Auntie Maine

Virginia

2011-09-16T18:40:00.002-04:00

We drove 430 miles today in about 8 hours and the day was beautiful. PA and Virginia are both beautiful states with far off mountains, and farmland.
I will post some photos if I can. I took pictures this morning matamoras along the Delaware. We walked to the river from our campsite and on one picture you can see the high water mark of debris behind Tom from the recent flooding.
Tonight we are at Natural Bridge, VA at a lovely KOA campground.

Matamoras, PA

2011-09-15T19:37:00.003-04:00

Photos will come tomorrow because by the time we had supper and walked around our campsite, the good light was gone. However, what we found when we walked around was that we are on the banks of the Delaware River. A lovely park with groomed flower gardens, benches, etc overlook the river which is teeming with hundreds of geese at the moment and Linda from the office assures me you can catch any fish you want to in the river.
We saw where the floodwaters from tropical storm Lee had covered the road right along the river and dumped large trees on the banks of the gardens.
We hope to visit a few historic sites tomorrow if we have time. The Columns is right near here and is the official museum of Pike county. The blood stained flag which was under President Lincoln's head as he lay dying is among the historic exhibits.
There are so many wonderful places to visit in the USA that we could never see them all, but this is an area I would love to revisit.

Back again

2011-09-13T21:54:00.002-04:00

Here I am back on the blog. I will be posting along our trip south as we take off in the camper for a few weeks. Hopefully I will be able to put in photos as we stop for a few days in Chattanoog,TN, Wiggins, MS, Enfield,CT and Longmeadow, MA.
Look for updates when we have internet.

Orchids in winter

2011-04-01T20:20:00.003-04:00

With the April first snowfall, I spent much of the day checking out my orchid blooms. There's nothing like a little color in the house when there are 8 inches of snow in the yard.
Notice that the lovely purple phalenopsis under the white one, is the same plant that was nothing more than a keiki in October. I am very pleased with this plant especially since it arrived in a suitcase with my brother in law from Dallas with nothing more than a piece of the stem it was growing on.

April 1

2011-04-01T09:55:00.002-04:00

This is not an April fool's joke. This is my yard at 9:30 this morning. We have lots more of the heavy stuff coming down and the wind is blowing. I never saw this down south on April one, that's for sure.

We don't have anywhere to go, so will take advantage of a slow day. The income tax is mailed, we have all the groceries we need and the house is warm. What more could one ask?

Last week I searched in places where the snow had melted around the house and saw some tulips coming up, but no other sleepers were showing up.

However, I saw several robins yesterday where the grass was showing in some patches that were clear of snow . I wonder where they are today. Poor things.

Family leaving

2011-03-06T15:55:00.004-05:00

Here is a family picture minus Charles who was of course, taking the picture. Everyone is ready to leave for the airport, but as you can see, the eyes of Grandmom and Granddad look sad.
What a wonderful time we had with our Chilian family last week. We look forward to keeping in touch through skype. What a wonderful invention that lets us see each other over the miles.

Sleigh Ride in Maine

2011-02-27T09:31:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we went on a sleigh ride in Sumner. Tom, Charles, Luz Maria, Baby Charlie, Ignacio and myself all fit in the sleigh nicely. It was bitter cold, but we had blankets to keep warm. Baby Charlie was fascinated by the big horses drawing the sleigh and kept making a smacking sound with the lips to imitate sounds he hears in Chile when the horses plop their feet.
The day was sunny and we could see all the way to the paper mill in Jay. Mount Washington was in the clouds, but it would have been visable from the ride.

Grand Canyon and others

2011-02-16T16:48:00.008-05:00

Just sending some more beautiful pictures we took yesterday at Grand Canyon, sunset crater and some Indian ruins.
Also, we hit a rest area just as this sunset was beginning.

2011-02-15T23:33:00.003-05:00

We had a beautiful day at the Grand Canyon today. I think it's supposed to snow later this week, but today was beautiful.
Tom and I relived many memories as we looked down on the Colorado River that we rafted down some 35 years ago.
It was a long day. We left the Condo at 7 this morning and got home at 8 tonight.

Site correction

2011-02-14T21:22:00.003-05:00

Sorry, but we are in a Marriotte resort, not Best Western. This is the second largest in the USA. We feel very fortunate to be in such a great place.
Today was rest day for our trip to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.
Will try to put in a picture of our "home" away from home. Can't find the one I want, so this will have to do.

Montezuma Castle and Sedona

2011-02-13T23:51:00.006-05:00

Phoenix, Day 2
The sky was cloudless as we traveled toward Sedona. Leaving the Best Western resort, we got to Route 17 around 10:00. Soon after leaving the city, the rolling hills gave vistas of tall saguaro cacti reaching their green arms to the sky.
Listening to conversations by our scientist husbands, we remembered that the saguaro has to be 40 years old before it begins to have arms. These specimens were easily 200or more years old.
As we climbed to 3,000 feet in elevation, the saguaros gave way to the prickly pear cacti and then they were gone as we reached a plains area where cows and horses were grazing.
Scrub cedar grew sparsely in the white rocky soil. In the distance the mountains were varying shades of blue and purple.
We reached the Montezuma National Monument just before noon and the sky was still clear and sunny. The temperature was around 70 degrees. The chalky white rocks didn’t look like it would have been the place to build a dwelling, but obviously the Sinagua Indians did. It was a good place for protection and they chose a large natural cave on the side of a cliff to build a 5 story castle.
The castle was made without any help from modern conveniences as it was made in a.d.1250.
In 1906, Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed the area a National Monument and it was then protected. Restoration took place and you see today what the castle did look like. It is one of the best preserved of ancient cave dwellings.
The trees and plants in the area served the Indians as food and building material. The massive sycamore trees still grow in the area and these were used for timbers in construction when the castle was built.
Most of the ancient trees still grow in the area and Mesquite trees were used for many things by the Indians. The sap was used to make candy, black dyes and adhesive for holding baskets together.
There were other ruins of a larger set of dwellings, but they were not as well preserved. Whereas Montezuma’s castle held about fifty people, these ruins had forty four rooms.
We ate lunch by a bubbling brook in the park and then rode to Sedona to feast our eyes on the red rocks. There is nothing quite unbelievable as the glowing red formations reaching up unto the sky.
Tom and I had never been to the Rock Chapel, so Dean took us there. It is an amazing and awesome place sitting there on the side of those magnificant red rocks. These sights are all in or near the Coconino National Forest.

Arizona in February

2011-02-12T21:35:00.002-05:00

Yes, Tom and I are in Arizona as guests of the Kavanagh's, our friends from MA.
We are in a condo village which is part of a large Marriott Hotel.
We'vs been swimming and sunning and enjoying great weather. It was minus 14 when we left Maine yesterday.
Today we explored the complex. Tomorrow we go to an Indian village to explore that area.

Orchid Keiki

2010-12-28T08:44:00.002-05:00

Now that Christmas is over, I can turn more attention to my orchids. One of my delights is finding two spikes on a keiki that was planted in October. This keiki traveled in a suitcase from Dallas and was fairly flat when it arrived. I had no faith that I could actually make it grow, but I prepared some orchid and coconut bark and put it in a pot anyway.
My brother-in-law had brought the keiki and couldn't remember what phalaenopsis he had taken it from, so we don't know the name or the color.
However, not only did the little thing grow, but a few weeks ago, I spotted what looked like two flower spikes emerging. They were indeed spikes and as you see in the picture, the plant and the spikes look very healthy.
I kept the plant more moist than was prudent, but it must have been the right thing to do.
I will keep auntiemaine posted as to the growth of the spikes and have pictures when they actually bloom.

Rippling cascades

2010-10-26T14:03:00.004-04:00

Getting out for a walk in the woods is a sure cure from candidate overkill. Looking at the sun shining through golden leaves and listening to the fall of water as it splashes over moss covered rocks while cascading down the brook instead of hearing election ads on the TV is so much more refreshing.
Tom and I walked to the river this morning and the leaf covered trails were just beautiful. Poet's Point had a nice flow of water over the rocks, but the cascades were worth the long walk. We really love our woods.

Eagle watch

2010-10-11T06:33:00.003-04:00

When I rented a cottage at Southwest Harbor in Acadia called Eagle Watch, I was not aware that we would have our own eagle right outside our deck, but that's how it was.

Our cottage overlooked Southwest Harbor and our eagle liked to perch in the pine tree which you see. It was such a delight to watch him watch for food. He came at high tide and low tide. I got some picture of him eating on the shore at low tide, but he was hard to capture in flight because he would sit on that pine limb for hours.

Charles and Luella from Dallas were also fascinated by our unexpected addition to the cottage.

We toured Acadia during one of the worst winds I have experienced on the island. It rained on and off for most of our stay, but we had a rewarding time watching the surf. I will be blogging about the waves later.

Pitcher plant

2010-09-15T17:11:00.005-04:00

I have always been facinated by pitcher plants. On the farm in Mississippi, my friends and I would plow through the bogs looking to see what we could find inside these carnivous plants. I have seen tiny frogs, lizards and all sorts of insects.
Anyway, I had to drive to Manchester on Saturday to Longfellow's Nursery to pick up a red hybiscus for Beth's birthday. Daughters are worth the extra miles to get just what they want.
While at the Nursery, which is just the greatest place in the world to go, I spotted this wonderful pitcher plant. Husband Tom has likewise always been attracted to these plants because of his love of science and growing things. Soooo, I decided that he needed a present as well.

When I got it, and the giant hybiscus, home, we had to put water in the pitchers. Tom found a squirt bottle that would just fit into the small mouths of the pitchers, so together we put some water into each of them.

Maybe this one will survive. I have successfully killed a few before, but never one this vigorous looking.

What awaited our return from the West

2010-07-23T19:11:00.003-04:00

After our three week plus camping trip out west, I knew the garden would be a field of weeds but I wasn't prepared for a garden full of four foot weeds, solid!

A friend told me they had to use the weed trimmer on theirs, so I went out to see if there was anything there to expose with a weedeater. Much to my delight, we found eleven of the twelve tomato plants as tall as the weeds and already bearing fruit. Seeing is believing, so will enclose the photo. Maybe we need to let the weeds grow so the plants can get a good start?????

Then I was afraid all my daylilies would be bloomed out. This was not the case either as you will see one of my favorite seedlings. The plant had six open on it today and I was very happy.

Our Take on Glacier

2010-07-23T19:09:00.001-04:00

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
MONTANA
July 4, 2010

Yes, the glaciers do appear to be melting in Glacier National Park in this its centennial year. SInce this was my first trip to Glacier, I had nothing to compare as I looked at Jackson glacier, the largest in the park. I had only previously seen the glaciers on the Canadian side in the Colombian Glacier Field.

In 1993, I had actually walked on the glacier in Canada but after looking back at my pictures from 1993, I decided that if I could have gotten up to Jackson glacier, it could have been as large as was the Canadian Athabasca Glacier.

As we traveled the “Going to the Sun” highway in Glacier, the scenery was breath taking. Around each bend in the road there was a new view of snow covered mountain ranges, sparkling waterfalls and rushing streams.

The mountain sides were dotted with numerous waterfalls bubbling with snow melt down the alpine cirques and cliffs. Some are called step falls because the rock layers have eroded at different rates giving a step effect. The ribbon falls, just do that, fall as ribbons down shear cliffs from hanging valleys. These hanging glaciers marked where small tributary glaciers had carved intersecting valleys high above the floor of the principal glacier.

Along the road we passed the weeping wall where water weeps and falls to wet the road and splash your car. Many hands reached out to catch some moisture as they passed by.

The passes were marked with snow pilled as high as 25 feet where road clearing equipment had cleared the road. The road was still closed by snow until the last week in June, just a few days before we arrived.

On the “Going to the Sun” highway, we traveled along Lake McDonald for ten miles. It is reputed to be 475 feet deep and offered beautiful reflections of the mountain ranges. The Lake McDonald Lodge on the banks of the lake brought to mind a Swiss Chalet.

