Paddle time!

 Last weekend we got out for some paddling and one day for some beach time. I am still working on my projects and hopefully I will have the kid's quilt done by next week. We also had a company come for some new windows, since ours sweat so bad, they mold and this way I have windows that are double paned and easier to open.

We went to the island on the weekend, less travel time and no traffic to sit in. We took the boats and paddled into the bay, following the coast line and landing at a cove. The cove is nice since there are no people, just the two of us and beautiful views of the bay.

While there, we saw a lot of egrets in the cove and in the trees.

When we got back, I was walking in the cove and spotted some birds on the spit of land and waded across. I expected the birds to take off, but I moved slowly and they paid me, no mind. I caught one Oyster Catcher, getting a meal, thus the name.

He kept running away another one, who was trying to get it, but then he stopped and dropped it in front of what I assume, is a younger one, from the darker beak. It was so fun watching him and their interaction.

On Sunday we got to the ocean side, early enough to beat the crowds and enjoyed swimming and watching the terns. There was a lot of them, following a school of fish. 

This weekend we have rain and tomorrow we get new gutters. The company also does those and I was able to get a good deal on both, so happy about that. I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Weekly Happenings!

 

This week I am still working on my new projects. I have been working more on my quilt so I can get that done and will have two to donate. The Christmas piece, I can work on a bit at a time and have ready in time. 

Today the boys had other plans so I decided to go to the island and bring my kayak. The tide was up so I was able to paddle in the inner cove and explore the little inlets along the way.

At the first spit of land, I spotted a laughing gull that was hanging out with the regular gulls.

And only one Osprey was in the nest, when I paddled by.

The coves were filled with activity, lots of shore birds.

And on the outer area along the shore, I finally spotted two Oyster Catchers. 

It was a nice day to get out and I was able to cool off before the tides got too low. At home I also have some new visitors. I think they are younger hawks, since they are staying in the neighbor's yard and squawking all day.

I hope everyone had a good week and are not in the flood or fire areas. It seems so much destruction lately and my prayers go out to everyone.

Fun and not so fun!

 Our camping weekend was good and bad. With the summer crowds, it was hard to get to the dog beach but we were able to get there for a bit, before the crowds came in. In some ways it is better than the main beach, since the waters are higher and no seaweed. It was nice to go for a swim and let Bean have some fun too.

One day we got a walk at the point. It goes along the ocean with areas to walk along, a rocky shore.

It also has a variety of birds along the bush side and I was lucky enough to spot a pair of Cedar Waxwings.

I was finally able to get out in the kayak and paddle in the inner coves. It was a nice day and nice to get out for some time to unwind and enjoy the local shore birds.

  The bad thing was, when I got back, I found out that Bill had locked himself out of the trailer and the keys were in the trailer and the spares in my purse, in the trailer. It seems it has happened to others. We had to get a locksmith who destroyed the lock by drilling it, so that cost. The good thing is, I was able to find the same lock with spare keys for less than 40.00. 

Today we picked up the boys and took them to the island for a swim. The tide was up  and the main beach was crowded, so we swam in the cove. The boys loved it and we all swam across to the land on the other side. I will definitely go back when it is not crowded. I spotted a lot of birds hiding on the other side, so I will bring my little boat and camera, next time.

I hope everyone had a nice week and can enjoy some fun time this weekend. We still have high heat, so I can only stay outside so long. 

Vacation part III

 I tend to pack a lot in a week, I love seeing new places and there is plenty to do in the Freeport area. Less than a half hour, we went to Mackinac Island for a walk around their paths.

The paths go around the island, so a lot of views of the ocean and the islands. We could see an island in the distance. On one was an old fort.

I realized when I got in closer, there were seals, sunning on the rocks.

There were lots of places to get to the shore, so Bean loved that.

Another day we went for a paddle on a lake above Brunswick. It started on a river, into a nice sized lake. It was a bit windy and I forgot to get my seat cushion and gloves, so it was a wonderful paddle, except for being uncomfortable.

And one day we went for a bike ride on the Lisbon rail trail. It was a nice paved path, along a river with waterfalls along the way. The nice thing about paved trails is, we can take Bean in the carriage.

