MAINE - Concerts, Bikes, Giant Earth And Blokes in PJs......Part V

Part V

Ok........ Ive probably bored you all to death by now lol..... but I aint bovvered.... anyways, this is the last post about our holiday in Maine.....

All through the summer on a Saturday nite on the grass outside LL-Beans in Freeport, there are these concerts with well famous people.... and the concerts are put on by LL-Bean and they are FREE..... So Sharkie says did we fancy going along cos his brother had put the chairs out and they included us...... ok, let me explain..... apparently the concerts use to be small affairs where ya could just turn up just before start time, plonk yaself down on the grass and enjoy, but now they have become SO HUGE that ya have to bag yaself a place by putting ya chairs or blankets out on the grass like DAYS before the concerts...... so one of Sharkies lovely brothers has a business in Freeport and he had nipped to LL-Beans on the Wednesday and bagged places on the grass...... its well strange, he just put the chairs out and there they stay without anyone nicking them, until we turn up on the Saturday night...... I had a great idea of turning up on the Friday, loading all the chairs(only the decent ones) into a van and then flogging them on the corner to concert goers LOL...... the idea did not go down to well. Me, well, I always have me business head on LOL.....

Anyways, so Chris bags our places and we go along to watch with his family, and a couple of Sharkies maties, Pierre and Shelia..... oh my, what the most wonderful lovely couple P and S are, I instantly had such great vibes about them both, and those vibes proved to be spot on.....

So, Brandie Carlisle and The Indigo Girls...... ok, I aint never heard of them before so this was to be a new experience....... and jebus, what a great experience.... for the first time in years I was on me feet bopping about like a crazed loon LOL.... and I didnt even have a drink..... we was gonna ring Wendy during the Brandie session but we didnt have her number on us..... we had great seats.... there must of been a few thousand people there and we was quite near the front..... magical.....



I hope that thingie works...... this was actually taken just a few rows forward from where we were..... they played seperately but also did some great combined tracks....

See them green lit up ball things, they was giant balls like crimbo decorations hanging from the trees....

Shame you cant see me bopping around LOL..... Im sure if you listen real careful you can here me shout out LOL.... I will add that Jacob HATED it LMFAO...... not really his sort of music one thinks....

The following Saturday it was to be John Hyatt and someone else, who I cant remember..... Chris again put out the chairs and this time we was even nearer the front...minus Jacob, who allotted to stay back at the house with the others.... the support singer came on, someone again famous that I aint never heard of, and she was amazing, she sang 3 or 4 tracks when all of a sudden the wind blew up from nowhere and the skys light up with lightening and the biggest clap of thunder ever.....

What you have to remember is that I DONT DO THUNDER AND LIGHTENING...... they stopped the concert for a while cos of the danger and Sharkie took one look at me face and realised me fear of standing in an open place in the middle of an electrical storm.... come on he said, lets go shelter in the shops until they restart the concert...... so I grabs his arm and we hobble to the safety of the shops.....but alas the storm was deemed to dangerous to continue, for the performers and for us loons watching...... so with fallen hearts we headed back to the car..... we did stop at a chinky place for supper though but we had to leave cos the bloke just couldnt get our order right lol..... no matter how many times we said 'chicken' (sorry Janet), the bloke kept saying 'ow you like your plawns.... he so almost got a headbut LOL..... and each place we stopped at for supper was closed LOL...... and then we had a bit of a run in with a copper..... it was just not to be our evening lol..... so we admitted defeat and drove home LOL....


My Jacob was fasinated by the hunting and fishing and outdoor section in LL-Beans and the bloke was well good with him, cos he so wanted to buy a knife.... I mean a right proper knife..... it must be a boy thing...... the thought that one in the states is allowed to carry a knife around with them as long as its visible, sort of done me head in a bit..... over here one is not even allowed to now carry a penknife around in their pocket..... well Jacob has got his knife certificate from Scouts and so I allowed him to buy a beautiful knife with a stag horn handle and a shiny slightly curved blade..... and what a bargain :)..... ya see the one he picked out was priced at only $50 or something well daft, but when the bloke went to get it out the store, he said that it had been placed in the wrong place in the display and it was actually $89..... so I just says, in a sort of joking way..... well, ya have to by law sell it at the price marked in the cabinet...... ok, the bloke says, and so Jacob got it for just $50..... that knife over here would of cost at least $160 so he was mega chufted..... like I even know the laws LOL.....

Cripes another day and on the way back from somewhere we visited this place called 'Eartha' which is the biggest rotating scaled model of the world, anywhere in the real world..... wow what a great place, it was also the place where they make all the maps of the states and atlas's and map stuff..... me and Jacob are actually fasinated by maps, so to us this was a great way to while away an hour or so....



Ya can see just how big it is.....me and Jacob wanted to lept over the barrier and cling onto the giant globe but Sharkie didnt think it was such a good idea LOL..... nuffin like a close up view I say.....


Ok...... last bit..... there was so so much more, but time has come to put a close on our holiday in MAINE.... there are pages and pages more that I could of written.... but, I will keep those other bits in me heart for safe keeping.....

Sharkie has the most amazing beautiful wonderful well old antique collection of bikes..... mainly old Penny Farthings.... which I dont think you call them that in doodleland cos you didnt have money called Pennys and Farthings..... ya see, over here the small wheel was the farthing and the large wheel was the penny, hence then name :) - you call them 'ordinary bikes' which is well daft, cos they are far from ordinary....

Sharkie owned his own bike shop by the time he was about 19 and then within a few years bought the whole huge building..... so his passion for bikes has been like a lifetime affair.... and I think he still owns as a silent blokie another shop.....

Anyways..... there was numerous antique bikes dotted around Sharkies huge house and even some in his office in town...... my Jacob also has a passion for bikes and has 4 or 5 different ones of is own...so its no wonder that Sharkie and Jacob hit it off on so many levels.....

Jacob couldnt believe when one afternoon Sharkie asked him if he wanted to have a go at trying to ride one of the antique Penny Farthings...... can ya guess what the answer was lol

Sharkie suggested that first Jacob had a go out in the back garden on the grass, that way if/when he fell off then it would at least be a softer landing lol



Cripes lol



Well Jacob made it look well easy lol..... he did topple right over the handlebars in spectacular falls, but all in all the boy did good.....

