Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening, it is a chilly and windy evening. Needless to say, I am in the studio. Actually sitting here attempting to think of something to ramble about. I suppose if I think too long it defeats the idea of rambling. I have found though, that if too little thought is applied, it is unknown which station the train of thought might choose to stop at and discharge a few tidbits of knowledge. If I were to be totally honest though, much of what I pass along is not very valuable knowledge.

No real sunset tonight because of all the clouds. Here is the photo I took when I went to check. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening. I was out by the fire but came in to write this. We continue to ride on the roller coaster of the weather. Today it never got above the mid 70’s and it was windy most of the day as well. Carol and I went to the ‘Falls and picked blueberries this morning. The picking was great and we both hated to quit. Had a fruit cobbler of sorts for dessert tonight. Dessert is a seldom thing in this house and it was quite tasty.

My Lillies have begun their annual display of sights and smells. The sights I can share, the smells you are out of luck. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening, it has been way too windy for a fire. Way too windy for a skinny old man out there. There was a stretch today when I was turning my flowers sideways to the wind so they wouldn’t blow over that I had to bend over double to keep from blowing over myself. I’ll wait until tomorrow to rotate them back to where they belong. Here is my view of them for tonight.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

You guessed it, it’s Thursday.  I hope you are all surviving the heat, cause damn it’s been hot. I do not like the heat. If I have something that needs to get done, I’ll do it, but I’ll not like it and these days I notice I crash hard when the project is complete. Never used to be like that. There must be less oxygen in the air today than there used to be or something.

I did manage to see this as I was moving wood with my eyes open. My phone called it Prince’s pine. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday, I’m still not sure how it gets here so fast every week. There is only one word needed for the weather, HOT. That about sums it up. I’m not a real lover of the heat. That said I spent yesterday morning moving about a cord of wood from my yard and stacking it in the neighbors woodshed. I’m going to need some more as he has purchased most of what I had stacked up on the hill. I’m sure I can find some more to make a new pile but probably not until it cools off a little bit. This stretch can’t last too long. I could not even imagine why anyone would live where it was this warm all the time. Another reason why you can keep Florida. I couldn’t imagine shoveling snow in the weather.

The flowers etc. are trying to stay ahead of the hot weather and the wind and are doing ok. I see no new flowers on this tomato but if these ever ripen there will be a couple salad’s worth here.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday has arrived. We had company today, Vanessa and her kids came for a visit. The kids went for rides in the old kayaks, I’m pretty sure that neither one fell in. After a nice chance to sit and enjoy the beautiful day we were glad to be under the awning as the sky opened up and it poured. It rained for quite a while. Then it cleared off and was lovely again. I think tomorrow is supposed to rain. I will probably go to Portland to pick up my new glasses. I am in hopes they will make a big difference. I have never thought my current pair fit and therefore can never seem to see what I want to. Time will tell.

My planters are doing as well as can be expected. It has been hard to tell what needs to get a drink what with all the rain. Almost all my planters have to deal with the wind that is usually blowing down one pond or the other as well. Here’s a couple photos of their progress.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening. It has been a cold, wet, rainy day. However, right now it is beautiful out and I am waiting to see what (if anything) we get for color in tonight’s sunset. The last two nights have been phenomenal. Time will tell. Here is two nights ago  

6/16

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday, finally the last couple of days I have been able to complain about the heat. The weather changes very fast from one extreme to another. I’m in the studio as it is too hot outside. Nothing I really have to do outside, I still have a couple 4-packs of wave petunias to plant up, but that is about it. I may get a few more short flowers to fill in some holes. Who knows, time will tell.

I told you last time about working on the neighbor’s woodpile. When I picked up a piece of wood I saw what looked to be a twig sticking out the end. Closer observation showed it to be a stick worm, I thought it was rather cool and was glad I had my eyes open. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday again. There have been a couple calm days but most days have been spent trying not to blow away. I feel sorry for the plants I transplanted, they hopefully do not get the life blown out of them. 

I’m having a hard time getting interested this year with the planter beds. I found another of my large metal containers being filled up with roots from the shrubs growing on the other side of the fence. I will need to remove all the soil and lay down filter fabric on the bottom and then fill it back it in again. The fun part of the project will be where to store the soil as the process happens. Then there is always the question,”do I really need the planter?” Much like when I drop something, I usually think about it for a bit to decide whether I really need the item bad enough and does it warrant bending over to pick it up. I’ll probably try to rehab and keep the planter, time will tell.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday. Weather today was a lot cooler than yesterday that was for sure. Yesterday I moved about a cord of firewood from my yard to the neighbors woodshed. It was wicked hot. Today I took about a cord of wood out of his wood shed and split it finer and started re-stacking it back into his wood shed. I’ll finish up tomorrow. Carol was happy, that meant that much time was not spent sewing.

As we move around the area spring is showing its bounty. The Canada Mayflower is starting to open. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

You guessed it, Thursday. The sun shines, it is windy and somewhat chilly. I’m ready for repeated days of spring weather, staying well above freezing EVERY night. Hopefully soon.

