Leaving the island on the 6:30 a.m. boat, the day before the solstice:
Stephanie arrives home from work, 2 minutes after our arrival in Baltimore, so she could be there for our first view of the new house:
Their living room with a Christmas tree in the sun room:
Christmas Eve day. Bruce did laundry and managed to put my camera through the washing machine. (I had left it in my pocket, and Bruce gets huge credit and appreciation for doing laundry that was necessary since I had come down with a stomach bug.That’s all I’m saying about that.) The camera fell out as he was about to put the clothes in the dryer and he was so dismayed until I saw him and said, “Is that all? The camera is waterproof! I’m sure it’s fine.” And it was. See the relief on his face as I took a picture with my fresh clean camera? (That’s my focus issue, not the camera’s.)
Robin and Stephanie making lobster raviolis for Christmas Eve dinner in their tiny tiny kitchen. It’s really the only challenging, ready-to-be-improved part of their whole house:
Fritz and Robin work on the sauce for the raviolis:
The trip home involved giving Fritz a ride to Portland, along with his brother’s old dining room table. We literally took cookies out of a large tupperware container and left it behind because there wasn’t a pinch of extra room!!
Bad weather was predicted, but we didn’t hit snow until we crossed the Maine border. 1 foot of snow greeted us in Portland. The lights on the trees in Longfellow Square still looked pretty. Portland has lights like this, all over the city, that stay lit during the long winter nights.
These lights are just across from the restaurant Petite Jacqueline, where we met with Bruce’s sister Kelly and her partner Al, and his mom (aka my favorite mother-in-law).
It felt SO good to get home on the 28th. I never take for granted how lucky I am to have such a wonderful place to come home to. Approaching Little Cranberry Island from the “Double B” is a welcome sight.
One night after our return, we were treated to our own little snow storm. 17″ fell overnight!
Bruce and I are snuggled in for a quiet New Year’s Eve. Possibly going to bed before midnight. We’re both fighting a wicked nasty cold which changed our plans to have friends over for dinner tonight. No worries. We’ll soon be on to better and brighter things in the new year.
Wishing all of our friends and family a happy start to a new year full of health, prosperity and peace.
Barbara S Fernald Jewelry 