On the way back we saw a big dam. A lot of rivers with dams to control the waters, during rainy and dry seasons.

And every day after dinner, we went for walks. There were a lot of new trails in the camp, that went through fields, into woods and up and down stairs. I definitely got a lot more exercise that week. Now it is just hot, too hot to even go paddling, so hoping to do some swimming this weekend. 

Friday Finish!

 

While on vacation I stopped at a little shop in Williamstown, called Karen's Quilting Corner. It is a wonderful shop, full of beautiful and unique fabrics. I was good and only got two quilt panels. This one I got for myself to hand quilt. I quilted around the designs and left the border as is, with a little edge with the black binding. It is hard to see the quilted look in the photo. I have clip hangers on my curtain rod, so it hangs there. The next one is a Christmas design, that will be for the kids and I will use the machine on that one.

This design is by Bonnie Sullivan.

Last weekend we went on a nice walk at the bird sanctuary. Lots of activity, as migration has begun. The fields were uncut, so the bees were enjoying the flowers.

Lots of turtles enjoying the warm sun.

And a few more of the wildlife we saw, along the way.

Afterwards, we drove by the marsh to see what was in the area. One area was full of Egrets in the trees, too many to count.

 And quite a few Blue Herons in the marsh.

Today we went for a paddle at the pond. It was a warmer day, so we could paddle and do a little swimming, though the water was cooler from the cold nights.

We stopped at the first beach head at the campground, across the way.

A Heron was in the corner, wading for fish. We saw a few different birds, but none were close enough or still enough to catch. 

We paddled along the back cove, lots of weeds at the end of the season.

It was a nice day to get out and even though I started out feeling sick, the paddle was just what I needed to feel better. This weekend will be cooling down, so it will be nice for hikes and biking. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and can enjoy getting out. 

And yes, I do have hair, long and thick, so I pull it back and it looks like I am going bald in photos.

Saturday finish!

 As usual, I get so wrapped up in so many things, I forgot other things, including doing my blog on Friday. This week I made a Christmas stitchery. It is an older design that was gifted to me and it was time to make it. The design is by Mulberry Folk Art. There were more stars on hers, so I cut back on those.

For the stars and snowflakes, I used glitter thread.

I enjoyed going to the lake with the boys and wanted to do a paddle, the next day. When we got to the launch, there was no parking left. We decided to head inland and go on a river paddle. 

It is a long river that goes under bridges and mostly state forest. We only saw a few people along the way.

We ended at the waterfall, where we usually land and rest, but it was running too fast for me to get to the top edge. So, we paddled back, which is going down river. Which was good, I was getting tired. I forgot how long the river was, we paddled for 7 miles and I am not in shape for that. I also forgot the lotion for my bare legs and got a good burn, so a week of sore muscles and lots of aloe on my legs.

At home, I am getting more of my regulars and a few new birds. Today I was delighted to see a House Wren with her young one. I also have a sparrow that seems to like to rest on the porch, especially in the heat. She found a nice place to keep cool.

I hope you all had a wonderful week. I also need to find a place for quality quilting threads at a good price. None of the stores here carry anything like Joannes had.

Vacation week!

 It always seems that you start enjoying your vacation and relaxing, by the time it is ending. But, we had a good week and lots of adventures. I am showing some things tonight, I took lots of photos and saw lots of interesting places, so I will do another post when I get home and can go through more of them.

Our camp is nice, right on the river so we can paddle up river and float down. We had three really hot days, so we swam in the river to cool down. The bad thing is the mosquitos, not fun sitting outside. We spent most of our time going places, so we swam, ate and relaxed in the trailer.  Bean is sitting in front of Bill.

Up river we found a sandy place to swim and Bean could play off leash, so it was a nice place. Most of the time he would run into the river and join the other families who were swimming from the launch. The kids loved playing with him, so I didn't mind.

I also spotted a lot of swallows flying around and found their nesting area. There are high banks along the river and they make their homes there.

On Monday we went to Cathedral in the pines. It is a beautiful place on a hill with stunning views. It is dedicated to the men and woman who served in World War II. You can see Mount Monadnock in the distance. 

