iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Or you could go vintage and make a pair of tie-ons? Might be a good interim solution as you work through the social "no pants" experiment, and it's always good to have a dry place to keep your phone.

An example of an 18th century embroidered woman's pocket. These would have been worn tied around the waist between petticoat and skirt, with an opening in the skirt for access.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

In a long, long tradition of starting off with "bowl of fruit", welcome to the journey!

Crystal bowl of quince with fungi, oil paint on hardwood panel, 24 x 18 inches

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Such a good pup, RIP Jim Clark of the Soulfull Gaze

A Black Lab looks down at you from his perch on his favorite beach rock.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Celebrating "Richard Nixon Resignation Day" by having dinner on Caspar Weinberger's table linens, acquired at a postumous tag sale at "Wingspread" on Mount Desert Island. There were many American eagle branded items for sale, including several toilet paper holders, but I resisted.

A place setting on an embroidered place mat, over a checked tablecloth, both from Caspar Weinberger's summer house, with a bowl of black grapes and a bouquet of zinnias, in celebration of Richard Nixon's resignation on this date in 1974, I think?

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I had one of those for Philly! It may be a grid, but that doesn't mean you can get from here to there. Now I travel with DeLorme's Maine Gazeteer because you can't drive digital if there's no coverage, and in Maine you can still get the kind of lost that's fatal in bad weather.

DeLorme's Atlas and Gazetteer Series is America's most popular line of recreational maps. Each atlas covers an individual state in its entirety with detailed, full-color topographic maps. Maine details include back roads, hidden lakes, boat ramps, hiking trails, campgrounds, public lands, forests, wetlands, logging roads, and more

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Romancing the Vote is coming to save a democracy near you and the auction ends Sunday. I'm offering a consult - do you need details for your work about planting, cultivation, soil building, and generally not becoming a casualty on the Oregon Trail? Ask me for the dirt on growing food!

Offering a consult on growing soil and gardens, here I'm making biochar by slow-burning plant material into carbon, before innoculating it with compost, seawater, and other organic material and using it as a permanent soil amendment.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Poverty Cake. I'm not even kidding, poverty tastes great.

Poverty Cake

Boil together 5 minutes: 2 C water, 2 C sugar, 1 lb seeded raisins, 1 heaping Tbs shortening, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves (or allspice), 2 Tbs cocoa, 1 tsp salt. Let the mixture cool.

Add 3 ½ C flour, 2 heaping tsp baking soda sifted together, 2 tsp vanilla.

Makes 2 loaves. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. The top should show a nice crack when it’s done.

I add half a cup of chocolate chips. If you leave out the cocoa and the chips it makes a good spice cake.

I make half this recipe, but still use 1 Tbs shortening and 2 Tbs cocoa in the half batch. Baked in a ring pan it takes about 45 minutes.

The recipe was written out by my grandmother, She was born left handed and they made her switch in school so her handwriting is a little obscure in places.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The Montmorency sour cherry tree would like to announce that soon there will be PIE. Lots of PIE. 🌱

Montmorency pie cherry tree against the morning sky with clouds, in full bloom and covered with white blossoms.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

For centuries, women's pockets were a separate garment designed as two deep pouches on a string tied around the waist under petticoates and skirts. After WWII they were incorporated into the garment itself for a sleeker profile, which is why they're still not right.

Examples of women's pockets from about 1740 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, one pair of yellow quilted and one of a set of heavily embroidered silk

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

My favorite is the "nich bed" at the Kirbuster Fire Hoose, boxed in by slabs of worn stone. Looks like a welcome place to curl up under a cloud of peat smoke after a long day hauling kelp.

The interior of the Fire Hoose, an ancient home now at Kirbuster Museum in Orkney, with a central pulpit hearth that vents through the ceiling (hence the name) and the box, or nich bed, in the background. The house was lived in until the 1960's

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Tradition! Back in the day, the rangers would go to one of the big touristy spots in the Park and just yell the person's name. We were at Sand Beach one fine day and heard, "Jim Clark! Jim Clark!" and three guys and our black lab all came running, because our son gave the dog a last name.

Boy and HIs Dog, Jim Clark, at Sand Beach in Acadia National Park. They are standing facing the beach with the Beehive in the distance.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Bring out your bug for #inverteFest The seven-spot tiger beetle is a stunner (and I always think it's a piece of foil litter on first glance)

Bright green Seven Spot Tiger Beetle on garden soil

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Robert Altman's "Quintet". All winter, all the time.

