Life on Penobscot Bay

Aside from the Yahoo spinning groups I follow regularly, I also read a camping group. I’m not entirely certain of the etiquette for sharing information gleaned from these groups but I’m going to take a chance on posting this because it’s neither personal or uniquely original…so here’s something I’ve stolen from Chevy to share with you. If this seems too ambitious, remember that we sell lovely scented Maine made firestarters in our store…but sometimes it’s fun to build the excitement of a vacation by making your own.

Happy Crafting!

Water-based Pinecone Firestarters

These firestarters make colored flames when you burn them in the fireplace or campfire, and make a great party trick. They also look cute in a basket until it’s time to do the burning.

Shopping List:

Pinecones
A big bucket
Tongs
A chemical (see below)

Choosing the Chemical

Each of these chemicals make a different colored flame, and different chemicals cost more than others. You should only make one color of cone at one time, and should never burn different colors together, so
there’s no need to buy every chemical.

Table salt – Yellow flame – The grocery store. You can use the same
stuff you fill your salt shaker with.

Borax (sodium tetraborate) – Yellow-green flame – 20 mule team borax,
in the laundry aisle. ~5$ for much more than 1 cup.

Salt substitute (potassium) – Violet flame – The grocery store.

Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) – White flame – A pharmacy

Bright green flame – Allum (thallium) – Try the pharmacy. It’s for
food processing (mostly, pickle making), but natural food stores
charge a ton for it. ~5$ for 8oz/1 cup.

Bright red flame – Strontium chloride – Used in aquarium keeping
somehow, so check a speciality aquarium store. ~10$ for 8oz/1 cup.

Boric acid – Deep red flame – Try the pharmacy. I think it’s used in
soap making? ~5$ for 8oz/1 cup.

Fill the bucket with half of a gallon of hot water. Add a cup of your
chemical of choice (ONE chemical). Soak your pinecones for about 8
hours, then fish them out with the tongs and set them aside to dry
(some of these chemicals will lightly stain a countertop, so be sure
to use lots of newspaper). The pinecones need to dry for at least 3
days before they can be burnt, and will need to dry for at least a
day before you can stick them in a basket or wrap them.

Wax-based Pinecone Firestarters

This is basically a cross between the colorful decorative pinecones
and the last firestarter recipe. It’s wax based, so it can hold color
as well as emit color, and it should burn longer. Watch out for wax
buildup in the fireplace though.

Shopping List:

Pinecones
Paraffin wax
Double boiler
Crayons
Tongs
A chemical (see above)
Sawdust
An old cup

Mix fine sawdust and your chemical of choice in a large container. Melt the wax in the double boiler, and add crayon to create some color if you want. Restrict yourself to one or two coats of wax—as a
consequence, expect some thin spots in the color. Immediately dip the waxed pinecone in the chemical/sawdust mixture. Use the cup to pour the mixture into hard to reach crannies, then set the pinecone aside to dry. In a couple hours, after the wax is completely cool, lightly
shake the excess sawdust mixture out of the crannies.

We had such a great work week last week that we decided to make Sunday our “Romantic Day”. Yup that’s right…no need for roses and B&B’s, Steven and I had daffodils, homemade beer and a cleared off couch…that’s all it takes for us!

After quiet morning of blog surfing, spinning (still playing with the Icelandic wool I bought from Frelsi Farm), politics on TV and homemade scones (Steven made them using a biscuit mix we’ll be carrying in the store this summer) we decided to kick it up a notch…we’d take the dump truck inland to Brooks and get a load of cow manure from Mary Philbrick’s dairy farm…nothing’s too good for me!

Take a moment to realize that I live in a world where showing up at a restaurant in an old dump truck is no cause for notice…it’s not Men in Trees around here. We wear rubber clogs and wool sweaters…not to look sexy but to keep our feet dry and our backs warm…but I digress. The history of Brooks is all about grain mills, clothing manufacturing and great cheeses. Click here if you want a paragraph or two about the history as taken from the Maine Gazetteer.

Brooks is a pretty little town of rolling hills and lovely vistas on Route 7 about 30 minutes West of Searsport Shores. There’s a great little cafe called Ralph’s where all the food is cooked fresh to order, the fries are hand cut from Maine potatoes and the desserts are homemade.

It also hosts a wonderful general

store

and of course, the Marsh River Theater~ a local theater company that will make your vacation memorable just by thinking about the family friendly productions. While you’re visiting the us, why don’t you let me help you plan a little inland tour of Brooks, Monroe and Thorndike? For the real experience you’ll need to roll down the windows, pull to the side of the road, go for a walk and just poke around and see what you discover without a road map…got bikes?

