A fun part of traveling

is getting to meet your friends in the computer face to face (or meet them again in this case). This time it was Maribeth. She lives just a few miles from my parents but it took nearly the whole month before we were finally able to meet up. We didn't have much time but we crammed a lot of visiting into that one hour as we walked and shopped. She even got to meet Itai, who decided at the last minute to tag along. (Actually, he'd announced much earlier that he'd like to come but I didn't take him seriously and nearly left without him. Sorry kid.)
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Here's a picture of the two of us that Itai took, with a bit of creative cropping by me (cropping out the hips = easy weight loss, though I did end up with one freakishly large looking boob. No idea how that happened, I'm not exactly well endowed). Head over to Maribeth's blog for a few more pictures of Itai and I, and a whole lot of pictures of the world's most adorable puppies, born just the other day, and then head over to Mary the Teach's for more ruby red shots.
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Rock Cairn

Click to enlarge

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Taken somewhere in Acadia National Park during our recent trip to the States, probably by the Seawall tidepools given the sailboat in the background. Some of these cairns mark the way for hikers, but I think this one was put together by a passing family. Hopefully since it wasn't directly on a trail no one will confuse it for one of the official ones.
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Look here to see who else is viewing the world in black and white this week. It's Monochrome Monday's one year anniversary, come join the fun.
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Summer Stock 14 - Festival Food

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Our 14th Summer Stock Sunday. So. Here we are. Wasn't it just a few days ago that we were gearing up for our very first edition, and now here it is the end of August already. I figure we'll have two more Summer Stock posts after this one, ending the weekend after Labor Day (which is 7 September this year for those of you out of the US and Canada), since that heralds the traditional end of the summer for most of you, and after that it's time to pack it in until next year. (I'd suggest continuing with some kind of Winter Wonderland theme or something, but I suspect many of you would be tempted to send out the cyber hit men if I posted shot after shot of green fields and bright blooming flowers all winter long. Probably safer for me to avoid that ;-). There's no sense in a Fall Follies theme for me either, since we have no fall colors to speak of, and it's only the falling temperatures and approaching rain that delineates fall in any meaningful photographic way, unless of course I photograph things like the hysteria you find in the supermarket the day before Jewish New Year.)
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For this week's Summer Stock post I'm focusing on food - festival food in particular. A few weeks ago we headed over to Gunstock, one of New Hampshire's (smaller) ski areas, for the Rockin' Ribfest. The Rockin' part was a bit mediocre (though a face-painted, airbrush tattooed Maya danced her little feet off on the dance floor) but the Ribfest part was top quality all the way. We had a great time digging into those amazing ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, side dishes, and of course the sweet potato fries. After eating ourselves silly we spent the next few hours visiting all the various booths and attractions (many of which were free(!), something this city kid definitely did not expect and a really nice treat for parents not to have to limit their kids to just this or that because this or that is astronomically expensive at a festival), and then took the chairlift up to the top of the mountain for fabulous views of Lake Winnipesaukee in all its glory.
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I've said it before, but it bears repeating (mainly to myself) - if New England winters weren't so awful it would be very hard to tear myself away at the end of the summer...
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Ok, enough blather, it's the photos you're all here to see, so without further ado (click to enlarge any photo):
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Tell me you're not starving now. I know I sure am. I'm sorry I can't offer you actual food, but I can at least offer this food for the soul instead:

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I can't wait to see what you've all been up to this week - now that I'm back home in Israel I'll finally have time for some proper bloghopping again!

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You know the drill, here's the linkie, please leave your permalink, link to Around the Island, yadda yadda, you're all old pros at this by now so let's just skip right to the fun part and share those great Summer Stock photos:
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Sunset - Rockland, Maine

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Click to enlarge (shot is straight out of the camera - still haven't reinstalled Photoshop, not that this one needs it particularly but it does look a bit naked without the border. Reinstalling all my photo-editing software is on my to-do list for tomorrow.)

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I just got back from a month-long trip to the States a few hours ago and am about to collapse from total exhaustion, but this shot just needed to be shared, and what better way to reenter regular blogging after my near-hiatus than with a Skywatch Friday post. I love the way the light shining out from the side of that cloud looks like a lightning bolt streaking from sky to sea.
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Enjoy, and may all your skies be equally bright.
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Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Made it back safe and sound, albeit without my daughter's sparkly new sneakers which were apparently left in the closet. They won't fit her until this winter so hopefully by then we'll have managed to retrieve them. So much for saving money by buying them in the States, it will all go for shipping now.

Now the challenge is to stay vertical for a few more hours. It would be a Very Bad Thing to fall asleep at just six in the evening. A very bad thing indeed.

My Dream House

Update: Lilibeth saw this post was kind enough to tweak my overexposed picture for me and bring back some of its rightful glory - how's this one for wow factor? Thanks Lilibeth!
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Straight out of the camera - I can't reload Photoshop until I get home but don't let the lousy picture quality and overexposure stop you from dreaming. Click to enlarge.

