Adirondacks

Cold wet summer

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While the rest of the country and world broil, we have had a cool, damp summer in the Adirondacks. I read that based on historic trends, forests in temperate climates including those in New York may experience less stress and more vigor due to the warmer and wetter weather that climate change is bringing. It is certainly true here.

Look at this heat map from one day this summer. The brown area had heat warnings.

Compare it to a map of the Adirondack Park from the Adirondack Almanack.

All those trees are keeping us cool – and wet.

How wet? As of today, we have already had a total of 23 inches of rain. The annual average is about 38” over the past twenty years.

So wet, the frogs want in.

This very little frog hung out on our window all day. How little?

So little! That’s him compared to a pen.

How cool? So cool the last time I swam in my favorite pond, I had to cut it short due to an ice cream headache and concern for hypothermia. I thought I was done with pools for the summer. But then we headed south for a family event, to Rockville, MD.

I brought my swim stuff, just in case. And lo and behold, we found this beautiful facility.

8 lanes, 50 meters long! And underused. That’s something we don’t have in the Adirondacks.

Now I’m back home and sleeping under two blankets again.

Sparky’s back!

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After a year of being on the hard, Sparky, our 15’, 1972 Starcraft Sprint, with its original Mercury motor is back! We spent last summer at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, and even coastal Maine was too much for our little lake boat.

I finally had the windshield replaced and a professional motor servicing because I was too chicken to remove the lower unit myself. I knew I could remove it, but putting it back correctly is another matter.

Our maiden voyage took us to two lakes. Someone up here who loves swimming and lists has created the Adirondack 47 Lakers for adventure swimmers (like us?). Tim has a new Adirondack quest and Sparky will play a role. We hope to swim for at least 30 minutes in 47 lakes. Several will be with Sparky’s help. The rest will require a hike.

We spent our first outing in the Pharaoh Lakes wilderness in two beautiful settings: Paradox Lake and Eagle Lake. In both places, I assumed we would be confined to a small portion of the lakes.

Paradox has a narrows, which I thought might be too shallow and weedy to navigate.

My co-captain had other ideas. And it turned out fine. The beaver dam, the park host warned us about, was not a problem and we saw pontoon boats navigating the channel. The swim was glorious.

I need to remember Sparky is a tiny vessel but a champ.

Then we hauled Sparky and relaunched in Eagle Lake, where a very low bridge under the road separates the boat launch from the main lake.

I, once again, expressed concern and was overruled. I had visions of losing our new, crystal clear windshield on its first outing.

There’s the little bridge on our return trip. I was too nervous during the first pass to take pictures.

No problem, we had 4 inches to spare and made it back to the other side. I took my hat off though.

Both 1/2 mile swims were delightful and I look forward to many more. We capped this off with sandwiches and a beer at Paradox brewery. A good time was had by all.

Another Spring

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Thank goodness the clocks sprang forward, and the days are getting longer and warmer. Spring began with a snowstorm for Winter’s last hurrah. We had lots of rain and ice in December and January, real snow began in February.

At least we knew the last snow wouldn’t last long so we were more lax in its cleanup. Turkeys are back, beehives are ready for their new inhabitants, and a bear broke into our neighbor’s screened porch last night. Time to say goodbye to the bird feeders and make sure the bees’ electric fence is charged up.

I hope these trees spring back after the thaw.

I finished three blankets on the loom and three quilts, more about them in another post. My green thumb does much better indoors than out.

Maybe because I don’t have to weed or fend off predators. Instead, I get to sit back and wait for sunset.

What looms ahead?

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The view from the cabin is always lovely and especially after snow. The branches droop with snow and clouds hang low on the mountain.

It may be a sign of aging that I think of snow blowing before I consider skiing and playing in it. I cleared the cabin path then headed to the end of the driveway.

Not so bucolic. The road was plowed to the dirt, which is great, but I faced a three foot wall of snow and dirt. They don’t teach you how to gnaw through this in Snow Blowing 101.

But gnaw I did.

And now there’s a clear path and the possibility of driving out…to play? But this is already on my loom.