At Logan’s Pass, which has an elevation of 6646 feet and where we passed the Continental divide, the snow is quite deep around the visitor center and offered fun for kids and dads to pelt each other with snow balls. The mountain goats also seemed to like the visitor center and readily posed for my camera.

Speaking of the Continental divide, we passed Triple Divide Peak which was marked as having runoff to the Pacific Ocean to the West, the Atlantic Ocean via the Mississippi River Valley to the East and Hudson Bay to the North.

Construction along the “Sun” highway gave us pause to enjoy the wildflowers which were in full bloom those first two weeks in July. My favorite was called bear grass. Each plant had one plume of hundreds of tiny white flowers. These plants covered the ground where they had open sun, especially in the areas recently cleared by wild fire. Bright pink and red Indian Paintbrush gave a colorful accent among yellow monkey flower, blanket flower, glacier lily, white yarrow, cow parsnip and blue forget-me-nots, wild geranium, lupine and many other flowers that carpeted the ground.

Another colorful sight along the “Sun” highway were the numerous antique red open air tour buses. These buses from the 1930’s are treasured by the drivers as well as the park. “It just don’t get any better than driving this fine antique bus through this kind of scenery,” said one contented bus driver.

There are thirty buses in the fleet and it takes six full time mechanics to keep them in working order. The busses gleamed as if they had just rolled off the show room floor.

As soon as bears are spotted along the highway, rangers quickly make their way to the site to control crowds and keep everyone safe, including the bears. We spotted two Grizzly bears in a meadow, far enough away to be captured by a telephoto lens. They appeared to be mating. The ranger said it was a few weeks late in the year, but it was possible.

At one spot a braver mom and her two cubs excited crowds along the road, but she went behind a crop of trees before we got to the site. When I mentioned to a ranger that I had bought a walking stick with a bell, his comment was, “That’s not enough to scare them away. Make a lot of noise when walking the trails.” So much for my new bell stick.

Shining glaciers, high mountain waterfalls fed by melting snow, rivers with numerous rapids and falls, animals from as small as a marmot scurrying into holes to the mammoth grizzly bears and graceful elk moving about the meadows and sightseeing crowds such as ourselves filled the space of what the natives rightly call the “big sky country.”

Our Take on Glacier

2010-07-23T19:09:00.000-04:00

Grand Tetons Park Day 2

2010-07-13T21:21:00.003-04:00

Today was a restful day in preparation for our journey back to Maine. We walked down to Snake River below our campsite after breakfast.
Then we took off for the Park. We drove along Jenny Lake in the Park and had coffee on the terrace of the Jackson Hole Lodge. What a lovely place. The lobby is large enough to have four nice shops and we splurged on coffee to drink out on the terrace.
Then we drove to a Wildlife preserve to visit a cabin and ranch which was owned by the Millers until it was purchased by the government to be on the Historical Register. Mr. Miller was the third homesteader in Jackson Hole. It is now an elk preserve, but the elk are all in Yellowstone for the summer. The house was an elegant cabin with 12 rooms and some original furnishings were still there. Mrs. Miller was one of the first Mayors of Jackson and on the wall was a picture of her and her six lady members of the town council.
We shopped for groceries which should see us through the week long trip home.
We came home and Tom took a nap while I read. It was our first day to really take it easy.

Grand Tetons 1

2010-07-12T21:23:00.007-04:00

We left Yellowstone this morning around 8:30 and made it over all the high places with the camper with no problems. We arrive in Jackson around 2:30. The distance was short but we had to go all through Yellowstone to get to the Grand Tetons.
Tom and I did the shops in Jackson Hole, leaving a little cash for a few souviners after we checked into our campground along the Snake River. Actually I can hear the river from our camper it is so close.
We have decided to rest here tomorrow before we start our journey home. I need to do some wash and we will just rest.
You can see how beautiful the Grand Tetons are from the pictures. Tom and I had our lunch overlooking the Tetons at a table which clearly had a bear warning posted on it. We watched each other's backs!
The famous arch of elk antlers in Jackson Hole was not to be missed for a photograph or two.
Enjoy the lovely Teton scenes.

Thermal day in Yellowstone

2010-07-11T23:01:00.007-04:00

Our goal today was to refresh our memories from our last visits to the park and fondly remember those that were with us during those visits.
We walked the boardwalks across the geyser basin and took several hikes even though we were at a mile and a half elevation. We just had to stop along the way and take lots of pictures.
The bent support for the bow over one of our beds worked fine after the good guys at the tire repair place opened their place up just after they closed and put a clamp on the support. We had come home and found one tent side collapsed. A storm came through while we were gone yesterday and bent the support. We witnessed the results of one of those storms in the mountains where we encountered the roads and mountain sides white with hail.
Today we spent all day doing the thermal pools and fininshed by waiting about an hour with some 1500 other people waiting for Old Faithful to do her thing. We were not disappointed as you will see in the photo.
We head out for Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons tomorrow as we make our way homeward. We plan to stay two days before we actually head home.

Yellowstone Day 2

2010-07-10T22:13:00.008-04:00

Today we got a late start but had a full day of adventures. Our aim was to do the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone complete with the falls in the canyon. We hit all the view points between showers and made the walks in the mile plus elevation without too much huffing and puffing.
This is our fourth trip to Yellowstone, but the sights don't change and it's always a wonderful sight to renew.
The wildflowers are in full bloom, but pictures cannot capture the full beauty. The mountains are simply a blaze of color. The yellow ones always stand out the most, but Tom was patient when I asked him to back up so I could capture a tiny one that was so pretty. We found them everywhere but we started out taking another road less traveled this morning so we could stop more often. It was a one way dirt road, and we took our time. Many times we pulled over to allow faster lookers to get past.
We missed seeing a mother grisly with her twins as she had gone behind the trees when we happened upon the site. People standing around had seen her real close to the road. At each bear sighting, the rangers get there fast to make sure people stay out of harms way.
The large black bear was busy feeding just below the road. The cayotte was just running around the trails and you will recognize The Yellowstone Falls.

Yellowstone

2010-07-10T00:24:00.007-04:00

Yesterday we spent our last day in Glacier by taking the road less traveled. We traveled on a dirt park road to a remote lake called Bowden Lake.Before entering the Park we stopped at Polebridge. The town consisted of a postal drop, store and bakery all in the same primitive building. It was packed with hikers getting a sandwich on freshly baked bread and pastries of all kinds. Tom and I got a pastry as we had packed a lunch. The fruit pastry was wonderful.
We then took off on this road which was only 6 miles long, but the further we went the more certain I was that we were having an adventure. There was no place big enough to turn around and meeting another car was almost impossible. One car had to back up to a tiny bit widder spot. Anyway 6 miles and 45 minutes later we arrived at the most beautiful lake, as you will see if my pictures load.We had our lunch sitting on one of those big logs.
As for the rest of the story, we are now in Yellowstone in a great camping spot. Fortunately we called yesterday for a reservation. The parks are all full as are most campsites. Ours is full as well.
Tom drove us to the northeast entrance to the Park after we quickly set up the camper. Our campsite is at the north entrance. We ate our fried chicken and potato salad in the car watching a large herd of buffalo feeding. Some of them were actually in the road
You will see from the pictures, that we saw buffalo, antelope, elk and two grisly bears in the distance. If you enlarge the picture, you can see they are really bears.

Bear, goat and flowers

2010-07-07T23:25:00.008-04:00

Today was a beautiful day with blue skies and just a few puffy clouds. We found a mountain goat near the construction at Logan's Pass. He seemed happy with traffic. There were some in the hills but too far away for me to focus.
The bear was in the meadow about 6:00 this evening, enjoying his supper. I took several of him but didn't get out of the car.
I did see a deer this morning and one this afternoon, but hey, we have deer.
Flowers took up a goodly portion of the camera time today. The yellow alpine lily was in a bed of white which I haven't identified yet.
We went to the Many Glacier part of the park, but Jackson glacier is so much bigger than any there. They are melting fast.
We still have one more day here so will write more tomorrow.

The rest of the pictures

2010-07-07T10:12:00.008-04:00

Hopefully I can sent the rest of my pictures I wrote about last night. My computer crashed but maybe it is fixed.
It looks like the pictures all went. The descriptions are in the last blog.
We are off today for another adventure.

Glacier "Going to the Sun Highway"

2010-07-06T21:25:00.012-04:00

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Here is a brief description of what you are looking at.
The white flowers are called bear grass and literally cover the burned over areas where lightning has caused forest fires.
The Cedars Trail shows many cedars over 100 feet tall and some are 300 years old. The root Tom is standing beside shows how shallow the roots are and many have fallen into Avalanche Creek. This trail we took was nearly a mile long and we were at about 4000 feet. We are doing well for old folks, I would say.
There is a picture of a ribbon waterfall coming from the hanging canyon so named because it was formed by a small tributary glacier. When the main glacier melted the canyon formed by this glacier was high up above the valley which had been formed by the main glacier.
The step falls are formed by rocks eroding at different levels.
The triple divide pass is where water goes in three directions unlike the Continental Divide which only divides the water into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Here is also goes to the Hudson River.
A tourist took a nice picture of the two of us, so am sending it along for the mountain view.
We had to hike a bit to get to the waterfall where Tom is standing, but we made it fine.
I'll have to put the rest of the pictures in another blog. I can't seem to load them all on this one.

Glacier National Park Day 1

2010-07-05T19:02:00.007-04:00

A few showers didn't dampen our spirits as most of them happened while we were traveling.
AND the mountains are really something to write home about. It is just awesome!!!!
Our campsite is great with heated pool and hot tubs. DRAT I forgot our suits.
The sites are in the woods basically and not too close together. This is the KOA at West Glacier. There is a nice store and if I don't want to fix breakfast, there is a nice restaurant with a breakfast under $4.00. Dinners are not pricy either. We are out of town in the forest and I bought a walking stick with a bell on it. However, the Ranger told me not to depend on the bell but to walk, talk and clap your hands when on the trail.
There are some short trails which he outlined for us to take tomorrow.
The 'Going to the Sun' Highway will be our goal tomorrow. It will take all day, though it is not long as miles go. With the stops, it will take all day according to the Ranger.
We took a drive this afternoon after having lunch at our campsite. We were set up by 11:00 a.m. Along the drive we stopped to look for wildlife, but ended up with pictures of flowers.
On the way from Conrad this morning, we stopped at an Indian Gift Store in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. On the way out, three drunk indians were eyeing our car and camper. One approached Tom who is a soft touch and got two dollars from him. Good thing he didn't approach me!!! I don't yield so quickly.
I am sending pictures, but not taking the time to place them. There is just too much fun things to do. One nice picture is one I took on the road here, but it shows the mountains nicely. We can't see the glaciers as they are under 6 feet of snow, again, according the the Ranger. I think the pink flowers are Indian Paintbrush. I forgot my flower book. The lake in the picture is McDonald Lake and the guy having lunch is someone I picked up to help me set up the camper!!!!!!

Outside Glacier

2010-07-04T22:02:00.006-04:00

Yes, it is the fourth of July and we are sitting in a campsite just outside Glacier National Park in the little town of Conrad.
The TomTom wanted us to go a route that would have taken us nearly 600 miles today. We knew that didn't work, but Tom had worked out a route before we left home that was about 380 miles. We had to shut off the TomTom as the lady kept telling us to turn around but we took the shortcut. No towns to go through and no traffic. That comment is very true. We drove for nearly 200 miles without seeing but just a few cars. Actually the first 100 miles, we saw 2 cars. There were no houses either. I don't know where the ranchers live. Tom was clicking along at 70 miles an hour, so the road was great.
Before we got to this shortcut, we stopped at a rest stop on I94 just above the Yellowstone River. It was so beautiful and I got a close up picture of the yellow Yucca that was spotting the hills all along the road. Of course I had already stood behind a large Yucca bush for Tom to take my picture when I saw the signs all over the place saying to stay on the sidewalk because of rattlesnake danger!!!!!
The hills were full of something that looked like fields of yellow wild mustard and accented with silver sagebrush. As the wind billowed the grass in waves among the fields of yellow and silver it reminded me of a Monet painting.
Along with the fat cows grazing in the fields, we saw 2 antelope and one deer (alive that is )
Interesting to note that beehives were very prominate in the fields. I guess this is where they spend the summer.
The elevation is not bothering Tom so far and we were at 4700 feet at one point today. Now we are at about 3900 feet.
Tom liked the Yellowstone canyon and we followed the river beside us for miles and miles.
The pictures that I will be sending will show me and the Yucca blossoms. I had actually remarked that I wondered it there was a snake in the plant.
If you look closely to the right on one picture, you can see an elk. There were actually 2 but by the time I saw them Tom was flying by at 70 miles an hour.
I took a picture last night of our campsite by a large clay hill. We walked over to it and it was really made of clay.

