Adirondacks

Busy bees

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A lot of wood has gone into the stove since my last post. We had snow, then a melt and torrential rains and finally, flooding. I couldn’t get home from work for several hours because the road was flooded and then washed away. I had to walk over the bridge but the road was repaired the next day.

We travelled near and far. First to White Pine Camp, where we plan to spend a lot of time in the next several years. We spent three days at President’s cabin, where the fireplace was blazing.

Our bedroom had a quilt pieced by former President of the USA, Calvin Coolidge. How many of our former presidents were quilters, I wonder.

We were reminded that Adirondack black bears look sweet when compared to those of Manitoba. They do not stand taller than me and like to dress up for holidays.

Christmas quickly approached and we spent a few days in Kittery, Maine with family. A good time was had by all. I received this knife, to add to my collection, and now it looks like we have the makings of a murder mystery in the kitchen.

I did not walk away from this holiday season uninjured. First I burnt my finger on the new wood stove, which is much less forgiving from the old one. Then it became infected and entailed an ER and doctor visit. That finally healed but then we went ice skating with the grand kids, and I decided to show off and demonstrate speed skating form. Well, I fell and broke at least one rib, maybe two. You would never know it from my happy smile taken after the fact.

It’s been two weeks now and I no longer tense up for a sneeze or cough, but I still hold on.

On the home front, a friend had a new baby and I got to make baby things. I tried out my new to me standard gauge knitting machine and made a cute little fair isle sweater. Note to self, it needs more contrast in the bands.

The event that will dominate 2024 is my daughter’s wedding. I already took a trip to DC and she found the perfect wedding dress. I am working on linens for the newlyweds, so can’t preview them, but here is a shot of my weaving area, where I will be spending plenty of time.

I’m going to try downhill skiing again in a few weeks. Hope it doesn’t slow me down!

Line up

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Weather turned colder and we had our first snow. We decided to upgrade the wood stove in the cabin so we don’t wake up with chilled noses.

We were inspired after we visited our friends’ cabin up on high. We had a cozy lunch with views that could not be beat. Photos courtesy of Amy.

We found a new, efficient, soapstone stove that came with tax credits, which was what convinced Tim. We planned to install it to our existing stove pipe. This turned out to be a real head scratcher. First of all it weighed 200 lbs and there was a short window when the snow would remain firm enough to drive on. Then we had to find the strongest people, or person! (Amy), we know to help carry it from the car to the cabin. True friends came in a flash and made easy work of it.

Then it took us longer than I care to mention to get the stove pipe hooked up.

But we persevered and finally connected both ends of pipe. We lit our first small fire to break it in and are looking forward to warm nights that last all night instead of when we just get under the covers.

Best dam, beavers

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Someone has busy around here. We took a walk up the hill out back and saw an amazing engineering project. It raised the pond level by 5 feet. These were no small branches used to shore it up. They must have had help.

Lady of the Lake

The next day we took a walk up the hill across the road. The path seems to have grown longer and steeper than I remember. So I distracted myself, and Tim, by looking down. And here is what I saw.

And then this.

In a flash

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We enjoyed a fabulous afternoon listening to Paul Winter Consort at Hill and Hollow, a stunning property in the Adirondacks. He played music inspired by and with wolves, whales, and a wood thrush. His soloist, Theresa Thomason, and ensemble were world class. We laughed, we cried, then we almost died.

Helicopter arriving at crash site

We were headed home on the Northway when we saw police lights fast approaching. At first, we thought they were where they should be, on the other side of the highway. Then we realized they were coming straight at us, while we were all driving 65 mph. And they were chasing another car.

Tim slammed on the brakes and pulled over. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, but we avoided it. A head on collision occurred between two pick up trucks right next to us.

Two troopers jumped out of their cars, one with his gun drawn, as he approached the wrong way truck and got a man out of it. Sheriffs and EMS were on the scene immediately. One of the trucks caught on fire a few times.

It did not turn out well. A helicopter arrived, but then was not needed, because a passenger in the truck next to us succumbed to her injuries.

We sat for several hours while they cleared the stopped traffic behind us and eventually let us turn around, and drive the wrong way for miles on the Northway to the first crossover to the other side.

We bought two lottery tickets on our way home.

Today, I plan to listen to nature songs. Life can change in a flash.

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.