Vacation!

Well, it's officially vacation week! I was fortunate to already earn some vacation time at work, so Michael and I have been able to enjoy a week of summer festivities together.

Our first order of business was the movies. We went to Bridgton to see Grown Ups on Saturday. Usually I find Adam Sandlers movies too silly to pay ticket prices for, but this one was actually pretty funny. While in Bridgton, we discovered that the holiday fireworks were on the third, so we hung around town until dark and watched the show. For a small town, the fireworks display was pretty good!

Sunday was hang around the house and do a whole lot of not much until the afternoon. then it was off to the Eastern Prom in Portland for the big fireworks show and the Portland Symphony Orchestra concert. This year the evening was paid for by private funding instead of by the city. There were vendors selling all kinds of food, things that glow, and lots of fundraising for next year. We arrived at about 6pm to join the crowd of thousands and make sure we got a spot to sit. I brought my drop spindle with me so I could get some spinning done, we had plenty of munchies, and Michael and Grandma got to go check out the emergency preparedness situation. Fireworks started at 9:35 and continued until well after 10pm. What a show! After the grand finale, the crown packed up and we started the mass exodus off the hillside. Fireworks began to randomly shoot off again, one of a time. A firetruck broke through the crowd, lights and sirens blaring. A truck carrying extra fireworks was accidentally lit on fire during the show, and the extra fireworks at the end of the show were the result of a truck burning to a crisp.

Monday brought a day with Michael and his friend Logan. We hit the road early and headed off to the Dig For Gems place in Woodstock. They have truckloads of dirt delivered from a local mine. You can buy a bucket, dig off the piles where ever you'd like, and they provide you with the equipment to screen the dirt yourself. They also provide some help with identification and a fun way to get dirty. Our big finds of the day included a gem quality piece of smokey quartz and a perfectly formed quartz crystal about an inch and a half long. We also found lots of small pieces of green tourmaline, a few chips of beryl, and a bunch of garnets. After our treasure hunt, we were off to Michael's favorite places to eat in Bethel- Hot Taco and DiCocos. Full of tacos and brownies, we headed back home where the boys decided to go mountain biking up the trail past our house. About half an hour later, Michael called to tell me Logan had flipped his bike and there were some guys on four wheelers that were giving them a ride out of the woods... and I should have some first aid stuff ready. Logan had already taken a bad spill on his bike a few days before, so he re-injured all the injuries and added some new battle scars to his collection as well. The boys figured it was safer to stay home and play video games after that.

After returning Logan to his mom, not quite in the condition we borrowed him that morning, Michael and I decided to check out the town beach. It was small and not very beachy, but refreshing. And despite the "No Dogs Allowed" sign, we were joined by a Lhasa mix, an Australian Shepherd, and two Germain Shorthaired Pointers.

Today we are off to the ocean- not a bad plan since it was already 80 degrees here at 8am...

Boston or Bust

Every year, Michael's school sends the fifth grade classes on an annual trip to Boston. Lucky for us, Michael happens to be in fifth grade this year, and we were both able to make the trip! Our adventure began with meeting at the school at 5:40 AM. We were able to ride down on charter buses thanks to the kids great fundraising instead of school buses, which was definitely great. Off we went at 6 AM to reach our destination at 9. Our drive, both down and back, were uneventful... going to Boston, you never know if this will be the case!

Our first order of business was a Duck Tour. Amphibious vehicles are driven around the city of Boston, and the tour guide is well versed in all the great history of the city so you learn a lot. The kids had been studying Colonial America, so there were a lot of places they saw that they had studied recently. Then we drove into the Charles river, where the kids got to drive in the water for a bit before we returned to land.

After a quick lunch break, we enjoyed a movie about Antarctica at the IMAX theater. For anyone who has not had the pleasure of viewing a movie in an IMAX theater, the movie is projected on a jumbo dome shaped screen so the movie seems to surround you. The kids thought it was awesome, and I know a lot of the parents did, too!

The science museum was next. As almost every kid had at least one parent with them, Michael and I were able to go off and look at all our favorites. We watched the electricity demonstration, checked out the natural history displays, visited the animals, and made sure to pop into the butterfly garden. The butterflies really loved our orange shirts, and we had several come and check us out.

After a great adventure and a visit to the gift shop, we headed back to the school. Our stop along the way led us to discover a great "fast food" restaurant in Portsmouth that had the best Mango smoothies... we opted for real food instead of McDonald's for dinner.

