Bugs in the system

 Just one bug of many we have found.

 This is one weeks worth of work.  they are docket books for the Supreme Judicial Court of Kennebec County.

this is the previous two weeks worth of work on the Court in Kennebec county.

This week we have found more and more bugs squashed in the pages of the court records.  Cannot decide if they are court clerks who ran afoul of the system and some wicked witch somewhere turned them into bugs because the were so slow with their work, or were they really diligent bugs in the system?  this week I think we counted 6 bugs and 1 spider smashed in the leaves of the books.  Have no way of knowing how long they have been there but they were perfeclty preserved - that is what happens in a climate controlled atmosphere.  the spider was a very small one and each of his little legs were intact and he looked so tiny there on the page.  Other insects were flies.  It would be interesting to find out just how they got there.  Were they on the page when it was slammed shut in the court house and remained so until we digitized the pages?  Well, anyway, the researchers who look at the digitized images will be as equally amused as we were when they stumble upon the little creatures preserved in the pages of history.

More of Boothbay Harbor day pictures.

 Probably on Martha Stewart's list of places to showcase in her magazine.

 The tide is coming in and soon will be up to the top of the seaweed on the pylons.

 these kyaks look so inviting. I wonder if they were for hire at one time.  there did not seem to be any booth around where we could have inquired.  Looks like Crayola went berserk with the colors or LLBean had a good week!

 So Picturesque.  About 2 o'clock is a red canoe or kyak that is about to put out into the bay.  The tide was coming in very fast.  As it covered the exposed seaweed, I could almost hear the covered seaweed sigh a deep sigh of thanks for the return of the water.

 Now, is this a total tourist?

 Or how about these two?  Not quite as colorful but tourists nevertheless.

 The beach where we found some really pretty rocks and brought them home.  Now, if all tourists did the same, there would be no rocks on the coastline whatsoever - perhaps even shrink the coastline of Maine altogether.

 The paint job makes the beetle go faster I suppose.

 They tell me that this is the Catholic Church were John F. Kennedy attended when he was in town.  I wonder if he had it all to himself when he came to worship or if he was in the congregation flanked by secret service people?  Did he go to confession there?  Ah, that one is open to speculation now isn't it?

Addendum to the Boothbay Harbor LOBSTAH Saturday

This is the sign at the restaurant where we ate in Boothbay Harbor.  We were there Opening Day of the season and we were there early enough to not have to fight the crowd.

 No, this one was not posed, not even a carving - it is a real live scavenger, coming in for a meal.

 I think he has been here before and he knows where the food is.

 Yes, it is really feed time and he is poised ready to pounce.

 Some Lobstah traps.  I wonder if these were the ones used to capture the LOBSTAH that I ate for lunch?

this is one failed Lobster trip.  Did he not catch enough?  Is this his punishment?  At least he has a buoy attached to his feet so that he can be found when the tide comes in............

this weekend was the most wonderful weekend of all.  The  area of Boothbay Harbor is so picturesque.  I really think that they must have painted the houses there because they are so perfect - from a distance, but up close there is lots of peeling paint.
I wonder if Martha Stewart were turned loose how she would change and update/upgrade things?

Speed up to Stop!

Speed up to stop.

I guess we have to add to the shopping list because we  got an email this morning from our supervisor telling us that the agreement with Keene has not been signed and may not be signed for a while yet.  So, in that case we speed up to stop – run to the grocery store to replenish our food supply so that we have more than a couple of pizza in the freezer – eaten in a hurry while we pack up and leave kind of foodstuffs.

I guess leaving anywhere, especially when it is planned to take place causes one to reconsider the situation in which we find ourselves.  Live every minute – see life here with new eyes daily and store memories.

Living every minute requires definite plans.  Plans that ask questions like – is it necessary to hurry past the flowers.  Could we not take time to examine the buttercups that have sprung up since the last rain?  Ask the question if their seeds were scattered with gay abandon so that they come up in clumps here and spread out there?  Ask about the rhododendrons that seem to have popped up by the trail when in fact they are usually purposefully planted in the garden to give beautiful blooms in season.  Noticing the woodpecker out in the woods close by hammering at the trees to access the beetles  for his breakfast.  It is fledgling season and the robins have begun to teach their young how to forage for themselves;  Doing my best to revel in the unfolding season and ongoing cycles of nature.

At Boothbay Harbor the tide was coming in.  I have seen the tides come and go at Caloundra and timed my fishing by the posted tide times.  On Saturday I watched the tide come in and it seemed that if it was possible, I would be able to hear the exposed  seaweed heave a sigh of relief to see the water return to replenish what moisture they may have lost with the receding tide a few hours ago.  It is interesting to note the difference in seaweeds on the pylons.  Seaweed that can survive out of water for a while grows at low water mark to high water mark.  Different seaweeds live below the low water mark and float back and forth in the tidal flow. 

I tried to store memories.  Memories of the man feeding the sea gull on the wharf at Boothbay Harbor.  A sign at the restaurant said, do not feed the Gulls – they will come and eat your food.  They are, after all, scavengers of the first order.  I store memories of the green trees and lush grass – we do not have that in Arizona; Store memories of the ocean smells and sounds – rotting seaweed and screaming gulls.

The books we are digitizing are also keepers of secrets and the things we find in the pages are amazing.  We find squashed bugs that have been there for who knows how long and how did they get into the books in the first place.  One of them was a honeybee and there have been a couple of spiders as well.  I even found a dressmakers pin in one of the pages.  There are myriad little pieces of paper that have stuff scribbled on them – sort of like a shopping list for court case dates and files.

Amid all of this our landlord called and asked if we would be moving by the last of June because he has someone who wants our apartment on July 1.  Of all the things I thought might happen on our mission, I did not expect to be homeless – our lease runs out on June 30.

