Fireplace Out and A Walk in the Forest

6.15.15 - Day 1

This is the fireplace that had to go!  When the house was first built there was a window in this area of the living room.  Years ago when the fireplace was installed the window was taken out and the living room became nearly as dark as a pocket.

After Allan and I worked for one day this is how far we got.  He took them down one brick at a time and I cleaned them off.

We also both got "ouches" in our backs.


6.16.15 - Day 2

The remaining facade and the hearth out! 

6.17.15 - Day 3

Allan began the outside work also at the pace of one brick at a time. He was concerned about safety and didn't want them flying about.  

Bill worked on the staging with Allan.


6.18.15 - Day 4

Allan has been putting the bricks and mortar into buckets and Bill lowers them via a rope to Jeff and I.   We unload the bricks to be salvaged and stacked them by the garage. Mortar and broken bricks were loaded into Jeff's truck and trailer or Bill's trailer.  They took them home to use for clean fill.

It has been slow going but we are making steady progress

6.19.15 - Day 5

As you can see we progressed to the sledge hammer once we got lower.  Susan stopped by and lent a whack!  

We had all we could do to bend into the opening in the wall because our back "ouches" haven't gone away...

Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our good friends Jeff, Bill and Susan the chimney is down and the former footing is filled.

There she is closed up for a few days of rain and until we get ready to put in the windows. 
We have purchased the windows and a few other things necessary to put in the windows.  We will wait for a string of a couple or three days of dry weather and then begin Phase II.

6.22.15 - Bangor City Forest  

It cleared up today and we got a walk in.  We were hopeful that the "Orono Bog Walk" was open after ongoing renovations all this spring.  It was not open but we found out that it is now scheduled to open at the end of the month.  We look forward to soon going for a stroll on this mile long boardwalk over the bog heath.  

These are the flora and fauna that we spied today on our 2.4 mile walk through the City Forest.

Red Clover and smaller White Clover

Field Daisy

Blue Flag Iris

Common Whitetail Dragonfly

This dragonfly is not common to us.  We don't remember ever seeing one before.  There were plenty zooming about today.

Pearl Crescent Butterfly

Wild Strawberry

Guess it is about time for strawberry season in Maine.  Yum!

It turned out to be a great day for a walk.  Partly cloudy and about 70 degrees.  

Recital, Softball, Hike or 2, and a Birthday

6.8.15 - Abby's Annual Montessori School Recital

Abby at 2 1/2 is the youngest of them all.  She wasn't much into the event. Maggie was the same her first year.  This year the evening event was held at the Children's Museum in Bangor.

6.10.15 - Softball Season Concludes

 Lefty Mags at bat in her last game of the season.

This final game was postponed from the day before.  That was a great call by the coaches.  Cool and drizzly that day but on this day it was delightful.  Jake and Abby enjoyed a picnic supper.  She had sun butter and jelly along with several bites of everything her Dad had for dinner.  Michele was there at the very beginning for a few moments but had to leave to attend a teacher contract negotiations session.

Mags was at first base, center field and then had an inning behind the plate.

Following the game the players got certificates and a softball to take home to practice with until next spring.  They also had tasty cupcakes.

6.11.15 - Bangor City Forest

The weather has gone from 15-20 degrees below normal to warm summer weather (low 80's) with a touch of humidity.  After Allan and I got some morning chores done we went for a walk in the Bangor City Forest.  We still have some angst about knowing where we are going when walking the trails and roads but have a better sense of it every time we are done and haven't gotten lost.

The lady slippers are out in force although many of them are starting to go by.  In some places you can see as many as a couple of dozen.

The Common Polypody (Rock Cap) Ferns are all unfurled.

The bunchberry's were everywhere.  This one is unusual since it was growing all by itself.

Sometimes the lady slippers and bunchberries grow together.

I've heard of an "oak leaf cluster".  Do you suppose this is what they had in mind?

Many of the lady slippers come up in clusters such as this.  We saw white ones for the first time today here in the City Forest.  

There were also several shades of pink from very pale to quite dark and veiny. 

I don't ever remember seeing these plants before.  They are a tiny twinflower, part of the honeysuckle family.

Not sure what plant this is.  I suspect it is a tree seedling.  Maybe the family forester will help me out with this identification...

I spotted this snake on the side of the trail.  Allan grabbed up his camera so I stayed out of the way while he got a couple of photos. After checking out a few sources we believe that it is an eastern garter snake.  However, for a while we thought it might have been an eastern ribbon snake.

6.12.15 - Walden-Parke Preserve 

This preserve is on outer Essex Street in Bangor.  This is our second hike here.  This preserve abuts the Bangor City Forest.

The oxeye daisies (field daisy) are out.  It must be June. 

Raspberries

Love this tiny evergreen in a sea of Reindeer Lichen.

This neighboring fur tree has vivid contrast between the new spring growth and that of the year(s) before.

Columbine?

I asked readers to let me know what they thought this flower was. I thought it might be columbine however, it didn't really match the pictures that I found in my reference book or on line.  Without posting my guess, a couple of my readers have suggested that this is columbine.  So I am going to go with that.

Double Purple Columbine???

Bird's-Foot Trefoil???

I spotted the white spider and fly on this Cow Vetch and then noticed the nearby tiny grasshopper.  We couldn't tell who had the upper hand, the spider or the fly.

Wild Basil

Silver-Bordered Fritillary

Canada Mayflower

"Wild Lily-of-the- Valley"

Little-Wood Satyr

Pickerel Frog

Another exciting 3+ mile hike on a beautiful Maine day.  

Our go to reference book is by the National Audubon Society, it's their Field Guide to New England.  I guess I need to get another book to help me with some of these wildflowers.

6.12.15 - An Early Birthday Party for Miss Mags

Maggie's birthday is June 28 but they are usually on a Gross family vacation in RI that week and so she has her Metzler family and friends birthday party earlier in June.

There was a large backyard whiffle ball game with dads and kids. Ma wanted in on the action so off to the side of that game lefty Mags pitched to lefty Ma while lefty Abby scurried out of the way. Not sure if Ma hit this one or the pitch came up short.  

I don't suppose anyone was surprised to see Ma at 84 playing ball with her nearly 8 year old great-grand!

At Mags request her birthday cake this year was a giant whoopie pie. Good job Michele on your first big whoopie!

The party was great fun for all and the cake was especially yummy. School will be out on June 16 for the birthday girl.  Bye-bye to grade 2 and on to grade 3.