Spotted hanging out around the hot tub yesterday. She is an American Toad and should be heading down to the swamp to fool around with her male counterpart. She may be a he but the male is supposed to be in the water calling her with a sound like a cricket.
Double rainbows. No flowers yet.
Christmas brought an ice storm to our region. Then it warmed. The sparkly, ice laden branches dripped ice and it sounded like it was raining. My neighbor’s birches haven’t straightened up yet and I hope they survive. I’m conflicted because they look so pretty as bowers.
Now the temperature is plummeting again. Our roof has been making some sort of explosive noise now and then. Not to worry? I didn’t see any big snow heaves on the ground and am not sure what causes it.
The cold weather, of course, gives me the opportunity to stay inside and play. I was on my own for a few days last week and confess I stayed in long johns and slippers for most of (more like all of two) the day. I managed to put winter garb over my warm clothes and ventured out with microspikes on to take some photos. The base surface is a sheet of ice. These thaws and freezes have acted like a Zamboni to make a smooth treacherous surface. Microspikes are little crampons which slip over your boots (or crocs to the hot tub) like galoshes. They allow me to walk the ice almost fearlessly.
I had a few requests for knitted gifts and tried my hand at slip stitch knitting. Both hats have a twisted braid brim and I think I’ll use this instead of turned hems (my second favorite hat brim) whenever I can.
Then I’m back to the loom where I have a few towels to finish weaving. I was dismayed to find my warp was crooked because the warp stick got caught on something. So I get another wonky towel. I give away the good ones and keep the “seconds”. If you saw my linens, you’d think I had no idea what I was doing. Do I?
At least I’m not getting blisters on my keister anymore thanks to a little cushioning on the weaving bench. Now I look forward to a new year filled with unions, reunions, births and PROJECTS!
And a good day when it begins with an auspicious image.
We spent at least five hours yesterday tucking in the boat for the winter. It had been hauled out of the water and perched, just a little wobbly, in its cradle.
It takes a full size ladder to reach the deck because it has a five foot, fin keel. Our mission was to cover the boat with an oiled canvas tarp, which seemed to weigh just under a ton!
We had to try to drape it just right so the snow slides off it and doesn’t build up on the deck. We should visit it often during the winter to make sure this doesn’t happen — but we don’t.
Lucky for me, I got to spend most of the time under the cozy tent we created while Tim tied lines under the boat and was very busy.
I managed to enjoy the view and take some pictures, in between sewing the canvas with an awl and stabbing myself in the thumb.
It’s a good thing I was under the tent because it started raining and I got to make sure it kept me dry, while Tim did his thing out in the elements. I even caught a faint rainbow.
And we did it just in the nick of time because last night it snowed in the mountains. We could see it as we looked back from the ferry to Vermont.
I finally had a chance to look at some of the photos on my camera – not my iPhone, which was the only electronic device I had on the island. It’s easy to post from but I keep my words brief.
We were up in the lantern room at Seguin on a foggy day and I had fun with the prisms. It’s a first order fresnel lens, large enough to stand inside when you had to change the oil, or now the light bulb. It was built in Paris and imported and has nearly 300 separate pieces of glass. Someone polished them to a sheen this summer with the Lighthouse keeper formula: distilled water, rubbing alcohol, a drop of dish soap. Works like a charm. I forget the official proportions though.
I’ll enjoy looking at these photos forever. I think the person who shined it spent a brief time on the island while her father was a keeper. So she had the chance to clean the lens I am sure her father shined in the past.
Shirley was happy to see the hot tub was filled and warm.
My little hat may be littler than intended but the colorwork is super cute.
I missed tonight’s sunset but the sky and clouds were pretty nice.
All was in order for the arrival of the princesses for a weekend of fun.
Beautiful from sunrise to sunset. Well I imagine sunrise was beautiful because the sky was lavender a short time later.
My food forays continue. I harvested wild rose hips to make tea and jelly when I get home.
The garden
offers more than I thought at first glance. All the chive plants were moved into it and are thriving. There is dill, nasturtiums, a few green beans and a couple of tiny heads of lettuce. I chopped up some nasturtium flowers and leaves and mixed them into a kohlrabi, apple, carrot slaw. We only have a little mayo so I made the dressing with the raspberry honey, sweetened condensed milk and yogurt. It was delicious.
I made a syrup from brown sugar this morning, which was tasty on our pancakes. I found a plumber’s torch in the workshop and we were able to crisp up the topping for creme brulee with it. I definitely have to get one for home, not for plumbing, for dessert.
We dragged a piece of timber into the boat house with an electric winch. I got to use one of my favorite knots, a Prusik knot, which held fast.
For kicks today, we spent about fifteen minutes watching a huge log in the cove at high tide. We waited for the waves to roll it over the rocks which kept it on shore. We may be going off the deep edge. Then tonight, Tim thought he heard a high pitched whine outside. Hmmmm.
This photo shows some of my favorite things: beautiful sunset light on the lighthouse and keeper’s quarters; clothes hanging on the line; the plumber’s torch on the picnic table, waiting to finish off dessert and the sea! I love the mountains miss the ocean.
We enjoyed another gorgeous sunset, lots of red and yellow, to end the day.
Island and North Country Life 