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(Oh wow, that looks a lot more washed out than it did in the viewer. Ick.)

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Packing. Again.

This month has really flown by. It seems like just a few days ago I was frantically packing to come here, and now I'm packing to leave.

We've had a great visit, seen a lot of family and friends, gotten outdoors to really enjoy this magnificent corner of the world, and done enough outlet shopping to last us a while.

The kids are off gallivanting around a local theme park with my parents today while I try and gather possessions that have spent a month hurling themselves into the farthest reaches of the house (not to mention expanded into enough new stuff that I had to buy another duffel bag. I LOVE outlet shopping.). In a few minutes though I'm going to call a timeout and head down to the beach for some much needed sunshine and quiet time, and perhaps a final paddle on that beautiful blue water, before returning to tame the remaining chaos.

Tomorrow we head for home, finally arriving Thursday afternoon Israel time. After that it's just a few short days until the relentless school/work grind begins anew.

Catch you on the flip side.

Summer Stock 13 - Bar Harbor

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While no one can say that downtown Bar Harbor isn't incredibly touristy you have to admit it has some great things to offer those who visit.
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There are bright lights:
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And a working harbor:
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And best of all, the chance to finally meet dear friends face to face. From left to right:
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L (Dawn and Laura's friend), Laura, Dawn, me with a disgusting double chin and weird half-closed eyes, and my husband Jay. We had a fabulous dinner, sinfully delicious dessert, and all-around terrific evening together as Dawn and Laura showed us around their little corner of the world. It's always wonderful to meet good blogfriends in person - there's little distance or awkwardness since you already know each other well, and you're able to slip right into that "old friends reunited" role in no time at all, and this time was no exception.
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Click to enlarge any of these photos

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My computer, and with it all my photo-editing software, is still in the shop so all of these photos are straight out of the camera (with the exception of the border around the last one, which I put in the other day after a sadly unproductive attempt to rid myself of that horrid double-chin. Gak.) I've got all my data on an external hard drive at the moment, but I'm not loading any of the newer photos until I get my laptop back and can be sure that everything is working properly. (That's also why I haven't linked to any of the other bloggers I've mentioned - I don't have the bookmarks handy, I'll add their links in after I get my own machine back.) I'm hoping that by the time this posts (on auto-scheduler, since I will hopefully be hitting the outlets with my sister at 5pm) I'll have it back, but in my experience these things always take longer than the IT guy says they will so who really knows.
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Now that Jay and his good weather karma have gone back to Israel the weather has crapped out again - rain today had me stuck in arcade hell instead of my hoped for visit with Maribeth, and it's not looking much better for the rest of the weekend either. Blech. I hope things are sunnier wherever you are this week and you've got lots of great images and stories to share for this week's Summer Stock. Don't forget to leave your permalink below and link back here to Around the Island as well so that we can all find them and share in your fun.
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Computer's headed to the shop

My ohmygodit'sapieceofcrap laptop is finally heading in to IT for an overhaul today. I'm hoping to get it back Saturday but it may take longer, so if I go AWOL that's why.

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and I get it back in much healthier shape before I leave to go home on Wednesday!

Tidal Pool, Mount Desert Island

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Click to enlarge any of the above

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Wow, my photos are uploading a lot more quickly without those borders. Too bad I really like to have them.

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These were taken (in full manual! Yay me, I'm finally getting the hang of this whole "photography" thing) at a tidal pool in Acadia National Park at low tide. What a cool place, very eery in the thick fog. It was a real highlight of the trip. Actually, most of Maine was a real highlight of the trip. As we drove back to New Hampshire (no slouch itself), Jay and I were trying (in vain I'm afraid) to figure out how we could finance a summer house and a way to work remotely (for him, I already telecommute) so we could spend summers in it!

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PS Can you find the critter hiding in the second photo? He was awfully cute, but quite shy.

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Summer Stock - Better late than never

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Back again with a few photos from our Maine trip - pretty much straight out of the camera (just minor tweaking in picasa, it's late and I'm too tired to open photoshop and add the borders or do anything complicated).

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Why I like to hike - the view from the top of Beech Mountain in Acadia National Park

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Really wild low-lying fog around the islands off of Mount Desert Island (Acadia National Park / Bar Harbor). Up on top of Cadillac Mountain we were enjoying a gloriously sunny day.

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Lobster buoys in use and at rest (i.e. decorating the side of a local lobster pound)
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We also had a great evening (and a great dinner and even better ice cream) with Dawn and Laura. I'll post that photo just as soon as I photoshop out that double chin get an okay to post it since it includes another friend of theirs and I'm not sure how she feels about having her photo splashed across the internet.

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Just got in from Maine (had a great time - hi Dawn and Laura!) and am racing out the door again to a family function. We were unexpectedly without internet at our last hotel so couldn't get this up in time, sorry.
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Here's the linkie, will be back with pics of my own later tonight, please sign in, link up, etc. You know the drill.