It’s been a beautiful week…if I could have put a special order into the Gods of Spring I would never have received more amazing weather…warm and dry. Steven’s on vacation from school this week so like every other Mainer who needs to accomplish work outside, we’ve been rejoicing at our good luck…my world is perfect for yet another few days!

With 40 acres to prepare in that short window between the snow melting and the guests arriving, there’s always a bit of a panic about having everything ready in time. Some years we stress and it doesn’t make a bit of difference because of the rain, snow and fog. We seem to exhaust ourselves without accomplishing anything…not the issue of 2008.

Bob, Scott, Ernie, Kevin and Dan have joined forces with us to clear the brush (winter pruning), stack the rocks, rake the leaves and prep the annual gardens.

Assunta from across the street has graciously been helping me with the painting and more “artsy” work that I hoped we’d accomplish. We all console ourselves that our sore muscles have nothing to do with getting older but I’m not so sure…I think age is a definite factor in the way we sink into our chairs at night and moan a bit each morning that we’re getting back into “campground shape“. Luckily, everyone in the crew is cheerful by nature so we just console our little aches and pains and then dig deeper to get things accomplished.

After a good Clean Up Weekend May 9-11, the annual work will be done and we’ll be ready to tackle the more permanent tasks like insulating the new goat chateau and designing the tree house…it’ll be fun, but I’m getting ahead of myself...first we need to find all of the sprouting lupines and remove their winter mulching, fertilize the ornamental and fruit trees, prune the rose bushes back and add a heavy layer of compost/manure to the flower beds.

Today we celebrated a great week’s work with a brush bonfire and pizza party on the beach. The water sparkled, the breeze was warm and the seagulls were screaming with delight…if you’d have been here we’d have given you a rake and a slice of pizza too!

I’m passing this traditional Native American convocation to you in hopes that you’ll read it and pass the link along as we strive for unity and respect of the Mother Earth

The People
Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People.
Now our minds are one.
The Earth Mother
We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one

The Waters
We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms– waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit Water.
Now our minds are one.

The Fish
We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the fish and send our greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.

The Plants
Now we turn towards the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.
Now our minds are one.

The Food Plants
With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting and thanks.
Now our minds are one.

The Medicine Herbs
Now we turn to all the Medicine Herbs of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines
Now our minds are one.

The Animals
We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.
Now our minds are one

The Trees
We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, other with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the tree of life.
Now our minds are one

The Birds
We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds– from the smallest to the largest–we send our joyful greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one
The Four Winds
We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messengers and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.
Now our minds are one
The Thunders
Now we turn to the west where our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightening and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunders.
Now our minds are one.
The Sun
We now send the greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.
Now our minds are one.

Grandmother Moon
We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the nighttime sky. She is the leader of women all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.
Now our minds are one.

The Stars
We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the Stars.
Now our minds are one.

The Enlightened Teachers
We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers.
Now our minds are one.

The Creator
We turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.
Now our minds are one.

Closing Words
We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intent to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.
Now our minds are one.

After finishing last week with plenty of “to-do’s” checked off our list (we had unheard of temps in the 60’s and the ground is nice and dry), yesterday we took the day off and went inland to Monmouth to visit the angora goats at Friend’s Folly Farm…and meet the two who are destined to be ours…

The white one is Lollipop. She’s 3 years old and sweet as candy! Her ringlets are snowy white and will grow about 8″ long before we cut them for yarn and Santa’s beards. The baby in arms is Nibbles…he’s cinnamon colored and already has attitude! These are fiber goats, raised for their beautiful mohair curls and friendly dispositions. Pogo and Marcia, the shepardesses at FFF tell us that Angora goats are so smart that they learn quicker than any dog and are willing to please. They’re great with children and are most content hanging around at home…they don’t wander off if they get loose. They only have bottom teeth, weigh at most 75 pounds and love to graze on vines, saplings and blackberry bushes…but Marcia warned that their favorite food above all others is broccoli…who would have figured?

Lollipop is going to move home to Searsport Shores next month with an old friend Neeshy until Nibbles is old enough to be weaned from his mother…so he’ll be coming home in mid-July and then Neeshy will head back to the farm and take his rightful place among his herd…he’s just taking a brief holiday at the coast to keep Lollipop company and help her to settle into her new surroundings. In the meantime, Steven’s cleaning out a new goat pen area and we’ll be fixing up their new goat house…and developing plans for their climbing station…Marcia says they love to play king of the mountain…this is going to be fun! Once they’re settled, children and parents will be welcome to take them for walks and feed them treats. During the summer they’ll live in a moveable pen and spend time in different parts of the park when the blackberry bushes need pruning.

