Big Boy Toys

Spring has sprung in Maine and thoughts are on gardens and woods!  The first starts are up in the back garage (love those south windows) and I had fresh asparagus on my salad yesterday!  Sure hope the weather is better this year than last and we get more from the garden.

We have been busy filling the garage with more tools (or Big Boy Toys as I call them).  After you live on a piece of land for a few years, it becomes evident some of the things that really would help in maintaining your investment.  Where there are trees, there is always windfalls - and when you make firewood, there are branches.  Since I hate to "move brush" and sawing everything is really tedious as well as hard on David's back - we have invested in both a lift and a shredder.  The lift is in action today moving some old trees, so I took an action shot.  The shredder has yet to be "taken to the woods".  But when it is, I will get some shots of it also.

In the middle of the winter each year, we talk about an easier (and better) method for moving snow.  When the sun shines, the freezing winds and icy hands are forgotten - but this year we took the plunge.  A new snow blower sits in the garage also.  Obviously, there won't be any action pics of that for awhile (quite awhile, we hope).

The Perfect Start to Spring Break

First day of Spring Break and we woke to a fresh coating of wet snow. Yesterday, everyone left work with travel on their minds - one off to London, another to visit sunny Acapulco.  Did it disappoint me to not be off with my colleagues to places sunny and warm?  Let me consider...
Headlines today:

London:  Ash may hover for days over uncertain Europe
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/16/volcano-spews-ash-spawns-wider-flight-chaos/

Acapulco:  the scene of a war in recent months between gunmen from ...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/16/mexico.calderon.juarez/index.html?iref=allsearch

Here:


You be the judge.

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Walkable Winter

Yesterday, March 27, 2010 - I woke up to 9 degrees F. and sunny skies.  This was a perfect day for a Spring hike as the remaining snow piles (which are always blocking the open paths) would be frozen solid.  Today, it was low 20's, cloudy and windy - not as pleasant but quite "walkable". 

The frost is slowly coming out of the ground with tiny mountains of needle ice crystals being crushed under your feet  (see image). You still need to watch for the collapse of a frost heave along the trail.  In the middle of my hike with Milos, I realized that this was one of the best winters for getting outside in years.


We had early snow which was never too deep for dogs, nor too powdery for snowshoes.  The lows were always bearable and the wind mild.  I can only think of 2 weekends that kept me totally in the house. I declare the winter of 2009-2010 walkable!


Wonder what mud season will bring?  

Slush Puppy Spring

Last week I was in Phoenix, AZ for 4 days - what a difference from the northeast.  The daily highs were in the 70's and the nightly lows dropped to the mid-50's.  It was nice to step out the door without a coat - and the warmth of the sun certainly felt great.  But, this morning I hiked with Milos in the slush puppy season of Maine and decided it was much better!

Definition of Slush-Puppy Season.
When the top several inches of the snow pack turns into a crystaline icing which "slushes" as you shuffle along on your snowshoes.

Every morning the trails from the night before evaporate in the sun leaving a pristine covering of sparkling white.  Each new hike is like the first following a snowfall, but you don't need your hat and gloves, just a light jacket will do.  The birds are singing (Phoebes were literally shouting from the trees) and the breeze has the feel of Spring.  Mud season has not yet got its slimy grip on the world. It is perfect!

And one of the many reasons I love living in Maine.