English Meadows Inn

Senin, 31 Agustus 2009



I'm back from vacation and well rested thanks to my stay at the English Meadows Inn in Kennebunkport, Maine. Today's post is all about the Inn. I'll share photos from my vacation with stops in Ogunquit, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells later this week.



The inn is a cheery yellow home with a beautiful garden. Our innkeeper, Bruce was the perfect host. He spent time with us going over maps and discussing things to do.



Gorgeous flowers add a touch of color to the guest entrance.



A bench where the weary traveler can rest.



Tigger, the resident cat, is the sweetest! He's living the good life at 21 years old.




Comfortable seating near the reception area.




I love this dragonfly lamp! My room was right off this lovely area.



A collection of Asian items. Aren't they fascinating?




This is my room, the Surrey. I chose it for the blue and white theme. And I do love toile!




I wrote in my comments that this was the most comfortable bed I ever slept in and that's the truth. I think there was a feather bed under the sheets. I had the most restful sleep in a long time. Maybe it was the cool Maine air.



Here's my bathroom. So charming. I loved the patterns in the wallpaper.



My white iron bed. I could have slept all day in that bed but I was motivated to get up for breakfast knowing the gourmet feast awaiting me each morning.



Sherry in the decanter if you wanted to imbibe.




A cozy chair for reading.




A chair for company and a marble table.




My sister's room was adorable too. Hers was called the Bingley and it was decorated in shades of pink.



Her bathroom was a bit bigger as was her room.



As I mentioned the breakfasts were grand. This is grand marnier french toast and artisan sausage links from the area.



Mom's apple cake. Yum!



Apples with granola and devonshire cream. Another morning we had poached pears in an orange sauce.




Here's a four cheese crustless quiche which remained piping hot all through breakfast. We shared a table with two delightful women, Florence and Sheila. They were enroute to Bar Harbor. We enjoyed their company and exchanged email addresses.

Another morning we conversed with a couple from Connecticut.



One day we had afternoon tea at the Inn. Such pretty china!




The presentation was fantastic.



We had an organic lemon curd made by Bruce, a seedless raspberry jam from a local farm, and devoshire cream for our scones.



We had scones and sweet treats. Luckily, I only had to share with my sister. At the next table a grandmother and grandaughter from Saco, Maine were enjoying an afternoon together before the grandaughter went back to school and the sixth grade.




The scones were warm and delicious. I can't exactly remember the flavors but I think one had apricots and pecans in it.



The sideboard housed a collection of teapots and there were many more in the china cabinet.




A relaxing spot to read a book or enjoy the sunshine.




The gardens were so well cared for.



Cheery flowers add a pop of color.



This chair was mine each morning before breakfast. This is where I had my first cup of coffee. Hot drinks were available each morning before breakfast. I enjoyed my cup of coffee with the same couple each morning. They were from Virginia and they were traveling with their service dog Coji. Coji always tried to take a sip of my coffee but don't worry he never succeeded. He was trained to serve for four diabilities. The wife was legally blind and deaf and had balance issues. Coji was a wonder.

After reading this rather lengthy post, you can see why I would love to make a return trip to the English Meadows Inn. My sister would agree, our stay was perfect. I wonder if they have availability in the Fall?

Gone to Maine !!

Selasa, 25 Agustus 2009



I'm off to Maine with my sister for a little R&R. I can't wait. As I left work this evening a wave of happiness came over me. Knowing that I do not have to think about work until Monday is quite the vacation in itself!



Time to stop and smell the beach roses!



And let the ocean and blue sky mesmerize me.




Or have a spot of tea or a cool drink on the porch.



No worries about the kitties. They're in the good hands of my friend Don AKA The Cat Whisperer. Hopefully someone can pry his camera away from him!



Will the kits be speaking to me when I return? Molly will. I've left her
with Don before, but Oscar, well we shall see.

The Real Victoria is back!

Minggu, 23 Agustus 2009



Have you seen the current issue of Victoria Magazine? I would have to say in my humble opinion that this is their best issue to date. I am talking about issues since they started publishing Victoria again.

I felt as if the editors were inside my head. It was as if they knew exactly what makes me tick. There are so many reasons why I adore this issue. They touched on all my favorites.



Page 16 featured a beautiful vintage inspired suitcase set. In a prior post, I had a photo of some suitcases I collected from a consignment shop. This photo was taken at my favorite store Nesting on Main in Concord.



