A whirlwind of mid-to-late summer fun in the sun took us away from some of our work-load in the house…and also our blogging-time…but, we are back now and making up for the lost time by hiring some professionals this season.

We had the 1st floor Brick House maple floors sanded and refinished by G.E.Miller of Windham, Maine; Bill met with a brick mason, Duncan Traills, who will be sending us a “worst-case scenario” cost on repointing and repairing the exterior; I met with artist and muralist, Sandy Howe, to understand her process and to view her portfolio of Rufus Porter-style murals (see 4.4.09 post). We are still planning a folk-art mural for our central room. We are so excited to be making progress, little by little.

By late August we finished* the little, middle, bedroom on the 2nd floor and had our first overnight guests. Miss Erin Heinert and her bff Kelli brought their own pillows and a Batman** blanket and stayed with us for one night. On Saturday night, the temptation of movie-watching got the best of them, and they stayed at the Kimball’s Guest House.

We went to our first Fryeburg Fair with our second house guest, Colleen***. It was an old-fashioned country day at a fair. The usual suspects were present…big oxen, little goats, some very large pumpkins, an old red school house, harness races, maple cotton candy…need I say more? It was fantastic. The fair is 158 years old…just a wee bit younger than our house. We have it on our calendar for Oct. 3-10, 2010.

Our 3rd house guests arrived that same weekend. Lisa Reilly and Bill Bomar brought their newest family member, Leo, a six-month-old Pyrenees-lab mix. Leo is really cute and loves to jump and play. He was all tuckered out by dinner time. Our full day of activities ended with a game of poker for matchsticks. Colleen was the winner, hands-down.

*”finished” refers to a room with a new ceiling, painted floors, and a bed w/ blankets and pillows.

**Erin is a college senior and a South Dakota public radio personality! Kelly is her super-fun and adventurous friend on her first trip to Boston and Maine. Because we had a bat siting in August, Kelli thought the Batman blanket would be a great thing to have for protection.

***Colleen was a perfect house guest, trivia-player, poker-player, and all-around great company. We hope she’ll visit again and again.