Party Business

September 22nd. Bilbo Baggins birthday. 

One of the first books I can remember my mom reading to all of us kids was The Hobbit.  From there, a family of Tolkien fans was born.  I have reread The Hobbit many times and each time I am drawn to hobbits. :) "For they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth." ~ JRR Tolkien 

Chapter one begins:
"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. 
It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.

This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours’ respect, but he gained—well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end."

It really is a must read. :)

Anyway, in honor of Bilbo's birthday, and for a good excuse to eat good food (hobbits love food), Nathan and I had my siblings and Aaron and Kendra over for a hobbit themed party. 

the table set and ready

The food :)

The menu consisted of: stuffed mushrooms, minced meat pies, bread and jam, apple tarts, Bilbo's seed cakes, salad, creamy mushroom soup, and a rotisserie chicken with potatoes and carrots. 

apple tarts :)

Everyone come in "hobbit inspired attire", which in our wardrobes means greens and yellows.

Jenny and Bob win the award for the best dressed hobbits though. Bob came complete with suspenders. :)

The food. notice the seed cake ring. Jake made them and they were really good.

A birthday party is not complete without a cake.

Bilbo's birthday cake. 

It was a great evening with family and good food and a shout out to good literature. :)

In Christ

~Michelle

Our Maine Vacation:Part 6: The Road Home

Leaving Acadia wasn't actually the end of our trip.   The captain of the lobster boat had suggested teh Maine Lighthouse Museum. And,  well, I like lighthouses.  

poor Nathan. :)

There were large models of nearly every lighthouse in Maine.

These are some of the lamps used.

There were stories of light house keepers, information on the lights, the towers, shipwrecks, lightships, and everything else pertaining to lighthouses.  We didn't stay long, but it was pretty cool and worth the stop. 

Our next stop on the way back was the Newport Mansions in Rhode Island.   We stopped at The Breakers.  

Maybe Nathan's family dropped the 'e' a few generations back...:)

Actually the Breakers was just the name of the mansion. The Vanderbilt family built and owned it.  I's built on a cliff overlooking the ocean, has 70 bedrooms, 125,000 square feet, and is incredibly beautiful. The rooms were decorated with gold and platinum wall panelings. 

the back yard

:)

From there we pretty much drove straight home.  

a foggy morning in Pennsylvania

It was a wonderful trip.  A week away from the busyness of work and everyday life in such a beautiful place.  I hope I can go back someday.

In Christ

~Michelle

Our Maine Vacation: Part 5: The Park Loop Road and other things

Our adventures in Acadia continued. 

We spent a lot of time driving the Park Loop Road.  As it's name suggests, the road loops around a majority of the park and has overlooks and parking areas for some of the highlights of the park. 

Thunder Hole.

Under the right circumstances, tides, time of day, depth of the water, amount of wind, wave height etc., this hole makes loud thundering noises.  We of course heard only sloshing.   

more rugged coast

Sand Beach

monument cove

Other wonderful bits of Maine.

Food :)

Nathan ordered lobster one night. 

He wasn't impressed. I still like it.

my pasta was wonderful

Driving about the island, we saw many lovely houses. 

one of my favorites.

I love all the flowers!

Of course while touring, we needed Ice Cream. :)

And, we needed a better picture than all of our selfies.

One evening we went out to eat, we realized Maine has a different time table than the Midwest. 

the restaurant 

at 6:00 pm it was completely empty.

We decided it must have something to do with the lobstering laws.  Lobster men can only lobster after sunrise and before sunset.  So, we guessed this moved the entire day back.  Who knows for sure though. 

Our last night at the campground, it poured.  All night long.  And, all morning.  We packed up most of our stuff the night before, but taking down a tent was still a very wet job.  

our soggy camp sight

And, so ended our week. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Our Maine Vacation: Part 4: Lobster

On Wednesday,  we took a lobster boat tour.   Tuesday night, it had rained so, it was a foggy morning.

The tour took us out to the rocks to see seals and a light house. It was difficult in the fog.  But, an educational experience none the less. 

this was probably a picture of some seals...

maybe?

you can kind of see them up on the rocks in this one.

Egg rock light house

our captain  with  a lobster

lobster bait

the captain pulling in a lobster trap

we caught a couple lobsters and a crab.

The captain gave us a full run down of lobsters, lobster anatomy, lobstering, and  lobster preservation.   I probably know more about lobsters now then I ever will need. 

It was a lovely morning out on the water again.  We took the afternoon to walk around Bar Harbor. 

the foggy harbor

I don't know why it won't turn right

the streets of Bar Harbor

Lunch :)

yet another beautiful, yet sideways picture of the harbor.

touristy shops

the sun came out and lifted the fog

Bar Harbor was full of shops and people, expensive foods, and lots of souvenir shops.  It's a beautiful place with pretty views of the Harbor. But, I much prefer the quietness of the campground and the smell of pine trees :)

End Part 4

To be continued...

In Christ

~Michelle