Roughly 38 million people spent time visiting Maine last year and 1.2 million people actually live here. That’s an awful lot of outside interest in Maine. Simple living, getting by pretty easily on less. The four seasons pure and natural unspoiled beauty is a big part of the attraction too. Lots of space, friendlier people and no traffic, less crime does not go unnoticed either by those considering moving to Maine.
Craft Fairs, Pot Luck Suppers, Serving On Local Boards. Being Outdoors Year Round For Recreation. Small Town Living In Maine Is Like That.
The folks that cross over the river on the south end entrance of Maine via the big green bridge.
The float in the boat drifting into a Maine harbor town kind at three thousand a clip short visits.
Coming ashore to gather souvenirs, eat some boiled lobsters, steamed clams. Topping it all off with a whoopie pie. Maybe some hot, fresh, large sized generous helping of native Maine blueberry pie. Topped with farm freezing cold ice cream scoop or two.
Or those tourists to Maine flocking across the many International borders crossing check points shared with the Canadian provinces. Siphoning off some of that ebb and flow to add to the small Maine town population from all those millions of visits. Lots of Canadians “over home” do move to Maine. Love interests can play a part. Which side of the boundary border has the biggest hassle with immigration paperwork can decide in the coin toss pick a side. On where to move to be together on one side and no longer apart.
No matter how you got here, your exposure or passion to what on the visit, what would entice someone to consider moving to Maine and staying?
Toying with the idea what if I moved to Maine yourself? Can you see yourself moving to Maine? What’s holding you back? What you gain, what is perceived you give up deserves discussion. It is an individual decision based on lots of factors that can change. Preparing for the next chapter of life is not a snap decision. You don’t recover from mistakes made later in life as fast as you learn from the lessons that come out of the the earlier ones.
For starters, how much of Maine has you seen first hand? How far up into Maine anyone goes depends on precious time. Maine is tall and wide. Whether arriving on a silver bird, it matters not if the visit is by land, sea or air.
How to coax some of those vacationers to consider moving to Maine?
Not just visit here and leave takes first hand exposure. The further you go, the living on less, getting more becomes obvious. Not just on the real estate prices either. Although that is a big driving force in the moving to Maine desire for sure. (more…)
Ice fishing in Maine, what’s the heck is the attraction some wonder ?
To many not anglers for wildlife with gills, could there be anything slower or more boring than fishing through a hole? To others, living for ice fishing adventures and the social aspect, nothing compares to their happiness. Waiting for the five trap lines down the drilled ice holes to trip. It’s all pure heaven. This blog post covers the topic of Maine ice fishing, one more winter pastime and described the outdoor sport. Maine is one ideal opportunity to fish year round… with or without ice in your recreational water.
Watching A Sporting Event While Tending The Ice Fishing Traps. Welcome To Maine.
Maybe you’ve seen and heard the guy or gal in the hip waders, talking about all types of fishing.
Planted smack dab in the middle of the genuine imitation fish pond while telling the story. Near the entrance to LL Bean’s mother ship Freeport Maine location as you stroll in and think what’s this demonstration.
You get a quick lesson on fly fishing and casting the line any of Maine’s four seasons.
Your ears pick up on a little sermon delivered on catch and release or just fishing in general for what you are going to eat. Respect for the wildlife and then here it comes. The announcement this is your lucky day shoppers. The in-store fishing guide standing in the pond with artificial water falls gurgling sounds, the really well fed trout swimming lazily in and around the rocks from outdoors brought indoors.
Using the wireless mic on the hands free headset piped into the overhead speaker store wide audio channel.”Rods and reels and the other paraphernalia for fishing the many open water locations in Maine are a true BAR-gin priced. Everything fishing just happens to be a wicked attractive twenty or more percent reduced for a limited time.” Good news blue light shoppers. To save you hard earned cash to stash not burn. Some green backs can stay folded in your wallet or purse. All to introduce you to the love of fishing in Maine.
But this blog post on ice fishing in Maine is not about selling you rods, reels, or creels.
It’s not about the love of wetting the fishing line on a trout stream on a bodacious summer day. And nope, uh uh, not the late in the day floating in a boat memory with your Grandfather who introduced you to the love of fishing in the dead of summer. Or the overstocked farm trout pond where the small fry gets so many strikes their arms hurt. Which causes the love to fish burning desire gene to ignite.
Maine is four seasons.
See The Circle Of Ice? Maine Winters Produce Lots Of It For Ice Fishing. (Photo Credit Meg York)
This fishing story is about what happens when the lake turns solid.
Ice ice baby and the Maine summer lake campers skid-addle to warmer surroundings in town or further south. Where no snow shovel is needed when you get up in the morning rise and shine.
