I got back to Searsport last night…now I face a mountain of “DO THIS FIRST”…so I’ll be getting back to you shortly I promise.

The sun is shining, there’s still patches of fairly deep snow and in my five minute walk around, I didn’t see anything but a few hardy day lilies coming up from the ground.  When I get a few of the most pressing things done (like insurance renewal and finding my toothbrush) I want to spend an hour or two outside assessing the ground work…(that’s code for poking around and seeing what the garden soil looks like ;))

It was a great trip and I only wished I were disciplined enough to include blogging in my everyday happenings because already I’ve forgotten half of what I wanted to share with you.  In brief, the weather in Sarasota was superb and I spent many hours swimming in the ocean and weaving sculptural baskets with conch shells and basket caning.  When I wasn’t in a wet bathing suit, Dad and I ate out at some terrific restaurants and were able to take in two art festivals including a “Village of the Arts” walk in Braedenton…three city blocks of brightly painted Floridian bungalows filled with artists, cafes, happy people and inspiration around every corner.

Jumping wildly ahead, I left a balmy 85 on Saturday afternoon and thanks to Jet Blue (great flight, great service but how do $99 flights end up costing $240 when all is said and done?) arrived in dreary Boston for a weekend of rain, fog and yuck…but I stayed with my sister Chris and her family so the energy of two little boys more than made up for the difference in weather.  Chris and I spent the next three days shopping for the campground including a very productive day at the Boston Gift Show.

In the company of my sister-in-law Su, the three of us dedicated 8 hours to fondling, smelling and inspecting thousands of gifts we thought you might like to find in the campground store.  In the end we settled on a beautiful range of Danica soy candles, pampering creams for your face, feet and hands (just ’cause we’re camping doesn’t mean that we don’t want to stay beautiful), the hottest, new, bounce-on-the-water ball the world has ever seen, a healthy collection of wooden 3D puzzles (they looked like models to me) for adults and kids, the usual choice of Chinese impulse toys and some scrumptious griddle cake mixes for cooking over the fire…and that’s just the beginning…

While I was gone, thank you for keeping the reservations steady.  Steven was suitably reminded of the work I do here while he’s teaching in Belfast…and that’s always a good thing ;).  When I got home last night I found fresh flowers, a chilled bottle of wine and a roasted chicken dinner…I knew that I had been missed!

When I’ve sorted through the e-mails, phone messages, mail and vague piles of stuff, I’ll be back.  Next week I’m hoping to Spring clean the store and start thinking about displays.  Our orders should begin arriving after April 20th.  I also have new fabric for the guest cabin and I picture myself sewing on the front porch in the warm afternoon sun…now if the weather cooperates…