I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves/And satin sandals, and say we have no money for butter

My goodness; come back to the computer after a quick trip to Rockland, and find that the galaxy is wishing you happy birthday.

Thank you all, very much.

My birthday celebrations started yesterday. Thus are we all ruled by the availability of hotel rooms.  Or, actually, inn rooms.  Steve and I left early, had breakfast at the China Dinah, and proceeded to Camden, Maine.  I’ve (painfully)  driven through Camden many times, but yesterday was the first  time since we moved to Maine that we were able to park the car, and wander around downtown.  In summer, the place is up to the ears in tourist; but now we’re into After Season, when all but the hardiest — or the canniest — tourists have gone back Away and the native Mainers can play tourist in their own state.

If you’re ever in Camden, Maine, go to the Ironbound Gallery; they have beautiful things, including a brand-new carousel horse, hand-carved and painted.  She’d need a room to herself to do the work justice, but she was lovely to look at.

We signed books at Sherman’s, drifted in and out of shops, and galleries, stayed ‘way too long in the leather shop, just wallowing in the smell, bought — and ate! — butterscotch cookies as big as our heads, took a couple pictures, and eventually found the car again and motored down Route 1 to Rockland.

Here’s what Camden Harbor looked like on Tuesday, September 10, 2013:

We had lunch in Rockland at Clan MacClaren, went ’round the corner to the Wine Seller, to pick up a bottle of Good Wine by Joe Pinot Noir, then checked into our room at the Captain Lindsey House.  I had never stayed at an inn and/or bed-and-breakfast, so this was a first.  Our room was Period, built in 1835 by one of the retired sea captains who were Maine’s principal citizens for many years.  Turkey carpets on the floor, a(n electric) fireplace, a four-poster queen bed, and a pretty little sitting area with wing chairs and a marble-topped table.

Foolishly, I did not take a picture of our room, but this is the door into Captain Lindsey’s House:

Later in the evening, we walked out for dinner at the Rustica.  I had the pork; Steve had the cavatelli, and we were both well-pleased.

This morning, after breakfast served by mine host, we walked down to the Rockland Ferry Landing, then uptown, shopping as we went.  When we were shopped out, we came home the long way, stopping in Brunswick at The Great Impasta for lunch (why, yes, I did have two Italian meals in two days.  Your point?)

For my birthday, Steve got me a very nice bottle opener.

Also, the moon:

Now, we’re home, and have made peace with the cats.  Tomorrow, I have some errands to run in town, including seeing if the local jeweler can put a magnetic clasp on my new necklace.  Then, I have a story to go over one more time so it can be sent off to the editor.

Again — thanks to everyone for the well-wishes; they’re much appreciated.