& outside we go!

Naturally the house being complete inside, the weather being beautiful....we have begun working outside.  I am thankful for having a "mature" property...although it has been years since anyone has cared for the property, we are blessed with having a lot of "established plantings" to work with, it just involves lots of digging and dragging...(ha-who needs the gym!) 
One of my first goals was to complete the front entry...which is really the side entry I guess, but the main entry for the house....the right side of the door is a very well established large bed of white hydrangea, we got to see this late last summer, and the blossoms were HUGE!  This bed needs some edging, new dirt/nourishment and has already been trimmed back drastically last fall to protect them for men walking all over the plantings while insulating, siding, plumbing and the like...

The left side was all new bare ground from the addition...so handy to have 3 Rhododendrons (not my fav, but readily available!), the fact is these were planted (ALL 3) on top of the azalea shrub in front of house- why in the world anyone would plant 4 shrubs even when small sprigs that close together is beyond me...but I have given up spending too much time wondering these things about the past residents of 64 High St...we moved these Rhodys when the ground was "just" unfrozen...really we had no business moving them that early, but we did, and they are hardy gals, and took! 

We chose to have no grass in this area, so have planted about 50 small Pachysandra (Japanese Spurge) plantings which will over the next 2-3 years fill the ground, along with 3 hostas that will grow to be 2' x 2' so now its water & wait for a few more years....the landscaping of this area has unfortunately made it that much more evident that our driveway will perhaps sooner than later, need some attention.

I wanted something tall by the doors in the fab pots I had scored at Marshalls late winter...I finally got to a garden center I had been wanting to visit, Focal Point, in Arundel and the gent kindly helped me select 2 white Mandevillas...I created a couple tee pees w/ branches from the yard & we'll see what happens!  While there I spotted some good looking "hens and chicks" which Scott had mentioned to me he loved...(of course) and had been thinking about "reclaiming" from the yard at Gendron Dr. where he grew up, because he had planted some of his Gram McNeff's there years ago...I purchased 2 of them without knowing where exactly I'd put them, just hoping this would appease Scott to not "reclaim" the others....although he does love a late night "mission".....!
I used some large stones I had purchased in Dover NH for stepping stones, which hadn't come to fruition, and beach stones we had left from our shower floor!  He was surprised when arriving home late from work to be greeted by hens & chicks at the door! :)

our Hens & Chicks....and beach stones...

Okay, so use your imagination here...it'll get better in time....!

This is what Pachysandra will eventually fill into....

This is a heart garden stone our friends and loyal blog followers, Fran & George, kindly gave to us!

What's that you say....a closing day?

To all of you, who have been privy to the painstakingly long process of getting ourselves "officially financed"...or I should say, getting "#64 officially financed" as she turned into being the problem child....it's official, we have a date and a time to close, all conditions & terms in our favor.

I continue to just say to myself and others aloud, "I cannot believe we are really closing"....it seems surreal as it has gone on so long.  I am realizing I was not sure it was ever actually going to happen!

Perhaps I will share the details of the "behind the scenes struggle" in future posts, but for today, I just want to celebrate!

Next Wednesday at 3pm, we will be able to pay our very kind and patient private lender back in full, and hold our heads high that the project was indeed a smart move, and equity is aplenty, and a beautiful house, (& soon to be yard) is ours to live & to love for many years to come!

Hope Cemetery

In the last few days, since Scott has been arriving home around midnight due to the Scoop Deck now being open, I've taken to escaping with Frannie early in the morning allowing Scott & Sadie to get their beauty sleep. Since moving to Kennebunk I have been drawn to the Hope Cemetery which sits just at the intersection of Rte 1 and rte 35/9A (to KPT).... It sounds strange perhaps to be "drawn" to a cemetery, but even from the road driving by it elicits this peace, quiet & beauty.  After passing it many times in the car wanting to walk in and look it over, I finally did yesterday morning.  It's an amazing place, there is nothing "tacky" or showy about it (actually a "rule" of the cemetery), there are these old well worn dirt tracks on grass roads weaving their way thru the very old stones & memorials, beautiful mature trees, and a sense of peace and shade, and quiet...all that a cemetery should be in my opinion.  I see the men working each morning and I keep thinking, no matter what this pays, this is a great job, to be able to be on this property all day long.  Now I know, some of you may be thinking I'm overlooking the obvious, there are "dead people" here!  Well, to some of you that may be your view, not mine...there are bodies decomposing, going back to the Earth, spirits have gone, and perhaps a new life in a new form has begun.  So to me, it is a beautiful, quiet, respectful place, where life is making its full circle.
This property has caused me to think about how beautiful a town we have moved to, I often appreciate it, as I think to myself how quaint the downtown is, and how much of a "community" feel there is about.  I am constantly amazed how often someone waves, or says hello or good morning while I am out walking (none of these folks do I know...).  There truly is a sense of friendliness about the town.  I have personally seen a downtown area fall to ruin due to many factors, a couple being lack of city government interest/vision, and another lack of community support.  It's been astounding to see such a dedication from both town gov't and residents using services & having interest in the short time we've been here.  I've made it a personal commitment to support and appreciate all the resources that exist now in our community.
I decided to snap a few photos to share my view of our community from our morning walk this am.