Home at last, Michael was exhausted and even climbed into bed early. Me too! Nothing like a day with 60 5th graders to wear you out!

Michael made the news

On one of our trips up to Sunday River this weekend, Michael and I encountered a channel 8 news crew filming all the people enjoying the multiple feet of new snow we had over the past week. The camera man filmed Michael strapping onto his board and taking off down the mountain, which they used at the beginning of this video http://www.wmtw.com/news/22699870/detail.html

The picture with this post was from February Vacation week, where Michael taught himself to grind a rail. He also taught me to do a land 180, a land 360, an ollie, and to ride a box. I taught myself that my snowboard likes to stay comfortably resting in the snow and not flying through the air. It keeps my head from hitting the ground...

Maple Time!!!

Well, the end of ski season is approaching... how do we know? Well, the sap is starting to run. And seeing as we live in the middle of the woods, I figured Michael and I would have some fun making maple syrup this year. I have 30 spiles, and am working on rounding up jugs to capture the sap. I did spring for 10 used buckets and covers, which I used the other day. I made my first round to the buckets last night to gather sap and poured about 2 gallons into a storage jug. The plan is to get a fire going in the stone stove out on the patio and boil the sap down out there when we're not snowboarding. Hoping to have lots of mapley goodness very soon!

Winter Fun!

Even though we haven't had much

snow up here in northern New England, Charles, Michael, and I have been making the most of it! We have hit the slopes at Sunday River every chance we get, and Saturday was no exception. Charles worked teaching kids to ski all day, Michael had an all day class with David, and I tried to get my mojo back while riding with my glasses on- yikes!

Michael's class started off with a group of 5 or 6 experienced riders (the term used for what you do on a snowboard) that were 7-14 years old. They were evaluated for their abilities and spent the morning working on some technical skills like working on turns, turning on the snowboard on the snow (180's and 360's), and other control techniques. The afternoon was the fun part, with just Michael and one other classmate. They learned to do ollies (jumping off flat ground), buttering (like a wheelie with the front of the board), and riding the box. The box is a large, long wooden platform that you slide across on your board. The trick is that you usually ride your board with one of the edges cutting into the snow- if you do this on the box, you flip over. I got a chance to see his skills after the class and got the picture in this post. After that, we finished the run down the trail by riding across the top of the half pipe. Michael is super excited to take another class, which looks like it will be next Thursday. Wednesday, I might try to ride the box...

Another Sad Farewell

Last weekend, our dear Tinkerbell left us at the ripe old age of pushing 16. Tink was the last of a line of dogs that Charles raised on Frost Hill, and Tink was his favorite. Her sweet disposition and love for anybody or anything made her name so appropriate in spite of her large size. Tink had grown weary in the past year, opting to say goodbye to us at the door instead of coming for rides, but was always happy to see us when we returned. She spent her time speaking to the pups and trying, in her own sweet way, to keep them in line. And she never stopped smiling...

Tink, we hope that peace and love finds you now that you have joined your pack once again. You will forever have a place in the hearts of all who knew you.

Happy Birthday Charles

Well, the title about says it all! Unfortunately, Charles had to work today at Sunday River, but that left me home to cook the cake he really wanted to try this year- a Chocolate Stout cake.

I haven't sampled the finished product yet, although I did try the Sam Adams Cream Stout that I used for the cake... and have affirmed that I am NOT a beer drinker. The rest of the recipe involves a lot of chocolate, a lot of sugar, and a lot of butter, and the batter was quite tastey. So it was baked, it was cooled, and it was frosted and garnished, and I am waiting patiently for the birthday boy to arrive so we can have it for supper!

For those of you who would like to see the recipe, here's the link

http://thebittenword.typepad.com/thebittenword/2009/03/chocolate-stout-cake-revisisted.html

He's home! Off to eat!

Presents!!!

ahhh, favorite gifts! Michael received the Tony Hawk Ride game for Wii, which he can now play where ever he's staying. That kid on the skateboard is Michael, who is going for the skater look this year in a big way. He's got the hair in his eyes, the knit hats, the skater tees, and took to the Tony Hawk game like he'd been playing all his life. I did try it- it's a bit like snowboarding, so the steering wasn't that bad for me... if you see me play games that require steering, you would know that's a major accomplishment! And how did we know this was his favorite gift? He slept with the skate board controller in bed with him... but don't worry- he had his new night vision goggles in there, too, so he could see where it was!

