by Susan | Apr 23, 2014 | On My Mind
Hannah and I have spent the rare week away from Downeast Maine visiting my folks in Pennsylvania. I’ve tried to add a few “educational” excursions to our trip that wouldn’t totally bore a 14-year-old. Today’s outing was to Independence...
by Susan | Apr 16, 2014 | On My Mind
A Robin on a Spring Day. Doesn’t look much like spring, does it? It’s April 16 and mother nature is delivering a sleety, snowy, nasty weather mix that has me dragging my feet heading out the door. And, today of all days, there is a ubiquitous sign of...
by Susan | Apr 7, 2014 | On My Mind
Today was a gift. The sun shining, temperatures soared to 50 degrees. I brushed off the long unused porch chairs and parked myself for a few minutes to admire the view. The pond is still frozen over, but the ice is dwindling. In the front, the only remaining snow are...
by Susan | Apr 1, 2014 | On My Mind
You thought it was spring, didn’t you? April Fools! Mother Nature delivered 8-10 inches of snow/sleet last night. It’s crazy! Happy April!
by Susan | Mar 29, 2014 | On My Mind
This pretty Canada goose lounging along the banks of the Narraguagus was a reaffirmation that spring is here. Despite the blizzard Mother Nature threw our way this week and the ice and sleet predicted for tomorrow, winter is loosing her hold on us.
by Susan | Mar 26, 2014 | On My Mind
I’m not sure these pictures need captions. One week into spring the world outside is raging – snowy, windy, blizzardy. Where art thou, spring?
by Susan | Mar 22, 2014 | On My Mind
Times are changing faster than I can keep up with at my house. This is the text dialog between Hannah and me earlier this week. Her first boyfriend. At fourteen, most of the kids in her freshman class have already hit this milestone. I wish there was some way to turn...
by Susan | Mar 20, 2014 | On My Mind
I had visions of the first day of spring – time sitting on the porch letting the sun’s warmth nourish me. Truth be told, I think only the ducks were happy about the reality of the this first day of spring. They found joy in the puddles.
by Susan | Mar 16, 2014 | Garden, On My Mind
The ground may be frozen and snowy, but spring arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Given my gardening history, I may have been just a little optimistic when ordering seeds – 32 varieties!?A typical spring involves me starting seeds, killing the seedlings at some...
by Susan | Mar 9, 2014 | On My Mind
Yesterday, the temps were warm and the sap was running. I caught a little spring fever, threw open a window for some fresh air and proceeded to tackle washing the windows inside and out. I ventured out in gym shorts and Muck boots to check the sap containers. It was...
by Susan | Feb 20, 2014 | On My Mind
It’s snowed on five of the last seven days. I went to sleep last night with the sound of snow gently “thumping” as it fell off the steel roof. This morning I rose to five fresh inches of heavy snow blanketing the landscape. As I waded through the...
by Susan | Feb 17, 2014 | On My Mind
It seems that every third day we’ve got another round of wintery weather at our doorstep. If it weren’t for the January and February thaws between storms, we’d be buried in snow by now. We built our home with a steel roof. If you don’t have...
by Susan | Feb 10, 2014 | On My Mind
This time of year I suffer with dry, chapped, itchy skin. Life in the country means I?m outdoors a lot. Hiking, snowshoeing, tending to critters for hours and cutting wood leave me exposed to the elements. The wind and cold paired with my penchant for a hot bath at...
by Susan | Jan 17, 2014 | On My Mind
It’s been a few years now that we’ve been a one car family. Our 8-year-old Prius has been a workhorse, but is becoming less reliable. Only recently have we felt we could swing adding a second car. After two months of research and test driving we brought...
by Susan | Jan 12, 2014 | On My Mind
Do you have lonely socks? I have lots of lonely socks. Before I had a cat, I blamed lonely socks on the dryer. These days I blame Purfessor Snape, aka Boo. Boo has a sock fetish. He’ll steal matched sets out of the sock drawer if you leave it open even a crack....
by Susan | Jan 3, 2014 | On My Mind
The bad news? We had another storm last night with bitter temps and high winds. The good news? We didn’t lose power! The bad news? When I sipped my first cup of coffee this morning the temp was -11 degrees. The good news? Despite some issues with the wood boiler, we...
by Susan | Dec 25, 2013 | On My Mind
Christmas morning 2014 dawned bright and COLD. We are blessed to have this day together, cozy and warm in the comfort of our home. Many of our friends in the community are still without power following three crazy storms – the latest dropping freezing rain on us...
by Susan | Dec 24, 2013 | Family, On My Mind
My grandmother’s aunt, Elizabeth Stroble, created this beautiful linoleum block print when she was an art teacher at Central High School in St.Paul, Minnesota (1940s-1950s). Carved with the help of her students, she sent these to family and friends as her...
by Susan | Dec 23, 2013 | On My Mind
When I ventured outdoors this morning, I couldn’t help but admire the chickadees as they flitted in and out of the icy branches. Here in Maine, the are my most faithful visitors. The freezing rain started up again as I admired the view from my porch. Here, my...
by Susan | Dec 22, 2013 | On My Mind
We woke this morning to no power. No happy smell of coffee. No happy smoke coming from the wood boiler out the window. Our entire world was covered in a layer of ice. Curiously, exactly one year ago we also woke to no power – the result of a windstorm that time....
