After a weekend of camping we are back in East Falmouth. As is usual with camping, we are back in town with loads of dirty clothes and linens. It's just one of the many features of camping that make it just as much work to go out for one day as it is for a week. For one day or a week you put everything into the car, set up the tent and campsite, purchase food and check your supplies of cooking gas, and do all the actions in reverse on the way home. Therefore my camping minimum is two nights out. We had to improvise a little bit, because although I was able to find our two big bins in the storage unit the big cooler with the rest of our gear was not to be seen.
With a recommendation from a fellow book fiend and an afternoon to spare I went out to visit Isaiah Thomas Books, which happens to be practically around the corner from my soon-to-be new house. Isaiah Thomas was a newspaper publisher in the early days of our country - a perfect name for a book store. The outside is an eye catching bright pink which in no way prepares you for what you will find inside. This store specializes in used and rare books and the selection is overwhelming. Books are stuffed into every nook and cranny from the floor to the ceiling. They are in shelves, in stacks, on chairs, displayed on tables and on carts. Books are shelved any way they will fit. Shelves of all kinds are wedged in everywhere there are a few square feet. Books climb to the ceiling and stack up on the floor. the most ordinary books snuggle up next to treasures. I would say that with a little time to spare serendipity is guaranteed.
There are also books downstairs - a huge assortment of literary criticism and foreign language books. There are loads of those decorative sets of classic books that add appeal to a home, vintage books with beautiful covers that beg to be altered and made into decorative objects, and copies of those books you gave away or sold that you wish you could have back (now you can!). Their selection of local history books probably covers every town on The Cape and most of Massachusetts. There are books of every kind of art, and about travel to every conceivable destination. If you want to grow it you will find a book that tells you how. A coffee table book from here would be a can't miss housewarming gift (hint?) for a bibliophile.
We're (still) waiting for the mortgage underwriters to work their magic. With a deadline looming to have a commitment by next Tuesday and a holiday weekend in between I'm a little itchy, but the bank does not seem concerned so I'm not in a state of total panic yet. Homeowners' insurance is not nailed down yet either. I'm trying to get GEICO to quote me since I've been satisfied with their car insurance, but so far we can't seem to be available at the same time to talk about it. I went over to the storage locker to drag out camping equipment for this weekend and I was quite distressed to find that the boxes felt damp (my books!). I guess it's not too surprising considering that we've had rain most days and fog every day. I'm crossing my fingers that most of my books will be OK; there's nothing else I can do. I must admit I did indulge in some minor weeping, and suggest that we might as well move into a yurt or the car because we won't have enough stuff left to furnish anything else. Idle threat, because there is almost no possibility that we won't have plenty of "stuff".It's Towel Day. Do you know where your towel is? Mine's in storage, most likely padding the box wherein rest my beautiful bedside lamps. The very soonest I might see it is July 1, when I will start moving boxes over to the new house. This is assuming that all is going well in Underwriting World.
I was not Raptured up to heaven last night, and so far I have not seen any signs that anyone else was either. I suppose it's possible that this is just because I am in Massachusetts, where I believe there are more Liberals and union members than in some other places, so I'll be checking the news from around the Internet to be sure that other places with more true believers have not experienced Rapture.
I had a little free time yesterday afternoon, so I went for a walk in the woods. The Lowell Holly Reservation is near the location of our new house, and I decided to check it out. My GPS was not terribly helpful about finding the year round entrance (Mildred dragged me on a wild goose chase all around the back side of Mashpee Pond) and rain was imminent, so I didn't have very much time to spend, but I did have a lovely walk. There are some important stands of native holly which grows only on the east coast and a couple of especially fine views which I did not visit due to my time constraints, but the forest quiet and the beautiful trails through an old growth forest satisfied me.
Rain was threatening, so I did not meet with any other visitors until I was nearly back to my car. Then it was only one young man with a dog. The birds were mostly quiet and the trails covered with pine needles. The quiet walk among the beautiful beeches was positively restorative. The only teeny tiny drawback was that little inchworms dropped from the trees and I was still finding them on my clothes after I got home. I suspect in summer it will be less solitary, as there is a beach on Mashpee Pond, but I think that a person who was willing to get out very early in the day will always find a little quiet time for herself in this little jewel of a park. 
The Cape Cod Bitchin' Stitchers headed out for a field trip this morning. We drove to Fairhaven to visit Eva's Yarn Shop. The drive was fun, lots of yarn store talk and laughter as we got started on the road for our fun day out. Once we left the Cape we left the clouds behind and we could enjoy a perfect sunny day. 