Off to the coast

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Jay and I head for the Maine coast first thing tomorrow morning (our 18th anniversary!) for 4 nights and 5 days of kid-free fun - hiking, kayaking, exploring, and lots of lots of lobster.

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As a bonus, we're even getting to meet the cranky, middle-aged lesbian building contractor herself (who I strongly suspect is not nearly as cranky as she claims to be) and her delightful partner and soon to be wife (as soon as folks in Maine get their legal act together already and put the haters back in their place once and for all).

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We'll be back on Saturday for Summer Stock - catch you then! Have a great week everyone.

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Summer Stock Sunday #11 - Oh Captain My Captain

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Click to enlarge

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Maya driving the boat as my father keeps a careful eye out, with assorted other relatives in the background.

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I'm sorry, I know I have been completely remiss about getting out to all your blogs this past week, but as you can see from the sparse posting on my own we've barely stopped for a moment. The sun hasn't shone often in New England this summer so every sunny day is viewed as a treasure to be savored - great for making vacation memories, not so great for blog-hopping (of course they could all move to Israel like us, where there's no shortage of sunny summer days, but so far we've got no takers, and given the scenery on the lake here I suppose I can understand that). I do plan to visit all of you this weekend and hope you'll be patient with me (and put up with all of these endless vacation posts) for a while longer. It's not all fun and games of course, I am attempting to work in between all the boat rides but I figured that wouldn't make nearly as interesting a post. (Stop the presses - Robin created a document this afternoon! And edited another one! Can't you just die from the excitement?)

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I hope fun and games and sunshine are a part of all of your summers this week too - let's see all those great images and stories rolling in for this week's Summer Stock. Don't forget to leave your permalink below and link back here to Around the Island as well so that we can all find them and share in your fun.

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Crabcakes, scallops and shrimp, oh my

And that's not even mentioning the lobster.

I always feel like I have to get in a year's worth of delicious (and cheap! at least by Israeli standards) seafood every time I come to the US, and let me tell you, New England is one heck of a place to indulge that particular obsession.

Jay's sister is here for a few days with her husband and new baby, so to give my mom a break from the kitchen we did the cooking tonight. Jay went a bit crazy at the seafood counter of the supermarket but he did such an amazing job grilling it all up that all that was left over was a skewer or two of grilled shrimp. I really should write down what he seasoned it all with before he forgets because it was delicious.

Tomorrow we're off to a local rib and music festival on the top of a nearby mountain - good food, good music and good photo ops - what more do you need?

Life is good.

Have I mentioned before that I'm really loving this vacation thing? Do you think my company would keep paying me if I stayed on vacation all year long?
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Just another day in paradise

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When the sun is shining brightly and the mercury climbs this place shines like few others.

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I will have time to write an actual post one of these days, I promise. For those keeping track, the wedding was lovely, it was wonderful to see everyone again, drama was kept to a minimum, AND I got to spend a delightful afternoon wandering around historic Concord, Massachusetts with the very lovely Janet and her canine sidekick Max. Since we got back the weather has been so glorious that I didn't even begrudge the few hours of work I had to do today.

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Tomorrow Jay and I are going hiking in the morning while the kids are in camp. (Itai is going half-days for two weeks and is having a blast hanging out with a bunch of American kids, Maya's age is only twice a week for three hours a day. She's got her second day tomorrow. Her first was a big success too so she's really looking forward to going back.) Hopefully the weather holds because I hear the view from the top is incredible!

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Summer Stock Sunday #10 - Sunrise over the lake

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Click to enlarge

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By the time this post is published (I hope - my blog is on Israel time, my laptop stays on Pacific time for work, and we're on Eastern time, god only knows what will actually happen but I've got my fingers crossed that it will all work out) we will be in Connecticut, putting the final touches on our fancy threads and getting ready to head out to my cousin's wedding. I'll be back on Sunday evening and am really looking forward to seeing what wonderful summer scenes you've all got to share this week, so come on out and play along everyone.

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My photo for this week was taken at 6am this morning at the beach by my parents' house and is straight out of the camera (except of course for the frame). I figured if I was going to be jetlagged I could at least haul myself down to the beach to catch the sunrise and try out my new gorillapod. (The final verdict still isn't in but I predict it's ease and compact size will far outweigh the hassle of not being able to easily look through the viewfinder when it's used on the ground. It's definitely a fun toy though, and I'm looking forward to putting it through its paces.)

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Now it's your turn. Put up your Summer Stock post and then come here and post your permalink (the link to the individual post, rather than to your blog's main page - this makes it much easier for everyone to follow along - you can get the permalink by clicking on your post's title). Your Summer Stock images can be anything at all that says summer to you, but please tag the post as Summer Stock and link back to Around the Island so that we can all find you. Most importantly, have fun with it, and do take the time to visit your fellow participants - it's great fun to see what summer looks like all over the world.

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