Superstorm Sandy

Pumpkins carved at Amy and Peters house a few days ago! Luckily on the edge of Sandy, we sat through the storm last night unscathed. A large tree went down behind us, luckily into the woods, and other than branches being tossed onto the deck and torrents of rain, all was well. Power at the Darling Marine Center is out today (the students are having their lecture by generator!), so i'm at home, where so far, we've only had flickers. Brandon headed into work, as Delorme is open, but many schools and shops are closed today to clean up after the high winds and rain. Less dramatic than last years Halloween snow storm, hopefully this year the kids will manage to get out and trick or treat!

Barkley and the Snake...

Barkley has the cone on again, hotspot on the cheek she won't leave alone. Sigh. Fun watching her trying to play with a toy snake though....

National Geographic Interview

Short clip from my interview at National Geographic when I was in DC a few weeks ago!

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/specials/in-the-field-specials/waller-deep-sea-coral/

New post on the Nat Geo site -

Just wrote a new post on the Nat Geo site - american businessman dumps 200,000lbs of iron into the ocean to stimulate a plankton bloom - unregulated 'rogue' experiment that can have drastic consequences......

Autumn

It's true, the autumn in Maine is one of the most spectacular in the world. Though this year has been a wet one, we've had some spectacular days. And of course, here in Damariscotta, fall means Pumpkin festival! We took some time out from continuing Brandon't move to enjoy the pumpkins with friends. 

Fall at the Darling Marine Center. Some wonderful colours. 

Miss Barkley, loving her new, more spacious, ride. 

Puffer-Pumpkin! 

Mouse house pumpkin! 

Mouse House Pumpkin!

Team DMC's pumpkin boat for the regatta - the girls took second place! 

What we thought was a giant rabbit, was actually a wolf from little red riding hood! 

Bandanas all around.....:)

The extended family....

D'artagnan - aka Dr Evil. Maine Coon kitten, loves to pouce on the other cats, and attempted to do so with Barkley. Once. :)

D'artagnan. 

Zoe, showing her British approval. 

Old girl Porsche and Brody, looking out for squirrels. 

It's October already?

Wow, time really flies. So much has happened, so much has changed just in these few months. This year in fact has really been a whirlwind. This weekend saw our little family of Barkley and me expand quite dramatically. Now we're me & Brandon; Barkley & Brody; D'argtanian, Zoe & Porsche (cats) and Cricket & Ally (parrots). Quite a rapid expansion, and one we've embraced (all be it with many cookies for our queen bee Barkley!). Though the full move will be slow (Brandon is selling a house, and we have yet to move furniture), it's good to be all under one roof. Maybe that'll mean more time to blog too....:)

Another big change happened this weekend too. It was goodbye to Beach Belle and hello to Snow Belle. I've been feeling a bit sad about it today, but I said goodbye to my little black car yesterday, and said hello to a little red car. Beach Belle wasn't doing quite as well since a deer ran into me a few months ago, and i'd been debating swopping up for something more reliable in the snow, now I live 35 minutes from work. Luckily Beach Belle, even with deer imprint, was worth considerably more than I owed, which gave me enough to afford the payments on a Toyota Rav4 (and actually halve my monthly payments!). Beach Belle was a great car, and it turns out, a great investment too. Doesn't often happen to me....:) I shall miss the zip of the mazda, but Barkley is loving her new nest - the tailgate is lower and her space larger, and (somehow) she's already wedged a tennis ball in the rear cup holder....

Brody and Barkley checking out their new ride. 

Miss Barkley, beginning her winter coat. Yet again, she's growing back in patches, and looks very raggedy right now. Hopefully she'll grow fully in soon. 

Squirrel.......this picture was preceeded by speeds you'd never think a 12 year old lady could do.......

Our new wheels. Plenty of room for the whole family too.....:)