Single level living is finally over!

Here's the new roof in the works, complete with the 3 skylights! It will be so much brighter upstairs with all that light coming in. Of course, much work lies ahead--finishing the ceilings, painting, etc.

And here's the rose room with its new ceiling and skylight. You can see how much higher the ceiling  center is by the paint line on the chimney. This room still needs a lot of work. It's the one room I have done nothing to since moving in--hence the yucky color and battleship-grey floor.

I've set up our bed and a little furniture in here until I can get our bedroom finished. Now that it's turning colder, it will be harder to paint and ventilate, but with my handy, dandy new skylights, it's a do-able job! Let the sun shine in...

Camping out in the living room

Well, we moved into the living room back in August, and I must say, it's getting old. With all our belongings packed into the garage, stored in the attic crawlspace, or jammed into the back of the closet, finding warmer clothes has been a chore. I'm hoping we'll be able to get one of the rooms completed in the next two weeks so we can finally move our bedroom back upstairs, and I can unearth my turtle necks and find my winter coat!

The October 30th snowstorm dumped only about 4 inches, but it was enough (combined with the wind) to knock out power. So here we are, still camped out in the living room, but with the trusty wood stove keeping us toasty warm.

I think Callie Lou loves this setup--she gets to sleep on the folded up futon, right by our heads. She thinks it's nice and cozy, and she doesn't have to negotiate the stairs.

Giant fall carrots

Curiosity made me go pull one of the carrots, just to see what we had going on down there, under ground. Once the garlic was harvested, John put more compost on the garden, and voilá. we have a nine inch carrot! There still in the ground, snow covered, waiting for me to pull the remaining crop. Yummy!

Fall potato and squash harvest

This is what they mean by a truck garden!

We've harvested nearly half the potatoes and most of the squash. The apples are really only good for cider or horses--we give them to the latter. Our best squash variety appeared to be the Marina di Chioggia", an heirloom Italian winter squash. I'm not sure if I dug the Katahdins or Kennebecs, but they seemed to have produced a better crop than last year. I've still got the Adirondack blues, a few remaining red potatoes, and whatever else we planted--Sangre de Cristos, I think. I left some of the butternut that weren't quite ready, and one Queensland Blue, still ripening.
YUM!

Squashes galore!

It must be fall

The morning chill was enough for John to dig out a turtleneck and for Callie to snuggle up in his lap for a little snooze. Fall is definitely in the air. It's time to attack the unsplit wood and start stacking! I've got 3 lbs. of green beans to put up, tomatoes to deal with, and a lawn that needs mowing. But first, since we're both on vacation, we need to go for a trail ride!

52 heads of garlic!

That's a clove a week for a year!

The new roof saga continues...

Reinforced ceiling and new shingles going up!

The house gets a new roof

And with it, new skylights! We first need to do a lot of demolition on the old plaster and lathing. The scary thing is seeing all that daylight through the old rafters! Yikes! I'm glad we're getting this done before another winter. So when we're done playing This Old House, it will be time to start in on the winter woodpile. Never an idle moment around here.

John taking down the Rose Room ceiling--what is that crap?

Down to the rafters. Glad I hadn't painted this room yet!

And the bedroom--Looks like it will need a new paint job!

It's a jungle of squash out there!

Our garden in Eliot overflows with squash. The vines are climbing right up and over the potatoes, snaking their way out of the garden into the grass, virtually taking over. Yesterday we harvested about half the turnips--another winner for the fair sits on the truck tailgate, even bigger than our last. The buttercup squash seem to be holding their own against the deer, but the French variety (little orange guys) and the delicata are battling against the damn squash bugs and deer depredation. I'm going to have to come up with a storage solution fast for this batch. Given that it's only August, finding a cool, dry spot may be difficult!

Giant turnip dwarfs the harvest!

Checking up on the Eliot garden--and look what we found!

Giant purple top turnip

The potatoes and struggling against the deer attacks and the spreading squash. There's an incredible amount of greenery snaking everywhere. If the potatoes make it, and the squash and turnips, we should be in vegetable heaven this winter! I put my boots next to the turnip for scale.

