Beautiful New Moon

 

A beautiful new moon hanging over the lake to the west of our cabin.  A cloudy night, so we felt lucky to see the moon at all.  But, if you look closely, you will also see a planet (Venus, I believe) to the right of the moon.  A very pretty sight.

Wooden Boat - $1,825

Here are several more pictures of the wooden boat for sale on Craigslist.  Thank you for looking.

 

 

Spring Perennials - Beautiful This Year!

UPDATE - June 20:
The deep red peonies always bloom later than the others.  But these, too, are especially vibrant this year.

A cool, wet spring means the perennials are especially beautiful this year.  And the blooms have lasted a long, long time.

Here are some pictures:

• Our rhododendrons have really begun to naturalize in the woods.  
• The peonies that Chet's father transplanted from his childhood home in Missouri are doing very well--we know "Pop" would be pleased.  
• And Sue's very bright orange poppies are stunning.

Trillium

 

For inquiring minds:
Do you say two Trillium,
Or two Trilliae?

Haiku from the cabin, June 2013

My Grandfather's Shotgun

Some of my earliest memories are of going on hunting trips in the woods near Liberty, MO with my grandfather (Robert Earl "Dad" Bowles).  He loved to hunt, especially squirrels, and always used this vintage shotgun--it is a Marlin lever-action .410 gauge.

The gun is interesting.  First, lever action shotguns are rare.  And Marlin made only 5,500 of this model in the years between 1929 and 1932 (the serial number of mine is 3118).  They were given away as an incentive to buy Marlin stock after the Depression--four shares of stock at $25 each and you also got the shotgun.  I have no idea what happened to the shares of stock, but the company had a series of financial problems and I doubt that it was a good investment for Grandad.  He loved this shotgun, though! 

When Grandad died in 1968 all of his guns, including the shotgun, went to my uncle Dick.  And when he died, the shotgun went to one of his sons, my cousin Barry.  But Barry is not a hunter and was happy to send it on to me.

I found out that shipping guns from one state to another is fairly complicated--they must go from one dealer to another, and eventually, it got to me.  Opening the case, I realized it had been at least 50 years since I had seen this gun.  It was in very good condition considering its age and the fact that Grandad had used it so much.  It looked great and brought back so many memories.  I think Grandad would be pleased.

Fiddleheads, finally!!!

Major spring events in New England include listening for Peepers (tree frogs), seeing buds on the maple trees, and the emergence of Fiddle-head fern shoots in the woods.

It's been a long, cold spring here (everywhere, it seems); we are at least two or three weeks behind normal.  So, it's certainly good to see those fern shoots.  It's about time!

Survey Stakes

One of the projects on my list has been to walk our property lines and find the survey stakes.  I had marked them when we first built the house in 1988 and had found them again once or twice in the early 1990s.  However, it's been a long time and with all the downed trees from the huge ice storm a couple of years ago it took a while.  But done, and done.

New Year's Day - 2013

 

A New Year's tradition from Chet's family: Black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread for health, wealth, and happiness in the new year. Everything was especially good this year. Here's hoping for a good 2013!

Chet's mother would be very pleased. We re-seasoned the cast iron pan she used for cornbread sticks. They cooked evenly and all came out of the pan perfectly (she *always* had problems with this pan!).

Witches' Broom

I see these things fairly regularly in our woods--they are called Witches' Broom.  Often on oak or birch trees (we have lots of both), they occur when a mite or rust causes multiple branches to grow from a single spot.  Found this one as I was chipping up trees and decided it should be preserved for a while.

Lotta Chips from the Chipper, Chet!

Branches and debris are always coming down in the woods--it's a rather constant clean-up task.  However, we are still dealing with the aftermath of the ice storm a couple of years ago.  I dealt with the downed trees close to the house.  But there is a section of our woods that was decimated during the storm with a dozen or so big trees that came down.  An eyesore that probably didn't bother anybody else but me. 

Recently, during the  the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, a large white birch fell into that same mess of trees.  It was quite visible with its bright, white bark which made it an eyesore that everyone could see.  I had to deal with it.

I don't have any "before" pictures, but here is one that shows the various piles of chips produced as I moved from one spot to the other.  Another picture shows the much-improved view (in my eyes, anyway) looking from the house toward the road.

The chipper worked flawlessly--it handles branches up to 4.5 inches.  Anything bigger went into the pile of logs to be split and burned next year.

Finally, Sue (bless her heart) moved the chips to the pathway in front of the house.  Dual purposing at its best!

 

 

Cablebox II?

Cablebox (the original) has been a lot of fun--a beautiful boat that generated lots of admiring looks.  But, after two years, we decided that we needed a boat that would be easier to take care of (as we age) and also one that would give us more flexibility to take longer trips around the lake.  Plus, even though it started every single time and ran like a champ, we were both tired of the smoke and noise from the decade old two-cycle engine.

