CONTINUOUS METAMORPHOSIS.
Finally the dining room gets attacked. The old flooring, possibly predating the British occupation, was ripped up and hauled off to the dump. Brent is a miracle worker when it comes to renovations and home improvements. It seemed like no time at all had passed and those horrid carpet tiles were a thing of the past.
The new floor is a traditional old Maine plank floor and is painted gray to go with the rest of the house which is gray and white (inside and out). Things are just getting better everyday!

A PRINCELY SITE!
I found this picture on the web somewhere and was awed and impressed. What could be more regal and charming that a basket full of Dalmatians?

IT IS SPRING AGAIN.
The days warmer, brighter and sunnier. The snow is almost all gone (from around our house anyway). The new dooryard is entirely visible. The crocuses are up and the tulips have awakened and begun to poke up their greens. This is Eastport and there is mud everywhere; but take a deep breath and you will understand; it just smells like Spring.
I am anticipating setting up the green house, ordering plants for my white garden, uncovering and waking up the roses, and starting to plant creeping thyme in the dooryard cracks between the tiles. If only the wind would die down and the temperature would creep up just a tiny bit more, I have my projects under way.

WINTER BLOSSOMS.
Naturally the amaryllis bloomed while we were away in Portland for a few days. However the blossoms are hail and hardy and will remain for a good week or more. On the plus side, it looks as though another bud is coming up from the base. The flowers are a brilliant red that looks scarlet in some lighting and the inside of the petals look so much like velvet that I want to caress them to feel the lovely nap. Of course, I won't touch the bloom; it shall remain a feast for just my eyes. There is a wonderful feeling of satisfaction looking at those lovely flowers and seeing the piles of white snow through the window just behind them. Spring IS coming; it does every year!

WEARY OF WINTER.
Emma's blog says, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" I say, "let it stop, let it stop, let it stop." I will be the first to defend the beauty of winter, but enough is enough. As much fun as using the snow blower can be, I still have no desire to be using that piece of machinery two or three times in one week.
We have had so much snow accumulation that Water Street looks like a toboggan run with six to ten foot snow walls lining the length of it. The city is running out of places to put the removed snow and yet it comes. So far today has been on the sunny side and there are no white particles drifting from the heavens. So - Let us all keep out fingers crossed and look forward to Spring and a little green to replace the white.

A VISION COMPLETED
For years David has had a vision of the studio. It included a specific type of joist that he was unable to find. Through our contractor, Brent, contact was made with a man who could and would replicate the desired item. The price was reasonable and the end product was excellent, but the wait time became extended to the point of exasperation. In fact we dubbed the creator of the joist with a new moniker, "The Procrastinator Fabricator." All's well that ends well. Brent picked up the joist; buffed it; polished it; and installed it and it is perfect. It opens and yet divides the room. It has an semi-industrial, but sleek and elegant look and we are all well satisfied.

BIRDING.
I don't know - is it actually "birding" when you hang out a bird feeder and a suet feeder and watch the little fellows through the kitchen window from the warmth of your home? No matter - I have become fascinated by the winter birds that come to eat. Some of the finches and chickadees are so tiny and delicate I often wonder how they can survive these harsh winters. Somehow they do and bring me the joy of observing nature everyday. Again, I am so lucky to be living here where there is such a large and varied bird population. This year we had the highest official bird count in our area. Obviously we are not driving them away, but seem to be encouraging their presence.

AFTERNOON MOONRISE.
The last full moon - January 13, 2009. I was looking out the studio window at 2:30 PM and was amazed to see the moon coming up over Campobello Island. By the time I got my camera, changed the batteries, and started taking pictures it was 3:00 PM. Living here in an extreme North-Eastern locale we have much shorter days and longer nights in the winter. Still I was pretty impressed to be photographing the full moon in the middle of the afternoon.

SEA SMOKE.
Some mornings, when the humidity and the temperature are just right, we awaken to a beautiful vision of a muted sunrise with curls of sea smoke roiling atop the waters of the Western Passage. It is so easy to become mesmerized, to find yourself staring out the window totally lost in a moment of time. Just another one of the many joys and privileges of living in this very special place.

