August 13, 2013

A Mermaid's Tale

We have just come back from a glorious week beside the ocean in Maine. Two days at home and my head is still back in Maine with the mermaids, sea birds and beach glass.

Mermaids, you ask? Well, the only one I was able to get a photo of was a beautiful sand sculpture made by Emma and her cousin, Erica. But I think there's a possibility that there were other mermaids lingering behind the rocks just beyond my camera's reach.

Emma and Erica's beautifully sculpted mermaid complete with seaweed hair.
We rented a house with my sister's family. We spent many hours walking on the rocky beach in front of where we stayed. Each tide would bring in more sea glass, enough to share with everyone who was there.

My collection of sea glass and pottery. The most amazing find was the glass stopper pictured on the right.
It turns out that Emma has an eagle eye for finding sea glass. Even after the rest of us had combed the beach thinking we had found it all, Emma would find pocketsful of sea glass treasures.

And speaking of eagles, we saw one!  A bald eagle flew by on more than one occasion. Once, it flew within feet of the front porch. I don't have a photo of it that time. We just stood there awestruck. Here's a photo of it a little higher up in the sky on one of its fly-bys.

We also saw loons, herons and seagulls. I took a series of photos of one heron looking for and catching his supper.




I've started a painting of some of my beautiful beach finds. It's a way of me staying in touch with our beautiful Maine vacation while I slowly get used to being back home.
This painting is still in progress. A few more details to go.
Uh oh. It's happening again. There go my thoughts, somewhere back in Maine with the mermaids, beach glass and sea birds.

18 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a wonderful time!

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    1. We did, Valerie. And I know from Instagram that you had a lovely oceanside honeymoon! Congratulations! :)

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  2. What a lovely post - a nice memory of the sea with treasures to paint. Great mermaid especially the hair!

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    1. It's definitely nice to be able to paint some of the lovely things we found. I have so many to choose from!

      The girls did such a beautiful job on their mermaid. It was sad to think it would disappear in the evening tide.

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  3. Beautiful little mermaid! :-)

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  4. What a beautiful story & what marvelous memories ... I understand you didn't want to leave ... I know the feeling too well, it's been very hard to leave the place we were in July. Almost heartbreaking.
    oxox

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    1. We fell in love with this place, Sonia. I remember all of your lovely photos of your rental house. We experienced the same sadness leaving ours. Usually we love coming back to our house after being away but this time our house felt a little dark after being surrounded with the light and airy beach house colours.

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  5. I just love your photos- I think you captured the magic of the ocean. and just love that water color.

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    1. Thanks, Erika Lee! I love the ocean. I'm always happy when it's near.

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  6. It sounds like a lovely vacation, lots of good company, beautiful place! AH! I don't think we will have a vacation this year so I have to enjoy yours through your words, photos and paintings! xx

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    1. It was wonderful, Annamaria. Despite the lack of vacation, you have managed to snatch bits of summer I think with ice cream, outdoor cinema and time with family. :)

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  7. A fabulous vacation by the sound of it and you came home with many treasures! The painting is one darned beautiful way to remember your trip too.

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    1. Thank you! It's been nice to be able to paint some of my finds!

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  8. Lovely memories of your lovely holiday and wow! what a lovely mermaid, they really captured a good image, maybe she did a sitting for them !! Your painting looks wonderful, even if it's not quite finished, please show the finished result.

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    1. I think you might be right about the model! ;)

      I'll post a photo of the painting when I'm done.

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  9. I've not been to the seaside yet this year, hopefully got a trip coming up? I love the last photo, and the mermaid of course! Sea glass has a dreamy quality doesn't it? where has it been, what did it start out as? Glad you had a good time, it will be back to reality soon, with lovely memories for you..... :)

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    1. I hope you get to the seaside, Julie. There's something wonderfully restorative about being near the ocean.

      You are so right about the mysterious history of sea glass. When I found that glass stopper, I started thinking about pirate ships and the Titanic. Who knows? Or it could be as recent as a yacht party a few years ago. It does make one wonder. The smooth-sided ones are so lovely to hold too.

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