Where have I been?!

Hello! Grace here πŸ™‚

How are you all doing on this Wellbeing-Wednesday? No really, how are you?

Me? I’m feeling much more content since the little weekend trip we took! A change of scenery (and being in a more secluded place) was just what the doctor ordered. You guessed lots of lovely destinations over the weekend… But only ONE person guessed the exact spot we travelled to!
We went to Portland in Maine!

Which means my competition winner is the lovely… Em Louise Fairley!
I’ll arrange to have your lovely seaside groovi set sent to you asap πŸ™‚

We’re lucky to have an old friend (Marks room mate when we first met) who lives in Maine, and so we were able to drive from door to door, avoid hotels and people, and spend our weekend as a group of four doing socially distanced activities!

We drove up Thursday night… and I even helped with the driving! πŸ˜€
We worked from there on Friday, and in the afternoon we took tubes to a river for a couple of hours! We parked one car at the top of the river, and the other at the bottom! Clever πŸ˜‰ And didn’t see another soul the whole time! (which of course had me wondering if it was a safe idea!!!)

Here we are, pictured floating (kind of) in some tubes, whilst Mark tries to blow more air into his floaty. We realized about half way down the river that our largest group member was definitely losing air at a rapid pace. But we survived!
If you know me, you’ll know that I spent most of the time watching the surface of the water for snakes, alligators and other river creatures, and wiggling my bottom every time I thought I felt something… But it was wonderful! And I’d do it again in a heartbeat… especially now that I know it’s reptile free!

It gets better!! On Saturday we took a ferry to an island… called Peaks Island! Oh it was GLORIOUS! I must’ve used that word 100 times…

We rented 4 bikes and spent the afternoon cycling the island…

…Stopping off at coves and empty beaches…

Can you spot me?

I have to say… my Mum (and brother) would LOVE it in Maine. It reminded me of a chilled out San Francisco, mixed with some Monterey… which is her favourite place in the world, I think.

We’ve already started talking about having a house there one day! You know when you visit somewhere and you don’t really want to leave?

That’s Portland, Maine. And when the world has normalised, and you can travel there safely… I highly recommend it!

We certainly do look very happy! In this photo, I was trying to find a way to make my arm look skinny, and this was what I came up with! Hahah! We are ridiculous sometimes, aren’t we?

So, yes… I’m looking back on a GLORIOUS weekend, despite the way the world is. It’s quite nice actually… If we were able to, we’d likely jump on a plane and go somewhere more obvious to us. But being forced to come up with compromises and plans (like tubing down a river?!) that are safe at the moment has actually helped us discover some wonderful places recently, that we otherwise may have overlooked.

There’s always a silver lining, if you look for it!

I hear it’s swelteringly hot in England at the moment, and boy do I feel for ya! Many of you know how I feel about no air conditioning! And after listening to my poor Oma tell me about how hot it was, I got online and amazon’d a big fan to them. Ever the American! Don’t suffer in silence (I know it’s the British way!). Just buy a blimmin’ fan!

If you need me, I’ll be in Maine πŸ˜‰

Lotsa love, Grace xo

Clarity – The Home of Art, Craft and Well-being.

11 thoughts on “Where have I been?!

  • 12th August 2020 at 11:22 am
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    Glad you had a good time. I’m hoping for a storm. Luckily, your mum is distracting us on TV later, though I hear some homes are without water near her after a burst main. I hope it is fixed soon for all those suffering. Some Sussex homes were without for five days in this heat.

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  • 12th August 2020 at 12:03 pm
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    Glad you had a good break away from it all, must say I’m envious. We’ve been isolating since the end of January and our only one day trip in July was awful.
    Super hot here – I am slowly melting πŸ₯Ά – hope it helps with the weight loss hahaha. Cooling fan units going full belt all over the house so that helps.
    Clarity keeps me sane though , and I am looking forward to today’s shows.
    Stay safe πŸ’

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  • 12th August 2020 at 2:26 pm
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    That looks fantastic Grace, what a brilliant break you had. You certainly made the most of your time there and made some lovely memories. We’ve got several fans going but it’s still so hot and what a boiling night it was. Never mind I think thunder is forecast for tonight so it will cool it down. Feel sorry for some people in Scotland where they’ve had floods. Congratulations Em Louise. Enjoy your prize.xx

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    • 13th August 2020 at 2:08 pm
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      Hi Grace. So pleased you had a lovely weekend. I had thought it would be Maine. Meant to ask my daughter, she lived in Westport and a couple of other areas for four years. That was a beautiful place, visited several times. Some lovely photos of you all, and now Some great memories. Still enjoying Shac shack with your mum, although today no sound. It’s a bit cooler today, and we have been lucky, no floods. And thankfully the thunder and lightening have been during the night, so haven’t heard them. Stay safe. Xxxx

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  • 12th August 2020 at 4:54 pm
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    How good to get away from the madding crowd and great to have friends that help you to get away.
    Yes it is very hot here. We have had a rumble of thunder and a short cloudburst but it has moved away. Maybe later.
    Scotland is having it bad. There has been a train derailment at Stonehaven and it has been declared a major incident. I pray it is not too bad.
    Take care and keep safe xx

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  • 12th August 2020 at 5:47 pm
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    Grace. Glad to hear you and Mark had a great time away. It was clearly a tonic.

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  • 12th August 2020 at 6:36 pm
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    Glad to hear you had such a great weekend to recharge your batteries.

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  • 12th August 2020 at 11:01 pm
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    I was way out, I sent you South not North !! Glad you had a great weekend though – weather was good & you certainly packed a lot in.
    Been even hotter here today & the promised thunderstorms seem to have hopped over us so still very muggy. Never happy with the weather are we !!
    I bet your Oma will be pleased with the fan – what would we do without online shopping at times like this ?

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  • 13th August 2020 at 1:33 am
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    Hi Grace
    Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend.
    Many congratulations to Louise for guessing where you were.
    The place looked amazing and sooooo relaxing. Coronavirus has definitely made us all look a bit closer to home and in doing so, many of us have found secret hideaways, that hopefully we will all be able to return to at a later date too.
    Have a great week.
    Love & Hugs
    Xxxxx

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  • 13th August 2020 at 6:24 am
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    Hi Grace, what a gorgeous place to spend a relaxing weekend, and I think something everyone deserves at this moment in time. To just get away and spend time with like minded people. It is terribly hot here in the UK, and your poor Mum and Dave with no water yesterday, hope it is sorted for them now. Take care all, and stay safe. Bx

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  • 15th August 2020 at 9:42 am
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    OMG… thank you, Grace! I’m so sorry I’m only just seeing this… after being woken by the mailman delivering my prize! Oops! Such an incredible surprise for me because as someone who never wins anything, it’s not long since I won the Seven Sisters prize, too!

    The pix look absolutely stunning and I’m so glad y’all had a great time!

    Hugs!

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