Best Life

 The weather - cooler.  The sun - barely present.  The day - perfect.  With a high of 80 there was no temptation to swim in the very cool New England water!  Sand Hill Cove is in the midst of having a boardwalk installed.  Only the work has been stalled for the season.  Ugh!  The beach nearest mom's - too rocky and unkempt.  But Brianna enjoyed exploring every inch.  Paul and I walked a couple miles along the waterfront while Brianna walked, ran, swam, dug, did cartwheels and chased seagulls.          She even found a gold earring in the sand. Lunch with Karen, Alan, Maddy and mom followed by Scrabble and Cribbage.  Low key and thoroughly enjoyable.   On the trip home we detoured through North Kingston.  Mom discovered a Lotus garden planted in the 1980s and thriving.  Stunning!  Amazing that they thrive here despite the winter months because of the type of mud at the bottom of the l...

 Today was one of those days.  Discombobulated.  Barely making sense.  And it wasn't just me.  I know Brianna was feeling it too. She woke on her own and came out wearing everything pink, bad bed head and a talking pig - sort of.  Drop off at camp went okay.  Pick up - not so much.  Brianna was insisting on helping the teachers "clean up".  What?  You want to help the ones getting paid to clean when begging barely works at home?  And then the whining and clinging began.  We cut the after camp swim short and headed out.  The bliss of being grandparents and leaving before the final meltdown! My splinter from Maine in my finger - stubbornly refusing to be removed.  A trip to CVS for Ichthammol ointment that will hopefully finish the task before my finger becomes more deformed. The bank to replace Paul's missing debit card.  (Missing since January and we have finally remembered during banking hours!) The Dollar Store...

 A beautiful morning.  Brianna woke up happy and energetic and ready for a full day.  First task - breakfast. The apron had to be tied just so and she took her job of scrambling the eggs very seriously.   The icky part of my day started after dropping her off at camp - stupid market followed by Walmart.  Ugh!  But we bought enough we should be good for a couple of weeks.  Fingers crossed. When the temp registered 99 degrees in Cumberland - we figured what the heck.  I wound up steam cleaning the carpet in the white truck.  Scott had procured the machine and was willing to fill and empty the bucket of water.  Hot is hot and I knew whatever sweat I produced would be relieved by the pool as soon as I was done.  So I feel good that something was accomplished despite the weather and the pool felt awesome afterwards! Watching the kids use the diving board - priceless.  As much as I love swimming - I love watching the kids enjoy ...

 And poof!  We are back in Lincoln at Kevin and Isis' or, as Kevin has nicknamed the household - Lincoln Retirement Center.  Although since Isis' grandparents have begun settling into their new home, Paul and I are the last of the retirees here. First though we headed to Megan's to drop off Fenway.  Our timing was pretty good and I got to surprise Brianna by picking her up at camp - with Fenway!  He was super excited to see her and vice versa.   She invited me to swim - which I did.  It is so much hotter here than in Maine.  Pool temp alone was 90 degrees.  Still - awesome to be with her and moving after the long ride.                                                                                ...

  The weather continues to be warm, sunny and hazy.  Prayers to Canada and the fires.   A lazy, barely productive day that included finishing a book, starting and completing a second book, all while moving from the zero gravity chair in the sun to the swing on the front porch and then the jacuzzi.   (I did manage a couple batches of laundry and a bit of cleaning in between.)

 And the last little bit is done!  The remaining scrap wood has been burned or stacked for future burning.   A little laundry, a little cleaning and a lot of weed wacking and we were ready for a night out.  The weather is gorgeous but for the haze from Canada's fires.   Dinner at Beer Belly's in Phillips - yummy shrimp sticky rice!  Thanks for dragging us out Don and Kim.  Good food, a few laughs and a bit of bad music.  Perfect way to relax.

  With a little spitting rain we made quick work of the remaining dismantle. The site has been cleared of shed debris and ready for H&M: A very strange mushroom growing on a birch.  Despite the camouflage, I was able to detect this even without glasses. The reusable boards and posts are neatly stacked out of the way and covered.  Paul is sure to reuse some inside the new garage for shelving etc. The scrap wood is ready for cutting/splitting into kindling tomorrow when the sun reappears. After a quick trip to the dump and IGA the weather remained icky.  So - a movie and a nap!  It feels good to have completed such a huge undertaking.  Now I am excited to be picking colors for the garage and super excited someone else is doing the heavy work!

 A stunning day - high of 80 and mostly sunny - perfect for working in the yard.  The biting flies thought so too!  But we were prepared and though they swarmed us - no bites.  Besides they have nothing on those biting flies down in Savannah!   Paul felt good so we continued with the dismantling of "ugly" shed.  Seth came by from M&H Construction to review our plans and check out the site.  Pegs are placed, trees to be cut are marked and we should have a quote by early next week.   With rain predicted for tomorrow afternoon, we pushed through most of the day and there is very little left.  Thankfully the jacuzzi is helping keeping us limber so we can keep going!   Hoping we finish tomorrow morning then we can start acting like retired people.  

                                                   Before and after the big take down of the "ugly" shed.                                                 Only one bolt removed and down it came - way faster than anticipated.  Paul moved quick but still wound up getting bruised.  His turn for a quick trip to the ER.  Super experience with polite, efficient and professional people.  Christina was our triage nurse (go figure!).  Free coffee fixed to my liking and offers of food (declined). A very low key experience with a few films, really nice staff and even a new shirt!  Having had my share of icky trips and experiences and it was strange to be on the other side of the ...

 Our Rangeley recliner history:  We were very broke while building the house and raising the kids, so when we were offered chairs (or really anything!) - we always took them. The first was large flowered and from Memere Adam.                                                                           Paul with Kevin and Megan                                                       Karen with Harley                                                  Paul and Kevin ...