Getting Close

~ A little over a week until Election Day and it's obvious that Trump is freaking out. He's spending time and money on elections is all the red states. He agreed to pull back some tarriffs on Canadian goods that would impact some sectors of the Maine economy and admitted that it was to help Susie in her battle with Troy. Bobby Charles is attacking Hannah. The GOP PACs are relentless in their attacks on all the Democratic candiddates. I'm certain its the same everywhere but it seems especially vicious here in Maine. And, Vivik Ramaswamy, in his bid for the governor's role in Ohio, has posted a particularly cruel ad against his opponent, Amy Acton, using her long-estranged mother claiming thqat Amy is a liar. The back story is horrifyling: Amy was raped by her father, her brother was abused by him and when he was about to be arrested, he fled and Amy's mother went with him. Truly horrible ad and Trump and Vance are defending it's use and encouraging Vivik to keep using it. (Tell me your a rapist and abuser without saying those words!) Election Day cannnot come soon enough. Menwhile, we continue to get many campaign postcards a day. While I love that printers are reaping some reward, I wonder how many campaigns will leave their bills unpaid for months? ~ I have a friend who is currently off on the Hallmark Christmas Cruise. She and her friend just boarded last night so I haven't read any reports. I'm interested because I'm curious how obnoxious and intrusive the experience might be as I'm contemplating a trip to Kansas City next year for one of their Christmas Experience weekends. So far, it seems as if it's sort of a crap shoot to get access to any of the activiites or to actually meet any of the stars. It also seems very expensive. ~ Breeder's Cup is next weekend but there are some good races today. D. is planing to golf this afternoon (it's currently 30 degrees this morning!) so I'll have the tv to myself. ~ I have finished Melissa's quilt and just need to arrange a time to deliver both to Linda and maybe buy some jam. And I layered, quilted and bound a top that had been hanging around for a decade so Divot has a new cover for the cat table. And I made an iPad stand that sort of works. I didn't stuff it full enough. I received my prize box from Hopes and Dreams and was gobsmacked. It was a huge box and had several batts, and lots of goodies, most of which I don't need or couldn't see myself ever using (they will be donated to Past & Future Craft Exchange). The most exciting thing was a turn table cutting mat that I have wanted for years but could never justify the price. I have already edged the fat quarters I'm keeping and they are ready for the washer.

Home Again...and Glad to be Here!

~ We checked out of our hotel at 10:30, retreived the rental from the garage, filled up and headed to the airport. Again, the long walk from the rental car center but it didn;t seem as long as it did on Monday evening. After regrouping, we discovered that even though we thought we couldn't check in for our flight until 12:30 we could self tag our checked bags (and I managed to screw up putting the tag on!) and drop them off and be on our way through Security and to our gate. We did all that and went in search of lunch so we didn't arrive home hangry. Options were few and far between. The sit down place was Southern food and nothing appealed to our somewhat queasy systems, the self-serve grab and go had non-functioning check outs, so we settled on Hudson fare, the worst of the worst it seems. My chicken salad on a croissant was fairly benign but the croissant was the worst I've ever had. D's chicken wrap was okay. We made our way to the gate and found the Dunkin kiosk so I was able to get a standard cup of coffee, minus my usual caramel. We settled in for the wait and time seemed to go fairly quickly. Plane arrived from Tampa, unloaded those passengers and then we were on and in the air a bit early. We landed early, D. waited for the luggage while I got the car, paid for parking and looped around to grab him. We were home just before 7, fed the cat, I made toast for dinner and we settled in for the evening. Surprisingly, I lasted until 9 and slept well. We both agreed that while lovely and we had some fun, Charleston was never a place we could call home. The traffic was unbearable at times. Lots of young techsters and hipsters, hustlers everywhere. The service people were exceedingly polite. But it was expensive for us.

Charleston Day 3 (Weds.)/Day 4 (Thurs.)

~ Breakfast in the hotel, then off to walk to Liberty Square on the harbor to board the ferry to Fort Sumter. As it was the first trip of the day, we had the 4 National Park Service ranger son board and one gave us a running history lesson and guide to the sites we were seeing on the way. He ended his presntation by asking "What do you believe in?" and 8 wondered if he was part of the resistance movement that started during Trump's first term when the Alt NPS social media accounts were created. Once we were back at Liberty Square we opted forpedicab to get us back tothe hotel - best money we ever spent. I'm finding the walking to be too taxing at times, well most of the time. We then went down the street toa small shop and had iced tea and a nosh. I took the nap option then to make up for a poor night's sleep and D torued the CHarlestom Museum, which he raced about. It sounds similar to the MaineState Museum in its depth andbreadth of collections. We had a beer for happy hour downthe alley down the street the had dinner at King's on the corner. I observed that the young women servers were all dresses somewhat sexist and the young men were not. The old South is resistant to change, I guess. ~Thursday - Breakfast in the hotel then back to the room to rest and deal with stomach issues for both of us. D went out for a "real" cup of decaf (the hotel coffee leaves much to be desired). When he returned we caught the free DASH bus down to the Market. What a mix of true art and creativity and tacky made in China for the tourist trade. I purchased a small handmade sweet grass basket from the maker. Pricey but real hand made, so worth every penny. I also found some nice ornaments, one for me and one for the cat sitter. One of the true finds was stumbling across the Callie's Hot Little Biscuits who came highly recommended and did not disappoint. Waited about half an hour for the DASH back to the hotel. D took off for a walk and a visit to the aquarium which he said was a $30 big disappointment. I got beck into my afternoon home routine with a Hallmark movie anf a nap. I ate the remainder of last night's salad while D stepped out for dinner. Homeward bound tomorrow.