We’ve started sprucing up the guest cabin…

Assunta freshened the picket fence and painted the shutters a lovely shade of mellow yellow

I started working on the garden mural…but won’t be finished until later in the week.

And the King male was busy burying the tractor…look closely but don’t tell him you saw this on the web

You know, I live on forty ocean front acres (at least half of it is wi-fi), own over 100 picnic tables and at least 50 park benches and lounge chairs…but where am I sitting to write you this note? On Clifford, the big red truck’s tailgate in the driveway…this is not a moment worthy of Martha Stewart!

But the sun is shining, the bay is sparkling in the distance (there’s a man kayaking by…but those waves still look pretty cold!) and the colt’s foot is blooming in every sheltered corner of the beach. I’m waiting for Dean from the State Health Bureau to come and inspect the grounds. Taking over all of the licenses from Dad has been a little lesson in bureaucracy I hope that I don’t need to practice again soon…oops, he’s here, be back in 20 minutes…

I’m back and all went well. The nice thing about doing business in Maine is that the State’s people are very nice and easy to work with as a general rule. Dean is a pleasant man whose been inspecting restaurants, B&B’s, campgrounds and the like for 22 years. When he has advice it’s always well tested and usually makes things easier for us in the long run. We talked about the angora goats we will be getting in May (did you know they love to eat poison ivy weed?…yeah, that’s one less chemical we’ll need to use this year), and we lamented the constant name changes that all of the departments seem to go through every year…and now the phone directory and the website don’t match up either. This causes considerable complications when we’re trying to comply with the rules…Dean says it’s a continual effort to align with Federal office names…that lead us to G.W. Bush and we quickly dropped the subject.

Spring has definitely arrived here on Penobscot Bay. The crocus are happily blooming in the woods, along the stream and in the pocket gardens all over the park. Yesterday we walked the beach in a t-shirt and I’m planning an early picnic dinner by the shore tonight…just burgers and chips but they always taste better when we grill them over a fire. Steven will be surprised because he’s headed to a local farm after school for composted manure and I hope to have everything set up before he drives into the yard…nothing like a cold beer after a compost run Last night we had spelt tabbouleh with fresh herbs from the garden…already we’re having a nice harvest of chives, onion tops, parsely, lemon mint and oregano…I think they must have been growing under the snow last week.

Reservations are coming in nicely…in case you’re reading this and were thinking of coming up July 4th week…I just had an oceanfront site for a pop-up open up (pun intended)…call and I’ll make the reservation for you. I’ve joined the current phone world now so most of the time when I’m out of the office (that’s this little area here), I’ve forwarded the office phone to the cell phone. I’m telling you this so if I sound a little confused when I answer, it’s because I’m probably knee deep in the gardens or at the beach while we’re talking…the whole concept looks good in the ads but in real life it takes some getting used to.

Thank you to everyone who wrote comments to the blog in the past week…you can’t know how happy it makes me to think we’re staying in touch…even a little bit!

Yesterday I walked around checking out the gardens and found blooming crocuses by the beach and along the stream towards the ocean tenting area…We open in exactly one month!  For a moment there was the exhilaration in my stomach of sitting on top of a roller coaster before it zooms down the hill as I looked at the knee deep patches of snow…but I go through this ritual of astonishment every Spring.

This morning I woke up thinking about what we should eat during clean-up weekend…you know it’s true…this campground really is my life…in my sleep I’m planning doughnuts and yogurt shakes for people I might not even have met yet! ;)  But let’s not dwell on my obsessions…

In keeping with the tradition that started last year, we’ll kick-off  Saturday morning with homemade doughnuts.  I’ll use my grandmother’s recipe with a hint of nutmeg and we’ll have brown paper bags of cinnamon sugar or plain white sugar if you want to give them a good shake for added sweetness…of course we’ll have Rock City coffee and OJ to help rinse them down.  Continuing the sugar theme for energy, I as thinking that we’d have homemade marshmallows (some with roasted coconut) and decadent hot chocolate (my grandmother’s recipe too made with chocolate bars and condensed milk) available for an afternoon snack break by the ocean bonfire if it’s not too windy…or by the fireplace in the rec hall if we need the shelter.