So time to test out his new found skill on the roads LOL...... the look of joy on his face will last me a lifetime... a quick change into shorts and they was off :)



Just look at his face.....



Just look at them knobbly knees LOL

Sharkies lad made this well funny chopper bike..... Jacob thought he would conquer it..... LOL nope it was just impossible to ride....



Jacob has such fun with the bikes......... give a boy a bike to mess around on and a good blokie to hang with and he's in heaven....




Ok, one of the things that I so wanted to do whilst back in the States that we didnt get a chance to do 2 years ago when we was in Wisconstance, was to see a well proper doodle sports game, I didnt care if it was football, basketball or baseball.... well, Sharkie is a season ticket holder for the Portland Seadogs, so we got the chance to go not only once but THREE times..... I still dont understand the rules lol and will never 'get' why they dont just slug the dam ball and run for their lives.... I know you nicked the idea of baseball from us, only we call it 'rounders' and its usually what girls play at school LOL.... I loved the atmosphere and the evenings out at the baseball... I LOVED watching the blokes run around the field in nowt but their PJs, I loved the running commentary that Sharkie and his matie Pierre gave throughout the games.... I didnt like the lady behind me eating the HUGE big flattened dounut thing, it must of been about a foot wide LOL.... Jacob loved the seadog biscuit ice-creams...... we loved the games but thought the bits in between were well naff LOL..... ya know, the daft promotional things were a tad cornie LOL.... so fanks Sharkie for fullfilling another one of me dreams....



MMmmmmmm men in PJs lol


Last thing...... 2 years ago when in the states I was bitten by mossies 170 times and had a well alergic reaction to them, so much so, that the hospital in Wisconstance would not let me fly home on the day I was suppose to, so we got 4 extra days on our holiday lol....

GROSS CONTENT..... lol



These are some of the bites from 2 years ago

Whn we got home I was quite severely poorly with some mossie disease.... this is leading up to this..... within 2 minutes of getting off the plane in Boston, I was bitten by a mossie..... and by the time we had been in Maine a few days I was being bitten to death, and the bites in Maine came about an inch in size and was well skankie.... so Sharkie took me to this chemist place to get stuff, which did help, but I was still getting bitten.... aint seen nowt like it before, and the bites were so much bigger and nastier then in Wisconstance.... only the last night I was in Maine, me, dangling me feet out the bottom of the blankets the mossies thought they would have one last attack.... and they attacked me toes and ankles with a vengence.... so in the morning I just put the stuff from the chemist on and hoped for the best.... well when I did get home some of the bites had sort of eaten away to the bone so a trip to the doctors and a scraping out of the poison was in order LOL.....



YUK lol..... see how the bites had twisted me toes to strange shapes LOL..... good job the down to the bone bite in the picture is slightly out of focus ..... all I can say is that those doodle mossies just must love me delicate british blood :)...


Sharkies house in Maine is set in 18 acres, a huge back garden and woods and a stream, it sort of goes on forever and a few times me and Jacob got lost taking the dog for a walk..... and soon Sharkies lad is going to build his own house on the bottom part of the garden, the excess road is being put in as I type..... well thats if slagbag Dave ever shows up LOL........ I told Sharkie he ought to have Llamas and Alpacas on some of the land and me and Eva could go into business with the wool LOL.... and there definetely needs to be chickens scarpering around the place.... its a beutiful house on a beautiful piece of land..... oh and some pygmy goats should so be there LMFAO.......

We did so much on this holiday with Sharkie...... there were days when we laffed so hard me sides ached, there were special times with me and me boy...there were special times when I just sat back and watched my lad enjoy the company of Sharkie and got stuck in with blokie things..... there are days that were so very emotional.....

There are so many stories left untold...... so many..... dont mention the pizza night LMFAO..... so so many.....




Sharkie, fank you from the depths of my heart for showing me and Jacob your world, fank you for giving us experiences that we could only of dreamed of..fank you and your family for the time of our lives.... the funny days, the hot days, the emotional days..... all the days, the hours and the minutes were so very special...... fank you for allowing us into your home and your life...and fank you most off all for sharing HillTop and Paradise with me/us.... now you need to come and share a part of my/our life......

Know that I love you....... always...... OXO


Enough Twaddle of a well cold windy Wednesday.....x

MAINE - Saving Larry And Doodle Wildlife..... Part IV

Part IV

Ok..........The wildlife that me doodle maties have in their country is so vastly different from ours over here...... for an instance..... when we visited Sharkies 'Paradise' home in the woods and moved some boxes in the upstairs bedrooms, snakes crawled out..... I know they wasnt deadly killer snakes, or so Sharkie said, I didnt touch them to find out, and thought that Jacob and Sharkie was quite brave to take the risk and pick them up by their tails..... only over here except for a snake called an Adder we aint got no killer things.... and an Adder is only not nice if ya old and infirm or young..... remind me to tell you the funny story of the Adder I uncovered when I owned a plant nursery with me X *spit* lol

So..... whilst in Maine it was lovely to see at least some of your wildlife.....

One of the days that Sharkie had to work, we went into town with him and got him to drop us off so that we could wander around the shops (I dont shop to well, unless its looking for gifts or pressies for people) anyways me and Jacob found ourselves once again down on the harbourside..... we had about 6 hours to kill before Sharkie was done and dusted for the day...... so we wandered along the quays and explored......

Ok, I says, lets go out on a boat, look there are many lighthouses along the coast and they do boat trips, come on...... blank stares from me lad..... a boat? lighthouses? oh yeah great.... said in a flippent way lol.....

So, I finds this koisk place that had a picture of a lighthouse on it and I approach the blokie behind the counter..... is that there rickitey tin boat there giving rides around the lighthouses? I ask...... pardon the bloke says LOL..... so I repeat..... that ricketity tin top heavy looking wobbly boat, is it the lighthouse trip boat..... he just laffed at me and then smiled and then said..... yep, I suppose it is LOL..... so clutching our tickets we walk down the wobbly plank and find a seat with all the other tourists.....

