My Summer in Maine 2023, Part Two
I just love my summers in Maine.
Every year, I try to spend two or three weeks - give or take - at my beautiful refuge in Seal Harbor, Maine. This year, the weather was fantastic and I enjoyed many local day trips with friends, walks along the beaches, and a special birthday celebration at Skylands with my family.
Here are more photos from my time in Maine - enjoy. And see more photos on my Instagram page @marthastewart48.
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- August 3rd is my birthday. I always spend it in Maine with close friends and family. This is an old daily calendar, which is updated first thing every morning by Cheryl DuLong, who helps me care for my beautiful home, Skylands.
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- A yearly tradition – a birthday card made by my granddaughter – this year, Jude made it with her friend, Jade. It is the best one ever. And everyone at Skylands signed it. I love the handmade origami butterflies!
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- On this day, I hosted a special luncheon for the Beatrix Farrand Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the memory and legacy of the landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. For this meal in my dining room, I used my Copeland Spode Sherman Bar Harbor plates – each one is different, showing a scene from around Seal Harbor and Acadia National Park.
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- Our main course included russet potato baked, smashed, and served with creme fraiche, chives and caviar, roasted beet salad, green string beans, and braised artichoke hearts. All the vegetables were picked fresh from my gardens.
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- For dessert, citrus granita and homemade shortbread. It was a most refreshing and delicious meal.
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- This is Andy Goldsworthy, acclaimed sculptor and artist, who is working on a very big project at the College of the Atlantic. It is called Road Line and it is his first permanent artwork in the state of Maine.
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- Road Line is made of a single continuous line of granite curbstones. It begins its route through the COA campus and will run its path to the coast of Frenchman Bay.
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- It is a very extensive project Andy hopes “will resonate with the students who will also pass through the college on their own journeys and that, wherever life takes them afterwards, they will always be reminded of their time in Maine.”
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- Back at Skylands, look at the kiwi vine – it is thriving. The vines are “ancient” actinidia, which are small kiwi. They are original to the home and have done exceptionally well all these years. This great, fast-growing, sturdy vine is fruit producing.
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- Beneath the vine and brought out every summer are the two glazed terra-cotta sphinxes. They are designed by Emile Muller and guard this entrance to the house.
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- Below the ledge and lying beneath the West Terrace is the lady – La Riviere by Aristide Maillol. The original terms of the commission were intended to honor Henri Barbusse, noted author and pacifist. Maillol initially conceived the figure as a woman who had been stabbed in the back, falling at the viewer’s feet. However, when funds proved to be insufficient to complete the memorial, Maillol re-conceived the figure as a more timeless theme, the personification of a river. Here, she is surrounded by ferns, tree peonies, Japanese maples, blueberry bushes, and Lady’s Mantle. I had just cleaned the garden around her when I took this photo.
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- Wendy Norling, my gardener at Skylands, made all the floral arrangements this season. Every one of them was beautiful. This one includes colorful snapdragons grown by Wendy and picked the same day right from my garden.
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- This arrangement is made with lacecap hydrangeas and Ammi majus, the false Queen Anne’s Lace.
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- On this day, we walked along Bracy Cove’s stony beach.
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- At another point, we also saw this handsome great blue heron just sitting and watching. The great blue heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America.
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- I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Docksider Restaurant in Northeast Harbor. The wait staff was so friendly…
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- … and the lobster rolls were so amazing. Stop if you’re ever in the area.
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- Here I am with my two dear friends, Susan Magrino and Terre Blair. We are in the gazebo of my property at Ox Ledge.
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- On this evening I took four of my Skylands crew to dinner – Emilee, Amos, Wendy, and Peter. We ate at Copita, also in Northeast Harbor.
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- And here’s another nighttime view from my terrace looking at the dark night sky and the gleaming stars. I love Skylands – it is so magical any time of day, any time of year.
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