20 January 2009
This was a big day at our house; one that had been anticipated since November when we first learned our candidate had won and that finally, a time of hope was on the horizon. We invited a small group of our friends over for brunch and to watch the inauguration on the big screen TV. We all felt as though we were participating; it gave us a sense of "being there". We rose when the crowd rose; we put our hands over our hearts for the pledge of allegiance; we cheered and applauded along with the crowd. This was not planned - each person was acting spontaneously. It was definitely a day to remember, a page of future histories, and a time of new hope.
We heard on the news that groups all over the world were gathering to watch the inauguration of our 44th president. Positive comments were coming in from many countries and it seemed we were once again regaining the respect that we had been constantly loosing for the past eight years.
The American flag has not graced the top of our flag pole for many, many years because we had no real pride in raising the flag - to proclaim what? After the ceremonies were finished in Washington, we went into our backyard and very proudly raised the American flag while all our guest stood on the deck and watched and applauded. It was an emotional and stirring moment. Once more we CAN be proud of being Americans.

BETWEEN THE BLOWS.
Though our winters can be extremely rough and severe, there is always that time of calm between the the blows of Arctic air. It's a time when the snow is still white and unspoiled on the ground. The winds are no longer scouring the land and the sun is shinning brightly.
There is nothing else to do but go for a walk in the woods and just enjoy the day. So - we do. Luckily for us the forest is as close as the shore and in a matter of minutes we can be out to Shackford Head. It is always a good winter pick-me-up.

JACK WHO? FROST!
Beauty is where you find it. I found it the other morning when I opened the shades to give my winter roses some light. The ice had created such wonderful forms on the inside of the windows on the south side of the house. Of course, we had to listen to a nor'easter howling for a few hours but the results were well worth the angst of the night. Eastport is not beautiful only in summer, but all year round. I am glad I have learned to look and to see and to appreciate.

FORGOTTEN ITEMS
While going through my photo files I discovered these two pictures. I originally took them as blog entries, but never followed through.
The photo on the right is of my newly established rose garden put to bed for the winter with their burlap blankets all snuggled about them. Since then, the ground has frozen and they have been covered with snow many times. I can hardly wait till Spring to behold my new, older and (I hope) bigger blossoms.
On the right there are some tiny, fragile "johnny jump-ups". After we had our first big snow, there were a few days of unseemly warm weather and the little devils must have thought it was time to bloom again because they certainly did "jump up". They were somewhat sheltered under the deck steps, but still I am amazed at their endurance and strength.

A DOUBLE HEADER.
Living in Eastport affords us the opportunity to celebrate New Year's Eve twice; once at eleven o'clock when the red maple leaf drops signifying Canada's new year and again at midnight when the copper clad sardine drops to announce the arrival of the new year on Moose Island. The local band which hovers inside the Tides Institute until a few minutes before each drop comes out onto Bank Square and plays the required music - Oh Canada for the Canadians and Auld Lang Syne for us Eastporters. It was wicked cold with a wind that could cut your face, but we braved the elements with the faithful others to be part of a very unique experience that happens only once a year and only here.

BIG NIGHT IN A SMALL TOWN.
How better to welcome in a new year than with good friends and a lot of noise. That's just what we did. David, Elizabeth and I went to The Rose Garden for New Year's Eve. It was a small friendly crowd with a lot of good friends. Linda, who owns the place, had hired help for the occasion and taken the night off so she could participate and whoop it up. The music was loud and enjoyable. The band played a lot of old tunes that conjured up images of times, people, and events from the past. (Am I dating myself? Ah, who cares?) After a few bottles of wine inhibitions dropped a little and David, who says he can't dance, cut up the rug with Elizabeth. At midnight Linda served a nice buffet and closed the place at one. Then we struggled against the horrid north east wind and made our way home.

ANOTHER YEAR PASSED BY.
Another Christmas has come and gone. We spend it in a most delightful way. On Christmas Eve we went to Richard and Sydney's house for dinner. She served homemade Mexican food. This has become a much anticipated tradition with us. On Christmas Day Richard, Sydney, Elizabeth and Cheri came to our house for dinner - another tradition which we all eagerly await. David and Cheri like to have non-traditional theme dinners. This year we decided to have a low carbon footprint meal using Maine staples. Our entree was Lobster Savannah in puff pastry shells - delicious. This was complimented by leeks with lemon caper butter with fire roasted tomatoes bits, tiny diced oven roasted potatoes, and a wonderful scallop chowder (receipt contributed by a friend of Cheri). For dessert we had a bouche de noel baked by Cheri and some homemade blueberry ice cream. Cheri even decorated the lovely yule log with mushrooms made from meringue. Everything was local except for the seasonings and much of the food was organic from Tide Mill Farms. It was a meal to remember and I think we all ate too much. There was bouche de noel left oven which we enjoyed the next night with coffee while we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas, another holiday tradition with our extended family.