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 ~

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 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. 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 ~


Apparently it’s Thursday again. Not a great deal has been happening around here. The weather is too cold to hold much interest for me to go outside to just “find” something to do. I did think about going out on Green Pond today. I looked out at the still virgin snow on the pond. No tracks of animals or anything. The neighbor up the pond has not been back since the storm that left about a foot of new whiteness on what he had previously cleared off for skating. I have only had fleeting thoughts of clearing off a portion of the pond. I wouldn’t be skating on it afterwards, so really, what is the point. Mud Pond is covered with snowmobile tracks. I thought of going out on Green Pond with snowshoes and making some tracks, maybe spelling something or drawing a picture or something. I then checked the temperature and the wind and looked out across the pond and was amazed at how wonderful it looked with no tracks all over it.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening, in the studio. It is a tad too chilly for a fire. It’s a good evening to cuddle up under a few quilts. 

Today I spent some time and cut up more of a blowdown that blew a large oak tree into the Mud Pond. I got what I could last winter off the ice. With the water level low now I put my new waders on yesterday and removed a bunch more from the pond. Today I worked on the 12’ or so that was on the land. After managing to cut it up I had to split it once with a maul and splitting wedge so this old man could even lift it. It is all up by the shed and split and stacked. A nice little round wood pile, all hard wood. 

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday evening, I think I need to finally admit winter is coming. That thought was driven home quite solidly with each snowflake that fell down my neck.

I think the bulk of the leaves is behind me for 2025 though. The total tractor bucket load count was 89. I believe that is quite a bit lower than last year. The wheelbarrow may be the removal method for any more. That is OK by me. We’ll see.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~ 

Thursday evening. A beautiful day, not as warm as yesterday but at least not as windy.  

Happy Fall!

Carol here ~

We are starting to see some color around the area.  Saw these red leaves on my walk the other day.

Also on my walk the other day, I saw a critter streak across the road up ahead of me.  It was low to the ground and brownish in color with a long tail.  I was telling Dan what it looked like and he thought it might of been a Fisher.  I went to the Google for verification and that's what it was.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

No fire tonight though it was probably the last night possibly for this season I could have set out in shorts and a tee shirt. It was well after dark when we got back from Parker’s soccer game in Bingham. They lost 6-1, just couldn’t seem to get on track today. I think the next game is Monday, we’ll see how they do then. Time will tell.

The leaves are changing, though it seems there are few reds and more yellows and browns. The sunset coming home tonight was gorgeous. We were coming down the interstate and it seemed to go on for miles. The pink clouds and the orange sky were breathtaking. Carol obtained this as we cruised along. 

Blah

Carol here ~ 

I had a rough week last week, felt crappy most of the week.  Dan drove me to my oncology appointment Wednesday where they swabbed me to test for the viruses. Didn't think I had any of them but they figured I was there so they might as well test.  All were negative.

Don't know what what going on but started to feel better on Thursday.  Managed to get started on the quilting on 2023-36 finishing it up on Friday.

2023-36

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Tuesday evening.  I hope you are staying dry.  It sure has rained a lot, the pond has risen 4 to 5 feet horizontally.   It is pouring now as I write this.  No I’m not outside, I hear it on the roof above me.  Rain is about all I see in the forecast.  Oh well, not much I can do about it.

We had not seen any fish around shore earlier but they are there now.  Carol caught me fishing.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Sunday evening. What a change between the last few days and today. After below 0 temps, today’s 30 degrees almost seemed balmy. Note the “almost”, I included it for a reason. I anxiously await Spring. Carol is also anxious as well. She knows then I won’t be sewing as much.

Saw some of Mother Nature’s pets romping on the banking beside the pond. I was looking out the window drinking my coffee and cussing at the bird that hit the window and see a 

Fisher. Much too far away for a picture but with binoculars I could easily see what it was. Cool to see and we wonder how often a variety of wildlife goes unseen. I’ve mentioned the tracks on the pond and that we never see the animals that make them.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Tuesday evening sitting out by the fire. Beautiful sunset (as are a great many here on the pond) it almost looks like I am back in the mountains as I observe the clouds and their reflection in the pond. 

Was surprised to get a fire this evening as the forecast for earlier was for major storms. We obtained some needed rain but little else. That is ok though, I don’t like damaging storms.

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 ~

What a nice day yesterday was, dare I say it, almost too hot. I guess we have more coming. Time for it anyway. Will need to walk earlier in the day before it warms up too much.

We had a visitor the other day, an otter came to visit. I think it wanted to cross over to Mud Pond but the beach it had to cross smelt too much like the neighbor’s dog. Pretty animal, fun to watch.

This and That

Carol here ~

The other morning we noticed a fox sitting out on the ice. At first we thought he had caught something and was having his breakfast but when he stood up we saw that what we thought was his breakfast was really the end of his tail. He must of been grooming himself. He sat in a few places before he finally decided to run across the end of the pond and up the banking to the ridge. Fun to watch the wildlife.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

It certainly cooled off after the weekend. Monday and Tuesday were very chilly but was not too bad walking when the wind wasn’t blowing. The dirt road I walk on is mostly in the woods and is out of the wind. Where I notice the wind blowing is at the house. It seems like it is always blowing down one pond or the other, trying to pick us up as it goes by.

Tuesday night picture taken about 9:30 with a 3 second time lapse.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Thursday evening. 

Another week gone, at this rate spring will be here before you know it. Snow in the forecast though, hyped up big time when they first started talking about it. “Major storm could be several feet of snow”. Now that the day of the storm is almost upon us, snow amounts have been reduced to 4-6 inches. Not complaining, gone are the days when I lived where snow was welcomed, because with the snow came money. Money in the form of skiers, hikers, snow snowshoers, snowmobile riders and others who played in the snow. This meant there was snow to be removed, (and were paid to do so) camps and second homes to be brought up to temperature and water turned on and made playable for the timeframe that the players were to be in Rangeley.

Kinda miss those days. Now I only hope we get enough snow to replenish the water table and prepare us for a safe summer and hopefully a full pond in the spring. Now, snow is just something to relocate and try to remember what it was like when I was younger.

Dan's Ramblings

Dan here, Thursday night, no fire. 

Good night for it but just got home from Freeport and another high school soccer game. Boys lost, girls won. Girls won in the final two seconds. Both were good games. After attending several games this season, I’m afraid I must admit something. I really have no idea how the game is played. I get the object is to get the ball into the other teams net and keep them out of yours, but beyond that I have no idea what is going on or what they are blowing the whistle at. Oh well, I guess its good I’m not playing. Still fun to watch the kids play and only a few games left this year.