Spring?

Carol here ~

Happy last day of March!  Yesterday was beautiful but I think that's all we're getting for warm temps for a while.  Sheesh, it seems like it's taking forever to get consistent spring temps.

The birds were enjoying yesterday's warmer temps as I was surrounded by birdsong when I went for my walk on the ridge.  I stopped to listen to them and could see them flitting about in the trees.

Quilts & Family

Carol here ~

The town finally got some sand down on our road on Monday so I managed to get a walk it yesterday.  Sunny, no wind, temp in the 20's, was very refreshing.

Dan mentioned last week that he pieced 45 quilt tops in 2025.  🙄 I have quilted 23 of them and bound 15.  Don't think I'll ever catch up.  Here are 8, 9 & 10.

2025-8

This and That

Carol here ~

I lied.  Last week I told you I had all the 2024 quilts completely finished.  As I was rummaging around in the cubbies looking for the five 2025 quilts I had quilted so I could attach the binding to them I found 2024-30 and it was not bound.  Oopsie.  It's done now!

2024-30

And I got the bindings made and attached to the five 2025's, they are ready for the hand work.

Sunshine!

Carol here ~

Finally we have sunshine and warmth!

Sister Terri had grands Annie and Alex and neighbor Jeff had a gang in on Sunday.  The kids had a ball playing on the beach and swimming.  Too cold for me but they didn't seem to mind.

Dan and I have gotten a couple kayak rides in.  The black flies are relentless ~ pesky wee buggars.

Humanities Night

Carol here ~

We headed to Readfield last night to attend Humanities Night at Maranacook Community High School where grand Kailey's amazing artwork was displayed along with other artwork from other classes.  We also stayed to hear the Jazz Band and Concert Band in which she plays bass guitar.

I'm just going to do a photo dump of last night ~ enjoy!

Knick Knacks

Carol here ~

My grandmother and mother had lots of knick knacks ~ here, there and everywhere around the camp/house.  My mother had them over the kitchen cupboards

and also on shelves that were above the three picture windows that looked out over the pond.

I am not a knick knack person, however, she had several cut glass pieces that I really liked so when we remodeled I had the carpenter put one shelf back over one of the picture windows so I would be able to display them.  

Ugh, Still Cleaning

Carol here ~

I'm still cleaning so no quilts to show this time.  Whose idea was it to spring clean anyway?  It's exhausting.  I've got the bathroom done, the drawers and bottom cupboards in the kitchen done and most of the top cupboards before I ran out of steam yesterday.  Then I had a nap.

Sunday we went to Readfield to The Gallery to check out Kailey's artwork she had displayed there.  She is so talented.

This and That

Carol here ~ 

What a change in the weather temperature!  I have definitely had too many clothes on the last two days on my walks.  It was also nice to not have the wind howling in my face.  I have been pretty consistent with my walking this winter, have missed a day here and there when it was storming or the wind was crazy.  The fresh air always feels good.

The Bluebirds have been back at our feeders the last couple of weeks.  We think there are eight of them.  They do not like to have their picture taken, in fact, if they sense any movement at all by us in the house then they take off.  I did manage to get this one picture of a pair of them.

Lotsa Bindings

Carol here ~ 

I spent most of last week at my sewing machine making and stitching on bindings.

Here is the pile of quilts waiting for the binding to be hand sewn to the back. I guess those will keep me busy for a while.

A Quilt-y Post

Carol here ~ 

Last week I was sitting outside stitching down bindings,

this week the heavy coats, hats and mittens came out.  Brrr!

The swim float is out of the pond, the picnic table is covered, the kayaks put away along with all the patio furniture, guess we are ready for winter.  It won't hurt my feelings any if we don't get snow for a while, though.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Monday evening, capping off a beautiful day sitting by the fire and marveling at the calm evening. 

It was a truly wonderful fall day. My memories on Facebook for this day last year showed me saying that my flowers had all been pulled and my little gnome friends put into storage for the winter. Not so this year. 

Not Much Happening

Carol here ~

Grandson Evan and I saw this when we were out walking the other day.

No.No.No.

I love fall BUT after we have had summer!  The weather this summer is depressing.  Our beach, which is usually about twenty feet or more, is less than ten feet and getting smaller with every rain storm.  And the rain just doesn't quit. ugh.

Cleaning!

