Butter Island Picnic

 

The Butter Island picnic was the first time I got off of the sofa after my hamstring injury.  Stewart invited us along with his daughter Anna, and I was skeptical I'd even be able to get in the car for the trip to Pulpit Harbor.  And then there was getting on and off of the boat.  But I went for it and it turned out REALLY well.  

At the picnic there just happened to be a physical therapist, and she worked on my leg and gave me some exercises.  It was a miracle - by the end of the picnic I could walk and swim!

Remote island picnics are so 'Maine Vacation', and us folks living on the Thoroughfare side of the island generally do not go to the remote islands on the north side of the island.  That's more something Stewart the rest of his crowd who live out by Pulpit Harbor do.  From Pulpit Harbor it is a much shorter boat ride to the remote islands on the north side of the island.

It was a gorgeous day and a spectacular setting for a picnic.

Patrick

Mouse Island Reprise

 

We had one big 'family' picnic with cousins, siblings and my mother.  It was a quick high tide picnic.  We went around the corner to Mouse Island at the mouth of Perry's Creek - the same place the kids and I had gone at low tide with Sarah and Stewart.  Jack and Polly paddled over on paddle boards while the rest of us went over in motorboats.

At high tide there was very little in the way of a beach. For lunch we ate sandwiches and then explored the very small island.  My sister and I swam around it too.  Stuey and Sam jumped off the rocks.  I even tried the paddle board with my bum leg.  Getting up right on it was a little difficult, but once up I had no problems.

Patrick

Time to Go Home

 

Leaving North Haven on the ferry with Granny Coco

We left North Haven on the ferry bright and early on Thursday morning, and made it back to Kodiak on Friday morning. We had a great vacation but it is good to be home.  It's a little sad that because of my torn hamstring that we did not make it, as planned, to Iceland.  But, on the other hand, we got to spend more time on North Haven, and more time with Granny Coco.  And some of the best picnics occurred after I had torn my hamstring.  We also got to attend my stepfather George's ash spreading and memorial boat parade. Ironically, I think I enjoyed the second week better than the first week!

I will post more on the picnics and George's memorial in later posts, and will just add a bit more about the trip home and what we did during the final week here.

During the last week I did have limited mobility because of my torn hamstring.  But I figured out ski poles and did manage to go on picnics.  No more long walks, but I found I could still swim in the ocean.  I just could not use my legs.  So Nora and I did go for a swim every day in the ocean during the last week.  

We also had dinner almost every night at my mother's house.  On the last night I even got some crabs (not pictured) and we steamed them up and had them as an appetizer.  I think Maine crabs might even be better than lobster (soft shells anyway) and are definitely right up there with west coast Dungeness crabs.  I wonder why they aren't more readily available and marketed?

Finally, on the trip home the drive down to Boston was a little painful because of the torn hamstring, and then we had some long layovers. But the Alaska Airlines lounge made the trip bearable.  Nothing quite like the sunset in the Seattle lounge and watching the planes take off.

And now I am back on Kodiak and it is time to go back to work!

Patrick

Nora's 'free' pancakes and coffee in the Anchorage lounge

Watching the planes take off in the Seattle lounge

This one is actually from the trip out to Maine

House on the water

 

While on vacation in Maine we spent every night of the vacation at my grandmother's old house on North Haven.  We usually spend a few days on the mainland but not this trip.  Granny 'Thurby',  or great granny 'Thurby' to Nora and Stuey, lived in the house from some time in the early 1950s right through the 1980s.  My mom even spent her teenage years in the house (on this trip Stuey slept in her old room).  Locals knew my grandmother as 'Polly Davis', and even on this trip when I called an electrician and was telling him where the house was located - 48 Main Street did not work but the Polly Davis' house elicited an immediate positive response.  Everybody still knows Polly Davis's house even if she has not lived there in almost 35 years.  We knew her as Granny Thurby because she had a great big Newfoundland dog named 'Thurber'.

The house has not changed much in the last 35 years either.  All the old art and posters are still on the walls, and the racing pennants that my grandfather won all still hang from the ceilings.  When I sit in the kitchen it is quite easy to remember my grandmother cooking peas on the stove and the kitchen full of cigarette smoke.

The house is a perfect vacation house and is in the heart of it all on the water downtown.  From the porch you can watch everybody arriving and departing at the local yacht club and keep your finger on the pulse of the town.  You also jump off of the porch at high tide and go swimming.  One of my favourite activities (especially after I tore my hamstring) is reading a book on the porch.

Patrick

Evening light

Plants and Flowers

 

I always like to take pictures of plants and flowers, and all the plants are so new and different Maine.  Sometimes in Alaska I get bored with the same old lupin, salmonberry and blueberry pictures.  So it has been nice to play with some new plants and patterns.  I even found some poison ivy!

Patrick

This is one too stay away from!