I live on a Maine lake and hear the lone motor boat engine with the twist grip sound getting louder spring, summer, fall.
At five in the morning when the sun is just arriving to punch in at work from the east. While the moon retires, clocks out and heads to bed. It’s usually just one lone or maybe a pair of fisherman in the boat that early.
The piping hot fresh brewed coffee thermos is packed first and foremost. Along side some ham and cheese or tuna sandwiches, a variety of snacks too. And don’t forget the fresh bait. A guarded secret of what is put on the hook to catch some fish quick and easy. Tight lip secrecy surrounds that knowledge. Just like the best fishing hole locations.
As the early Maine fisherman stands up gingerly and casts a line and then sits down.
Slowly starting to troll for fish. Back and forth methodical. Out on the lake with loons and eagles and sea gulls toying with the same idea but approaching the task with different methods.
Ice fishing is a whole another winter sport.
The Dog Rides In The Sled, Not Pulls It In This Maine Ice Fishing Lake Photo.
There is work involved. Hand drilling the holes through eighteen inches of ice by hand is not easy. The motorized Jiffy ice auger can do the can opening of a Maine lake much quicker. Five holes, five or six inches in diameter for the ice fishing lines is what your license allows.
But hold it, slow down. The fish will wait for the games to begin. Before venturing out on the ice full charge blowing a bugle to announce the start of ice fishing season in Maine, check the ice. Determine the thickness of the ice and the load you are about to apply.
The holes you want to drill are not close to the Maine lake shore.
The deepest area of the lake is where you find the most fish, with the best neighborhood for them to hang out. More oxygen, greater depths mean you have to venture out to the region where other ice shacks set up shop for the same reason. And the cluster makes it more social and sharing stories, snacks, the landscape setting where it’s just you and the pop up village that will disappear before spring has sprung. More on Maine fishing laws.
Jack Frost Is Pretty Crafty. If You Leave The Lake Hammock Out To Decorate In Wind Polished Crystal Clear Ice.
The neat thing about Maine ice fishing in the dead of winter is there is less competition from up above.
And plenty of fish down below in the dark chilly waters of a Maine lake. The frosty temperatures, the production of dragging your ice shack out to the center of a Maine lake separates the men from the boys. It’s a little bit of a production getting set up for ice fishing.
Being all bundled up can make you overdressed in the huffing and puffing to haul it out to the middle of a Maine lake. Then come the holes to create by hand or device. To slice open the lake to start ice fishing one hole at a time. Slush spills up and out like a good producing drilled well often does. Flood the area around the shack for smooth rinks of ice for your kids to chase the puck or do figure eights.
The ice fishing shacks are loaded up with all the creature comforts of home.
To be invited to stop by and sample the fish chowder or chili while watching a sporting event or play a
Maine Moose Tip Toeing Across Lake Ice. Hope Nothing Starts Cracking.
couple hands of cribbage with tunes in the background is a big deal. Hey, want another deviled egg Sport? Pass those sardines and crackers and slice me another slab of that sticky cheddar. Thanks. Now how big was that fish that got away again. Back to the tall tales. That everyone knows is a tad stretched from the real story of that day fishing in Maine.
Maine winters slow the pace to allow the time to squeeze in something new. In Maine, no matter what the season, we dress differently but are always headed outdoors. Being stuck inside causes chaffing at the bit to break out.
It’s not just a temporary condition called cabin fever when you are tending ice fishing trap lines.
The fresh air, the open space and need to be outside to socialize. To take in the pure natural beauty when you are lucky enough to tap into the unspoiled surroundings in Maine. You bask in it, you crave it and don’t want to miss a drop like it is a life giving IV of steroid enhancement.
The ice fishing shack… what does the state say about the hut you use to be home on the Maine lake?
There are Maine ice fishing rules. You have to call it quits and remove the shack or structure three days at the close of the ice fishing season. Or before ice out, whichever comes first.
Floating In A Boat When There Is Not Ice To Drill Through To Fish. Fishing Is Year Round.
Thin ice, being out on the Maine lake trying to get the shack back to shore and the public boat landing can cause nightmares. Going through the ice in late winter is pretty sobering.
I can swim but holding my breath in frigid water until spring to surface for new lung air takes supreme patience. Finding the hole I fell through to return to the surface when below the sheet of Maine lake ice is a do or die situation.
Ever heard of hypothermia ? Your muscles won’t respond, you suddenly have no energy and lose feeling. Check and think twice about driving, snow sledding, cross country or snow shoeing out to an ice fishing shack.
The ice fishing home away from home where winter weekends are spent, there must be two inch letters that spell out the details.
