Home Tour: A Coastal Maine Farmhouse

Last week we were camping in mid-coast Maine when a dear friend invited us to Sunday brunch at her ocean front 1880's farm house. A beautiful active woman in her 80's (who still models!), our friend is known as a fantastic cook, so we couldn't wait to go.

What we didn't know was that she is also an interior decorator extraordinaire with a home that belongs in the pages of Country Living magazine.

When you step onto the side porch, the first thing you see is this old blackboard, covered with the words of a favorite poem about life by the sea. The old camp chairs are in the side entry, just outside the kitchen. I love that they are numbered!

 The little kitchen is filled with vintage cooking utensils, fresh flowers, herbs and antiques. 

Our friend is an artist at heart. She sees everyday objects as beautiful. On the way to the living room, we pass this old door hung on the wall . . . a piece of art.

She works on her watercolors in front of a big window looking out at the Atlantic Ocean . . . beautiful even on a foggy morning.

And decorates on a shoestring, using her creativity to transform flea market (and roadside!) finds.

The old iron beds in the guestroom are positioned so that they look out at the ocean.

  I could spend a week cuddled under one of those quilts listening to the sounds of the sea.

In the corner of the living room is a writing desk, an old table really . . . covered with books, notes, sketches, family photos, and yet another view of the ocean beyond.

Every corner of this home tells a story . . . 

And welcomes you to sit for awhile.

Breakfast was served on the old screened porch, with the ocean just outside.

The jam is home made and the Nasturtiums are from the kitchen garden.

No words are needed to describe this view!

I loved the little yellow playhouse hidden in the side yard.

It is surrounded by native wildflowers, which are listed on a board on the side of the playhouse!

 Here's a peek inside!

And this is the house from the driveway. There is a lighthouse just up the road.

The straw hat bird house on the door of the old garage bids us "Goodbye", although I really wished I never had to leave this place.

As the blackboard by the door says,

"I go down to the edge of the sea,

How everything shines in the morning light!"

Indeed it does.

This post is linked to:

Style Showcase #42 at Savvy Southern Style

Talk of the Town #136 at Knick of Time

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Flaunt IT Friday #412 at Chic On a Shoestring

DIY Salvaged Junk #439 at Funky Junk Interiors

Happiness Is Homemade #234 at Bluesky at Home

Sundays at Home at Little Farmstead

Amaze Me Monday #277 at Dwellings

Two Sisters On the Road

Do I have a story to tell you!

Back in 2007, my sister, Nancy and I took our first "Sisters' Road Trip" to Searsport, Maine.

We didn't know then that it would be our last road trip together.

The memories of our time together at the Shores are special ones and I reminisced about them often on my previous blogs, It's Always Something and  My Sister's Cottage.

Imagine my surprise when I heard that two sisters I never met had booked five days at Searsport Shores (where my sister Nancy and I first camped) after reading about it on my blog!

I often wonder if anyone is really reading my posts so this news was definitely blog-affirming. DH and I made plans to be in Searsport to meet these adventurous sisters, who had  trusted my blog posts enough to drive all the way from Texas and Ohio to be here!

The sisters, Lori and Becky, really wanted to look for sea glass so I took them to my "secret " sea glass beach. 

It was a "good tide" and there was more glass on the beach that day than I've ever seen at one time. Sisters' Karma? Lori even found a sand dollar!

Sometimes spotting the sea glass among the rocks is the challenging part.

Can you see the pice in the photo below?

The blog sisters did well and each returned to camp with a bucket of sea glass. I loved sharing their excitement!

The next day at the same beach, I saw a jellyfish . . .

And chatted with a local fisherman who was out digging clams.

Both this and sea glassing are done when the tide is low.

On Tuesday eveniing, while I was in the Casita in my  old t-shirt and borrowed boxer shorts  pajamas, there was a knock on the camper door. It was Lori and Becky stopping by to say "Goodbye". They were leaving Maine early the following morning. Long ride back to Ohio and Texas!

They surprised me with a pot of bright red Gerbera daisies . . . 

And a very special note.

Meeting two sisters who were following in the footsteps (tire tracks?) of Nancy and I meant the world to me. I watched them explore the Maine Coast and relived my "sister time" in Searsport. I saw them sitting shoulder to shoulder on their deck and could easily imagine the kinds of conversations they were having; the kind that only sisters can share.

Thanks to Lori and Becky. I remembered why I started blogging in the first place. 

This post is linked to:

Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday

A Sewing Bee for Women with Cancer

While I was in Searsport for Fiber College, I was finally able to join the ladies of the "Searsport Sewing Bee" as they made chemo scarves to donate to women with cancer. That seemed especially appropriate to me since September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month.

 

 

 I started sewing scarves for my sister, Nancy, when she began chemo for ovarian cancer in 2006. I made them for her and for other women having infusions at Maine Medical Center.

 

Nancy at MMC

 

Then, when Nancy passed away in 2010, I just stopped sewing.

I was crazy with grief and

couldn't concentrate on the scarves anymore.

 

Until I met Kendra.
 

Kendra
 

Amazing Women: Life Is Made Up of Moments

I just got an e-mail from Kendra, the woman who hosted the group of Searsport women who sewed forty-two scarves for women with cancer in one afternoon.  Kendra wrote:

"I received this today from one of the ladies~ she calls the group Kendra's Angels and can not wait for the next adventure.  She took the day off work so she could be here." 

 

Beneath this, Kendra copied what her friend had written to her and forwarded it on to me. I was so touched by what this woman wrote that I really wanted to share it. 

Here it is:

" When I heard about this event  (Kendra's scarf sewing party) , I looked forward to it every day.  

 

When I got there (of course, a couple of minutes late) my chair and sewing machine awaited me.

The assembly line was in motion, and the time went by in a flash - I couldn't believe it when you said the top stitching was already done.

Then we adjourned to your backyard where I stood in awe of the beautiful weather, the mammoth sunflowers in bloom, and watched the dogs romping gaily across the manicured fields.

 

Life is made up of moments - and this was one of those that will stay with me forever. 

Thankfully your daughter contributed by artistically hanging the kerchiefs on the line and freeze-framing the event with her photos.

It's like autumn...you want to grab and hold onto the foliage because in no time, the leaves will drop from the trees and time will march on with whatever is next.

 

But we can pull these photos up any time and go back to the magic of that day. We bonded within our group and now have bonded with women across Maine. Yes, there was energy in the room!"

Photo courtesy of  Fiber College, Searsport 2014

 

I'm tempted to blog my thoughts, too."

To Kendra's friend . . .

You just did!

 

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This post is linked to:

Show & Share at Coastal Charm
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Cozy Little House