Poor Planning

Well, Adie has wasted no time in celebrating Ice Out! Every day we go for our walk, every day Adie manages to find the biggest mud puddles to sink into, and every day Adie washes off in the lake before returning to the house. The water can't be much more than 40 F but that doesn't seem to stop her; she wades right in and has a little swim while lapping up a drink at the same time. Yesterday we hiked over to the neighbor's farm and happened upon three deer grazing in the not yet green grass. Luckily, we didn't happen on any coyotes as we did see several traces of them on the way over. I continue to carry my walking stick wherever I go and even took the liberty of extending it to its full length yesterday after we passed the third pile of coyote scat!

In the afternoon, I headed out to pick up some of the many sticks that seem to have fallen from the sky over the long winter months. In my infinite wisdom (or not), I decided to let Adie off the leash while she was in the yard with me. Well it took her less than a minute to catch the scent of a grouse and she was off. I chased her for ten minutes before Caroline, still in her pajamas, came as reinforcement. After another ten minutes, Caroline was able to cajole her and snap on her leash but not before Adie managed to find a particularly prime water hole, filled with mud I might add, that she layed down in to cool off ... back to the lake again! Her mission was successful though; she managed to flush out a grouse or two before she was caught and contained.

While most of the walking we do is for pleasure, Garrick, on the other hand, has been walking and biking for purpose. Every morning, he heads down the long road to the busstop and every evening after baseball practice, he heads back again. At first, when there was still a fair amount of snow, he walked the entire way. Then, as the snow began to melt, his trip became a combination of riding with a bit of walking over the soft spots. Lately, with the snow almost completely melted, he has been riding. For the past few days he has been having a bit of trouble with the bike chain though ... it has been falling off the gears. (I suppose this should be expected when you get the bike for free ... from the dump no less.) So, yesterday he headed off to school only to have the bike chain come off at a very inopportune moment ... as he was riding down 'the big hill'. At the bottom of 'the big hill' is a small hill ... going up. Garrick has it engineered so that he can pedal extremely quickly, while standing up, when going down 'the big hill' so that he has to do no work in order to get up the hill on the other side. (He has been practicing this for a few summers now.) Just as he reached top speed, the chain came off, jammed the bike and Garrick went flying over the handlebars, into the dirt, followed by the bike which to make matters worse 'ran over him'. Luckily it was cold enough out that he wore his ski gloves that morning as it prevented his already scabbed hands (he was doing wheelies the previous weekend at his aunt's house in Ohio ... on a borrowed bike ... and also flew over the handlebars) from opening up. Somehow, he didn't miss the bus!

This morning, because it was pouring rain when he left ... really it had nothing to do with his previous two biking experiences ... he decided to walk. As you can imagine it takes quite a bit longer to walk than ride (downtime for repairs not included) so he left at 6:40 for the 7:15 bus. As I had planned most everything ... but not everything ... to a tee, all three umbrellas were ... in the truck ... in the parking lot. So, he set out in a downpour, wearing his red LL Bean raincoat that I purchased for him to go to camp almost three summers ago and his snowbaording pants. Wish I had thought to get the camera out for that!

Hope you're staying dry -
Karyn

Ice Out!

Arrived home from Spring Break Sunday night - luckily we were only in Philadelphia and not Mexico! The warm weather brought out some wildlife ... both on South Street in Philadelphia and upon entering the Northwoods. We passed a turkey, a red fox, and a moose on the drive up. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite warm enough to melt all of the snow and dry up the mud, so we parked the truck in the usual spot, left all our things in the truck ... including about a week's worth of dirty laundry ... bet that's going to smell good in a few days, baking in the heat no less ... and walked in in the dark. No moon that night so it was rather dark and a bit difficult to navigate the sink holes in the road. Needless to say we were covered in mud by the time we arrived at the camp. Millie told Garrick yesterday that she thought it would be another three weeks before the gate would be unlocked and life would return to normal. You can bet that we, the non-four-wheeling crowd, are counting the days!