Who owns this palace, what is your address along with your name Chummy. Also, leaving the structure on another person’s land without permission is a no no. Many ice shacks make it back to the public boat landing okay and intact. And then the flatbed or trailer needed to continue the journey back home is penciled in on the calendar date that works best. Held to the side of the kitchen refrigerator with the square filled in that addresses the maneuvers needed to hoist it up and yank it back home.
Little Early For Ice Fishing.. The Beginning Signs To Get Ready On A Maine Lake.
But leaving the ice fishing shack on the land of another… that’s a no no. That landowner who surprise finds your shanty ker-plopped on their private property has permission to immediately remove or even destroy it.
MOVE IT OR LOSE IT BUB!
That’s the permitted approach for any ice fishing shack structure left double parked on their property if no okay from them was received in writing.
Reflectors on all sides of the ice fishing shack make sense too just like a long dangerous lake dock.
Do you want an ice rocket, a Maine snowmobile to graze it or come into your living space at warp factor five? Whether you are in the shack huddles around the hole in the ice with the window to gaze out and monitor the other four outside fishing holes or not. Loss of life, the destruction of your ice shack in the darkness of night can be avoided with a little effort.
I know of a local snow sled buddy who did hit an ice shack and Christmas with this family members are without his attendance now.
Died way too early and maybe reflectors would not have helped but their can’t hurt for safety first. Also heard a fellow, an only child share with me what happened to his parents that were with another couple one Saturday night. They were driving on the winter ice and went through, losing both his parents just like that. He was suddenly an orphan who went to live with his Monticello Maine grand parents at six years old.
The ice shacks I’ve stopped into to visit are along the snow sledding ITS trails.
How To Get Back & Forth To The Ice Shack? Drive, Sled, Snow Shoe, Ski?
The Maine snowmobile trails often cut directly down across the middle of open lakes where ice shacks, cross country ski trails and pond hockey ice skating happen.
Like I said, Maine winter is not a time to hibernate. The chain pickerel want to play fish. We don’t waste a drop of winter sunshine under blue skies and all this white landscape of fresh fluffy snow.
If you are cold, you are not dressed right for whatever a Maine winter can throw at you for ice fishing.
If your teeth are chattering, grab the end of the sleigh robe your kids are sitting in and give ‘er a strong yank. Pull them and warm up pretty quickly as you hear their laughter. Hooking the snow sled to the toboggan and pulling the kids around slowly is memory making. The kids cheeks glow rosy. Their sleep tonight will be deep and complete from the outside oxygen therapy.
Layers, dry clothing, the right gear makes being outside fun and comfortable. Without it, you suffer. Everyone ice fishing in Maine hearing you bitch and complain does too. No one likes a whiner when they could have prevented it with a little extra care and attention to how they dress when considering spending the entire day out in the Maine winter outdoors ice fishing.
Be prepared, we live in Maine and those mittens your grandmother knit with 100% wool can’t be beat ice fishing.
Snow sledding boats, extra gloves, a scarf or neck warmer and hat or hood. There are rules to apply to
Taking The Snow Sled To The Ice Fishing Shack. Spending The Day Outside In Maine No Matter Which Season!
how you dress to wander outside the seventy or higher degrees showing on the living room thermostat.
Brook trout fishing during the daylight hours, switching to cusk during the evening. I had a secretary for twenty four years before lung cancer knocked on the door who’s husband is the most dedicated fishermen I know. He gets up at 3AM in the morning to head to the ice fishing shack on Nickerson Lake. He is a catch and release kind of fisherman.
You might not be a local Mainer with his or her custom built or tow behind snow sled ice shack.
Renting a camp for a winter family vacation instead for a week that includes ice fishing could be the ticket you buy. Walking out to the attended ice fishing traps and hoping to catch a land-lock salmon on the end of the sinker-ed line open for business down below where it’s dark. Where the rainbows, splake or togue fish are waiting for your calling card hors d’oeuvres .
Ice fishing in Maine.
The tote sled used to drag your gear behind the snow sled goes out and back after ice fishing ends. You are maybe renting a cabin in the cove overlooking the ice fishing territory that yields the best results ice fishing in Maine. Hooking white, yellow perch, bass, pike and depending on the Maine lake or pond, a slew of other fish species. Or you take the tack used by the old boys with the wide open front and back doors of the family sedan like this ice fishing blog post displays up on top of the post.
A fishing derby in a Maine community can yield prizes and form new life long friendships.
It Needs To Be Winter And Colder Temperatures For Ice Fishing To Happen On A Maine Lake Or Pond!
Celebrating winter in Maine may seem odd to someone better suited for sand between their toes and palm trees swaying overhead. Maine is a northern tier state like Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota or Wisconsin so we’re not a novelty or one of a kind when it comes to taming winter and embracing it.
