Some days, you are filled with life and verve and sunshine.  Other days, the speed with which time disappears can threaten to overwhelm you.  Then I think of people like Melanie Testa (Every-single-day blog here) who is confronting cancer with grace and courage and beauty and strength that inspires so many of us.  We all have small and not-so-small moments of pain or sadness, so I’m thinking every now and then, I shall have to share a photograph or moment of beauty.

Slow down.

Appreciate those in your life and give thanks that they ARE alive and share themselves with you.

And that includes things with four or more feet that love you, too.

And take time to look around you and give thanks.

As I drove to Eli’s wrestling meet yesterday, the fog that had lifted here in Hope was hunkered down along the coast from Belfast north, including crossing the Penobscot Narrows Bridge at Fort Knox-Verona Island and over to Bucksport.  This bridge is stunningly beautiful no matter what, but yesterday it was nearly unearthly…

The Narrows Bridge over the Penobscot, looking up at the suspension cables as I drove over. Photo (c) 2011 Sarah Ann Smith. Photo is clickable to view larger

I had no idea what the photo was going to be.  I saw the wires and reached into my purse one handed, pushed the “on” button and held the camera up to the window to push the shutter.  I just clicked without opening to view screen…. some days beauty comes to find you.

The 13 would be for my “baby” who decidedly isn’t (and is now, gasp gulp SHRIEK…a teenager)!   The 16-1 is for his regular wrestling season record…and the one he lost was because he made mistakes against a kid who knew what to do (Eli has beat the other kid twice in other meets).  Next week is regionals, and it looks like Eli will probably be the number 1 seed in our class for Eastern Regionals (Maine) / Middle School Wrestling.   WOOT!

Let's start with the best first today---Eli, on the right in red, wins with a pin, making him 16-1 for the season!

Here’s Eli in his first match:

Eli, in red, is about to LIFT the other kid off his feet, carry him across the mat, and deposit him on his back....sheesh!

And pinning the next boy (sorry it is blurry…this stuff happens fast and the camera didn’t fully focus…sorta like me a lot of the time)

Eli in read is head and toes on the mat OVER the other kid, who is twisted up into a human pretzel and about to get pinned....sometimes I wonder how their shoulders and bodies can twist like that!

And, drum roll, opening his b-day gift:

We still aren't sure where the gift wrap is, so I went "green" and wrapped his box in a yard of cloth (I actually found one to open--studio still in a heap of boxes)

At this point my “baby” is now all of 1/4″ shorter than I am, and I expect by summer I’ll be the shorter of us two…..  he’s such a wonderful kid, and we are so blessed to have him!

Like many towns in Maine, Hope is a place where the “town” is an intersection of two roads.  Don’t blink!  We like it that way here.

The center of Hope is the intersection of Route 105 (at this stretch I think it is called Camden Road) and Hatchet Mtn Road on the left...it is Church St. on the right.

And the heart of Hope is the Hope General Store (gray building on the right, above).  Right next to the General Store is a small shingled building: it houses the school district officers, the town offices, and the library:

The Town Offices, Library and more are in the little building behind my dirty car

Basically, there are three town employees and they all back each other up and do just about everything.  I’m now registered to vote in Hope, and am so glad to be here! Looks like the Library is honor system:  go in, and remember to write down what you want to check out on the way out.  I’ll find out more as soon as I have time to read again!

Looking down the Route 105 (oh yeah...the post office is inside the general store...you can see the sign just to the right of the stop sign); a few miles past this intersection, turn left, then take the second driveway on the left to our house@

EVERYone in the area knows about the Hope General Store.  Manager Andrew originally hails from Scotland (and you can still hear a trace of that wonderful accent), which explains why (YIPPEE!) they have MacVities chocolate digestives (cookies to Americans).  YUM!  Like a good corner grocery it has everything you might need and have forgotten at the in-town shopping:  milk, flour, chips, cookies, bread, wine, sandwiches, toilet paper, beer, munchies, and “Hope is Hip” bumper stickers.  Here’s the front of the store:

The General Store, with good people and good things inside

And saving the best ’til last, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the “round the world” clocks over the door.  From left to right:

Check out the "around the world" clocks above the door....

Here’s the close up:

Hope around the world....the UK, Maine, and Australia!

• Hope, Darbyshire, England (plus 5 hours),
• Hope Standard Time, Maine
• Hope Valley, Australia (plus 13 hours)

Have I recently said I love living in Hope?

That’s both the weather and my ability to get our from under all the house stuff!   Gradually we are settling in, and most of the boxes are gone.  Most of the painting is done (except for the studio of course), and the lighting for the studio will be done after the painting. I can’t believe it’s a week since I blogged…ooops!  I have been finishing up all sorts of  house stuff, and converting my “With a Dash of Color” lecture from “hold up small samples at the front of a large room” to a digital presentation.  That has entailed taking photos of some of my earlier, traditional and contemporary style quilts, so I’ll share those before too long.  Betcha didn’t know I made all of ’em!

Until then, it is WET!  We’ve had quite a lot of snow, and for the past three days we’ve had days into the 40s, including one night that didn’t go below freezing.  The good news:  the driveway is no longer a skating rink/sled run.  The bad news, the driveway squelches and squishes it is so mushy!  And today it is pouring rain.

Camden Falls, March 7th, rain and snow runoff

When I took Eli to school, I decided to drive down to the harbor and, as expected, the Camden Falls were in full roar!

The upper falls were roaring!

You can see the driving rain if you look at the rocks on the bottom...those gray streaks!

Another look at the lower part of the falls

At the bottom hillside edge of the Camden cemetery, the road was flooded over—between melting snow, run off, soaked ground, and mounds of snow impeding the flow of water, it’s a bit of a mess out there today.

The water had nowhere to go on Route 105

They had a digger out to deal with moving the snow so the water had a chance of going away!

But the best bit…they’ve started to spray white primer on the ceiling joists, which will greatly improve the mood in the studio!

Spray painting the joists in the basement (aka studio ceiling) begins! WOOT!

Just a quick update…the WALL IS DOWN!  It is so much better already.  The painters primed that dark icky brown, and even with just a few lightbulbs down there it is much improved.  Stay tuned for further improvements…

Woohooo....in one morning, John Bailey got the wall down, neat as can be!

Here’s a view of the colors and the gap at the other end of the studio….

Looking from the studio to the open area at the base of the stairs. Not the loveliest of colors, especially with a flash!

And primed….just covering that dark helps so much!  Final color will be a pale warm yellow or pale peach:

a better shot

Next, the electrician will order the lights (nine 2-bulb fixtures in a 3×3 grid, flanking the beam that holds up the house!–the beam will be painted the color of the walls) and finish the wiring.  We added a dedicated outlet for the iron, a phone jack plus another for the fax machine (there wasn’t a single phone jack anywhere in the basement!  Needed one to run my office down there!), plus the co-ax for the cable TV (well, DirectTV).  Then John will patch up the drywall and Jeff and company will paint.   We’re gonna skip drywall on the ceiling (kaCHING $$) for now and just spraypaint it with primer).  Then paint the walls.  Then I will paint the floor (Sea Turtle green the color is called…think grass green), THEN I can move furniture and unpack….. and oh yeah, John’s going to make me design wall / closet doors all along the long no-window wall…… WOOT!