Badlands

2010-07-03T20:48:00.007-04:00

Well, here we are in the Big Sky Campground in Montana. And big sky it is. Today we were driving and all of a sudden I said to Tom, "I can see everything for 360 degrees." The sky looked sooooo big.
We rode along looking at beautiful farm lands and ponds for hundreds of miles until we hit the Theodore Roosevelt Painted Canyon. It was hard to believe that we went from rolling plains to canyons. As you will see from the pictures, it was really a beautiful sight.
I don't know what the fields of yellow are in the picture, but the landscape was simply one giant painting after another, ever changing in color, shape and texture. The deep blue ponds accented the green fields of corn and often there would be gold where the wheat had been harvested. It was almost like watching a scenic movie.
Last night was horrific because of the wind. It must have been blowing 40 miles an hour all night. I never closed my eyes until after 3 this morning. I was sure the camper would be damaged. I didn't know until I talked about my fear this morning that Tom had the same concern. But, God is good and we suffered no damage, except loss of sleep.
Tonight there is a good breeze, but it's in the 70's and very pleasant. Tomorrow we have many things to stop and see along the way, but we will be on the outskirts of Glacier.

North Dakota

2010-07-02T22:02:00.004-04:00

We have made it to ND today after the traffic jam around Minneapolis. We had a by-pass and that was fine, but a zillion cars, trucks and campers jammed the Interstate so we spent about 40 minutes going 5 miles an hour. However, we are here and aside from the heat everything is fine.
It was 90 degrees with wind about hurricane force, so we set up the camper, unzipped all the windows so the wind could pass through and not blow us over and went across the way to a nice restaurant. We ate in the cool of AC and now I am in the lobby of this resort writing. I don't have a picture today, but will be in more interesting country tomorrow. Today we passed 400 miles of corn fields, nice farms with gigantic silos and hundreds of small ponds. Tom speculates that these are sink holes left over from when the glacier moved through a long time ago and now they have filled with water. Some of them are impressively large.
The farms are beautiful because of the green corn fields, freshly harvested wheat fields giving a golden release to the ponds and fields. It really is lovely and different country.

Wisconsin

2010-07-01T21:49:00.004-04:00

We lived through the Chicago traffic and maddening toll booths, but I won't say it was pleasant. We actually had to stop at an Interstate Oasis to give Tom a break. We bought a USA today and tried not to read the finance page. After an ice cream and paper reading break we decided to walk down the mall in this highway oasis. We came to an Interstate booth and I told the lady about how we had gone through a fast lane because we had gotten off accidently trying not to go through the fast lane. When you have 8 lanes merging on toll booths at 70 miles an hour, it's enough to give anyone a heart attack. The lady smiled and said not to worry, we were allowed to miss two tolls in a 24 hour time.
Now we are in Wisconsin at a beautiful campsite. We are the only "little' camper here, but we are happy and very comfortable. Tom is reading and I'm doing my blog. We don't always have WiFi but this place is just like being home on the internet.
I had to take some windmill pictures today out the window. We went for over five miles seeing them as far as the eye could see and very close to each other. They were also putting in more and the highway had trucks carrying those huge blades. Actually they are so big it takes a truck for each one. Tax dollars going up fast.
I will send a picture along for you to see and also a unique formation we saw this afternoon when we stopped to eat at a German Haus to give Tom a little break from driving. They made a wicked reuben.
Maybe I can write more tomorrow if we have internet access.

Some Great children

2010-06-30T21:45:00.005-04:00

Since I may not be able to blog too much, I have to send along a few pictures of the great grandkids.

Autumn sang The Intsy, wentsy spider song with hand motions. The kids all enjoyed the soft blocks we took for a present. It certainly was a good choice, because they can't make any noise!!!

Children's visit on way west

2010-06-30T21:18:00.005-04:00

Our layover in Lafayette, Indiana was a wonderful treat. The Great Grandchildren are precious and sooooo smart. (Aren't they all?)It was our first time to see Gabrille who will be one in July.
Heather and Lee took the Great Grands to the zoo today and we saw our first wallabees. The children have been so much that they led the way to the wallabees, butterfly garden, sea otter playground, above and below water,lots of other neat exhibits and of course the petting zoo. Autumn was nearly eaten up by a baby goat, who also liked Tom's trousers.
We think we are well over a third of the way to Glacier and feel good about the campground settings. We meet a lot of nice people. We may make it to Wisconsin tomorrow. It depends a lot on what we find to do along the way.
I will blog when I get a chance, but that is not as easy as it sounds. Only a few campgrounds have wifi.

Day 2 of Westward Ho

2010-06-29T19:50:00.005-04:00

Day 2 of Westward HO
Last night we spent a lovely night in a Park in PA near a lovely lake. The campground was in the woods, but we stopped and took pictures of the lake. We had no hookups last night, but the camper battery gave us light and worked the camper fans over our bed. We actually turned them off early in the night. The temperature was near 80 degrees when we stopped.
It was so quiet and still and peaceful. I lay watching the fireflies dance before I fell asleep.
We woke up at 6 this morning as we had gone to bed so early last night. We both took showers, ate cereal and juice for breakfast and were on the road again by 8:00.
We ran into a lot of rain storms today and spent a lot of time in lines on the highway due to construction. PA is so beautiful, we didn’t mind the slow pace.
The storms continued so we stopped and ate supper to give the front time to move and it did. Now we are in a nice park just inside Ohio. I just heard the train pass on tracks behind the campground which brings to mind the story our campground lady manager told us when we checked in. She warned us about the train because we are in tornado alley.
The story is as follows. A genteel couple from Georgia were camping near the tracks, which they didn’t know were there. When the train came through, the genteel lady paniced and tried to find a place to hide. There is no place even in a fifth wheel to really hide but she huddled down in the tiny bathroom. Then she got stuck. The manager found out when the husband came and asked where a grocery store was. Later he told her it took 2 bottles of cooking oil to get the somewhat robust genteel lady out of the shower.
More the next time.

I will add a little more as we are in our campsite in Lafayette, Indiana and we see the grandkids tomorrow. It's not easy to get online, so don't know how this is going to work. We have a site for two days here with access.

Westward HO

2010-06-25T16:12:00.003-04:00

We will be leaving on Sunday for another adventure in our Coleman tent camper. We are very excited about going to Glacier National Park as it is one of the few National Parks that we have not visited over our lifetime.
The camper is packed, the car is packed and we are like two 77 year old kids going away for a trip and can't wait.
One reason for going Sunday is that I cover five towns for the Sun Journal daily paper and I have a big annual town meeting on Saturday. I will have one more in August and that will be the big ones for the year.
It is not a perfect time to go as far as my garden is concerned because the daylilies are just beginning to bloom. Being gone for three weeks will see the peak gone, but I should have a fair showing when I return. This photo is one of my favorite seedlings and is worthy of introducing if I were into that again, but I'm not. I just like to look at them.
I will have several of my seedling bloom that I have yet to see, and hopefully they will not all be bloomed out when I get back. I shall blog along the way whenever I can.

Wisteria in Maine

2010-05-27T06:44:00.004-04:00

As long as I can remember, the wistera has filled my senses with spring. The smell, the color, the soft feel of the buds before they opened, and yes, the feel of the tight buds in my mouth. I remember the enjoyment of sucking on them. Perhaps they were poison, but I'm still here after 76 years.
The fragrance from the clustered blossoms would permeate the old home place where it twined over the porch swing. Green snakes used to frequent the heavy vines and when you were sitting on the swing you weren't sure if the thing touching your back was a tendril from the vine reaching out for another hold, or a tiny snake.
The swing hung from the top of the porch on chains. It was made of wood and had ample room for two adults and a kid to sit. I often sat between by brother Merkle and his wife Mary. It was the center of the gathering on Sundays when people came to visit. Dad had a large rocking chair and mother used a smaller one. Again, they were hand made.
The porch was two feet off the ground, so other visitors would line the porch or steps when the swing was taken. You didn't use the rocking chairs!
The wisteria brings back lots of memories and I am so glad that I have continued to bring a piece of that Mississippi vine to every home I have ever had. Now it will rest in Maine with me.

Tulips in Ocean Botanical Gardens

2010-05-23T19:54:00.005-04:00

Tulips have always been a favoite of mine since I was in kindergarten and had to draw that stilted version of a tulip that all kids draw. The teacher showed us pictures of Holland and I fell in love with the real thing. One of the highlights of my life was to go to Holland and see the fields and fields full of tulips.
I didn't have to go to Holland for these pictures. The Maine Ocean Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor always has a beautiful showing in May. This year was no exception.
In addition to the tulips, the rhododendrum were in full bloom as well as the Lady Slippers. We saw hundreds of them blooming in an area set aside along a woodland trail just for Lady slippers. I have Lady Slippers in my woods, but not that many in a concentrated area, but then I haven't planned such a spot. And I might add, I don't have mega bucks to finance such a showing. However, it's great to have a place to go and see God's beautiful flowers.
Visiting the gardens was just another thing to add to the enjoyment of our ocean anniversary trip.

Ocean Camping trip

2010-05-20T21:00:00.004-04:00

Our first trip in our camper was to the ocean. We had the site of all sites. The number is "ON" meaning, it is on the ocean. I could have spit in the ocean from my picnic table bench, in high tide.

On our last day, I decided to watch the sunrise as the surf was pounding so hard it woke me at 4:15. I crept out to the car and got my camera while still in my pj's and a jacket. The sky was just beginning to turn to a golden hue. The robins were singing their hearts out in the trees, but the gulls were quiet. When the storm came yesterday, they went crazy screaming in the wind.
Anyway, no rain today.
I saw a few little ducks in the water enjoying the unusually high tide this morning. Pink clouds were slowly creeping over from the north.
I got a little chilly, so went inside the camper to make a cup of coffee. Tom was sleeping soundly in is cozy sleeping bag.
The coffee was made just in time. I barely had time to take a sip before the sun broke the horizon. What a glorious sight.
The sun warmed my face, the coffee warmed my throat, the surf and bird songs filled my ears. My heart and soul was full of peace.
The surf brought in waves with a spash and took the gravel back out with rolling stone sounds. I sat on the picnic table bench and looked down into the water, now golden with the sun. I did not move for fear I would miss a moment of this bliss.

New Orchid

2010-05-11T08:13:00.003-04:00

It's not that I don't have enough orchids, it's just that I can't pass up a sale.

My friend Christine and I traveled all the way to Gorham, Maine last night to the Orchid society meeting, which was a vendor's auction to raise money for the club.

I bid on several, but do have my limits. I finally won the bid on a Epc.Midddleburg MAJ (c. bactiaxEpi phoenicum) which has several buds but none are open yet. It is a small deep red cattelya shaped orchid and I'm looking forward to seeing the buds open. It fits nicely on one of my window shelves. I've actually filled up the window. I can't buy any more.

I'll post the picture when it opens.

Spring has come to Maine

2010-05-06T09:33:00.007-04:00

Spring has come to Maine with brillant colors and a few black flies. We have to ignore the flies, because there is so much beauty to look forward to in the yards and in the woods.

One of my favorite colors is yellow and you will see in some of my photos. A second favorite would have to be pink, again you will see.

However, I just love to search the woods for the first show of what has been lying dormant under all the snow. The lady slipper just begining to hood, the Painted Lady trillium and the viburnum also called hobble bush, I have been told.

Spring is the new awakening I look forward to each spring coming after all that cold weather. It is worth the wait.