Poker runs, raffles, snow sled club house suppers, other winter fun is combined with the Maine ice fishing derby list of activities. Every year the events get bigger and better and the same volunteers sign on for life like more local home grown fun events.
Ice fishing in Maine. It’s not just a bunch of guys looking for the orange flag to spring. It is a slow sport, not as drawn out as watching paint dry. But not too taxing once the holes are drilled, the traps in place and all the related gear on site.
The kids play making snow people if the snow is sticky and can pack by rolling the body parts. Or the sides to wage war with a snow ball fight. The family dog is present and he or she socializes with other K-9’s. It is not just ice fisherman on the lake or pond. There is social interaction around the wood stove inside sitting down or standing up outside the ice fishing shack. Spectators come and go.
Snow shoeing, ice skating and pond hockey can happen and hot chocolate is always one of the liquids enjoyed by the younger family members.
The Snow Globe Look Of Everything Ice Glazed. You Are In Maine, It’s Winter.
Easy does it with the barley pop or grape juice or buttered rum. The game warden makes his rounds to assure compliance with ice fishing regulations.
Every lake or pond has it’s own set of rules to protect the water body. Some fish are not fair game until January 1st. Others water playgrounds allow across the board winter fishing without interruption or delay.
Regardless of what you use cheese, coffee rubs or WD 40 sprayed bait or lures, it is fishing. It takes still and keeping the ice fishing traps in the holes attended. You can introduce sonar.. or do it old school. Thinking what if you were a fish.. where would you be right about 2 o’clock topside on a Maine lake Saturday or Sunday afternoon?
Waiting until the ice is safe to venture out onto means eye on the forecast and measuring the depth in many places.
Being the last to set up your ice shack makes sense too. True ice fisherman have attached peg hooks like
The Fishing Through A Hole In The Ice. Less Competition On Top For What’s Swimming Down Below.
small kids have strings on their knit mittens. The closer to the end of ice fishing season or when temperatures warm seasonably high and what’s under you disappears.
If you went through the ice or were snow sledding and just happened to find some open water, black ice.
You might be lucky enough to surface and use the pegs to dig in and grab the outer ring of ice to hopefully pull yourself up and out of the cold drink. The water cold and warm fish species call home.
Snowmobiling, snow sledding in Maine, where you get lots of varied riding on plenty of well marked groomed trails.
Hearty Lunch, All Fueled Snowmobiles And The Trail Riders.
The trail maps change as new routes to explore open up the winter adventure. Maine is five times bigger than the other New England states. Parked on the Canadian border with the New Brunswick and Quebec provinces so so handy. That location factor does not hurt either for the two nation snow sledding vacation option.
(You have to join a Canadian snowmobiling club. Or get a special Provincial pass to squeeze the throttle. To go over hill and dale on Canadian snow sledding trails eh?)
Snowmobiling in Maine.
The further north, east and well up into Maine, the more friendly and less crowded the snow sled trails. Scenery increases, the cost for your winter wonderland trip on your own snow machine or the one you rent goes way down too. Snowmobiling in Maine is a big industry. This blog post on snow sledding, snowmobiling in Maine serves as a guide to plan your winter trip into Maine wearing mittens or gloves and those felt lined toasty snow puffy boots.
Find Your Way Across Maine ITS Snowmobiling Trails. The New Map.
Maine can boast what not many places can… snow flakes starting as early as October and lasting well into April.
Over 280 snow sledding clubs and right around 14,000 miles of trails for your snowmobile get you places to forget it with a car. There is nothing like being on a bluff scenic turnout to stare and detach from your daily grind. Gawking, silently taking in the snow capped scenery of Mt Katahdin, a frozen lake like Moosehead or East Grand.
Work ethic, where’s it come from and what feeds or hurts the drive to be anything but lazy.
The fire in the belly fuel to go above and beyond. How do you create and maintain that productive work ethic laboring spirit that just won’t quit? I don’t know about you, but during my childhood raised on a Maine farm, the parents did a stellar job. Creating a desire to work hard and do a good job at the family home, school, out in the work force, in your community.
They worked long hours and we knew no different but did not feel picked on. It made us resourceful, independent, sometimes glad to be done a job like picking field rocks. But we did it. Other kids in small Maine towns did too.
You’ve all heard the story about anyone from Maine applying for a job out of state was hired instantly. It’s no secret about Maine’s work ethic.
Learning How To Work, Enjoying Labor, Sticking With It. Work Ethic Is Developed, A Muscle To Tone.
Daily, my three older brothers and I witnessed Mom and Dad working hard daily on the Maine farm.
