Molly Bee's Attic

Had another fabulous weekend. The weather couldn't have better and I spent most of Saturday with my Last Saturday Knitting group which is always a blast. We met at a local restaurant for lunch beforehand. M ary and I arrived a little early, and there is a comic book store next door to the restaurant that Mary wanted to go to so I went with her. I've only been in one a couple of times before, and not recently, so I'd forgotten that 'special' smell of comic book and gaming stores. What is that anyway? Ink? Plastic? Bat Man costumes? Orks ? A combination of geek sweat, 40 year old virginity and desperation? I dunno but I got so lightheaded that I had to go to spend a half an hour in the safe environment that is 'Bed Bath and Beyond' to detox afterward. I'm kidding. It was amazing to see all of the comics they have out now ; essentially every show on television now has its own comic book (ahem, a thousand pardons, 'Graphic Novel' ) with fantasy e...

The past couple of weeks since I’ ve been home from Maine have been a blur of hangin ’ with friends and just generally running around like a cranium-less barnyard fowl. There’s been Farmer’s Markets, brunches, lunches and suppers…knit nights, knit days, geocaching , game playing, shopping, and movies. But this week I started to feel it; that little hint of crisp in the air that germinates the barest glimmering, inkling of feelings of snuggling in and enjoying my spinning wheel, knitting, tea pot and books. I LOVE autumn. I do a large amount of running around to orchards, parks, festivals, quilt shows etc., but then about the end of October, the hibernation gene starts to kick in more and I start preparing the den for the long winter ahead. And you know what that means… TWO WEEKS UNTIL THE JEFFERSON SHEEP AND WOOL FESTIVAL ! I go at that vendor show like a squirrel hording nuts for a chilly day; tucking bits of wool fleece and yarn away to warm my nest in January, February and March; c...

One night while I was in Maine, we were driving home from camp and had just tipped over the top of the hill by the house when we were hit by the tantalizing aroma of freshly startled skunk. We remarked on it and made our way down the hill towards the dooryard and there it was; lying in the road right in front of the house. We swung the car around, grabbed a shovel and one of Hefty’s finest and by the light of the silvery car lights, went to remove Pepe to a less prominent place than basically under Mum’s bedroom window. Mr. Skunk didn ’t have a mark on him which raised a couple of questions. Was he just napping? Stunned? Or was he actually dead? Didn't really matter because all of these questions lead to the same very undesirable answer. Napping? Wake him up and you’re going to need a tomato soup bath. Stunned? See previous answer. Dead? You’d think this one would be the safest but no, touch the little fella with the shovel just right and muscles can twitch, mysterious things can h...

I have a new love in my life. When he holds me in his strong, yet sensitive, arms all my tension eases. He's more than willing to snuggle me all. night. long if I so choose, but doesn't take offense if I'd rather just turn in early. He's the most supportive love I've ever had. He's not much for conversation; he's more the strong silent type, but we can sit for hours in an easy silence. We watch old movies, do crosswords and read together. He supports my knitting habit and never says a word about unfinished projects or unneccessary yarn purchases. He gets me. He really gets me. Meet Knute Rockme. I finally decided to bite the bullet the other night and buy a chair that fits me. When I sit on my sofa or love seat, the seat is so deep and my legs are so, well... NOT , that my knees don't really bend and my legs stick out straight. I feel like that Lilly Tomlin character that used to sit in that huge rocker and say "And that's the truth!" an...

Lots of little bits and bobs to add with no discernible cohesivity so I'll just throw 'em out there. This is Grammie . You may remember her face from the picture I posted of her after she fell and bruised her face up. She looked like she'd gone 20 rounds with Mike Tyson. Even though she will be 99 in March, there's no doubt in my mind ol ' Mike would have come out on the losin ' end of that fight. She's a scrappy little bugger. Here she is making pickles on the morning that I left Maine. This is now my favorite pic of me and Gram. It was a self portrait that I took of the two of us with my camera. Doesn't she look like she's up to something! Little twinkle in her eye! I took this on the way home from her house on August 11 th . The leaves were already starting to turn! Wicked early, Deah ! When the leaf peepers start pulling in by the bus loads in mid-September there won't be a leaf on a tree at this rate! On the home front, I found this guy ...

