Silhouette of Purfessor Snape
Purfessor Snape in silhouette on a snowy day studying the goings on outside. Once a feral kitten, I hope he's thinking how lucky he is to be on the inside looking out during this blizzard and how fortunate he is to have us as his humans. In all...
Frosty Morning on the Machias River
This view of the Machias River in Whitneyville, Maine is responsible for me being late to work today. It was simply stunning. I all but stopped on the bridge to look at the view. I continued on, then I stopped and turned around and went back. I...
Snow and Shadow
A walk through virgin snow. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.
Nemo and the Aftermath
We survived Blizzard Nemo. It snowed and the wind howled for the better part of 24 hours. As a result of the high winds it's hard to tell how much snow fell. In some areas it's up to your hips, in others your knees. I cannot remember such a...
Elusive Long Eared Owl
Long-eared Owls are fairly common, but not often seen. He's a good project for a snowy winter's day. Right click here and select "Save target as" to save this PDF pattern to your desktop. Comment with a link to a picture of your owl or share your...
Where in Nemo is Downeast Thunder Farm?
There's no way you could have missed the talk of the Nor'easter named Nemo heading toward the Northeast. It seems like every time I turn the news on, the projected snowfall has risen by an inch. Here's a snapshot to show where we are in this mess....
Clever Use for Modern Technology
Hannah, age 13, has an email account. It's rarely used. In my ongoing effort to watch over her and keep her safe online, incoming messages are copied to my email box. Midday, I saw a message allegedly from her arrive in her inbox and took a peak....
Uninvited Guests
Feeding the birds this winter has resulted in some uninvited guests. I’m careful about putting out suet before the bears hibernate. From time to time our neighbors’ feeders are raided by black bears. We’ve yet to have the pleasure. I like to think...
Winding Down
Tonight was bittersweet. Junior High basketball season (dubbed the craziest season of all) is all but over. The girls played (and won) their last regular season game at home tonight. The eighth-grade players (all three of them) presented their...
Mourning Dove on A Snowy Sunday
A Mourning Dove hunkered down on a cold, snowy Sunday.
Striking Red Headed Woodpecker
This Red Headed Woodpecker is so striking with its crimson head and checkerboard colors. Lately I've heard a number of Woodpeckers at work, but they're unlikely to be this pretty little bird. Right click here and select "Save target as" to save...
Skating is Not Like Riding a Bike
The last time I went ice skating I was a freshman in high school in Fairfax, Virginia. On Friday nights our parents would carpool the group of us girls to the rink where we'd make the circuit, gossiping and scoping out the boys. I did pretty good...
Groundhog Day and Reminiscing
It's a little known fact that I was born in Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania, home to my paternal grandparents and where my father was raised. Growing up the daughter of an Army officer, we moved every 1-3 years for much of my childhood. Most vacations...
A Wild and Windy Day
Some weird weather blew through today. Heavy winds with gusts up to 60 mph sounded like a non-stop freight train. The wind seemed to come at the house from all directions rattling soffits and windows, downing trees, and redistributing anything not...
Ice Huts
Ice huts on the Pleasant River in Columbia Falls.
The American Kestrel
This female American Kestrel, is America's tiniest falcon. Although they're hunters, she's got such a pretty profile, I couldn't resist making her. To download the American Kestral pattern, right click here and select "Save target as" to save to...
Skating on the Duck Pond
Hannah has been chomping at the bit to skate on the duck pond. After a week of highs in the single digits, Paul pronounced the pond officially frozen. So this morning she laced up her hand-me-down ice skates and inched her way out onto the ice....
Build It And They Will Come
Almost a week after I put up my Dinky Bird Feeders, I have Dinky Birds! The picture above was shot from my kitchen window. So far it's only Chickadees at the feeders and they've been busy. Looking at this Chickadee lifting off almost makes me feel...
A Wintry Sunrise
Sunrise as I followed fox tracks on a cold winter morning. Our last snow showed evidence of fox tracks all over the farm. Across the pond, around the chicken coop, over to the banty coop, and all around the duck house (above). The fox even popped...
My Dinky-Bird Feeder
The other day I visited with a friend who has a series of bird feeders on the trees in the front yard. Essentially wooden boxes nailed about chest height, she always has lots of dinky birds flitting in and out. "Dinky bird" is what Paul calls just...
“Hoot” the Barred Owl at Downeast Thunder Farm
After the excitement of my first owl sighting earlier in the week, it was only natural that my next bird pattern would be a Barred Owl, also affectionately known as the Hoot Owl. Right click here and select "Save target as" to download this Barred...
Saturday Morning Snowshoeing
A light snow has been falling all day. Hannah and I rousted ourselves from the sofa to do a little snowshoeing. Today we headed to the west - a wooded area that in the winter we refer to as Narnia. It was peaceful as we wandered through areas that...
A Gift For the Birds
The past few years I've baked goodies for friends and neighbors at Christmas time. The fact is, I'm not an awesome baker. That truth, combined with a hectic schedule in December, Hannah and I decided to do something different this year. We created...
Hoot Owl Sighting!
The most remarkable thing happened today! It's a snowy day here, so I left work early before the roads got too messy. I arrived home around 1 o'clock. As I stepped out of the car and shut the door the sounds of a scrape and then a swoosh caused me...
Flashy Little Dark-eyed Junco
We have lots of these little Dark-eyed Junco flitting in and out of the brush along the edge of the woods. This fall, they particularly liked the brush piles we created when cutting wood. They rarely sit still long enough to snap a picture. To...
