Day 11.324: A tough week

It's been a tough week as we muddled through a full week of school, work and activities without Exile #2. We made it to Friday in the correct number of pieces.

There have definitely been some high spots during the week for all of us. Exile #3 made this for one of her dance company friends for their secret Santa (organised early to accommodate our planned travel in December):

Day 11.323: A Maine ear-worm

I'm not conscious of having ever heard the Renys jingle, but thanks to this window:

and a musical education, I can have it stuck in my head just as if I had!

Day 11.322: Snow update

At some point on Friday, E5N1 made a little snowman. This was 24 hours or so later:

The latest storm that came through this week and caused several nearby (slightly inland) schools to clock up their third snow day before we even hit December, brought us nothing but rain (lots of it) and a little early morning slush. Even so, we still have snow on the ground and even a small snowball-sized mound where this fellow used to be.

Day 11.321: Other floating things

We didn't see much wildlife at the beach, and most of what we did see was a long way away:

Day 11.320: What happens when...

...a snow day means your 11 year old is without his trumpet over the Thanskgiving break and there's another brass instrument in the house:

And yes - he managed a half-decent rendition of at least one of his current trumpet pieces.

Day 11.319: Floating islands

We know when we go to the coast in the winter, that the islands in the bay often appear to be floating in the air:

We also know that it is a mirage - the warm water, heats the air above it and reflects the sky like a mirror above the water. This is even more obvious when looking along the coast:

But knowing this doesn't make the sight any less magical:

Day 11.318: Morning walk on the beach

I'm not quite sure how, but I persuaded the kids - after our stay at home day yesterday - that we should get out of the house at 7:30 am to have a walk on the beach before the tide came in.

It was cold, but we had a very nice walk:

Choosing between walking on snow, soft-but-frozen-sand, ice-sheet or packed sand near the lazy waves:

The kids played a long game of who-knows-me-best:

After we got home, Exile #3 and I went back out to do some grocery shopping. When we got home it was still only mid-morning!

Day 11.317: Gaming Friday

We did not go out shopping on this Black Friday - in fact we did not go out at all. Instead, we stayed in did a few chores (homework etc.) and played some games.

Pictured is an epic game of Dragoon with a print-and-play expansion we are testing. Later we played Catan. Very unusually - even though Exile #4 was playing - I won both games!

In addition to all that, we had a chat with Exile #2, I cooked a meal and we made a plan to leave the house tomorrow - go us!

Day 11.316: Happy Thanksgiving

We missed Exile #2 and our original plans today, but instead the four of us made a salad and went to an excellent gathering with only two native born Americans - E5N1 and one of our hosts. The rest of us were immigrants of one kind or another - six from Africa and four from the UK. We had a great time.

Day 11.315: Snow falling out of trees

This morning, yesterday's snow was still clinging to the trees making southern Maine a magical place. Around lunchtime, the wind started to get up and this started happening:

Tonight and tomorrow are expected to be bitterly cold so I guess the snow (on the ground at least) is here to stay for a while.

Day 11.314: Snow day #2

Today was the second snow day of the school year. The fact that we have hit this milestone before Thanksgiving is extremely unusual and does not bode well for school finishing on time in June.

It was one of those days when it snows continuously for many hours - making everywhere look pretty, keeping the roads nasty but not amounting to much in terms of depth - a few inches but nothing too major.

Having said that, it's still November. I wonder what it will be like when winter arrives.

Day 11.313: Muddling along

With Exile #2 back in the UK with her mum and brother dealing with unhappy but necessary business matters, I am totally rocking things here. I made it to work for most of the day. The kids got to school, ate three meals (admittedly exclusively food provided by people other than me) and one of them got to a dance class.

And now I'm ready to go to bed:

Day 11.312: Does my coat look red in this?

We noticed in our very first winter here that the northern cardinals look very red when you see them in the monochrome world of a snowy winter. They seem to take the opportunity to perch on low branches and show themselves off against the snow.

Yesterday, E5N1 noticed a red fox doing something similar. Sadly, I didn't have my camera to hand, but if you watch this for when he moves, you'll see him even at phone resolution:

Not quite as showy as the cardinals, but a joy to see nevertheless.

