Archive for Maine

the last day of nablopomo

11.30.09 at 10:05 pm · Filed under Maine, NaBloPoMo, life stuff, moving

Thanks for sticking with me this month. To avoid navel gazing (a translation of a great Dutch term for excessive and pointless introspection), I like to participate in NaBloPoMo during November (which can be a bit of a dreary month for me otherwise).

When November began, there were so many uncertainties about our move to Maine and all too often when something became certain, there was a negative attached to the newfound knowledge. There were a few times when I really wondered if we would be able to go through with it. But we’ve soldiered on and decided to continue with our crazy plan even though it means the loss of a lot of stability and security (and more than a few bucks, too). In two weeks and one day, the kids and I will be on a plane … I really can’t express how wonderful the thought feels.

Since going public with our decision to move, a lot of people have told me how obvious my ‘homesickness’  was to them, which I found really surprising. I thought I’d done quite a masterful job of keeping my feelings to myself. And for the record, homesickness really isn’t the right word choice. After nearly 13 years here full-time and 5 years part-time before that, I feel that homesickness is something that I struggled with my first year or two here. Since then, I’ve done my best to settle in like any other Dutch person (albeit a short one with a strong accent, LOL). I think what I feel is the certainty that after many years of trying, I’m simply not in the place that’s right for me. Some people, I believe, belong in certain places and just can’t thrive elsewhere. Like plants that require specific bacteria in the soil or something. ;)

December will be a crazy month. The movers come on Wednesday and after they leave, we’ll be camping out in our own house until we leave. And then we’ll be camping out in our rental house, LOL! I’ll post updates when I can but there will likely be a break of a week or two right around the move itself when you’ll just have to Watch This Space as the advertisements say. ;)

While we do still have some time together, I’m very interested in hearing your opinions regarding a name change. When I began the blog, I deliberately misspelled mainly to reflect my connection to Maine and to let readers know that although the blog was primarily about stitching, it was also a way for me to stay connected to my family in America. It will still be a blog about stitching and family, but as I will be in Maine, it seems that a name change would be in order. What do you think? And what would you suggest? I can’t make a contest of it because (1) all my stash is packed and I don’t have any gifts to give the winner and, (2) I’m not sure I actually will change the name. But I’ve been thinking about it and I’d like to hear your input. :D

As I type this, Niek’s working on my laptop, which seems to have finally succumbed. I can’t get anything but The Blue Screen of Death. Keep your fingers crossed that he can revive the old beast long enough to last me 2 more weeks.

Comments (41)

the siren call of the sea

08.24.09 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Maine, stitching

Thanks for your nice comments about the pictures of our trip home to Maine. :)

No story about Maine would be complete, however, without special attention paid to its gorgeous coastline and the lure of the ocean. My mom’s family were originally islanders, and I swear a love of the sea was bred into me generations ago. Is such a thing possible? Certainly not many of us have managed to move any great distance from the coast (even if some of us are near a coast in a different country, LOL). Here are a few pictures I snapped from Mount Desert Island and Beals Island. 

maine boats

When I opened my order from The Sampler Girl - always a great delight! – and I saw the freebie she’d enclosed, I immediately set to stitching it in my choice of Vikki Clayton’s silks on a piece of banding I’d just bought that day for a different project. Shown here with the backing fabric, the entire phrase reads, “May your joys be as deep as the ocean, your sorrows as light as its foam.” Thanks for another gorgeous design, Tanya!

SamplerGirl freebie with fabric

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it’s okay to play with your food

08.23.09 at 4:10 pm · Filed under Maine, friends, stitching, stitchy gifts

In keeping with the theme of vacation fun, I thought I’d share some pictures of fun with food. Being in Maine, it was mandatory that we enjoy some good Maine lobster. And boy, did we! The kids were fascinated with the creepy crustaceans and frankly enjoyed playing with them more than eating them. LOL. We had learned quite a bit about lobsters back in May, so the kids could show off their knowledge by accurately identifying the swimmerets rather than calling them ‘the little legs’ like everyone else was doing. ;) We had lobster rolls with my Mom and were treated to hardshell lobsters at my Dad’s. Yummo!

