Maple Sugaring Time

Maple Sugar Bucket

It's March 9th and tonight we move the clocks ahead an hour.  That is a sure sign of Spring.  Another sure sign of spring are the Maple Sugar buckets you see hanging from the trees now.  The sap is flowing.  Life is working its way back from below the frozen ground. Some of the roads are posted with orange signs telling the heavy trucks they can not drive over them until the thaw is complete. It reached a high of 48 degrees in Bethel today.  It's beautiful.  

Raking the Roof

Raking the Roof

Yesterday I spent three and a half hours raking snow off my roof.  It was a great workout however I can think of better ways to spend my time.  I did this because we are supposed to receive 8 to 14 inches of heavy wet snow today. I was afraid that if this was added to the already 14 inches on my roof I may have a problem, especially on my barn which has seen better days.  I was able to remove about 80% of the snow because even with a 30 foot extension pole there were some areas I just could not reach.

It just started snowing here about an hour ago and is supposed to last into the day tomorrow.  Anyone who wants a free lesson in how to rake a roof just show up at my house on Saturday. Allow yourself three and a half hours for this lesson.  

Final Step

 

 

Final Step: Cover with 2 inches of white frosting and enjoy!

A Nice Cross Country Ski Day

Today I took the time to enjoy a nice cross county ski at the Bethel Nordic Ski Center at the The Bethel Inn Resort.  It was sunny at the start but by the time I finished the clouds off to the north had reached me and a good snow squall had begun.  I took the Hedgehog Trail which has become my favorite because it is one of the longest trails at 4.5 kilometers yet one of the easiest trails.  I like to begin at the eastern side of the trail which means as you leave the Inn bear left and go by the pool.  It's pretty level for the first half of this trail and then on the back side you have a couple of nice  "downhill" runs followed by level again.  The only real uphill portion will be the last 300 yards as you head back up to the Inn and by then you know you're home.  

Clouds to the North......

 Mike Cooper at the Ski Center does a nice job of grooming the trails. He knows how to build and maintain a trail whether it is a cross country ski trail for winter or a hiking trail for summer.  It's what he does.  I'll see him often at early dawn in his machine preparing the trails so that we can all have a nice surface for skiing.

........meant snow not long after.

I like the solitude of cross country skiing. It's quiet, it's beautiful, it's healthy and everyone you meet on the trail is smiling.  If you're going to live in area where it snows it makes a difference when you live in an area where they rejoice snow.  Come up for ski.  

Feeling Cold

Feeling Cold?

These icicles hanging from the edge of my roof mean two things. 1) It's cold. 2) Heat is escaping through my roof.   My smart phone tells me it's minus 13 degrees in Fryeburg, ME which is 45 minutes south of here.  My cheapo thermometer hanging outside the kitchen window tells me it's 44 degrees above zero. I think the phone is closer to true.  I'm in Maine in January...what do I expect? 

Below is a photo of this year's Christmas tree. Eat your heart out Charlie Brown.  We actual bought a perfectly shaped and full tree last year and Lauren didn't like because it was too full and too perfect. She said it was hard to hang ornaments on it because it was so thick with branches.  So this year we went to the opposite extreme. This years tree was easier to put up and it saved us $40.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Tree
 

Dusty’s Got a Bathroom Door.

Step 1: Cut hole

Our cat Dusty who is now 15 years old is getting lazy.  She has always been an outdoor cat and has never had any health problems.  She can still climb trees and is very good at catching mice and moles and sometimes chipmunks.  She would always go outside to “do her business” although she prefers it when I’m out there with her (especially in winter).  The only time we set out a litter box is when we go away for a few days and our neighbor Martha comes over to feed and check on Dusty.

Previously if Dusty wanted to “go” she would let me know because she can talk.  However this summer I would go downstairs in the morning and sometimes notice cat pee and perhaps more on the dining room floor.  It seems Dusty got the notion that this was the area to go even when the litter box was not here. We tried many things to break her of this newly formed habit.