We’ll need to balance the sweets with something savory at for lunch so we’ll fire up the beach BBQ and roast hotdogs, hamburgers and veggie burgers…adding some pickles and carrots for color.  I haven’t asked Jim, Becky and Lorrie yet, but I’m hoping that they’ll cook sweet potato and regular fries while we stand around and debate which is better.  Then for supper, I was thinking that we could either roast a couple of turkeys or maybe grill spareribs on the wood fire…I’ll have to see which is more available when the time comes…but if you all bring the sides, we’ll have a terrific potluck supper…maybe followed by some scratch ticket/lottery games in case any of us are lucky enough to become big winners…one can only hope!

So now that the menu is planned, the dates are as always, Mother’s Day Weekend, May 9-11.  Everyone’s welcome until we run out of space but I need you to contact us ahead of time so that I know how much food to prepare.  Basically, we have a list of chores that includes raking, painting, gardening, playground creating, building and spreading good cheer…we offer the camping, you offer a few hours on Saturday…it almost always rains so dress in layers…and like I said, EVERYONE is welcome!

This a great way to see the park if you’ve never been here, a chance to re-connect if you’re an old friend and a perfect venue for making new friends and getting excited about camping.  If you’d like to join us, call me at 207.548.6059 or send me an e-mail at relax@campocean.com.  Either way, tell me how you camp (you’ll choose your perfect site when you get here) and the number of adults, children and pets who will be coming with you…oh, and tell me the ages of the kids so I can plan something special for them.  If you want to come on Thursday or stay until…we can work something out.

I’m off to the gardens for a few hours in the unexpected sunshine,

Astrig

I got back to Searsport last night…now I face a mountain of “DO THIS FIRST”…so I’ll be getting back to you shortly I promise.

The sun is shining, there’s still patches of fairly deep snow and in my five minute walk around, I didn’t see anything but a few hardy day lilies coming up from the ground.  When I get a few of the most pressing things done (like insurance renewal and finding my toothbrush) I want to spend an hour or two outside assessing the ground work…(that’s code for poking around and seeing what the garden soil looks like ;))

It was a great trip and I only wished I were disciplined enough to include blogging in my everyday happenings because already I’ve forgotten half of what I wanted to share with you.  In brief, the weather in Sarasota was superb and I spent many hours swimming in the ocean and weaving sculptural baskets with conch shells and basket caning.  When I wasn’t in a wet bathing suit, Dad and I ate out at some terrific restaurants and were able to take in two art festivals including a “Village of the Arts” walk in Braedenton…three city blocks of brightly painted Floridian bungalows filled with artists, cafes, happy people and inspiration around every corner.

Jumping wildly ahead, I left a balmy 85 on Saturday afternoon and thanks to Jet Blue (great flight, great service but how do $99 flights end up costing $240 when all is said and done?) arrived in dreary Boston for a weekend of rain, fog and yuck…but I stayed with my sister Chris and her family so the energy of two little boys more than made up for the difference in weather.  Chris and I spent the next three days shopping for the campground including a very productive day at the Boston Gift Show.

In the company of my sister-in-law Su, the three of us dedicated 8 hours to fondling, smelling and inspecting thousands of gifts we thought you might like to find in the campground store.  In the end we settled on a beautiful range of Danica soy candles, pampering creams for your face, feet and hands (just ’cause we’re camping doesn’t mean that we don’t want to stay beautiful), the hottest, new, bounce-on-the-water ball the world has ever seen, a healthy collection of wooden 3D puzzles (they looked like models to me) for adults and kids, the usual choice of Chinese impulse toys and some scrumptious griddle cake mixes for cooking over the fire…and that’s just the beginning…

While I was gone, thank you for keeping the reservations steady.  Steven was suitably reminded of the work I do here while he’s teaching in Belfast…and that’s always a good thing ;).  When I got home last night I found fresh flowers, a chilled bottle of wine and a roasted chicken dinner…I knew that I had been missed!

When I’ve sorted through the e-mails, phone messages, mail and vague piles of stuff, I’ll be back.  Next week I’m hoping to Spring clean the store and start thinking about displays.  Our orders should begin arriving after April 20th.  I also have new fabric for the guest cabin and I picture myself sewing on the front porch in the warm afternoon sun…now if the weather cooperates…

Not me…I escaped last Friday for a week in the Sarasota sun with dad…yesterday I spent most of the day at the Marie Selby Botanical gardens and here are a few of the prettier photos my little digital camera was able to capture….

I’ll be back in Boston for the wholesale gift show on Sunday and Monday. Assuming the weather is good for traveling, I’ll be home later Wednesday night. In the meantime, Steven’s taking care of most of the e-mail and we talk every day…so don’t hesitate to leave us a phone message or send a note…the busier the campground seems now, the more Steven appreciates how hard I work