Lobster fun 

Of course there were also cookouts and picnics, mostly by the seaside. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for a few of these outings (shame on me!) but I’m sure it’s obvious that fun was had by all, all the time. This collage also includes a shot of the blueberry pie eating contest at the Blueberry Festival - the kids were utterly fascinated by the concept of “having” to eat as much pie as fast as possible! And for some reason, I neglected to take any photos at Sara & Ken’s, where we were treated to some heavenly catfish and grilled chicken.

picnic collage 

Several people have asked, “But did you do any stitching??” I had hoped to accomplish a great deal in that area – although I fell far short of my goal, I was happy with what I did get done. I stitched Tanya’s freebie on a lovely bit of banding and I finished a sampler of my own design. I also happened by a yard sale that included some lovely vintage linens and lace. But best of all by far was finally meeting Jenna! Niek and I abandoned the kids left the kids with their Grandma and made the drive up to Princeton, ME where Jenna & Terry were visiting family. It was such a wonderful treat to finally meet up IRL, and Jenna gifted me with some very special treasures (shown in the middle photo displayed on the yard sale finds).  Hugs to you, Jenna! :D

stitching related treasures Jenna and I meet in Princeton

And now I’ll bid you a fond farewell for the day. Though the laundry is nearly caught up, there’s plenty more to keep me busy here at Chateau Chaos. Best wishes, dear friends, for a lovely day!

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beginnings … but what IS the beginning?

08.22.09 at 5:55 pm · Filed under Maine

They say you should begin at the beginning and follow from there – but where’s the real beginning? I guess for Chateau Chaos, the beginning of whatever we’re doing is having fun. So that’s where I’ll start talking about our Maine adventures. Of course, there was a lot of fun had, so expect this to run longer than one post. ;)

Naturally, we had fun with family. Seeing my mom and dad again was just incredible – and watching the kids with their grandparents made my heart swell up so large that it hardly fit in my chest. What’s more magical than kids and their grandparents? I still miss mine, and I’m so glad our kids are building up a treasure chest of memories of their wonderful grandparents. (Of course they have wonderful grandparents here in the Netherlands, too! I don’t mean to make anyone feel left out!)

family fun collage

We had fun at the beaches, both ocean and fresh water. I even donned a bathing suit and joined in (I love swimming in the ocean!). Be glad – be very glad – there are no pictures of me, as I looked rather like an Orca whale impersonator. We went to beaches in Bar Harbor, Roques Bluff, and western Maine and although fresh water swimming is less of a shock to the system, we all liked the ocean better. Exploring tidal pools was every bit as much fun as actual swimming, too!

seaside collage

Naturally, we squeezed in a bit of culture. We went to the Blueberry Festival, a big happening up in Machias for one special weekend in August, and the kids loved the jokesy Blackfly Breeding Association booth where they posed with the huge blackfly. At a Bar Harbor seafood restaurant, Max demonstrated the fun of lemon wedges. And we visited the Burnham Tavern in Machias where I regretfully learned that inside pictures were not permitted. Sigh.

cultural fun

Naturally, there was much (much!) more, but the laundry machine must be fed now if the kids are to have clean clothes for Monday’s return to school. I’ll stop here, just adding that it was a most wonderful time and we are all quite sorry that it’s over. Thank you to wonderful family and friends for making time and space for us, and to many other friends for understanding why we were unable to visit due to the very short span of our vacation. Love to all!!