Day 11.311: Also yesterday...snow!

Apart from the news from the UK, we also woke to this yesterday:

It didn't look like too much, but that was only because it was so heavy. It took a concerted effort of father and two teenage daughters to get the job done.

I could watch them do that all day.

Day 11.310: Then there are these days

I often grumble when I sit down to write a blog post that I have nothing to write about. Occasionally, I complain that I have too much material to sort through. Once in a while I can't find anything to complain about.

Then there are these days.

My father-in-law died today after a sudden illness. We will miss him a lot.

A happy memory from 2015

Day 11.309: Danger Confined Space...

Exile #4's eagle eyes - once used for finding wildlife on the trails, now most often used for locating bugs and spiders (usually moments before they meet a violent demise) - spotted this sign by the mill on Monday:

It reads, "DANGER - CONFINED SPACE NO PERMIT REQUIRED".

Presumably it would be less dangerous if a permit was required?

Day 11.308: Rapid trip to the mill

While E5N1 was getting ready for the parade, the rest of us walked down to the river at the mill where the rapids were looking quite exciting:

We couldn't stay long.

Day 11.307: More raking

Some of the fruits of our Sunday-afternoon labours:

Day 11.306: Veterans Day parade

The kids had a long weekend to observe Veterans Day and since E5N1 was having his first middle school band performance - marching in the parade - I took a half day to watch this morning.

It was a beautiful sunny morning - if a little chilly. They did a great job. Here's a taste:

Day 11.305: Exile #2's Sunday Column #228

Exile #2 writes...

As Exile #1 mentioned, we spent last night around a very cozy wood stove, in the company of assorted singers, musicians, and dogs to enjoy some singing. We breezed through all manner of folk songs and spirituals: This land is your land, Take me home country roads, If I had a hammer, When the saints go marching in - you get the picture. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I knew almost all of the songs, even if I hadn’t sung some of them since I was in school. A few of them I even remembered from the community singing book that used to sit on my Nan’s piano. Later in the evening, we were invited to share a song, and so we sang our new one about the shipwreck of the Annie MacGuire. It went down well, particularly, to my delight, with the dogs who howled along in the final section!


Today, we have “winterized” a little, putting away the lawnmower and outdoor furniture, and hauling out the snow shovels and snowblower. There is no imminent threat of snow for us at the moment, but the inland parts of Maine have already had some, so it may not be long.

Day 11.304: Even higher waters

It's slightly surprising that the river just above the mill changes level at all since the mill complex provides several weirs and falls to control the level. We have been having an excessive amount of rain though. The left picture below is from a week ago - taken because the level seemed extremely high. the right picture is from today.

Rain gave way to wind and we had a pretty quiet indoor day. This evening Exile #2 and I went to community singing event which was lots of fun.

Day 11.303: Deep in raking season

This was my near-dusk raking effort on Sunday evening:

I barely managed to get them hauled away while there was still enough light to do so.

Since then, we've had some more wet weather and then a hard frost last night that got more trees cutting their losses by dropping their leaves. On our walk this morning a couple of maple trees were dropping leaves at a rate of several per second as we walked under them. Unfortunately, it's currently pouring with rain again so we probably have a weekend of moving wet leaves ahead of us.

Day 11.302: But who was she?

I made an actual moving-picture video for the first track from our new collection of songs (regular readers may recognize the source of the moving pictures):


Potentially fun fact, the sounds at the beginning are the actual sounds from that part of the video.

Potentially fun activity: can you work out what the song is about?

Day 11.301: Goats in Space

Exile #3's illustration class are doing works on the subject of "Goats in Space" that will be sold at this charity event. We're really proud of her contribution!

I took this photo this afternoon while we were at the high school for fourteen back-to-back parent teacher conferences (seven for each of the girls). We saw two teachers twice (once for each of the girls), saw one for two classes (two subjects for Exile #3) and did not need to see anyone about how Exile #4's study hall (free block) is going. Both of the girls are doing great (and not just in art).