I've always loved the style and grace of the dory design.  Same for Sue.  And, one boat in particular--the Amesbury Dory, by the Stur-dee Boat Company--has always been a favorite.  So, when I found this one on Craigslist, I contacted the owner for more details. It's a 2005, but didn't actually go in the water until 2010.  Has a 25 horsepower Tohatsu four-stroke engine that is in absolutely pristine condition.  Looked and sounded really good.

About three weeks ago we took a day-trip to Scituate, MA to check out the boat.  Enjoyed meeting the owners very much, then went on a "cruise" on the North and South Rivers and then into the Atlantic.  We were sold.

As part of the negotiations, the owner had the bottom of the boat power-washed and re-painted.  Also serviced the trailer.  And, today, we went down to pick up the boat.  Will probably do a test-run on one of the local lakes, but it will "live" in NH until spring when we take it to Maine.

Should the name be Cablebox II?

Time-lapse Sunset

Brian and Max recently got to spend a week at the cabin--it was great to have them there.  During his stay, Brian experimented with all sorts of photography techniques, including this time-lapse sequence of a sunset.  It was taken from the porch of the cabin using his iPhone with a time-lapse app.  Pretty neat!

Labor Day Weekend - Mooselookmeguntic

An absolutely perfect Labor Day weekend at the cabin--blue skies, warm, and calm.  A full moon, to boot.  Here is a short clip, taken at sunset on Sunday, that shows the fantastic view we have from our point.

And here is our view of Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range.

 Finally, we always talk about the great sunsets we get to see from our front porch.  But sunrise can be just as beautiful.  This picture was taken on Sunday morning just as the sun was rising behind us and lighting up the far shore.  I love how the light hits the small bank of clouds between Mts. Aziscohos and Observatory.  Also pretty nice that the full moon is still visible!

Hummingbirds

We love watching the hummingbirds at our cabin and have had a number of close encounters over the years.  For example, David was able to get close enough to stroke the tail feathers of one bird and another landed on the sunburned bald spot on the top of Chet's head (no comment!).

A member of our extended family recently sent us a link to some pictures of a woman who was able to attract hummingbirds to sit on her hand as she held a feeder.  Seemed like a fun thing to do, so Sue decided to try it this morning.  Here is a photo and a quick video clip to show how well it worked out.

Fireplace (Update)

And here is the finished fireplace and hearth.  The stones surrounding the opening all came from our jetty down by the lake, so they are local.  And the mantle is a 4" section of a big pine tree.  We think it looks great!

For comparison, this is what the fireplace USED to look like.  See why we are so happy with the change?

Sue's Daylilies Are Especially Beautiful This Year

 

 

 

Smoker BBQ

The optometrist Sue worked for (until she retired, that is) was giving away this smoker BBQ.  Free, but since it weighs ~300 pounds, there was a challenge involved.

We have other BBQs, of course, and Sue gave me a smoker for Christmas a couple of years ago.  But I've always eyed these things to slow-cook ribs, brisket, etc.  Too good an opportunity to pass up.

A little cleaning, some high-temperature stove paint, and voila!  This is the maiden cooking experience: a pan of baked beans that will simmer all afternoon.  The brisket will wait until I have a full day to devote to the task.

Cabin - Chimney and Fireplace

It's leaked since we bought the place.  And the former owners had done a terrible job of re-building the hearth and the stones around the fireplace inside.  It looked awful.  We've put up with it for 25 years, but this has always been a project we wanted to take on.  Now is the time.

 

To start, they installed a new flue pipe and re-worked the top of the chimney.  Also added a stone cap.  Looks much better and is much more in keeping with the ways things are built in Maine.  And, for the first time in 25 years, the inside floor of the fireplace is completely dry!

Inside, they started by tearing out the surface stones in the hearth.  In this picture most of the new stones have been mortared into place--just need to be grouted to finish it.  They have also begun building up the sides with stones from our property. 

It's a messy job with lots of dust.  But everything should be done when we go back on Sunday.  Hooray!

Zip Line - One More Picture

 

The last run of the day was a side-by-side race.  It was optional, but after everything else we had done on the trip....

For this run, the cables are bare steel, built for speed.  No plastic coating like the others so you don't use your gloved hand for braking.  Instead, braking is mechanical and very abrupt- you don't even slow down until you hit the braking system.

Once again, it was over all too quickly.  For the record, let's say that our race was a tie.  A great way to end the day!

Zipping Into Retirement

June 30, 2012:  Our first day of retirement!

To celebrate, we treated ourselves to a weekend at the Mt. Washington Resort (magnificent!).  We also did the zip line canopy tour--something Sue has talked about for quite some time.   Nine cables, three rappels, and two swinging bridges.  Literally zipping into retirement.  Great fun!

And here are some pictures of each of us on the longest cable--850' long and 150 feet high.  You can see the entire length of the cable from the starting platform.  The zip starts in the treetops, but you quickly race out of the trees and find yourself 150' above the valley floor.  The only problem is that you wish it could go on longer!

 

 

 

And here is what we found in our room when we got back to the hotel.  We have great sons and daughters-in-law!