Eva's Yarn Shop is an Aladdin's Cave of beautiful and special yarns. The floor samples are beautiful, varied and inspiring. I was nearly induced to tackle an entrelac wrap even though it's a technique that has never really appealed to me. It might still happen! Most of the samples were knitted by Eva herself. Eva is welcoming and enthusiastic with a distinctive sense of style that is reflected in her choices of yarns. The customer base seems to include every knitter in town, from middle school girls to elderly ladies. One of our girls had called ahead to let Eva know we were coming and she was ready with extra help to accommodate and tempt us. They helped us choose patterns, cheerfully balled up the skeins we purchased, dug through pattern books and even whipped out an i Pad to show one of us how to find things on Ravelry.
After we made our yarn selections we walked down the street and around the corner for lunch, returning back to Eva's to pick up some yarn that was being wound. Fairhaven is a really attractive town, with a charming downtown area. It didn't hurt that the weather was just perfect. We had lunch at Elizabeth's, which was just far enough away for us to enjoy our walk. Elizabeth's is rather small and really cute, with delicious food at reasonable prices. They were very accommodating to those of our party who had special requests, and the service was very good. Definitely a good choice. Conversation was general and we all had a good time. We walked back to pick up our yarn after a visit to Euro. My personal opinion is that if you can't find it at Euro it's not any fun anyway.
Roxy got to bask outside in the sun for an hour this afternoon. She loves warm weather. The older she gets the less she enjoys the cold. Basking, or indeed staying outside unsupervised for any length of time, takes place only in the afternoon. Early morning and late afternoon it's too risky to leave the dogs outside alone because of the coyotes. I don't want the dogs to become a snack for a wild animal. I called Falmouth Animal Control about them the morning one of the coyotes was stalking us down the street, but I don't think they took the call seriously.
We are now at the stage of waiting for our mortgage commitment to come through. Even though we've been pre-approved the wait for the final word is kind of nerve wracking. We're counting the probable days until closing (48) and assuming we will be moving in. We're researching the changes and updates we want to do as soon as we get into the house, including wall colors, which items of furniture we'll need to buy, which (few) we already own and the ones we'll take with us from this house. I've got garden ideas stewing in my head, among other entertaining plans. 
Today Shana and started our day at Betsy's Diner in Falmouth, which is very cute and conveniently located. The tables are 1950's style dinettes, and a colorful mural which I really like.
Later we had our Home Inspection, a process which lasted about four hours. I followed the inspector around, all over the yard, from the attic to the cellar, all over the yard, around the shed - you name it, we saw it. We had the inspector and I with both Realtors, Shana, and a decorator who was there to meet with Shana about some improvements we want in make in the hard surfaces. It was kind of like a party, but without snacks. We're now exhausted! I took a lot of pictures for my own use, which mostly feature odd angles and/or unflattering pictures of our inspector. I just needed a few shots which would give me an idea of size and orientation of rooms and areas of the yard for purposes of selecting furniture or shrubs, nothing fit for public enjoyment. I wish we were able to move in a little sooner, but at least now I do have some references for specific areas which were not featured in the Real Estate sales pictures.
We had a really nice weekend in Provincetown. We had a nice dinner and an early night Saturday, and made a reservation for brunch and a whale watching tour Sunday. Sunday was cool and brilliant, so we spent the time between brunch and our (sunset) whale watching cruise idling around town visiting the shops and galleries of Commercial Street. There's a lot to see and it's a very attractive town. One thing that I did not realize is that on the pier there is a Pirate Museum which I will surely visit next time we are in town. Knowing that it would be really cold out on the ship we also bought some terrifying hats at Marine Specialties. I have to go there every time I am in town - they sell everything from tide charts to vintage prom dresses. 
What we did see was plenty of whales. We saw about a dozen Right Whales - at a distance because they are endangered and ships are not allowed to come closer than 500 yards. I should have brought binoculars but when we left the house we were not planning to need them. Farther out we saw a group of feeding Humpback Whales which we could observe at much closer range. We stayed near them for quite a while - it was so exciting. My pictures stink, of course, and don't give a hint of the thrill that the whales themselves provided. Really the best thing about my pictures is that the color is true - the Atlantic Ocean really is that beautiful deep blue. If you double click on my pictures you can enlarge them to get a better look at the beautiful whales. There was also a Fin Whale and a Minke Whale and loads of Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins, which look quite different to the Bottlenose Dolphins I've seen so often in Florida.