First, I tried holding her nose close to the scene and yelling in a deep voice…bad, no, bad Dusty, I would tap her on the nose three times and put her outside.  This did not work.

Second, we have this plastic owl I traded for at a Yankee Swap Christmas party a few years ago. The owl has a motion detector so when someone walks by it the eyes flash bright green and it bleats out a rather loud WHO…WHO,  WHO…WHO, etcetera for 20 seconds or so.  It seems that the owl and the pussycat have a pact however.  Dusty would step in front of the owl, do her business and the owl never let out a peep until we would walk by it.  It didn’t matter what angle or position we put that owl it was not going to give her up.  

Third, Lauren read or heard that cats don’t like the sound or feel of Aluminum foil under their feet.  So we began to foil our floor in this area.  It was very shiny and… it didn’t work.  Dusty considered the foil a perfect spot to do her business.

We finally gave up and set up the litter box in the utility (furnace) room off of the kitchen.  Although it’s a fairly warm room because of the furnace we did not want to keep the door open all the time so it was time to install a “cat-door”.   This was relatively easy to do.  First, cut a hole the right size through the door and then install the door.  This particular cat door has a clear plastic flap with a magnet on the bottom that holds it in place until the cat pushes against it.  Dusty does not understand this concept yet.  Even though we would open the flap a bit for her she would not push against it to go through on her own.  I have seen her pull full size doors open with her paws but this plastic flap confounds her.  So I took off the flap (for now) and she jumps through the hole when she needs to.  For this I could have just left the first hole I cut in the door as is and saved $25.00

Next I should think about putting a door on our bathroom.  That’s a story for another day. 

Step 2: Install Cat Door

An Amber Visit in October

The Apple Cider Donut Machine at Russell Orchards

Amber was able to come visit us and stay a few days during her birthday month.  We picked her up in Boston last Saturday which was convenient because we were invited to a wedding that same day in Gloucester.  After spending the night in Magnolia we headed over to Essex Seafood Restaurant and met up with the Watson's for lunch.  This would be Don, Ada, Donnie, Kirsten and little Lexi.  Amber and I shared some steamers and fried calamari. Lauren had some fried shrimp. Amber and I have been sharing steamers ever since she was about 2 years old.  She loves lobsters and steamers.

We then headed over to Russel Orchards in Ipswich for the sole purpose of getting some Apple Cider Donuts. These donuts are addictive so we paid, went straight to the car, and starting driving north to Bethel while shoving donuts into our drooling mouths.  Our hope was to be far enough away by the time we finished the donuts where we didn't feel the need to return for more. We just made it.

Yesterday Amber and I walked into town to pay the real estate taxes and the water bill.  Paying bills isn't one of my favorite things to do however I enjoy paying these bills the most because I get to interact with the friendly people like Amy at the town hall and Cally at the water department. In this day of online bill paying and regular mail the face to face interaction is wonderful.  In the afternoon Lauren took Amber over to Jackie's used furniture shop and then over to Nabos which is owned and operated by Amanda who is always friendly and full of zest. After dinner we headed over to Gould Academy where we saw a performance by Burlington Taiko.  Sponsored by the Mahoosuc Arts Council this show was impressive. Taiko is Japanese for Big Drums and that's what this performance was all about. It's an artistic, physical and as you might imagine loud show of this group playing big drums.  Taiko has been used for many purposes in Japanese culture over the years including to dispel evil spirits, pray for rain, and the Samurai used them to instill fear in the enemy.  Sitting in the audience you feel these drums as well as hear them. Thumbs up on this show.

In keeping with the Asian theme we've decided to go out to dinner tonight at Cho Sun and get some Sushi.  Right now we're headed up to the gym and pool at the Bethel Inn to burn off some calories before our dinner.  It's also "dump day" so we need to, have to, must, go to the "transfer station" and see if any goodies await us.  Nothing but the best for Amber when she comes for a visit.

Amber at the Bethel Common