Not the lone ranger....

Amazing! how many people I talked to today that said that yesterday was horrible. and not just a regular bad day, but horrible. I know that October is supposed to be better planet wise etc. - certainly hope so.
Mom, Ev, Av and I did a totally different walk today, starting out on Day Mountain Carriage Roads, over to Mr. Rockefeller's roads and then up the loop road for a while. Made Ava so happy.
Then she and I went down to the ocean to watch the Queen Victoria leave Bar Harbor but we waited and waited and it got too dark to see very well so came back up with neighbors.

Bad day...

Sometimes there are bad days, and this was sure one of them. My new associate lost her Dad which made me so sad for her and you always feel so helpless at a time like that, there is nothing you can say to help and you know it.
Everyone is tired and ugly and not being very nice to each other.
Today was a big one for unappreciativeness, I KNOW that isn't a word but heck.
I feel like my mantra is that your time isn't any more precious than mine but in the end I understand that everyone's most important time is their own. I get that.
If people weren't being mean, they didn't feel well which makes me feel bad.
And then on top of all that it was too busy to go out on Carriage Trails and that broke Ava's heart which breaks my heart. So.... I think I am just going to go to bed now so that tomorrow comes sooner and we'll see if it can't be better.
Oh, I just remembered, Queen Victoria in Port tomorrow,,, ugh.... maybe Thursday will be good :-)

StPsychic Investigators: Taken By Storm In the icy waters of the Atlantic off the coast of Maine, a lobster boat fails to return frarring John Bennett

Biography Channel - Look for recast

Psychic Investigators: Taken By Storm In the icy waters of the Atlantic off the coast of Maine, a lobster boat fails to return from a day of setting traps. With no Mayday, no word from the crew, the Coast Guard knows it has to act fact. Within hours they find two of the crew members on a rocky island ten miles out from port. They are alive but the captain is lost at sea. The news grips everyone along the coast, especially those who make their living from the sea. A local resident contacts his psychic sister in NYC. Using what she calls her sixth sense, Helen Churchwell Legotti says she knows where to find the captain and can pinpoint the spot on a map. It's a long shot for the Maine Marine Patrol and rescuers. But when one of its own is swallowed up by the sea, even a psychic's sixth sense seems worth a try.

West End of Portland

Ava and I have decided that we want a house in the West End, not a condo, a house. We just can't decide which one. She loves one on the corner of Vaughn and Carroll and I love Chadwick. We both know we want a fenced in yard that the big giant huge Western Prom squirrels hang out in and we both want a garage. She now likes city crows too.
(Oh, how ironic, a tv commercial just came on about how easy it is to housetrain a puppy if you have the right tools from PetSmart.... hmmm... )
Of course, houses almost never come on the market in this neighborhood, one that is interesting is now at $1,290,000. We like it.... but we both think it is a little big....

Harvest Brunch

Sunday...

SO glad to wake up in Bar Harbor. Good call by Ava to come back last night to get a great night's sleep. We even went back to sleep after our 6AM sentry review of the property, making sure no squirrels DARED get into our trees. We stayed in bed til 930! Wowza!

Long day of work, work, work... got a lot done on Harvest Brunch at the Danforth and other Portland things. Lots of Swan work done to be ready for big week. We'll be launching Historic Homes division soon and need to be all lined up, also starting a brokerage assistant/new broker program...

All built up to a nice walk around Bubble Pond - no Mulligan but Ava still went full blast while Mom, Ev and I tried to keep up. The carriage house map is really starting to fill in, well on our goal to covering them all before snow falls. Dinner at Mom's, yummy fajitas and then got Dad hooked up on Facebook (Don't worry, he isn't going to friend anyone :-) Then delivered Ev home where they conveniently had Hershey bars... :-) I know BAD KIM.

