purple

I love the intricate patterns of bearded iris. Here's a simple beauty dressed in light purple.

poppies!

Poppies wear bright, beautiful colors. In gardens near my home that color is orange.