On Saturday, Clif and I went to Waterville to see their library’s art show. But before going to the show, we had to sustain ourselves with lunch at the wonderful Riverside Farm Restaurant in Oakland. (Thanks, Rose and Steve, for the gift certificate.) Inside, Riverside Farm is rustic but oh so pretty.

As it turned out, Saturday was our lucky day—fish and chips were on the menu. Because of overfishing, we only eat wild-caught fish about twice a year. (One more meal to go.) Goodness, those fish and chips were tasty, cooked exactly right so that the fish was tender and flaky and the fries were brown on the outside yet chewy on the inside.

After such a lunch, we were fully fuelled and ready to go to the art show at the Waterville Public Library. Readers, I have a confession to make. As much as I love our library in Winthrop, I must admit that the Waterville Public Library was my first library love. I was born in Waterville, and this is the library where I began what would be a life-long adventure in reading.  So like all first loves, the Waterville Library is very special.

A sign directed us to the art show.

The art show was in a relatively small space, but the library made good use of display panels, and there was a lot of art to look at.

As with any local show, the art was a mixed bag. There were many pieces that we would have been eager to take home, given that we had the extra money—we don’t—and the wall space—ditto. Other pieces, not so much.  Still, we enjoyed the show as well as talking to the young librarian at the desk. (These young librarians are certainly a lively bunch. Love them!)

The librarian spoke about how the art show was yet another way to bring people into the library, to promote community, and to emphasize how important the library is to Waterville.

Yes, indeed.

After the art show, we checked out a relatively new bakery, Universal Bread, that was celebrating its second anniversary. The bakery is tucked away on Temple Street and is not visible from the main street. Nevertheless, by 2:00 p.m. there was a sad sign on the door—SOLD OUT.

Still, I decided to go inside to see the bakery and chat with the baker, Adrian Sulea. And a good thing, too, because although the fresh bread was sold out, he still had some day-old bread available.

“What time does the bread usually sell out?” I asked, looking around the simple but clean shop with racks of bread waiting to be picked up by customers who had placed orders ahead of time.

“Oh, around 2:00,” he answered with a smile. The shop is open until 5:30 p.m.

“Wonderful,” I said. “It’s great that you’re doing so well. Congratulations on your second anniversary.”

More smiles and “Thank you, thank you.”

Off we went with  a day-old baguette.  We stopped at the grocery store to buy brie and Jarlsberg cheese. At home we sliced the bread, the cheese, and some apples.

How was the day-old bread? Chewy and immensely satisfying. I can see why Sulea’s bread sells out by 2:00 p.m.

Even though I make most of the bread we eat, I’ll be going back to Universal Bread, especially when Dee comes from New York for a visit. Oh, that girl loves bread, and this is her kind of bread.

But I’ll be sure to call ahead.