Both parents grew up on dairy farms where everyone in the large families works vital roles. When you are around hard workers, you are taught the importance of carrying your part of the load.
How to save steps to do the work of two. You don’t want to be labeled “lazy”. You don’t just work, you want to be the best at the labor.
Standing around watching someone working their guts out is not fun or comfortable. The pitch in and help out gene activates when you grow up in rural Maine. Where money is tight and frugality is a survival sport, As you got older in a Maine household where your parents owned and ran a Mom and Pop business, the list of duties increased right along with the new skills added to your resume.
When your Mom or Dad praise you for doing a good job, completing the task well it makes you beam.
Causing pride and to feel worthwhile appreciated is a warm sunshine feeling. When told we can count on you Sonny. To realize you and your brothers, all the kids in this Maine household are a vital part of the family. Where I need you and vice versa and everyone works together. All the cylinders firing in order, on the same page for the common skills to get the job done. Before moving on to the next items on the lengthy chore list. Don’t waste the daylight.
Work ethic, local farmers in my area hired kids to pick potatoes in the fall, to put up loads to ship down the road over the winter.
Not everyone was lucky enough to grow up on a Maine farm. But that did not mean jobs to earn money were not in abundance in our small rural area of the Pine Tree state. My Dad swore that kids did a better job handling the potatoes than mechanized harvesters. He raised 250 acres of golden spuds. All the crop hand harvested with four baskets in a barrel. Then pickers adding their ticket number in the groove slot on the top.
Eight row crop harvesters cover a lot of acreage quickly but leave boat loads of potatoes behind of all sizes. The rough handling damages the soft skin with cuts and bruises. That impacts the value in storage and out on the market later on. The produce buyer pays less for lower quality potatoes.
But back to today, work ethic, how is it viewed in society? What is happening to it as a highly sought after commodity when hiring your work force? There are cracks in the give it all your got in the work place. (more…)
Winter in Maine, living on a lake as a new season ushers in slowly.
It’s a chance to reflect in front of a crackling wood stove fire. To sample good locally sourced food that is farm to table. Prepared with no one watching the clock. Slow cooked, easy does it wins out every time over fast food created and consumed but not savored.
Here Comes The Ice. First Thin Skim And Then Thick Enough To Drive A Car To The Ice Shack.
Maine winter is a myth to those who have not gone through a few.
It is not hibernation. Like the other three seasons, outdoors is where we seek to be. Dressed appropriately and always left in awe of her splendor.
Winter is a peaceful time and everything Vacationland is re-known for transforms with the dusting of white snow flakes.
Powder, ice glazed, whipped crystals and flakes. The swirls of snow naturally sculptured by time and Jack Frost himself. It gives Maine a whole new presentation when the temperatures are played with outside our homes. Fewer colors but more shades of them is what the frost and winter snow do the look of things.
Winter offers more than downhill and cross country skiing adventures too. Is not just opening up a Maine lake five times each drilling session. Can opening down through the many inches with a Jiffy ice auger to angle for fish. The transformation when the temperatures drop and any moisture from the clouds turns from rain to sleet or snow. It is a slow methodical process watching the approach of a Maine winter. Saying goodbye to the season of fall.
Winter expertly reworks the Maine landscape.
Spiked Ice For The Rock’s Hairdo. Styled By Waves, Cold Temperatures.
The fall leaves that did not quite get raked, mulched, bagged or burned. They don’t matter once snowfall occurs. Next spring you can deal with leaves from the hardwoods around your property that shed like dandruff.
A sudden winter storm can catch a fall tree unaware. The memo of the change from fall to winter is often missed. The buttoning up a Maine home tradition picks up the pace much quicker when temperatures go lower.
Sparkles twinkle from the ice crystals on the snowscape. The mosaic patterns of what covers mud puddles like brittle thin stained glass. That a young child struggles with the temptation to attack with the heel of their snow boots. Snow boots crunching as you take in the winter wonderland around you.
Looking around in the day, up at night sky and blown away living on a Maine lake.
White, Blue, Green… Not So Much Harvest Gold. Snow And Ice Change All That.
The brilliant stars on a field of black velvet are so many in number. No light pollution, no sky scrapers or obstructions to smother the night sky enjoyment experience.
You might spy a lone blinking red airplane navigation light far far away. Just one now and then passes over head for activity. Relax, you are in Maine remember? Less people, no traffic, little crime and more wildlife.
As a Maine lake see saws in a tug of war from open water to iced over and thickening.
Back to open water. The cycle starts and stops. It is like an orchestra tuning up for what is ahead when everyone settles down to read the sheet music together. It gives a native time to prepare mentally for the change of seasons.
