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Hi, folks!

I hope you all are well and enjoying the start of autumn!

I can't believe Renee is in First Grade! She loves school and I'm glad!

First day of School

Autumn officially started: Friday September 22nd- but with the weather we've been having it looks like it'll be a little bit longer until the seasons really change.

We've been enjoying spending time with family and friends.

My handsome man: "Uncle Mo" and nephew "Ri" 2 months post surgery. Nothing's getting in his way!

We visited Boston Children's Hospital while my nephew was recovering from his third (and hopefully his last) Open Heart Surgery. We got there and he was sooooo happy to have another kid to play with and some fresh faces. It was heart wrenching: he wanted so badly to go home with us, to be at home with his Mom and dogs.

Fall

Fall is my favorite season! When the weather gets a little cooler, animals and pets tend to be a little more feisty :)

Fryeburg Fair, Maine

I'll be headed to the Freyburg Fair again this year. If you're planning a trip to New England for leaf peeping, October should be beautiful in color and temperature!

We'll see you next year, Orlando!

Vacation Postponed: Disney 2017

So... with the start of Kindergarten for our daughter and so much going on lately. Hubby has been busy working long days, as has my Mom. Both were having difficulty finding time in their schedule to take vacation time. We decided it was best to postpone our trip to Orlando till next year.

The picture below is a black and white photo (after a wet accumulation of snow). It's not uncommon in Central Maine. Where I live at the base of the mountains, we typically get more snow than 10 miles away in town.

A back road in rural Maine. Photo Credited: fineartamerica.com

January or February in Maine, particularly if it gets snowy and cold can give you the winter blues and make most anyone a little stir-crazy. So, I really don't mind. I'm definitely up for a warm weather getaway when it's snowy and cold here.

A little more time to: Save, Plan and Prepare!

This Crowd Calendar is great for planning! Thanks to Undercovertourist.com

After researching we found some of the best times to visit Disney and Orlando based on the weather is not necessarily September as it tends to be rainy and thunderstorms are not uncommon either. Something we'd rather avoid.

According to The Undercover Tourist, The very best times to visit Disney World in 2017 are ...

• Jan. 9-13, Jan. 18-31
• Feb. 1-16, Feb. 27-March 2
• The second half of August
• Most days in September
• Most weekdays in October
• Weekdays in November (minus the week of Thanksgiving)
• Weekdays in December (minus the week of Christmas and New Year's Eve)

Orlando: we'll see you soon!

For more information on the Best Times to visit Disney World visit The Undercover Tourist, and tell them I sent you ;)

Dear Mother Nature: Bring on Spring!

I woke up at 5 a.m. to a robo-dial from our local school to say school was cancelled, then a text message, 2 emails and another phone call. Thank you! I got the message loud and clear.

Playing outside!

Lola, our Pomeranian

Here in Maine we have Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and arguably the fifth season "Mud Season". I thought we were entering mud season as nearly all the snow had gone. This past weekend Renee was riding Dan, an older pony, and a kids 4 wheeler all over the place at her grandfather's.

Her first time riding all by herself. Renee and Dan

Just this past weekend Dan took off at a trot, ending in a bouncy ride with a fall in the mud. Oops!

The winter has been mild and the frost isn't as deep as it has been in past years. My fiancee is a Plumber's Apprentice, working for his Father and they do a lot more than dealing with sewage. When they dig up sewer lines, broken pipes and the like they oftentimes find the frost-line. Some places it's only 4 inches, other places it's been a foot.

We did not get to go ice fishing this year. The ice was too thin and the shacks on the river were pulled off so the shacks wouldn't sink, risking losing them to the waters and their owners being fined. We're used to hearing the neighbors snowmobiling up and down the roads or in the trails behind our house, even that was short lived, as they were limited to a few weeks.