The Eliot Tractor Show is next weekend. I hope the weather holds so Dad can bring along the mower. We need to mow out at the barn, and maybe also do a pass around the garden.

Memorial Day planting

Dad came up Sunday to harrow the Eliot Garden. After nearly a week of rain, the soil finally dried out enough. He made numerous passes, setting all the rows, then we let the soil warm up in the hot sun.

We planted 5 varieties of potatoes, 5 varieties of winter squash, and 2 melons. Now, if we can just keep the deer out, we may have an awesome harvest!

I got another driving lesson--starting, and getting all the way into fifth gear. I even managed to put it in reverse--all without hitting anything. Good thing it's a large field.

Callie spent her time lying in the shade, slurping water, and panting--but have a great time none the less.

Another bird for the life list!

Photo by Terry Sohl

I heard a scarlet tanager giving his signature chip-burr call out by the barn. And there he was, high up in an oak tree. Then he flew right over my head into another tree. What a wonderful treat!

Spring wildflowers are blooming

Bloodroot

Liverwort

Mayapple

Seedling flats

The seedling flats are growing nicely. Our bedroom is now the greenhouse, replete with warming mats, lights, and greenery. Some of our cool weather plants will need to go out soon as they are beginning to get a little leggy! If this cold rain every stops (by Friday or Saturday), I can get them outside. But I have to remember, it's still only April! These longer days make me rush to get plants in, yet I'm still lighting the woodstove every morning.

Potatoes arrived yesterday! Yipee!

Hard rain gonna fall

John and I finally got our seeds started on Monday while the mercury hovered around 72 and a hot wind blew. Tomatoes, basil, peppers, eggplant, onion, broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts are on the warming pads and germinating at last.
That night, around 3 a.m., Callie jumped off the bed and began pacing around the upstairs. I thought she needed to go out, but ten minutes later, the heavens opened up, and it poured. Of course, my first words were, "I hope Harley is inside." We've had more rain on and off this week, with more coming. There are still patches of snow, here and there, but for the most part, the white stuff is gone. NOAA is calling for sleet/rain mix tomorrow night :(

Spring Carrot Harvest

I dug up our over-wintered carrots today--a much better harvest than I expected. Some rotted into a gooey mush, but overall, not too bad. The tiny ones will be snacks for Harley.

We need to get our seeds started this weekend. Now that I've removed the concrete blocks from the truck bed, we can rig up our light and mat system in the living room near the woodstove. It's time to get those long germinating, heat-loving plants started. The mercury should hit 60 today, enough to melt the last of the glacier in the garden. The frost went pretty deep, so we still need the soil to warm up before we can plant early cool crops.

Happy April Fools Day!

Mother Nature had her joke on us--another 6 inches of snow! But I truly think this is the last hurrah for winter. Next week we should be seeing temperatures up in the 50's. Time to start thinking about planning our garden and starting some seedlings.

I'm vowing to not be too sidetracked by the horse, even though I may find that hard. He's so much fun, and still so new. But the dirt will be calling and once I smell spring out there, I'll be getting these hands good and dirty.

The tide is high--it must be spring!

Spring has truly sprung, ushering in the annual basement flood. I went to do laundry this morning and found an inch of water at the bottom of the stairs. Time to hook up the sump pump, one of the many rites of spring.
Yesterday I heard woodcocks buzzing in the early morning and at dusk. Today, it was flocks of robins and a horde of grackles, creaking in the treetops. And the jonquils are sprouting up in the woods.
I still have to get the fire stoked in the morning, but let it die down through the daylight hours. By dusk, as the damp chill returns, it's time to relight the stove. The forecast is for a few inches of snow and rain for tomorrow, so I've stacked wood around the stove to have a ready supply of dry heat!
The yard looks tired and trashed from the winter; wood chips and bark litter the driveway, twigs and dog poop decay on the lawn. I started in on my spring cleaning today, neatening and tidying the place up.
Soon it will be time to ready the garden beds, but half of them still lie dormant under the snowbanks.