Ya see I love history LOVE IT and I do have a thing about lighthouses lol..... I have a picture of one hung in me downstairs loo....

The 2 hour trip also gave all the history of the harbour and the islands and the forts from different wars.......



This is the main lighthouse which we also visited by land on another day with Sharkie.....



If you look carefully you can see seals :) - of course we do have seals in Britain, mainly up in Scotland but sometimes down in Cornwall.... but I was well excited.....



Jacob was less impressed LMFAO.....

Anyways I LOVED the boat trip filled with history.....


On one of the Sundays Sharkie said that he and his partner in his company held an annual Lobster Steak and Chicken Picnic by this lake place for all their employees and families and certain nice clients.... and what would we like to eat so that it could all be put on the order..... well, Maine is famous for lobsters right? and over here lobsters are at least $28 a shout in a restaruant, so I says oh lobster please as does Jacob......

But the more I thought about it in the morning the less I wanted to be responsible for the death by boiling alive of a poor helpless creature, so just before we left for the picnic I asked Sharkie if he had a bucket that I could borrow........ blank stares....... so I go on to say that I dont think I could eat larry........ he asked who the hell was larry.......so I says its the name of the lobster that I was going to be having for the picnic...... more blank stares.......so I go on to explain that if he had a bucket then I was gonna save Larry by taking him off the Chef before he plopped him in the boiling pot and place him gently in the bucket and when the picnic had finished I was gonna ask Sharkie to drive to the seaside and I would let Larry go back to his family and friends in Portland Harbour....... BLANK STARES....... but (HUGE SMILES) Sharkie did go get a bucket from the garage and put it in the boot of the car....... oh joy oh joy, we was now all on the Save Larry Campaign.......



When we arrive at the picnic place, Sharkie jumps out the car bucket in hand and heads off in the direction of the head Chef...... I was left to explain to Sharkies partner and employees and others what was going on........ they must of thought I was a right dinlo, I could hear many snickers LOL.....

Sharkie came back through the pine trees carrying the bucket but with a sad look on his face....... and says...... the dam chef had already just cooked Larry and his maties........ :( Im sorry, he said.....

So when we queued up for our lobster lunch Sharkie said I didnt have to have lobster but could have steak or chicken or whatever, but I thought oh well, dont let Larrys death be in vain..... so when the chef opened the big trays of cooked lobsters I asked him which one was Larry...... blank stares...... oh there he is I say pointing at the smallest lobster..... I'll av that one please, its Larry...... GOD KNOWS what they must of thought of me that day..... I ate Larry like a pro..... he was delicious lol.... but I did cover up his little face with a serviette though, I couldnt bare ripping his legs off and eating his tail with him looking at me with those pleading eyes.....

I think Sharkies partner and employees must of thought I was a right escaped mental patient that day LOL

RIP LARRY..... I tried me best for ya.....but boy you tasted scrummie...


Another day, and Sharkie suggested that we go out on a whale watching boat..... yeah right, like that aint just a salesmans ploy by the captain of an old boat.... but I was up for it..... a 5 hour round trip, maybe there might just be a whale..... so, sharkie drops us off at the quayside and he goes and parks the car, oh no, the kiosk was right next to the rickitey tin boat kiosk lol.... the bloke just stares and me and smiles and then laffs, its ok I say, we have already done you, today we are in search of whales lol



These are mine and Jacobs tickets, I do not have photos of the trip cos I dropped me camera and it stopped working..... :(

So we all three clamber aboard what to me didnt seem like a very big sea worthy boat to be heading 2 hours out into the sea to see whales.... whales are big ya know and I thought if one comes up under this little old boat then we was doomed.....

Sharkie says as we are walking on the gangplank..... do you get sea sick? I reply, I did once on the ferry to France.... do you? ..... nah he replied, Ive been on the sea all me life one way or another..... cool I thought, and silent thoughts of, oh jebus dont let me throw up lol......

2 hours out to sea and we get our first sighting of a whale squirt, or whatever its called lol..... and oh my goodness, me chest was thumping.... I had read just a few weeks previous a book on the old whaling ships..... the captain of the boat was well informed and talked to us about the whales and how to spot when they go down deep cos they leave a whales footprint on the surface of the water, no matter how rough the sea is, when a whale dives down he leaves a dead perfect huge flat circle of water on top of the sea..... within a few more minutes we spotted more whales and within the hour that we was right out in the deep ocean we must of spotted at least 15 or so whales..... me and Jacob clambers up to the front of the boat to the stickie out bit that hangs over the water so we could get as near as possible..... I turn round and say to Jacob, wheres Sharkie?..... oh he says, he is 'bill hughieing at the back of the boat :(..... yep, you got it..... seasick as hell..... I felt so sorry for Sharkie, there was quite a few people sick that day..... me, well, I was a bit queezie but I sort of managed to keep it at bay.......3 hours out and then it was time to head back on the 2 hour trip back to harbour...... it was a long ride back.... but, oh my, what an experience...... WE SAW REAL WHALES..... real bloody whales..... fanks Sharkie for taking us on that magical trip and seeing and doing things we would never of got the chance to do, and sorry ya was sick as a pig, but I did rub ya back for ya and hold ya hand, to try and make ya feel better.....


Ok..... those that know me know that the most wanted to see animal I NEED to see in the wild before I die is the moose, we looked everywhere for mooses whilst driving around and Sharkie did his damest to try and fulfil me dream..... but alas we couldnt find head nor tail of a moose..... so as a last resort Sharkie took us to a nature reserve place where they have all different saved animals and he said there would be a moose there...... and sure enough, there was some mooses and even a baby one..... it was sad to actually see them behind wire in such small spaces..... but even though it was not ideal, I did get to see a moose, BUT that dont mean to say my dream of seeing one out in the wild has disappeared..... its made me even more needy :)



Jacob climbed over the outter fence to get a close up for me lol



Sharkie balanced on the top of the outter fence to try and get this photo with no fence in the foreground.....

