November 2005
November 24th (Thanksgiving Day)
Oh my, am I full! Today we awoke to the snow falling from the sky, not hard, just a gentle snowfall. Maureen started the day with pie making. She made Pumpkin, Chocolate and Apple pies.
We had baked stuffed squash, mashed potatoes, yeast rolls, stuffing, fruit salad, gravy and of course, TURKEY!
Seems like a small spread when it is typed out on the journal, but there was so much of it that we have plenty of leftovers. (I love to take cold turkey sandwiches out hunting, and should have enough for the rest of the season)
Now the turkey, I cooked outdoor, in a can turned upside down on the ground. I have been doing the turkey for the past 7 years or so. I have not had one fail yet, and everyone loves the way they taste. The best part is that it frees the oven up for all of the other stuff that needs to get cooked.
We added wood to the cook stove and got the oven all hot and ready for the first thing to go in, the "punkin" pie. Next the apple pie went in and both came out to perfection, or at least real close.
The yeast rolls were mixed up next and set on the back of the old stove to rise, which they did without any problems. They went in the wood fired oven as well, although I did mention that perhaps we could cook them in the modern oven. Maureen said that the wood stove would be just fine.
We kept the oven at the right temp by adding wood, opening and closing dampers and other adjustments. Everything came out just wonderful and so tasty. I was in and out of the kitchen helping all morning, or at least trying to help.
The turkey which was about 16 lbs cooked in just two hours outdoor in a snow storm. It kept snowing all day, never really hard but steady.
I did jump in the truck and go look for deer tracks in the afternoon, just couldn't stand it any longer. Jed and I will go out for a bit tomorrow to see if we can locate any deer tracks. We really want to find some real fresh ones, with the deer standing in the tracks.
We have gotten about 3 inches of snow today and it is still snowing off and on. The weather site is calling for up to 6 inches by tomorrow morning.
Well, I am having a hard time to keep my eyes open tonight. I have a stomach full of food and a warm wood stove kicking heat into the house. I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving.
I once again wish to thank all of our troops who are serving these United States of America. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers and we all wish for your safe return. God Bless you all.
GT
November 18th,2005
It sure has been a funny November as far as weather is concerned. First it will snow, then rain, then the sun will shine, sometimes all in the same day. We had lots of snow and then it turned to rain and took the most of it off.
We had a couple of the guys get there deer here at camp this week. They were pleased with their efforts and of course there is the bragging rights that goes along with getting your deer. It is fun to tease all of the other guys when you are successful, not that I would do that to anyone that I knew!
Ripogenus Lake is as high as I have ever seen it this time of year. The rain and wet snow that melted sure filled the lake up in a hurry! With the wind and cold temps it made for an interesting picture on the dam and the trees along the shore of the lake. The Spruce tree is one that is along the lake next to the road.
Below are some of the pictures that I had taken last Friday. The ice then melted off in the warm weather and tonight is started to build back up again.
If I do not get back to the Journal before Thanksgiving, I want to wish everyone a very good one. I will try to avoid eating too much, but somehow that never seems to work out that way.
GT
November 10th,2005
It is snowing here tonight, and the wind is blowing it all around. I have the fire going strong in the wood stove to keep the cabin warm, and to cook supper on. The hunters in camp are excited about having the promise of snow to track on in the morning. It will be tough for me to avoid going out for a little time in the woods tomorrow, and who knows, perhaps it is time for me to take a short trip out to see if I can find a few tracks. Jed and I will be going out on Friday and if I can find a place nearby where there are a few deer working, we might just get lucky. I got the motor off my boat today and turned the boat over on the trailer. It is a sure sign that spring is six months away when that happens. I put banking on the cabin with plumbing today, it keeps the pipes from freezing until the temperature gets a bit lower. After that I just drain everything and there is no running water until spring. I managed to get it done without having to wallow around in the snow while putting it on. It works that way every year. The snow holds off until I get it all put on. Some year I am going to leave it off and see if it snows at all that winter! I guess the cat got over being mad at me as he came back in the house tonight. He has been waking me up at between 2:30 and 4:30 am for the past week. Today I put him out and would not let him back in the house all day. He comes over to the window and scratches to come in and it giving the window screens a rough time. I figured if I left him out all day he would sleep tonight and not bother me in the middle of the night. It is a short time in bed as it has been after midnight every day before I get to bed. I am up early and I like my rest uninterrupted if at all possible. (getting along in years you know) Just a couple of weeks left before I close all but 3 of the cabins for the winter. We keep the 3 open for our winter guests. The weather station is calling for snow over the next couple of days, not supposed to amount to a whole lot though. But then I have seen them make a big boo-boo with the forecasts up here. They were calling for the winds to be out of the southeast and they were blowing out of the northeast the last time I was out. If that does not change we could get some serious accumulations, and we do not need that just now as the ground is not frozen. Of course we will get whatever mother nature leaves and cannot change that one little bit. It will be pretty when the sun comes back out again though. Enough for tonight, or this morning, what ever you wish to call it. It is almost 1:00am and I am headed for the rack.
