Note: A brief interlude in the California photos for a “Mother’s Day” report from the mid-coast of Maine!
Today at Aldemere Farm, in neighboring Rockport, Maine, it was “Meet the Calves” day, which I’m pretty sure (as a newbie to the area) happens on Mother’s Day weekend every year. The Belted Galloways are a rare breed of cattle. Ironically, there was a farm with these “oreo cookie” cows on San Juan Island, Wash, where we used to live, and now here they are again.

I just love their curly fur, and will use some of today’s photos as “reference shots” for the cow that will be in the manger in the Tableau quilt. The calf in the photo above is only 3 weeks old, and was 50 pounds at birth (ouch!), and was happy for his mommy to groom him. If you click on the link above, you’ll see the trees in autumn…yes, it really is that gorgeous!

There are also sheep and goats as part of the 4-H projects for the kids here, and every spring at maple sugaring time offers 3-6th graders a chance to participate in the “sap to syrup” program, literally going from harvesting the sap to coming home with their “made it myself” maple syrup. Wish I were in 5th grade! The farm used to be a real working farm, and is now part of the widespread network of nature conservancy in Maine…lots and lots and lots of areas are now protected from developement—yeah! Here, Eli is feeding one of the lambies:

The setting is idyllic. In winter, folks are allowed to cross-country ski or snowshoe in the pastures where the cows aren’t. This first photo is looking East toward Penobscot Bay–if you look carefully between the trees, the horizon between darker blue in the bay, the lighter blue sky is a tad below halfway down the photo:

This photo is of one of the barns…LOVE the rhythm and repetition in the lines of the barn.

Moving west across the road from the front side of the farm house (the barns and such are out back–on the sunrise side of the house), you look across the near pasture to the large pond and (if you have really good eyes) you might be able to make out the new YMCA building on the far side of the pond.

This tree is right by the same pasture…what a fantastic branch! And as you can tell, spring has finally come to the north country!

Note—I’ve got LOTS of posts this week, so scroll down… there may be more than one that is new to you! Cheers, Sarah. Now, on to this entry:

While visiting my mom in Marin County (on the north end of the Golden Gate bridge, facing the bay, San Francisco and the Pacific), California, I took walks around the carefully manicured grounds of her retirement community. I love pattern and repetition and line, and I love pictures that make you stop to wonder what it was that was photographed. Not all these photos fit that bill, but there is (I hope) a certain cohesiveness to the images.

The first photo is, obviously, a close-up of ivy on a wall….love the interplay of line, light, shadow and shape.

This second photo is of what we called (when I was a kid) “rattlesnake grass”, so named for the pod at the end that looks like a rattler’s rattle. I had forgotten about this grass, which grows wild just about everywhere.

On the way up a small path to a bench and overlook, a tree had been cut down, leaving these wonderful lines:

And then, the ever-popular sworl/close up of a plant from above (there will be more of these in “Artichokes,” a posting to come later this week). Not sure what succulent this is, but love the radiating lines.

Finally, undulating foam (hmmm…..looks kinda gunky, but the lines were cool) in the duck pond. I liked the curve of the shore embracing the curves and sworls in the foam, the vertical lines in the grass, the light and reflections on the water:

Note—I’ve got LOTS of posts this week, so scroll down… there may be more than one that is new to you! Cheers, Sarah. Now, on to this entry:

So, how many tries does it take to get one half-way decent photo of the kids in the gift shirts from relatives in your family? In our house, the answer is waaaaaayyyy too many. Aunt Joyce and Mom (aka Nana) both sent the boys shirts from California. First, the cool dude shirts by Quiksilver (a surf / skateboard company the boys love, and which has really nice, soft cloth in their clothes…so soft that even hubby the staid was interested in a sweatshirt!):

Now…here’s what it was like getting to that photo (after Eli karate stomped on Joshua’s instep):

On to round two, Aunt Joyce scores yet again in the “COOL” category, and has upheld the honorable tradition of the coolest gifts from anyone ever:

And, on the way to that photo:

Sigh. Boys. It’s that defective Y chromosome. Somewhere along the way, the “X” chromosome lost a leg, it became a “Y”, and all the good, sensible reasonable stuff fell off with the missing leg. Hey….that theory works for me and I’m sticking to it. I married a human with one (of the Y’s). I gave birth to two. I love them all. But they are …well….. carriers of the Y chromosome. I need say no more (grin!).

What a frustrating week….no internet at Mom’s house in California and no internet cafe’s and no wi-fi on the laptop, then when I finally got to a hotel with high-speed, Paul’s laptop (which I was borrowing for the trip) doesn’t allow Java, which I needed to blog! AAAARGH! I need my own laptop with wi-fi! Better start saving!

Anyway, have not been to visit Ma for a LONG time. Last visit was for her 85th birthday, in December 2 1/2 years ago. In 2004, we ended up moving cross-country…no time, no money….from Washington to Maine. In 2005, Paul had a heart attack and bypass surgery (he’s all well now), so no money. Finally, time to go. Number two son looked woebegone when I suggested I spend mother’s day with Mom and not here, so I decided to go in advance, which is better anyway…restaurants are way less crowded.

My dear sister in law Joyce came up to visit on Sunday, and along the way connected with another relative who came to brunch on Sunday. Here we all are at Greens, a famous and venerable vegetarian restaurant at Fort Mason in San Francisco:

From left to right: Percy, Mom, Me and Joyce.

Mom lives in a retirement community (very upscale…sigh….but beautiful) in Marin County, and the grounds are spectacular. I took over a hundred photos in just a few mornings, so I’ll be blogging just about everyday this week. If you are on an “alert” feed of some sort for my blog, check in every day (even if your settings are for two days or whatever) because I’m hoping to upload TONS of photos. And by the way, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new Panasonic DMC FZ-30 digital….it is awesome. And I’m actually learning to use it…but sure need to keep the manual handy for some less-frequently used tricks (like macro, and manual focus macro shots).

More soon!

Remember a while back I posted about the Godspeed, a replica of the Jamestown ship that was built right here, in neighboring Rockport? They launched the ship in March I think it was, and since it has been at anchor in the harbor. They raised the masts, and set the rigging and sails. I finally remembered to stop by and take a few pictures before she sets sail for Virginia (soon). I hope that they announce in the papers when she will depart, and hope she will sail (not motor) out of the harbor, though that may depend on the winds. I’d love to see her under sail!

This first picture is of something, I have no idea what, on the shore, but it looked cool against the screaming blue skies:

Here’s a picture of the entire ship, tied to a pier next to Rockport Marine:

And a close up of the rigging…I love the interplay of the ropes and the trees / branches in the background:

Here’s another of the furled sails tied to the (ummm… sailor-type folks, please help me here if I get this incorrect) spars:

And one more of the rigging:

I think there may be a play, an abstraction for a quilt starting in these lines…….