Charleston Travel Diary

~ We were right on time arriving at the Jetport. Waited in line to check in for the flight for about half an hour. Security screening went fairly quickly and we were on our way to the gate. Big mistake was not getting something to drink to take on the plane. Boarding seemed to take forever so were were 15 minutes late taking off. The pilot made up for it by landing 30 minutes early but we had to wait to taxi to the gate across the main runway. Baggage came quickly and then it was more waiting to get the rental car. Then we were off to the hotel, which we found easily but were flumoxed by the lack of a visible lobby entrance. A call did not help as the address does not show up on our maps. Turns out it only works with GPS. Finally found the right door, checked in, got the car in the garage and settled in to bed at 10:30. Only comment on Breeze Airways is their seats need a serious upgrade - I was almost completely numb after 2+ hours. other than that, good work huys, ~ After a good sleep, and a good breakfast, we walked out to explore the area a bit. Shopped Walgrren's for forgotten items (brush abd comb), sat in the Square (Marion) for a bit, walked some more and stopped in La Pattisserie for coffe and a nosh, then wandered back to the hotel. I and finding the heat an humidity a bit of a challenge here but will persevere. ~ D is off to golf this afternoon and I might go nsearch of a smaller and lighter bag to carry on our excursions. Of course, I have several at home that would be perfect. ~ A bit later and I have returned from a visit to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at thr COllege of CHarleston. Some unusual offerings in theirsmall galleries. Many pieces incorporating oyster shells, like the following two:

~ While I was out I stopped in a shop and purchased a thank you present for the cat sitter. I also returned to Walgreen's where I found a little purse to lighten the load the next two days. And I explored Blue Bicycle Books - carefully curated shop! I had to take a break on the walk back and found a peacful retreat with benches outside St. Matthew's Lutheran Church. ~We had dinner at the Charleston Beer Works - loud music and even louder patrons - mostly male andweel into their beer. It too a very long time to get our mediocre food. Definitely a spot for the younger crowd.

Travels...

~ We are off to Charleston, South Carolina this afternoon. A golf trip for D and just a mosey around trip for me. Time to leave the every day Maine life behind for a few days. Just a short trip - we'll be back Friday afternoon. My first flying vacation in 10 years or so. Should be interesting. It will be a welcome vacation from the crazy political ads at home. ~ The second Turner Lupine and Laughter is in the binding turning stage and almost finished. I will be able to deliver them the week after we return. Then I can move on to my projects - a tablet stand, some other wall hangings, some gifts. Just ideas that have beenback-burnered for years. ~ After a couple of electrical issues we have a new freezer and a new washer. The previous freezer was probable 30 years old and owed us nothing. I neveer liked the washer - it was still functioning but had something that made it draw excess power during the agitation process. The new one is quieter but the first load of sheets had it walking across the floor during the spin cycle. I'll investigate further when we are back from our travels. No issue with a smaller load and less powerful spin.

October is Here - the Leaves are Falling!

~ Yes, it's finally Fall here! The leaves are turning and falling. The maple on the other side of our drive changed from green to gold almost overnight. Of course, we have had some chilly nights to hasten the process, and yet, yesterday it felt like summer again with temps in the 70s. All gone this morning, with the high projected in the 60s the next couple of days. Possible frost next week. The garden bed is almost done - only a few basil plants, some chard and leeks left to harvest and I will get on that in the next day. ~ The first of the Lupine & Laughter lap quilts destined for the Turner family is in the binding turning stage. Should be done by the end of the weekend. The second one needs to be sandwiched and then quilted. I need to create a Franenbat for it so I don't have to use another new bat. It only need about 6 inches added. Then I can move on to MY projects. And maybe do another mystery quilt, but I'm not sure if I want to. I might choose from the eleventy-seven projects I've saved through the years. Or a Deb Tucker quilt for me. I'll see what direction I go in later. ~ After a couple of episodes of no power to the washing machine, it was determined that we needed a new freezer. The old one owes us nothing - easily 30 years old!!!! So we purchased that and brought it home yesterday. It's a tad bit larger, which is good and it's already in use. I used the transfer to pull a couple of items for immediate use upstairs, and reorganized the rest. I discovered we have enough chicken in various forms to start our own restaurant, so we will be eating much chicken in the coming months. I was buying it when it was on sale and did not realize how ahead of the curve I had gotten. I now have a mental list of what we have so that is good. ~ while we were at Fortin's I bought a new washer. I've never been in love with the top loader I bought 10 years ago - it's noisy and it makes the lights dim. Hopefully the front loader will be quieter and more energy wise. I added a base to accommodate my aging body. All should be here in the next week. And they will pick up the old freezer at the same time they take the old washer! (I have to add that I have always enjoyed doing business with this family-owned local store. We did shop at the appliance store here in town but they didn't have exactly what I wanted and they wanted some ridiculous delivery charge because their warehouse is in Auburn! And all of their front-load washers were internet-enabled. I know I wouldn't need to connect my washer to my wifi buy why even make it an option? And the price was 100"s less.) ~ Politics continues to dominate everything. Only one more month of advertising but then we'll have the months of analysis and the whining from the GOP when they lose bigly. And I do not trust any of them to not disrupt the free and fair process, especially with Musk involved. Each day brings some new fresh horror from the orange man, some new threat to the established norms and institutions. I have had to disengage more this terrm than before. I just can't. ~ Racing is heading towards the Breeder's Cup the last weekend of the month. No real news. ~ We are scheduled to spend 3 days in Charleston, SC week after next. D. will golf, I'lll poke around and try not to get into any trouble. I'm meeting with a friend who has been there later today to get ideas of how to fill my time.