Not Quiet Ready To Ice Skate. Animals Better Stay Off The Thin Ice Too!
You need lower temperatures to make Maine all it can be. To allow pond hockey games, ice hut shanties for fishing to be placed over the deepest fish filled lake regions. If you have ever lost a loved one.
You may know the experience of witnessing the ebb and flow of life before they go for good. You see the aging process speed up. Transforming whoever you are never ever quite prepared to lose in the hospital bed.
On a Maine lake, the ducks, loons, sea gulls and otters paddle around continuing their daily routine.
But they know from the increasing chill of the water they ply that a Maine winter is approaching. Slowly but with determination and the letting go of fall is the same regret each season in Maine presents. The older you get, the faster the Maine seasons change. You hang onto and cherish each of them.
I watched ducks and loons catch small fry this past weekend on a Northern Maine lake.
The Fake Owl Takes The Winter Off From Scaring Away Canadian Geese.
But it was catch and release. As soon as the fish dinner was in their beaks, a seagull in the background suddenly took over. Bullying them to fork it over. Witnessed this over and over which makes you feel sorry for the ducks and loons who have families to feed too.
Maine weather is never boring or predictable. True Mainers are prepared and the road highway crews are veterans at using the wing plows to keep the pavement clear, salted, sanded.
Life goes on but with a marshmallow coating. With promise of Christmas traditions and New Year’s resolutions to celebrate another completed twelve month calendar cycle.
There are segments of Maine’s population where winter is their busiest time.
Those making snow and shaping it for a down hill recreation ski area. That push and place snow from the the drive, highways, parking lots and walkways to better locations out of the way. Groomers of snow sled and cross country ski trails help the local economy. Working late into the night to have the smooth trails set up and ready for vacationers. Those putting on studded snow tires and installing or repairing the plows to clear driveways and highways.
Ice arenas and kids of all ages on skates lace up the hockey or figure skates.
New options are what a Maine winter presents us. Hard to ski or snow sled or slide down hills on the
Playful And In And Out Of The Cold Lake Water. Otters, Other Winter Wildlife Entertain!
toboggan or flying carpet sled without snow. A sheet of ice makes ice skating and hockey possible inside
or out during winter. New sticky snow is best to form ammunition for backyard battles. To make forts and dig snow tunnels. To roll something small that becomes the parts of the snow people wearing a stick arms, a bright colored scarf and carrots, rocks for face parts.
The folks who service the oil furnaces, the plumbers who repair frozen pipes when a place runs out of fuel or the heating system simply dies. Winter causes activity in different sectors that you don’t see in the other three seasons. It is also a chance to ease back and slow down for the folks right out straight those times of the year when it is not winter.
Have you ever been out in a Maine snow storm?
Ice Cold On The Rear End. Birds On A Lake Fish And Compete For Food.
Where there is a deafening sound of a million flakes accumulating from above? The hush and rush gets the volume knob twisted. Being out in the weather no matter what time of year increases your awareness and is humbling, spiritual.
You quickly realize time on Earth is short. That we are all specks and a small part of the blue and green globe that rotates under our feet. Take nothing for granted and strive to improve to make a difference helping others.
The snowstorm on a lake and the mist when the air is colder than the water temperature makes the Maine lake in winter disappear for a bit.
Maine winter living, living on a lake, adding the clothing layers. Pulling your gloves and hat hand knit by your grandmother off the expanded stretched out clothes rack. Strategically parked next to the wood heater. Walking slowly as you leave the house steps assuming ice is under that new fallen snow blanket. The fresh Maine air becomes crisper, cleaner, sharper.
The Winter White Transforms A Maine Lake.
The lake, rivers, ponds and stream water surfaces transform. Becoming a polished solid thickening sheet with any wave action gagged and hidden completely under a lid. When you own waterfront property on a Maine lake you see it all happening right out front on the big flat screen.
As the freeze slows down the pace of life in Maine.
It shortens the list of what needs to be done outside to clearing snow, scraping your iced windshield. Taxes your vehicle battery overworked with defrosters, heaters, the use of lights to cut through the earlier longer darkness. Winter forces you to relax, to reflect, to feel freed up to create the space. To work on what is important or missing in your life routine that the tranquil Maine winter provides for best.
I love Maine winter living on a lake.
There are those who do not and options to bug out and snow bird to take a break. Digging out your skis, snow shoes, ice skates and snow sled gets you ready for a Maine winter. Having the windshield ice scraper and snow broom to clear your vehicle from what fell overnight helps tame months at the end and beginning of a new year.
Smile Seagulls, Loons, Duck. Hold Still… (Click). Got It.
Night fall comes quicker that just makes the cobalt blue sunny days we do have more precious. Basketball and hockey season happens in winter. So do snowy trips to Baxter State Park for winter camping and hiking.
