a short hike at fuller farm

The weather warmed up on Saturday, so we decided to go on a hike at Fuller Farm! It's a network of trails that only total a few miles, but it's a pretty hike and really close to the house. The trail starts out along a road, then cuts through a forest, goes past a waterfall, and ends up passing through rolling hills. We were surprised that there was such variation back in there, since from the road you only notice the hills.



































We didn't actually see any birds on the "bird trail", but when we came out of the forest and onto the hills, we spotted a bald eagle soaring overhead! Even if they're sort of common in Maine, it was exciting for us city folk who don't see those things too often. The hike was only about 2 miles long, but it was nice to get some fresh air. This summer, we want to try doing some longer hikes - in our NYC-area hiking book, there are a lot of trails that look longer and more difficult than anything we did out on the west coast. Someday, I want to do a few in the Adirondacks! It looks beautiful up there.

around the house, in maine

It was really hard to resist a "Maine-ly ____" title for this post - but everything up there is called Maine-ly something or other and it lost its slight pun-ny humor pretty quickly. But this post is...mainly...a bunch of pictures from us hanging out! And cats. But there are three of them, so it's hard to resist a cat photo or two.





Whenever we're not in New York, our fitbits make it really clear that we don't really walk at all unless we specifically try to get steps. I'm pretty sure that the walk score of Matt's parents' house is 0. I honestly didn't even know that there were houses with 0 walk scores! I thought that everywhere had something nearby. But it doesn't! (Our apartment in Brooklyn gets a 91 - when we lived in Manhattan, it was 100!)

So we always go on walks around the development, just to get a few steps in. We discovered that if we walk all the little cul-de-sacs and tiny street-branches, it's about 5k. But it always feels a bit like we're walking in a campground. There's nobody else out walking, cars drive really slow, all the houses are kind of tucked back in the yards...it's a slight change from New York, that's all!



















The weather was good enough to have multiple fire pit fires! We made Easter s'mores, so I got to try my very first toasted marshmallow Peep. It was pretty delicious, even if it felt a little weird to be toasting animal-shaped marshmallows over the fire.

eastern trail at scarborough marsh

On our first day in Maine, it felt like we'd travelled back in time three weeks to winter. The temperature was around freezing (it snowed at one point!) and we weren't completely prepared - we packed away our winter coats a few weeks ago! We decided to brave the weather, so we took a walk on the Eastern Trail in Scarborough Marsh. It's a salt marsh, so the water level rises and falls with the tides - and it was all the way to the top when we started our walk!























After that, we thought we'd head down to the beach and take another walk, but we were both too frozen to get out of the car when we got to the beach parking lot. Next time! Instead, we went back to the house and hung out with this bunch of cats -

24 Hours in Maine

I thought I'd try making a post I've seen on a few blogs over the years - so here's a day in Maine, with one picture per hour!

08.00
Matt & I went for a walk around the development...it was only 39 degrees when we left! We weren't 100% prepared for the cold.



09.00
When we returned, we warmed up (thanks to the pellet stove!) and ate a yummy breakfast (thanks to Matt's mom!).


10.00
We watched some footy and some kittens.


11.00
Went out to the garage to work on various projects (and drink tea)...I was mostly a curious bystander.



12.00
We worked on one of the projects - making a frame for this painting my mom did! Here are the wood pieces we chose.


13.00
Another project - ripping apart a weathered pallet for its wood pieces - they later became the photo backdrop!


14.00
We all headed out to get some project-related goods at the hardware store.


15.00
Arrived back home, with a can of paint for our hallway cabinet!


16.00
I took photos of the pretty late-afternoon sun on the patio while Matt & his dad put a floor on their new woodshed.


17.00
We headed out to the beach to see the rise of the supermoon!


18.00
After waiting what seemed like an eternity because of the freezing winds on the beach, the moon rose! It was huge (my photo/lens doesn't do it justice) and perfect. The cold winds were worth it!


19.00
We headed back and cozied up in front of the pellet stove again - these two kittens had the same idea!


20.00
Dinner is served! We had delicious pumpkin & mushroom lasagna and equally-delicious rosemary focaccia. And pumpkin beer. It was a very autumnal meal!


21.00
We drove back down to the beach (it was actually warmer this time) to see the full lunar eclipse. We got there about a half an hour before it was fully eclipsed, so we got to watch the progression of the shadow across the moon - until there was no more white left, just a red sphere up in the sky. It was pretty amazing! I didn't get any good photos, so this'll have to do - - -


Then we went back home for the final time and ate some tasty homemade ice cream. It was a fun day!