Mother’s Day at Narrows Pond Road was fairly low-key. Our eldest daughter, Dee, lives in New York City, which is too far for a quick weekend visit. As I’m fond of reminding her, “If you only lived in Boston…” Our youngest daughter, Shannon, and her fiancé, Mike, live about twenty minutes away, but Mike had to work on Sunday, so it turned out to be Shannon, Clif, and me for Mother’s Day. A small gathering but  good nonetheless.

Clif and Shannon made brunch for me, and we had blueberry pancakes, home fries, strawberries with cream, bacon, and sausage. We were so stuffed after this feast that we spent a good deal of the afternoon drowsing on the big sofa in our living room.  There were presents, including a gift certificate to a local nursery; a bird book and matching notecards, sent by Dee; and a picture of a rooster, drawn by Mike. Birds and plants. Along with food, they surely are two of my favorite things.

The day was very cool, but Clif started a fire in our wood furnace, and our “little house in the big woods” was cozy. However, since we are true Mainers, the cool weather did not deter us from going to Wayne to get ice cream at Tubby’s. (For more about Tubby’s, see my post Tubby’s is Coming to Town.)

Tubby’s really is quite the place. In honor of Mother’s Day, all woman eighteen years or older were treated to a free cone, Sundae, or milkshake. Tubby’s homemade ice cream is rich and flavorful, and the flavors have silly names such as “Peppermint Schtick” or “Honey Bee Mine” or “Wum Waisin.” I had a peppermint sundae with hot fudge sauce, which, like the ice cream, was homemade. The portion was ridiculously large, but I, of course, ate every bit. Another nice touch is that all the food is served in paper bowls and baskets, which means they will compost over time. Kudos to Tubby’s for not using plastic serving dishes! We took ours home and burnt them in our wood furnace. Eventually, the ashes will be spread in the garden.

Tubby’s also sells light meals, and since Clif is a chili fiend, and the weather was—as we say in Maine—a little brisk, he decided to have chili rather than an ice cream. For a little over $3, Clif got a generous serving of chili, nicely spiced, as far as I was concerned. Clif likes his chili to singe the roof of his mouth and sear his tongue, so it wasn’t quite hot enough for him. However, I expect most people would agree with my assessment and think it was perfectly fine. And although Clif would have liked a little more heat, he enjoyed the chili. We took note of the price of the other meals—hot dogs and sandwiches—and the general price seemed to be $5 or under. The exceptions, of course, were the lobster rolls, which were more like $10. But who expects to get lobster rolls for $5? Not even in central Maine, far away from the quaint coast, would you find such a price.

Well, Tubby’s will soon be coming to Winthrop, and Clif and I are looking forward to this new addition to our town. As I mentioned in my previous Tubby’s post, Clif and I don’t often go out for ice cream, and we don’t eat out  much, either. However, when we do, we’ll be supporting Tubby’s, which not only serves  tasty food, but will also be within walking distance of our house.

On our way to old Tubby’s, we drove by the new Tubby’s, and construction seems to be underway. It looks as though they are putting new siding on the building, and if they are on schedule, their ice cream window will open the end of May. Clif and I will be there for an ice cream as soon as they open.