Winter's End

It appears that winter is slowly loosing it hold on the lake. This weekend the last ice- fishing house was taken off and you can now see a little open water at the shore line. Ice-out probably won’t be for another couple of weeks.

There is still lots of snow in the shady woods however. My friend and lake neighbor Fred was taking a walk through the woods and found some interesting tracks. After a great deal of research he concluded they were fisher tracks. Fishers are part of the marten family and related to the larger wolverine. Fishers are considered to be quite carnivorous, favoring snowshoe hares as well as squirrels, mice, shrews, voles, birds, fruits like berries, and ferns. They are fascinating to see but pretty vicious and better avoided.

I have been keeping an eye on our eagles. I walked out on the ice about two weeks ago and there was no sign of the adults on the nest (in the tree right over the boat house.)While I do see the adults most days it’s hard to know if they are incubating eggs this year since I can’t directly see the nest from the Inn. The BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham Maine has an eagle cam focused on a nest. While they have not yet laid eggs it is amazing to watch them up close. You can check it out at http://www.briloon.org/watching-wildlife/eagle-cam.php .

As Spring marches on we’ll be listen for the sound of returning loons!

Still Winter

Here we are in the middle of March but it’s still winter in Maine. Marie, who works here at the Inn, and her family have a camp on our lake and spent today ice fishing and ice skating on the lake. They report that we still have 22 inches of ice. Winter is beautiful here. We have many bright blue-sky days and the snow sparkles. It just lasts a long time!

Yesterday as I was going to the post office to pick up the mail I saw three deer standing by the side of the road. They were licking the road salt used to keep the roads safe in the winter. This is a pretty common sight in the late winter as the deer and moose replenish the minerals in their bodies.

Here at the Inn it is retreat season. We have groups that come for the weekend as a way to recharge. This year we have quilters, women with their spinning wheels and lots of wool, and several church groups. It’s always so much fun for us to have such creative folks here. I’m always asked how many people we can accommodate for a retreat or family reunions. My answer is – it depends on how much they like each other! Actually we can host up to 24 people if you have 4 to a room. This makes it like a big slumber party – very cozy!

Soon we will be getting ready for our summer visitors. Last year we had guest from 33 states and 9 different countries (Spain, Germany, England, Canada, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, New Zealand and Ireland. It is such a treat to meet folks and learn about other cultures. I think that is my favorite part of innkeeping!

It also won’t be long until weddings start here at the Inn. We have our first scheduled for May. While we still have some weekends open, we are going to have a busy summer helping couples get started on their wonderful new life together.

So as we watch the snow melt we are looking forward to an exciting spring season!