Photo Safari
April melted into a memory quicker than it ever should. May is following along the same path. We haven’t suffered the dramatic weather that we’ve seen in other parts of the country but I think in 45 days, we’ve had 6 without rain. Cold, gloomy and punishing if you want to get outdoor chores accomplished. A perfect excuse to work in front of the computer and play in the studio if that’s your inclination. Yup, I’ve been more happy than I probably should be considering how much work needs to get done before we open.
Rather than list off our chores, here’s a bit of a photo essay of our days:

We met with Shae of Knotty Goat farm and she’s agreed to make her special soaps for our store…we’re going to have Slippery Mermaid and Sultery Neptune…curious? It’s really fun to work with another shepardess who LOVES her animals and her life!

I made new cushions for the Frog & Faerie cabin with Steve’s worn out jeans and printed fabric from a shopping trip of 20 years ago. The quilting style is Gee’s Bend…the ladies will be coming up from Boykin Alabama for Fiber College this fall and I want to honor their style.

We’ve been propagating like crazy…with 40 acres on one side of the road and 150 acres on the other, we have alot of planting we’d like to do. We’ve been taking advantage of these weeks of wet weather to root dozens of forysthia, pussie willows, lindens and dogwoods to brighten up the woods for years to come.

We’ve designed a new billboard…but the prep work is a bear! Working between the raindrops we’ve finally got the background prepped and painted.

This fall we’ll be hosting three events in September: Fiber College, Vacationland Jam Camp and the Old Time Music Campout. Nancy and Joe Segari of “Eat at Joe’s” Food Truck have agreed to provide the food right here on the campground. Their menu is local, fresh, organic…and whenever possible kosher and gluten free…I wish they’d move in!

Painting, painting, painting for the billboard!

We have a new favorite place for Pie! Searsmont is a charming village about 15 minutes from us and the General Store makes the BEST pie…definitely worth the drive and if you’re lucky enough to be here for an early evening of pie and light music…Go! Did I mention there’s a micro brewery in the same village square? Fraternity Village General Store

We’ve got new mugs in the office. Do I hear you say that’s not much of an accomplishment? Au contraire my friends! There are hundreds of styles, endless handles, multitudes of color combinations, manufacturing ethics to consider…and then the graphics. It took two years of thought and conversation followed by two weeks of actual research and waiting for samples. But we’ve got them now! In red, green, blue and orange.

There’s terrific hiking right from the campground…miles of trails with oodles of waterfalls this time of year…just pack an extra pair of boots because you can’t avoid wet feet this time of year.

Shearing done…wool sent to Aroostick County for processing…just waiting for the yarn. I’m yearning to get it into the dye pot and on the shelves for a limited sale of “Searsport Shores” yarn…we need a mermaid kind of name 😉 This is a not so great shot of Esther our Leicester…she’s tired and cranky from all of the rain.