Example of a Robin. Photo credit: www.wivelsfieldschool.org

My mother always said the first signs of spring were when you see the Robins. Today there were over 100 cancellations all over the state. I hope those robins she saw found a warm place to hunker down. When I brought the dogs and my daughter outside to play today, the ground was covered in a blanket of snow and sleet- perfect for snow-tubing; but, treacherous for drivers. The town's snowplows and sanders have been out in force.

Lola and JD love the snow: Playing just like 2 kids!

Dear Mother Nature:

Please bring on Spring! We've had a mild Winter here in Maine, but the shift from 50's and sunny to below freezing the next week and snowy is just crazy! It's hard on the wildlife and the people, especially the small ones who adore you.

Sincerely,
Our Nature-Loving Family

In the meantime we can dream of warm spring days, when the frost and snow are all gone. We're looking forward to a successful vegetable garden and adding a few more perennials to the flower beds that border our house this year.

Update: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts an Early End to Winter!

Good news for those looking forward to an early Spring. Gardening, flowers and all those things that come with spring. Phil Predicted the end to Winter!

Punxsutawney Phil Predicts an early end to winter. (The Weather Channel)

Given the 40% accuracy rate... We shall see if he is right. The weather this week here in Central Maine is in the mid to upper 40's with rain tomorrow. I'm rooting for Phil this year!

It's just not right when kids have to look for Easter eggs in the snow!

Groundhog Day

It's Groundhog Day! Will Phil see his shadow? Six more weeks of Winter or is Spring just around the corner? The groundhog will be making his 130th prognostication at around 7:25 a.m.

Tuesday morning in Pennsylvania Punxsutawney Phil—arguably the world’s most famous groundhog will emerge from his burrow to predict whether or not we have 6 more weeks of winter or if spring is here!

The History behind Groundhog Day

Falling midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, February 2 is a significant day in several ancient and modern traditions. The Celts, for instance, celebrated it as Imbolc, a pagan festival marking the beginning of spring. As Christianity spread through Europe, Imbolc evolved into Candlemas, a feast commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the holy temple in Jerusalem. In certain parts of Europe, Christians believed that a sunny Candlemas meant another 40 days of cold and snow. Germans developed their own take on the legend, pronouncing the day sunny only if badgers and other animals glimpsed their own shadows. When German immigrants settled Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, they brought the custom with them, choosing the native groundhog as the annual forecaster.

The first official Groundhog Day celebration took place on February 2, 1887, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It was the brainchild of local newspaper editor Clymer Freas, who sold a group of businessmen and groundhog hunters—known collectively as the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The event is held at Gobbler’s Knob, where the inaugural groundhog became the bearer of bad news when he saw his shadow.

A photo from the movie Groundhog Day featuring Bill Murray.

The yearly festivities in Punxsutawney are presided over by a band of local dignitaries known as the "Inner Circle." Its members wear top hats and conduct the official proceedings in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. They supposedly speak to the groundhog in “Groundhogese.” Every February 2, tens of thousands of spectators attend Groundhog Day events in Punxsutawney, a borough that is home to 6,000 people. It was immortalized in the 1993 film “Groundhog Day,” which was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois.

Bill Murray made Groundhog Day in 1993.

While sunny winter days are associated with colder, drier air, we probably shouldn’t trade in our weathermen for groundhogs. Recent studies by the National Climatic Data Center and the Canadian weather service have yielded success rates of less than 40%.

For the last 30 years, residents of Vermillion, Ohio, have turned to a very different creature for their annual weather forecast: the wooly bear caterpillar. According to tradition, if the insects have more orange than black coloring, the upcoming winter will be mild. More than 100,000 people attend the town’s Wollybear Festival, held every fall since 1972.
 

Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks.

Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks. They belong to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. They grow up to 25 inches long and can live for 10 years in captivity. (According to legend, Punxsutawney Phil is more than 125 years old thanks to the magical punch he imbibes every summer.) Groundhogs spend the winter hibernating in their burrows, significantly reducing their metabolic rate and body temperature; by February, they can lose as much as half their weight. When they’re out and about, they eat succulents, berries and insects—and they don’t mind helping themselves to garden vegetables or other crops.