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the joys of jetlag

08.21.09 at 10:05 pm · Filed under Maine

Okay, there aren’t any  joys of jetlag that I’ve discovered, but I wanted an upbeat title and I wanted to let you know that I’m back in the Netherlands after three wonderful (if short) weeks in Maine. There simply was not enough time to do all that I would like to do – particularly meeting up with friends – but we had a wonderful time and the kids are completely hooked on American living and their family in that part of the world. I even got a mild sunburn from all our time at the beach. Pictures will, I promise, follow … just as soon as I track down that pesky uplink cable. :D

Hugs to everyone! I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to during these past three weeks!

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called out

06.18.09 at 11:51 am · Filed under Maine, Stash, life stuff

II’ll have to admit that Annemarie called me out when she asked if I’d been in a blah when I wrote my last post. I was feeling a teeny bit sorry for myself, which simply isn’t allowed. I adjusted my attitude Monday evening and we’ve been enjoying a good week since then. Hair has been cut, gardens have been weeded, clutter has been redistributed cleaned up, and so on. I haven’t had much time for stitching, and what little I have done has been for gifts, so I’m afraid there are no stitchy pictures. I have engaged in a wee bit of retail therapy, though, and in the interests of spreading joy to all, here are a few people or places I’ve recently shared some economy-stimulating activity with:

Theresa of Shakespeare’s Peddler – Theresa is currently having a Cyber Sidewalk Sale that lured me out of my latest attempt to stitch only from my stash. LOL. Theresa’s so sweet & friendly in her emails, and she really does keep her shipping costs reasonable (a big concern for those of us who rely on international shipping!).

Vikki of Hand Dyed Fibers – Anyone who’s a regular reader knows that I’m a regular buyer over at HDF. Just love her products. Her Linen of the Month program was fabulous, and I’m in love with her new Be-series.

A new-to-me ebay seller, scots-banshee, was an absolute darling in regard to a shipping issue. I’m very hesitant about trying new ebay sellers, but she went a long way in reaffirming that there are still lots of good people out there.

And an ebay seller that I’ve happily done business with in the past has a sale going on that I simply couldn’t pass up. Liberty Primitives has always done right by me with quick shipping, reasonable rates, and top-quality charts. Many now at 20% off!

And after this therapy, if you’re looking for me, you can find me at the stoplight offering to wash your windshield while you’re waiting for the light to change. :0

Wishing you all a wonderful day. Thanks for sharing it with me!

PS: Anyone needing a little dose of Maine beauty should check out Martha’s latest photos. She was hiking out on Mount Desert Island, where my Mom’s family is from.

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i’m going home!

04.14.09 at 4:32 pm · Filed under Maine

Yay! Niek just got the tickets confirmed this morning: Chateau Chaos will be heading home to Maine for three weeks at the end of the summer! I can hardly wait! I’ve been pinching myself ever since he called, just to make sure I’m not dreaming. And honestly, it’s hard to say who is most excited: myself, the kids, or my parents! 

It’s not really clear to a lot of people why I persist in loving Maine so much. Sometimes it’s not really clear to me, either. LOL. I guess strong emotions are that way, though – very difficult to put into words. I browsed the Net this morning and collected a few images of “my” Maine for you to enjoy. A lot of these are of Machias itself, where I grew up.

WaCo Maine collage 

And oh goodness, but what a lot needs to be done now to get ready! Number one: Passports need renewing! Number two: I’ll fill up the kids’ upcoming May holiday by learning about Washington County, the part of Maine that I call home.  Number three: Either find a memory card that actually works in my camera or … gulp, get another camera. Mine’s on its last legs anyway.  Naturally, I’d also like to lose 40 pounds before everyone sees me again, too, but that may be out of reach.  It’s clear the time will fly between now and then!

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i heart bunnies

03.29.09 at 11:01 pm · Filed under Maine, life stuff, stitching

detail of satin stitched heart I just love stitchy weekends. And this weekend was productive on a number of other fronts, too – namely, Niek got our taxes done, bless him. And he took the kids swimming this morning (giving me a chance to do my own fitness). The sun was out off and on (today was actually pretty sunny all day, to be honest) as well. In short, we all enjoyed a very nice weekend.

