Ice Fishing,...

As soon as Lake Champlain and other Adirondack lakes freeze to a safe thickness the annual trek begins to catch a "mess" of fish. The fish most popular fish are either Smelt or Perch. Local organizations such as churches, fire departments or restaurants host fish frys. The small smelt are fried crisp and eaten complete with tails! Those are my favorites.

These photos were taken yesterday at Lake Champlain's South Bay just north of Whitehall, NY.

Some people fish from inside shantys complete with small stoves for heat. Circular holes are cut in the floor to match the holes cut in the ice. However these hardy folks were just sitting outside on pails. Fortunately the day was mild.

Christmas Village,...and More!

It's early Christmas Eve morning, a snowplow is making yet one more trip down the road outside. We're expecting a rather messy day for weather, but here in my livingroom things are cozy.

The houses and shops in my village are cheery with welcoming light shining from their windows. The "residential" area...

And the waterfront area, with the boat houses, charts and maps shop and the ice house.


A close-up of the dock with a fresh catch of lobster! That's a blue plastic bag under a pane of glass to make the water.
Over in the woods is the beaver pond,... deer are drinking and a beaver is swimming with a stick to patch his dam.

On the hill above the village is the sugar house. With a wood pile like that they will be able to boil down the sap and make lots of maple syrup!

Children are skating on the pond,...

Just beyond the skating pond this deer stands in the forest,... (made by one of my kids many years ago, I believe it was a craft project in 4-H)

Far away across the room this large polar bear is roaming around under my tree,... I guess Santa's sleigh was full this year and the polar bear needed to carry some extra gifts!

On the entertainment center are some precious memories. Many years ago when my kids were quite small they made these. Simple tuna fish cans with material scraps and little deer or elves and snowmen. Those "little" chilren are in their 40s now and I still put these out every year....

A favorite of my seven year old grandson is this animated Santa. He is very busy painting some toys that the elves have just built. The little kerosene lamp glows and his arm with the paint brush moves back and forth as it plays music.

So that is the "walking tour" of this Christmas village, and more! I hope that all of you out there have a wonderful Christmas! I'll be taking a couple days to spend with my family and also a friend who will be visiting. I'll see you again in a few days.

"One Shovel Full at a Time",...

One of my favorite North Country musicians is Roy Hurd. Roy has a great tune called "One Shovel Full at a Time" where he tells the story of shoveling snow during Adirondack winters. If you want to check out Roy's music go to CDs from his home page and the sixth one down on the display contains that song. The cd I own and play often is "Backwoods at Daybreak" which contains Roy's well known songs of "Dads and Daughters" (with his daughter Meadow Merry when she was little), "Backwoods at Daybreak" and "Adirondack Woman"...


This is my task for today... one shovel full at a time!

I choose to use an old shovel that belonged to my father. It's actually a scoop and I just push it along the deck floor like a snowplow.

Yesterday I received a tag from my Adirondack neighbor City Mouse-Country House. The game is for 7 weird or random things about yourself. I had received a tag last week so check this past Friday's blog entry here for my 7! And don't forget to visit City Mouse's blog, it's great reading. Also if you are looking for some dandy gift ideas, City Mouse's Etsy store, ADKknits has a great selection of scarves and hats.

The Snow Tree...

If you have little ones around your Christmas tree you might find this book fun. Written by Caroline Repchuk, and with amazing illustrations by Josephine Martin, it tells a story about Little Bear who wakes and the world had turned white! Not unlike the Adirondacks after two snow storms in three days!

Little Bear finds other animals in the forest going by carrying orange leaves from fall foliage, red berries from a tree, and even the blue jay was flying by carrying a few feathers...

Racoon digs through the snow and finds a few green shoots of grass,

After all the animals contributed natural items to the tree, it stood covered with color in the snowy, white world!

I bought this book when my grandchildren were little. I think the beautiful illustrations are what sold me on it. But the story is a great lesson about sharing. The back cover notes describe the book as "Lavishly embossed throughout, this book brings the frozen beauty of North America vividly to life, as we join Little Bear in his quest for color....a whole host of animals,....bring the colors of the forest to him, one by one, ...the beautiful Snow Tree. ...A delightful story of friendship, sharing and the appreciation of Nature's beauty."

Mother Nature...Second Round! ...

Here it is on "Snowy Sunday" again, and on their invitation, I've tried to post the animated snowstorm from Laurie and Chris's blog but as I'm tech-challenged the snow is suspended in mid-air!
After our big storm that began Friday mid-day, and didn't end until Saturday morning my world looked like this...

My driveway was plowed by late-afternoon on Saturday,... and early this morning I'm shoveling off my deck. What is this in the air? It's starting to snow again!

Yes, Virginia, there IS a snowstorm! It's starting all over again,... round two!

Snow!...

The Adirondacks are blanketed in snow, a lot of snow! It began this time about 2 p.m. yesterday. By my drive home from work yesterday I traveled approximately 25 mph and in 4 wheel drive the whole way. This morning it is still snowing lightly,... can you see a few flakes of white falling?


The view is veiled by falling snow and overcast skies...


What is this white monster outside my door?

Midnight thinks it's not a good idea to go out this morning, she's decided her emergency litter box will do just fine!

I think I'll just pour another cup of coffee, relax and enjoy the day wrapping Christmas gifts and maybe watch a movie!

Friday Friend,...and more!

Here it is Friday again! Today my "view" is looking south to visit fellow blogger Corin's

"A Walk in The Park"

Corin describes herself and her blog as follows...

