The Coffee House

[smoke665]

Went to early Easter service this evening, have a house full tomorrow.

DW fixing Ham and couple of sides, the DIL' s (both good cooks) bringing more sides and desserts. Should be a good day!

 

[nerwin]

Give it time, might grow on you. I've been struggling with a photography funk lately, in my case it's more about being overwhelmed with to many things consuming my time at once.

I haven't really done any photography since last July. I'm upset with myself I sold my full frame kit...wished I kept it. It's hard to go back to the basics when you were used to having a premium setup. It's not the camera's fault, it's me. Someone who's good at photography will take incredible photos with it unfortunately for me it's fading away. I'm going to hold onto this camera at least for a week or two and see how it goes. I may even rent or buy another lens for it to see if it's any better and if its something I can live with.

 

[snowbear]

We'll need pictures once you get everything planted around the rock. I love your rock!

The Rock (capitalized) has an arc of smaller rocks, pondside, which gives me a border to work with though I'll probably make it smaller.



I noticed a lot of wet ground down there. I don't think it's directly from the pond but there's a drainage ditch/creek along the edge of the lot. It looks like the "mouth" is blocked so I'll have to clean that out. A bunch of old wood along the edge as well as some unidentified briars. I'm hoping they are blackberries or unruly rose bushes.



There are buds everywhere. I'm making a list of things to plant, but I'm also looking at the improvements to make outside. Lazy Lobster has a friend in a wheelchair, so a ramp is planned, but just general cleanup. Replace the garage and the little shed (kayak house), eventually.


I think I'll put the pathway / stairs to the right in this shot, That's where the yard really slopes down to the stream (whatever it is). I'll ask the energy company to put the propane tanks on this side. The part of the house to the right, will be extended to the rear like the rest of the house, and possibly wider, as well. This will be split into a pantry and MLSIL's bedroom.

 

[SquarePeg]

I have the front door and the living room deck doors open. Zoe runs between then getting outside air but any car that goes by (not many) she runs away.

Finished the darned ceiling lamp. I found some nylon spacers that seem toi be OK, though 1/4" is not enough and 1/2" is too much. I'll look for 3/8" whenever I get back to Auburn ("the City"). I took some shots of the back yard to try and figure out what to do with it. I'm leaning toward flagstone stairs (shallow rise) along the north edge, as that is the steepest, and use some ground cover, like the juniper and some phlox, on the steeper part. The rock will get ferns, black-eyed susans, and maybe some cone flowers.

I had a lot of success growing cone flowers from seed using the winter sowing method. Let me know if you want more info. They were epic last year (year 2), some over 4’ tall.

 

[smoke665]

haven't really done any photography since last July

For me it's to many "other" things. We've been gradually working on our house doing some much needed upgrades, dividing our time between home and lake, plus travel, plus managing business affairs. I run out of time.

 

[snowbear]

I had a lot of success growing cone flowers from seed using the winter sowing method. Let me know if you want more info. They were epic last year (year 2), some over 4’ tall.

View attachment 285906

Fantastic! Dad was a decent gardener and Lazy Lobster is. I think the gene skipped a generation. I have transplanted lilacs and blackberries, and grew black-eyed susans from seed once. I have to go get 3/8" spacers for that ceiling lamp, so I'll pick up some seeds while I'm out.

 

[SquarePeg]

Fantastic! Dad was a decent gardener and Lazy Lobster is. I think the gene skipped a generation. I have transplanted lilacs and blackberries, and grew black-eyed susans from seed once. I have to go get 3/8" spacers for that ceiling lamp, so I'll pick up some seeds while I'm out.

It’s too late for winter sowing but definitively could start them in small pots and plant out in fall and you should have flowers next year. I’ve found that the trick with co e flowers is that they don’t like to compete so they need to be weeded and given some space around their base.

 

[terri]

The Rock (capitalized) has an arc of smaller rocks, pondside, which gives me a border to work with though I'll probably make it smaller.



I noticed a lot of wet ground down there. I don't think it's directly from the pond but there's a drainage ditch/creek along the edge of the lot. It looks like the "mouth" is blocked so I'll have to clean that out. A bunch of old wood along the edge as well as some unidentified briars. I'm hoping they are blackberries or unruly rose bushes.



There are buds everywhere. I'm making a list of things to plant, but I'm also looking at the improvements to make outside. Lazy Lobster has a friend in a wheelchair, so a ramp is planned, but just general cleanup. Replace the garage and the little shed (kayak house), eventually.


I think I'll put the pathway / stairs to the right in this shot, That's where the yard really slopes down to the stream (whatever it is). I'll ask the energy company to put the propane tanks on this side. The part of the house to the right, will be extended to the rear like the rest of the house, and possibly wider, as well. This will be split into a pantry and MLSIL's bedroom.

