Sunrise...

I took this from my front step this morning...

Mr. Piggie

Here is a picture of my son with the pig that he caught at the fair. Piggies love to be scratched!

Water Dog

This is our black lab, Daisy. She was the star of my very first post on this blog last winter! She's grown a whole lot since then, 90 pounds at her vet visit last week!! I had just filled this water tub for the chickens & geese, but she can never resist even the smallest amount of water, so she climbed right in! Today, she is the happiest dog in the world - all this flooding is awesome, as far as she's concerned...

The Deck

It's probably a good thing that this ISN'T my house - I would never want to leave that deck!

Haley

Remember my 'Partner in Crime', Haley? Besides car rides, she LOVES to go trail riding with me. Here she is in the woods, where she runs circles around us, checking out every single scent! You can almost hear her, "Hurry up, will you?!" She wears a perpetual smile.

When we have to travel along a road, I tell her "Heel!" and she tucks herself right in beside Tillie.

When I'm riding Kitch or Lily, she'll actually put her nose right into their tail and walk directly behind. Unfortunately, she had an accident with Tillie last spring and doesn't trust her anymore. I can't blame her and am so proud of her for trusting me enough that she'll travel this closely for safety sake. I would HATE for her to get hit by a car, and if she wouldn't perform this trick for me when I ask for it, then she wouldn't be able to go on these adventures with me anymore. That would just be too sad. Actually, considering her injury last spring, no one can believe that she CAN do these adventures anymore! For an almost 12 year old dog to heal from that severe an injury is almost unheard of - she's quite amazing!!

Bird's Eye View

The birds that eat at this feeder are sitting on some prime real estate. Unfortunately, the feeder is in front of a summer camp up on Ellis Road, so they don't get fed in the winter. I can't imagine it gets very much business during the summer months when there is plenty to eat in the woods?

From this vantage point, we are looking at the Southern part of West Paris...

Layers

I love this shot because of all the different layers...the trees framing it, the woods, the hills and the mountains...I took it just to the left of yesterday's house...simply by turning Tillie around...She was reasonably cooperative, although definitely in "Okay, Mom, we've been out here for hours and I'm ready to go back to my hay now!" mode...

This view is for sale!

The house isn't anything to write home about, but if you're in the market for a 'fixer-upper' with some amazing scenery, drop me a line...

No, I'm NOT the realtor! ;-) If you look really closely, you can see Moose Pond amongst all the red trees. This is the same spot that I took yesterday's photo from, but with a wide angle view. This scenery, which always seems to pop out unexpectedly, is why we moved up here 4 years ago. I really love these mountains!!

Moose Pond from Above

So, yesterday my husband said to me, "Honey, you know we all love Moose Pond, right? But, it's been a week. Don't you think you should post some pictures of something else?" I said, "Fine!", saddled up my horse, packed my camera in a saddle bag and set off to find something else in town to photograph. How's this? Moose Pond from up on Tuelltown Road...hee! hee!

Barn

I love this old barn that you can see from Moose Pond. It has recently had some TLC put into it, which is so nice to see. So many of the old barns are just being allowed to fall in because it costs too much money to maintain them...

Clouds

It was a gorgeous day, weather-wise and the reflection of the clouds on the water was spectacular!

Red Canoe

I love the color of my parents' canoe! It really stands out on the water. Look at the gorgeous scenery...wouldn't you like to live in that farmhouse that overlooks the pond?

Birthday wishes...

I'm not saying my boys always get what they ask for, but when it's feasible, we do our best. As I mentioned the other day, our youngest asked for everyone to go fishing with him on Moose Pond for his birthday. So, we piled a bunch of family members into 3 canoes & 4 kayaks and headed out for a couple of hours on the water. It was a great time and he thoroughly enjoyed it!

Kayaking on Moose Pond

Another one of my nephews enjoying a beautiful day on the water...

Up Close & Personal!!

Before he tossed him back into the water, my husband let our nephew meet the Large-mouth Bass that he had caught...

Reflection

We went paddling on Moose Pond again this Saturday for my son's birthday. I saw this reflection in the water and liked the way the clouds looked...

Soooo sleepy...

Poor Kitchy is all tuckered out...now that the weather is cooling off, the horses are much more active...I hope he gets to take a nap today!

Go get 'em!!

Just imagine chaos for a minute...now imagine someone letting loose 10 baby pigs and sending twelve 6 & 7 year-old kids after them...hilarious chaos!! Good country fun!! Yesterday, one of those kids was my youngest son and he caught one!! He has added another critter to our farm and we couldn't be more proud. (FYI: the pig's name is 'Bacon'.) This was his last chance at the Pig Scramble since today is his 8th birthday. Happy birthday, little buddy!!

Staghorn Sumac

Here is another edible fruit. (I had no idea until I researched it for the blog!) According to several sources, you can use these fruits to make a lemonade type drink, and also use them as a lemony spice. I always thought they were just good for birds and wildlife. Learn something every day!!

Happy birthday, J!

Grapes

They're just beginning to change color...and no, I have no idea what variety they are - they were already here when we bought the property...I just wish there were enough to make wine...

Blue Berries

But not 'Blueberries', so we didn't eat any of them. I'm really leery of eating anything in the woods, unless I know exactly what it is. So, no, Jim, we didn't eat any of those pretty red berries from yesterday's post. Can anyone identify these berries?

Red Berries

We saw these berries during the short hike that we took on Sunday. They were definitely photo worthy with that wonderful color! Anyone know what they are?

See ya lata, Kitch...

On the way to the bus stop this morning, my youngest stopped to visit his horse...

(Those sparklies in the photo? BUGS!!)

Another tree hugging kid!

I snapped this photo today because it reminded me of this photo from last spring. However, this time, the kid featured is my nephew, leaning over to see how high the water in the Little Androscoggin River was after the heavy, heavy rains last night. The water level is way up today! And the current is really strong too - it's definitely a rushing river!

More scenery...

From the Pinnacle - looking West...

Scenic Vista

From the Pinnacle - looking East...

Mist rising...

They were still catching fish when it started to rain. Before I put the camera back into the waterproof bag, I just had to get a shot of the mist rising off the surrounding hillsides. The boys thought it looked like smoke from a volcano. (I'm glad that it wasn't!) Then, we started paddling for shore - FAST! We ended up getting soaked, but with all 4 of us paddling, we were able to create quite a wake. The boys were laughing hysterically! What an adventure!!

The fish were biting...

Boy, were they ever! My husband hates this picture, for obvious reasons, but just look at our youngest's face as he is reeling in his first Pumpkinseed Sunfish!! And the fish is gorgeous!! Dad had only just tossed back a small bass. Between the 2 of them they caught several fish (pickerel, bass & sunfish) during the hour we were on Moose Pond. The pond is not stocked, MB, but it sure does have a lot of native fish in it! My parents had been there before we moved up to this area and they remembered having the same luck - catching lots and lots of fish. What fun!

Moose Pond Boat Launch

Now that the boys are so interested in fishing, we are discovering all the great ponds that are nearby. This one is just up the street. I can't believe that some of the foliage is already changing! No! It's too soon!! ;-) Although it sure is pretty...

Which way did they go?

This morning the boys got up really early to head down to the brook. The trout are abundant right now, but not biting. They spent a couple of hours yesterday morning interviewing the fishing experts at LL Bean, trying to find out what lures would be irresistible. When Dad went out to check on them, he saw that we had a heavy dew overnight, and they left a trail...