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Archive for the ‘Maine’ Category

You’re invited to Zoot!

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

Zoot you say?  That’s the wonderful coffee house here in downtown Camden (hours and directions at the end of the post) where my friend Jan P. and I just hung a show of textile art / art quilts for the month of October.  Here’s a picture of the little thing I made for Zondra (actually, I think it is Sondra?), the owner, and the customer side of the latte bar:

Zondra’s Zoot

Zoot definitely has the best coffee on the mid-Coast of Maine, even better than Starbucks! Every month Zondra has a new exhibit, and Jan and I are thrilled to be this month’s show!  I made a number of new, smaller (and therefore affordable for Christmas gift giving, including to yourself!) pieces which I’ll be sharing here and on my website over the next few days. I’m happy to ship, too (hint hint!).

Jan and her photographer-husband have a newly launched website, From Photos to Fiber.  They sell his photographs and Jan is working on commissioned pieces of people’s family members, pets and buildings.  Check out the quilt of Ollie, their rapscallion dog…far left in the next photo.

Here’s a view of the left side of the main space, a sunny area with big picture windows facing Elm Street:

Front area

Here’s Jan in front of three of my pieces, which are on the short wall facing the front door:

Jan by my stuff, front wall

Here’s the back area, with two of my pieces on the left, Jan’s three on the right, and our hanging stuff and jackets on the chairs and tables!

Back corner

Here’s a closeup with one of Jan’s “house portraits” on the left, and a Trio of small tea pieces and my “Tea” on the center and right.  Tea, MIL’s house

I’ll be posting my new pieces, including prices, both on my website and here over the next week or ten days.  Hope you like!

Directions and hours:

Open  6:30-5, M-Sat,  and 7-5 on Sunday

On Elm Street in downtown Camden, between the Rite Aid and Town Offices, opposite the village green.  If you are driving north on Route 1, the old Atlantic Coast Highway, it runs right through town (Elm Street turns into Main Street turns into High Street, all within 4 blocks!); Zoot would be on your left a block or so past the flashing stoplight at the First Congregational Church (intersection  of Union and Elm).

My favorite is a double latte, and love the croissants, lunchtime savories and pie!

Lobstering in Maine

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

And now, for something completely different:

If you have ever wondered what it would like to be a 4-th generation Maine Lobsterman, check out Ryan Post’s website and podcasts at :

www.MaineBuggin.com

and click on the links for Episodes 1 and 2 (Just below the photo of the cameraman in a red t-shirt) which are documentary-style videos of what it is like to be a lobsterman here in the far north-eastern corner of the US.  Ryan hopes to show what life is like as a lobsterman year-round, not just hauling up the traps when they are full.  You’ll probably need not-dial-up (as in something faster) internet to view the videos.

Paul (Hubby) and Eli (number 2 son) have come to know Ryan through their Isshinriyu karate with Sensei Pete Bishop. Ryan is one of the regulars in the dojo (currently the basement of the Offshore Restaurant, on Route 1 in Rockport….or is it Rockland that far down? No…think it is still Rockport). The denizens of the dojo are all really good guys, and amazingly accepting of this pint-sized kid working out with them (everyone there is an adult, and three black-belt and several ranking belts, yet they accept Eli, age 9 1/2, as one of their own).

Joshua’s girlfriend is from an old lobstering family, too, and it is wicked hard work. It is lucrative when you can get it, but income is sporadic, and of course no one is out hauling traps in mid-winter, so you need an off season job. She isn’t a jock, yet she is so strong that she can sometimes beat Joshua (who is on the wrestling team!) at arm wrestling, thanks to working on the boat (she’s the one who brought us the king’s ransom of four lobsters this summer, which I wrote about in my blogpost Lobster Homicide).

And yes, Maine really is that beautiful! And the colors on the buoys: each lobsterman is assigned a physical location in which he/she can set their traps, and each lobsterman has a particular color of buoy so they can tell which traps are whose. Enjoy!