It’s a new year

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The holidays were mixed. We spent a very quiet Christmas weekend. We never got around to getting a tree, I couldn’t see the point because no one would be sharing it with us and, in the end, it is always a mess of needles and water.

Instead I hung a red bow.

And lit my candle chimes.

Well, it turns out this wasn’t enough for Tim. So next year, we will have a tree.

New Year’s Eve was celebrated with family and a Buche de Noël, complete with merengue mushrooms. I finally joined the Great British Breaking Show craze and have upped my baking.

I also tried my hand at their staple dessert, macarons. I used the wrong sort of almonds, ground instead of flour, and cheated by filling them with Nutella, but they were a hit.

I received candle molds as a gift and had just enough saved beeswax to make two adorable candles. This reminded me to order bees for next spring since my hive flew the coop, so to speak.

Days are getting longer but I got to watch the sun set behind the hills at 4 pm yesterday.

We have already had a chance to play with the snow thrower a few times, have had countless fires, moved wood around to keep up, and slept in the cabin.

So it is winter.

Crafty

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Happy to report I’m all better. My leg pain was a side effect from yet another statin. I stopped it and am fully recovered. Now I’ve moved on to an injectable med. We’ll see.

We’re swimming in the local pool three times a week and I’ve upped my game. Now I routinely swim a mile. I needed a bag to organize my swim stuff, so naturally I made one. This is the second iteration made from a bird seed sack. It holds everything I need, including my suit and goggles.

I was so happy when someone commented on how cute it was.

The loom has been warped with projects since I’ve been home. I’m working on my second set of towels.

I’m playing around with some of my quilts. I turned one into a baby sleep sack and a jacket.

My linocuts are getting more complex. I’m working on a 3 color version of a loon swimming. Here’s my drying rack.

And I’ve made a slew of hats and mittens as I am wont to do every year.

I finally had help stacking the wood for the winter. It’s the first year in a while Tim was not injured and he did most of the work.

We need it. We got two feet of snow and it’s not even winter yet!

Picture window

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Last week we hiked 4 hours to look at fall colors in the mountains. Something is going on with my hip and it was less than fun for me.

The next day, I turned around, after taking out the compost, and saw this.

From my driveway. Much easier.

Yesterday, while preparing for my zoom french lesson, in my pajamas, in my house, this popped into view.

And in its native setting.

Why do I bother going outside at all?

Back in business

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Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse was dark for a month after a lightning storm zapped its LED bulb. I met the Coast Guard electrician who told me the bulb was sent to Australia for repair! Yet on my one of my final days as a keeper, four men in blue coveralls arrived in an unmarked truck. Much less dramatic than other locations where they arrived by helicopter.

Bulb repair

And just like that, we had a light again.

It was comforting to see it from my bedroom window once again.

I was very busy my last week, seeing the sites and packing up the house. Tim and I had visited all but one of the bridges on Acadia’s carriage roads. I made a final trip and saw the last of the lot, the Cliffside Bridge.

As its name implies, it is built into the side of a cliff. I couldn’t be sure it even crossed a stream.

Cobblestone bridge is the first carriage road bridge built and the only one made with cobblestones, not granite. It sits just outside the Park and is my personal favorite. I liked it so much, I crossed it on three occasions.

The second time was with Tim when we came upon this whimsical tree carving.

Complete with stick figures and a porcupine or beaver.

Then I cleaned house, packed up the dishes and linens for the NPS and gathered my pantry, projects and clothes and headed home.

I loved living on the sea’s edge with waves crashing beneath my windows but, ” There’s no place like home “. (Have I mentioned I played the good witch, Glenda, in fourth grade).

Shetland shawl and a floater

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I finished The Pam Shawl I started in June. It’s a beauty, not blocked yet but hanging in my window as a curtain for now. I used Jamieson and Smith shetland lace yarn.

We saw the coast guard drive by this window the other night with blue lights flashing. For two days, there had been a float caught on a lobster buoy. Tim spotted it initially and we confirmed it was a float with binoculars and my telephoto lens. Plus, multiple lobster boats drove by without pause. The other night at sunset, someone decided to call the coast guard to report a body in the water. She just needed a hug.