Photo of the jacket cover of a VHS tape of Robert Altman's movie Quintet, featuring a portrait shot of Paul Newman in winter clothing

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

According to the lore, the "Old Leatherman" in Connecticut circa 1850's wore an entire suit of boarhide. He walked a 300 mile circuit every year - the caves he slept in are still called after him. The suit never changed over the years and he was buried in it. Good stuff.

A photo from the mid 1800's of a wanderer nicknamed "The Old Leatherman", CT and NY, wearing his suit of stitched leather.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Each year I grow a whole flat of one perennial from seed, and typically get 20 or so specimens. Two years ago I picked Verbascum "Snowy Spires" and it's A+ as a cheerful hardy bee favorite that seems happy to grow anywhere in any weather. I may try "Southern Gentleman" next.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Video games and gochujang butter noodles.

Melt some butter in a pan, add gochujang, honey, and a little soy and cook for a minute, dump in cooked noodles and some greens if you're fancy. Shown: a bowl of orangey noodles with turnip greens and a few pieces of leftover cooked chicken.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

The Rockland Maine Lobster Trap Tree? I don't think Rockland has ever been featured in a movie but it might get extra points for being so, so flammable.

A Christmas tree made of piles of lobster traps, decorated with garland and colorful lobster buoys by the harbor in Rockland, Maine

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Christmas Eve hike, as is traditional, in our new winter coat. Bonus, it's been snowing for 24 hours now.

Capt Waffles, a black tri Australian shepherd, posing in a red insulated dog coat on the carriage road at Little Long Pond in Seal Harbor, ME. There are cross country ski tracks in the fresh snow underfoot.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

OK, that deserves an action shot of Capt Waffles

Capt Waffles, a black tri Australian Shepherd dog, leaps over a fallen log covered with fungus in the snowy woods

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Or countless versions of the same thing? This is in the back room of my local.

two shelves in an old hardware store, one is lined with drill bits of various contours and sizes, the second, deeper shelf is full of hand saws, seen head on

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

One hundred and fifty percent agree, but which model is best and why is it this one?

Crank operated cherry pitter featured in Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog, photo of a cast iron unit clamped to a tabletop, with a rotating disc to separate small pie cherries from their pits in a continuous feed.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Happy Fancy Lil Bonnet Day to all who celebrate.

A small girl dressed in an Easter outfit of a white "layer cake bonnet", coat, purse, tights and Mary Janes (flat shoes with a band over the instep) poses on the front steps of a house, next to a milk delivery box, in the mid 1950's.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

So I guess you need a Gusto Mayo Corn Pizza to start off the week?

Photo of a Gusto Mayo Corn Pizza box, more information is in Japanese but the photo is of a slice of runny cheese pizza, loaded with corn kernels and mayo.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Deep majick - a letter home from my 19 yo grandfather billeted in France just after the Armistice, Nov 17, 1918.

A letter starting off "Dear Folks" from a 19 year old American soldier billeted in France to his family in Connecticut, written on Nov 17 1918, just after the Armistice

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

It is April, 1902 and I am reading the morning post beneath the watchful gaze of three ballerinas. My hair is up, my cuffs are starched, I won't be able to vote for another eighteen years but, my hand to god, no one will stop me.

In a photograph taken in 1902 a woman sits reading a letter next to the headboard of a brass bed with a framed print of three ballerinas in toe shoes and tutus on the wall. She is wearing a light colored dress with white starched collar and cuffs and is smiling slightly at what she is reading.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I need a special name for the dark snowy mornings that happen after the clocks change because the one I use now didn't go over well on this Teams call.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Oh hey, @cheriethemainer.bsky.social this is one of those times when a lot of people made loud noises via phone and emails and. . it worked! Statement from the acting commissioner reinstating SSA contracts in Maine (so you can get a social security number for your newborn)

Screenshot from twitter, sorry, re a statement from Lee Dudek at HCFA reinstating SSA contracts affecting Mainers, they're really sorry.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

The Bangor SSA office didn't know anything about this when I called on behalf of a new parent yesterday. They have 30 days to get the kid a SS#, the hospital can't help them, the National SS office hung up. Here's the contact person for Maine (she's not answering her phone)

Contact info for Theresa Roberts at the Maine SSA, email is Theresa.Roberts@Maine.Gov

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I didn't think it was possible for Senator Susan "Furrowed Brow" Collins to put less effort into responding to her constituents but . . . I was wrong.

