Did Newton come up with his theory in Maine?

Maine is currently in apple season. There are lots of orchards locally selling an abundance of apples from farm stands, at farmers markets and by opening up their own orchards to pickers. On Sunday, I was taken fittingly to Thompson’s orchard by Teresa and her husband Tom. Teresa had the foresight to order donuts in advance so when we arrived we avoided the huge line and headed straight for the counter. That lovely sweet, sugary smell filled the air and wafted from the kitchen and in to our hands. Warm pumpkin and chocolate donuts of the delicious non-greasy but very sugary variety quickly made their way to our bellies. Yum, yum, yum!

Posing for both of these pictures required bumping little kids out of the way...luckily none of them recognised me from school!

  

Then it was down to task. Wandering through the orchard, we began to fill up our bags from laden trees, sampling the wares. By the time I’d eaten 2 rather large apples (trying out different varieties is my excuse), I had had my fill of apples. Very reminiscent of days strawberry picking where by the time I’d scoffed my way round the pick your own, I didn’t actually want to look at another strawberry, never mind eat one, ever again...or at least for a very long time!

It was then back to Teresa’s for a lovely afternoon pottering around in the kitchen making apple crisp (or crumble to us Brits) and then of course having to sample a bit warm from the oven with a dollop of ice cream. I can then say I didn’t eat for the rest of the day, so full was I of apples!

I now have a large quantity left. Baked apples, apple and raisin bars, possibly some apple muffins are all on the cards. Any other suggestions gratefully received!

Breaking news: Godzilla rears ugly head in Portland

Hating the idea of wasting any of precious summer that remains, I was searching for something to do this weekend. I was going to take a ride out to one of the islands in Casco bay that remain unexplored (well by my feet at least) but then Barbara told me about the Space Gallery Block Party that was happening in Portland. Her company was a sponsor so she was going along to set up a table on the street to drum up interest and I invited myself along...I did help a little, accosting strangers and asking them if they were interested at all in affordable housing. I also got to explore the street which was shut off to traffic but open to artistic types, hangers-on and passers-by. Several installations set themselves along the stretch for people to watch and interact with. One of which involved a giant printing press. Members of the printing press had hand made lots of individual letter stamps and were asking people to submit analogue tweets to be printed onto giant sheets and raised up for all to read...

Another of the arty events going on was the creation of a stop-go animation of Godzilla in Portland. Very amusing to watch the process. Saw the woman climbing in to the Godzilla suit, then watched as they filmed a bit of it (it was an epic undertaking). There were loads of camera crew plus kids doing the moving bit by bit of the cars and buses. Lots of instructions were shouted as objects were moved too far or not quickly enough.

There were various other street performances and installations going on too including a guy dressed up in a kilt and reciting in a good, but not authentic, Scottish accent, McGonagall's poem about the River Tay Bridge Disaster. Brought back memories of mum's hysterical (and better!) version over the breakfast table! 

A highlight was a performance by the 'What cheer? Brigade'. A 19 piece marching band which had the whole street jumpin'. See what you think...Watch this clip (sadly it wouldn't let me upload my video but you'll get the picture!)

To top off a great afternoon, Nick and Barbara took me out for dinner. A very nice little bistro in Portland where we had a delicious vegetable curry to warm us up and some incredibly yummy deserts. Portland is a foodie city as well as an arty one. Every time I go out with someone, they point me in the direction of another 10 good places to eat...size of a house, here I come!

Or not...I went for a great cycle ride this morning in the sunshine. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! 

My first ball game is a Cumberland affair!

I went to my first ball game yesterday…I went to see the Sea Dogs, Portland’s minor league team (but importantly they are a feeder team for the Boston Red Sox, a major league team).  It was a Cumberland affair firstly because our neighbour, Will, was juggling on the pitch before the game and between innings. He’s 14 and won the juggling championships in Illinois earlier this year. He spends absolutely ages practicing out in the street and is pretty amazing to watch!

Secondly, my house mate Sarah was conducting her Greely High School singing group who were in charge of singing the National Anthem before the game. The poor kids had to wear tuxedos in the stifling heat but they looked very smart and did a great job!

Then the fun began. Here’s a run down of the game from my rookie perspective (The guy behind answered lots of my questions and so did Sarah when she returned):

·         There are 9 players on each team

·         There are 9 innings each (Yes, 9!!!)

·         Thankfully, these innings can be short as an innings only lasts until 3 people are out. You can be caught out (the most common), run out or struck out (3 strikes and you’re out! This means if the ball is pitched just right and you swing and miss/ don’t bother to try 3 times, you’re out)

·         A home run is where the batter hits the ball over the boundary of the ball park and basically can make it all the way round the bases back to home before the ball is returned.

The Sea Dogs didn’t play very well…they lost…but sitting in the sun, soaking up the atmosphere was great. You can be thrown out of a game for uttering profanities...can you just imagine that at a football match? Ha! Half the ground would be ordered to leave. Just like in the UK, spectators didn’t stop eating. My word, what a load of junk was consumed. I was out of place with my apple!!! What was also amusing was how, between innings, various sponsors took to the pitch and stands to hold competitions for various bits of their merchandise. We saw kids throwing newspapers, families throwing balls into a giant shopping trolley and kids playing musical chairs in ginormous inflatable arm chairs. Then there was the ‘at the ball game’ 7 ½ innings stretch and sing…what a day!

