Up North Summer Adventures

Cabin in the woods

Eric and I along with the whole crew of Maryland Sled Dog Adventures' sled dogs, just returned from a little over three weeks of up north adventures at our cabin in Maine.

Okemo chewing on his nylabone.

Wheel dog, Okemo, shows off his playful side--88 lbs of playing (and pulling) power

Wheel dog and occassional lead dog, Sobo, clearly suffers from "Siberian Sleeping Sickness."

Chloe: These dogs are so undignified!

While in Maine we had a blast white water river rafting at the Forks, picking blackberries, hiking, making blackberry jam, visiting the Wilton Blueberry Festival, near daily swims at Clearwater Pond, camp fires, hosting several of our musher friends at a backyard BBQ, watching the stars, enjoying the silence, and, in general, just relaxing "up to camp." We saw several moose including a mama and two babies, a porcupine, several deer, tons of dragonflies, and many butterflies. We also heard the yips of coyotes in the distance. We also visited several swimming holes including Smalls Falls and Coos Canyon. Of course, we also did quite a bit of work while up at the cabin including work on the trails surrounding the cabin (we built a pallet bridge over a low spot on the trail that ties us into the main trail), split and stacked wood, and cut down several trees.

Fireweed

Fire pit awaiting an evening camp fire

The view down our tie trail

The view from the ridge

Eric working on the chainsaw

Cutting wood

Team mascot, T-Bone, romps on the trail

Veteran lead dog, Zoe, bounds down the trail.

I've found something

Summer Vegetable Harvest

Bowl full of heirloom yellow pear tomatoes

While Eric and I and the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures' sled dogs were away at our cabin in Maine for over a month, the veggies in the vegetable garden back home received lots of rain and have been producing one of the most bountiful harvests we've had since we began growing vegetables several years ago. The vines on the tomato and tomatillo plants were so lush and overgrown that Eric and I spent yesterday pruning back the plants to let more light into the peppers growing below. And it's not just the vegetables that have benefited from all of the rain. The flowers in the garden have flourished as well with all of the recent moisture resulting in lush and thick window boxes, gigantic hydrangeas, and pretty pots full of flowers.

A sampling of tomatillos, Italian frying peppers, Early Girl tomatoes, and a Purple Beauty bell pepper

A window box full of impatiens and petunias

The vegetable garden after pruning

Super chili peppers after picking all of the ripe peppers

Bowl full of ripe Super Chilis

While we did lose a few of the veggies that were a bit too ripe when we returned, we did manage to harvest tons of tomatoes (yellow pear and early girl), several giant cucumbers, a bowl full of tomatillos, one perfect large purple beauty pepper, several Italian frying peppers (sometimes called banana peppers), and another bowl full of chili peppers. We also have Trinidad peppers that are ready for harvesting. Just keeping up with the picking has been a chore.

Purple Beauty pepper ripening in the garden

Early Girl tomato ripening on the vine

To use up some of the abundance of cucumbers, we decided to try our hand at making pickles: one batch of curry ginger pickles and one batch of spicy dill pickles. In addition to the cucumbers in the spicy dill pickles, we also grew the chili peppers and Trinidad peppers used in that recipe.

Curry Ginger Peppers and Spicy Dill Peppers

Looks like Eric and I will be eating the fruits of our harvest for quite some time this season and enjoying our canned goods (crab apple jelly, crab apple butter, pickles and Maine blackberry jam) throughout cold winter months. We also picked and froze many containers of Maine blueberries and Maine blackberries while "up ta camp" that we've brought home with us to use in making blueberry pancakes, muffins, waffles, and blackberry syrup, sauces, cheesecake, and a variety of other goodies.

While we gone, our cat, Chloe, flourished at the "D.G. Cat Spa" (our friend Dorothy's house). As you can see, it was clearly an exhausting trip to the Spa.

A Month of Adventures (Week One): Sled Dogs and Blackberries

Blackberries. Yum!

So on this, our fourth day of vacation, Eric and I and the four legged members of the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures team, decided to hang close to the house in Lincoln, Vermont.

We began the morning with a light breakfast of biscuits and apple butter. Eric made the biscuits and the crab apple butter was made from the tree in our front yard at home in Baltimore and brought along. Eric's biscuits were light, fluffy and delish! Yum!

After breakfast, Eric and I watched several big thundershowers move through the area. The views from up here, even in inclement weather, are absolutely amazing. When the rain began to let up at about 11:00 am, we decided to take Acadia and Zoe and head into Bristol for some lunch. After a short walk around the Bristol town green with the pups, Eric and I lunched at the Snap restaurant.

Returning back to the house a short time later we took a brief hike with the dogs between thundershowers. As the rains threatened to move in (although they never did), we decided it was time to turn back. After arriving back at the house with no more than about five rain drops having fallen, it was on to blackberry picking. For the past several days, Eric has been scouting the property for good blackberry patches with ripe blackberries.

The meadows surrounding the house

Eric did most of the picking but as you can see from the photos the pups "helped" especially Okemo who has developed quite a taste for blackberries.

Okemo "helps" pick blackberries

Why ever would I want to eat blackberries wonders Sobo?

Eric picking blackberries

Acadia and Eric showing off the "fruits of their labor."

Acadia and Eric

While Eric picked blackberries, I photographed some of the wildflowers in the meadows around the house and watched a new set of storm clouds move in. Shortly after the picking was done, a severe thundershower moved through.

Black Eyed Susan (The Maryland State Flower)

Daisy

Joe-pye weed with a Bumble Bee

Goldenrod

Mountains ringed in clouds

Storm clouds movin' in...

"And the thunder rolls..."

After dinner, I took the blackberries Eric had picked and made them into a yummy cinnamon blackberry cobbler using a recipe from epicurious.

Blackberry cobbler

Eating blackberries is exhausting for sled pet, Okemo