GT
November 6th, 2005
Did you notice that the pages loaded a little faster? I shortened the Journal to just load the most recent entries. You will be able to click on the months to go to past entries. (soon) (done now) I am hoping that it will help.
I am sure that there is another way to do this, but up here in the woods we do what we can manage to do when we have to do it.
It is almost midnight and I got the idea to "fix" things so that it might be a little easier on folks with dial up connections. I use a satellite connection and that is slow enough, but far better than dial up.
It is raining like crazy outside right now. I can only wonder if it will turn to snow before morning. If this was snow I would have a bunch of real happy hunters in the morning, but who knows, perhaps at some point during the night it may change over.
Maureen's father came up Friday. He brought up another plow truck for me. He is 84 years old and he just jumps in his truck and heads north. I cooked him his supper and breakfast on the old Glenwood cook stove that his mother used to use when he was a child. That stove must be close to 100 years old if not older. That is the great thing about some of the old stuff, it lasts.
I like cooking on the wood fire. Once you learn to regulate it (a yearly lesson) you can cook just as good as you can on propane or electric, if not better. I really enjoy the old way at times. (this coming from a guy who is doing journal entries on a computer, connected to a satellite that is located about 28,000 miles above the earth)
Now his mother and father could not even begin to comprehend this type of technology, much as I cannot imagine what things will be like in 50 or 75 years.
It never ceases to amaze me that there are folks in countries that I have hardly heard of that are looking at this journal. I have people checking the Journal on a regular basis from China, Japan, Sweden, England, Australia, Spain and many others. I assume that many of these are people from the U.S. that are stationed there and just want to see what is going on back home.
But you know what, I have the very best of the old and the new. I know that my water comes from the rain, and my food comes from the earth, it is not magic that gets it here, it is nature. I can sit here and listen to the rain beating on the roof, on clear nights I can step outside and see Orin in the fall and winter and the Big Dipper all year long and more stars than many people know exist. Maureen points out how at different times of the year that the constellations are positioned. I feel so fortunate that I can have the best of both worlds.
Some of our guests ask me the question "how can you stay up here in the winter"? I just smile inside and wonder how they can stay in the city. It is a way of life, not difficult for the most part and I would not trade it for anything else.
November 4th, 2005
Well I did make it to Bangor after a fashion. I had to cut my way out on the morning of the 26th and back in that night. I cut trees for several days opening up the road. The fire wood that I gathered is a plus as the road has to be opened anyway. We ended up with about 10 inches here at the pond. Just down the road there was just a dusting of snow and the rest was all rain. Rip Lake is full again and they have had gates open for the past few days. Most of the snow melted in the past week, but more is due this weekend. One of these days it will be here until spring! We have hunters in now for deer season. One of the guys saw a nice one the other day. He said that it was the deer that he has been looking for since he has been coming to Maine to hunt. No, he did not get it, he missed. (4 times) He is blaming it on the scope, but who knows. That is deer hunting for ya. They are seeing deer every day, some times just the tails and nothing to get a good look at. Other times they are does and do not have antlers. Deer hunting in Maine is like that at times. Getting a deer is nice, but that is not what makes a memorable hunt. (it does not hurt however) Just being at camp with a bunch of guys and the banter that goes along with it is what makes memories. You know how it goes, you are up at O'Dark hundred and your buddy who got his deer yesterday has the coffee brewing and breakfast all cooked for you. (That is what the good hunting buddy does anyway) (Of course you helped him drag his out through several miles of blowdowns) You pack your lunch and head out for the day knowing full well that he is going to go back to bed after you leave. The up side is he will have supper ready when you come back into camp that night, wet, tired and hungry. You hang your wet gear behind the wood stove and eat a hot meal. Perhaps a game of cribbage or poker and your eyes are ready to close. Nothing like a fully stomach and a warm camp after spending a day in the great North Maine woods. I went to town the other day and did not have a gun or any orange with me. I have not seen a deer that I could get a shot at in all the trips I make back and forth. I was half way to town before I even remembered that I did not have hunting gear with me. (When I remember something like that I know I am in for a bad day) I got my duties down in town and headed back home. I was driving along and saw a nice bull moose that I wanted a picture of. I parked the truck and started to sneak down through the woods to get closer to take the best picture possible. As I was concentrating on getting close to the moose what should appear? Yep, I saw a nice buck and doe. I did not even get a picture of them and they spooked the moose so I did not get a picture of it either. Now wouldn't that just figure! I did find another moose to take a picture of a couple of days later. (Yes I had my orange on that day, but forgot my gun in the truck) At least I did not see deer this time. The loons are headed to the ocean now. There will be a loon or two here and then they will leave. A day or more may pass and then there will be another two or three. I know that the young will gather up on some bodies of water in the fall during their migration. I have seen a raft of them over on Chesuncook in the past. I was able to count at least fifty in one raft. I only saw it the one fall and I figure that it must have turned real cold further north. These coming into the pond all seem to be the young ones headed on their first migration. During the snow storm the other night I could hear them out on the pond. It is not the same hearing them in a blizzard as it is hearing them on a warm summer evening. Their call seems kind of spooky when it is snowing like crazy. Here is a picture of the road on my way out on the morning of the 26th and of the moose that I did manage to get a picture of.
GT
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