Yesterday was really foggy in the morning, and all the web work in the woods was dewy and really visible.

Webs on the forest floor, webs on leaves, on dried plants, everywhere…

But the pretty ones were from the orb weavers.

Even the ones on the chain link and barbed wire…

Neither of these are the web weavers, but I thought it interesting they were hanging on the same leaf!

I think it’s a Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar along with a Harvestman (not a spider!).

We went for another walk here this morning, and the web work was all gone, presumably from the morning rain (early hurricane related rains). We walked farther today, and what we saw was a little depressing. This is out behind and below the airport in Augusta, in the area known as Bond Brook Recreation Area.

The city has been working over the past couple of years to create bike, snowshoe, and x-country ski trails down here. Part of me resents that my relatively private playground now has a lot more people there (and therefore I go less), but part of me is glad that people can enjoy the place. There was even a big winter ski festival/competition there last winter.

However, I strongly disagree with the city when they say that all of this is to the benefit of the environment. That before, the criss-crossing of little trails provided a lot of erosion. Sure, some ATVs would use the roads (gravel) and rights-of-way and even cause some erosion on the hill into the quarry pit. But it is nothing compared to what has been going on and continues to go on in the name of progress.

This is recent work,

This is a tributary to Bond Brook, an Atlantic Salmon stream (also here)

It usually runs pretty clear, even in heavy rains.

They did this last year, and it still heavily eroded. Because we know it is better to plow through a hill rather than walk (snowshoe/ski) over it.

I think this is from last year too,

All of this drains into the little streams that run into Bond Brook. Where is the erosion control that one usually sees in projects like this? It’s not like they have no idea this will happen. Hay bales, those little erosion fences… something. Especially around the streams/culverts.

I may notify the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.

From the professional! It’s been maybe 4 years since they’ve been to their pal Judy. She’s fabulous with dogs, and it seems they all love her and are so relaxed there. When I went to pick up the girls, two beardies were roaming around with them… and a itty bitty dog was getting a bath and getting up on the table while its itty bitty friend was waiting in the crate (probably a safe place with the 4 monster dogs roaming about).

Gravy-cakes!

Zuzu-pots! (as ever, focused on that ball)

Exciting day… it’s not yet 5 and they’re looking pooped (though, you know dogs, they can instantly be excited about something else).

(Zuzu and Gracie)

Our house looks big, probably because it’s up on a hill, and the old carport and barn are all attached. While it isn’t small, it also isn’t very large (~1700 sq ft), and it is an old house (~1880), with small rooms and little closet space. This leads to issues about where to put certain things, like knitting stuff, especially when the “formal living room” serves as an herbarium/library/lab.

There’s a fabulous large attic, but we lay extra insulation because 6 inches under the floorboards isn’t enough. So this space is not handy for things you may want frequently. Outside storage (the barn or its loft) isn’t really good for the yarn, or for frequent access.

So it kind of ended up here and there. It was up in the attic before we laid that extra insulation. And then… explosion of stuff everywhere!

(there are a lot of photos here, so I made them small, you can embiggen… the last bunch are crappy quality, sorry)

In the dining area with the computer station and under the phone shelf,

In the “living room” (serving at this point also as exercise room for the teenage boy),

Stuff in progress frequently ends up on the dining table, and on the washer (this will likely continue to happen),

In a cedar lined hope chest, which is still in outside storage,

Frequently on the floor next to the bed,

And then there’s the “little room”. This was probably initially the nursery. The main part of the house is 25 feet by 25 feet. I know that downstairs there were originally 4 rooms (now there are 2 long ones), and upstairs before the plumbing went in, it was likely much the same. Our “big” bathroom is less than 5×7 feet, and the little room is about 7×8 (with a door or window on each wall). Most of the yarn ended up here after it moved from the attic.

Before (from the door, clockwise to the attic stairwell):

The last two photos are at the bottom of the stairwell to the attic.

This past weekend I finally got to it all. It’s been slowly changing, and I’d been hoping to get to Ikea (3+ hours away) to get some fabulous shelves. Since that didn’t seem to be happening, I just went to Lowes and got some open steel shelves, and I think I like them a lot!

Ta-da!

There’s just empty bags and baskets on the small shelf, and the spinning wheel went on top of it.

But it’s better, no?

Before

After !