We also got to see in this reserve rescue place a racoon and chipmunks and I fell in love with a white porupine called Perry..... I dont know if that was his real name, but its how I like to remember him lol



This is Perry..... he was rather shy lol

How could I come home from the states with no moose items lol...... I did buy a few bits and bobs, like a stone crock with hand painted mooses on :) and some other bits and THIS..........



THIS IS DAVE...... he is a bendy moose LMFAO..... this is Dave having a ride in Sharkies car..... ok ok.... DONT SAY IT lol I loves Dave.....

Ok..... way to much waffling Twaddle for a Monday afternoon.....

x

MAINE - An Ache Not Only For Special People But Also For That Wonderful Place Called HillTop - Part III

Part III

Ok......... Since me and Sharkie have been maties, he has always talked about his families ties to New Hampshire.... which is funny really, cos I come from Hampshire here in England..... I know, I know, you doodles nicked all our names and dragged them across the sea and claimed them as ya own...... well, ya bunch of thieving gits LOL.....

So..... just over a week into our trip to Maine and to Sharkies place he says...... wanna go down to NewHampshire and stay at HillTop...... well, what you have to know is that over the months, this place, this family tie, this part of such strong rooted family history has grown into me soul like the ivy that runs wild in me back garden..... and I longed to visit this place, this place that holds such a special depth of Sharkies family history and belonging........

So of course I jumped at the chance..... so we loaded the truck thingie with Sharkie (who wouldnt let me drive - whats that about), me, my Jacob, Eva (Sharkies lads partner), and the dearest gorgeous Amina (Evas child who is Sharkies precious grandchild), oh and the dog OF COURSE :)..... who my Jacob had claimed as his LOL......



Ok so he was tired on the trip lol

It was quite a long trip so Sharkie suggested that on the way we drive up Mt Washington..... there was me, the usual dinlo thinking that Mt Washington was some little hill and tourist spot on the way LOL...... I KNOW DIFFERENT NOW....... so a few hours into the trip we arrive at Mt Washington, what I couldnt understand was, how could someone/anyone charge money to go up a mountain?....... surely it belongs to the people...... and there was me thinking that ya drove up it and over it and down the other side and continued on ya way LOL...... I TOLD YOU I WAS A DIVVY...... but oh no, ya drive up it and then back down it the same way.......

So....... I insisted that I pay half cos it was only fair cos Sharkie wouldnt accept no dosh towards the petrol for the trip, and I so aint use to anyone paying anything for me........ BUT I COULD GET USE TO IT lol....... and we was given this sticker for the car (which I claimed to stick on my car home here, but I will have to change the wording a little) and a CD with a well smarmie blokes voice on it guiding one up the mountain and telling the history etc...... and dont tell no one, but I LOVED THE CD and so wish I had claimed that as well LOL.......

So off we set up the hill, opps lol sorry mountain........ at first it was just a slight incline, no big deal, but the further one went the steeper and more shear the sides of the road became...... I LOVED IT lol....... there is me pointing out all different bits and bobs and saying...... oh Sharkie just look at that view and look at that mountain and oh wow look at that drop and oh cripes I wonder if anyone has ever driven off the side and died....... but when I looked across as Sharkie his hands were gripping the steering wheel as if his and our lives depended on it and he would NOT look out the sides for love nor money LMFAO........

Ok, ok soooooo it was steep and it was sheer and the road was a tad narrow in places and ya had to go up in first gear........ BUT...... maybe its just me, but I have driven a little hire car into the mountains in Cyprus with sheer drops and roads so narrow that they was only meant for goats and not the little car I was driving LOL...... so to me it was not scarey :)....... I was a little mean, I think I might of called Sharkie a 'pussy' LOL..... which means over here, you scaredy cat...... lol he was NOT amused...... I know, I know, all our lives were in his hands :)...... and I did offer to drive so that he could enjoy the view, but I think you probably already know what his answer was lol........

Jebus, when we got to almost the top and parked the car and climbed out, we had to walk a little way up these steps (which was great with me gimpy knee, I can tell ya NOT)....... but..... bloody hell, when we got to the top it was like being on top of the world...... all one could see for miles was the tops of hills/mountains....... it took me breathe away...... there was quite a lot of holidaymakers there and I longed to find a quiet spot with no one around and just sit and look and look but alas there was no chance of that...... there is a little musuem place at the top which use to be some holiday B and B place in years gone by..... and there is also the weather observatory, which I think has recorded the fastest winds anywhere in the USA...... (if you google Mt Washington you can read all about it, which we did when we came home, cos I love to delve into places we have been)...



Jacob standing on top of the world.....



A bit dark but I still love this pic.....



A boy and a dog........ magic.....



Eva and Amina....... I so miss them.....



I took this from inside the little hut building...... I love this photo.....

There is this little railway that runs up the mountain for those to chicken shit to drive up...... oh and for the old and infirm (maybe I should of cadged a lift on it lol).......



See how the boiler thingie is sloping so that when it is going up the side of the mountain it remains level LOL



Jacob took this shot under the little trains wheels cos it looked like the train was on the edge of the world with the mountains behind....... the boy did good lol

Anyways it was the most wonderful of experiences going up AND coming down, AGAIN Sharkie refused to let me drive down the mountain......

So we continued on our way to Hilltop, and bloody hell, we hadnt gone much further when a black bear lopped out of the trees onto the side of the road just to the left of us....... so Sharkie sharply pulled over onto the hard shoulder so that we could see it..... A REAL BLOODY LIVE WILD BLACK BEAR....... but this bloody lorry came hurtling along and scared the bear back into the woods...... but we stayed there and bugger me, it came out a little further down the road........ most of the traffic stopped and Sharkie and Jacob both leapt out of the car, cameras in hand and headed towards the bloody bear, with shouts from me of 'what the hell, you will get eaten' deaf ears I tell ya...... this shot is from my position NEXT to the car LOL..... Sharkie has much better photos though...... but after all said and down it was a real bear, and at least we did get a better glimpse of it when it first came out of the woods.... I was well excited *ha...... saddo or what....... but we dont have wild creatures here, and most certainly NOT bears......



So........ with the bear running across the motorway and into the woods we continued on our way to HillTop....... the place, the roots of this family that I so longed to see, the place that was already nitched a little into me soul, the place that I so wanted to see probably more then any other place.....

