#121 Nomad Diary. 11-17 February 2023. Portland, Maine Warms Up. Off-Season Donuts Not Museums. Beginning Crochet.

 

Tricky Britches bluegrass band performance in Portland, Maine.

Jeremy and Quinn in front of the LLBean shoe car at the park!

Saturday. 11. Went to pm Bluegrass concert at One Longfellow Square. Band is Tricky Britches and also a solo singer Caroline Cotter. I loved it! I continued my beginner crochet scarf! 

My beginner crochet scarf.

Sunday. 12. Darrell preached 2nd Sunday in a row and they asked him to preach next Sunday too. We went out to lunch with the two families for our 2nd time also. It’s been fun getting to know each person a little better! Pat moved here over 25 years ago from Omaha. He met Gemma his Philipino wife through letters and she immigrated. They have a 27 year old daughter Hannah. They have lived in 3 different houses in Portland, and Gemma says she wants to stay in their current house. Hannah loves to hike and is beginning to travel on her own or with friends. Last year she did her first road trip to the Grand Canyon! Tom is retired Navy with his wife Marsha who is a writer and podcast director for multi-actor and writer productions. I found out that she had a local novel called Zombie Moose. I looked it up on Amazon, bought it and read it this week. It’s hilarious and kept my interest the whole way through it’s quirky and odd macabre setting. Canda is their daughter who retired from the Army and works with vets in Lewiston now. She also has remodeled her house herself with some help from family members especially her dad. Her kitchen looks amazing and her ability astounded me! Maxine is Marsha’s 89 year old mother who moved here several years ago. This lady has spunk! She went sky diving for her 80th birthday! Wow!

Tony’s donuts display. 

Darrell at Tony’s in Portland, Maine

Monday. 13. We walked to Tony’s donuts a Portland favorite. We discovered that we like their plain cake donuts best. Last week we tried Holy Donuts. I decided that because the museums are mostly closed then we are relegated to food shops! Lol. 

Andrea reading to Quinn.

Tuesday. 14. Today I went to a chiropractor. The worst part of being a Nomad and going to a chiropractor in a new place it that the first appointment costs more! I don’t become a regular client unless I come back here in my lifetime!  I had a good appointment and got my hips back into alignment. Ahhh! 

Wednesday. 15. We met Tom, Marsha and Maxine for lunch at Wei Li restaurant in Auburn. Marsha said it’s her favorite. The restaurant was very enjoyable especially with our company!

Walking in the park with Quinn.

Hi Fi donut display taken by Darrell. I didn’t bring my phone today. These donuts are fried in lard! 

Thursday. 16. We met a neighbor on Jeremy and Andrea’s street they call Grandma Brenda. She came by to say hello and visit for a few minutes. She has a grandson similar in age with Quinn and she likes to bring him little toys to add to his collection. He thinks she is great, and he is right on!

Doing Quinn’s daily facetime with his Auntie Amber, Andrea’s sister. It made him feel better after his Mommy left him at home.

Our facetime with Owen, Quinn’s cousin. They were showing each other their library books! So cute!

Friday. 17. Jeremy and Andrea leave today to go away for a night and return tomorrow. Quinn was upset when they left him behind with their suitcase. He fussed for a few minutes then he calmed down and was great the whole time. He played and ate and slept on cue. 

Nomad Notes. In the last week Darrell and I felt the tug to move. We slowed ourselves down with sitting activities. Darrell did our taxes to completion. Yay! A little after he turned in the taxes, he realized that there was a missing item. He now has to do an amendment in a week or so. He’s going to learn something new now.  I began to teach myself beginning crochet using Youtube videos, a ball of yarn and a crochet hook. Another yay! We walked a lot this week and we enjoy that. I enjoy walking as a way to get away from cellphones and computers. I am walking and looking at the details of the area. I enjoy the architecture and the history and the natural views. All of these are rich here in Portland, Maine. It is off-season for tourism here and most of the museums are closed. We went to the one small map museum and enjoyed it, but all of the other museums we looked up were closed until spring. Our son, took us to two donut shops in the last 10 days. Darrell and I also walked over a mile to get to the Portland favorite, Tony’s Donuts. We really like their plain donuts. Darrell also did a bunch of research for our New Zealand trip coming up in the fall. We have started to talk about our expectations, our mode of travel while there and any other thoughts that pop up. I’m thinking some about our upcoming trip to England and how it feels right for me to go there. I don’t know how else to explain my feeling for England. I have a long held affinity for the country. Sometimes I think it is a generational memory that pulls me back there with no other reason but an internal compass. I am making some friends over there and look forward to seeing them again in April and May. 

For years I have gotten up in the night to use the bathroom. Three days ago I began taking a probiotic at bedtime and I have slept 3 nights through without getting up. I’m going to keep taking it and hopefully I will keep sleeping through the night! Three in a row is a big deal for me!