 

My stitchy output this weekend is in the form of Annemiek’s Prim Floss Tag for March – as soon as I saw this one, I knew I’d have to stitch it ASAP. It will be a floss tag for Max, and I chose a color for the bunny that’s very close to his own bunny’s coloration. I tweaked the design a little bit by substituting a satin-stitched heart where Annemiek had charted a date and I only used two of Max’s initials on the back. If you haven’t joined this group (and really, you should!), I do believe Annemiek is still accepting new members.

Needle's Content prim floss tags for March
March Prim Floss Tag by The Needle’s Content
HDF 35 ct Cream linen
HDF silks: Haystacks 3451, Spinach Delight, Examplar Wood Louse, and red from my orts pile

Now that the taxes are done, we have a better idea of where we stand financially for the rest of the year. We’re poorer than last year, that’s for sure! But on the bright side, we are now looking at travel plans to go home to Maine this summer! I’m terribly excited, but also terribly nervous that something will monkey up the works again …. Keep your fingers and toes crossed. I can’t go home for Mom’s surgery next month because it coincides with the kids’ May vacation from school – so I am extra-extra eager to get there and spend some serious quality time with family & friends while breathing that clean, Maine air.

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make your vote count!

09.26.08 at 9:36 am · Filed under Maine, family, kids, life stuff, stitching

house angelIt’s been another wild week here at Chateau Chaos. I have been scrambling like mad to get things organized for a spur-of-the-moment trip home to visit my parents before winter sets in, but I’ve hit one stumbling block after another in acquiring Arden’s passport and the delays have now caused us to miss our narrow window of opportunity. With fuel prices continuing to skyrocket, I thought I should just go over with Arden for a brief visit and leave Niek and the older kids to fend for themselves. Apparently, trying to do something spur of the moment doesn’t work very well for me. I suspect Niek may be a little bit relieved this didn’t work out. ;) On the bright side, Arden will eventually get that darn blue booklet and we will be prepared if another chance comes up.

I’ve also been working outside of the home and that’s going well. The extra writing is also finally off to a start. I’ve submitted one article and had it accepted by one e-zine and have a four articles in the pipeline for another e-zine. Once things begin to be published, I shall reveal all. ;) Till then, please keep your fingers crossed for me!

PeekABooThe kids have been wildly busy with everything. Arden can now pull himself up into a sitting position all by himself! This means we can now go biking – and boy, is that trailer with Nicky and Rowen in it heavy to pull around! We won’t discuss how out of shape I am! Arden adores biking, as all the kids do. He sits in a child seat behind me and continually pats me on the back, as if to say, “You can do it, Mama!” :)

I finished my leaf sampler. This is a poem by ee cummings that I’ve always loved. It’s a ‘visual poem’, meaning you have to look at it rather than read it aloud. Niek doesn’t get it. LOL. But if I had to type it the regular way, it would say ‘a leaf falls’ and ‘loneliness’ – okay, I didn’t say it was necessarily cheery. I’m having it framed now and will post another picture when it comes home to hang.

leaf by cummings

The kids received gifts from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gaby this week and had some fun hamming it up for the camera while wearing a Davey Crockett ‘coonskin’ cap. Are they a hoot, or what? :D

Nicky is a ham

Max almost laughing

Rowen and Arden

We’ve continued to have a lot more company than is usual for us, and I decided to take some updated pictures of my Hall of Fame after dusting it for the zillionth time yesterday. It’s my favorite part of the house! I love seeing the pictures of family and the stitchery from friends.

HallOfFame from door

HallOfFame shelf

HallOfFame from kitchen

make your vote count!