Awoke yesterday morning to the hoot of an owl ... a big fellow who sometimes perches in the trees above the bird (and squirrel) feeders ... and the cries of a loon ... a sure sign that the ice is out. Adie was spooked by the loons; their call is quite haunting and is very unusual. But we love to hear them as it is a sure sign that Spring has FINALLY arrived. When I walked downstairs and saw the blue water of the lake rippling and lapping against the shore, I was astonished that so much had changed in the nine days that we were gone.

Our walk yesterday brought new smells ... a sensory overload for the poor dog ... as well as deer and fawn tracks. We're hoping that as soon as the grass turns green, we'll have some new visitors on our lawn ... I could do with out the black-colored kind though! The temperature is an unusual 78 degrees. Hoping that this will melt the rest of the snow before the cold front arrives this afternoon, bringing with it more seasonal temperatures. May not be warm enough for that kayak ride this weekend!

Karyn

The Last Ride

It's been so long ... would you believe that I forgot my login password??? Or, maybe that I fell off the end of the Earth? Well, we traveled to the end of the Earth ... Limestone, Maine ... the last weekend in March, but that's a story for another blog ...

In the meantime, we've been anticipating the last ride in for a while now. Hopefully that very expensive Lehigh education that I received so many moons ago ... 267 to be exact ... has finally made itself useful. I have industrial engineered this upcoming month to the nth degree and am hoping that we are truly ready. It will be the last test of endurance after a very enlightening winter spent surviving in these woods.

Paul arrived Thursday night for the Easter weekend ... actually it was Friday morning at 3:30 am ... after having driven 576 miles and walked 1 1/2 miles into camp with the dog. That included a short stop at Walmart to purchase a flashlight as he did not appreciate the value of a full moon. We resumed using the snowmobile on Friday but on Saturday night, returning from the final performance of the Pirates of Penzance, brought to us by the Greenville Middle School/High School, the light came on on the snowmobile during the second trip in indicating that the engine was overheated. On Sunday, we tried again on the way to the local VFW Pancake Breakfast (the opportunities for socialization are numerous as you can see). While Caroline and I managed to get out on the first run, the machine overheated again upon returning to the house to get Paul. So, Paul and Garrick had the benefit (?) of walking out, quickly, I might add, as the breakfast closed at 10 and it being Easter Sunday, nothing else in Greenville was open. We haven't yet determnined if it was the frozen snow that caused the problem ... the machine uses the snow to cool the engine ... or perhaps those 'little' patches of mud that we had to cross on the way out. As we are now out of coolant and those 'little' stretches of dirt have gotten bigger, we have retired our trusty sled and have resorted to the original method of transportation when our 'development' was first established, the feet. And that is getting old quickly!

This morning both kids had to be in town at 7 am to catch the van to Bangor for the final Math Meet. So, we left the house at 5:55 am in order to make it to town by 7, including a short stop for Colby, our 7th grade coffee addict. While I considered booking a hotel room in town for the night, I felt that my status as a true mountain mama would be degraded by this blunder. When the electricity went out yesterday afternoon, I reconsidered but knew that I must tough it out. Of course it helped that the repairman was extremely efficient and had the power back on within 45 minutes!

I am now headed out for my second trip to town for the day ... that's 6 miles of walking now ... to run some errands and pick up the kids. Luckily, the sun is shining and the temperature has reached 50.2 F. Hard to believe that it is 85 degrees warmer today than it was only 10 weeks ago!

Karyn

The Countdown Has Begun!

Less than 50 days until the road opens so the countdown has begun! In the meantime, we are like squirrels scurrying around before that first snowfall only our occasion for such hurry is lack of snow. The days have continued to be warm so even though the nights have been somewhat chilly, the snow has been melting. I would estimate that we have about two feet left, an amount that could be eliminated quite quickly if a serious rainstorm were to roll in.

So, I have been making list upon list of things to get in to camp before we can no longer use our sled. Our supply of dog food, dog treats, and dry goods is just about complete. This coming week I will focus on the perishables and bottled water. The perishables require a bit of a balancing act as I need to squeeze as much into my little freezer as I can and check expiration dates for anything that will end up in the fridge. The freezer will be crammed with cans of frozen orange juice concentrate, frozen vegetables ... I did resort to buying some canned peas and green beans and storing them in the basement ... bread, berries, butter, tortellini, pizza cheese, etc. And then, we will keep our fingers crossed that the power stays with us for the next several weeks!