Sharkie suggested that we stop and buy provisions for dinner and breakfast and lunch the next day, as HillTop is in the middle of NOWHERE and there would be no shops around...... so we stop in this place to get some stuff...... and as we get to the checkout I says, its ok, its my shout, cos I thought Sharkie has done the petrol etc..... but Sharkie said, nope, his shout....... nope I said, MY SHOUT lol....... so I looked at Jacob...... you must understand that me and my boy are so intune with each other that he reads me mind...... as Sharkie got out his card (you doodles and ya cards), my Jacob placed his hand over the card machine.... Sharkie said, hey, I'll get these bits...... nope I repeated...... the woman at the checkout was now blank staring at us both, looking from one to the other, so I thought this calls for drastic action......... this is what I done, I can tell you, it worked a bloody treat and it was just sooooooo funny.....mean but funny.....

I turn to Sharkie and say in a soft voice....... its ok sharkie (obviously I didnt call him really sharkie, but with a name like Mavis I thought I had better not say), its ok, calm down, and I gently rub his arm and smile..... I then turn to the checkout lady and say....... its ok, please dont take any card transfer from this man, its care in the community and Im trying to teach him how to interact when out in shops with people...... she smiles sweetly...... I then turn back to Sharkie and smile (he was laffing by now) and I say..... there there its ok, put your library card back in your wallet, you cant pay for things with your library card, look, this is money, and this is how you have to buy food....... and I again rub his arm and say...... its ok, now behave and stand still or I will have to take you back to the home earlier then needed..... and I again rub his arm LOL....... A BRIGHTER SHADE OF RED I HAVE NEVER SEEN lol...... I turn back to the lady and say, fanks for being so patient.... but Im trying so hard to intergrate him back into society, and as you can see, IT AINT EASY :)....... she just gives me that knowing nod and smiles at Sharkie LMFAO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...... ok ok you just had to be there........ but it worked a treat, I got to pay for our stuff LOL........ I had to use this method a couple of other times when out and about on our trip to Maine LOL...... heheheheh

So....... as we drove off the proper road and onto a sort of track I could feel the tension in me soul tighten, at last I was to see HillTop...... a place that already seemed to be close to me heart........ and oh my goodness, as we pulled into the drive, I felt such a sense of belonging...... its so hard to describe...... I just let everyone else get out of the truck and I sat there, cos me heart was racing and I could hardly breathe....... it was the most strange feeling ever, it was as if I was in someone elses body.... someone from long ago....... I know that sounds crazy, but its the only way I can describe the feeling that rushed though me......after a few minutes, Sharkie came back to the truck and asked if I was ok LOL....... how the hell could I describe what had just happened........ so I didnt, I just said...... yep, Im fine.....

As I walked up the 200 year old stone steps to the porch of this old house, I thought my heart was gonna burst...... the sense of Sharkies family history in this house was oozing out of the door and the windows..... I felt like I was gonna cry....... I know you wont understand any of that...... but I know what Im talking about......

The house is well over 200 years old and has been in Sharkies family all that time....... the sense of belonging and the sense of the past just hit me like a ton of bricks...... when I walked in the higgledypiggeldy house and explored the rooms, I could feel the ghosts of the past and as I touched the things in the house I could almost feel his family through the years hold and touching the same things....... it was such the strangest weird feeling EVER..... yet another antique bed awaited me...... how many people had slept in that bed...... how many people felt safe in that bed...... I hope they approved of me being there....... I sat on the bed and reach over to the little old bookcase filled with ancient books and begain flicking through them...... many of which had been written inside the front covers..... some hand dated with names and dates, some 1887 from greatgranma to granma as a child........ Sharkie explained who was who and I felt I had known all these people....... and when I found albums of old black and white family photos all taken in and around the house and the adjoining land, photos of Sharkies grandparents as children and his own father and the rest of his family....... I had shivers.... good shivers...... beautiful OLD photos adorned many of the walls, and the house had rickety old floorboards and each bedroom with old beds..... and old safe ghosts of the past.......



View from the front porch......

I just loved that no matter where one explored or looked there was/is the history of this wonderful family all around... and with stories to be told about everyone... Sharkie could tell you who was who and who did what and who married who and who had what kids..... and inside one of the well old cupboard doors was the height history of Sharkies family, right back almost to greatgrandma...... ya know, scratched onto the door...( I have done the same for my lads on our kitchen door edging from when they was small - but not obviously old like sharkies family - but mine has to start somewhere)... like...... Sharkie 1962 3ft 5inches...... well I cant remember the exact heights..... but his father as a child etc..... it was like family history overflowing.......... and ya probably know by now my passion for family history..... the photos that lay around this house were magical...... and when I climbed into me old antique bed and snuggled under the covers and lay looking out the window..... I felt safe.....



This side view of the house soooooo doesnt do it any justice.... it looks tiny, but is so aint.... I wonder how many of Sharkies ancesters had stood at that old kitchen stable split door and looked out as their children have played in the garden.....

In the back of the garden is what looks like a shed...... up behind the old well..... on closer inspecition, or noseyness by me, it appeared to have little tiny beds in it..... so I asked Sharkie what it was....... and he said it was the little house where as kids he and his previous family kids had slept on adventures...... and then he took out yet another old photo album and found some of the photos of kids from long ago playing around the little summer house......sighhhhhhh

The house is way longer then what I could capture in this photo..... oh and a gorgeous original rolltop bath in one of the bathrooms and a secret bedroom over the store room with its own separate stairs from the back kitchen..... and rooms over the garage.......



Again this picture does no justice to one of the most pretty, loved filled, family oozing cottages I have even stepped into...... behind the white bushes is the most beautiful wrap round porch with a real old swing..... Jacob was swinging on the swing and we tried to imagine the generations of kids that had done the same as he was doing.....

I did take a little wander down the lane on me own, well, with the dog of course..... just to explore.....and as I walked back towards the house, it once more pulled me into its history and belonging.......

It looks tiny from the photos but it sort of rambled on forever, rooms upon rooms filled with family treasures....... not treasures in the sense of the word, but treasures to me are the life blood and history of 200 years of a family that ticks and ticks on forever.....

