Still in Maine

Slept under a comforter last night and had to wear long sleeves today!! Unheard of for late July in the swamp, but apparently pretty commonplace up here in the north lands. We are having a good time and eating entirely too well...

 

  

See that strip of land on the horizon, just behind the dragonfly?  That's Canada.  We can paddle across the lake into Canadian waters, we just can't get out on the shore ;)

 

A Few Things Maine-ish

Treebeard and I headed out for a walk this morning and saw a variety of things...the pictures aren't labeled yet, but I'll get to that eventually...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bristol Pond

No time for much commentary today...I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the first place we paddled while we were in Vermont. The shots below were taken one morning on a little pond not far from where we were staying. Our host and guide extraordinaire is in the last picture. If I can get signal in Maine, I will post a few more shots of our time in Vermont.

 

 

 

 

On the Road

Scranton is watching the house and the cats -- despite his allergies -- and we are on the road...

 

 

 

 

We've parked ourselves for the night...do you know what state we're in? The last picture should offer a clue if you've traveled this road before.

Going Mobile

No nature pictures today, just a few updates on what we've been up to around here...

We finally broke down and purchased a laptop. So far I like it -- Treebeard hasn't touched it yet ;) I'll have to ease him into it. Trekker, our older son, helped me set up the router over the phone. It's so nice to have tech-savvy kids just a phone call away. Now we can check our blog list from any room in the house. Welcome to the 21st century!

In other news, the garden is having a hard time this year. We have had hot, dry weather all summer and the stink bugs have gone crazy. The things that are doing okay will probably all be ready to pick along about the time we are out of town on vacation. Scranton is going to move in and housesit for us, so maybe he will benefit from the harvest. Of course he is going to be pretty busy feeding all the critters -- cats, frogs, hummingbirds, song birds, snakes, and spiders will all be vying for his attention. Then there are the potted plants to keep watered...yep, he is going to be a busy man.

Unless something spectacular catches my eye before we leave later in the week, I will probably make my next post from the road. Perhaps I will play a little game with you and see if you can figure out exactly where we are along the way. We are headed north and our final destination is in Maine...

Patience Rewarded

Little by little, one by one, my foster children are getting their legs under them and moving out. Today I noticed the little ones below were venturing farther afield and one little fellow, who had lost his tail completely, hopped away before I could get his picture. Some of the leopard frog 'poles have started to grow some legs so it won't be long now before I release them back into their natural environment. It has been a hard summer for amphibians. The weather has been hot, hot, hot and dry, dry, dry. Hopefully,some of these little hand-raised froglets will make it. Of course, we may regret that next year if we have decent rains during the breeding season -- the din will quite impressive ;)

 

 

 

A Very Beary Day

Yesterday was a very beary day in the swamp. We had a total of 13 sightings while out patrolling. What has so many bears out and about? Why, that would be all the blackberries that are still on the brambles. Bears do love blackberries.

I really do need to wash my windshield if I am going to continue taking pictures when I'm in the truck ;)

 

 

Along the Boardwalk

 

 

 

 

Wipe Your Feet!

A bear visited the trashcans right outside the office. Luckily for us, they were all empty, so the only evidence of the visit was a set of tracks :-)

 

Morning Exercise

 

 

 

Red Admiral