[Kate:]
Hello, everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. You can't really say I've been busy, but...
School is going well. I'm really regretting the fact that I didn't accept the dance with Tommy, though...anyway. On Saturday I had a sleepover with my friend, Krista. She's the first person I've found that is obsessed with Nancy Drew games, and my first sleepover in this country. It was fun, and we stayed up till 3:30 or 4 (am, of course). Not that anyone keeps up with it, but I made a record by completing an entire Nancy Drew game in one day. And it was the hardest. If you go on Amazon, you'll come across these old men who play them posting comments that they're their worst guilty pleasures. Well, okay, 30 isn't old, but still. And my substitute (they call it supply) teacher for social studies plays then with his wife. So I don't feel so bad. I've found a lot more people play them here, though. And Nancy's American. But who cares? I'm American. Wait, that makes no sense...Well, I'll just stop confusing myself.
I got my first manicure last weekend in this cute apricot/salmon colo(u)r, and today I won a free lipstick at Yves Rocher. Maybe not Yves St. Laurent, but hey. It's a Yves. Fortunately, of course, my metaphysical truth has not been strictly confined to material objects (A Girl Like Moi), so let's change the subject from stuff to church. It is going well, but unfortunately there are already two guys that like me (I do NOT like them back) and a guy that I can't quite tell, both I'd give a 3.5, and the last either a 5 or 6. Uh, sorry dad, I'll change the subject. Everything else in church is nice. I like the preaching style, and the causalness is very similar to TVCF (our church in NC), in a great way, of course. But I was attached to TVCF so it's a little hard to let go. This is like, very close to that in many ways so I do like it. Well, off to watch Gil Mayo! (New investigating show my family has fallen in love with. I always make hot chocolate to pass around, it's fun)
Love,
Kate
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
This post gets sappy
[Erik:]
As mentioned in my last post, we had planned, on the way back from Houlton, to go to a sapping and syrup-making demonstration at Kings Landing Historical Settlement ("Sugar Bush Weekend" was the official name of the event). We got held up crossing back into Canada, and that was annoying--they told us that Kimm and the kids each needed their own visitor documentation, in addition to my work permit. Mind you, (a) this was exactly contrary to what we had been told before--we specifically asked if they needed papers when the whole family crossed for the first time (together) on January 23rd, and we were told "no," and (b) we have been across the int'l border at least three other times since then, no worries. So, this was a drag, but we got it all worked out, and got to Kings Landing a little later than we had planned.
Once at the settlement, we first sat down to a wonderful "breakfast for lunch," which they were serving all day. Bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, but the pièce de résistance, of course, was a stack of pancakes with syrup just boiled that morning. MMMMMMmmmm...
After we ate, we wandered outside to see the boiling cauldrons of syrup and a demonstration on making maple "candy-on-the-snow," as it's called. We also saw (and tasted) the raw sap from one of the tapped sugar maples--very thin and faintly sweet. As I said to Kimm, it's amazing that someone said, two centuries ago, "Heyyy, we could boil this and make a thick syrup, maybe some candy, who knows?" (Except they probably said it in French, as Quebec has the longest history of maple syrup production.)
We then wandered around the settlement and spent awhile at the mill (watching a lovely half-frozen waterfall), and then it was time for the place to close. I don't feel like making a Proper post today, fie on me, so I'll just link to my Picasa album and you can see the pictures (I'll add a little more in the captions). Voila:
As mentioned in my last post, we had planned, on the way back from Houlton, to go to a sapping and syrup-making demonstration at Kings Landing Historical Settlement ("Sugar Bush Weekend" was the official name of the event). We got held up crossing back into Canada, and that was annoying--they told us that Kimm and the kids each needed their own visitor documentation, in addition to my work permit. Mind you, (a) this was exactly contrary to what we had been told before--we specifically asked if they needed papers when the whole family crossed for the first time (together) on January 23rd, and we were told "no," and (b) we have been across the int'l border at least three other times since then, no worries. So, this was a drag, but we got it all worked out, and got to Kings Landing a little later than we had planned.
Once at the settlement, we first sat down to a wonderful "breakfast for lunch," which they were serving all day. Bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, but the pièce de résistance, of course, was a stack of pancakes with syrup just boiled that morning. MMMMMMmmmm...