Golden Angel Trumpets

2010-04-10T13:13:00.005-04:00

My golden Angel Trumpet is outdoing itself this year. I have had it for many years and each year it seems to have more and more blooms. I just keep cutting it down to about 2 feet and off it goes again. I counted 14 blooms today. In the evening the fragrance is overwhelming.

I made a picture from inside and outside the sunroom. I had to hurry on the outside shot as it is very cold and windy today. The last time I looked it was 42 degrees, but the wind is steady at 20 mph.

The geraniums get the same haircut as the Trumpet get about twice a year. These were cut back in January and are just getting back their full bloom.

This room is also full of orchids that are in the down time. The blooming ones get to come inside. Most anything grows out there and I have around 70 daylily seedlings getting larger every day enjoying the room. When summer arrives, I'll transplant them all outside in a bed.

A too real nightmare

2010-04-08T07:47:00.005-04:00

When I was a child in Mississippi, we lived in a big farmhouse near several small brooks that ran between larger creeks in the area. It was rumored that a black panther had been spotted along the brooks making his way to another larger creek. Of course kids like to tell horrible stories about cat attacks and I was gifted with a vivid imagination.

One night when the air was still, hot and humid, I had my face literally in the window. My bed was pushed up to the window and I was sleeping at the foot so I could get any air that was available. My sleep was shattered by the loudest scream I had ever heard and it sounded like it was right under my window. I was scared so much I couldn't move. My room was apart from my parents bedroom so that I would have to go out onto a screened porch and enter the dining room before I could get to them. Somehow I managed to do it with my hair still standing on end. I was told that it was indeed a panther I had heard, but he couldn't get into the house.

Early this morning, in a deep dreamland, I was again in Mississippi, near the three brooks that crossed the road some quarter mile from the house. I was driving our red buick and suddenly I saw a white puma. I had recently read in the paper about one roaming around somewhere, so I recognize it. Of course that was the Maine paper and I was in Mississipi.

Anyway, I stopped the car and angled a little sideways so I could get a good look at the creature. He came up to the car and started lunging at the window. I didn't know how soon he would be able to break the window, so I grabbed my nikon camera and flashed a quick picture. He stopped lunging and I got the car in gear and drove to the house where Tom and "others" were there. You know how dreams are. You don't always see everything and everyone. Anyway as I was showing everyone the picture I woke up. It was 5:15 a.m. and any thoughts of returning to sleep vanished. We got home around midnight from playing cards, so I didn't get much sleep. I almost felt like looking at my camera to see if a puma picture was hiding inside.

I got dressed, heated up left over coffee and went out to get the paper, looking over my shoulder all the way in case a white puma was lurking in the firs along the driveway.

Well, I didn't see any and came home to watch the sunrise on the deck while I read the paper and finished my coffee. Alas, the sunrise was hidden behind clouds so I was content to read, sip and listen to a forest full of birds flitting from tree to tree. The drama of my nightmare still fresh on my mind.

Warm Easter

2010-04-03T07:05:00.005-04:00

I just heard the weather forcast for today and it looks like we may see 80 degrees. It will be perfect for the annual Easter Egg hunt on the grounds of the East Sumner Congregational church. I hope to get some cute photos for the paper.

Good news on the fish survival this winter. I have now counted all five in the bog pond and the two big ones in the deeper pond were swimming around and ready to eat yesterday. We'll have to move some of the ones out of the bog pond into the larger pond because the bog is too small for five nice fat goldfish.

My orchids have survived very well through the winter as well. They certainly brighten up a cold winter day, but now I see life beginning in the garden. My daylily seedlings are coming up nicely in the sunroom, so I hope to have a small bed to transplant later on this spring.

Good news today as well. I just heard that the parks are opening earlier this year. We will be pulling the camper out soon for some fun camping trips.

Fish survived winter, and a baby lamb

2010-03-22T16:25:00.007-04:00

Tom and I stopped at the fish pond to see if any fish had survived the winter. The ice had melted from the bog pond. Much to our amazement, there were three fish, three times bigger than last year, swimming around in the water. The larger pond still has a covering of ice, so we don't know the plight of the two fan tails. We knew that they survived in Tennessee under ice, but this was frozen solid, or so we thought. I am delighted.

Tom and I went out to see a new baby finnsheep baby who was born this week at three and a half pounds. I'm doing a story for the paper on the sheep and the farm. The baby's name is Venus.

Daylily seed mystery

2010-03-18T08:49:00.004-04:00

It is a big mystery to me how I can spend so much time preparing soil, getting everything just right and then plant my day lily seeds only to find the ones I accidentally dropped in a bowl of rocks sprouting long before the others.

I bought new potting soil and soaked it two days before I planted the seeds carefully in the little sections. I no longer label my seeds because I just don't have the time or energy. I can pretty well spot who the parents are when they bloom and my days of selling are over.

The day I was sorting the seeds to plant, some seeds fell into the rocks. I didn't have the patience to dig them out so I just thought they would be lost, but I had plenty others. You can imagine my amazement when I saw seedlings which were already 6 inches high in the rock pot. The pampered ones have just begun to sprout. This does not exactly go along with the parable of the sower, does it?

Maybe I have discovered something, but the problem may arise when I try to get the seedlings out of the rocks to transplant. I'll let you know.

Chile family doing well

2010-03-16T16:29:00.005-04:00

In spite of too many after shocks keeping them awake, the family in Chile seems to be doing well. Charles and Luz Maria moved back into their home last Friday after a structual engineer gave them the approval.Most of the things they lost were in the China cabinet which fell across the dining room table. Lots of other things were damaged as well, but those things can be replaced.
Luz ended up getting five stitches in her foot from rushing out of the house with the baby.
This photo was taken when they were here for Christmas.

Our two weeks in Texas was not exactly a winter vacation as we were there for the 12.5 inches of snow. We've had no new snow for nearly 2 months, except a small amount, which has all melted. We still have snow from the winter, but the new stuff just melts.

I've planted my daylily seeds and have great hopes of seeing them bloom in two years. I should have new ones blooming this year from last year's seedlings. You will be hearing more about that.

Pictures to liven up winter

2010-03-15T08:43:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I have gotten to my blog what with watching earthquake news and taking physical therapy for the back. However pictures that arrived this morning in my e-mail box prompted me to brag a little bit.
Aden is the one drooling and Autumn is holding baby brother Gabrielle. These are Heather's children which makes them our greats, and great they are.
News from Chile is that Charles and family are back in their home, but the aftershocks continue. We have a shaky world.
Winter was long and cold, but we are emerging.

Jewel Orchid

2010-01-15T06:49:00.005-05:00

My Jewel Orchid has really put on a show with 7 spikes. The tiny white flowers are so perfect that it boggles the mind. Our creator did a wonderful job designing everything, but orchids are so fantastic. The tiny ones especially bring awe to me every time I gaze at them and their intricate design.

The Jewel Orchid is the only orchid which can be entered in a show without bloom because of the unique foliage. It reminds me of the coleus plant with the lovely foliage.

Another wonderful creation is grandchildren and we had a chance over Christmas to see our latest. We call him our Chilean grandchild because he lives in Chile with his parents, our son Charles and wife Luz Maria. We had a wonderful time with the family during the holidays. Grandson Peter, little Charlie's big brother came as well as Luz's son Ignacio. Ignacio, who never gets a chance to play in snow managed to create a very nice igloo in the back yard.

It was so much fun to have family around. Beth pops in often and Molly was home from college for the holidays.

I enjoy my orchids in the winter because they bring beauty into a house surrounded by mounds of snow. I enjoy visits from daughter Beth and son Charles as they bring sunshine into an otherwise cold world.

I can't seem to get my other pictures to load, so I just may have to write another blog about the baby.

Entering last quarter

2009-11-23T17:16:00.003-05:00

Well, I have made it through three quarters of a century and today I start on the last quarter. It has been a wonderful ride so far. My two wonderful children have given me seven (yes, that's 7) great grandkids and above all I have three great grandchildren. What more could one ask except to have a loving husband? I certainly have that and have had him for over 54 years.

And as I thought about entering that last quarter, memories took me back in time to the fun we had with our tent camper forty years ago. We have years of wonderful memories with family and friends. Why not take a few more spins out in nature?

So, Tom and I found this used Coleman 2003 camper for $1500. We could't resist. There are National parks out there that have yet to be explored.There is so much Maine that holds new sights for us. We haven't lost our sense of adventure and I think when we lose that, we will have lost much of what makes us who we are.

Tom and I are like two young people, as we check out the heater, three way refrigerator, fans over the king size beds, crank up top and unique features that make this camper so much more user friendly than the wheel camper of the 19 65 era. Now all we have to do is wait until spring comes.

Elderberry Farm

2009-09-10T20:50:00.003-04:00

Today we took drive up a long dirt road in Sumner
to a beautiful farm. It is a working farm with goats, a donkey,angora rabbits and three beautiful collie dogs plus another one I didn't recognize.

There were flowers and vegetables growing everywhere, but the highlight of the trip was a walk into an acre of elderberries. Some were blooming, some almost ripe an some still green.

The view from the farm was breathtaking with mountains all around. A retired orthopedic surgeon and her contractor partner do all the work around the farm and John has built the house himself.

It has sunporches, rap around verandas and windows everywhere.

It was a warm and happy place. You never know what you may find in the Maine backwoods.

Labor Day parade

2009-09-07T18:17:00.002-04:00

Every year I get to attend the Labor Day parade in Buckfield and write a story for the Sun Journal. I enjoy meeting people and watching the children react to the parade.

The weather was perfect with a clear blue sky and temperature in the 70s. Hundreds of people lined the street as bands, floats, fire engines,horses, antique cars and such rolled along.

After the parade we ate pulled pork sandwiches and pie,but we could have had Polish sausage lobster rolls, or hot dogs. It was a festive time.

My own favorite fireman rode the Sumner Engine and threw out mardi gras beads to the crowd.

Paving Field's Hill

2009-09-01T16:15:00.005-04:00

Today was a special day for us folks on Fields Hill Road. We all watched as a new layer of asphalt was put on our potholed road. The last time this was done was shortly after we moved here nine years ago.

Our road is not heavily traveled, so to have big trucks, pavers, etc. was a big event. I walked out to get the paper and felt intense heat coming from the new surface. This coating may last longer than we do, but we might live to see another coat go down.

September and fall are really here. Fall follows summer as you recall, but summer was only about 10 days long. I finally felt brave enough to put on my summer night gown, but before the week was out, I was back into the light flannels.

The garden produces more than I can use and I think next year we will just plant something to make the soil healthy. I don't think it is worth all the work. The pole beans are heavy on the vines, but the squash had too much rain. The tomatoes don't have the dreaded virus, but are just barely producing. The carrots however, are still growing and are delicious.

Garden produce in abundance

2009-08-25T09:48:00.006-04:00

Yes, the rain has helped some of the crops, but the squash are beginning to rot. There is still enough for everyday use , but no extra. That, of course, keeps me from setting up a fruit stand on the street. I did pick several green peppers this morning.
The one tomato I picked may be bad inside. Farmers are pulling plants up and destroying them by the hundreds because of a blight. I'm not sure if my plants are affected. They look okay, but the fruit isn't.

The Kentucky wonders are just coming in and I may can some by the end of the week. I picked nearly a bucket full today, but we will eat on them awhile. At least I don't have to bend over to pick.

Carrots are such fun. I just love to see their bright orange bodies come out of the brown earth. It's like magic.

My ears were humming as the bees were all over the corn and bean blossoms as I picked. They left me alone. It was nice of them to share.