Carol here ~ 

I've been on a cleaning spree.  It started with a couple of kitchen drawers but once I got started I just kept going.  Have cleaned all the kitchen cupboards and drawers, inside and out including the big pantry cupboard.  Cleaned the cupboard under the TV and cleaned all my dresser drawers ~ how do I accumulate so many socks?  Those that haven't been worn since we move here have now moved on.

When I was cleaning under the sink I discovered a leak so Dan had to put his plumbing hat on.  Got 'r fixed.

Even gave my Mr/Mrs Piggy a bath.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Sunday evening, you guessed it, out by the fire. It was a beautiful day and a lovely evening. No real great sunset but a really great day. Spent the day moving leaves off the beach and relocating them up into the woods. We also managed to get the swim float up on the beach and out of the way. We then moved the neighbors float up further onto the beach so I can more easily get at the leaves as they continue to float in towards shore. 

 I bought a new tool today, I will be honest as I don’t know for sure what the tool is supposed to be for. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

The weather of fall has arrived, cold, wet and rainy. Today, Tuesday, was quite chilly. 

I picked the last of the tomatoes and cut down and removed the carcasses along with storing the tubs they were growing in. I stripped down the first and picked up the metal tub and took care of it. I then proceeded with the other one. I found myself pulling and struggling to even get the tub off the ground to say nothing of lifting it into the wheelbarrow. I know I have lost a great deal of my strength but come on, this container is about the same size as the one I already took care of. Finally I managed to get one side off the ground and get my hand underneath and found a 1/2” taproot going into the crushed rock below the tub and extending about a foot and a half into the ground below. No wonder it was growing so good. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Do you believe that the 4th of of July holiday is over. I hope you had a safe and enjoyable weekend. It was real quiet here at Green Pond but that is how Carol and I like it. The 4th was so windy, there was not much happening on the pond except on the other end which was sheltered from the wind due to the wind direction. 

On Tuesday there was very little wind just lots of clouds. Maine weather always changing. We would keep checking the weather app and the predicted time of the rain just kept getting moved later in the day. Never started raining until after 8:00. I’m glad I did not alter my plans due to the weather forecast.

I finally finished my walk after supper last night, got home just as it started raining. I did reach a milestone of 1100 miles last Friday. 1110 actually. I had a real good 53 mile week. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

What happened to the weather? I fell asleep and woke up back in early spring not almost summer. Nice walking though. Saw this girl on my walk on Sunday. 

I’ve seen deer quite often lately. There are way too many of them running around but that is a discussion for somewhere else. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~ 

It’s been good walking weather. Not too hot…yet. Total milage for the year just over 925 miles as of last Friday. There is still a long way to go, but half the year to do it. Time will tell.

What little I had to plant is about complete. I lost a couple cucumbers but don’t think that it will matter. Tomatoes are growing, I’ve had to train them with the rope or string to hold them up. Everything is at the “grow dammit” stage. It’s planted, I water daily and fertilizer everything weekly and hope for the best. 

The lady slippers are beginning to fade. They were pretty while they lasted and we will continue to enjoy them until they disappear until next season.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Mud season, not a whole lot going on around here. Watching the snow and ice melt is much like watching grass grow or paint dry. Some days not a whole lot happens. The water is slowly rising, we can gauge it as it slowly moves under the swim float. Not real exciting but it is part of my day.

As usual walking takes up a portion of my day. Last week I broke the 500 mile mark for this year. It gets monotonous walking up and down the same road over and over. That may change a little now that I no longer need to wear my ice grippers. Hopefully I can safely store them away for the season. I’ll hold on to my hat and gloves as I think that I’ll need them this week. Especially if I find an opportunity to get a hair cut. That always makes me cold. Carol and I did see a beaver sleeping on his roof the other day. I guess, like us, he was enjoying the sun.

Someone is real lucky and quite probably doesn’t even know it yet. Sunday on my walk, I saw where a quite large Eastern white pine had twisted about 10’ up the trunk and fallen not on the camp but away from the camp. 

Around the Pond

Carol here ~

It hasn’t been a great week for walking, weather wise. Is was SO WINDY Monday and Tuesday. Dan asked if I was walking and I said nope, I made it through nine months of aggressive chemo and I’m still kicking, I’m not going for a walk in this wind and get dead by a tree falling on me.

I did get a good walk in on Wednesday, made it around the pond! First time since about this time last year.  Should be able to build back up to my 3-4 miles by summer.