Busy, busy, busy

Life is full up here in the north woods. We've been busily preparing for the coming winter season.

Last week, we went to the orchard and picked 20 pounds of apples, 10 pounds of Cortlands and 10 pounds of Macintoshes. The very next day, I prepared 14 jars of apple butter, most of which will be given away as Christmas gifts or baked into a fragrant nut bread.


We've already had one slight, early morning frost which barely touched the morning glories, but it was enough to get us in to gear cutting down two dead cedars for kindling this winter. H and I spent a very pleasant, sunny morning splitting the rounds.


This photo was strictly for show! I just put the rounds on the stump for H to split. That maul is really heavy.

H made short work of the two trees and we now have enough kindling to see us through the long winter. Once the really cold weather sets in, the fire in the wood stove doesn't go out til spring, so we really don't need a lot of kindling and with the price of propane these days, we heat exclusively with wood.

The annual Lobster Feed at the Veteran's club was held on our anniversary (so nice of them to have a party for us!). H and several other vets were in charge of steaming mussels and lobsters while I helped set up and acted as the unofficial photographer for the event. A good time was had by all and the food was out of this world.

The guys were busy waiting for the pots to start boiling for the mussels and lobstah.


Oh my, but dinner was scrumptious!

Always a good time with our friends at the Lobster Feed.

We did take the occasional time out for a wee bit of recreation so we could enjoy the beautiful late summer weather. We made our 6th annual trek up Champlain Mountain in Acadia. Unfortunately, I think this will be our last year making the hike up the 1058 ft mountain as my knees just can't take the downhill part anymore without pain for the next couple of days after the trek. Sigh, I guess we're just getting older.

This enterprising fella shared our snack at the top of the mountain. He was the only gull up there and was so funny running bowlegged after the crackers we tossed to him.


The view from the top is quite spectacular and I got this shot of the Queen Elizabeth II on her final trip to Bar Harbor. She is being retired to a life of luxury in Dubai where she will be a floating hotel, casino and entertainment center.

We awoke one morning to these lovely clouds bringing in the remnants of Hurricane Ike......


so we had to make a quick trip to Schoodic Point to watch the waves being generated by Ike as it passed through. The waves were crashing into the point but I wasn't able to catch the really big ones.


We couldn't pass up a walk in Sorrento Harbor, our favorite place. The sailboats have all but disappeared, having headed south for the winter. Many small dingys remain tied up at the pier and I never tire of photographing them. I love their reflections in the water.


Hummers are still here. I had to refill the feeder as they are emptying it on a daily basis, gearing up for the long trip south. According to my journal, they are late leaving this year and I am wondering what this might portend for the coming winter. The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very cold winter. We hope it won't mean another 125 inches of snow!!!!

Life is busy, but good.

Hugs, Giddy