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Archive for the ‘Hope’ Category

W+W: Winter and Wrestling

Sunday, January 6th, 2013

Just a quick pop in to say hi and share two photos.  I didn’t know we were going to be getting any weather in, and look what a beautiful sight I woke up to this morning:

A lovely surprise this morning

A lovely surprise this morning

And here is where we’ve been the past two days:  the Sanford Invitational wrestling tournament.  It is in southern Maine, an invitational of top teams from New England from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.  The competition is probably at the highest level you will see in Maine.  One of our state champions from last year who IS a really good wrestler didn’t even place!   The meet last weekend at Noble and this weekend at Sanford are so competitive, that they award medals to the top six, not the usual top 4.

Usually, Camden Hills is among the top 3 or 4 teams at Sanford, but we lost 7 of 13 starters to graduation last year, and two of the remaining varsity wrestlers were unable to compete due illness/injury.  That meant we had a whopping 4 kids of 13 who had competed there before.  Still, FIVE managed to place:  four came in 5th:  James Archer, Chris Weiss, Connor Winchenbach and Jared Gilbert, (Connor is a Junior, the others are sophomores), and ELI came in 6th!  Yes, as a Freshman he PLACED at Sanford!   So we are popping proud of our boy, of all the kids who wrestled, and the entire team who came along (even the one with a bad stomach flu came down with his mom to cheer on the team as best he could) to support the wrestlers.  Way to go CHills! (short for Camden Hills Regional High School).

The critical win:  the other boy was in the lead by 8+ points, a "major decision," when Eli realized well into the final period that is was do-it-or-die.  He DID it!  And here is the result... Eli has the kid in a pin, and the ref is down looking to see if both shoulder blades are on the mat for one second.  DONE!  It is remarkable for any Freshman to medal at Sanford, and especially not in one of the major competitive weight classes (it is still difficult, but not as bad, in the extreme upper and lower weight classes as there are fewer wrestlers in the 220+ weights or the 106 and 113 pound classes).

The critical win: the other boy was in the lead by 8+ points, a “major decision,” when Eli realized well into the final period that is was do-it-or-die. He DID it! And here is the result… Eli has the kid in a pin, and the ref is down looking to see if both shoulder blades are on the mat for one second. DONE! It is remarkable for any Freshman to medal at Sanford, and especially not in one of the major competitive weight classes (it is still difficult, but not as bad, in the extreme upper and lower weight classes as there are fewer wrestlers in the 220+ weights or the 106 and 113 pound classes).  That’s the sound of mama’s buttons popping with pride!

And if there are any other wrestling moms out there, here is an article in the PenBay Pilot, a local online newspaper.

And a PS:  thank you Dorothy for asking what a Freshman is!  We have kindergarten (usually age 5), then eight “primary and middle school” grades starting at age 6.  High school is grades 9-12, and Freshman is the 9th grade, followed by Sophomore, Junior and Senior.  I’ll add that to the blog!

Winter has arrived

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

Having a lovely post-Christmas lull, painting and enjoying being holed up in the house!

Winter blew in on a Nor-easter today.  Currently it is 27 degrees, we have inches of snow, it is still coming down and, as it has most of the day, the snow is blowing past the snow sideways.

Winter blew in on a Nor-easter today. Currently it is 27 degrees, we have inches of snow, it is still coming down and, as it has most of the day, the snow is blowing past the snow sideways.

This house is so cozy and snug… perfect for staying inside and catching up on art.  I recently shared two in progress pieces for my watercolor lettering class with Val Webb.  Here they are, colored in:

The interlaced knotwork, watercolored.  I need more practice, but I've learned so much including how to make it look like the center bit is rounded!

The interlaced knotwork, watercolored. I need more practice, but I’ve learned so much including how to make it look like the center bit is rounded!

And here is the “S”:

Part-way there.  I'd love to have a plum colored background, but my skills aren't quite up to that yet.  I want to practice more then see if I can put deep plum around the "S" and outside the yellow border.

Part-way there. I’d love to have a plum colored background, but my skills aren’t quite up to that yet. I want to practice more then see if I can put deep plum around the “S” and outside the yellow border.

I’m pleased with the shading on the yellow knotwork (my own design!), but the turquoise is a bit overworked.

