Fishing, Walking, Birthdays, & Orlando

 Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving the mild and wonderful temperatures of Maine and heading for the seventh circle of hell known as Orlando for the NEA Representative Assembly. So I'm trying to pack in as much fun as possible before going to work and have some more fun in the south. I finally got to the river for some fishing:

 Beautiful spot, but I only caught several chubs:

 M-S and I took Baxter up to the sundial at the top of the Whitefield trails:

 They've added a kitchy rusted out suit of armor:

 Yesterday we took the Hargroves out in Boothbay to celebrate Jesse's birthday. If you haven't tried the Watershed Tavern...

 ...you should. Maine almost has too many exceptional microbreweries.

Today M-S and I are going to the Railroad Square for a movie and dinner date before I leave. I always look forward to the RA - this will be my 8th. Look for some updates here and on FB from Orlando.
~MET

For the Love of Beer

 The Maine beer scene is as vibrant as ever. On Saturday M-S and Ciara took the Hargrove boys to Gardiner for that city's contribution the the Whatever Festival and Jesse and I went to Bangor to partake in the Beer Festival. There were about 20 micro brewers there and lots of swag:

 The whole event was in a massive tent:

 And included some live rockabilly:

 By 2pm there about 1000 people there.

 We met some...interesting folks. Check out the maroon t-shirt:

 I don't get the reference as I'm not a Game of Thrones fan, but he seemed pleased about it.

We all met up at the Hargroves' for some sushi and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I was glad to see that Sheepscot Brewery fro Whitefield was there http://www.sheepscotbrewing.com/ . I think the best of show was from Gneiss Brewing in Limerick. http://www.gneissbeer.com/ . Noticeably absent was Marshall Wharf from Belfast - who still has the best beer in Maine. They have their own festival in October, and I'll be sure to hit that one when the time comes. The Bangor Festival was a great way to kick off the summer.
~MET

NOW Its Summer!

 I've been out of school for a couple of days, but today I got the feeling that it was really summer. M-S was off today so we took the dog for a long walk, went to our adopted "summer town", and got our first CSA from Crooked Door Farm (above). That is M-S with Suzanne, who with her husband Clint runs the farm. We had lunch at King Eider's in Damariscotta - a town that we keep visiting every few days:

 Its a wonderful downtown and the weather is amazing right now. We then drove to Wiscasset for a drink here:

 This is actually part of Sarah's Cafe now.

 I still miss the two schooners that you could see from this deck.

 We then drove through Dresden and took the back way to the Crooked Door Farm in Whitefield. I'm sure that I'll blog many times this year about this wonderful place.

 Suzanne gave us a tour.

 We love participating in a CSA and I think this one is going to be great. Starting in a couple of weeks we'll also be getting flowers each time as part of our membership - and you can always add things like cheese, milk, eggs, or other stuff.

This week we got lettuce, kale, scallions, beet greens, green garlic (YES!), mint, zucchini, and a tomato seedling. Healthy summer here we come!
~MET

Another Milestone

Today I finished 30 years as a public school teacher...and I could not be more proud. Damn, that sounds like a very long time, but I must be honest - I still feel like I'm growing every year. One year at Lawrence, six at Gardiner, six at Maranacook, and seventeen at Winslow. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every year. I broke in in Fairfield and learned a TON from Jeff Jewett. I loved Gardiner and learned so much from Larry LaPoint, Bunky Davis, and Mike Wing. Maranacook is where I became a grown-up teacher - thanks to Corliss and Stan Cowan. And, of course, Winslow has become my home. I have always LOVED the faculty at WHS and always will. You all have made me a better teacher. I owe you all a great deal and I am looking forward to many more. Life is good.
~MET

Its going to be fun...

 ...watching these little ones this spring. There is a nest right above our front door and a phoebe has moved in. I think there are two young ones in the nest.

I think she hates when we go outside, but loves living so close to the feeder. Wildlife in the hood.
~MET