A response from Senator Susan Collins to my inquiry re Sec Kennedy canceling vaccine meetings, the body of the email has the "insert content here" field, but no content

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

The only successful counterattack is to feed the gods in the Woof.

A three month old Australian Shepherd puppy, a black tri-color, sits on a bed of green clover and grass, looking up at the photographer. He is wearing a small blue harness and a black leash.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Out back with a chainsaw working off some angst, planning my line of Chainsaw Palace venues in abandoned malls across the country, anybody with a vintage SNAP card gets a free session, we will be providing daycare and selling teeshirts.

Photo of a garden covered with snow in afternoon northern Maine light, I'm out here trimming spruce trees

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Canning marmalade in the morning light.

A row of newly washed glass canning jars resting on a dishrack in front of a small window over the kitchen sink, facing out into a bog full of maple trees

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

This Caterday we honor Tom, who would have been 120 years old last month, at The Parsonage.

An early photograph of a cat, probably gray, labeled "Tom, Taken at The Parsonage, Jan 1905

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

So, what if it was a sketchbook about buildings but also Kodachrome with drawing on top of it?

An open sketchbook with a collage of color photos overdrawn with photo retouching tools and notation in ball point pen, the images are of abandoned and overgrown houses.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

The small changes I make today will converge into a powerful force over time. Anyway, here's what happens when you forget to check on your Christmas tree farm for a hot minute - in the grand scheme of things stuff gets big fast.

Photo of perfectly regular rows of seventy foot tall spruce trees in the snow. Originally planted as a Christmas tree farm, they should have been harvested decades ago and are now unhealthy due to the unnatural circumstances. A dog in the foreground is looking off into the distance.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Growing up we had a whole mess of cousins and they were handy in a crisis - people you were somehow tied to and likely didn't know how. I'm your cousin now, and I say don't let anyone tell you they know how it comes out today, we'll have to wait a while for that. Go drink some water, we love you.

All your cousins. Some of us are a little bit ugly, but the heart is in the right place. This is a black and white photo of the "Smith Family Reunion" in New York state, 1948. It's summer, there are people sitting in lawn chairs and on the grass, some have pipes and cigars, the oldest is wearing a pork pie hat.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

A painting for #RockinTuesday from Grindstone Neck, Maine 🎨🤘

Oilpainting of a long stretch of rocky shoreline with erratics and tidal displacements and a small island in the distance, location Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, Maine, north Atlantic coast

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

I'm a still life painter. If he's okay with joining our obscure yet impassioned world-wide community we welcome him with fruit, flowers, animal allegories, and um, whatever that object is in the background there. I offer a turkey as proof of membership.

A painting of a tom turkey against blue sky with a bowl of apples and acorns in the foreground.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Thank you! It's great to meet so many rock fans. I live in the land of rocks and stones so it's either love them or be buried under them. Here's a photo of my garden, the paths are made from the rocks that are pushed to the surface by frost-jacking every winter.

A path paved with rocks removed from the adjacent garden beds and mortared with beach sand

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

I collected too many fabulous rocks, now I paint them when I want to take them home.

Granite and basalt cliffs at sunset on Grindstone Neck, Maine

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Quick, the tourists are gone, everybody get weird.

A junk store window seen through the plate glass, with puppets, odds and ends, and a decal lettered sign that says, "We Got Stuff!"

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

I'm doing a presentation tonight at a local museum in a tiny village on a rugged little island in a great big ocean. Join me if you'd like a little slice of life in the garden? And Go Birds. 🌱🎨🪶

Oilpainting of a pine warbler on a bed of crawling pine moss with a bouquet of early rosa rugosa blooms, lemon lilies, and white flag iris

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

It's a little early to put the ice fishing shack out, but faint heart never fucked a porcupine as the saying goes.

A yellow and red Mondrian style ice fishing shack has been towed out to a position under a leaning spruce tree on the frozen lake under cloudy skies.

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Messier Object 44 @messierobject44.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Home canning win - Garfield Plantation pie cherry tree and the pie made in the depths of winter from the jarred fruit. Every time something like this works out I think about the preppers planning to live year-round on their box of seeds from Rush Limbaugh and then an angel loses their wings.

Garfield Plantation cherries ripening on a branch against the blue sky.

Cherry pie made with a lattice crust with one piece removed, and a plastic Tyrannosaurus Rex figurine standing guard

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