The time at a Maine lake is sacred when folks are gone. Where you and the wildlife and the few locals remaining around the waterfront have it all to yourself. Less distractions with more moments of peace and quiet.
If you only come to Maine during the summer months, you are missing so much of the what goes on in the Pine Tree state.
The changing weather makes every experience radically different. Same Maine surroundings but a whole new take away caused because someone played with the temperature settings.
Whether you are exploring the Great North woods, parked in a quaint sea coast harbor town venue or sporting camp setting, take take away is the exact same. Maine people are friendlier, the majority spaced out, living in rural small town and village settings. Feel the home town connection and down to Earth ease you connect. Less people, more wildlife, Maine is pure and natural.
Spend more than a weekend to witness what you are missing on the Maine lake in winter.
On say a Maine lake where loons and ducks are robbed by a lazy seagull. Giving up their fresh small fry
Winter Still Popular Place For Seagulls To Hang Out on A Maine Lake.
catch of fish to the larger feisty coastal white bird repeatedly as you watch the injustice from shore. Another lake property owner on the South Shore tried rescuing a loon frozen in ice that a bald eagle had selected for a lunch option. You realize the food chain, the survival of the fittest.
The Maine photos magneted to your refrigerator you collected back in spring, summer, fall. Those full color reminders of a more recent trek to Maine on vacation. Add to those same settings but in winter for a new snow twist. Don’t forget to bring your camera.
In winter in Maine, living on a lake, it is you, just you.
Nothing is shared, diminished or delayed with the chatter of Maine tourists. No traffic, no spin, keep your wallet in your pocket or purse. Take your time, stay as long as you want to fill to the brim, cup runneth over. Until you get inside and out what you need gleaned from a Maine winter living on a lake setting.
Parked On The Lake’s Edge, The Log Camp In Maine Is Getting TLC Attention Today.
Home remodeling, working on a property in Maine is very satisfying. Hands on, not hired out is something Mainers enjoy in construction projects. I am lucky to live on a Maine lake and a property next to mine came up that was a good investment. Waterfront in Maine is never ever a bad place to put your hard earned money. But this one needs tweaking to make it more comfortable.
There is no other investment known to man that is as enjoyable than real estate with water attached.
Like the ocean beach, just show up. The food cooked outside on the grill parked on the open deck. The sounds of family and friends laughing, talking. The natural reminder you have a lake, river, pond or ocean for a neighbor is spiritual. You can always rent out a waterfront property to vacationers looking for the same setting for when work is done. And unplugging to recharge needs to happen.
The camp on the Maine lake next to mine is a log variety.
It is an LC Andrews version of Maine log home. But as my oldest daughter reminded me “Dad. it’s time to remodel”. I want the two bedroom vacation place to be comfortable. Grand children staying with their parents “uptah Maine at the lake” can use the extra bedrooms for family gatherings. Most Maine camps or log cabins are loaded with natural woodwork. Pine, cedar mostly but flooring can be anything goes to make it solid and be a test of time.
This Is Why You Are Here. They Say Maine Water Fixes Everything.
The lake camp up in Maine.
Everything has to be white washed… and that ceiling has to go to hoist it high to see the eaves. That suggestion planted in my ears by daughter number one. So has the rehab of the log camp in Maine happen quickly?
Heck no.
But this morning with a more determined than effort fire in my belly, things are going to pick up the pace. The ceilings in the main living area and kitchen, bath are gone. The bedrooms have bead board new tongue in groove overhead that will no doubt be white, light, bright like the walls.
New slider in one bedroom makes for lots of glass to enjoy the view. To peel back and with the screen listen to the lapping waves because the Maine lake is right there. Up close and personal. Another glass sliding door to the open deck did not need to be replaced.
Kitchen cabinets are already painted white and birch in the Maine lake camp.
Little Bit At A Time. To Make It Better Than It Was.
The rug flooring has been deep six removed. The black rubber backing that hangs around is slowly being scraped and peeled off by hand. The slower you take to remodeled a place, the more time you have to consider the options. I enjoy the pondering how best to do this or that job.
Not everything can be done by me, myself and I with help from family and friends though. The roof that was asphalt is not standing seam metal wrapped.
The electrical fuse panel hiding in the wrong place of the bathroom is gone. Re-located to a better neighborhood out in the living room.
I bid high and successfully for a thousand board feet of native cedar tongue in groove from Katahdin Log Homes. Just have to pick it up when the roads are not wet or snowy. Winter is a good time to put some heat in a place and rip out and replace what ails it. Not sure how the Maine Homes & Design magazine started showing up in the box with the lid on front. But it’s great for inspiration. Some of those ocean front places are a little too hoity toity and gold plated, diamond encrusted for my tastes. I’m not a trust fund baby. But to each his own approach to comfort style for rest and relaxation right?
