Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good morning everyone. This blog is way too long so you unless you have 2 minutes you may as well just skip to the last paragraph. It took three days but we are finally all dug out. We plowed and shoveled for several hours on Monday and then plowed and shoveled out the neighbors. The weight of the snow snapped limbs off trees everywhere and branches that are normally out of reach arched into the roadways making a snowy slalom course for cars and trucks. Wednesday after an early morning trip helping a neighbor take her pigs to market I borrowed her bucket loader and spent the rest of the day moving snow banks. One resultant bank is about 7 feet tall and 10 feet thick. For those of you sailing with us this summer our kids will have genuine organic homemade Maine snowballs for sale. Please don’t be confused by cheap imitations you might see on TV. One frequent flyer here on the blog recently wrote a moving comment about caring for our one and only planet. Now I am not here to talk ...

Good morning everyone. Please be patient while we dig out from yet another snowstorm that has us buried. Even the birds need to shovel their way to breakfast. The blue jays with their very large beaks shovel a path for the waiting nuthatches. This is the second storm in the last week although this 12” of snow is much lighter than the last 7" of what can only be described as cement. I will keep this quick as the lights have been blinking. The weight of the snow on the branches causes tree limbs to lean heavily on the wires. We have listened to the rumble of snow sliding off the tin roof all night long. It is all beautiful in a wintry sort of way but does cause us to shift priorities on a morning like this. Thoughts of summer sailing adventures are in our hearts but the present is calling in the door yard. This is a good morning for blueberry pancakes from the wood cookstove. Then again... what morning isn't? Have a great day. Be well Do good.

Good morning everyone. A mid-winter thaw has come to Camden, Maine. The temperatures have been up in the 30s for the last week. We even had rain last Thursday. I for one am not ready to see the snow go away. The bees in our field have been taking advantage of the warm weather to clean house. Bee scat and bee carcasses stain the snow all around the hives. This last week I have been working in the barn repairing hatches and skylight screens. My dear friend Bruce is a master machinist and has been helping set up a small lathe that I found on the side of the road. With any luck and a lot of patience on Bruce’s part I am looking forward to machining new bearings for some of the blocks and might even try my hand at making a marlinspike. To see what Bruce can do with a spinning piece of metal is pretty darn cool. Like any master, he just has a way with his medium that is inspirational. If you don't believe me try it yourself. The ice during this warm weather has finally begun bre...

Good morning and a Happy Valentine’s Day to all! Although it’s not a surprise to anyone, chocolate aboard the Mary Day is a weekly (daily, for some) treat. Mary makes the best chocolate desserts by far and we seem to never tire of them. With much research done this winter we have come up with a new recipe to add to Mary’s repertoire…. and we’re willing to give you a sneak peek, or taste, as to what you may find aboard this summer. It’s a chocolate covered brownie, filled with chocolate chips….ooo, la, la…. It is simply divine and easy to make! We’ve made it this week in honor of Valentine’s Day. We’d love to share with you, however chocolate in this house, as aboard Mary Day, doesn’t last long. Try a batch, let us know what you think and savour every bite! Brownies fit for a King ¾ cup sugar 1/3 cup butter 2 Tablespoons water 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (divided) 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs ¾ cup flour ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda 2 Tablespoons shortening 4 chocolate ba...

Good morning everyone. Happy Ground Hogs Day to all. If today’s forecast comes true folklore tells us we will see an early spring here in our neighborhood. What does the groundhog say about your weather forecast? We start a new month, albeit a short one but a month in which we gain an emotionally crucial 1 hour and 13 minutes of light. By months end the sunrise will be at 0620, a full 37 minutes ahead of this morning. Jen and I were shocked how light it was so early yesterday even though it was overcast. So while the weather is one thing we spend much time talking about the light is what really makes the psychic difference here. One of the things you will find me talking about in blogs, especially in summer, is seals. We have more lousy, unfocused pictures of little black dots on the ledges and every one of them makes me smile. Each picture reminds us how delighted we are to see seals. Harbor seals (phoca vitulina) are the most common seal here in Maine and their numbers have gr...