All Natural Sweets

Beautiful snow-covered fields at Chase Farms as we return from checking out the sugar maples

Heading out to see the tapped trees

Since this is Chris’ first winter in New England, I wanted to share with him some typically New England experiences. So, when we went up to New Hampshire to visit my sister Dianne and her spouse Ellen, we headed out to a sugar house to see how maple syrup is made. Luckily, it was Maple Weekend, so many of the sugar houses were open with special events going on. We ended up at Chase Farms in Wells, Maine. What fun! There was a bite in the air and snow on the ground, but it was nice and warm inside where they had lots of tasty maple treats for sale. Can you say “warm donut with maple icing”? The temperature was below freezing that day and it was snowing a bit, but they had collected sap during the week, when it was warmer, so they had the wood-fired evaporator going full tilt. For those of you who think that all maple syrup is made by Mrs. Butterworth, here’s the full process. In late winter, they tap the sugar maple trees by drilling a hole about 1.5 inches deep and inserting a spigot (Chase Farms uses blue plastic spigots like in the picture). Hang a bucket on the handy hook, add a metal cover to keep out debris, and wait for the weather to warm and the sap to run. They collect the sap, which is clear and the consistency of water, and boil it down into syrup. It takes 40-45 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. That’s a lot of trees to bleed! We took a horse-drawn wagon ride out to see some of their trees, and Rick the driver tapped a tree for us to see. Later in the day we visited a winery and bought a bottle of maple liquor made with local syrup. More sweet deliciousness!

Lots of buckets on the sugar maples

Plastic spigot used to collect the sap

Boiling the sap in the wood-fired evaporator

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Venturing out during the Blizzard of 2015 - this is before the snow started really falling

So, everyone has been asking us “Why are you spending the winter in New England?” Snow, of course! And did we get some snow! The Blizzard of 2015 dropped record amounts of snow and blasted us with near-hurricane-force winds in some areas, principally Cape Cod and the islands (Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket). We fared nicely, tucked in our warm little house in Dennis Port. Chris did succumb to a bit of cabin fever during the storm, but was quite the trooper afterward, shoveling out not only our path and car (three times, actually, trying to keep ahead of the accumulation – no luck there), but also the car of a neighbor a block or so away. Hopefully, someone will come by and plow the lane so we can actually get the car out. A contractor came through during the storm, but we haven’t seen him since. At least we’ve got a beautiful winter wonderland!

Post-blizzard, pre-final shoveling (the car was cleared off last night)

 

 

Perhaps this path, shoveled for the third time now, will stay clear

There's actually a deck, table, and chairs under there

A snowy sun!

The house across the street is nearly buried in drifts

Cape Cod Rail Trail

After a week lying on the couch trying to get over a cold, I really needed to get out and get some exercise. Of course, on the cape in January that meant laying up, but at least the temperature was above freezing (well, at least at freezing) and the sky was beautifully blue. We decided to check out the Cape Cod Rail Trail. As the name indicates, the path was originally part of an old railroad corridor. It runs 22 miles from Dennis to South Wellfleet, with a spur at Harwich that runs out to Chatham. Though it crosses some roads, the path winds mostly though old forests, past cranberry bogs and ponds. One pretty view was of West Reservoir, where several species of ducks and a couple of swans paddled in the water that was rapidly icing in from the shoreline. A great blue heron looked on from its perch on a gnarled tree ashore. Next time we'll bring binoculars for a better look. Here they also had a marker with information about the "river herring" (alewife and blueback herring) that inhabit these waters during a portion of their life cycle. We walked to the 2.2-mile mark before turning around so we would be back to the car before dark.

Winter bog

West Reservoir

Granite distance marker on trail

Ashore for the Winter

Neat trails through the woods

Well, for the first time since we've owned Mr Mac, nearly 15 years, we're spending more than a couple of months living ashore. Every summer we attend conventions for promoting and selling our books. When we're in the states, it's simple enough to leave the boat somewhere safe, like a marina or mooring field, while we travel to conventions. For three years, while we were cruising the Caribbean, we hauled the boat in Trinidad in June or July, flew home for work and visits, then back in September to cruise again. This year we sailed back to the states and hauled the boat. Having been in the water nearly non-stop for 30 years, she needs some TLC. So, we're spending the winter at my sister's summer house on Cape Cod. Yes, it's got heat, and I (Anne) personally love the cape in the winter. Chris is busy stocking up on sweaters and wool socks. We arrived in time for some beautiful foliage, and today it's actually close to 60 degrees - lovely! That said, we miss the boat, and look forward to moving back aboard in the spring. Til then, I'll have some landbound blogs, as well as updates on the work we're doing on the boat.

Colorful foliage instead of colorful coral reefs

Hidden pond

Chris bundled up while he writes

 

Baltimore

Cool church

We recently spent a weekend up in Baltimore visiting with friends Clarita and Paul. It's always great to get a local perspective. They took us to the Sunday-morning farmer's market (under the highway, so it's protected when it's raining!), where we ate warm, fresh little donuts, perused the local produce, and bought a cute little pepper plant. Then we went out and walked around Fort McHenry. It was here that Francis Scott Key watched as the the British (unsucessfully) attacked the fort, resulting in his penning of the Star Spangled Banner. We also got beautiful harbor views from the Under Armour Headquarters, which is housed in a refurbed Proctor and Gamble factory. The buildings are named after P&G products like Tide, etc. What a cool city!

Baltimore Sunday-morning farmer's market

Waterfront at the Under Armour headquarters, looking toward the Inner Harbor

Cannons at Fort McHenry

Chris’ New Release: Blood & Iron from Privateer Press

New release, new publisher. It was so cool last year when, at Gen Con, Chris was approached by the fiction editor at Privateer Press to write in their Iron Kingdom’s world. Uh…yes! The novella Blood & Iron relates the exploits of Phinneus Shae, war caster gone rogue, wreaking mayhem and running from the Mercarian league aboard the pirate ship Talion. Unfortunately, the infamous bounty hunter Ghostmaker has got Phinneus in her sights… Check it out! It’s already gotten some rave reviews.