It's a bit blurry, but any of you that know Frannie, know she doesn't sit still too long for anything-especially a mother slow w/ camera! LOL!

A quiet morning downtown Kennebunk...

Frannie & I both appreciate the water bowl outside the yummy Perfectos Caffe each morning! (awesome place!!)

The beautiful side entry of the Kennebunk Inn & their Academe Brasserie & Tavern

The front lawn of the Kennebunk Free Library, beautiful inside & out, and very pleasant staff- the lawn looks so welcoming...

A beautiful arbor at the parsonage beside the library

Just found this picture...this is the church and the library...amazing how similar they both are today (the arbor pic (above) is on the left of the church, wonder if it was there then or is new?

The entry to Hope Cemetery, see how the road kind of draws you back in wonder of what is down this quaint road....

back to the library, these appeared when the weather got nice, I love the idea of having a place to sit and read outside.

These banners are up and change depending on seasons I believe...this one is marked w/ a name & "class of 2008" I think, perhaps there was a contest of sorts to submit ideas...

cool old pump, marked "do not drink" (um...no thanks!), outside the Kennebunk,K& W Water District building,
 The Horace House

the Mousam River ....taken from the temporary bridge, as the old bridge is under a complete replacement....

again, from the temporary bridge, Scott & I love this little house on the far left of pic, what a cool backyard.... and the sounds of the Mousam to sleep to....

A red poppy ....

Today I had the honor to sit in the presence of ten remarkable men and women, one being my father.  He shared with me about a month ago the news that he would receive an award which his associates in town had nominated him for, he informed me it was one person from each of the ten NH counties that was selected from quite a group of well qualified nominated volunteers.

I thought, that's great, he spends a lot of time and passion volunteering and giving and volunteering is certainly a quality both my father and mother has instilled in myself and my siblings, and now in my brother's children as well, how nice for him to be recognized.  I however had no idea until this afternoon, just what a significant honor this award in fact is.  It's funny writing this, it just struck me,I have to say the teaching by example started for me before my folks, I remember my grandfather always having a "red poppy" on his rear view mirror in his car, a sign that a donation had been made to the Veteran's of American wars, of which he was one.  I also recall him making a point to give blood very regularly, something I have honestly never quite got the courage up to do....

So, the Joseph Vaughan award is given each year to ten well deserving volunteers.  There are apparently 340,000 volunteers in NH (!), and one has to be selected from a large amount of nominations for each county, my father was selected this year for Belknap County.

My brother, his wife and Madelyn surprised my Dad by showing up for the award ceremony.  They found a dog to play with a bit while waiting for Jodie to arrive on the capital steps.  I know the surprise of these guests was meaningful to my Dad, especially Ms.Madelyn.  I also think it was great for her at 8 to see grown ups doing great things and hopefully encouraging her by example to give beyond herself. 

Dad had to sit with the other recipients...big surprise, he tucked himself in the back...

Governor Lynch reading a declaration that May is officially, "Older Americans Month" 

Mrs. Judy Pilliod of the State Committee on Aging presented dad with his award.

A moment my father has been awaiting, standing next to his favorite DEMOCRATIC Governor...kidding aside, a proud moment with Gov.John Lynch (rt) and Nicholas A. Toumpas, commissioner of HHS (left)

Dad with his harem of Tilton ladies...

 harem....

 trouble....

 I left with a few resounding thoughts...all 10 of the awarded people appeared to want nothing to do with the spotlight, they quite obviously by their demeanor and body language, "give" because they feel called to do so by their own soul.
It also struck my that almost all of the folks had physical ailments and challenges, a woman with oxygen, her husband with a stiff limp, 2 men with canes, one of them, my own pops, a 99 year old man, a 91 year old woman who undoubtedly have physical challenges....however each and every one of these folks pushed beyond their own personal struggles to help others.  Today was inspirational and I am left feeling nothing but admiration for all the 10 awarded recipients and all of those past recipients.

Frannie's first strawberry

If given the chance, she'd eat a flip flop...!

"It's a strawberry Frannie, just eat it!"

 ....nope, just played with it, stained the oriental (thank God for stain remover!)

However when I put the "stems of the strawberries" outside for the chickens, she ate those, covered in dirt, chicken chomped....you can't make it up!

Royal Racket!

Okay, can't help it...this has nothing to do with #64, but with the unavoidable "buzz" of the Royal Wedding, I came across this, & couldn't help sharing! It's adorable and I have to think, it's kind of like, "enough already" that some of us felt....but on the other hand, how can we resist a good love story!?

Maybe some of you have seen it already, those of us without tv.... get these things slowly (wink, wink!) :)

Read this to find out "who the little lady is...."

Charming #4!

just completed filling out our 4th Universal Loan Application for 64 High Street....maybe "4" will be a charm! For those of you privvy to our financing complication...you'll understand, here we go AGAIN!

Any of you considering buying a home....you might be wise to check this out first!