Lately I am really loving lavender. The little postcard sachets on page 20 are so sweet. I am definitely going to purchase one or two. My photo was taken at Wilson Farms in Lexington.



The Flavors of Fall article starting on page 36 whetted my appetite for all those wonderful desserts and drinks made with apples. Cider, streudel, pies. Yum! These apple cider donuts are made fresh at Wilson Farms. They are a Fall favorite.



And don't forget the apple streudel!




Page 46 featured Leeds Castle. I was happy to read all about this castle because I went there in 1998. My sister, two friends and I had tea on the grounds. It is breathtakingly beautiful! Here are a few of the pages from my scrapbook for that trip.



I like to make a scrapbook for each trip. And use some quotes as well as photos.



Yes, that's me taking tea on a beautiful July afternoon at Leeds Castle. Don't you love the perm? My hair is tamer now. Sorry for the poor quality photo.

There were many other goodies in this British issue of Victoria. I loved the French Laundry vintage fabric carry all bags on page 19 and the European inspired bath canisters with apothecary script. I found out about a Fall shopping and train excursion that I would like to attend and there was a nice article about the store French General.

If you don't have the current issue I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy. You will be in awe of the photography and there's always something of interest on every page.

Do I have domestic issues?

Rabu, 19 Agustus 2009



So the kitty pictured above was seen with a dustbunny on her whisker this morning. Which led me to believe that it was time to take stock of my domestic skills and to get out the Swiffer Dry Mop.




Or perhaps I should adopt this philosphy?

Van Gogh's Cafe

Senin, 17 Agustus 2009



The empty space in the common area of my condo was just crying for a table and a couple of chairs. We (me and the guys who own the other 3 condos in the building) had an ugly table at one end of the area and I tried my best to make it pretty by putting fresh flowers on it every week.

I'd been watching a bistro set at Home Goods for a few weeks. I thought it might be on sale in August so on Saturday morning I went back to see if the price went down. To my surprise, it was gone!

I went to a second Home Goods store in the area to see if they had the same set. They didn't but they had another one that was equally as cute. This one was green wrought iron with silver accents. I immediately bought it. And yes, it was on sale!

So as you can see from the photo above, it is nestled very nicely in the corner of the common area. I added a vase of mini sunflowers and voila, the look is complete. My sister came into the common area and said, "Oh, it looks like Van Gogh's cafe!". I think the name will
stick.

To My Sister on her Birthday

Sabtu, 15 Agustus 2009



I took this photo of my sister Sheila a few years ago. We were at Nubble Light in York, Maine. She was cold and so I gave her my sweater. I love this photo of her because she has a look of pure happiness on her face.

So today was her birthday. We had a little party with a few friends at my condo. We did not have the traditional birthday cake. Instead, we had a mixed berry cobbler with whipped cream. My sister loves lemon so there was a small lemon sponge cake as well.

I didn't have a gift bag for her two little presents so I improvised. Using recycled materials, I tried to recognize the many aspects of my sister. A feather represented herinterest in Native Americans. She teaches classes about Native Americans. I used an accordion pleated bow made of sheet music because she plays the violin, guitar, fife, and penny whistle. The bow had a disc in the middle which had a rubber stamped crown on it. This represented my sister's love of all things British. She's been to England five times (twice with me).

So she enjoyed her gift wrap and I served her favorite Harrod's No 42 Earl Grey tea. We will be returning to Maine soon. We're going to Kennebunkport for a few days at the end of the month.

We like to do the same things and eat the same foods and she puts up with my photography obsession. I know we'll have a great time on our trip because we're not only sisters we're best friends.

Meet Tiger Lily

Rabu, 12 Agustus 2009

This is Tiger Lily. She is my friend and she lives with my friend Kim and Kim's family.



I'm lucky because Tiger lives just a couple streets over from me so I get to visit her often.



Compared to my cats, she's tiny. She only weighs about 6 lbs.



Can you find her in the photo? She loves to hide in the foliage.



And she loves to lounge on her front walkway and cool off on the stone wall.



This is pure kitty joy!




Such a sweet little face.



What's that in the bushes?



Rats !! It was a false alarm!



Tiger wants to end the photo shoot. She's got to troll the grounds and look for her next meal. Eek!

One more thing- Julie from Being Ruby awarded me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you Julie
I am honored to receive this award from you. I will pass it on but not just yet. I need to give it some thought!
 

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