"people question with a somewhat negative connotation why a 30-something, mother of two with a full time career would want to take on a 4,000 foot mountain..Umm, yeah 46 of them..anyway, it is called creating a little space in my extremely busy life that is just for me. and my dad cause he gets to do this with me. I have never viewed myself as anyone inspirational..unless you call motivating people to be law abiding inspirational? I hope my postings will show that it's okay to do something unexpected, for yourself and "just because".

So stop by and check out this young woman's take on life here in the Adirondack Park. I think you will enjoy her.

And now the "and more!" part of the post. Corin has tagged me for "7 Weird or Random" things about myself. Goodness where to begin! Here goes, not weird, but definitely random:

1. I like to eat bear! Being raised by a father who was a hunter, I grew up thinking that everyone ate venison, bear, partridge, etc.
2. I own every episode and all the follow-up movies for the Canadian tv series "North of 60."
3. About twice a year I have my favorite drink, ... "martini, extra dry, on the rocks, with a twist,...Tanguaray!"
4. I love high school basketball games.
5. I basically grew up in a rowboat on Lincoln Pond. My father gave me one of my own at a very early age, as soon as I proved that I could swim.
6. Favorite winter breakfast is cream of wheat with brown sugar.
7. I have been known to attend as many as eight different county fairs in one summer.

So there you have it Corin,... and now I'll tag:
Mountain Musings
Miss Flower
Cabin and Camp
Vintage Log Cabin
Miss Green Thumb Jean

Have fun!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree,...

A week ago a blog friend, Shelley from her log cabin in Michigan , featured a post about ornaments on her tree. I finally have my tree up and I thought I'd do the same.

First is my favorite, ...well my favorite this year, every year there seems to be one that tugs at my heart. This was made by a friend of mine, Lill. She's now passed away and so it is very special to me.


Next is my funniest, a gift from my oldest grandson many years ago,...

The oldest ornament on my tree belonged to my great-grandmother...It's glass, with silver on it, and very fragile...

The greenest is this photo ornament of that same grandson when he was about three years old. He's now in college!

The reddest is a pair of mittens made by my daughter when she was a very little girl. She is now 46!

The most memorable is this gift from a co-worker several years ago. It is actually an egg shell! She made them herself and I always am so glad when it survives another year!

The tree-topper is "Angie the Angel"... my mother and father bought her for my first Christmas tree back in 1942. I made her a new dress about 15 years ago,... after 50 years she deserved a new dress!...

And the tree, waiting for me to wrap gifts and place them under...

And of special note, this plastic decoration from a Woolworth's 5&10 cent store more than 40 years ago always has a place of honor. When my two oldest were little tots their father took them shopping and this was my gift from them!

What are your favorites?

Snowy Sunday!

That's Dix in the distance all covered with snow,... and my own pine trees in front of my deck making the "frame"...

Snowy Sunday posts originated on a fellow blogger's site:

http://miss-flower.blogspot.com/

You will enjoy her great background music to get you in the spirit of the season!

I Sent a "Thanks!"...

Xerox has a program where you can send email greetings to our troops. I have added a "widget" to the side of my blog and will leave it there during the holiday season. No matter our opinions on the political topic of engaging our troops, we need to support the men and women who are far from home.

This has circulated at my workplace and a blogger friend City Mouse did a post on this yesterday. I think it's a great idea. To send your email card just click in the artwork section on the widget to the left. It will open a new tab behind this page, click on that new tab at the top and choose your card!

And why not check our my new "Friday Friend" which will become a weekly sharing of blog sites that I enjoy. I'll start with my friend City Mouse...

http://citymousecountryhouse.blogspot.com/



Of course I realize it is now Saturday,.... but anyway,... Enjoy!

P.S......

And by 4 p.m. this afternoon,... our valley is ready for a "White Christmas"...

That's all there is!...

We only got 5" of snow, not enough for a snow day off from school.

And I was going to put up my Christmas tree today! Oh well,... my lunch is packed, out the door I go!

Winter Storm Warning,...

A quote from the web page of WPTZ-tv,... looks like it's going to get messy!

"Winter storm warning in effect from 4 pm this afternoon to 4 pm est Friday, The NWS in burlington has issued a winter storm warning for heavy snow and sleet for essex county new york, as well as central, north central and northeastern vermont. This warning is in effect from 4 pm this afternoon to 4 pm est Friday. The winter storm watch is no longer in effect. 6 to 12 inches of snow with some sleet accumulation are expected in the warning area by Friday afternoon."

I wonder if we'll have a "snow day" and be home from school tomorrow?

Snoozy Saturday!...

Although today started out bright, it is now overcast. The temperature is at 24°. Obviously it is a better day to stay inside, and snooze in the chair here next to mine. This is "Midnight".... or as I call her, "Middy".... she allows me to live here with her and to pay all the bills!

'Tis the Season!...

Basketball season, that is! This is my granddaughter's third year playing high school basketball. I go to most of her games. So far this year they have a record of 1-1. We believe the win column will be much larger as the season goes on.

Go ladies!

Snow on the Bog,...

When visiting in Tupper Lake on Saturday we made a side trip to the Bog River Falls. In any season it's one of Mother Nature's most beautiful places. After a fresh snow it seemed especially magical!
Looking up-river from the bridge...

Turning to look the other direction from the bridge over the Bog River,... we see camps on Tupper Lake.

If you wish to go, travel south from the village of Tupper Lake via Rt 30, then a short way after a right turn onto Rt. 421. You won't be disappointed!