Tomorrow's task is packing up clothes for our weekend escapades to civilization ... hoping that Garrick has all his laundry done before then. We will need to have our bags packed and ready to take out to the truck at the first hint of too much Spring. As we are planning on spending nine days away during Garrick's Spring Break, this could also be quite a balancing act ... not sure if the kids have enough clothes that still fit them to cover both here and there! I think Garrick has grown almost three inches since we arrived at the end of September. Looks like we may have to make some last minute purchases when we head out of town next the weekend.

Hoping for a short mud season -
Karyn

Little House in the Big Woods

Well as you can see from the picture, we still have a bit of snow left. Temperatures have been dropping into the teens at night but are hitting near 40 F during the day, great maple syruping weather. So, the snow is beginning to melt ... slowly. Not sure if you can actually see from the picture that we do have some wood left, it is stacked neatly under the left window, but I know that you can't see how green it is. We have been trying to burn it for the last few days and finally gave up last night. We ended up burning just over three cords worth this winter but this fourth cord is probably going to have to wait until next year. So, while we would like warm weather in order to reduce our oil consumption, we aren't quite ready for the snow to melt yet as it is provides our only path of powered transportation out to the parking lot until mid-May. Quite the quandary!

Adie and I went for a snowshoe this morning, me with the snowshoes on as I am a bit dense (I meant that literally, not figuratively), and her without, she with her bear bell and I with my walking stick, both intended to serve the same purpose: to protect us from 'wild'life. When we first started walking we went without such apparatus. But after seeing what looked to be coyote prints crossing the snowmobile path ... in more than a few places ... and hearing that a coyote had taken down a deer about 3 miles south of us a few weeks back, we are a bit more cautious now. I am, after all, not as large as a deer ... yet ... and I certainly can't run as fast as one, especially in my snowshoes.

We headed for the Masterman Farm, one of the two original properties back here in the woods. (The other, coincidentally, is for sale ... so you too could live the life that I live.) They must still have about 100 acres and a long winding driveway that has to be over half a mile long. The driveway starts out as a path in the woods and then opens up into fields that overlook the lake and the mountains beyond. It is truly breathtaking. I tried to capture it 'on film' ... if that term still applies ... but unfortunately, it was a bit hazy today and my camera ... or perhaps it was the photographer ... just couldn't duplicate the beauty. Anyway, we headed down their driveway toward the lake and walked back home across the frozen water. We have about another five to six weeks before ice-out but I think after this week, our jaunts over the lake will have to be come to an end. While I don't weigh quite as much as a deer, I don't have four legs over which to distribute my load.

Happy St. Partick's Day -
Karyn

Too Good to Be True

No, we didn't go right from Winter to Spring without having to endure "Mud Season". But that too would be too good to be true.

Last week when I was in town running errands and Garrick was also there volunteering at the nursing home and shoveling snow at a friend's, we passed a guy who was selling shrimp ... for $1.25 per pound. They were whole shrimp, with the heads still on but I thought ... that's how we used to buy them at the Dolac Fish Market in Zagreb. I used to make a great Scampi Dish by simmering the whole shrimp in wine and garlic. We would eat them with our hands; first we would break apart the tail and eat the tail meat; then, we would suck the juice out of the head and body portion of the shrimp. It was very sweet and delicious, one of our favorite meals while in Croatia.

Garrick got out of the truck, asked for about two pounds, paid the guy $2.50 and we were on our way. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a bit anal about my To Do List which also contains my meal plan for the week. So, as Shrimp Scampi was not already on the menu, when we got home I tossed the shrimp into the freezer for the following week.

Imagine my disappointment when this morning on the way to the vet (a four hour excursion that included a mere 20 minutes at the actual vet's office ... 55 miles of driving ... each way), when I saw that same shrimp guy, selling those shrimp for $1 per pound in a different town!

