Surviving Winter

It's good to get out out of the house, even just to go ice-fishing with my sweetie, like this past Friday on Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park.  

A close-up of drilling the first hole through the ice.  Each license holder is allowed 5 holes a piece.  It was so blustery though, that we only did 3 and then sat in the car to watch for flags to pop up -- an indicator that you may have caught something.

For reference this is the kind of fish we were hoping to catch.  Here's Henri posing with a brook trout caught in a much warmer month in Acadia.

Our picnic lunch during ice fishing was a salad of baby spinach and blackened salmon.  Turns out it was the only fish we laid eyes on for all of our efforts out on the ice.

The next day I made eclairs for us.

From scratch.  Sometimes I even surprise myself.

I will leave you with a peek of the napkins I sewed up from a few yards of fabric a few weeks ago.

It was during a particularly brutal part of the polar vortex we all seem to be experiencing around the country this year. So tell me, how are you surviving winter?

Slip Sliding Away

Back at Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park today, it was far more challenging for me to get around. These folks have the right idea though.

The lack of snow and milder temperatures have made getting around on foot across the frozen lake very treacherous indeed.

Yes, that's Henri out there on the ground, but he has just finished drilling a hole through the still 2 feet of frozen ice and is just sitting there baiting his trap.




I was able to capture some shots of the arrival of a new ice shack and thought you might like to see how it's done. In this shot, the ice shack is sitting on a utility trailer being backed onto the ice.




How convenient to have a tilting trailer to allow the ice shack to just slide down onto the ice.

These guys picked a good day to do this, don't you think?

And that's all there is to it. Shack is sited. Nice view.

Since the newly sited shack was now blocking the view of our traps from where were were sitting in our truck, we decided to call it quits for the day, and took a walk on a nearby trail. Here's one of the views from the trail.

On our way home, I took this shot out the window as we were passing Somes Sound, which used to be referred to as the only fjord on the East Coast.

In recent years, it's been technically downgraded to a fjard. Whatever. It's still very deep.

A Day of Ice Fishing in Acadia

We were the first to arrive at Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park this morning to begin a day of ice fishing. This was our first trip of the season. We decided to forego the lure of the free fishing that begins tomorrow, remembering it is always more serene on a week day.

I must have taken several hundred pictures here today, enjoying all the subtle changes in the light as the day progressed.

But I will show restraint in my post.

Eventually we got a little hungry.











Good thing I packed us a picnic basket.









Before we left, we took a walk on the trail that circles around the lake.

Except we did not circle around the lake, because it would have been dark before we even made it half way around. But that was okay, because I got to spend the entire day here with my favorite guy in a place that I truly love.

Extremes

While I was over at Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park earlier this week I

took this shot

In order to compare it to the shot I took 4 1/2 months ago at this very same spot.

The next morning I made this chocolate creme pie.

Today I made these fruit smoothies to help atone for the pie.

I do not know much about planting or using garden twine.

But I figured out I could use it to knit a new door mat for mud season.

March will be coming in like a lion...here's to hoping it leaves like a lamb.

GROUNDHOG DAY

3 days later, back on Eagle Lake

Drill more holes

Something is about to happen...

A moment of enlightenment

Ahhh. . . this is how it's done

A day worth repeating! Happy Groundhog Day!

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.