Road Work Continues in Wiscasset

The work on Main St is done, now on to the side street (Federal Street). At least the traffic isn't impacted as much. It looks like they will meet their target of having this done by July 4th weekend.

Geese in the Park

I was at a local park this morning, and the Canada Geese are so confident that nothing will happen, they will come quite close (probably expecting a handout). Even the presence of dogs does not seem to disturb them. While I admit they are messy (who has time to housebreak geese?), it is fun to watch them, particularly the families.

Water Work in Wiscasset

It wasn't just usual summer traffic - a major project this year is doing water system work in the downtown district of Wiscasset. Some of the pipers were 100 years old, and as long as things will be torn up, they replaced some of the storm drains as well.

They did a good job of keeping the traffic flowing, and used some 24 hour sessions to make this project finish on time. Hope that happens - summer is here!

Visiting the Chihuly Exhibit at MFA, Boston

With the dogs at the groomer's for the day, we had a chance for a day trip to see both the new American wing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston ( www.mfa.org ), and also see the exhibit of Dale Chihuly glass (www.mfa.org/exhibitions/chihuly).

We had seen his glass at other museums, and the solo show at Rhode Island School of Design a few years ago, so we were looking forward to this. The more I see of his installations, the less sure I am about how much I like them. This exhibit I am sure will rank high on the popularity scale, if only for the brilliant color, glowing in the darkened galleries. But at times, some of the installations, such as the boat filled with glass objects, make me think of a gift shop on steroids.

Worth seeing, and the new American wing was well worth the wait. I loved seeing the old favorites in new settings and juxtapositions.

But now my feet are tired.

Birds

I'm really not much of a bird watcher, but I have been paying more attention to them this year. The winter was so tough, I felt bad for them and threw seed and cracked corn on the snow for them. Then this spring there are either more birds than usual, or I am just becoming more attuned to them. In the vine just outside the window there is a robin's nest, and from inside (about 24 inches away) I can follow developments. There appear to be three young ones, and the rate of growth is amazing. I suspect these are the final few days before they take off on their own. Unfortunately, my camera skills are not good enough to get pictures, and apparently even my movements behind the window are enough to spook the mother, and she takes off.

Reverse Painted Glass for Mirror

Another project out of the way. I bought a mirror with a damaged panel (broken, areas of repaint), and replicated it. Here is the original panel along with my version.

Visiting the Hudson Valley

The rainy week forecast should give me some time to catch up on posts.

We just returned from the Spring meeting of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration (www.HSEAD.org), in Albany, NY.

Along the way, we went to the Loeb Art Center at Vassar College, the Vanderbilt mansion in Hyde Park (http://www.nps.gov/vama), and took a stroll on the old iron bridge at Poughkeepsie, now converted to apark/pedestrian bridge (http://www.walkway.org/ ).

Here are views of old bridge, and the new bridge as seen from the old bridge.