The Rock is mighty and will be beautiful all dressed up!

It's hard to do (I speak from experience), but you might let a full season go by so you can really see what pops up. You might like it, or want to tear some things out.

The burning question of the day is: Who's going to jump on that trampoline?

 

[cgw]

The Rock (capitalized) has an arc of smaller rocks, pondside, which gives me a border to work with though I'll probably make it smaller.



I noticed a lot of wet ground down there. I don't think it's directly from the pond but there's a drainage ditch/creek along the edge of the lot. It looks like the "mouth" is blocked so I'll have to clean that out. A bunch of old wood along the edge as well as some unidentified briars. I'm hoping they are blackberries or unruly rose bushes.



There are buds everywhere. I'm making a list of things to plant, but I'm also looking at the improvements to make outside. Lazy Lobster has a friend in a wheelchair, so a ramp is planned, but just general cleanup. Replace the garage and the little shed (kayak house), eventually.


I think I'll put the pathway / stairs to the right in this shot, That's where the yard really slopes down to the stream (whatever it is). I'll ask the energy company to put the propane tanks on this side. The part of the house to the right, will be extended to the rear like the rest of the house, and possibly wider, as well. This will be split into a pantry and MLSIL's bedroom.

Tons of potential. Probably wise to wait till the extant plantings reveal themselves along with shadow patterns. Hardscaping takes time, planning and $$$--but accessibility trumps everything
over the long haul with garden/landscaping design.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

After Easter, you might not want to do any cooking, so you can watch other people do it. Pancakes? (length 24:26)

"Pro Chefs Blind Taste Test Every Boxed Pancake Mix | The Taste Panel | Epicurious"
""​

Posted to YouTube by "Epicurious", Apr 15, 2025.

 

[snowbear]

The Rock is mighty and will be beautiful all dressed up!

It's hard to do (I speak from experience), but you might let a full season go by so you can really see what pops up. You might like it, or want to tear some things out.

The burning question of the day is: Who's going to jump on that trampoline?

Tons of potential. Probably wise to wait till the extant plantings reveal themselves along with shadow patterns. Hardscaping takes time, planning and $$$--but accessibility trumps everything
over the long haul with garden/landscaping design.
usually takes time, planning and $$$.

I'm in no real hurry. The coneflowers and black-eyted susans can wait, There's a lilac on the side of the porch that I really want to move, but that will wait, as well. We found the place in Octoberand closed in November so Spring and Summer will be mysteries for us, as far as plants that are there. We'll start with general cleanup and working with the obvious.

The trampoline was left by previous owners, and is going away. A Torx bit, ratchet and breaker bar should take care of most of it. If not, I have a sawz-all with metal-cutting blades.

 

[smoke665]

We found the place in Octoberand closed in November so Spring and Summer will be mysteries for us, as

I'm curious why you retired there? It looks to be a beautiful area, but most retires that live in cold country move south to get away from winter. What was it that drew you North?

 

[snowbear]

I'm curious why you retired there? It looks to be a beautiful area, but most retires that live in cold country move south to get away from winter. What was it that drew you North?

Lobster, blueberries, LL Bean, and whoopie pies.

There are a number of reasons, including climate. MLW and I can't take heat and humidity. Lazy Lobster has been in the area for a few years, now. MLSIL does not like traveling in snow but says she'll just hibernate in the house. Yes, it got cold this past winter, but you learn to dress in layers. We don't mind snow at all; we'll be retired and don't really need to go anywhere. If we do decide to venture out, I have a Jeep with good snow tires, though the town is very quick to plow the roads here.

When we were looking for a house, the basic requirements were: within one hour of Portland, water view (we have waterfront), city water and sewer highly desired (we have both), and a garage (sort of though it needs to be replaced). We are in the "Mountains and Lakes" region so there are a number of ponds and lakes nearbu. We are one hour from the coast, one hour from the mountains, and less than an hour from both Portland (largest city) and Augusta (State Capital).

Manchester, NH and Boston are about two hours drive; Burlington, VT is less than five hours; New York is about six hours away. Montreal is about five hours drive; Saint John, New Brunswick is a little over four hours; and Halifax, Nova Scotia takes a bit over eight hours becasue you have to get around the Bay of Fundy. The MD home, just outside of Washington, DC, takes about nine hours depending on Baltimore and NYC traffic.

 

[SquarePeg]

Maine is truly gorgeous snowbear and it suits you! We will have to have a sunrise meet up at Portland head light soon! Before it requires a 2am wake up.

 

[snowbear]

Maine is truly gorgeous snowbear and it suits you! We will have to have a sunrise meet up at Portland head light soon! Before it requires a 2am wake up.

The Nubble and OOB and are a little closer. Or sunset from Katahdin or the I-95 overlook of Katahdin and Salmon Stream Lake. Fall may be better than Spring.