November 2017 Monthly Weather

Check out November's monthly weather! Our highs were exactly on average and our lows were a bit below average at 26F.
The historical monthly average is High = 44F  Low = 29F

Weekly Weather

Well, it is still going to be somewhat warmer than usual this week. Although, there are days when it feels so raw and cold! The wind can suck the warmth right out of our bodies...

Bertie McBat

Bertie McBat is made from saw blades, a wrench and nuts.

Well, the metal work doesn't stop at the big bird. Liberty Farm and Forge allowed me to choose a smaller piece for free, since I'd purchased one of their larger pieces of art.

Bertie McBat sits atop a long pole that sticks into the ground.
He will travel from garden to garden in search of mosquitoes!

I chose the bat. I respect little brown bats because they are voracious eaters of mosquitoes, and I Love Bertie McBat! Look at those chompers!

Ernest P. Mower Bird

I name thee "Ernest P. Mower Bird."

Wow, what a day! I attended the craft fair at Mt. Ararat High School, with Neighbor Shannon, and came home with quite a haul. I love supporting local artists, and fell in love with some metal work last year but didn't purchase it. This year, I felt the tug of longing for one of the big birds. We went to check them out and I just couldn't resist.

Ernest P. Mower Bird covets the bird seed at the feeder!

This big, metal bird was created by John Liberty who, along with his wife Debbie, scours the earth for old metal tools, farm implements, etc. At Liberty Farm and Forge he crafts the artwork. "Ernest P. Mower Bird" is named for our dearly departed neighbor, Ernie. Why? Well, Neighbor Ernie loved sitting atop his mower all summer long. He had a beeeautiful yard...And, Neighbor Ernie would have loved to have crafted something like this. He too was artistic and ingenious.

Ernest P. Mower Bird checks out the stump next to the wood pile

Ernest P. Mower Bird's feet, legs and tail were crafted from scavenged parts of an old McCormick-Deering spring-tooth harrow which was used to till the land for farming. You can also see the big, old wrench used for his neck.

Ernest P. Mower Bird checks out yet another stump.
I think he might want to eat some moss and shrooms!

A well casing was used for his body and lawn mower blades were used for his beak. He is one handsome bird. He has spikes on the bottom of his feet that push into the ground so that he can stand on his own anywhere in the yard. Gosh, I love this bird!

Flying Squirrel sighting

This afternoon, Drew was on the roof cleaning out the gutters. While he was on the back side of the roof, he was afforded a direct view into the hairy woodpecker hole, in the ash tree next to the back porch. To his surprise, he found himself in a staring contest with a pair of large eyes that belonged to a small squirrel (between the size of a red squirrel and a chipmunk.) The squirrel vacated the hole and scampered to the opposite side of the tree trunk where Drew lost sight of it. The only squirrel that we know of with large eyes is the northern flying squirrel! I know that they must be around as I saw one about 16 years ago, but I can never catch sight of them as they are nocturnal. Yahoooo! Now, I really want a trail camera to capture their activity;-) Gotta start saving my pennies!

First Snow of the Season

Yahooo! We've got snow! 

We got 1 inch of snow out of this storm. Unfortunately, we are not ready for snow on the roads which are icing up. Cars are sliding off the road. Ugh... Not looking forward to tomorrow morning's commute to work.

Here is the radar map for this evening.

Thin film of ice on parts of Caesar Pond

We finally had a calm morning with just a hint of a breeze later on in the day. This allowed for a bit of thin ice to form on the southern edge of the pond.

All the wind overnight whipped the pond to whitecaps and coated the grasses with dripping water. This froze into pretty icicles.

There are thin sections of ice near some of the islands as well.

And, the grasses have a bit of ice that has formed on the blades.

Most of the leaves have fallen from the deciduous trees, with the exception of beech trees and oaks. Here you see the brown leaves of mainly oaks on the western side of the pond.

Tis going to be a bit chilly today!

Shiver me timbers! Tis going to be cold and windy today! 15-25 mph wind with gusts to 40 mph. We are getting water jugs ready just in case the power goes out again;-)

Project Learning Tree workshop held at Bates College

I am super psyched! I spent last Saturday, with my Maine Project Learning Tree associates, at a workshop to introduce the new PLT E-Units now available for purchase. These online versions comprise parts of the popular PLT books that focus on forests for STEM and experiential learning. They are fabulous!

I got to pull out all the stops and reprise my summer workshop activity using tree cookies as learning tools. An added bonus was a Bates student (future experiential science teacher extraordinaire) who assisted us with dendrology. He was incredibly knowledgeable about what a tree cookie could tell us about the health and history of a tree's growth.

I also had participants create their own model of the inside of a tree using some simple materials. Fun, fun, fun...

Winter Sunrise and Sunset is early no matter which way you look at it!

Click the calendar for a larger view

No matter which way you look at it, Daylight Saving Time or not, we would be going to or from work in the dark. My solution is to shorten the work day;-)

Click the calendar for a larger view

Finally, on Dec. 17th the days begin to lengthen.

Our power has been restored

After 7 days without power, we are truly glad to have it restored. Living off the grid was starting to get old;-) There is still tons of clean-up work to be done all around the state, and some towns are still without power. Unreal!