Christmas and Knitting 2013

Christmas has come and gone. A major part of Louise's activity over the past several months has been knitting gifts for the holiday.

This is a picture of all the knit gifts that were wrapped this week!
We celebrated Christmas three times - once at home on Christmas day with the Aroostook County family. With Chelsea we have a new addition to the family this year. Here are a few pictures of Christmas in Washburn.

As you can see, there were many laughs, great gifts, and a good meal.
Two days after Christmas we headed out to see the rest of the family. First to Portland,where we visited with Emily,

and then to Massachusetts.

Our youngest grandchild is growing fast.

And here is Bridget with her Grampy. Her excitement at seeing us made it a time of fun! We made some good memories at Christmas and are thankful for the great family we have.

A Trip to Massachusetts

Our latest fall adventure was a trip to visit Bob, Gina, Bridget, and Alex. As fall sets in at home, we found a brief reprieve in the weather down there. There were still leaves on the trees, and no snow!

Here we see Gary raking leaves with Bridget in the middle of them.

Bridget has become a very charming and enchanting little girl - lots of fun to visit with!

Gary found this lovely tree next door to Bob's home. Those colors are long gone for this year in northern Maine.

Alex is growing fast and barely resembled the baby we last saw in August. Here he is with Bob.

Louise had knit a new winter hat for Bridget, which she shows off here.

We had a great visit with them and look forward to their coming to visit us for Thanksgiving. That time of year is upon us as the weather gets cold, the fireplace provides comfort, and our thoughts begin to turn south. Gary mentioned this morning that in six weeks we will be heading out for Florida. Where does the time go?

The Colors of Fall

Time is flying past as we are now in October. Here you see Ryan and Grampy setting the scarecrows out by the steps. Perhaps you can see the fresh paint on the house.

We took a ride to the St. John Valley last weekend to peep at the leaves. Here is a photo going up Route 11 beyond Portage.

Another photo of beautiful fall colors.

The gardens are about done producing things for this year. Here you can see the last roses of summer, growing in the perennial garden.

The mountain ash has lots of berries for the birds.

And Budda and the other garden statues are sitting in wait for the next season of flowers. It is a beautiful time of year in Aroostook County, and a busy one. We are still painting the house.

The End of Summer

We have been very busy this summer, and as the days get shorter and cooler we plan to share some of that summer activity here. For the past few weeks our time has been consumed by "painting the house." We hired a painter to do the  upper part, but Gary and Louise and doing the rest of it. Here we have Gary up on a ladder painting the front.

Louise has been scraping the old paint and working on the brown:

We still have lots to go to get the place all painted.

Looking back on the summer, we spent a week with Bob and his family on the coast of Maine. Here we have the view from the porch:

While there Gary, Gina, and Bridget took an amazing ride in a 1917 Model T.

Here we see Bridget and Gina riding in style!

The day of the August Festival was busy as usual. Here we see the group on the front lawn watching the parade.

The day after the Festival, most of the family gathered at Portage and had a fine time in the water.

Bridget seemed to have no fear of the tube, and loved every minute of it.

Even Alex seemed to get in the mood of the day. Ryan enjoyed riding him around in his stroller.

Emily seemed to enjoy her time with Grampy.

Bridget and Jessica shared some quality time together.

Loren and Marissa came to visit from North Carolina, making the weekend even more special.
So it has been a great summer, busy with friends and family. We hate to see the end of summer, but the sun is setting early these days, and the days seem cooler. Time to finish painting the house!!

Life at Camp

We have spent a few days at camp, and want to share the peace and beauty we found there.

As the water level has gone down, our beach area has increased.

Some interesting grasses have begun to grow near the big rock.

Here we see the front of the camp, the rock wall, the wharf, and the beach.

The pot of flowers add a nice touch, with the camp in the background.

The pink and green add a nice touch to the outside beauty of the place.

Another peaceful spot, an inviting place to read or knit.

This planter sits at the edge of the woods.

A cozy spot, with a great view of the lake.

Does it make you want to take a nap?

An interesting sail boat we spotted on the lake.
Hopefully these photos make you want to jump in your car and drive to Portage Lake! We enjoyed our days there and plan to return soon.

O Canada....

Today we crossed the border to New Brunswick and spent the afternoon at the New Brunswick Botanical Garden in Saint-Jacques. It was sunny and cooler today, a perfect day for such a trip. There is a lot of walking at this garden, but they had many perennials and some annuals as well as trees and shrubs in blossom in a lovely setting with brooks and benches everywhere. Enjoy the photos of our visit!

There was a butterfly house full of butterflies. Here Gary has one landed on his finger.

This is a scene of the pond and the water falls on the rocks in the background.

This gazebo is on the pond and in the center of the garden.

There were several sculptures made of living grasses and flowers, but this bird is special.

Yellow day lilies and red astilbe combine into beautiful color.

A pond lily near a rock in the pond.

How about a buffalo with moss eyes and green and red growth all over?

These hollyhocks are lovely - much better than the ones creeping around our door at home.

Another beautiful display of color.

These are a few of the photos we took on this peaceful, lovely day in a place full of beauty. What more could a person ask of a sunny day in July?

Babies and Little Girls

This blog has been sadly neglected since the Coles came back to Maine. We have kept busy with the garden, the yard, the historical society, the museum, and family. This past weekend we traveled south to see our youngest grandchildren. First we went to Portland to visit Emily.

This is the perfect baby who is growing so fast it is hard to keep up with her.  She is happy and fun to visit, as are her parents.

Next we went to Massachusetts to see the newest grandchild in our family, Alexander.

Here he is sleeping away in his grandmother's arms. What an adorable baby! Bob and Gina have a perfect family.

Here is the special little girl, Bridget. She looks a bit angry, but that duck in her hands would not work. So much for Chinese toys!
Here she is at her best, ready to go to a party.

All in all we had a very special time visiting our sons and daughters-in-law and their wonderful kids!