The other picture is of two handmade drop spindles Charles put together for me. With my silly obsession with spinning, this is a great way to throw a small project in my bag for when I'm on the go without having to pack and unpack my spinning wheel. And as you can see, they work!

Holiday news

Well, the crazy month of December is almost over, and I'm sure we are all a little poorer! Christmas day was actually not as crazy as usual for me, and Charles was working at Sunday River. He's attempting to keep the attention of a few bored little kids who just want to strap on skis and go down the mountain. I headed out to do farm chores for tow of our farm sitting clients, and off to town to pick up Michael. Then we headed to work at Petco. The problem with a pet store is that the merchandise needs constant maintenance! We met Renee there at the store and spent about an hour and a half spreading Christmas Cheer to the critters that didn't go to new homes for the holidays. Then off to Grandmas for the traditional holiday pig out. Spiral ham, Delmonico potatoes, Grams rolls, sweet potatoes, and yummy roasted veggies. Followed by lots of desserts, of course! We did practice a little self control by waiting a fair amount of time before digging into the dessert.

After opening gifts, playing games, and Charles arriving for leftovers, we were off to farms again and then home for Christmas at our house. Because Charles celebrates Hanukkah, I get him a gift for his holiday, and he gets me a Christmas present. We have a Hanukkah shrub in the living room, and Santa brings us all stockings. With building the house, we've opted not to go crazy with stuff for ourselves over the holidays, but Michael made out with a Wii and some cozy sweatpants among other things. All in all, not that hectic- can you believe it?

epic fail

well, with everybodys job changes and the holidays, I am sad to say that the wolf mountain blog has been sadly neglected :o(

so without further adieu, I bring you Decembers updates!

More exciting News!

We're just full of pictureless news this week...

Charles has been hired by Sunday River to be a ski instructor this winter. He'll be teaching 7-14 year old kids every weekend and all the vacation weeks, and I'm sure he'll be picking up whatever else he can during the week. We're all excited because if he's not working in the winter, he ends up there anyway. Now he gets paid to be there!

Quick Announcement

Sorry- no pictures for this one. However, I am pleased to announce that I am the new Companion Animal Manager at Petco in Auburn!!! The stars lined up with this job interview, and I am very excited to be able to go back to doing what I love AND getting paid for it. This will also mean less driving, being in a town where I know people and where I'm going, and none of the crazy midnight and o'dark thirty work schedules. Westbrook has been fun, but I was due for a change, and this job is like my dream job. So I hope to at least see some of you there soon :-)

Spooktacular Dinner

So, this halloween dinner seems to be a developing family tradition right up there with Thanksgiving...

We enjoyed a delicious Halloween dinner in Bolsters Mills this year with a rather repulsive sounding (but totally delicious) menu. The table was adorned in orange, the feetloaf (aka meatloaf) sat bleeding in it's pan, and the traditional "Grams Rolls" were served (hmmm..... someone seems to have cut themselves while preparing the dough...). There were toasty buzzards feet (chicken drumsticks artfully sliced to allow all the meat to be peeled to the bottom of the bone for toes), crisp cucumbers with snails (pictured above), and bubbling potato volcano. And for desert, Michael and I baked up a batch of witches fingers. Although there were few trick or treaters, we all enjoyed plenty of food and a movie after.

Have you herd about Michaels story he has been working on at school? It is called the Italian Job. IT is awesome.The characters are JAKOB, MICHELLE(MI-SH-EL),DANIEL,AND KACEE.

School's Out For Winter

Yes that's right- winter. And that's dog school. Charles managed to get as picture himself with Desi at dog class in Naples. We've finally found a dog trainer that gets Desi's breed and isn't intimidated by him, so they've been going to Amys classes for two summers. Amy runs Boulder Ridge Kennels in Otisfield and breeds Mastiffs. She also has been really good about not reacting to Desi's rabid dog immitation that he does when either I or Michael is around. Neither does anyone else in the class, mostly because this class is geared toward dogs that are "reactive" in different situations. By reactive, I mean act like an idiot. Desi's previous class instructor didn't get this behavior, and it made other people with rude dogs in the class nervous so he was asked to leave instead of dealing with the issue. In this class, all these dogs and hmans get together and do things like go out for ice cream, go to the beach or the park, walk up and down the causeway, and encounter other people, dogs, and all sorts of situations. Desi, I am please to say, has been an almost perfect gentleman. He still has issues with the rest of his pack being around and his need to defend us from almost everything, but he is learning that when he's on the leash and we're out in public, we can handle ourselves without his help. And should we ever be in a true situation where somone should try to do something to one of us, we have the utmost confidence that Desi will scare the life out of them.

