THE LURE OF THE BASKET

Ice Fishing on Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park

The ice is about 1.5 feet thick where my husband drills the first hole. It is early afternoon and a brief snow squall has just passed over. The ice auger, traps and authentic ice fishing basket were a gift to my husband from my stepfather a few years ago.

The Plan: drill 5 holes in the ice, bait and set the traps, wait for the red flag to pop up.

The sun has come out and we decide to snow shoe on the trail while we wait for the flags.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the lake are found....

A snowmobiler having fun on his sled.

A couple standing outside their ice shack. In the distance two cross country skiers glide by, one clad in shorts. Mainers are a hardy lot.

Later, as we head back to our traps, we pass

a pair of ice shacks dwarfed by the backdrop of a nearby mountain,

and a fisherman headed home.

What tales will be told at the end of a day?

A splendid day of ice fishing is not always about what you bring home in your basket. And now you know why.

EVEN IN WINTER

You Can

Spot an Eagle

Visit The Beach
Find Pretty Things

Take in A Beautiful View

Those are scenes from our day yesterday at Sand Beach in Acadia National Park.

We are so very blessed.

SEASIDE SHOPPING

A couple treasures from today.
More gifts from the sea.

The ocean's mark is lovely on these found objects.

The distressed finish of this board needed only a few wooden letters.

The colors are often brilliant and the supply is plentiful.

Nature's little luxuries that were meant to be freely enjoyed by all.

LOBSTER FOR BREAKFAST?

Breakfast January 3, 2009

We hold a recreational lobster license and this was from our last catch of the 2008 season. I had previously steamed it, picked it, and froze it in milk. The milk helps to retain the moistness and flavor. We had planned to have it as an appetizer to ring in the New Year but completely forgot all about it.

Lobster Frittata. (my version)

2 brown egss
1/2 cup egg beaters
1 large clove of garlic (minced)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 ounce Cabot pepper jack cheese (grated)
cooked meat from a small lobster (cut up in bite size pieces)
1/2 tomato (diced)
1 T. of milk
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium sized iron skillet on burner. Add garlic and saute until lightly browned, toss in tomatoes. Combine eggs, eggbeaters, milk, whip up with fork and add to mixture in pan. Sprinkle lobster and cheese over mixture. Top with sea salt and cook on medium-low heat for 2-3 min. without stirring.

Put pan in preheated 400 degree oven for 7-9 min. or until set. Remove from oven, add freshly ground pepper over top. Let set for 5 min. before serving.

I served the frittata with a side of fruit consisting of clementines, bananas and previously frozen blackberries from our patch out back. Just a splash of white chocolate/raspberry creamer in our morning coffee and we were bon appetit (ing) our way through to lunchtime.

BEGINNINGS

The first day of 2009 finds me enjoying the beginning
of tiny green buds on the paperwhites
I am forcing in an old raku bowl.

Today also finds me beginning work on several new pieces of raku art that I will post when complete. Here is a close up to help make you curious. Any guesses?

Today was also a perfect day for the beginning of another moose tile.

Let the 2009 journey begin. A Happy New Year wish to all!