Not too much happening here on the pond. It’s been too windy to kayak. I did push the float out into the pond. The water is still pretty cold, I have no problem when I cool off my hardboiled eggs in the morning. The water out of the tap is plenty cold. That’s the thing about drawing your water out of the pond, you notice the change in the water temperature. Before too long we will begin to use less hot water in the shower as the pond warms up. I may even have to add ice cubes to help cool my eggs. Who ever imagined that such simple things become so noticeable as we age. Much like getting down on the floor to do something and then deciding there is a need to get back up again. Who would have thought that was one of those things I would now notice. I’m banking on the water staying cold enough for my eggs for a while. The need for ice cubes requires the need to get the ice machine out and make ice more often. I will say, my day to day difficulties and duties have changed a little over the last 40 years. Perhaps a good thing, perhaps not.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening. If anything happened over the last week I guessed I erred by not writing it down. The weather was cold, wet, windy, sunny and warm. Normal spring weather.

It must be getting warmer, at least a little. The beard went the other day along with getting a spring haircut before the black flies get here. I always hate getting a haircut when my neck is covered with bug bites. I also hate hairs blowing around so you think something, or someone, is in your hair.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Been told it’s Thursday again so here goes. I am still waiting for the weather to feel half as nice outside as it looks. So far, not so much. Today was sunny a good part of the time but the wind howled 100% of the time. This naturally made it feel much colder than the thermometer reading. I think the long range forecast says warming by the end of May. Time will tell.

I haven’t bothered with too much clean up around the yard and the driveway yet, blaming it on the weather. If I still lived in Rangeley I would have no issues with still putting the long johns on to go outside, where I live now I feel I should be past that. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday again. Nice day today, nice in so far that the wind wasn’t howling and it wasn’t pouring. No sun but it was warm, low 50s, I’ll take it. Still, even though the branches I picked up today were wet, it is very dry in the woods. 

There is usually an intermittent stream that runs between Mud Pond and Green Pond. Not this year. Dry as a bone, it makes it very quiet. Normally as soon as the ice is out and it warms a little you hear the wood frogs quacking like they do and shortly thereafter the peepers join in. So far this year I have heard nothing. I guess time will tell if they will just be a little later.

I saw this guy under the feeder the other night munching out on the seed on the ground.

 I haven’t seen the opossum again since the one time this spring. I have no real issue with either one. Checking the beach in the mornings to see if there are snapping turtle tracks from their movement into Green pond. I saw two last year.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday again. The weather is still miserable and cold and is destined to stay that way a while longer. I think the ice is trying to melt but the progress is slow. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening. Not a really bad day. The sun shone some, it didn’t some, it was windy some, it was calm some, it was warm some, it was cooler some. I don’t remember that it rained or snowed, but otherwise was a normal spring day in Maine. We can’t really go for a walk this time of year anyway because the road is such a mess. As soon as it warms up again, (assuming it does) the road will turn from just potholes into stretches of mud. When a car is met it is anyones guess how much water and mud a pedestrian might wear. I am perfectly willing to wait until dryer road conditions and take my chances then. There are times that I miss my many long walks. Most the time, not so much.

We sit in the window and look around the pond and have seen the snow disappear from the side hill two or three times now. The ice cover on the pond has started to get darker again, many times lately I have listened at the window and heard the ice groaning at night. Maybe it is contemplating the biannual phase change, this time back to water from the ice. I’m ready, maybe the pond is as well. Time will tell.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening. We have returned to cooler weather with the next several says showing the full spectrum of spring weather. The forecast is for mostly on the cooler and snowy or wet side. Most of the snow is either gone or is disappearing fast. It is almost time to start wasting my time picking up the winter’s debris and beginning the cycle all over again soon. I’ll probably wait until it warms again.

The pond is changing every day. When we get a couple warmer days the water on the surface melts along with the ice along the sun-collecting edges of the pond. Now with the colder temps again, the ice is back to groaning and rumbling with those temperature changes. Many rumbles are accompanied with loud cracking as the ice complains about the changes. Here is the picture I took while making my kitchen sink soup for supper.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening. The weatherman has decreed that it will get colder for a while. It is certainly windy now. Whatever will be, will be. Our road is holding up fairly well and so far is not too muddy. There is still plenty of time though. 

Last night I caught a visitor having a snack under the bird feeder. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Guess what? It’s Thursday. The weather is playing the normal games. Cold one minute, warm the next. Then the wind blows that makes most of the warm days cold and the cold days even colder. I’m ready for warmer weather, then I can bitch about the mud etc. That’s right, in Maine the weather can give you something to complain about almost every day. I had to deal with about 5” of snow on Wednesday. After I relocated it, the sun pretty much melted everything left down to the blacktop. That was fine by me.

We have seen some eagles flying around lately. One landed on the pond at a depression in the snow. Maybe there is water there and it was thirsty. Fun to see them flying around anyway. The birds have been busy at the feeders and a mourning dove comes about every evening and just sits in the tray feeder and eats. One came and visited me at the studio and was on the roof quite a while. It was a warm afternoon and the snow on the roof was melting and it was eating the little ice crystals. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday all over again. We seem to be getting spared from the big snow storms. I did have to do some clean up after Wednesday’s clipper system dropped about 3” of snow. We received nothing from the big blizzard. That’s ok though. I don’t really mind not having to relocate the snow. Knock on wood, the tractor has been functioning correctly so no issues there.

We saw an eagle out sitting on a depression in the snow on the pond. I still think there is open water under those spots. I am not really interested enough to walk out and see. They appear, then disappear, no real idea why or what they are. Still say a drone would be handy, then I could go look from here on the shore. The eagle sure looked big as it took off.

The moon has been allowing me to get some nice night shots of the pond. This is from 7:30 Wednesday night.