Holdings in the Archives of Maine

 This is the original constitution of the State o f Maine - dated 1816.  It is written on animal skins that have been treated and it is kept in the vault in the basement of the archives.  It is all hand written and the writing and decoration is exquisite.  There could be no errors and if one was made, the writer had to start all over on a new piece of vellum.

 Detail of the ornate lettering.  Each ornament on the letters was different from all the others.

 Exquisite penmanship on this constitution - note the bird over the central "T".

 some of the articles in the constitution.  This one deals with the Senate.

 Other areas of the constitution show exquisite penmanship on Vellum

 William King was the first governor.

 this was the working copy.  They met for many months trying to word the constitution exactly the way they wanted it.  No longer to be part of Massachusetts, but rather be independent and called Maine.

 All of the men in the cities had to read the constitution and vote to approve or disapprove of it.  In the city of Hallowell, there were 145 men who could vote.  142 agreed to accept it and 3 abstained.  their vote did not get counted in the final tally because they did not get it in to the proper office in time to be counted.

 To handle the papers the archive worker had to wear white gloves.

 One of the working papers where they wrote and rewrote what they wanted in the constitution.

 the cover is now back down and the constitution is about to be put back in the vault.

 When the declaration of Independence was ratified, many copies of it were printed up.  This is one of the original copies of the printed declaration.

 there were many treaties made with the Penobscott Indians.  This is a map of certain areas of the Penobscott holdings with the English as well as the Penobscott Indian names.

 Even in earlier times there were people who forged money.  Each bank had its own currency and some enterprising people produced fake currency and this was well before we had photocopiers.

 One well done "funny money"example.

 This was given as being an original note from Longfellow.  However, it has been proven to be a fake and there are a number of supposed originals that have come to light but they also are fakes.

 An original paper carrying the signature of John Quincey Adams.

 The governor of the state from time to time put out proclamations and this is an original of a public thanksgiving and praise proclamation.

 An original George Washington signature.

 a cleaned up working copy of the Maine Constitution.

Close the Vault - it is climate controlled and holds the precious pieces of Maine History intact.  Hordes of grade schoolers have been coming all last week and will till the end of the school year to view the constitution of the state of Maine and other artifacts.
Thank you to Mr. Jeff Brown for allowing me to see these wonderful things.

a visit to Puffalump and the Woozles

 Puffalump glamor shot

 Puffalump and one of the woozles

this little calico is the best Woozel in the world. She survived being dumped and was accepted by a new mother cat as one of her own.  what a lucky little cat.

On Memorial Day we went to visit Puffalump and the Woozels.  These are little kittens who have found themselves in a foster care situation until they are big enough to be adopted out.  The mother cat seems to be part Siamese but she is very pretty with her mottled coat and big blue Siamese style eyes.  This cat had been left in a box and found in time to get her the help she needed as she gave birth to her litter of 6 kittens.  Three of them died soon after birth and one had to have its leg removed due to it being tangled in the placenta and unable to be saved.  When I first met this little kitten she had staples in her side where the leg should have been.  When I saw her today, she is doing quite well getting around with only 3 legs.  Someone found a newborn kitten by the side of the road and took it to the SPCA where it was taken to my friend’s home where it was placed in the cage with the mother cat.  She took to it  and let it feed along with the three that were hers.  All four of them are doing very well.

The kitten that has taken my fancy is Puffalump.  He is bold and fluffy and very charming.  I really think he will be a true rascal when he grows to full size.  He seems to have eaten more than the girls and he commands the food bowl as well as his mother’s milk supply – even to the point that he pushes the girls out of the way.

We left there with an Iphone camera filled with kitten shots.  I have played around with the Picasa to achieve the shoes here in the blog.

The Iphone guided us to the Bishop’s home where we participated in the pot luck food and celebration of Memorial Day.  The table was groaning under the weight of the food and it was a wonderful bar-b-q.  They have loads of Rhubarb in their garden and they had cooked it and turned it into Rhubarb Lemon Aide.  I have never tasted something so wonderful as this up to this point.

The weather was perfect – a cloud cover allowed it to be cooler than if the sun was full shining and we got to just sit and chat with the members.  It was still rather warm and muggy and that saps the energy level….so after a few hours we came home and slept.  We have to get up our energy level to go Line Dancing tonight.

Our Lobster Experience in Boothbay Harbor with Anne and Alexander

 Yes, do not feed the Seagulls - they are scavengers of the first order.

 Our lunch is in this pond.

 In you go there fella.

 Further in you go - along with others of your kind - for 20 minutes.

 You order here - just like Subway - only you are ordering Lobsters, clams or mussells.

 Our lunch before we started on them.  We had to be taught how to do this - and they even gave us a nutcracker to smash the shell so that we could eat the delectable goodies.

 The view from the deck of the restaurant where we ate Lobstah!

 The figure at the nearby resort.  Much like Big Johnson in Prescott - only this one is wearing a Sou'wester and beckons all to come and stay a while.

 the shop where we got David's tee shirt with a lobster on it.

 We went to this tourist spot before the season and no one was open, but this weekend they are all open to serve the unsuspecting tourist a taste of Maine.

 McSeagulls - Boothbay Harbor's answer to McDonalds.

 Well, what did you expect?  Ronald McLobster or something?

 The othe view from the shopping mecca.

 clocks at the craft show we visited.

 I have made this necklace myself.  this lady's work is superb - and prices to match.

 another figure from the clock shop.

 Two clowns holding the night lights - or are they juggling?

 Just loved this clock.  the heart and arrow moved like a pendulum.

 self explanatory.

the Boothbay seat of government where we used their parking lot to walk across to the craft fair.