Also on the agenda this weekend was having a go at baking. I made raspberry and lemon muffins for breakfast and a pavlova to share for Sunday night dinner. All done whilst wearing my Union Jack apron, the only thing vaguely patriotic I brought with me and that was only thanks to Carly!

Pavlova for dessert...it quickly turned into Eton mess.

Sarah, Stuart and Sophie sampling

Life is a jigsaw puzzle

Another busy week, made crazier by having to do some work!

Luckily for us, Irene whirled her way through town as a downgraded tropical storm. She brought with her heavy rain and strong winds (enough to make our power flicker off and then off again. Others in town lost power for 24 hours or so and therefore came to school stinky on Monday as they couldn't shower) but we got through without much lasting damage. A relief! It also meant I had no choice but to stay in all day and do some much needed preparations for school.
Sadly, the same can't be said for Vermont. A Fulbright family have been affected big time, with all the roads that lead to their door having been washed away. FEMA have now got through to their community, but the clear up is going to take a while. Their house is still standing, so that's something.



Hot Club of Cow Town



Before the hurricane held me hostage, I went with Anne up to Bangor to the American Folk Festival. It was a beautiful day - the calm before the storm - and we sat in the glorious sunshine to listen to lots of different music - Reveillions! (a Quebecois Ceilidh band), Hot Club of Cow Town (a Western Swing band), Samba Ngo (a Congolese samba band) and Brotherhood singers (an acapella gospel group).

 
We also went to see a fiddle workshop, where fiddle players from the different groups playing at the festival came together to showcase their different styles from Bluegrass to Middle Eastern. Despite the compere talking for way longer than was necessary, this was easily the best bit of the festival. We were sat round a stage in a natural hollow on the river bank, basking in the late afternoon sun, listening to these different musicians come together as if they'd played with each other forever. Magic!

To top off my musical week, on Wednesday Richard Thompson rolled into town. After my first day at school, I was struggling to keep my eyes open until he took to the stage. I think he played non-stop for about an hour and a half. A magician with a guitar. If you haven't heard of him, check out this link: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. The only part of me complaining was my numb bum!

So to school...The first few days have felt like a jigsaw puzzle. You know when you start a jigsaw, you want all the edge pieces to be in place first? Well the beginning of the school year is a bit like that and lets just say, several of my key bits were missing. By Wednesday lunchtime, I had already met challenges that perhaps I should have seen coming and felt like I'd been hit by a train. The principal chose to stop by my classroom at exactly the moment I was at my least organised! I had decided to create a jigsaw with my class, each person taking a piece to illustrate with their goals for the year ahead. On Sunday I spent ages drawing it out, cutting it up and making sure (or so I thought) there were 22 pieces, labelling them and drawing a diagram so I could piece it back together. After explaining the task, one of the kids asked "How do we know which way up it goes?" Hmmmm hadn't thought of that one but overcame it. Then, as the principal walks in, I'm searching everywhere for the 22nd piece which has disappeared. It didn't look good and I thought I was cracking up...I was as I hadn't cut one of the pieces in half. She hasn't been back since...a good or bad sign?

The blooming jigsaw and its extra piece!

A highlight of the week was teaching the class French. I thought they might find it a bit naff but it was met with great enthusiasm. It has been an entertaining few days with us trying to suss each other out and the children having to work out what i'm on about even speaking English. I asked a boy to 'put that in the bin' and I wondered why he was looking so hesitant...I still can't call it 'the trash'. Everyone at Bliss will be entertained to know that I already have the reputation as strict. Good good!

The Pledge of Allegiance is said to the flag every day at 8:30. I find it very bizzarre but luckily they don't need me to do anything. It comes over the tannoy and off they go! Another thing is fire drills. We had one today and I think every police car in Cumberland attended (seriously there were at least 5 in my eye line around our side of the school) as well as an ambulance...police cars? To a fire drill? And the police men had holstered guns. I didn't see a fire engine though...cultural differences!

I've had some funny moments. Today one boy asked me what I was doing this weekend. I told him I was going to Toots for ice cream. "When?" he asked. "Oh all weekend. For breakfast, lunch and dinner every day," I replied. "Really?" "Really." I didn't think much of this until, when saying goodbye in the bus queue, he made a comment about my ice cream weekend plans. I hope he's not going to be disappointed if I'm not there when he visits! I did go as a reward tonight though...time is running out to try all the flavours!

Everyone in school has been great. So many people checked in on me after my first day, even the janitors. Today, a parent of someone in the class next door, popped in and gave me a bag "in case you are home sick over the weekend". Inside was a packet of chocolate digestives, a box of PG tips, some marmite and an aero bar. How nice was that?

This made me chuckle!

Amazing sunsets can be seen from our back deck