Southport Life so Far...

Living at the cottage has been wonderful thus far. I have started each day by waking up, making coffee and taking my first cup outside to see what new goings on there are in the bay. I like to take my binoculars too, to look for common eiders, common loons, the osprey that's nesting on the platform in the small rock island in the bay and the pair of black ducks that like to come in to feed at low tides, among many other things. I listen to the calls of black-capped chickadees and compare them to my experiences listing to Carolina chickadees back home (MD and most of IN). The weather has been perfect. I get up and it's not too hot or cold outside, just right. The skies have been blue and the setting on the bay just beautiful. That's the Sheepscot Bay that is, you can see that from the map I've posted below.

I also have my dog Louie with me at this point and he will stay with me until my second day of work, then he goes home for a while :(. I hope to see him again soon! Anyways, he goes out with me and he sniffs around the yard a bit, plays with his neighbor dog Allie and just hangs out with me while I enjoy my view and coffee. I have a picnic table from which to enjoy my view from.

Map of Where I live

Then after my first cup of coffee I have breakfast. Breakfast thus far has included all home cooked meals- french toast one day, pancakes with homemade black raspberry jam from our rasp. bushes, apple and pear cobbler and of course fresh squeezed orange juice, done by yours truly. I guess I am realizing that if I take the time to cook I enjoy my meals so much more. I got so tired of canned this and boxed that, that I said I needed to cook more and in graduate school I started going to more potlucks and I started making more dishes to which everyone said "I love the things you cook/bake" and that's how it happened. Now that I am more interested in this whole homesteading and survivalism idea, I am cooking a lot more from scratch, using locally sourced ingredients (sometimes foraged foods) and making things from scratch. I like that knowing what I made my food from is simple ingredients, like my black raspberry jam- water, raspberries, pectin and sugar. That's it folks! No HFCS in that sucker. Well that's enough of a diatribe about my new found love for cooking for now.

Then I've been spending each day exploring the area. I will talk about my local explorations in separate posts where I will go into more detail about each. But in short I've been exploring nature preserves, visiting Acadia National Park once again, going to the Fisherman's Festival and Blessing of the Boats in Boothbay Harbor, finding libraries, post offices, laundromats, grocery stores, wifi options and other spots that might interest me in exploring further on my off days. I have also been spending a lot of time getting my little cottage in order. I will post a few pictures of the new place, but more will come later for sure.

Suffice it to say, I love being able to eat meals outside in the beautiful weather and enjoy nature at the same time (caution though, I have to get up really early if I don't want to be distracted by birding while trying to get ready for work, but that's fine, lol) I can't wait for campfires in the fire pit, stargazing nights with no light pollution out here!, riding my bike to the town's amenities and so much more! Life here is going to be amazing. I look forward to telling you about my adventures in the weeks to come!

Pictures of the Cottage and Surroundings