Rainy day, sunny days in Kennebunkport Maine

Parson's Beach, Kennebunk, Maine

at the Old House Parts Co.

What do you do in a seaside town on a rainy day, particularly in a seaside town that you have extensively explored for more than 25 years?  Yes, of course there's fresh seafood, and yes, there's shopping and art galleries, and in neighboring Wells there are antique stores galore, but we wanted something a little different, and the innkeeper at the B&B where we were staying suggested this place, the Old House Parts Co. (an architectural salvage business) where we ended up spending more than two hours! 

 This is just a small sampling of what we saw there.

 There were hundreds of glass bricks like I used to make bookshelves in my very first apartment.  There were dozens of claw-foot bathtubs, chandeliers, doors, stained glass windows, shutters, and more; hundreds of doorknobs and hinges; there was even a church steeple, and oh, an airplane hanging from the ceiling!  And of course the huge peacock being investigated by hubs in the photo above.  My hubby, by the way, is a retired architect with a special fondness for historic architecture, and he was having the best time at this place!  Afterward, we made a couple of antique store stops, and before we knew it, it was time to pick up our son at the train station and get a dose of fresh seafood.  

 

Napoleon sleeping

 The weather for the rest of our visit to Kennebunkport was sunny and magnificent.  I already showed you pics from our day building a dragon in the sand of our favorite beach, Goose Rocks Beach.   We also spent part of a sunny day sailing on the schooner Eleanor.  Hubs and son both enjoy sailing small sailboats, so this was a big treat for the two of them.  Not much of a sailor myself, I was along for the ride.  The day was so breezy that not all the sails were up!  But the ocean was calm and lovely.

my son, basking

  Then, after son returned to Boston we spent a fabulous day at magnificent secluded Parson's Beach, a hidden treasure.

tidal pool, low tide

Before we set out on our 5 hour drive home, we explored a secreted little 1.5m hike through the woods behind a graveyard, called the Secret Garden Preserve.  So of course there were mushrooms!

 So... I know this is primarily intended as an art education blog, and I've been busy showing you all my vacation photos, but I promise, more artsy stuff will be coming soon!  (Well, photos ARE artsy, aren't they?)  But soon, when it's complete, I will show you my renovation project start to finish (son's bedroom turned into art studio), I will update you on my DragonWing Arts business venture, tell you about a new jewelry technique I learned, and share some art ed classroom ideas in prep for workshops I'll be teaching.  So please don't give up on me, readers! 

And for those of you who have started back to school, welcome back, and for my friends here in NY who don't start until after Labor Day, enjoy the remainder of this lovely summer!

The Annual Goose Rocks Beach Sculpture

We just returned from our annual excursion to beautiful Kennebunkport, Maine.  We are lucky that our son was able to join us, taking the train from Boston to spend the weekend with us, going to the beach and eating fresh seafood, among other activities.  I'll share other photos of our time in Maine in a separate post.

 

This year, we couldn't agree about what to build on the beach, and ended up, at the 11th hour, making this rather lumpy dragon, named Puff by the kids on the beach, particularly 3rd grader Sadie who was a substantial helper.  I guess it helps when we can all agree on what to build.  Maybe I'd better start thinking for next year right now!!  I think this is probably our worst beach sculpture, but it was a lot of fun having a kid on the beach join in to help.  Sadie made the paws and claws, in particular, and made some adaptations to the face I had built.  Noting the giant moat around the sculpture, she and her friends referred to it as Dragon Island. They were very proud of their participation in the project.

 

Of course, it all starts with a pile of dirt, and my son and husband did all the digging with this little shovel.  We had forgotten the big one!  Oh well... thanks, boys!  

By the way, this year's photos are not so great, because the extremely bright sunshine formeded harsh shadows.

In August 2012, we built sculptures two days in a row, beginning with this Dragonfly.

We had the best time ever building this massive 'Buddha-Cat' and mouse.  

(The mouse was a last-minute addition made exclusively by my son.)

 In August 2011 we created this adorable Angry Octopus!  (named Hary by kids on the beach)

This  poor critter was trapped under an octopus tentacle.

Hubs with the octopus

 Our creation in August 2010 was this crocodile (or alligator?) chasing a dragonfly.

 

 

 

Wish I could find photos from years prior to 2010.  We actually once made a HUGE seated cat (again like a giant Buddha, but sitting up), and some other smaller creations.

Got any good ideas for us for next summer?  My son nixed the following ideas this year: a mermaid, a lobster or a crab (too corny), and a teddy bear.  He really wanted to make a castle and I didn't.  I want personality!  But since he does most of the digging, and helps a lot with the building, I cannot make something he says NO to, but since I am chief sculptor, the final decision is mine.  We nixed ideas like hippos, rhinos and elephants (they would have to be HUGE).  We thought about a turtle, but it seemed too simple, and a walrus, but the tusks are important and would be problematic with our rudimentary sand building skills. 

While you were teaching...

So your vacation is over, and it's back to the grind. While you are hanging your annual show and dealing with asseessment etc, what is this retired art teacher (me) doing? Well, hubby and I thought "how wonderful! We no longer need to take vacations on school breaks! We can travel at other times for better rates and no 'spring break' crowd!" So, only a month or so ago, we impulsively booked a nice little trip for a few days of fun and sun in the Bahamas. Which is where I was supposed to be landing, RIGHT NOW. Except I'm sitting in a rocking chair in the Philadelphia airport, writing this post, killing time. I've been here since 8:30am (it's now about 2:00pm). And I didn't expect to be in Philly at all.

So we left our home this morning at - get this - 3:00am for the hour drive to the airport for a 5:30am flight, concerned about the driving rain and freezing temperature, but we got there no problemo. Our plane left Albany NY about a 1/2 hour late, because we had to wait our turn at de-icing. The airport evidently has only one de-icer. We were connecting in Washington DC to Charlotte NC, to fly to Freeport, to be there early afternoon (like I said, RIGHT NOW).

But as we approached Washington, the ride got bumpy, and I swear, we were struck by lightning 3 times. No kidding. Very scary. I started worrying about my son and my cat, and how they'd manage without us. Again, no kidding. The weather was so bad that we weren't allowed to land, circled and circled for more than 1/2 hour, and finally turned tail and set down in Philly. Wrong city, missed connections.... In my head - a crappy TV movie based on a Stephen King book - The Langoliers; or perhaps an episode of Lost. Or anything else I'd seen with an airline 'problem'. I started reciting to myself the 'fear litany' from the book Dune. ("Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear...."). Seriously.

So we'll fly out of here to Charlotte this evening (the sky appears to be brightening), and to Freeport TOMORROW MORNING. Our mini-vacay just got a day shorter. My thanks and appreciation go out to the sweet agent who, on the phone with me while we sat waiting in the plane at the gate here in Philly, managed to get our tickets changed so we are guaranteed seats on our flights to Charlotte and Freeport. Now, I'd probably better post this and find us a place to spend the night in Charlotte or we'll be sleeping on an airport bench.

At this moment, rocking away, with hubby rocking in a chair next to me munching m&m's, I'm mostly thankful to be alive. Cheerio! I'll keep you posted!