Chris's Adventures

The two weeks have flown since Chris has been with us. We have played endless games of Phase 10, war and whatever struck our minds. I won't mention Mancala, because I was not a part of that marble game.

We have had many adventures and all of them have been fun.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is always a fun day trip combined with the Maine Ocean Botanical Gardens. The wind was so strong, it nearly blew our picnic off the table and we had to resort to wearing jackets while we ate and Chris played on the rocks.

We had missed the rhododemdrums in bloom in the gardens, but there is always something colorful to look at on the trails. I captured one bush on the way to the gardens that was spectacular.

Yesterday we attacked the woods. I had not walked our moose trail in several years and it wasn't cleared at all last year so we had to guess where the trail was. I would not have made it without Chris along. Tom got us started on the right trail and then went back to drive the mule down to meet us on River Road. We only have a few trails the mule can travel. The rest of the trails are for foot traffic only.

I had planned to walk all the way to the northeast corner of our property in search of the elusive moose. So camera in hand we stuck out but no moose was found.

Beavers have made the pond overflow onto the trail that had been cleared and Chris and I had to bushwack our way to higher ground. He had a wicked stick that "killed" the ferns out of our way and we did make it.

After lunch, we went to a place to mine for gems. Mt Mica is a famous mine and this place hauls material from the mine and you can dig a bucket full for $10.00 and see what you can find.

There are nice tables with water trays. You sift the material first through two screens. Then you wash the bigger stuff, dump it on the table and sort before you get to the tiny stuff. We found three sandwich bags of "keepers" for Chris to take home. There were numerous tiny crystals of green tourmaline and other minerals.

And then there was the day for sailing, but alas, the sail tore and there was no wind anyway. However, the paddle worked and the two boys rowed across Labrador pond in the sailboat without a sail.

It has been a fun

Moose hunting

We didn't get a shot of the one moose we saw because she was flying across the road, but this deer picture is worth a few moose ones. We also saw wild turkeys.

The Rangley lakes are beautiful, even in the rain. Lake Mooselookmegunticook or however it's spelled, is pronounced the way it looks. We took several pictures of the lakes from different viewpoints. Chris was more agile on the rocks that Auntie was on the hike down and up the Wildflower trail on Saturday.

Our favorite spot was Small Falls where Chris posed beside the falls. We also stopped at Coos Canyon where they used to mine a lot of gold.

We all were enthralled with the lupines in full bloom all along the roads.

We ate at the Purple Onion (only in Maine) and saw a Sun Journal lying on the table. We told the waitress that the young man with us had taken the pictures for the Hartford Heritage story. She was impressed.

Enjoy the photos.

Tree Swallows

For the past 8 or more years, Tree Swallows have used a tiny nesting box on our front porch. They come every year without fail. I guess it takes a village to outfit a nesting box and feed the young, because this box is the most popular place on our farm.

I can't find any verification that Tree Swallows return to the same place and when everyone is dressed in identical tuxedos, it's hard to say from one year to the next, who is who.

But every year, before Tom can get the nest cleaned out, they start bringing in grass and nesting stuff.

Years before we have seen up to three in the nest, but this year, we have quintuplets!! Believe me, this keeps the " village" very busy. We have actually counted five beaks. The baby mouths are so gaping large that if I were the mom I think I would run in fright.

Tree Swallows are the only green backed swallow to live in the east according to "Birds of North America", but when they fly I see more blue than green. My birding Book published by Time Life actually says they have steely blue upperparts and white underparts, which is more correct from my point of view. Most authorities say they like nesting boxes. We can certainly testify to that.

The nesting box is just outside my kitchen window. I just went to get another cup of coffee and I saw three little beaks asleep at the entrance.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Another reason to visit Postlude Farms in June.

My hardest challage

There is no way to explain to anyone what I actually did today, but I will try.

First I must say it was a wonderful experience and if I have to spend the next few days in bed it was worth it.

Beth signed me up to take a wildflower walk on Mount Washington, the higher than a mile mountain in New Hampshire.
She and Molly picked me up at 7:15 this morning. I had been to the chiropracter four days this week for a back problem from working too hard in the yard and was prescribed muscle relaxants yesterday by my doctor. The injury affected my left leg.

Putting all that aside, I wanted to go very much.

When we got to the site, I realized that that the first .03 miles of the trip was straight down a boulder field. I looked at this path from hell and thought, I'm here, I have to do this!!

With two hiking poles and much help and encouragement from Beth, I made it to the Wildflower trail not too far behind the rest of the group. However, the trail was also traversing rocks.

The alpine flowers at this elevation were very small but also very colorful and covered most of the rocky terrain. Our guide pointed out white daipensia, pink alpine azelea, Alpine bluetts, colorful pink Lapland rosebay and many other plants growing over moss covered rocks and what ground there was.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a few clouds and the patches of snow kept our temperture great for hiking.

After lunch in a large boulder field, I decided that going back while I could still walk was a good option. Molly agreed, so the three of us struck out.

The left leg was almost impossible to lift as I climbed back up the boulder field from hell, but if the little engine that could could make it, I could and did!!!

Yard activities

A lot has happened on Postlude Farms over the last week. As I mentioned, the garden club came for a visit and the garden was planted. Christopher is getting a taste of work in Maine as he plants out the tomatoes and pepper, but I think he likes it. The day after we planted the garden it rained, which was good, but it was so cold I actually had the heat on in the house. So much for seeds sitting in the nice warm earth!

Apparently Labrador Pond is a popular spot for turtles laying their eggs as we saw one on Sunday and two at the same spot on Monday. I hope to catch them when they hatch, but that is not likely to happen. I'll keep the camera close just in case.

The pond is also home to a pair of geese who hatch their young every year. I caught these moms and babies just at sunset. If you enlarge the photo, I think you can make them out.

The garden club members were enchanted with the water feature. The most interesting feature is the old pump at the top of the rippling stream. The pump was actually used before the old farmhouse burned, but the shallow well was long dry before we moved here. We removed the pump and Tom saved it for future use somewhere. The new water pond was exactly the right place. It was originally painted blue, but blue just didn't fit the color scheme somehow and I talked Tom into painting it the nice brick red.

Anyway, the water ripples down over rocks that we took out of our mine and you can see tourmaline chips and other crystals in the rocks. The water just enhances the effect.

I bought some Louisiana water hycinths to help keep the water clear. The bog pond has native water iris and the cat tail we moved last year with great effort on my helpers part, actually has signs of putting up a new shoot.

Our great nephew is visiting from Texas and other than all the wonderful things we see in Maine, he has seen a few different things.

My night blooming cactus opened one night for him. This wasn't too different as he said he mom had one in Texas.

Sunday on the way to church Uncle Tom noticed a turtle laying her eggs on the side of the road at Labrador Pond. That photo made the Sun Journal this morning under the title, "Sign of Spring".

Planting a garden was new to Christopher and yesterday he planted tomato and pepper plants.

Helping his Uncle Tom put together an old pump for the water garden was a new experience for him, but he slept while the garden club toured the gardens.

The really unique experience was hearing his Uncle Tom preach in church on Sunday as our pastor is on vacation and Tom usually fills in for him. Christopher lived through the experience. Then we ate at the Cross Stone where the owner had just finished a marvelous fireplace with stones from all around the world. This area is known for tourmaline and many other minerals. He had a sample of most all of them. There were hundreds of stones and we each put our estimate of how many stones were actually in the massive structure. The owner happened to come in and gave us an education of all the stones and where they came from. Chris was enthrawled. I think he likes Maine.

Last night we