The Juice From Houlton Water Company Power Grid Now On Circuit Breakers Not Fuses.
Insulation up in the eaves when the roof rafters are not perfecting straight.
Like Santa with the list to check once, twice and more times. Lots of projects tackled at the same time. To keep pecking away at the items on the paper slips in the little red log job jar. Tackling the inside chores now while Old Man winter does his thing outside. Then moving on to the exterior work when the bare bald trees start to bud and the song birds return from the sunny south.
Adding insulation to make this a cathedral ceiling sturdy and sealed in properly. That’s the only slow patch on the vacation property that might be put in the rental pool. You can control the neighbor or it you want one at all when you own the place next door.
Best Way To Insulate The Cathedral Ceiling In A Maine Lake Camp!
Consideration for how best to insulate and to vent to bring air up from the lower rakes up to the tip top roof vent heavily toyed with mentally. Much to consider for all the approaches that could be taken. But ahh… what is the best route for functionality and to go easy on the pocket book.
Stealing a peek out the front pair of sliders to dream about summer BBQ’s and talks on the lakeside open deck when a few sheets are ripped off and removed from the wall calendar. I want the Maine lake camp structure to breathe without ice, heat build up or winter condensation causing wetness.
Getting The Inside Done The Plan. Over The Winter. To Spend More Time Out On The Open Lake Deck.
Dry as a bone. That’s the plan Stan. To get rid of any moisture if used in the winter months now or for after I am dead and gone on the Maine lake camp.
Or to keep it cool and comfortable in the summer months when the red in the tube goes up in Maine. Insulation has lots of valuable uses for heating, cooling, sound deadening. But the space from the inner cathedral ceiling roof boards the standing seam metal roof rides on.
I need enough so the air funneling up from the soffit vents will escort the lake camp air exchange best.
Highest R value roof rafter area insulation using foil backed foam to make it warm and toasty in the winter and to protect the open cathedral ceiling. Doing it right before all the finish work means study of the best practices with other hammer time professionals.
If I wake up in the middle of the night. When the mind starts churning, thinking of life. Switching channels to the DIY log camp next door on the Maine lake helps everything simmer down.
Maine Lake Camps, Working On The Pair Of Them Happens Year Round. Today’s Snap Shot On The Way In To Work. We Got A Dusting.
To get back to counting sheep for some quality sleep. I have learned I need to be doing something and the most relaxed happens when doing something productive. Pulling it off the best possible way possible to make it not perfect but better than it was. With what I have to work with and the budget, the local materials available.
My Dad preached the important of son, you got to have a system. Plan your work and work your plan. The old wisdom of measure twice, cut once. It saves time, money, frustration. Not all the kids today have that practical easy does it approach before charging in helter skelter.
So much of the construction work is just tearing out, hauling away the old camp debris.
The actual updating with the tools and staging in place goes pretty fast and smooth. Hiring the electrical, the roof and lots of odds and ends will happen. But to give the hired an idea of what I want the finished product to look like. It means I have to study the situation. To ask for feed back from family and friends who will be using this extra place on the Maine lake.
The lake camp up in Maine is my passion today.
Heading Up The Ladder. Venting, Insulating, Fixing Up A Log Lake Camp In Maine.
What do you do to pass the time in Maine? Some people restore old cars… like talked about in the blog post on abandoned cars. How some are lucky to be fished in and picked for the restoration in the heated winter Maine shop.
What room in your home is next to get a face lift or stripped to the studs total overhaul?
Adding a cathedral ceiling to open up the living space of the waterfront property in Maine. What to put on the flooring last of all. Because with all the updating, the floor will take a beating during the construction phase. How far to go in remodeling can make it a “well, while we are at it” approach. That can get out of hand and go way over budget.
There is no hurry or gun to the head to please a bank underwriter. Not any purchase or sale loose ends today. But with a second grand child on the horizon, I want to get the Hotel 6 “we’ll leave the light on for you” completed. So it can be used as a feathered nest for extra lodging space during family Maine lake gatherings.
This little red Maine waterfront camp that needs TLC.
Or it’s just time to bring everything into the present day with love and attention. This is current hobby for today using our hands and creating a blog post to share something at the same time. Helpful suggestion and friendly advice. If you buy a lake property next to whatever you already own on the Maine waterfront. Remember to set up an LLC to keep the two from merging. Then problems splitting them up as approved shore land zoning lots. If the family left behind ever wants to whittle something away down the road and break apart the lake camps in Maine.