I'm sorry the pictures are all up top, but my Mac doesn't allow me to move them as they come up with numbers instead of icons and the strange formula doesn't move. I could do my blog on Beth's old computer she brought over, but it takes forever to work, so I just send my photos at the top. There can be no artistic placement. Enjoy anyway

Tornadoes don't come to Maine

2009-08-24T18:52:00.005-04:00

I have often said in my blogs that we don't have all the extreme weather other states have, only snow.
But by the grace of God, many people could have died last Friday and many homes destroyed. The tornado was striking while I was telling Tom that something was happening that wasn't good.
The thunder was a constant roar, and the tornado was so close, I couldn't tell the difference except something wasn't right. He was on a conference call with the EMA director for the county talking about 'Bill' and I kept running into the office from the deck saying, "Tom, something is going on. I think we are going to have a tornado." They laughed!!!
Soon after, damage calls started, roads were closed due to hundreds of downed trees and still officials said,"It's not a tornado." They changed their minds when they saw the damage. Tom was out for eight hours on Saturday directing traffic and several hours on Friday.

The tornado struck not 3 miles from our home as the crow flies and nearly destroyed a selectman's home. It did considerable damage to his rental cabin. I can't believe how many homes were spared but by a few feet though many suffered damage. I'll try to send a few photos that show some of the damage.

The aerial view shows where it first touched down, then hit again a mile or so away.
The volunteer fireman sawing is a young lady named Brianne that I know from Canton because she used to play with our grandson all the time. The load of logs just shows how big the trees were.

Summer continues

2009-08-17T17:18:00.003-04:00

Yes, Summer came and stayed. No more flannel PJ's or windows left open. The AC is running. I think we may have hit 90 degrees today and yesterday as well.

The garden didn't know what to do with the heat, so it just exploded in growth. I can't find the tomato plants for the weeds but today I picked enough beans to can 13 pints. I don't do quarts just for the two of us, so pints work. I've actually been picking beans and giving them away for a couple of weeks now, but there is still more. And to add to the misery of too much produce, the row of pole beans is full of tiny beans already.
Baby squash are showing their bright yellow bodies in the giant bushes that cover two rows in width. I pulled several carrots for supper tonight. We will have lots of carrots!!! But, enough about the garden.

As you recall, I am Dump Diva to the Transfer Station Swap Shop. I recently sent in a grant requesting $5,000 for closing in the containers for winter. Actually it will be a room connecting the two containers. I received a grant for $2,000 and the town fathers are meeting tomorrow night to get me the rest of the money. We plan to start construction in September. I'm excited about this because it is such a help to so many people who come and get clothing, appliances, dishes, books, toys, etc. Now they will be able to "shop" without completely freezing this winter. And my many helpers will be more comfortable.

We are missing Beth and Charlie as they are on route to Latvia where they will be looking for paintings by Charlie's great grandfather. I believe Charlie has made arrangements for going to all the churches where the paintings are located. Then they will be meeting Sara in Sweden for a visit.

Before Beth left, she and Tom checked on the bees. I thought you would enjoy this picture.

The daylilies are about gone and we are enjoying the phlox.

Summer has arrived July 28, 2009

2009-07-29T16:38:00.005-04:00

I proudly state the date in the title so you can see that summer actually came this year. Up until yesterday, we have had no days over 80 degrees since summner began in June. We had a couple in the spring that hit 90 degrees. Today is the same with 85 degrees. My garden will now grow in leaps and bounds.

I have frozen enough brocolli already for the winter and look forward to using the side shoots the rest of this summer. I plan to put a sign out front in the next week or so......FREE BEANS PICK YOUR OWN.

My daylilies are doing as well as could be expected in the cool temperatures and much rain. All growers seem to be having the same problems.

We enjoy watching the yellow finches at the feeder. They are the best kind of pets...outside!!

This clump of daylilies is called "Happy Treasure". I registered this one back in the late 70's and to me it is still one of the prettiest in the garden.

A cool morning

2009-07-15T08:30:00.007-04:00

As I sat on my deck this morning sipping my hot coffee and reading the paper while the rising sun warmed the back of my jacket on this cool 50 degree morning, I thought how blessed we are. What a beautiful country we have. What a peaceful day as tiny puffy clouds drift over the mountains instead of smoke rising from bombs in the distance. We are a blessed people.

The robins were busy looking and finding worms in the ground as bluejays and bluebirds flew overhead landing briefly in the birch tree. A chipmonk hurried across the yard with his tail in the air looking for who knows what. It is a lovely morning.

I look across the deck to my brocolli patch and see that yesterday's rain shower has washed the growing heads.

My beautiful daylilies are glistening in the sun.

I walk to the pond and see the fish swimming lazily around looking for more food. What a beautiful day.

I walk into the meadow and see a mashed down spot in the wildflowers and wonder who slept there last night. What a beautiful day!

Southern Fried

2009-07-13T18:18:00.005-04:00

June has requested my southern fried chicken recipe. I will send it along, but remember when I was a child growing up in Mississippi, the chicken was fresh off the 'hoof" so to speak.

I use either a whole chicken which I cut up or purchase legs and breasts in packages. Now I use the boneless skinless breasts and cut each breast into halves. The bone in breasts give it a richer taste.
After drying on paper towels I lay the pieces out on a cutting board while the canola oil heats in the frypan. I generously cover the bottom with the oil, about a quarter inch.
After laying out the chicken I lightly salt and pepper each side then dredge in flour. I use only flour, nothing else.
When the grease is hot I put in the bigger pieces first and sprinkle each piece again with black pepper and lightly cover. If you cover tightly, the chicken will not be crisp.
As soon as I think each piece is browning, I turn it and keep doing so until it is golden brown and done. Drain on paper towels and enjoy hot or cold. You can't do too much else at the same time to keep it perfect.

Now for the southern daylilies. I am enclosing a photo I took this morning of one of my new hybrids which bloomed for the first time last year. I grow the seeds in the basement during the winter. Notice the darker yellow edging on the ruffling.
The eyed one is an unnamed seedling I brought her from Chattanooga when we moved here ten years ago.

I captured one of Beth's bees on a mallow this morning. The bushes were covered with the little critters.

A Sunny Day in July

2009-07-09T10:44:00.008-04:00

Today the sun is shining. As you can see, Tom was able to till the garden but it was wet. Unlike some gardens that are suffering from mold and disease because of the rain, ours seems to be healthy. The front page of our paper had a story yesterday telling farmers they had time to replant if they did it this week. They predict our first frost to be September 15.

I sat on a sunny rock in the middle of the wildflower field and watched Tom wrestle the tiller. The flowers have been suffering, but it looks like we are in for a nice spell of weather. Notice that I am wearing a sweater in the sun. The temperatures hover in the low 50's at night and 60's during the day.

We had a partially sunny day on July 4th when we were invited to a friend's lake house for their annual family picnic. We get invited as Pastor Tyner and wife Jean's guests as the house belongs to Jean's sister Bev and husband Ed. The couple have a beautiful place on a lake and the boats were able to get out on the lake for some fun time before the rain came just about lunch time. Everyone grabbed food and headed for the house as the storm hit. One boat just rode out the storm but the food all got in.

I made my traditional fried chicken. Bev and Ed had picked fully ripe juicy strawberries for eating and for strawberry shortcake. No Sara Lee shortcakes either. Jean's daughter baked fresh shortcake for the event. And, I might add, the whipped cream didn't come out of an aerosol can.

The rain didn't dampen spirits a bit and we stayed late playing a game called Sequence and listening to tales around the supper table. It was a fun time.

Ed and Bev are our age, BUT the energy level of this couple spins my head. Ed was busy running the boat while Bev was in constant motion making sure things were just right. As we were leaving around 6:00 I realized Ed and Bev were going dancing. Not to mention that they were having another group at their home on Sunday. The Saturday crowd was around 32.
Somewhere along the line Tom and I lost the energy this couple seems to have.
We had a nice time.

Going on Forty Days

2009-07-03T19:41:00.003-04:00

The county has already been declared a disaster by the Emergency Management Agency. The rains started on June 15th and only two days during this time has Tom mowed the yard. He mowed wet grass, but the rain held off until he finished.

My sunroom which is filled with gerananiums actually has blossoms rotting on the plant. This has never happened before. The air is heavy with moisture and we empty 2 gallons of water a day from the downstairs dehumidifier. Our sandy soil does not have a chance to drain because the rain is almost constant. We have thunderstorms and heavy rain storms.

Yet, we do not have hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, major forest fires and intense heat in Maine.

Oh yes, did I mention that we are still wearing jackets and blankets and comforters cover our bed?

My daylilies that would have peaked in blooms the first of June in Chattanooga, still have tight buds. I expect the peak this year to be around the last week in July. Our Dallas relatives will see daylily blooms when they come in September I'm sure.

The brocolli looks great and I saw one head yesterday. The radishes look good too. In fact everything looks like it is doing well despite all the clouds and rain. When the sun finally comes we should have a bumper crop.

I took the photo in Rumford on Tuesday.

Chris's Adventures

2009-06-19T18:29:00.009-04:00

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

2009-06-16T08:27:00.007-04:00

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

2009-06-16T06:58:00.007-04:00

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

2009-06-13T19:22:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-11T07:40:00.008-04:00

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.

2009-06-09T07:21:00.007-04:00

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

Spring on the Coast

2009-05-26T18:22:00.005-04:00

Having company from out of town always stirs our tourist instinct so we took the ocassion last week to visit Pemiquid Lighthouse and the Coastal Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor with our friends from Massachusetts.
The day was perfect with a clear blue sky and a brisk wind. I had wanted for years to picnic overlooking the ocean and listening to the waves crash onto the rocky coastline. This was the day.

The breeze made it chilly enough to choose a picnic table in partial sun and we found just the one overlooking the water. It was perfect.

It was so perfect in fact that we had to tear ourselves away to get to the gardens before the tram stopped running. The tram is actually an extended golf cart, but with miles of trails, anything helps. I was determined to get Tom to the rhoderdendrum garden as he had missed seeing this before because he couldn't walk. We were there in time and rode to the site. Tom elected to ride back however while Dean, Eunice and I toured the ladyslippers along the ocean walk. They were in bloom everywhere and made quite a show.

We got back just after Tom arrived by tram and we then toured the tulip gardens. They were in full bloom as you will note in the picture. This garden is a must to see on your next trip to visit in Maine.

2009-05-13T08:48:00.004-04:00

While the outside is showing beautiful signs of spring, my indoor plants are doing great as well. I have several orchids in bloom, many of which have been in bloom for months. I reach the point where I actually have to place them under the faucet to wash off the dust because they bloom so long. It is the Phalaenopsis that bloom forever, but I have another small cattaleya in the kitchen window that just keeps blooming.

Monday night was the monthly Maine Orchid Society meeting in Gorham. I go with a friend since it is about an hour and a half away and we share rides. I only belong to this one flower group and that's enough. Monday was seedling night and we always get free seedlings to plant. I ended up with seven new plants which are small and if my luck holds, I will be able to kill them in a short time.

It's amazing how many people belong to this group. Most of them are all serious orchid growers but there are a few novice collectors as myself. There are over 100 people in the southern Maine club. The 'real' growers have no trouble rattling off the names of all the beautiful orchids that are brought in by members for the show table. I am awed by some of the flowers. Monday night a man brought in a plant that was about two feet high and had 25 Lady Slipper type blooms hanging all over it.

If you want to get started yourself, buy a Phalaenopsis. It will live and bloom for at least 6 months and you will be envied by your friends by having such a beautiful plant.

Spring has Sprung

2009-05-13T07:55:00.003-04:00

Yes, the world is beautiful here in Maine this sunny May day. It is amazing to me that one day the ground is covered with snow and a few days later, the grass is a foot high in the flower beds. Almost overnight the world changes and it is impossible to keep up with what is popping out of the ground in unwanted places.

The yard is full of tulips, daffadils, violets, spirea and azeleas. The azeleas are only a hint of what my homeplace in Mississippi once had. They were as large as a house and smelled so wonderful. I guess mind would grow as large as a house if I didn't keep pruning them. Beth's bees have a lot to buzz, but so far have stayed out of my sunroom.

Tom is working on his pond and hopes to put in an electric line this week to power the pump and fountains. Hopefully I will be able to post this with a photo.

Memories of chicken exercises

2009-05-01T17:14:00.004-04:00

I've been trying to loose a little weight, so I volunteered to care for my neighbors chickens while they were in Florida. That wasn't the only reason for taking care of them as this neighbor feeds Misty and takes care of all my many flowers when we go away.

