Good Book Finds: Elizabeth Coatsworth and Janina Domanska ~ Under the Green Willow

It’s a blog about living in a library, but, not much talk about books so far, really, eh?


Need to change that. So, I bring you “good book finds” – installment #1.




As a result of the renovations, things were extra dusty here this year, when we moved in. I have been working to get out from under all the dust, and slowly making progress. Meanwhile, I have been finding books to be particularly out of order and mixed up in the children’s room. So, on Sunday afternoon, I got a bucket of warm water and a rag, and Ray and I embarked on a major children’s room cleaning and organizing effort. Not done yet. But, getting there.

Dusted and cleaned on and around the books, and did some serious alphabetizing work. One of the fun parts of this work was finding all sorts of books that I got really excited about. Books I have known and loved, but temporarily forgotten. Books that are beautiful. Books that are somehow extra "interesting". Books by writers/illustrators I love, but did not know about. And so on and so forth.

The first one I have for you I pulled because of the author: Elizabeth Coatsworth. Most famous, I think, for The Cat Who Went To Heaven. I admit to not remembering it. Anne says she read it to Alden last year. Then, this spring, Alden read a whole bunch of different Elizabeth Coatsworth books. One of the libraries we frequent at home has a big collection of her books, and I just happened to pull a few one day to feed to Alden.

So, when I saw a book by her when I was cleaning, I grabbed it. After looking through it more closely, it was the illustrations, by Janina Domanska, that I fell in love with, more than anything.

This one is more of a Milo book than an Alden book. The ones Alden read were short-ish chapter books, with real stories. This one is short and simple, just a few words on each page, hardly a story at all. Yet, I have happily read it to Milo for the last three or four nights.

Summary: birds, turtles, fishes, hanging out in the water, waiting for crumbs, all under the green willow.

More on Coatsworth here.

And, Domanska here.

might see if I can still buy that book she won the Caldecott Honors for...

The Littlest Hikers

Going for a hike over on Mount Desert Island is one of the many things on summer’s “to do” list.

Jordan Pond from the top of North Bubble.

We ended up getting after this one very quickly, as the Edinburgh Thompsons determined that the best/only day for them to hike was Saturday. My uncle Henny is a serious traditionalist: sentimental, nostalgic, whatever you want to call it. As far as he’s concerned there’s really only one hike to do on the island, and that is Sargent Mountain. Every year, they do the same hike: up one side of Sargent, down a different trail, stopping at the pond for a swim, and then on to Jordan Pond House for tea and popovers. Admittedly, the hiking around here is pretty small scale, but, for around here, Sargent is one of the more significant hikes.

Henny very kindly invited Alden to come along with his group.

Looking out from the top of our mountain. Behind them is Sargent, where Alden and his group were.

Meanwhile, the rest of us, with smaller children or less ambition, were considering the other options (the idea here was that people could hike different things but all end up together for the tea and popovers part of the expedition).

We settled on the old standby for when you are hiking with the smaller set: a Bubble. The Bubbles are the classic hike for small children (or, crazy tourists who think they want the hike experience. Coming down, we passed one set of people including a very nicely put together woman, mid-50s, maybe, pocketbook in hand, very nice white crisp shirt and completely inappropriate shoes. Who knows whether she made it all the way up. I mean, it’s an easy hike, but, it is a hike, and you need appropriate shoes!)

We did the Bubbles with Alden and Max and Kira when the boys were 2 ½; then again, two summers ago, Anne and James and Alden and Milo and I did it, Milo at 6 months and in the back pack the whole way.

Georgia, 6 months old, sleeping.

and, awake:

This time, we decided to do the North Bubble, usually we do the South Bubble, so, time for a little something different. And, I brought the back pack, just in case…

North Bubble, yes, it really does say 872 feet. It's a whole 80 or so feet taller than the South Bubble.

The group included Paul and Eva and Rose, Anne and Milo and me, and Charlotte and Georgia.

Milo was a bit whiny at first, as we set off on the trail (poor thing, he was missing his nap), and he requested for me to put him in the backpack. But, within a few minutes, he realized that moving under his own steam was going to be way more fun, and he asked to get out. He then proceeded to hike the whole thing by himself.

Heading down turned out to be slower going than the hike up.... lots of stopping, for pretend falls and playing in the leaves and dirt.

you'll find photos of the after-party at Jordan Pond over at flickr.

We're here

It's summer and we have arrived. Here's our lovely little home.

It's had a new paint job (and a variety of other updates and improvements, which I will document soon) and looks all shiny and sparkly.

We have actually been staying at my mom's since arriving on Friday, but, the Edinburgh Thompsons come tonight, and so, it really is time to move in to the library. We kept saying we were going to move up to the library, but then we kept enjoying it down here so much.

