Hi, Blog Watchers - did you miss me? We took a sort of spur-of-the-moment get-away trip to the Maine coast last week. We spent a couple of days at our favorite hotel, the Union Bluff in York. We hit the weather just right - sunny and warm - perfect for beach walks and  meandering along the shore.

    A trip to Maine isn't complete without visiting the Nubble Lighthouse, and the weather was perfect for that. We were there at low tide and could have walked over to the lighthouse on the rocks - I'd forgotten about that. By the way, there's an ad for some brand of automobiles that has the Nubble lighthouse in the background, only the picture is reversed. We see it on WCAX every now and then. We swung down to Perkins' Pier, but there wasn't much going on there. Several boats came in, but there were very few people around. Most that were there were working to get ready for the summer tourists. Shops were open but getting stock out, cleaning and polishing.
    Spring was much further along there than it is here. The forsythia was beautiful - I know lots of people consider it an invasive pest there, but some people have trimmed it into hedges over there or carefully groomed individual bushes, and it's very pretty. Especially when combined with purple rhododendron. I love that combination, but I'm afraid our winters are too harsh for the forsythia, and maybe the rhododendrons, too. I've tried forsythia in the past and it failed. The ornamental apple trees were blooming, too. Plants like tulips and daffodils were gone by, and lawns were lush green and being mowed. It was very nice to experience spring there and know that once back home we'd have our own spring to look forward to. Maybe.
      I left my laptop at home - on purpose. It was a get-away, after all, and I've been glued to my computer for weeks, so thought it would be more of a vacation if I didn't have access. Turned out I missed it. Then, once home, I had lots of email to go through and things to catch up on I probably could have avoided if I'd had my laptop. Fred had his, and kept up with his email. I could have used his to check my mail except I couldn't remember my passwords.
     Once back home, I rushed to get the JPA directory out and then we've had a lot going on. Like today - it was Tangeni's dance recital in Lyndonville, and that is always a hoot. We got to see our older grand, Jo-Ann, who got home from college this week. But we saw her only for a little while, and then she was off to some sports game with friends. The dance recital was really nice - we saw the Rafuse sisters, Alyssa and Ava (James and Jenny's daughters), too. Ava was in Tangeni's jazz class. Alyssa is in an older class. They all did very well and it's fun to see them progress over the years. That's Tangeni above with her medal that is awarded at the end of each dance year. You can see that she's a very serious student of the dance!
    Now we will settle back into our normal routine. Another busy week ahead, and almost before we know it we'll be in full-fledged summer mode. All the Joe's Pond folks will be here very soon now. I think we have one more round of nasty weather to get through (the forecast is for snow in the mountains on Tuesday) and then we should at least have warmer temperatures, if not sunshine.