Now, I had all my instructions for feeding, watering and gathering the eggs. The first day my friends were gone a strong wind blew so hard the gate blew open and all the chickens got out. With a lot of running around and shooing, I managed to get them all back in the pen, miracle of miracles.

That night the winds were even worse and though I had put a rock in front of the wooden gate, it blew open. When I looked out the window at 6 p.m. I saw their next door neighbor, who has horses over trying to get the chickens in. I quickly pulled on my clothes and went running out to help. After much running and chasing, she had to go to work, so I left the door to the coop open and hoped they would go inside. They didn't. Later I went over and with just a little bit more of shooing and running, I managed to get them all inside.

That was day two a.m.

Day two p.m was okay until Tom went to empty the water dishes out the coop door. There was a major rush out the door. Oh No, here we go again!! I ran, he ran and we finally got them all in.

On day three I looked out the kitchen window and saw that one had escaped during the night. I went over to feed them and then couldn't find the one that was out. It seems to be the same old bird that manages to get out every day. The foxes didn't get her that night.

Day four, which is today I spied another one out in the morning but couldn't get her in. Over the day she enticed another one out. Tom was away again at a seminar so I waited until he came home to help me herd those two in. We actually got them in. I can't wait to see what the morrow will bring!

That's all until now, except, I have lost 4 pounds in the last three days chasing those chickens.

Great Grand children and more

2009-04-23T17:19:00.008-04:00

I looked at the date of my last blog and realized that 2 months have passed since I last wrote. Time really flies when you're having fun.

Tom and I made a quick trip to Lafayette, Indiana last week to see the two great grandkids. Autumn is 2 and 1/2 and Aden is 1 and 1/2. It had been nearly a year since we had seen them last. However they had been rehearsed and Greatdad and Greatmom were a big hit.

The mechanical bunnies that I picked up at my Swap Shop were also a hit.

Beth came over yesterday to tend her bees. Here is the girl in action.

More snow photos

2009-02-23T12:50:00.007-05:00

Here is the rest of the story

I"m saying, "Hurry up Tom." I'm holding the yardstick out our front door.

Notice the apple tree. This is the first year the snow has covered the bottom branches. We have a photo of Luella picking apples from the bottom limb which was head high.

The bird feeder is ground level.

The picture on the right is taken where the bridge in the garden is. It's completely covered.

Two feet of snow

2009-02-23T12:21:00.007-05:00

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. These were not taken with my Nikon as the battery was recharging and I didn't want to miss some of these. One is taken from the sunroom showing the height of the snow outside.

Frozen flag

2009-02-21T21:11:00.006-05:00

We went to visit our local bakery and there I saw where the American flag had blown to the eaves of the house where the bakery resides and frozen in place. Icicles had formed and made a most unusual sight. I had to go home and get my camera. It will let you know how cold it really is in Maine.

Our mountains look pretty white right now. There is probably 4 or 5 feet of snow on them.

Aside from the cold, here is a photo of my Jewel orchid in bloom. It is the only orchid that can be entered in a show without a bloom because of it's foliage. I love the tiny little orchids.

Dallas

2009-02-19T11:34:00.011-05:00

Here I am on line again, hopefully to give you a view of our Dallas trip.

One of our special treats was to visit the King Tut exhibit. Brother Charles has arranged tickets for a tour at the Dallas museum of which they are members. It was a wonderful exhibit and we saw several things that we had not seen in the Cairo museum. It was also a great way to remember that amazing trip down the Nile.

Of course I was anxious to see the Bush house though we weren't sure how tight security was. He and Laura were actually at

BUSH HOUSE

the house before we drove by, so we had no problem other than knowing Tom's brother's liscense plate was being checked. There were a couple of cars at the entrance to the cul-de-sac, but they gave us no grief.

The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac and is very unpretensious. Large old oak trees give the house a secure feeling and will certainly keep prying eyes from getting a good view.

There were Welcome Home signs for George and Laura everywhere.

We had a celebration for Luella's granddaughter Susan's engagement which included her finance Kelly, his two children and his grandad and mother.

There was a trip to the ICR Institute which is now headquartered in Dallas. That is the Institute for Creation Research. Here is a photo of Tom about to be eaten by one of their dinosaurs.

Another highlight of our visit was visiting with nephew Steve.

Tom and brother Charles spent hours working on filing and cateloging family photos. No one has attacked geneology like Charles, nor is anyone as organized as evidenced by this photo of his study.

Charles and Luella are excellent hosts. We had a great time.

Back again

2009-02-19T10:15:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I last blogged. We took a two week trip to Dallas to get warm and succeeded too well. I caught a cold on returning and am just now recovering.

However, when I was well enough to read, I read a wonderful book that I had picked up at my Swap Shop called "Come Spring" by Ben Ames Williams. It is an 860 page history of the early settlement of a small town in Maine. Similar to "Gone With the Wind", it follows a family through several seasons of hardship and successes.

The war is not the Civil War, but Washington and England's war over possession of the land. Mixed in with the progress of the war are the trials of survival by the settlers through crop killing frosts, burned barns and all the problems that faced the determined people.

The descriptions of the virgin forests, yards of moose, streams filled with fish and skies swarming with birds are so vivid that you actually put yourself on the scene. I needed no movie to reveal to me how the fauna looked in various settings, how the bubbling waters looked and felt or what it was like to lie under a majestic tree and breathe in the sights and smells of the forest.

I had never heard of flocks of pigeons so thick the light of the sun was extinguished or moose by the hundreds, but I could see them through the words of this book.

Tom had actually seen the felling of a line of trees which was a new image to me. As I was telling him about how the settlers would line up 15 or more trees, cutting the proper angles on the trunks and watch them fall domino style, he told me about watching this done in Connecticut once.

Again the descriptions were so vivid, you could almost hear the mighty trees falling one by one.

I'm not sure I would have been strong enough to manage the daily chores the women tended for it was not an easy life.

My Swap Shop has also yielded two more treasures. I had not read Rick Warren's "A Purpose Driven Life" and I feel that you can't know about something it you don't read it. I'm going through it a chapter a day as he suggests, using it for my daily devotion. He has some excellent insight to think about.

Another good author I got at the Shop is "In the Eye of the Storm" by Max Lacado. Pastor has been using another of his books for Bible study on Wednesday nights and I have enjoyed his writings as well.

The last time I tried to add a photo, I lost my entire blog, so this one will have no photo. I'll try to send a photo of Bush's house in Dallas in a later blog that isn't so lenghtly.

Brrrrrr

2009-01-16T10:27:00.010-05:00

Mysterious creature at Big Tree

2009-01-11T20:19:00.004-05:00

While the ranger was taking the measurements of our Eastern White pine, I was looking around at some interesting footprints in the snow. Unfortunately my camera battery died so I was not able to get a photo of the prints.

However, they were a mystery to me and the ranger, though he did speculate. He said they weren't big enough for a bear. That's good I thought, so I suggested it might be a bobcat. He didn't think so. He said, "Maybe a coyote."

After he finished with the tree statistics, we looked at the prints more closely. They were about 4 inches across and the steps were close together. I'm thinking a coyote would have longer strides. He concluded it wasn't making deep tracks, so it wouldn't weigh much.

The word wolverine did come up, but not knowing what a wolverine was, I didn't exactly get excited. The ranger only mentioned that it might be.

We didn't dwell on the tracks long and I was anxious to get home so he could add up his numbers for our tree. Later, I wished I had taken actual measurements of the prints, stride and looked at front and back foot differences. My hind sight has always been 100 percent.

I looked up wolverine on the internet and chose not to believe that's what we have living around our tree. He did have steps leading from the right and left sides of the tree. And, wolverines do like to wander about in the snow.

Tom assures me they don't attack people, but they are vicious and have many names such as devil of the woods, skunk bear and others.

While I was waiting on the ranger, I heard a strange knocking sound coming from the area of the tree. It was a bit spooky and I moved around to see if the wind was making some of the limbs knock together. I didn't see anything.

There is a pile of brush in the gully at the base of the tree. Is this where my creature lives? Was he warning me away from his home? I don't think I will be taking a moonlight walk anytime soon down to my tree alone or otherwise.

Big White PIne

2009-01-09T12:28:00.008-05:00

Our big tree being measured for the register of big trees in Maine.

Forest Ranger Merrill Ring arrived at our house this morning in 9 degree temperatures to officially measure our "big tree".

It is a mile round trip, the snow was two feet deep and I followed him all the way to the tree. He had to officially measure what Molly and Beth had measured in December.

At the end of December, Molly and Beth came over and we hiked on snow shoes to measure our big white pine. I had seen an article in the paper where you could register your tree if you thought it could make the register of big trees in Maine, but it had to be done by December 30th.

Armed with a 20 foot tape measure and a 12 inch ruler, we set out to make history. Snow shoes are okay for walking, but try walking around this tree to measure the circumference when the back side is a gully, especially when the tree is 20 feet around. Molly was a good trooper and she and Beth measured it at 20 feet. The ranger got 19.5.

Then we had to measure the crown. How in the world can this be done.? Molly said, "Grandmom, you stand under where the limbs reach out on one side and I'll go on the other." This distance had to be measured. Again Beth and Molly mastered the gully. Would you believe in this crude manner we got a crown of 73 feet and the ranger got 68.6? Again, a plus for the ladies.

The ruler did not give us a fair way to measure the height of the tree as we couldn't get far enough away, so we missed it quite a bit. We over estimated!!!! Anyway the ranger got 112 feet. Using a formula of adding the inches in circumference, to the height of the tree and a quarter of the crown, we had 362 points. The Champion white pine in Maine has 379 points and the ranger actually thinks it died.

So where does that leave us? As soon as Augusta confirms the figures, we may have the largest white pine in Maine sitting right here on Postlude Farms in Sumner, Maine.

My Swap Shop

2009-01-03T16:33:00.007-05:00

I've written a little about my dump Swap Shop, but feel I have to say more about the people involved with the shop and show you some pictures.

We had a shoe rack that we moved about daily and in the summer we put it outside leaning against the container. Today my carpenter angel came in and said, I have a solution for that shoe rack. This angel has already built all the shelves, an outside shed, installed the lights and everything else we needed. I followed him into the bookstore shop where he said, "I can put this on the back of the container door and it will be out of the way." I said, "Go for it."

He went to work and a few minutes later he had the rack securely fastened to the container door. Now no more leaning it against the books so people have to look through it to find their book choice.

I have three workers who want certain hours EVERY week. I have someone to open every Wednesday and another to open every Saturday. I have another helper who wants to close every Saturday.

Keep in mind that today's high was 22 degrees.

The town has recently added power so we have lights and heaters. In an open container the heaters are mainly for sitting down close to and getting your feet and hands warm. We have added a hot pot and have instant tea and coffee for the volunteers.

These people have faithfully weighed each item going out on our scales and for the year 2008, we kept 40,000 pounds of usuable items out of the waste stream in the Transfer Station.

Here is a shot inside the forty foot container.

That's enough for today, but I will blog again to tell you some heartwarming dump stories from the "Dump Diva".

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T21:25:00.006-05:00

Christmas 2008

Christmas day was very special as I got to cook Christmas dinner for part of the family for the first time in ages. What a blessing to have Beth and all of her family that was around for the day. Sara is of course doing her duty in the Peace Corps in Macedonia and Ethan and Ann were with her parents in Kentucky. That left Molly and Archie to hold down the fort.

We expected to be picking up Charles and his family at the airport tonight, but at the last minute as they were about to board the plane, it was discovered that Luz Maria and Ignacio's visas were not in order. What a disappointment for all of us. But with some last minute planning it was decided that all, including Peter, who was supposed to come from Indiana would meet here during Peter's spring break in March. It looks like the tree and house decorations will need dusting a few times before March, but they will stay put. I managed to freeze most of the food for their visit. Tom and I will just eat the rest.

Beth, Molly and Archie came over yesterday to clean the house so it would be nice for our Chilean family. Now I have a clean house to look at.

