From One Island to Another . . .

Finally home after a lazy few weeks of reading and resting on the coast of Maine. A summary of the 'highlights' would be the abundant vegetable and herb garden that I attacked like a bunny during a carrot famine, the shockingly rude outbursts of our host that elicited more laughs than indignation, collecting perfectly smooth edged gray pebbles on the beach (it's the simple pleasures), driving along a windy road one night only to turn a corner and see the full moon and her shimmering silver veil across the watery bay, and last but not least, meeting a man at a drinks party one night who after his 44th glass of wine, leaned on my shoulder and languidly confessed to having a daily habit that made my eyes bug out on stalks like a cartoon character.

So here I am back home gearing up for Monday. You would think after two weeks of simple pottering about an island that has one restaurant and no bars that I would be feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed. But no. I feel exhausted and blank. And this week is a biggie for me - we are launching my very small line of products in to the US retail market after several months of preparation. This is definitely not an expedition for the faint of heart, especially for small cottage businesses like myself. One feels rather like David going up against Golliath and the Philistines.  Hope to God I can crank my brain back into action for tomorrow; maybe it rolled out to sea whilst picking pebbles on the beach. Ugh. Someone fetch me a sling.

Hope everyone has a great week! What has been the highlight of your summer holiday?

Another day in Maine...

Another lovely day in Dark Harbor! Had a long walk through the woods this morning only to return home and be warned about pestiferous ticks and the danger of Lymes Disease - yikes! I had a good long scrub in a hot shower and a remedial cup of tea before heading out for a swim. One can't imagine the danger in that except for perhaps the short sharp shock of chilly Maine waters, right? Wrong! There I was splashing about off the beach, all smiles and frolicks until a local man swam up for a chat and casually mentioned that there had been a Great White shark siting only last week in a nearby cove. What? Really! Eeeeeek! Feeling a little disappointed with my second jaunt of the day being tarnished with warnings, I decided to head home and relish in one my favourite activities - lunch!


  There is not an awful lot to do on this little island and frankly that is exactly the sort of trip I need right now. Time to reflect, be mindful and enjoy the very simple pleasures in life such a walk to the post office to mail a hand written letter to an old friend. There is a lush vegetable garden outside of the house buzzing with enormous bumble bees and butterflies. Absolute heaven! It's become a daily routine to walk across the lawn with my basket and to literally pick my lunch - fresh sage, basil and arugula and an armful of rhododendrons to adorn the cottage. This is the life I aspire towards!

Today's lunch was a bowl of home-made cheese torellini with several handfuls of fresh garden leaves tossed in the mix with fresh garlic and pine nuts - yum! I have been meaning to go on a bike ride for a couple of days now. Having found a quiet path  through the woods that leads to a hidden cove on the sea,  I headed out after lunch with a good book tucked in my bag and intentions of a leisurely read on the beach. Ha! Ten minutes down the road I managed to hit a bump and was catapulted off my bike onto a pile of rubble -  grazed my knee, suffered scraped bloody elbows and a sprained ankle. :-(

Limp limp limp all the way home. So here I now sit, on the sofa, foot up on a cushion and glass of remedial red wine in hand. Not sure what tomorrow will bring but one thing is for sure, I predict another delicious garden salad on tomorrow's menu. Surely a trip to the vegetable patch won't prove hazardous. Or will it....?! Watch this space! :0)

Birds on the balcony

 Every morning, like most people,  I have a simple routine to help wash the sleep from my eyes.   I get up, make a pot of freshly brewed coffee and then open up my sliding glass doors,  letting the warm ocean air wash in and work it's magic.  Living on the second floor of a little apartment building, my balcony overlooks a luscious canopy of exotic treetops where a family of feathery inhabitants conduct their morning chorus.  Brew, breeze and bird song - nature's remedial morning cocktail, my heavenly 'rise and shine' elixir.

So one  morning a few weeks ago, after a bit of a mad panic trying to find a bag of coffee somewhere in the kitchen, I found instead a box of old bird seed sitting in the back of a cupboard.  Having checked the expiration date was still valid, I decided to sprinkle a handful on the balcony. I did this each morning for a week or two with no results. The seeds lay untouched and then blew away when the afternoon winds picked up.

But then one stormy morning, whilst I was contemplating tossing the box of old seeds in the bin,  I spotted two beautiful doves  darting about outside under under a palm.  After an hour of nervous attempts to land, they eventually descended in and began to greedily peck and forage.  Since then, they flock in each morning with a few sparrows in tow and perch patiently on the balustrade waiting for me to come out and feed them.  What is quite extraordinary is that if I don't come out after several minutes of showing my face, one of the doves starts flying elaborately about the balcony and then swoops in and hovers and beats his wings impatiently against the window pane.

 So as usual, I awoke early and went to put the coffee on and open the doors. Sure enough the birds were pottering about on the balcony enjoying the morning sunshine. But this time, when I walked out, instead of a flock of feathers frantically disappearing over the treetops,  the entourage  fluttered only a few feet up onto a branch and watched me as I scattered the melange of seeds. Their confidence was increasing!  I looked up at them and smiled and waited to see if they would swoop back in with me still standing there - but as I rather expected, they refused.  So I walked back inside and left them to it.  

But, later on that evening,  after I made a cup of tea and opened my book for an hour's respite - my end-of-day routine - they did something rather surprising.  The balcony was quiet as it always is at that time - all the birds have presumably gone home to nest or perhaps to fly and frolick in the evening sun.  But not tonight!  Low and behold,  I heard a loud fluttering of wings and then looked up to witness the two gray doves swoop in, land onto the balcony floor and walk right up to the entrance of my flat. I stopped what I was doing and quietly observed the bolder of the two as he gingerly took a step into my home. And then another and another until he was half way into the sitting room twitching his pale gray little head back and fourth, all the while darting his beady little eyes between the kitchen and me. 

I am sure most people would have shooed him off at this point, but if truth be told,  I was chuffed that he felt safe enough to enter and especially with me in the room.  Something he would never have done a few weeks ago! Frankly I was rather proud of him.  And who knows what would have happened next if my phone had not rung and sent the startled little bird soaring out through the window.

So, I am not sure what to expect next! But I rather anticipate a knock at my bedroom window one of these nights. After all, every creature has their own personal habitual routines and perhaps theirs includes a midnight snack. :-)