Snow refill

After the coldest day so far with strong winds and temps below zero a much anticipated snowstorm has come through and is about to wrap up as we approach 4pm. Still pretty cold, 12 degrees so shortly I'll be suiting up then get to snowthrowing the driveway, etc. That said tomorrow the temperatures are suppose to rise to the 50s with rain - go figure, then the next day and beyond back down to the 20s. Should be interesting.

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gentle falling snow

large and small trees obscured

peaceful humble scene

Turkey Trots

Received another inch of snow during the day. Other than thinking it would look nice freshening up what came down the other day but nothing noteworthy otherwise. Unless a regiment of turkeys decide to do a lap around the yard and mess things up.

Turkeys are best on a platter with stuffing - I may have to take up hunting.

Winter Preview

A little more than a dusting of the white stuff arrived yesterday, about 4 inches worth. Gassed up the snowthrower for a quick cleanup of the driveway and deck. Tolerable.

December state of mind

Been a busy week at the office, nice to get to the weekend. Yard work has been a part of every weekend lately aimed at preparing for winter. Can't count on climate change to keep the snow away. Though the 4 inches of snow a couple of weeks ago has melted away best to expect more at some point. Today I worked the garage over. Lots of stuff was spread around in there lately and needed straightening out. Can actually walk around the cars now.

Court is adjoined

Received one last curtain call on jury duty Monday. Basically just by sitting in the jury room five criminal cases were plea bargained. The judge came into our crowded room and thanked us profusely for our time this month and discharged us. All in all I found the whole thing a good experience since I actually participated as a juror - now back to my regularly scheduled life.

A very interesting November

November greetings on a presently cloudy and mild Sunday with drifting snowflakes dotting the air around the neighborhood. It has been a more than usual interesting November as we near the end of the month. In October I was notified that I had been drawn to serve as a Traverse Juror for Superior Court and to report on Friday, November 4th. As with most people it would have it's inconveniences to serve though I was happy to make the most of it. Though it is required when drawn (acceptable excuses excluded) I think of it as I do voting, a citizen's duty to participate in the process that is part of the freedoms we enjoy in this country, each person one vote and everyone is entitled to their day in court judged by a jury of their peers. As it turned out by mid-month I was selected for a criminal case that took two to days to complete. It was one of the most interesting things I've ever participated in, I know of some people who have had less satisfying opinions given their circumstances but for me from the listening to the proceedings to the time with my fellow jurors it was time well spent. On the work front it did put me behind on my commitments as did taking last week off with 3 vacation days and the two day Thanksgiving Day holiday. Expect to catch up in the next couple of days.

In a blog post from March I chronicled the demise and replacement of our boiler with a fancier new one. Well the honeymoon is over on that as during a cold spell the new one broke down and took four days to resolve. It also managed to fry the circuit breaker as well. No heat, showers, etc. As it turned out it was one basic part the company that provided and installed the boiler did not keep in stock then had to order supposedly overnight the next day. I think someone dropped the ball on the ordering part and we were a couple more days without the convenience of hot water. Heating pots of water, wearing extra layers and throwing an extra blanket or two on the bed were the order of the day until the part was received and installed. All better since.

Thanksgiving week was a near and far affair this year. Carol with her sisters and mother left to spend the week and Thanksgiving Day with their brother Greg's family in Texas. We had also received an invitation to our daughter-in-law Ali's father's 60th birthday party that took place the day after Carol left for Texas. I attended that and had a good time while also spending the night and of course Ian and Ali were there.


Once I got through the weekend and was home I awoke in the morning to "measurable" snow as the weather guy would say as opposed to what his forecast called for, "maybe an inch". Our neck of the woods had about 4 inches while further away towards the coast they received a miserable 1 inch, maybe. Regardless it was a wet snow and in spite of the depth the temperature of the pavement wasn't cold enough for it to collect in the driveway and roads. Didn't have to break out the snowthrower, yet.

My own Thanksgiving day was having dinner at my sister Kathy and husband's house. Also there were my brother David and family, Kathy's daughter, her husband and their month old baby girl and my sister Doreen and son. Unfortunately Jay, Kathy's husband who had done a lot of the food pre-preparation was down with a cold and stayed in bed for the most part stepping out long enough to wave a greeting and goodbye during the exodus'.

Great Grammy with Great Grand Baby

Biding time until dinner

Kathy doing final check on dinner

Speaking of meals I managed to keep myself fed during the week off, Carol had stocked me up with stuff to cook. I didn't do anything too fancy.

Two mind boggling weeks to go

The 2016 Presidential Election voting will be over two weeks from today and I do not expect to feel good about it one way or the other. Generally I as soon leave politics off my blog but this election year has gone to hell in a handbasket. As far as I'm concerned Clinton and Trump are both flawed candidates equally balanced, Ying and Yang, Heckle and Jeckle however you want to describe it. If Donald is one thing Hillary is another right down the list. I blame both the major political parties for this. For all the baggage Clinton is carrying the Democrats couldn't come up with a less polarizing nominee. And the Republicans given some 15 or so original cast of characters manages to bounce themselves out of contention trying to play Trump's game.
Fine state of affairs we're left with, I'll be holding my nose when I cast my ballot.

October excursion

Though the southern portion of the Great State of Maine has been in drought conditions since spring the autumn foliage has been nothing short of spectacular in spite predictions otherwise given the circumstances. Early in the month showed signs of what was to come as the final time  this year Carol and I took the camper out on this month's first weekend. The campground in northern New Hampshire had a wooded trail system loop of their own that partially ran parallel to the Androscoggin River. The leaf change over was in it's early stages with  hints of the chilly temperatures to come. Even from our campsite our view was of the hillside across the river valley. We had a campfire both evenings there and considering the time of year there were very few other campers about.

Moving forward at 62, like there's another direction to go

Yep, could start collecting Social Security benefits since my birthday last week but I plan on waiting another 4 years to get full benefits. In the meantime Carol and I when out to dinner that night (last Wednesday) to a local Mexican restaurant, A La Mexicana where we hadn't eaten before. Food, service and prices were all good, a large Modelo Negra for me and a large house margaritas for Carol were not too bad themselves.

Holiday weekend wrap up

Though it's been a week plus I'm finally following up with my comment in the previous blog to "stay tuned". Well we did go hiking on that Sunday though the evening before we visited Carol and Lois' cousin John and his wife Linda with neighbor Inga and friends at Pretty Marsh for "happy hour" and a sunset.

Dusk Ducks

The hiking day was as good as it gets as we hiked up the west trail to Mansell Mountain then worked our way westward to Bernard Mountain.