We did have a white Christmas and we actually made it to our church Christmas Eve Program. It was getting home that was scary. The roads were covered in black ice and Tom drove about 5 miles an hour. When we finally did get home, the usual 15 minute trip took nearly an hour. We had two calls from Pastor asking us to call as soon as we got in as they were so worried about the roads. Praise God everyone got home. The Congo church canceled their program, but God was with us.

We have had very cold weather, but Beth, Molly and I walked all the way to our large pine tree beyond the cabin. We have submitted it's statistics to the State of Maine so maybe it will get in the register of large trees.

Ice Storm December 2008

2008-12-17T16:56:00.003-05:00

I"m sure you've heard the news about the ice storm to hit New England last Friday night. Actually, our town was spared the worst. We lost power around 3 in the morning Friday night . Our outside generator clicked on and we were happy, momentarily. Then I realized that though the generator was running, I still didn't see my clock, night nights, etc. I nudged Tom and said, we aren't getting any power.

He dutifully got up, found a flashlight (which should have been by our bed, but wasn't) and made his way to the basement to look at the breaker box. Everything looked okay at that end. He knew there was also a breaker on the generator, but in order to get to it, he had to go outside in the freezing rain and that meant getting dressed.

I watched him from the front until he was around the corner, then went to the guest bedroom where I could look out the window. He was still standing. He clicked the switch and didn't think anything happened. I'm relaying info through the winter sealed window, but he doesn't have on his ears. Finally I got the message through that we had power.

He climbed back in bed and we slept snugly knowing the house would stay warm. (That is if you consider my 60 degree setting warm.) We got power around 9 the next morning. We were the lucky ones.

South of Portland had the worst storm they could remember. Over 200,000 people were without power. Tom was called on Saturday to go and relieve Emergency workers who had been working shelters and phones since Friday night. He was picked up at 4 pm by two other emergency workers and they drove to York County. They worked all night answering emergency calls and he got home around 9 Sunday morning. This gave him just enough time to get a nap before our two Cantata performances Sunday afternoon and evening.

Here is a photo of our birch tree by the driveway. He had to cut one tree out of the driveway, but all of these limbs straightened right up the next day.

Cold weather has come

2008-12-08T22:09:00.000-05:00

Yes, cold weather has arrived in Maine and I believe this is the coldest we have seen in a December since we have been living here which is now 10 years. We had wind chill of 20 below this morning with a reading of 4 on the thermometer. I just looked out and noticed that it was already 4 degrees. This prompted me to bring a few orchids into the house from the sun porch. I believe tomorrow will be devoted to bringing in most of the warmer loving orchids.

I have finally recovered from my interesting Sunday. After reading over that blog I realized I never identified my new 93 year old friend's instrument. It was a stand up bass, and that was why I was worried about him getting tired. I hope he has as fond a memory of last night as I do.
I don't know where he played in his younger days, but that would be an interesting story to find out. I don't think he can communicate that to me, but I'm sure a relative can.

Pete is in an assisted living apartment in a nursing home. I plan to arrange to go over one day and play with him at the home. According to his sitter, he has stacks of music. I know he doesn't read music, but maybe he did when he was younger. Anyway, we shall see if we can liven up that place one day!!!

Interesting Sunday

2008-12-08T07:06:00.001-05:00

Sunday started out like every other Sunday except I woke at 5:00 instead of waiting for the alarm at 7:00. That wasn't good because it was going to be a big day. I didn't know how big it would be!

I helped Tom set up for Communion, practiced with the soloist and played Christmas arrangements on the piano for preludes and then switched to the organ.
The deacon forgot me at the organ, so I only got half of the rite, but not to worry, the Congo church I play for across the street would have communion too, so I would be alright.

After playing for the communion service, I dashed across the street, nibbling a cracker on the way as I was running low on gas. I did a nice arrangement of O Little Town in a Sonatina setting, then did a nice arrangement of Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne, played the hymns, including the candlelighting, which I forgotten the week before and had gone to my seat in the pew too soon and had to be reminded, and finally I did a pepped up arrangement of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus as an offertory. (Are you dizzy yet?)

Tom and I grabbed a bite at the corner store, so I could go back into our church and practice last minute passages for our Cantata, Emmanuel.

We then drove to Paris Hill Baptist for a 1:30 warm up and presentation at 2:00 which went fairly well for a first performance. We have two more next Sunday.

I couldn't wait for that afternon nap because Pastor Bruce had asked me to play at North Paris Church for their annual Christmas singalong. Sometime during my nap, the phone rang, which Tom answered. When I woke up, he said one of the ladies of the church who is taking care of a ninely three year old man wanted him to come and play along with me if it wouldn't bother me. What the heck, it's Christmas. I'm not that good anyway, so maybe he can cover my mistakes.

We got to the church and there was this wonderful, alert looking gentleman smiling at me. "Okay", I thought. "Let's see how it goes." I cranked up a few hymns for us to experiment with and he said, "Do you have anything with a little zip?"

Hmmmmmm. "Okay, lets go. How about the Battle Hymn?" and off we went. All I had to tell him was the key and he was right there with me.

I worried that he might get tired standing there playing away. It seems I was the tired one.
I had planned to do The Little Drummer Boy as a special in the setting of Mozart's Night Music.
I asked Pete, my new ninety year old friend, if he would like to play along. He said he didn't knw it, but by now I wasn't worried. I told him the key and off we went.

Jane, his caretaker, phoned his daughter while we were playing and she said the daughter hung onto the phone crying up a storm!! Did I get a Christmas present last night? You bet I did.
Not only did it bring back memories of playing piano with my Charlie as he was growing up, but I saw the miracles that God performs with aging people. He lets some of them keep the precious gift of music. Pete will not know me the next time he sees me, but Jane tells me to remind him of playing at the Christmas party and he will remember. May I be so fortunate as to retain a little of my ability through the years, though I certainly won't bank on making it to ninety three. I forgot to mention that we played for an hour!!!

The Day after Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T20:16:00.004-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving was a great one for Tom and me.

In days of yore, it was always a trip to the Grands house in Kentucky over snowy highways, little kids in the car and lots of family fun during the 12 hour trip from Massachusetts.
We would leave right after school was out and drive all night. One snowy night we were snowed in at a rest stop on the New York turnpike. We made it to Kentucky, but not for Thanksgiving day. It was the day after for that year as it was this year for us.

Yesterday, the real Thanksgiving Day, we cooked for and served thirty nine people at our church, some members and some needy. It was a different kind of family day.
We have learned not to dwell on family times gone past, but to accept and adapt new holiday activities. The activities may not always be the same, but it will be a holiday observed.

Beth was in Ireland, but she made Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before. Charles was in Mexico, but when he was here in October, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Beth's house again. She is a great entertainer and cook.

Soooo today it was my turn for a new tradition. Grandson Ethan and wife Anne and granddaughter Molly came over for after Thanksgiving soup. I always make turkey/noodle soup out of the carcass bones and since I cooked one of the turkeys for church, I had that available. Then as I was drinking my coffee this morning, I saw a turkey stew being made on my favorite morning channel. I got on their site and whipped up a second soup for lunch along with Cole slaw which I had made for the church dinner, and the usual pecan pie.

I must say, all agreed that it was a great after Thanksgiving dinner for a cold day and one that I may be repeating for hopefully several more years.

I hope that each of you had a great memory for this Thanksgiving. We had much to be thankful for this year as always.

First snow 11-25--08

2008-11-25T12:31:00.014-05:00

The first snow November 25, 2008

Well, it has finally happened. We have our first snow. It didn't look too bad this morning and since we have all wheel drive on the Buick, we started out to take care of groceries and some doctor visits. We made it about 2 miles before Tom gave up. Now when he gives up, it is bad!! I'm the one who rolled over a few years back!!

So now we are safely back at home. I could say to our toasty warm home, but we keep the temperature at 60 degrees. I can't really say the house is cozy. Tom puts a portable heater in his office and I turn on the gas logs when I'm in the kitchen. As you can see, the cat stays warm!!

(Later in the day)

The snow turned to rain but not before there was enough out there for the plow truck to come do the driveway. Then we decided to go to Mexico for the groceries and made it there easily enough. On the way home Tom wiped out the road but fortunately he got the car under control before we wiped out the trees on the sides. It got his attention anyway, but God is good and we are once again safe at home.

The manger figures got a real coating of snow, so here are a couple of snow scenes for you southern people.

Forbodings of winter

2008-11-18T10:50:00.012-05:00

It looks like this week will be the beginning of cold weather and there are still many things that should be done, many of which won't get done. However, the ones that really matter have been taken care of.

Yesterday while working in my sunroom, I decided the screens had to come off and the windows had to be cleaned so all available sun from our short days could shine on the plants.

I took my elongated handle squeegie and a pail of hot sudsy water

and proceeded to knock off the dust.The streaks that I left may disappear with the next rain, but at least it looks cleaner. Taking the screens off was a big help as well.

Tom tied the deck table and chairs to the railing as we get awesome winds from the north which are strong enough to send heavy chairs moving into the glass doors. The blue tarp covers the snowmobile in readiness for that first snowfall. Last year the snow came so fast and deep that Tom only bogged down when he tried to get the thing moving and only succeeded in burying it in snow which is where it stayed until spring. This year we hope to fare better.

Our apple tree out front has shed all of the leaves leaving a few bright red apples for the deer to eat. However, they don't seem to be hungry. This is also evidenced by the tracks in my daylily bed, but no missing foliage, as yet. They also didn't cross over the bridge!!
Another sign that winter is approaching comes from the rhododemdrum leaves. They shrivel up when the temperature drops below 35 degrees in an effort to prevent moisture loss from the leaves. Isn't our wonderful creation awesome? And some say there is no divine creator!!

Flooded river

2008-11-16T21:37:00.005-05:00

The constant rain all week has raised the water level in our Nezinscot River coupled with the fact that the beaver dam is still holding. However as you will see, the water has breached the entire dam. Look in the background and you will get a good view of the lodge. The lodge is safe as it is out of the main flow.

Our favorite spot called Poet's point is upstream of the dam and thus is slightly flooded. The log that I usually sit on to watch rapids rush over rocks is well under water.

New Camera

2008-11-16T14:21:00.013-05:00

Son Charles gave me a Nikon D40 for my birthday and I've been trying it out on anything and everything that would stand still. I haven't mastered the action pictures yet. I'll have to watch the video a few hundred times before that.

We tried the camera first at Beth's house as soon as I got it. I was a bit intimated with all the gadgets. She posed in front of her warm stove with blooming cactus in hand. She's into flowers as well as her mother and has quite a collection already.

Beth had to try the camera next and she had me sit at her piano. The piano is my former spinet which we bought soon after she was born in Chattanooga. She wanted it after I got my baby grand and so now it lives in her house. She learned to play on it and felt it was part of the family.

When we got home the full moon presented another chance to snap a different shot as it looked so pretty perched above the clouds.

After this group of photos, it rained all week, so I was stuck with indoor pictures. Misty cat proved to be an accommodating model as she sat around or warmed herself by our gas log fire.

The day after

2008-11-05T22:11:00.005-05:00

Now that the election is over, the TV anchors will have to try something new to talk about, but I will basically stick to my woods.

We started election day by going to Auburn to meet with the Sun Journal writers. Tom and I have been hired by the Emergency Management Director for Oxford County to do a 12 page insert in the paper next November, (yes, you heard me correctly) on Being Prepared. Since we have a year to put this together, we are not under any undue pressure, but we want to do a good job and will start by getting information on the 36 towns in Oxford County and what they have for prepardness

Following this hour plus meeting, Tom had his back therapy, then we went by to vote.

After putting a chicken in to bake for supper, we drove to the western part of the property in the 'Mule'. I had not been on this trail for a long time, though Tom had walked behind his helper back in August to clear the trail.

We stopped at a few river view points until Tom decided that a tree stump looked like a pretty good chair. I went on to explore more of the river. "If you get in trouble, yell," he says from his stump. Yeh, like that would do me any good. He didn't even have his ears in!!

Anyway, I got to the river view trail that is my favorite without any bear encounter. I wasnt' worried about the moose and hoped I would see him, but didn't. I took this nice photo. I love this tree.