They also have paths to walk along and lots of garden spots.

The next day we went to Harrisville mill store. They sell looms, yarn and roving. I treated myself to a few bags of dyed roving.

Because of the heat, we were limited to rides and short walks. I found a Gorge nearby and we went there. It was a little cooler, but still humid enough to wear me out. It has a path that follows one side and back up the other.

And we drove into Vermont. Along the way we have seen a lot of covered bridges. We stopped at one in Vermont that has a swimming spot. I walked around with Bean in the water to cool off.

Finally the heat lifted and we got to go to Madame Sheri's forest. It was the site of the home of a socialite. Originally it was a grand home and the pond was where they swam. Now it is in ruins and the pond is a sanctuary for birds. I also thought we were hiking a short circle around the pond and by the time my phone app kicked in, I realized we were almost at the top of the mountain. It was a lot of uphill and the skies looked ominous, so I didn't dare continue, so we turned back. 

I spotted a few birds and a weasel, along with a lot of chipmunks. I caught this Vereo who was happy to pose for me.

Today we visited some new places that are worth a stop, so I will post about them later. I hope everyone had a nice week. I am hoping I can enjoy a rain free day and avoid the weekend traffic on the way home.

Friday vacation: NOT

 

This was not my week for vacation, even though it started out ok. Our first day was a paddle on the lake. The weather was nice, but the wind was awful, so we were only able to paddle along the back cove since the wind was too hard to paddle against. Of course Bean was happy, he got to go swimming in the shallow waters.

The next day we went to the kayak store and got a tandem kayak. I wanted something safe and something we could both paddle, to make it easy to cross to the islands in the bay. We got out gear and tested it in the local cove. It wasn't as easy to paddle as I was hoping and we were both dogged when we got back. Later that evening, we both got sicker and realized we were sick. Then Bill got email from a coworker to let him know, he had gone home sick and had covid, lucky us. The good thing is, we can fit bean and the boys with Bill in this kayak, a lot better.

The next day I stayed home since I felt like garbage. I sat in the back yard and caught a few of the birds that love the berries on the Mulberry tree. I am still trying to get the colorful orioles.

The next day I decided I needed an upgrade for my phone. The new ones have better pixels and camera capabilities, and the battery lasts longer. I was able to catch this baby Wren in the nest, we have 4 different houses with wrens in them, this year.

We spent a couple of days at the lighthouse. It has been too humid, but the ocean areas had cool breezes. Perfect place to get out for some easy walks and fresh air.

We have had a lot of wind this week. I love watching the boats as they battle the waves. This one was a group of kids, learning to sail. They ended up taking the sail down and turning back, I guess it was too much for them to learn on.

There are lots of Red-winged Blackbirds on the island, this one was guarding his territory, his mate was nesting nearby.

Today we went out for a paddle, I took my peddle boat. It was a beautiful day and not too windy. As you can see, it was low tide, so I had to stay in the channels. I have long peddles underneath, so the water has to be deep enough to move.

We went up the cove and landed on the inner beach. Beautiful views and we were able to take a swim on the bay side, where it was deeper.

I took a close up of the light at the end, with my zoom. I didn't realize that there was a nest on top. 

And a view from the beach landing. The clouds were coming in, but the storm wasn't expected for hours. So we headed back into the cove and went around the islands. At the last one, I got stuck in mud, so bill tried pushing me forward with his boat to get into deeper water, but there was none. I finally got half his paddle and had to single paddle out of the muck. It too forever to get through it and moving was hard with a half paddle and just as I got into deeper water, the storm hit. So, we were trying to paddle, which isn't easy with a flat stand up boat and lightening was coming down.

We made it to shore, just as it started to rain, then it started to pour. Luckily the lighting stayed away from us and we made it home safely. I was able to snap a shot of the crabs on the beach, they are fun to watch. Hopefully the next two days will be less eventful, but I won't count on it. 

I am doing ok and more of a light flu for me. I have had it before and with meds, can fight it off. I hope this finds all of you well and enjoying your summer.