Today I did this scroll.  Getting better, bit by bit!

Today I did this scroll. Getting better, bit by bit!

And just because I couldn’t resist….

Showing Pigwidgeon the pug ornament he, Eli and Paul gave me for Christmas.  Can you say CUTE?

Showing Pigwidgeon the pug ornament he, Eli and Paul gave me for Christmas. Can you say CUTE? PUG-LOVE!

And we’ll end where we began…with the snow blowing sideways!

off the side of the living room porch

Off the side of the living room porch.

 

 

 

 

It’s a Garage (in the making)

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Utterly not related to either art or quilting, but a big event for us nonetheless:  construction on the garage has begun!   Now when we dig out in winter, it will be to dig out the garage doors and not the car itself!

In the beginning there was open space where we parked. The first step is to trench in the electrical.

Next, our neighbor Alex, who is the plow guy, the Hope town Road Commissioner, Deputy Fire Chief and probably a few other hats, too, prepared the pad/area for the concrete guys to come in:

Alex seems to have a small fortune in large earth moving equipment! He’s brought in dirt to pound and level before the cement men arrive to pour the slab.

Then come the men to pour the slab.

The forms are ready and the cement truck has arrived.

The pour begins!

Then

At the beginning of October, the builders arrived and started setting up. First there was a slab and a saw.

Next

The framing goes up!

And as of Friday the 12th,

The plywood starts to go on. We will have three garage bays: two for cars, one for the tractor mower and other assorted Stuff. To the right the roof will overhang the last six feet of slab. This will be for storing wood. Each late spring/early summer we get a delivery of logs which a local young man cuts and splits for firewood. We season it outside for a year, then the following summer it comes indoors to the wood storage area in the basement to use in the woodstove which provides our winter heat. Now, that wood will season and store under a roof instead of under the pine trees or a tarp.

I’ll keep you posted as the building continues.

A Moment of Beauty, June 10th, 2012

Sunday, June 10th, 2012

On a clear day, you can see almost forever…or at least from Hope to Liberty, Freedom and points north and west in Maine….  Today we went for a walk onto a neighbor’s hilltop / blueberry barren, and it was glorious.   There were some woods on one side, but I stood and took photos in an almost-complete circle…more than 270 degrees.  When I got home, I discovered my Photoshop Elements would create a panorama for me automatically.  I fiddled a little to fine tune it, so here is a hilltop in Hope, Maine, about noon today:

A panoramic collage...click to view larger

Clearly it was GLORIOUS!   The puppy was hot and panting though it is only about 70 degrees outside.

Here are two shots, larger and not collaged, of the view:

The view to the northwest. The building in the center is the Robbins Lumber mill.

And a bit to the north/east of the previous photo--the house in the center is the one we look out on from our land (trust me, that small gray blob in the middle of the photo is a house), which is about halfway between where this photo is taken and the house on the next hillside over

I spotted some rocks that might be good for doing rubbings (grin), and these little gems will be wild Maine blueberries ready to eat in about two months–the flower is bunchberry, a form of low-growing dogwood (cornus canadensis I think):

Wild blueberries, currently not much larger than the head of the glass-ball-headed pins

Then we meandered home:

Looking east toward Camden...I am pretty sure that is Mount Megunticook with the knobby edge. Love the falling down old stone wall. They actually have these walls on the official town plat-maps.

Paul and, quite a bit farther ahead, Eli with the puglet!

I feel somewhat guilty, that I have neglected the blog.  I’ve been busy with end-of-year for our 8th grader (graduates Thursday), house stuff, quilting/work stuff, and generally not working myself into a ground up pulp.  I promise before too long I’ll take a few days and do nothing but write blogposts, prep the photos etc.!  Hope you are all having a wonderful early summer, Cheers, Sarah

A moment of beauty, May 11, 2012

Friday, May 11th, 2012

Just took these a few moments ago and had to share…..

And to skip back to the first in the sequence….and then in order.  Taken from the living room side windows and (the last one and the one above) the porch, looking west over the lawn and the big meadow below the stone wall/hedgerow…

Pinch me… I really get to live here?  Where’s the best place to live on Earth?  MAINE!