As I eventually settled down to sleep that night, I will admit I had a few tears lol...... how could I be so totally in love with this house...... and I aint a materialistic person, not in the least........ but it has pulled me in like this family and will be forever in my heart......



Goodbye HillTop....... I wonder if we will ever meet again....... x

Whilst there, Sharkie also had mentioned months ago that he owned this little house way deep in the woods called Paradise...... a little 3 bed/cellared cottage just up the lane a little ways...... we went to see, I just had to see it..... and oh my goodness..... the windows had been boarded up against the bears,whilst Sharkie was doing the renovation work inside...... Jebus..... the original old stove from over 100 years and old woodburners in the little lounge..... and rickity stairs to the first floor, where Sharkie and Jacob moved some stuff and were catching snakes that had somehow climbed into the upstairs rooms....... rooms piled high with old ancient secrets, all ready for someone to unpack and give back life to....... when Paradise is finished, it will be the most gorgeous secluded secret little house EVER...... the grass in the huge overgrown garden had been squashed flat in places, and Sharkie told me that that is where the bears had passed through over the days previous...... *cough*..... they dont eat ya unless ya mean to them right? lol.......

Anyways, just a few days at HillTop and Paradise and it was alas time to head back to Maine......

I will never forget HillTop and how it made me feel, nor will I ever forget Paradise, I know you will never understand where I am coming from with this....... but it stirred my soul, my senses, and my love for this family...... I think those ghosts approved of me, I would like to think they liked me....... I signed the visitors book, and as like here, I rambled on and on...... I also read some of the entries from 50-80 years ago....... did HillTop capture anyone elses heart like it captured mine this August past....... I dont know....... but its a feeling I wanna keep a lifetime......

Fanks Sharkie for sharing these special places with me....... I felt I knew them before I arrived....... but I didnt realise the affect they would have on me.......

I hope I get to go back there one day......

Ok........ to much bleedin waffling on for a Thursday....... doubt anyone has read down this far LOL........xx

MAINE - Did Anyone Find Me Heart.... Its There Somewhere - I Can Feel It Aching....Part II

Part II

Ok....... what you have to remember is that I aint all that up on USA Geography.... well, I know a little, like Utah is in the middle and no where near the seaside, and that 'down south' there are people with no teef and they sit on bridges and play the bango.... and that California is on the left of the Staples along with Seattle and that Florida is full of old people and dangles down the bottom of the East coast.... so, as you can see me USA geography is a tad limited.....

So..... after lunch one day during the week, Sharkie said, I thought maybe it would be nice to go visit me sister in Rhode Island, it would be nice to see her and for you to meet her...... so I was up for that...... Sharkies said we would leave in about an hour..... so I faffed around for an hour or so.... when he says...... are you ready then?....... so I grabs me jumper and says..... yep..... lets go.... and can I drive?........ BLANK STARES......... first off Sharkie says....... DRIVE, HELL NO lol.... and he then said....... ya know where Rhode Island is right?..... well, I didnt wanna seem like a complete dinlo, so I mumbled to Jacob something about.... it must be a little island off of Portland.... but I says to Sharkie...... emmmm not really.....

Sharkie seemed to spent a lot of time just staring at me with that glazed look of unbelievability on his face LOL....... I said, well I have me jumper and me bag so lets be going....... Sharkie said, its about 3 hours or so away and I thought it would be nice to stay for a few days, so you will need more then a jumper LOL...... ok OK how the hell was I to know where Rhode Island was.......

So I runs up stairs and lob a few bits of mine and Jacobs in a bag...... I can travel light, and we jump in the car..... and off we go.....



What you have to know is that Sharkie's Sister is well good for her age LOL..... she is a right 'dolly bird' and she lives with her 2 kids in this BEAUTIFUL 7/8 Bedroomed Victorian house in Newport...... oh my.... oh my, what the most lovely person Martha is....... not only did she open her house to us with love and trust, but she fed us as well...... and no cardboard munching in that there house :)...... and she has the most BIGGEST DOG called Tugboat that I have EVER seen...... a gentle giant....... I dont know whose Genes Sharkie and his sister have, but they are both filled with warmth and trust and love...... I instantly fell in love with Martha and her family, oh and the dog :) - she is a well talented Yachtwoman and sails all over the world for people.....and also owns the most wonderful shop.....

Again, I slept in yet another antique bed ;) .... oh my..... why are the beds so high, that ya need to leap like a bloody frog to get into them...... or, failing that, ya walk around the other side of the bed and find a little step thing LOL...... the bedroom was as big as the first floor of me little cottage...... and the house was filled with original features...... it was right up me street (which means... I WELL LOVED it)....

Wow, so much to see in Newport.... the first morning I did get up well early, whilst everyone slept and had a hobble up the road to explore a little.... I LOVE old houses and the architecture was just so beautiful...... I stood staring outside one house with a round corner turret room, sort of like a witches house, and this bloke came out to his car and spotted me staring at his house and asked if I was ok LOL....... and then asked if I was irish cos of me accent LMFAO....... bloody lunatic....

Whilst in Newport, Martha suggested we all go to visit one of the mansions that are scattered about the town...... I so didnt know you had mansions like we have home here....... so off we went one afternoon to educate and show me how the rich in the olden days use to live......cos I LOVES me a bit of social family history, its me passion......

There are 4 or 5 mansions in Newport, and we chose to go see 'The Elms'...... oh my..... as we pulled up in the drive of the place in the car, I could see it was well proper posh LOL



I know this aint the best picture in the world, but I so prefer to use pictures I have taken instead of ones on the internet......

See all them people in me shot.... no matter how many times I shouted at them to 'GET OUT OF ME BLOODY SHOT' they just ignored me :) - bloody holidaymakers lol

Martha and Sharkie thought it would be a good idea to have those ear things on that had a commentary about the place as ya walked from room to room and every so often after each room our group would stop and before moving on would click the commentary button at the same time so as we was all on the same page and the right room....... BUT.... ok, I have a confession to make LMFAO........ and at the time I didnt say nuffin cos I thought they, meaning Martha, Sharkie and the nippers would think I was a right dumbhead...... but I clicked to soon and so all the way round the place I was one room ahead of everyone else LOL....... hey Sharkie, didnt you notice me confused LOL..... as my tape was saying 'if you look above the fireplace in the opulent dinning room you will notice a painting' when in actual fact we was standing in the conservatory LMFAO...... :)...... oh well....... once a dinlo always a dinlo right.....

