Tag: fall

Hello Summer! The gift of living in a state with four seasons.

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Today is the first official day of summer. It always feels anticlimactic. Our weather has been teasing summer for awhile now. The warmer days arrived earlier breaking up the cooler and often much damper days of spring. It always happens slowly. An unexpected day or two where temperatures climb higher than expected. A gently reminder to hang on because warmer days are coming.

We have four seasons in Maine. Some people say five. They count spring twice. The warmer days of early spring when everything reawakens. And, the much maligned mud season. I only count spring once. Maybe because it’s actually my least least favorite season. The mosquitoes dominate these milder months and as the snow retreats it leaves everything brown and anemic until finally a burst of green improves the palette.

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Looking for free things to do? Here’s a monthly breakdown of free events in Maine for 2019.

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A few years ago, my family and I did the Living Well Spending Zero challenge from Ruth Soukup. As part of the challenge, we spent minimal money for the entire month. No groceries, no entertainment, no take-out. We allowed ourselves a small amount of cash at the start of the month for minor necessities, and activities that had already been planned, but that was it. We ate through the food in our refrigerator and pantry, learned to ration our seltzer, and went to some free events like the Fork Food Lab grand opening.

Overall, we did a great job, or at least until the last day of the month when our cat came down with a UTI, and we had to do an emergency visit to the vet complete with x-rays, anesthesia, and multiple antibiotics, all of which negated most of our savings from our zero spend month. Still it was a fun, creative experiment and one we are about to embark on again.

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Hiking Maine | Belfast Rail Trail on the Passagassawaukeag

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Fall is one of my favorite times to hike. It’s not too hot and not too cold. Goldilocks would approve. There are some other advantages too including stunning views not impaired by mosquitoes. The conditions are ideal. Unfortunately, since we’ve had a busy few months, we haven’t been hiking as much this season as we would like. So, when we recently went to Belfast for an overnight visit, our first stop was to the Belfast Rail Trail for a quick hike.

After a sad mishap where one of our iPhones went swimming in the lake, we had to make an emergency visit to the wireless store for a temporary replacement. The unplanned stop meant a delayed start to Belfast and by the time we arrived, darkness was only an hour or so away.  This meant we had to do an abridged hike since we were racing the coming darkness.

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Looking for free stuff? Here’s a list of free monthly activities to do in Maine for 2017.

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Last September, my family and I did the Living Well Spending Zero challenge from Ruth Soukup. As part of the challenge, we spent minimal money for the entire month. No groceries, no entertainment, no take-out. We allowed ourselves a small amount of cash at the start of the month for minor necessities, and activities that had already been planned, but that was it. We ate through the food in our refrigerator and pantry, learned to ration our seltzer, and went to some free events like the Fork Food Lab grand opening.

Overall, we did a great job, or at least until the last day of the month when our cat came down with a UTI, and we had to do an emergency visit to the vet complete with x-rays, anesthesia, and multiple antibiotics, all of which negated most of our savings from our zero spend month. Still it was a fun, creative experiment and one we would definitely try again. More importantly, our cat, other than one minor setback, is doing great now.

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Hiking Maine | The Evergreen Cemetery Trail in Portland

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December is here and if our already chilly, snow-filled days are any indication, our days of hiking without snowshoes are numbered. So, when we hit a stretch of cool but beautiful weather earlier this month, we headed to Evergreen Cemetery to explore a new trail. There are a lot of trail options in and around the cemetery. We choose to do a large loop on the outskirts of the actual cemetery.

We had just come from the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland‘s holiday event so it was fitting that ninety percent of the hikers we encountered on this trail were with their dogs. All the dogs we met were friendly, happy and focused on racing through the trail. It seemed to be the place to take your pup for some exercise.

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