After we ate, we wandered outside to see the boiling cauldrons of syrup and a demonstration on making maple "candy-on-the-snow," as it's called. We also saw (and tasted) the raw sap from one of the tapped sugar maples--very thin and faintly sweet. As I said to Kimm, it's amazing that someone said, two centuries ago, "Heyyy, we could boil this and make a thick syrup, maybe some candy, who knows?" (Except they probably said it in French, as Quebec has the longest history of maple syrup production.)
We then wandered around the settlement and spent awhile at the mill (watching a lovely half-frozen waterfall), and then it was time for the place to close. I don't feel like making a Proper post today, fie on me, so I'll just link to my Picasa album and you can see the pictures (I'll add a little more in the captions). Voila:
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| 20070324_K |
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Straight outta Compton Houlton
[Erik:]
Some things don't easily forward in the mails from the States to Canada; other things (many magazine subscriptions) could be continued here, but at an added cost; some companies won't ship to Canada, period. For these reasons, we maintain a P.O. box in Houlton, Maine. Houlton is within spitting distance of the international border, right at the northern terminus of I-95, the great Eastern Seaboard conveyor. And it's really not that far from us--75ish miles / 125ish km, a nice hour and 15 minutes' drive along the upper St. John river valley. So, we generally head down that way about once a month to check the mail and putter about. Yesterday was such a day, with additional fun in mind--on the way home, we would stop by Kings Landing, a colonial history re-enactment site, where they were having "Sugar Bush Weekend," demonstrating the whole process of maple sapping and syrup-making. I have givene that it's own separate post. First, a little on Houlton.
Houlton is the county seat of Aroostook County, which is a simply immense, as counties go--it takes up much of northern Maine and is 6829 mi2 (17,686 km2). [Virginia family: that's Shenandoah County * 13.3] Sheehan can tell you all about the Aroostook War in the 1830s, having studied it recently (I had forgotten it completely, if I ever knew it at all).
The town strikes me as the northern equivalent of southern mill towns--same semi-gritty feel, same downtown district struggling to hang on, although this one seems just slightly more vibrant than many of its cousins I've seen in the south. That's likely because there are no nearby larger towns with malls (Fredericton would be closest, and on the U.S. side, Bangor is two hours from Houlton).
So, rather than a large mall with a JC Penny's and a monsterplex cinema, Houlton has a small "JC Penny Catalog Merchant" storefront--
--and the two-screen Temple Theatre (so named because it's in the old Masonic Building).
And while the ambiance might be a bit depressed in the main(e), there are decidedly non-gritty aspects of Houlton. The pretty Meduxnekeag River (sounds almost like "me DUCK'S in a keg" ...!!) flows right through town, and there are quite a few lovely homes to be found.
We especially like this one:
Note the outcropping on the right--that would've been the barn, originally (now obviously renovated as living space). Barns up this-a-way are often joined directly to the house, so you don't have to go outside into 57 feet of snow and -89° temps on a January evening. Kimm also says to note the covered plant in the lower left. This is a common practice with certain kinds of more delicate shrubbery.
We had a funny surprise when we learned the name of the public library in Houlton:
For readers who might not know, our family previously lived in Cary, NC, a suburb of Raleigh (and we frequently walked to the Cary Public Library there). Turns out there's also a Cary, ME, about 10 minutes from Houlton. Odder still, it sits right on US-1...yes, the same US-1 that runs through Cary, NC. And there endeth any similarities, as this Cary du nord is a wee hamlet of 217 souls.
For a few more shots of Houlton, see this web album:
Some things don't easily forward in the mails from the States to Canada; other things (many magazine subscriptions) could be continued here, but at an added cost; some companies won't ship to Canada, period. For these reasons, we maintain a P.O. box in Houlton, Maine. Houlton is within spitting distance of the international border, right at the northern terminus of I-95, the great Eastern Seaboard conveyor. And it's really not that far from us--75ish miles / 125ish km, a nice hour and 15 minutes' drive along the upper St. John river valley. So, we generally head down that way about once a month to check the mail and putter about. Yesterday was such a day, with additional fun in mind--on the way home, we would stop by Kings Landing, a colonial history re-enactment site, where they were having "Sugar Bush Weekend," demonstrating the whole process of maple sapping and syrup-making. I have givene that it's own separate post. First, a little on Houlton.