The house was full of old family photos, those and the servants quarters are the bits I loved the best...... I LOVE looking at old photos.... that sense of history and of people belonging....... I think maybe cos I dont have that history, I cant even tell ya the name of me grandparents LOL....... but I so love other families history.....



Look at all those holidaymakers sitting around the fountain lol



The trees in the grounds were magificent and me crappy camera so didnt catch it really....... thats me Jacob walking towards me......



I know this is to dark, but ya could walk sort of inside the trees and show my Jacob a tree and he is up it like a squirrel...... he cant help it :)

Anyways we spent the most lovely of afternoons at The Elms...... and then Sharkie, who has introduced my Jacob to Geocaching.... thought it would be great to go hunt down some caches whilst we was in Newport....... oh what fun he and Jacob have had with the Geocaching malarkie and the GPSs......

Sharkie did so many wonderful 'blokie things' with my lad..... it gave me boy a glimpse of what real proper blokes are like..... and that there are great dads out there in the world......

My boy did me proud....... he threw himself in this holiday, knowing that it was not going to be themeparks and all that rubbish....... to say I am proud of my Jacob is an understatement....... and I thank Sharkie with every bone in me body for giving and showing Jacob so very much about life and for doing blokie things with him.....

We spent a couple of nights and 3 days in Newport Rhode Island with Martha and her kids and Tugboat of course....... all these people making there way into me heart...... will there be room for it all......

Newport is the most lovely of places, filled with history and the most beautiful buildings and the most beautiful lovely family ever......

Thank you Sharkie for letting me and Jacob meet your Martha and her kids, they too are now imbeded in me heart, always......it was hard to say goodbye, but I know that oneday my path with cross with Marthas again.....

Blimey....... to much Twaddle for a Friday......... x

MAINE - I Left A Bit Of Me Heart In Maine - If You Find It Keep It Safe.... Part I

PART I

Ok............ Well..... as you probably know, I, well, me and me youngest son Jacob have been back from Doodleland just over a week.....did we wanna come back.... hell NO..... did we wanna stay there forever.... hell YES... but back we had to come, and NO they didnt ask us nicely to leave the country..... :)- well, not this time...

I didnt really have any plans as such as what to do with the last 3 weeks of our school summer holidays, I thought about nipping down to Cornwall so me lads could surf, but I didnt this year really fancy camping, what with me gimpy knee and all...... and then an offer that I just couldnt refuse...... ok ok well I did to begin with lol...... but I can be bought with promisies of a baseball game and cardboard grub, and an antique bed, and no cooking or cleaning for over a fortnight ;)...... me dear special matie Sharkie said, just shove some bits in a bag and fly over, you can come and spend the rest of the summer here in Maine with me and me nippers....... so, we bit the bullet and thought, what the heck, why not, sod what anyone thinks....... so thats what we did...... ya see, Im never one to plan anything, I get a thought in me head and I just act on it....... so with only 4 days notice, and with our new passports only turning up 3 days to take off, I booked a couple of flights whilst at me best maties house for a coffee lol and shoved some bits in a bag, and waving goodbye to Janet and rain swept England off we flew into the unknown, clutching me gold visa card as me safety net....... :) ya know, just incase they hated us LOL



This is Janet just before the taxi came...... I think she was saying...... I will miss you...

You must understand that I DONT fly to well...... I usually grab the arm of the person sitting next to me and close me eyes.... but this time cos of me gimpy knee and JUST INCASE, I thought I would fly as a gimp and take me crutches with me...... Jebus..... I wanna be a cripple when flying like forever, cos they put ya in the front of any queues and help ya with ya cases and ya get bulkhead seats, and ya get to get on the plane first if ya wish..... them dam cripples get all the breaks in life..... so next time I/we fly we are ALL gonna take crutches etc :)....we will be the crutch family.... LOL thats crutch NOT crotch......

And cos my Sam decided not to come, I thought sod the expense, we will fly with Virgin Atlantic and just fly direct, that way there would be no pussyfooting around and getting lost in some other doodle airport...... oh my, I do not think I will ever fly to the states again where ya have to change planes in some godforsaken backwater..... I will ALWAYS fly direct....

Me and Jacob thought that when Sharkie met us at Boston airport we will be in disguise LMFAO....... so I was sporting a tash and Jacob was sporting a goatee LMFAO...... I thought it would break the ice and make Sharkie smile LOL



So after 9 hours on a plane, knackered and hot and slightly insane.....and sweaty lol

This is Jacob and his goatee LOL not bad facial hair for a 14 year old lol...



Who the bloody hell is that mexican?..... and whats with the mad maud hair? oh its where her glasses are shoved on top of ya head LOL - see there was many people sporting tashs and beards that day :)

Oh my though, you should of seen us the other side of the custom doors trying to stick on the beards etc....... the looks we got from security LMFAO....... we was sooooo giggling, Im surprised we didnt get arrested....... I felt like the bearded lady LMFAO....I have light sort of hair and me tash was jet black LOL.. what a sight we must of looked as we walked through those doors at the airport to be faced by loads of people waiting eagerly for their loved ones LOL...... we spotted Sharkie and all I heard was HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA then huge hugs and kisses all round......... WE HAD LANDED and it felt good and it felt safe and it was like a glove....... :)

So a 2 hour ride on the wrong side of the road and we arrived at Sharkies house...... Jebus, and what a house.....180 years old or something like that, so many rooms, my little house would fit 3 times into Sharkies garage lol and the most beautiful 180 year old barn that is to die for......... but more importantly WHAT A WONDERFUL LOVELY BEAUTIFUL AMAZING WELCOMING FAMILY we walked into....... they took my breath away with the welcome we received........ I mean, can you imagine, these 2 strangers, The English, arriving on ya 'space' that ya didnt know from adam.... I thought it was gonna be a bit awkward and uncomfortable.... but nope....... it felt good, it felt right, it felt like home......



