Warm and Dry (aka - the first snow)

Saturday evening I drove up from Cape Cod as fast as I could trying to beat the storm. A winter storm advisory on October 28th?! Are you kidding me?!By Sunday morning I was snuggled under the covers looking at my snow covered skylight. I leaned over to flick on the light and that's when I realized the power was out. I payed there as silently as possible listening to see if air was going to come through my register as I mentally reviewed the components of a natural gas forced air heating system. Electric blower - doh! The storm was a particular doozy because the leaves haven't fallen yet! There were a lot if downed limbs...simply because the trees couldn't support the weight of all that snow in the leaves. The power was restored fairly quickly but it certainly got me thinking - where would I go and what would I do. The good 'ole what if game. Having a prolonged lazy morning sealed the deal - I followed through with a lazy day.....minus a walk in the woods. I think I watched three movies. I've been on the go non stop which hasn't been blog friendly however; it did provide excellent blog fodder! I'm going to spend the next few days playing catch up.....while staying warm and dry of course! I hope all you Nautie Folk are warm and dry too!

Boothbay Harbor, ME

This past weekend was a blast - and now that it is Tuesday evening I'm finally winding down. On Saturday I headed up to Boothbay, ME.  It was basically a mini reunion of a ton of guys I hadn't seen in ages.  It was insanely fun.  There was a keg, a fire and gasoline....need I say more?!

Sunday morning was a slow one but we ended up spending the day boating.  When I sat down to write this post the first thing I thought of was a favorite quote of mine from the Wind in the Willows:

'There is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'

It was very cold but, we were zipping past colorful lobster pots, fall foliage and oyster farms - and I wouldn't have wanted to spend my Sunday doing anything else!

Monday was spent learning new things about blogging.  It was very educational!  I've posted a gallery here.  If you click on a thumbnail the photo should get larger and you can click through the rest of the gallery.  You can also view it as a slideshow and simply watch.  I feel like I have a new trick - look what I can do!

All in all it was 4 days well spent!

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You're simply the best - better than all the rest!

Nautie Friends, wanna know something crazy?

October 19th was Nautiemermate's one year birthday!!!!

I told you....CRAZY!

Nautiemermate has been a very good thing for me - it's put my camera back in my hands, gotten me in touch with long lost relatives and friends, and has provided me with a creative outlet.  Most importantly it's given me incentive to find the positive in my days - especially when I'm at sea.  Who wants to hear me whine non-stop...I certianly don't and besides, I don't have time to whine because I have to keep my eyes open for dolphins....or other blog fodder!

I really hope that Nautiemermate has been good for you too!  I love knowing that you're out there reading away.  On cranky sea days finding some comments never fails to give me warm and fuzzies.

I have big plans for this little slice of the internet pie.   I also have big plans for myself - I have thoughts and ideas that I never would have had before wading through the nautie waters.

Soooo, thanks for reading the blog and sticking with me.....(imagine me channeling my inner Tina Turner).....You're Simply The Best!  Better Than All The Rest!

Annnddd....

HAU'OLI LA HANAU NAUTIEMERMATE!!!!!!!

(translation - although I'm sure you figured it out:  happy birthday nautiemermate!!!!!!!!)

My housemates (being the awesome Nautie Friends that they are), helped me throw a little birthday bash.  Complete with whoopie pies, gluten free lemon bars, a red velvet cupcake - and duh, a cornucopia!

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Lobstah Stew

When I was in school I was really lucky and was adopted by two families. I always had somewhere to go for holidays and people to latch onto at events designed for parents. Maine Maritime Academy was tough because 83% of the student population was from Maine. That meant that the school would clear out on weekends and us out of staters were pretty lonely. One of the families who took me in are from Deer Isle, Maine. Friends, this is as Maine as you can get. Really good mainah accents and lobstahs galore. Last night I had dinner with them!!! What did we eat? Lobstah stew! With fresh caught Maine lobsters. Soooo yummy! I felt so lucky to be eating world class Lobstah Stew....with amazing friends none the less! Truly blessed.

I decided...

that this photo I took yesterday was my favorite....and that it deserved a post of its own.

Occupy Maine

I woke up yesterday feeling perky.  Yes, perky.  The sun was shining through my skylight and I could see colorful leaves blowing by.  I brewed some delicious organic, fair trade breakfast blend and spiced it up with some french vanilla creamer - and then I sipped away while blogging.  Blogging felt great!  I haven't been spending too much time on posts lately and it felt wonderful to finish my draft box lurker. I decided that it would be a great day to head downtown and snap some pictures.  I didn't take quite as many photos as I hoped - but I did manage my trademark shot - looking up at buildings with the sun behind them :)

The Occupy Maine-r's were out.  Let me be clear, I'm not a supporter of the movement however; the sun was shining and it was just too nice of a day to be angry.  So I played paparazzi and took some photos of their base camp.

I had a delicious falafel on a park bench and I walked around with a warm cup of chai in my hands.

Now if tooling around Portland taking pictures, snacking and drinking cozy drinks isn't occuyping Maine then what is it?

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