Well, this afternoon, I took the bag of shrimp out of the freezer to thaw. And at about six, I started to get ready to prepare dinner: shrimp scampi, linguine, and spinat (Croatian for spinach ... pronounced shpinat). The water for the linguine was in one pot, the spinat was in another, the bottle of wine was uncorked, and I dumped the shrimp into the colander to rinse it off. I rinsed the shrimp with the sprayer but it seemed a little brown. Upon closer examination, I realized that the shrimp were full of sand and dirt. And, upon even further examination, I realized that the amount of meat in the tail of one of the shrimp was about equivalent to the size of an olive pit. When I called Garrick over to help me assess the situation, he immediately said, " Those are bait shrimp, mom!" I only wish he'd realized that last week before I doled out that $2.50!

So, we had cheese and mushroom omelets (more like scrambled eggs) with our spinat tonight. Wish I could say we would be having grilled fish tomorrow night, caught with our freshly thawed bait, but I don't have an auger to make that hole in the ice, and I have no intention of going to get one either.

Have a good weekend -
Karyn

Stranger in the Dark

I knew it was going to be a bad day when I started out by getting the snowmobile stuck in the turnaround on the way back from the bus stop ... sound familiar??? Perhaps I should find a better way to turn the sled around so that I can stop having all these bad days!

This time it only took me about twenty minutes to dig out. Then, I took our new dog Adie for a walk. She is a shelter dog who came from Missouri. She was supposed to be a Christmas present for the kids but she had a few health issues at the last minute and arrived a week after Valentine's Day instead. We picked her up last weekend in Allentown, Pennsylvania and drove her home in a snow storm that dumped another two feet of snow on us. We then put her on the snowmobile and shuttled her into camp just like we do with everyone else. She didn't much like the sled the first time but is adjusting as she realizes that this is the only means for her to get to go in the car with us! As you can see from the picture, she loves the snow and is constatnly burrowing in it trying to find ... squirrels!

Anyway, back to that bad day ... long story short, the truck had to go into the shop "for about two hours" because something was not right when they installed the fuel pump for me back in October. Well, a mere 4 hours and 45 minutes later, we were headed home. As you can imagine, this threw off my whole schedule for the day. We arrived at the parking lot at 3:30, having eaten no lunch and having left the dog home alone for the first time by herself (for 7 hours). I was in a hurry and hopped on the sled in order to get Caroline home, have lunch, and return back to Greenville to pick up Garrick from the nursing home where he now volunteers one afternoon a week. In the tunrnaround at the parking lot ... I sunk the sled, AGAIN! As I was in a hurry, I had not put on my snowpants and we had no shovel. So, Caroline and I began digging with our hands. After fifteen minutes of digging and having the sled only sink deeper each time I tried to move it, I realized that the two of us were probably not going to get the thing out. I sent Caroline home to check on the dog while I went back out to the truck, peeled off my now frozen jeans (in the parking lot - I was standing there in my underwear and really didn't care), put on my snowpants, got the ice scraper from the truck, and resumed my digging, each time sinking the sled a little bit deeper. It actually got so low that I was beginning to see twigs poking through the snow! After an hour, I gave up. I headed back into town to get Garrick. Wouldn't you know it, he had the sled out in less than 10 minutes!

And the excuse for the delay in this week's blog is ... I got sick from all that digging. (The wet jeans probably didn't help!) I had a slight cold to begin with but by the next day, I was hacking and aching. I did my best to rest but had appointments I had to keep and groceries to get. On Friday, I did finally manage to stay in the house all day and even managed to stay in bed for part of the day. I spent the entire day in my PJ's and bathrobe.

Imagine my surprise then, when at about 6:30 that night, there was a knock on the front door! We heard no snowmobile. Garrick opened the door and I went down, in my bathrobe and slippers, to greet a guy in a black and red Yamaha snowmobile suit (because you know how everyone matches their clothes to their snowmobiles up here). Thank goodness we had the dog or I would have been even more scared than I already was. Where did this guy come from and why was he at our house?

Well, apparently, I am not the only one good at sinking sleds. He said he needed help getting his sled out. I asked him how big it was and he answered that it wasn't very big ... it turns out it was a 1000 ... almost twice as big as ours. Garrick rode him out on our sled and helped him get it out, not before the guy dropped the sled on his own foot though.

Hoping that our unexpected visitors in the future will be only the four-legged kind ... they aren't quite so frightening!

Karyn