This is SO funny, and SO true

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY
Day number 180
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!
Day number 181
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!
Day number 182
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
1:30 pm - ooooooo. bath. bummer.
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE

EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY
DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture...Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.
DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors,I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this On their bed.
DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was... Not working according to plan.
DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still LODGED between my teeth.
DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event, however, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer." More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.
DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to be an informant, and he speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my activities. Due to his current placement in the metal room his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...
-Author Unknown

September....

is my favorite month but becoming my least healthy. You can tell when I don't write here for a while that I am absolutely exhausted.
Meetings this morning on our big Event at the end of October at the Danforth, becoming a HUGE thing, which I knew it would.
Our liquor license at Danforth appears that it will be dependent on having a restaurant, love it! but NOT RIGHT NOW....
Excited to get back to 3 milers tomorrow, maybe if my colleagues are into it we'll go further. Ava will be up for it I know.
Trying to focus on the positive stuff and make September a good month. Eliminate negative.

I usually don't forward these but...

Take my Son

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art..

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son

About a month later, just before Christmas,
There was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly... He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'
The father
Opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

There was silence..
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'
Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the
Real bids!'
But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long time gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting...' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'


The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

'What about the paintings?'

'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!'

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

Foodie Town

Portland gets even more attention as a great foodie destination. Check out today's New York Times story.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html

Crazy Small World of Twitter

I had to go to Belfast this morning for a showing at our beautiful listing there, a true pleasure to show and a couple I really enjoyed to show it to. Then continued to Boothbay to do a status check on Smuggler's Cove. Absolutely spectacular day. Took a bunch of pictures and after I downloaded them I posted one on Twitter saying, "gorgeous day in East Boothbay".

A guy on Twitter said, "are you at Smuggler's now, we own the boatyard practically next door". So cool - he could have been from Austrailia the way Twitter is but next door. So anyway, we tweeted back and forth and he sent me this incredible aerial shot of Smuggler's - how cool? I just can't get over what a small world it is and then throw in Twitter and Facebook etc. and BAM. :-)

Choices

In an effort to cover every Carriage Road before the snow flies, there are so many choices. This afternoon, the crew (Ava, Mulligan, Gam, Ev and me) parked at Bubble Pond and went up to Eagle Lake. Got rained on but not before hearing about Ev's trip to Ogunquit yesterday to see Singing in the Rain at the Playhouse. She is becoming quite the muscial lover which fits her right in to the family.

Tomorrow starts a long week... Belfast and Boothbay Harbor tomorrow then back to Bar Harbor before finding time to go to Portland on Wednesday or before....

Jordan Pond Gatehouse

Thinking that we'll mix it up a little this afternoon and go out to the JPH parking lot and take the carriage road from the gatehouse there.

Mercury is in retrograde, or something screwy. :-)

What a crazy, hectic day... but the good thing is every single wacky thing seemed to work out for the best.

After a lot of deliberation, we extended two offers today to join The Swan Agency SIR, one brokerage and one administrative. Both were accepted and I could not be more pleased.

Brokers and clients had many challenges today but it seems like we jumped a bunch of hurdles and all ended up well. The market is really getting hot.

Deadlines kept us from going on our nightly carriage road walk but Ava and I went down to our beach to walk a little. She was still scared of the shore from Hurricane Bill experience.

When we got back, more wildlife chaos..For heaven's sake, I'm moving to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Called Mom and Dad because a little hummingbird was up in the skylight on the front porch, throwing himself at the glass. They said they would stop here after their walk with Mulligan but by the time they got here I was getting a little panicky because the little guy was wearing himself out. Finally Dad and I got a ladder up there and we got him with a fishnet for goldfish... I know...... oy.... when Dad went to let him go he was crying and I thought a goner but I guess he just had his little foot caught on a string and when Dad got him free he sailed up over the trees so another happy ending. But seriously, enough already....

I was heading to Portland this weekend but... for some reason, I'm worn out.

Two long walks this weekend on the agenda too.

Walking Photos

OK - Ev made up for no pics last night by sending extras today.

We did 3.2 miles around Eagle Lake, very pretty.

Ava is amazing, she goes full speed all the time and then sees a squirrel and goes crazy. Mulligan is so busy dragging Gam and Ev around, he doesn't even pay attention to her.