Belated Birthday

Michael had almost a month of birthday parties this year. One of the few benefits of having his parents divorced and remarried, I suppose. We had Michaels friends over this year for a party he pretty much planned himself. Luck, Gem, Xavier, and Michael enjoyed the festivities that included hiking with Uncle Ricky, making pizza, lots of chocolate cake, and tye dying tshirts. Everyone left with leftovers and t shirts and had a good time. When Michaels cake came out, the boys got Michaels keyboard out and they all played and sang happy birthday... wonder if they'll start a band.

I'd like to say thank you to my mom who was kind enough to bake a cake and design the ferrari logo for the top of it out of sculptable chocolate (who knew there was such a thing???). Also thank you to Uncle Ricky and Grampa Dude for helping out at the party.

We have...

a basement! Our floor was poured, and the walls and "roof" are being finished. Plans are to button it up for the winter and start work on the main floor in the spring. For all of you who like the details, the concrete floor is set up for radiant floor heat (zip tied a lot of the tubing myself). Dimensions are 30X40 feet, with the long side facing south. One short side is designed so that we can install two patio doors on the end, as well as one around the corner. There will also be a window or two, plumbing is in for a bathroom, and we plan to be able to live in it if need be. Eventually we will have a den/library type room, a place for the dogs to be going in and out of their pen when we're not home, a bathroom with a walk in shower/dog wash and a laundry room down there.

Our friends Kevin (with Calico, his dog), and Phil are helping Charles with the labor part of the framing while his friend Nick has taken the job of technical advisor. It's nice to have such handy friends!

More house pictures soon...

Desi's best buddy

Well, it's time for another introduction... Meet Milo, Desi's kitten. Yes, our big dog has his own kitten. Started out as a joke really. Charles and I joked about Desi needing his own kitten after he took to putting our friends cat in his mouth. The cat really didn't seem to mind, and it was kind of funny. So, when I brought home a kitten from someone at work, it became the dogs. Milo has pretty much grown up in Desi's mouth, getting wet and sticky and loving every minute of it. Milo frequently sleeps on our bed with his head hanging over the bed while Desi sleeps on the floor beneath.

A Sad Farewell

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Catapult. For those of you who came to see me in my shop, he was the true owner of the place. After being thrown from a moving vehicle and rescued from a local shelter by myself and my friend Betty in 1997, Catapult made himself at home at The Little Jungle until it's closing in 2005. After that, he resided with Charles, Michael, and I in our home and with his cat, Peekaboo. Catapult adopted Peekie and her sister Hoppy from a feral colony in Lovell. And although Hoppy went on to join Betty's family, Peekie remained his constant companion. 'Pult was as patient and pleasant as could be for a cat. He put up with animals and people parading in and out of the store, rescued cats, little kids, and so much more. He could be demanding of his dinner, and towards the end of his life, spent time sharing supper with our old dog, Tinkerbell. Cancer was his last battle, causing him to become thin and frail. But he still found our lap, loved Peekie, and demanded dinner until the very end. He will be greatly missed, but in our hearts, we know he has joined his many animal friends long since gone.

Peace be with you in your eternal catnip patch, old friend...

Latest Addiction

CORESPUN YARN!!!

(sorry- had to yell)

So this had become my latest passion. A corespun yarn uses a core thread, yarn, string, or wire. You spin your fiber around this core, which makes the fibers twist perpendicular to the core material. This is a great way to

show off the materials in a batt of fiber that has a lot of different fibers, texture and such in it. So far all my corespun yarns have been made with string, but I'm itching to try spinning on wire soon. This particular yarn was spun using batts from a mini batt swap with Natasha from Gritty Knits.

And of course, all the yarn has so far ended up at my moms as it probably should be knit into something and I'm not getting a lot of that done!

I should also say that VelmaLikeVelvet from Ravelry gets the credit for all this corespinning excitement because she posted a cool instructional video on how to do this on YouTube. Thanks Velma!