This photo just so doesnt do the house any justice.... this is the back of the house, and I couldnt fit it all in.....



Again the picture is crap compared to the real thing....... I would of happily lived in the beautiful old barn..... just give me a sleeping bag and I would be as happy as a sunbeam....

How you doodles drive on the wrong side of the road I will never understand.... never........ but all the drive from Boston to Sharkies home, I gazed in wonderment at all the different sights, I felt like a kid for the first time discovering a new world...... it was just so different....... and jebus, your motorways are so dam straight and boring lmfao.......



Jacob instantly fell in love with Sharkies dog...... and I think the dog loved my Jacob from the outset.......

And Jebus, how hot was it lol, I thought someone had turned a tap on me head...... it did take us a couple of days to get use to the heat and to get over jetlag, and then we was raring to go....... come on Sharkie......SHOW US YOUR WORLD......

I got so excited one trip into town... when I spotted these coppers on the side of the road......



I thought this might of been something well good, I was waiting for the coppers to pull out their guns and lob the bloke in the white t-shirt on the bonnet of the cop car, just like Ive seen on the telly....... I was telling Sharkie to SLOW DOWN so I could watch..... and he just laffed at me...... dam, I might of missed something well good lol.....

And whats with them daft traffic lights dangling over the road LOL... what the hell is that about, except being right daft LOL

Taking about roads...... how come your roads are so bloody wide, even in little towns etc..... whats with that...... well dangerous..... and especially dangerous when ya look the wrong way when crossing the road and almost get hit by some lorry driver as he blasts his horn at ya LOL......

So, Sharkie had to go to his office, and he suggested we wander around Portland and explore the streets and the harbour and places....and we would meet up in a few hours... ok, we could do this, we dont need no Sharkie doodle to hold our hands in the strange city LOL..... so we wandered around the top part of town first and watched people cross the road...... well when I say cross the road, they sort of just walk out and the cars stop...... we tried it once and nearly got run over, until some nice doodle suggested that we actually cross the road at the alloted crossing points near the traffic lights LMFAO..... so we watched and then tried it ourselves..... and sure enough the traffic sort of knew and they stopped and let ya cross......

Well......... let me tell ya...... when ya cross the road down the bottom part of town, down near the seafront, the harbour, along Commercial street, its a different kettle of fish.......... and oh how this woman NEARLY GOT ME KNUCKLE IN THE SIDE OF HER MEAN MOUTHED HEAD lol...... let me explain........ we, by lunchtime had found our way down the side streets of town to the harbourside and was watching the boats and deciding what to do for lunch, when Jacob spied a shop across the hugely wide road and asked if we could cross over and have a butchers..... so, by now, Im an expert on doodle road crossing and I suggested that we cross at the traffic lights........ cos we had already tried a couple of times to cross the road just anywhere and nearly died in our atempts LOL -Shhhhh dont tell Sharkie lol....... so we walked to the lights and with newfound confidence we started to walk out into the road ....... horns blasting and pedestrians shouting...... so we scarper back to the pavement and I turn shaking cos we just faced death by lobster lorry lol...... Jacob, I dont get it, up the top of town people just step out and the cars stop...... he said..... yep they did....... so I says........ do you think down here its different....... I was talking to my son, NO ONE ELSE...... when this doodle woman, who looked more like 'mutton dressed as lamb' started going off on some sort of rampage to me face...... DONT YOU KNOW ANYTHING are you stupid, YOU HAVE TO PRESS THE button to cross the road....I should of just bitch slapped her there and then and be done with it lol.... so I says....... are you talking to me? looking over me shoulder just incase there was someone behind me....... yes, she said, Im talking to you, are you an idiot, you have to press the button to cross you cant just step out in the road, and she was swearing and really going for it...... and how proud of me you will be, cos instead of just getting her in a headlock and giving her a knuckle to the side of her temple and throwing her to the floor and putting the boot in....... I just smiled sweetly at her and then blank stared and I then started to make a sort of retarded noise........ which must of made her son think that I was really retarded cos he then started on the piece of 'mutton dressed as lamb' whom I presume was his mother..... he was saying, oh mom, not every road has a button to cross and he was sooooo embarrassed for his mother and smiled at us and apologied....I by now was actually dribbling, I had got right into the part of a simpleton... oh how cool I was..... actually I was in total shock as to this womans behaviour....... and when we crossed the road and bought an ice-cream to calm down, me and Jacob said that if we saw her in town as we wandered around the streets and shops that he would rugby tackle her and I would headbutt the cow LOL......... thank the lord we never come across her that day, cos we was paranoid and ever piece of 'mutton dressed as lamb' we saw we looked at each other and said....... is that her?...... now funny it would of been if we had rugby tackled the wrong woman to the floor.......LOL.......maybe outside that dunking donut place lol....



These are the ice-creams we needed to calm down with lol we have NEVER had or seen such ice-creams before in our lives...... I couldnt eat all mine and had to dump it in a bin lol......



We was talking to this copper who had just watched us nearly get run over lol...... he was really nice..... I asked him to keep his eyes open for a woman that looked like 'mutton dressed as lamb' wearing a green top that was suitable for a 14 year old and not a 58 year old, cos she had been shoplifting LOL...... he said, he would keep his eyes open........ now that will teach the old cow LOL......

We wandered back to Sharkies offices up the top of town and fank goodness he had finished what he needed to do and we headed back home, but I kept me eyes peeled for the piece of mutton...... she was the first and I will add the ONLY rude doodle we came across in our time in the States.......

I think many got comfused with our accents though, we got....... are you Irish? nope I would say...... Im from England....... I did feel a little mean one day, cos we was in this grocery shop getting some bits of cardboard for dinner with Sharkie and the woman on the til said...... oh your accent where do you come from, is it London, or something like that..... to which I replied....... yes Im from England and then I said, the queen is my Auntie......... oh my...... this poor woman really believed me LMFAO...... ya pay peanuts ya get monkeys working in these places....... lol

ok........ more then enuff Twaddle for Part I........

x