My Mum's friends, D and G, have a beautiful camp on Portage Lake. D offered us a boat ride on their swanky pontoon boat and you know me and boats...who could turn down and offer like that? We got in the boat and pushed away from the dock only to discover that the boat keys were in the camp. We were stuck two arm lengths away ( betchu didn't know Sh** Creek was so short eh?) from dock with a too-short paddle! Ideas were bandied about as we drifted further away. Take one for the team and jump in the water? Flag down a jet ski? Wait for the wind? 15 minutes later, the wind and much finesse with the too-short paddle brought us back to the pier! Whew! Off we went for a beautiful afternoon on the lake. The weather was wonderful. The scenery and wildlife were magnificent... We went up Fish River in search of the elusive Maine Moose but didn't see any. Didn't matter, look at that gorgeous glassy water! Glorious! D and G's granddoggie was staying with them so we took him...

Mum threw a little shindig in honor of her 50 th class reunion. There were 16 in her class. Three have passed away and three couldn't make it but all of the others did. The tables were decorated with fresh flox and mints that had 50 on them. We put a big table out for all of the goodies. Good thing we did! It was full when everyone showed up! Here is Mum and her class. The lady the second from the right is Patricia. She was Mum's bestie , in school. She stayed the night with us before heading home the next morning. She recently moved from Connecticut to the Bangor aream which is only 2 hours from Mum. Given the way they carried on the night of the reunion and the next morning, I'm not sure it's such a good idea for them to be in such close proximity. Better start saving up bail money in case I get the call! What a pair! And here is a gratuitous fur baby picture. This is Pun'kin . She was my buddy and made huge strides in being sociable and not so afraid of str...

Mum and I pulled our yacht into Camden Har-bah, Deah and spent the evening having a picnic by the sea. The details on this little dingy can be found here . This was a less high tech little number out of Rhode Island. Still WAY out of the average girls price range. Of course I have all of the money I will ever need as long as I die by 4PM this afternoon! The next morning we went to Rockland to hike out to the Breakwater Lighthouse. It's 1 m. each way and GORGEOUS. It was misty when we started and full on sunny and warm by the time we got back. This is one of my favorite places on the planet. Afterward we hiked the rocky beach for a bit in search of beach glass. I love the wild flowers in the foreground. I found this little fella excellently demonstrating my motto of 'Bloom Where You're Planted!' Way to go little guy! Then it was off to Belfast for our annual Lobstah Dinnah at Young's Lobstah Pound. (I missed out last year due to my 'dental disaster' and...

After the Botanical Gardens, we went down to the water in Boothbay for supper. No fancy seafood restaurants for us! We got a yummy Italian sandwich and ate it at a picnic table down on the pier; so much fun to watch the boats and people. It wasn't all fun and games however. Maine is fraught with danger at every turn. The wild animals are particularly troublesome. This black bear just would not stop harassing me until I posed for a picture with him and gave him something from my pic-a- nik basket. I wish this picture has come out better. We went to the Maine State Aquarium and they had the hugest lob- stah I had ever seen in a big tank there. I'm surprise there weren't Mission Impossible guys dangling from the ceiling, trying to break the glass and steal him. With the price of seafood, this monster would have been quite a treasure. My favorite part of the aquarium was petting the dogfish sharks and rays...and holding a creepy sea cucumber. Mum got a new Tom Tom navigat...

Just returned from a two week visit home. Took so many pictures that the next several entries will be pretty much dedicated to that. But, have no fear, we'll return to our regularly scheduled programming next week. We spent a pleasant afternoon at the Central Maine Botanical Gardens while I was in Maine. If you're in the Boothbay Harbor area, I highly recommend it. Be sure and carve out at least an afternoon, if not a whole day. It's huge and there are beautiful surprises everywhere! Fountains Waterfalls Shady paths Lilly ponds Carved art Beautiful flagstones Mazes (This was the coolest maze. It had smooth stones going from biggest to smallest and we walked it in our bare feet. It was uncomfortable at first but soon the round stones, heated by the sun, worked their magic and when we finished it felt like we'd just had a foot massage. ) And everywhere you looked... Flowers! Flowers!! Flowers!!! Next up- Boothbay Harbor, Birch Point Beach, Camden/ Rockport /...