Even though our property is posted, we wear our bright orange.

The walk was good exercise and prepared us for a nice nap on our return. I took this photo of my 'Christmas', Halloween or whatever cactus when I came back into the sunroom. It is one I brought with me from Chattanoogo ten years ago when it was small.

Bear signs

2008-10-31T19:08:00.004-04:00

Tom and I walked around the woods a bit today. It was his first time in weeks to venture down to the river. He found this tree in the photo that has recently been gorged out while 'someone' searched for bugs to eat.

Now we have never actually seen a bear. We have seen signs of scat and the neighbors have seen the bear himself. He attacked their bird feeders all summer.

We can only guess the size of this one from the height of the top scratches on the tree. They are easily 8 feet high. Now it is Halloween today, but when Tom says it looks like bear, that's good enough to keep me out of the woods by myself!!!

We had a flake or two of snow on Wednesday, so today I got the daffodils in the ground and finished clipping the last of the phlox stalks. We can almost say to old man winter, "Bring it on."

The wetlands are filled with red berry bushes. I took this photo at the river today. I really need to look up the name, but my identification books are in the other room and I just can't remember what they are. I'll just say that they dress up the woods which are really baren of colorful leaves.

We had a heavy rain recently, but the beaver dam is still holding water two feet higher on the upstream of the river. Just wanted you to know that the bear didn't displace the beaver watch.

Only in Maine

2008-10-30T22:23:00.005-04:00

Well, it started out as an invitation to go to a concert tonight with our pastor and his wife. We were picked up at 5:15 and our journey began. We were basically being kidnapped as we didn't know where we were going or who we were going to hear.

We traveled through the towns of Peru, Dixfield and into Carthage. By now it was beginning to be dusk and I began to get a little uneasy when I realized that our kidnappers had only been to this "place" once before. They told us we were going to the Skye Theater. Well, that told us nothing other than it might be up high, but then again, you really have to trust your pastor.

Pastor decided that he had the correct turn after passing on a couple of others and we quickly left a nice highway, Route 2, for a dirt path wide enough for a car. Nice log houses along the way led us to believe we were still in civilization.

After several more side roads that were little more than trails, we arrived at the top of a mountain to a large building under construction. Pastor backed into a spot in the parking lot, (I use the term loosly) and I hopped out to take this picture of the theater. (I'm still not in a complete trusting mode.)

We were early, but it was a sold out crowd and we had to come early as we wanted seats together. We heard fiddles in the outer rooms where people are invited to come and jam with the guest artists before the concert begins.

Finally it was time to enter the building. The bottom floor was filled with construction material, but when we went upstairs, the stairway walls were filled with branches and vines lighted with tiny white lights. What a nice feeling! Maybe this wasn't going to be a disaster after all.

The room was filled with 115 plastic chairs. (We had been warned to bring cushions) and those chairs filled up quickly. How in the world did so many people know about this place and not only know about it, but were able to find it??

When the performers, Evergreen, walked onto the tiny stage, magic began. There was one lady who played stand up bass, guitar, mandalin and autoharp, her husband who got more out of a harmonica than I though possible, a guitar player and a school teacher who was the winner of this year's Maine blue grass banjo playing.

Not only could he play a mean banjo, but also the accordian. He had a wonderful voice that was just pleasant and restful. They all had nice voices and unlike most bluegrass music, you could hear most of the lyrics. I'm not a true bluegrass fan, because the real stuff all sounds alike to me. However I am reminded of people who walk into my daylily gardens and can't tell the difference between all the hybrid yellow ones, or red ones or whatever. You get the drift, I'm sure.

You get the idea that the evening was a wonderful surprise. We were not taken off to some faraway mountain for a small concert. These people were pros. In fact, if you google the group, Evergreen band, you can find out all about them.

The theater gives all ticket sales to the performers, many of which do Scottish and Irish concerts and many come from the Cape Breton area.

I rest now from our big adventure. You see, we do have other things to do that watch beavers in our woods!!

Clarification

2008-10-28T07:58:00.008-04:00

Beth gave me information on Katahdin which she had already told me, but I wasn't near a paper and pen, so the gray computer in my head didn't save. Actually I was in the car looking at the mountain on the way home from Caribou. Anyway, I think I spelled Katahdin wrong in the last blog, so will correct that.

Katahdin is a large mountain with three peaks, Baxter, Hamlin and Pamola. Baxter and Hamlin Peaks qualify as 4,000 footers because there is a 200 foot drop in elevation between them but they are on the sam massif-Katahdin. Now I think the record is straight.

I'm doing blogs today because I am sore from a lot of exercise yesterday. Beth came over with camera in hand and we headed to the river. I drove the 'mule' to the river, but we took off on foot to investigate the beaver activity. We walked along the river through the rough, no trail there, until we determined that the high water is all due to the large dam near the mine. We thought there may be another one, but there was no other

Then we took a beaver trail and found a darling little lodge. Their trail was as good or better than any of ours. Beth walked upstream to determine there were no other dams that she could see.

We walked up from the river to see where the little critters have clear cut the land.

I guess my adventures seem pretty boring to most people, but we love the land and having some animal activty to follow just adds a little more interest as we see how the river changes with the efforts of these little busy beavers.

Tamarack, Eastern Larch, Hackmatack Trees

2008-10-26T22:24:00.004-04:00

Something that was new to us southerners was to see a conifer tree shed it's needles in the fall after the needles turned yellow. The trees go by several names such as tamarack, eastern larch, hackmatack and even eastern juniper, though they are not a true juniper.

Anyway, our woods are full of these yellow conifers at the moment. The proper name is actually Larix laricina. Now you know more than you wanted to know, I'm sure, but they are unique to us.

The wood is used for planking, timbers, ties, poles, sign post, pilings and pulp, being heavy and strong.

Tom and I went to Caribou which is at the top of Maine this week to attend the Maine American Baptist Annual Conference where he is on the Board and was a delegate. On the way the predominant tree, it seemed was the tamarack. They stood out so vividly with their shining yellow color among the firs along the highway. It was a six hour drive so we saw lots of trees and nothing else except potato fields for miles and miles.

We also had wonderful views of Mt. Katadin, the highest mountain in Maine. A recent snow had made the view very interesting, though the range was not completely snow covered. Daughter Beth says there are actually two mountains in the range with 4,000 foot elevation separated by a small valley between. She should know having climbed them! I forgot the camera, so no image.

Tom and I visited the beaver dam again today. The little critters have actually made our river almost into a large pond. There is still current but my favorite spot at Poet's Point is nearly still water.

Rain last night caused more to flow over the dam but the structure seems strong. The water level has about a two to three foot change at the dam.

Our Family from Chili

2008-10-20T17:18:00.008-04:00

We have been doing a lot of touring as we introduced our new daughter-in-law and her son to rural Maine which is a long way from Chili.
Luz Maria and Nacho had never been to the states so everything was new to them. They were delighted with the beautiful autumn we had and spent lots of time just looking at leaves and taking photos.
One nice trip was to the Pemaquid lighthouse. The water was calm as glass which is very unusual. We usually have waves lapping up over the rocks. However, it made for good tidal pool searching. Luz Maria is a lone figure as she stands on the rocks overlooking the Atlantic.

Pemaquid is one of the long fingers that reach down from land into the ocean and has a park, museum and tours of the working lighthouse.

Safe Haven for Beavers

2008-09-30T13:40:00.006-04:00

The poor little beavers work their flat tails to the bone making dams and houses only to have them washed away in the mighty Nezinscot River. Well, some of them got smart and decided to move into an area that Tom calls his pond. It really is a healthy bog that has water most of the time. Yesterday we were tooting around in our Kawasaki Mule and I braved the wilderness to explore what the beavers were doing in that area. Tom sat in the Mule nursing his hurt back until I came back with glowing reports of the dam's success. Not only have they dammed up the water to make a real lake, but it makes the path to the northeast part of our property accessable without treading water.

Tom couldn't resist and followed me down the path to the new dam. Hopefully I can get my picture to go where I want it to go. Otherwise, you'll just have to look at it where ever it ends up on the page.

Well, thanks to my sweet husband the picture got where I wanted it. Now I want to put in a picture of the cabin. Let's see how that goes.

How about that? I guess the sky's the limit now.

Enjoy

More Fall Foliage

2008-09-28T21:26:00.004-04:00

The hurricane brought rain but little else. Most of the trees kept their pretty leaves because there was little or no rain. This picture was such an awesome sight, that I had to take it from several directions. Tom is very good about backing up, stopping, backing up one more time or let's get a picture from the opposite direction. I saw this tree on Friday, but had no camera with me. We went back on Friday morning to get it and more. The stone pillar on the right is an entrance marker to someone's camp on Pleasant Pond.

The other picture is our own Labrador Pond. This pond is only a mile from the house and each time we pass, there is a more beautiful view.

As you can see from the hills in the pond picture, the leaves are not all turned by any means. The hills will get more colorful every day, so stay tuned for more.

Fall is Here

2008-09-26T19:01:00.006-04:00

Trying to drive and look at the same time is almost impossible. Tom and I drove out this morning before the rain came and took some awesome pictures.

I'm afraid you will be treated or otherwise to lots of this kind of picture over the next few weeks.

We have never seen the reds so brilliant and so early. Someone said that the sweeter the maple trees were, the more brilliant the red color. Whatever the reason, it is spring all over again with each leaf being a beautiful flower.

I spent considerable time cleaning up the cabin today, so our family who will be visiting from Chili in a week can enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and toast some marshmellows over the campfire. I'm standing on the deck. Husband missed out on the cleaning. I don't know how long he is going to milk this cow!!

After taking the morning pictures, we went to town (Auburn is the closest town thirty miles away) to do some errands. I didn't take a camera as it was raining. Big MISTAKE!!! The colors were so intense even in the rain that I could hardly drive, that means "stay on the road."

The next picture I put on the blog, whereever it ends up, will show just a limb of my favorite leaves of the fall. Each leaf is a collage of different colors and I think they are very special.

That's all for this time.

Dump Shopping

2008-09-21T17:15:00.003-04:00

The nicest thing about going to the dump is visiting the Swap Shop where numerous items are attractively displayed for free shopping. You don't often see me sitting and reading anymore.

In September of 2007 the town gave us the small orange container in which to put a Swap Shop. Yours truly never realized what she was getting into when she offered to set up a committee to make a place where people could bring their good disposable items instead of dumping them in the waste stream which costs us taxpayers money.

The original container was the orange one you see on the right. We started out with nothing but two tables inside which husband had made from old doors.

It didn't take long for people to realize what was happening and soon we were overrun with books, clothing, dishes, small appliances and such.

A resident saw the need for bookshelves and literally tore some old wooden ones out of his basement and brought them into the shop.

The gentleman pictured outside the container offered to get donated materials and make shelves. The rest of equiping the shop is history.

This spring the forty foot green container was added to our fleet and it is now filled with furniture, clothing and most anything you could imagine.

It didn't take long for people to see this was a good thing for the community and volunteers

stepped forward. Some claim a certain time to come every week and some are on a call list. Others sign up on a calendar in the shop.

These volunteers spend endless hours sorting clothing into boxes labeled with the proper sizes of clothing displayed on our shelves. Keeping this constant flood of donations sorted is sometimes overwhelming and we do have to toss things that should have gone into the waste stream to start with. However, most people are good about bringing good used items.

I know several people who have outfitted their camps with dishes, furniture and what not. I also see regular people coming to get clothing for themselves or their grandchildren.

Books come and go and we have an excellent library of adult and children's books. I'm amazed how fast cooking books fly out of the shop.

On Saturday, I saw a set of golf clubs enter the shop and go with the next customer. It's fun to see something started to get unloaded and someone else say, "Just load that on my truck."

Not only is the shop getting tons of items out of the waste stream, but people are being helped. I hear people say they tell their neighbors to vist the dump Swallmarts.

Incidently, we moved two and a half tons of items out of the shop in August. We average a ton a month, summer or winter.

Now if you think you need something ELSE to do in retirement, organize a Swap Shop.