Snowshoe with Callie Lou

After tending to Harley, I took Callie for a snowshoe up to Orris Falls. By 4:45, the parking lot was empty as the sun slid behind the hills. Callie ran for all she was worth, galloping up the trail with frequent stops to sniff under the hanging boughs--deer, mice, other dogs--all those interesting things dogs like to smell. By the time we neared the trail head, Callie was beginning to drag, worn out, but still having a grand time.

President's Weekend just around the corner...

...And with that comes tree tapping. I'm trying to talk John out of a big run this year. The top shelf of the fridge is still half full of syrup from the past two years. Every now and then, I pull them out to compare colors and determine which one to sample next. Will it be the golden amber, or the rich tobacco brown? Maybe half and half?
As much as I love maple syrup, the collecting and cooking can be hard work--lugging gallons of sap to the cooker and boiling, boiling, boiling it down to that single mason jar. But dang, it's so good!

And yet another snow day!

This storm brought another 10 or 11 inches with only a smattering of sleet mixed in ever so briefly. Yup, poor man's fertilizer is re-hydrating the well and giving the gardens a lovely topcoat. We may be shaping up for a stellar sap year the way this winter is shaking out.

John and I shoveled the drive twice and I cleaned off the garage and house roofs again. After all that work, I deserved a little play time. So I donned my venerable E99's and tromped out the ski trails again. If I'm really ambitious tomorrow morning, I may try and head down to Vaughn Woods before too many people pack it down with snowshoes.

I refilled the bird feeders before the storm--just so I could feed the squirrels too. Check out the level of the snowbanks! Compare with the picture on the January 22 posting.

Skiing Orris Falls

Tired pup

Orris Falls Trail

The skiing is AWESOME!

The Clothesline Trail is now open
8 inches of new snow on top of the crusty stuff--the skiing is awesome!

Another snow day!

I can't believe it--two snow days in two weeks! We're getting another good storm, but unfortunately, it's supposed to switch over to sleet and freezing rain after midnight. I think there's another 6 inches out there now. I've shoveled once, and scraped the gutter clear. Just wish it would stay snow!

This morning started out with a bit of a headache--the woodstove pipe leaked like a sieve, smoking up the house horribly. I bought a replacement elbow (broke the old one getting it off), a brush to clean out the pipe, and cleaned out excess creosote. Now I can't get the dang elbow to fit and the house it getting cold with only the furnace working. It's less than 12 hours and I already miss the constant, toasty warmth of my stove! Hopefully I can get this fixed in the next few days since the mercury is going to seriously drop again by Saturday!

Snow Day!!!!

At last, a real snow storm! We've got about 5 inches on the ground already and it's supposed to continue throughout the day with 1-2 inches per hour. Come on down!  No work today--everything is closed. The ground needs the insulation; and so do my carrots.
I love the quietness, the hush that falls over the landscape when all you hear is whooshing snow in the bare tree limbs. I'll do my shoveling, slap on the skis, and later, sit by the woodstove with a good book and Callie Lou in my lap.

Seed Savers Exchange Catalog

Last night, sitting in front of the ticking woodstove, I sat amidst a semicircle of seed packets spread around me. John and I inventoried what we had left to use, what to toss, and what we needed to order for the coming year. Snow flurries whispered around the windows, Callie curled up  in a dot by woodstove, and the two of us, planning and visualizing this years gardens--it still seems a long ways off, but the planning happens now.

John is once again, entranced by the pretty pictures, and like a kid, wants one of everything! He joined Seed Savers Exchange last year, and I have to admit, their catalog entices gardeners by sheer beauty alone. Half the fun is reading the descriptions of early heirloom varieties and their history.

I'll also put in an order to High Mowing Seeds for other stock we can't get from Seed Savers. And of course, in support of my Maine brethren, I'll order my seed potatoes from "The Maine Potato Lady" up in Guilford. Her simple black and white catalog may not look as mouth watering, but her descriptions go into great detail about which spuds are best suited for what type of preparation, and most importantly, storage qualities.