And, the paint fumes at the library have been pretty intense, still (yeah, all that sparkly and shiny comes at a cost), so, the lovely clean air at the big house has been a nice thing.

But, the library opened yesterday, and I find it a little crazy to be running back and forth between home and work. Much easier to just live right where you work. Okay, ask me how I feel about that in a few months...

Summer's Over

Summer’s over, and it’s time to put this blog on the shelf, until next year, anyway. But, before doing so, here are a few bits and pieces from the last day.

One more trip to Sand Beach, which Alden had been asking and asking for. A nice surprise, when we got down the stairs and on to the beach, was none other than Charlotte Clews Lawther. Wednesday mornings she has Sand Beach duty, which means some sort of big sea creature and natural history show for all the tourists (big show, that is, not a show about big sea creatures). As we arrived, she was just finishing up.

It was really fun to see her, albeit briefly, and in spite of the fact that she was still under the weather from some nasty stomach thing (and always fun to get to see her in her cool park uniform and ranger’s hat. And, this time, also, in a specially ordered maternity smock for pregnant rangers – a rare breed, I’m guessing). She was nice enough to share with Alden some of the cool stuff from her cooler. I think that there is one of those funky sea cucumbers.

People were curious and poor Charlotte ended up doing a whole other mini-show, I think. Thanks, Charlotte.

Then, in the late afternoon, a quick visit to one of our favorite Hancock Point spots: Reed’s Rocks.

for the next installment of our adventures, you'll need to visit:

http://itsnotjustvacationland.blogspot.com/

Wet and Rainy Part 2. (should really be called: Dry and Sunny)

I had taken Alden over to Schoodic Point earlier this week, just to get out of the house (library…) and have a little adventure, and also to pick up Anne, who had been over there with some friends. We ended up not having much time at Schoodic, and Alden turned out to really like it there. So, we decided to stop at Schoodic on the way home from Petit Manan.

By this time, it was a totally beautiful sunny, windy Maine afternoon. A very different day than the one we had started out with. Before getting to Schoodic itself, you drive through a sweet little harbor, with two great sights: first, a bunch of lobster boats, bright and colorful and all facing the same way (they do that, you know…), and then, wonder of wonders, Sardine Man. Not really sure who he is, but, he just seemed like he needed to be photographed.

We then got over to Schoodic, and had a great time scrambling around on the rocks, and enjoying the sun and wind and wonderful afternoon light.

Wet and Rainy

And some people were on the cranky side. But, I was done with the library and we had a day to do something with, and I was determined to try my best to make it happen.

I had been wanting to go to Petit Manan all summer, just to walk around and check it out. It is a point farther east, definitely more remote seeming, and parts of the peninsula have been turned into a National Wildlife Refuge, and supposedly you can spot cool birds, nature features, etc. The rain was, in a way, a good reason to hop in the car and head downeast. There was really nothing else we could think of to do… so, picnic packed, raincoats found, and extra shoes and clothes for everyone.

Off we went.

I recently bought Milo a new raincoat. Looks pretty cute, I think.


It was rainy for a good portion of the 1.5 mile walk (the signpost says it takes an hour. I think it took us nearly three. I let Milo walk some, and we definitely stopped to enjoy various parts, in spite of the rain.)



You walk in the woods for a while, and then it opens up to the shore. Spectacularly beautiful, remote seeming, Maine coast. Not totally open ocean, but a very different feel than the water and views around Hancock Point.

We did not really see much in the way of birds – some sea birds, but a little far away for really good viewing. Nevertheless, as we walked around the trail, and as the weather slowly got better, moods lifted and it felt like we had made the right decision, to get in the car and drive over here. By the time we got back to the beginning, the sun had finally fully come out, and we had a some excellent trailside blueberry picking and a lovely parking lot picnic.

My mom's garden: Mint

Over by the Little House, not in the main flower or vegetable garden (actually, really, garden spots - garden plots? - are kind of scattered all over the property, front, back, side, corners here and there, though there clearly is a main flower and vegetable garden in front of the house on the sea side), a patch of mint grows. I kind of thought it was just growing wildly, but I asked Mom, and discovered that she had in fact planted it there.


I have always loved that mint, and it is fun to think of things to do with it. Recent highlights are, of course, decorate a blueberry cake with it. Remember, the recipe did not call for mint on top, that was my brilliant addition (you can see here that I have some anxieties about not being creative enough, always following recipes rather than making up my own.)

Last summer, my big use for the mint was mojitos. Originally, my friend Karen introduced me to mojitos (I am not much of a mixed-drink person, in general). Once in Maine, with all that mint, I couldn’t help but make mojitos on my own. Not surprisingly, a few other people were quite happy with the situation, and the change from the typical summer drink fare of gin and tonics and microbrewed beer.