Bogieblog

Growing Salad

In the spring, I had an idea for growing fresh greens, plant them in utility baskets I bought at the dollar store. I had very good results until the hot weather came along. I've been thinking of starting some baskets again now that cooler weather is on its way.

Then I go read Dreams and Bones, and she has a post on her Salad Box. This is along the same idea, but it uses plastic, breathable bags to grow greans in. Seems I'm not so innovative after all. However, I beleive she bought hers for around $12, mine cost me about $2.

That just goes to prove that I am cheaper more frugal than she is.

Stay Cool

It has been in the mid 90's all week with the temps finally falling down into the high 80's yesterday.

Fuzzy sums it up nicely with his quest to stay cool by spreading out on the tiles below the woodstove:

 

Should be cooler as an after affect of the hurricane going by, but it was also supposed to rain, and we didn't get any of that (technically, we did get a sprinkle).

Have a happy and safe Labor Day Weekend!

Sunday Ride

Last Sunday we gathered our stuff early, hopped on the bike, and rode over to Jimmy's to meet up with the folks going on the ride. Christine and Ray, Jimmy and his latest girlfriend (LG), SIL (sans BIL - who was out of town) and WS and I made up the group. We were hoping the Ray's son would join us, but it was not to be.

Bear, of course had to go with Ray and Christine (he's always a welcome addition to any ride). While everyone got their stuff together (ate breakfast sandwiches, loaded up etc), Bear snoozed for a bit:

He seemed to know when we were finally getting serious about the ride and were making final preparations:

 

We finally came up with a route to take thru the day and left about 9:45 AM. Destination, Sebago Lake in Maine. According to Mapquest, this is a little over 151 miles and 3 hours away, using main roads / highways if traveling thru Portsmouth, NH. We wanted to avoid highways and Portsmouth, as there was an airshow going on, so we chose a route 131 miles long and closer to 3.5 hours, using secondary roads.

It was a lovely ride up to the lake, with the wind cooling us down from the eventual 90+ degrees. Once we were going around the lake, it had its own cooling effect.

We stopped for lunch about 2PM at Charlie Beigg's in Windham, ME. W stopped there because it was an eatery with an enclosed and covered deck. They also didn't mind having Bear with us (he was passed over the railing so he didn't go in the building and violate any health codes). No one else was using the deck because of the heat, so we didn't have to worry about keeping the conversation down to a respectable level. The food was very good and so was the service - looking at the website I see they won several awards in 2009:

• 1st - Best Overall Restaurant
• 1st - Best Burger and Fries
• 1st - Best Happy Hour
• 2nd - place for Best Seafood behind Bob's Seafod

We really lucked out when we happened to pick them! if you are ever in the area, I definitely reccommend stopping there.

Here is the group where we parked for lunch - we even found a bit of shade for the bikes. There were only a couple of trees big enough to give shade, but they were a bit of a walk to the eatery, so no cars had taken advantage of the shade.

After an hour or so, we got back on the bikes and headed back for home.

 

The above picture is of the Group behind us (SIL in the foreground, Ray and Christine, then Jimmy and LG), somehow WS gets to play tour guide on a lot of the rides. Not that he has ever been to the places he gets to lead to, but somehow rarely does anyone else want to take the lead.

We finally got home about 7:30. Tired but happy to have spent a hot day cooling off in the breeze.