NOTE: No Picture

Because my niece forgot to send me the picture for tonight's post, though I reminded her over and over and the last thing she said to me was "I won't forget to send the pic", there is no photo for tonight's post. Evelyn obviously has much better things to do than send her aunt the picture that she promised to send.
So picture this: Witch Hole to Eagle Lake, beautiful night, perfect weather, happy dogs, great exercise. Just please picture it, since I don't have a photo, since my niece "forgot"..... :-)

CMA Nominations Tomorrow

So, the CMA nominations are tomorrow and I'm thinking.... NEXT YEAR there may well be a certain VIDEO mentioned.
So incredibly psyched about everything going on in the video world. Two music videos, one television series treatment and video consideration for real estate applications AND my horoscope has been saying that publishing is going to take off soon!
Fun to do stuff that is fun! with people that are FUN!

Then! on top of that, Mom, Ev, Av, Mulligan and I stayed on our fit committment and did almost three miles tonight - A LOT of up hills. Already have tomorrow night mapped out. Brought home some leftover grilled chicken from Mom's and made a yummy curry sauce for it. Perfect. And no carbs :-)

GET FIT

OK, since Ava and I have been walking so well for the last 10 days in Portland, we decided to recruit Gam, Ev and Mulligan and have Labor Day be the first serious day of Get Fit.

3.2 miles around Witch Hole. The dogs and I jogged a bit, maybe 1/10 of it max :-) so got done a few minutes ahead but Ev timed 1 hour 14 mintues. The dogs had some time that they had to stop to investigate, Ava LOST it over a black squirrel - yeah, not gray or red, black.

We'll see if we can keep this going - we have the Carriage Road maps to plan from.

Job Candidates

I am back in Bar Harbor - long, long week in Portland but it was great.
Going over applications and resumes for the first of the new positions at The Swan Agency SIR. I am SO impressed by the caliber of candidates. I want to hire them all and rule the world. :-) I know, I know, totally politically incorrect.
First we are going to fill the position that will handle the books for all of the different businesses so it has to be someone who is into real estate, food, art, music - maybe another Gemini? She/He will also do assistant work.

BLUE LIKE JAZZ

I just finished one of those books today that you are so glad you read, for a long time, and when someone asks you what books you've read recently, you end up mentioning this for like a year.

I strongly suggest you read it. I can't make you read it, just like I can't make you have faith in anything but a friend asked me to read it and I'm asking you the same. I think you'll be glad you did. I am.

BLUE LIKE JAZZ Nonreligous Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller.

http://www.bluelikejazz.com

Maineville

I think, God willing, things are really getting great in the music business. Aaron had one of his songs, Maineville songs, picked up for a CMT, Country Music Television, series. One step at a time, I am so excited and so proud :-)

Posting a great shot that Earl took of AB at concert.

First Weekend

How fun is this? We are going to take First Friday and expand it to First Weekend in Portland.

It will be a Danforth/Pomegranate package. Friday will be the art walk and we will team up with a local restaurant for guests to have dinner that night. We will get some discounts and special museum passes.

Then Saturday night will be a light dinner buffet and music at Danforth. Very, very psyched about this!

I Quit

OK, I am officially quitting my vacation. You may call me, as if you haven't; you may email me, as if you haven't; and you may ask me questions and make comments and make my phone ring, as if you haven't anyway :-)))))

(I am, as a gift to myself, going to change the ring on my Blackberry. I hate it.)

I mean this all very sincerely and I apologize for being selfish and thinking that, with everything going on, that this was any time to try to take a break.

Now, you don't have to apologize that you are interrupting my vaca - I quit it! Everything is full speed ahead. Let's make some things happen!

Trip Advisor and The Danforth

Danforth is getting some very nice reviews on Trip Advisor, which - kind of unfortunately - is absolute key these days to business. My favorite, favorite is from my friend Rob in Nashville who took the time to write one after staying with Blue County because he knows how important they are.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g40827-d1176068-Reviews-The_Danforth-Portland_Maine.html

Bon App again

West End Inn didn't make the article unfortunately but it did make it onto Andrew Knowlton's blog with a great plug and a ver nice comment on Beth and her breakfasts.

http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/bafoodist