Houlton is the county seat of Aroostook County, which is a simply immense, as counties go--it takes up much of northern Maine and is 6829 mi2 (17,686 km2). [Virginia family: that's Shenandoah County * 13.3] Sheehan can tell you all about the Aroostook War in the 1830s, having studied it recently (I had forgotten it completely, if I ever knew it at all).
The town strikes me as the northern equivalent of southern mill towns--same semi-gritty feel, same downtown district struggling to hang on, although this one seems just slightly more vibrant than many of its cousins I've seen in the south. That's likely because there are no nearby larger towns with malls (Fredericton would be closest, and on the U.S. side, Bangor is two hours from Houlton).So, rather than a large mall with a JC Penny's and a monsterplex cinema, Houlton has a small "JC Penny Catalog Merchant" storefront--
--and the two-screen Temple Theatre (so named because it's in the old Masonic Building).
And while the ambiance might be a bit depressed in the main(e), there are decidedly non-gritty aspects of Houlton. The pretty Meduxnekeag River (sounds almost like "me DUCK'S in a keg" ...!!) flows right through town, and there are quite a few lovely homes to be found.We especially like this one:
Note the outcropping on the right--that would've been the barn, originally (now obviously renovated as living space). Barns up this-a-way are often joined directly to the house, so you don't have to go outside into 57 feet of snow and -89° temps on a January evening. Kimm also says to note the covered plant in the lower left. This is a common practice with certain kinds of more delicate shrubbery.
We had a funny surprise when we learned the name of the public library in Houlton:
For readers who might not know, our family previously lived in Cary, NC, a suburb of Raleigh (and we frequently walked to the Cary Public Library there). Turns out there's also a Cary, ME, about 10 minutes from Houlton. Odder still, it sits right on US-1...yes, the same US-1 that runs through Cary, NC. And there endeth any similarities, as this Cary du nord is a wee hamlet of 217 souls.
For a few more shots of Houlton, see this web album:
 |
| 20070324_H |
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sheila's Brush
[Erik:]
I learned a new folklore tidbit from Newfoundland the other day. It was Friday, and although we had recently had temps in the 40s F (and people were buzzing about the coming spring), they were forecasting a late snowstorm. A colleague at work who had lived for over 20 years in Newfoundland told me this was "Sheila's Brush." I asked her why, and she wasn't sure--it was simply what they called a late "gotcha" kind of storm, usually in March.
So, I looked it up online. In fact, it was the perfect term to use: Shelia's Brush is a snowstorm that falls right around St. Patty's Day. In legend, Sheila was associated with St. Patrick--his wife, or his mother, or his sister, depending on your source. "Shelia's Brush" is supposed to be ol' Sheila dusting the last of the snow off her broom. (And truth be told, this didn't really turn out to be enough of a snowfall to qualify, I think--usually it means a pretty formidable storm; this one brought us only 8 or 10 cm).
The main accumulation was Friday night into Saturday morning; then we got a brief reprise Sunday afternoon. Here are Kate and Sheehan working on creative endeavors as today's snow picked up in intensity:
Pictured with them is an anorexic snow maiden wrought by Sheehan. Kate made an...errrr...interesting thing. The back-story was something about our cat, Stella, going tubing in the snow and running into a tree. To me, it looks more like the progeny of a yeti and a guanaco.
The kids also dug out an excellent cave in a snowbank across the street. Here I am standing outside the entrance, to give you scale of the door (Sheehan is lying inside):
And here are the diggers, in repose:
To see more pics from today, check out this album:
Sorry I have not been adding many posts of late. I'm pretty under the gun as I get settled in at work--lots going on, and I won't bore you with the details, here. Then Sheehan and I both got whacked with the flu, as I've mentioned earlier in this blog--it lasted the better part of three weeks and was a doozy.
And now, on top of work, the Mother of all Distractions: it's NCAA Tourney time! If you know me at all, you know that in the evenings/weekends I'm currently parked on the couch watching the hoops drama unfold (and this year, for the first time in my house, it's in glorious high definition! [singing] Heaven, I'm in heaven...) Sure, my bracket is already burnt to a crisp (thanks a LOT, UNLV. And USC. And Tennessee. And...you get the idea.) But I love it all the same. (And the Heels are still in it, come on Carolina!)
More when I can swing it. I'll try to get Kimm posting, as well (she says she plans to). She can tell you about the rug-hooking groups she's joined, and the ceilidh ("KAY-lee") we went to on Patty's day.