And lastly, I need your help! My Dad’s partner, Mary, has a birthday coming up. Now I’ve totally dropped the ball on my stepmother’s birthday – I got the date wrong twice! – so I need to feel like I’ve at least taken care of one of my (sort-of) step parents properly this year. I asked Daddy what Mary might like and he said she was pretty keen on my stitching. When I pressed him for some details of what she’d like, he told me she’d like something to hang up that says something nice and that uses lively, cheery colors. So here are some designs that I pulled from my stash that I think she’d like. I need you to vote for which one you think I should stitch. Move your cursor over the picture to see who the designer is and what the chart is called. While I wait for the votes to pour in, I’ll be finishing Three Crows (finally, Karen!!) and working on a charity piece. Think of this as practice for the upcoming presidential election, and make your vote count! :D

PrairieSchooler Welcome

MaryGarry RaspberryGirlSampler

LaDDa GentleWays

JBWDesigns MemoriesOfHome

Brightneedle Evensong

BirdsOfAFeather Love

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in-between

04.03.08 at 12:00 pm · Filed under Maine, NaBloPoMo, philosophical ponderings

I


I is for in-between. In-between is how I feel on most any given day. For the past (almost) 11 years, I’ve lived with my feet in the Netherlands and much of my heart in Maine. I don’t feel like I really belong very much in either place – no matter how long I live in the Netherlands, I will never be Dutch … and whenever I am able to go home for a visit, I’m aware of how different I am from the people I grew up with. A year ago, due partly to some arm-twisting from me, we bought a piece of land of Maine and I fully believed we’d be moving there within three years. I wondered how well we would do there – I was never much more than a square peg in a round hole when I grew up there, and after a decade away, how uncomfortable might it be to try to re-assimiliate? And then there’s my family, which to a person is unfamiliar with and often uncomfortable with rural American ways. But I was impatient for the chance to move home and not too concerned with the potential pitfalls. Then Mother Nature threw up the first stumbling block: Very soon after the land purchase, we realized we were pregnant. Obviously, my big plans were going to have to be altered to take this into consideration. As long-term readers know, the pregnancy was fraught with emotional upheaval, and any plans of going anywhere for any reason were shelved. As one medical test gave way to another, finally culminating in a nearly week-long hospital stay at the time of Arden’s birth, I found myself being very thankful indeed for the Dutch health system. If we’d been in the US, the experience would’ve had us in bankruptcy court, I fear. Here, we barely paid a dime beyond our usual health insurance premiums. The experience, coupled with the unfavorable political and economic climate currently reigning in America, has caused me to seriously re-think the wisdom of permanently re-locating our large family to a rural, remote, and financially recessed region in a country whose policies I do not agree with. (Sorry, I don’t intend to open a political dialogue, and I respect everyone’s right to her or his own opinion!) And for the umpteenth time in the past 11 years, I find myself once again between ‘the devil and the deep blue sea’, not knowing which way to turn. Do I stay in a country where things really are rather remarkably well run, where practicality takes precedence over emotionality? A country that, frankly, I will never fall in love with but which can keep me quite comfortable with the little creature comforts and securities? And I can’t forget, the country in which all my family other than myself has been born into and considers home. Or do I push hard to uproot us all so we can live in an area that stole my heart long ago and refuses to give it back, the only place I feel like I can truly breathe till my lungs are full, where my parents and their parents before them lived and loved? Who am I to assume the right of gambling the happiness and security of my entire family, just so I can finally feel at rest? So here I remain, in-between. I remember as a kid thinking that grownups got to do whatever they wanted … and have spent a great many of the years since childhood finding out that the exact opposite is actually true.

cutler harbor beside Wharf

The pictures are of two of my favorite places – one is taken from the edge of a friend’s home in Cutler, Maine and the other is taken from a wooded area about a 15 minute drive from where we live, where we enjoy walking with the kids and dog when the weather is favorable.

reeuwijk landscape with clouds

As you might guess from the melancholy mood of this post, we have not been able to secure an affordable ticket home so late in the season and after a great deal of soul-searching and reality-checking, we have decided our trip to Maine will have to be postponed for a(nother) year rather than dig deeper into debt.

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