Enjoying the Weather
We are snuggling in for a cozy weekend of blankets, movies, yummy food and snuggles. I hope you have a great one too!
Archive for the ‘nature’ Category
Under the Weather
We’ve been a bit under the weather here, first I was down for a couple of days and then one of the girls was down with a bug. Everyone seems to be fine today, but I need to catch up on some basics like laundry and dishes. I hope to be back tomorrow, see you then.
From Orchard to Table
Back in October we all went to an apple orchard about an hour away for a day of apple picking. It was a gorgeous autumn day and the orchard was beautiful. We had such fun picking apples, the only problem was that it went way too fast. Picking apples is a lot less time consuming than picking blueberries.
We enjoyed a tractor ride out to a couple of different locations in the orchard, which the kids loved. We were invited to sample the apples, the best you’ll ever taste he said, and he was right. After filling baskets and bags of apples we brought our haul home.
After eating more apples than we could count, and making half a dozen crumbles over a few weeks I was also able to freeze nine quarts of apple pie filling and also can four quarts of applesauce and use a few apples to help make a batch of jelly as well. This was the first year I have really canned anything, I have done a few things before but I never really felt like I got the hang of it.
I used several different varieties to make the applesauce and they were plenty sweet without using any sugar. We just opened the first jar last week and boy was it scrumptious, just like autumn in a jar. We picked forty-seven pounds, but next year I want to do more now that I feel a little more confidant. I would love to be able to do quite a bit more applesauce and even some apple butter. I have to admit it is quite exciting to see jars of food in the pantry that we picked and made. It’s so much more than a jar of applesauce, it’s the memories that went with the day and the knowledge that something we did with our own hands has provided food for our table.
The Sea
I still have to keep pinching myself when it dawns on me that this is our new home. I never imagined that we would be able to live by the sea, it is such a dream come true. 
The amazing scenery, the fresh air, the tremendous amount of vegetation, it’s all just so wonderful. The kids love going to the beach and I love visiting all of them that are fairly close, and some farther afield as well. 
Splashing in the water, searching through the rocks for sea treasures, even the sandy mess in the car is something I wouldn’t trade at all, not to mention all of the fantastic fish and shellfish straight out of the water. 
We have been doing more than just sightseeing, but mostly we have been trying to get a lay of the land so to speak and check everything out while it’s summertime. I’ll fill you in on some of our other adventures soon, but for now, just more scenery.
Berries, Berries, and more Berries
The area behind our house is wooded and has been left to take over itself. I was absolutely delighted to find these all right in our own back yard, and so were the kids. I must say that they are teeny tiny, a feast for a fairy, but the children have had fun picking those that are ripe and I love the fact that we now live in a place where things grow on their own. There aren’t enough ripe at one time to do anything with other than snack, but that’ll work just fine.
Changes
It has been far too long since I’ve blogged, but life got a little bit crazy and we have made some big changes. I’ll make a long story fairly short, so here goes. Hubby had been working from home for about a year and we were talking about where we would want to be if we could be anywhere. We aren’t tied to a job or a school because of homeschooling and our kids are growing up fast. We were both disastisfied with the area with lived in for several reasons. 
Honestly, the reason we went to Maine was to make our final decision, and enjoy a family vacation which we hadn’t had in a long time. We fell in love and decided to up roots and plant them somewhere new. When we got back from our trip Hubby had to fly to Boston for a conference and then out to California to meet up with his team. We were going to start looking for housing when he got back, but we had no idea that things would happen so quickly. We applied for a rental home and were thrilled to get it within the week, the only thing was it was available immediately. Rather than miss out, we finished packing quickly and off we went. 
Since we arrived we just keep falling more in love with Maine. We live in a gorgeous area, just a short drive from the water and every day we grow more sure of our decision to move. Most days the kids and I are at the beach, it is so amazing to be so close to the water, their energetic little bodies slowly wearing themselves out in the waves and sand. 
So, apologies for the long absence, and I really appreciate your concerned e-mails. We are all just fine, brilliant in fact. I should be around a lot more now that we have gotten settled in a bit. I look forward to exploring our new home and sharing it with you.
Weekend Refresher
A weekend at the cabin was just what we needed. Some beautiful scenery… 
With a growing love of reading, some time spent curled up in bed… 
Drying gloves and warming toes after hours spent hiking and playing in the snow… 
and plenty of card games as well. I hope everyone is feeling a bit rested and ready to hit the new week running. Not too sure I feel rested, but refreshed I do. Lots of plans this week, we’ll see how life cooperates. Have a great Monday everybody.
At The Cabin
Going to the cabin was just what we needed. Good doses of fresh air to help the kids recover from illness and plenty of nature to get stuck into. 
I started a new Claudia Scarf for myself while sitting in front of a fire early in the morning. 
I love the sound of the river rushing by, it is so calming to me. 
Watching the clouds roll by through the mountains… 
Finding triplet peanuts as you are feeding the stellar jay’s and chipmunks… 
Seeing all of the beauty of nature around you… 
I think the babe ate more peanuts than the animals. 
We had a great, albeit short, weekend up in the mountains. The sounds of the water, the fresh air, the good time spent with family was as restorative as I thought it would be. Now, just to catch up on the laundry, dishes, etc….
Elk at Rocky Mountain National Park
This past weekend we paid a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was beautiful and we spent a little bit of time driving round to find some elk. They are starting to congregate to rut (their mating period) and we were lucky to spot a few. 
Here is a cow, She is beautiful. During the rut, the biggest, strongest bulls will have a harem of up to 20 cows. 
She’s been spotted. This was one big elk, and he wasn’t more than 50 yards away from us. Every year when they congregate, the bulls will fight for dominance and only the strongest maintain harems. 
The chase is on. He went after her licking his lips and bugling. 
Rejected. Silly boy, even cows need a respectable amount of wooing. 
The bugling of the male elk is eery (at least to me). It can be heard for miles and sounds like someone is being murdered. Incidentally, our eldest can imitate it perfectly. What a majestic creature, we were so lucky to see them so close. We did end up seeing one male and his harem of 17 cows, but they were much farther away. We are hoping to go one more time when there are many more elk in the meadows, it would be great to see some of them antler wrestling for dominance.