I learned a new folklore tidbit from Newfoundland the other day. It was Friday, and although we had recently had temps in the 40s F (and people were buzzing about the coming spring), they were forecasting a late snowstorm. A colleague at work who had lived for over 20 years in Newfoundland told me this was "Sheila's Brush." I asked her why, and she wasn't sure--it was simply what they called a late "gotcha" kind of storm, usually in March.
So, I looked it up online. In fact, it was the perfect term to use: Shelia's Brush is a snowstorm that falls right around St. Patty's Day. In legend, Sheila was associated with St. Patrick--his wife, or his mother, or his sister, depending on your source. "Shelia's Brush" is supposed to be ol' Sheila dusting the last of the snow off her broom. (And truth be told, this didn't really turn out to be enough of a snowfall to qualify, I think--usually it means a pretty formidable storm; this one brought us only 8 or 10 cm).
The main accumulation was Friday night into Saturday morning; then we got a brief reprise Sunday afternoon. Here are Kate and Sheehan working on creative endeavors as today's snow picked up in intensity:
Pictured with them is an anorexic snow maiden wrought by Sheehan. Kate made an...errrr...interesting thing. The back-story was something about our cat, Stella, going tubing in the snow and running into a tree. To me, it looks more like the progeny of a yeti and a guanaco.
The kids also dug out an excellent cave in a snowbank across the street. Here I am standing outside the entrance, to give you scale of the door (Sheehan is lying inside):
And here are the diggers, in repose:
To see more pics from today, check out this album:
 |
| 18-Mar |
Sorry I have not been adding many posts of late. I'm pretty under the gun as I get settled in at work--lots going on, and I won't bore you with the details, here. Then Sheehan and I both got whacked with the flu, as I've mentioned earlier in this blog--it lasted the better part of three weeks and was a doozy.
And now, on top of work, the Mother of all Distractions: it's NCAA Tourney time! If you know me at all, you know that in the evenings/weekends I'm currently parked on the couch watching the hoops drama unfold (and this year, for the first time in my house, it's in glorious high definition! [singing] Heaven, I'm in heaven...) Sure, my bracket is already burnt to a crisp (thanks a LOT, UNLV. And USC. And Tennessee. And...you get the idea.) But I love it all the same. (And the Heels are still in it, come on Carolina!)
More when I can swing it. I'll try to get Kimm posting, as well (she says she plans to). She can tell you about the rug-hooking groups she's joined, and the ceilidh ("KAY-lee") we went to on Patty's day.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
[Sheehan:]
So we just got back from our March Break dealio, and I'm guessing you'd like pictures. It went like this:
It was too cold to go sledding at Mactaquac Thursday, so we started looking for B&Bs.
We decided to go into St. Andrew's without plans. Ate at an inn, stayed at a hotel. A lot of stuff closed till Summer.
Drove through St. Stephen's on Friday, stopping to tour the Ganong Chocolate Factory.
Drove into Maine at Calais (pronounced 'callous'), then down into Eastport.
Eastport was boring, so we turned around, ate at Calais, went back into Canada, and stayed the night at a B&B in St. John.
This morning, after hitting up the St. John market (tres cool), we went home.
I've realized two things about this place:
1. We'll have a lot more to do in the Summer when everything opens, and you can go outside.
2. This province is EMPTY. Everything's on the coast. Look at this map. The interior is deserted.
Dad and I are going to see 300 tonight. I've heard lot's of action, not so epic, but that's OK with me.
'Til next time.
So we just got back from our March Break dealio, and I'm guessing you'd like pictures. It went like this:
It was too cold to go sledding at Mactaquac Thursday, so we started looking for B&Bs.
We decided to go into St. Andrew's without plans. Ate at an inn, stayed at a hotel. A lot of stuff closed till Summer.
Drove through St. Stephen's on Friday, stopping to tour the Ganong Chocolate Factory.
Drove into Maine at Calais (pronounced 'callous'), then down into Eastport.
Eastport was boring, so we turned around, ate at Calais, went back into Canada, and stayed the night at a B&B in St. John.
This morning, after hitting up the St. John market (tres cool), we went home.
I've realized two things about this place:
1. We'll have a lot more to do in the Summer when everything opens, and you can go outside.
2. This province is EMPTY. Everything's on the coast. Look at this map. The interior is deserted.
Dad and I are going to see 300 tonight. I've heard lot's of action, not so epic, but that's OK with me.
'Til next time.
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