But spring is truly here.  Proof?   Go on a dog-walkies midday and spot the FIRST FIDDLEHEAD of the season!

Those of you who live in the US probably heard about the torrential rains in the Northeast last weekend (and how different from the glorious, summery day yesterday!)–Rhode Island had serious flooding.  It wasn’t as dire up here, but we sure had some serious rushing water!  That meant everyone in love with their camera, including me, was out taking pictures.  Here is where the (relatively small) Megunticook River was roaring down the falls into Camden Harbor:

I was so pleased at my camera’s ability to capture the drops of spray:

The docks are still out of the water from winter, so snapped a few abstracts, too:

And then upriver, by the old mill complex….  After the woolen industry tanked up here in Maine, there were abandoned mill buildings across the state.  Some have been converted into artists studios, commercials spaces, and business depending on the town.  The credit card conglomerate MBNA (which got gobbled up by Bank of America a number of years ago) was actually based here in Camden, and they did a beautiful renovation of the buildings, including adding this footbridge from one building to another over a small falls on the way into downtown.  The bridge I stood on (for cars) is on Knowlton Street, just down from the middle school:

I tried and for the first time on digital (as opposed to film) camera, was able to capture the feel of rushing water.

The ones where you can see every detail were shot at either 1/500 or 1/1000 of a second shutter speed.  The ones where the trees are in focus but the water is racing past were shot at either 1/40 or 1/20 of a second (camera propped on railing in lieu of a tripod).  I love seeing the difference and feeling the speed of the river:

The new year arrived with a doozy of a snowstorm here in Maine.  It was GLORIOUSLY beautiful, so I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.

From the porch…

The back porch is screened, so the coating is the fine fluffy stuff that blew sideways through the screen:

Paul and ‘Widgeon, our pug who is trying out his brand new blue coat:

I LOVE the crests of snow that collect on the branches like tracery in the vaults of medeival cathedrals.  Fortunately, I got this photo before the winds arrived:

Our driveway is between the stakes…under about 13-16 inches of snow!

Got any idea what this nearly-buried thing is?

It’s our neighbor’s stone wall….

It hasn’t been cold enough long enough, so the running brook (aka drainage ditch) is still not frozen:

Usually we get wind with heavy snow, so this is the first time we’ve had so much it started sliding in large quantities off the porch roof—the view from on the porch:

and from outside:

We’re in for some wicked cold this weekend, so sounds like time to quilt to me!

At the end of our sleepover (see earlier posts), we all went to the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens.  We had been there once before, and dream of someday getting enough work together that we can have a show, perhaps with the majority of the pieces done based on what there is to see in the gardens.  Warning:  TONS of photos!

The gardens opened maybe 2 years (?) ago, so are still settling in; there is a birch allee which we didn’t see this time but has about 25 different varieties of birch.  Maybe I’ll get there in early autumn next year and see all the golden leaves!  There are also beautiful outdoor sculptures throughout the garden.  This magnificent piece greets you as you arrive:

and a different view of the two:

There are some lovely kitchen gardens and ponds near the visitors’ center:

Aren’t the vertical walls of lettuce and herbs cool?

Here are another pond and a close-up of some lettuce of some sort…great visual texture for a quilting pattern, eh?

Then, the small bunny sculpture nestled amongst the kitchen garden, hoping there is no Farmer MacGregor nearby:

The pond was SO still you can scarcely see the glassy surface of the watery shallows; yes, the river rocks are under the water:

Then of course there is me taking a picture of Deborah taking (or checking?) a picture:

and another set-the-timer-and-dash-and-try-not-to-gasp-moment (L to R:  me, Kathy, Hannah, Kate and Deborah):

There was this cool sculpture where you stick your head inside a hole and make a sound and listen to the reverberations of the rock.  Deborah kindly demonstrates using the lower of the two holes:

and here is Hannah checking HER photos!

There were some cool dried leaves–Solomon’s Seal I think –that would also make a great quilting pattern or stencil / screen:

A porcupine sculpture:

and a view of the gardens:

Here are two views of the same plant—the yellow leaves in the shade, the read in the sun!

Then we have Kathy in the woods by the water:

and Deborah in the woods, not by the water, but by the glass ball sculpture–standing to be the bottom part of the “i” to the ball’s “dot” of the “i”:

I love the waving grasses…these too would make a lovely screen for printing:

And Deborah and Hannah in front of them:

We still look happy, I’ll note…tho a bit tired!  Kate…how the heck do I not have a photo of you?  You must have been climbing about!

Finally, it was time to lunch before we dispersed to various corners of the state and the States.  Kate had found a WONDERFUL spot (a small neighborhood “grocer”) with awesome lobster rolls (think tuna salad except with lobster instead, in a hotdog bun) and equally good (being thrifty I went for spending less) popcorn shrimp.

Ah, lunch, an outing with friends, tons of photos, art to be made!  Life is GOOD!

There didn’t seem to be as many art quilts this year in Maine Quilts, but I enjoyed the ones that were there!   From my friend Betty’s cat quilt (in the Cat’s Meow section—each year the show has a theme…last year was schooners, the year before lobsters, etc., this year the Maine Coon Cat):

To some of the quilts in the Art Quilts Maine section, there were some really wonderful ones.  AQM had a challenge:  black + white + one color… it was fun to see the results:

And down the aisle from my Be Inspired Quilt was Judy Anderson’s seals:

And Mathea Daunheimer’s quilt of her son and husband at the beach:

And some more quilts…alas I don’t know who made the lilies, but the tree is by Mary McFarland:

I’ll have one more post about the show in a few more days….