Snow Shoeing and a Giant Tree

I've been doing a lot of snowshoeing this winter. Maine has had a ton of snow lately, although I am afraid most of it will be gone after it rains tomorrow. Maybe we will be able to ice skate then.

Last weekend, a couple friends and I climbed up Bald Mountain. Here are a couple pictures of us. From the left we have my roommate Nate, our friends Sara and Mike, and me!
And a jumping one!

Also, last weekend a group of us went down to Yarmoth (a town about an hour south of where I live) to look at the tallest and oldest Elm tree in New England. It took all 6 of us to hold hands around its trunk! The tree, named Herbie, has been protected since the 50's when the tree warden decided if he couldn't save all the trees from Dutch Elm Disease, he would at least save one. Sadly, it was cut down a couple days after we visited because of Dutch Elm Disease. You can read the article about the tree here
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34765157/ns/us_news-life/

Here is a picture of me by its trunk.

Croissants!

On our honeymoon, we became morning regulars at a cafe across the street from the Vltava. Our first visit was mere chance: it was the first café we passed on our morning walk. Chance had nothing to do with our second visit. We we after one thing: freshly-made croissants. Flaky, buttery, delicious croissants.

In a fit of nostalgia (and my typical hobbyist curiosity), I decided I just had to take a shot at making my own croissants. After having to abandon plans last weekend, when I realized that time constraints meant we wouldn't be eating croissants until Wednesday, I got on the ball this weekend. Fresh out of the oven:



A second attempt will be required to apply the lessons I've learned (proper shaping, attention to temperatures and egg wash, air-tight sealing…), but they are tasty, even if not beautiful. I've been given assurance that they'll pass for this week's breakfast. ;)

(By the way, they pair wonderfully with the peach-ginger jam Rachel gave us for Christmas. Thanks!)

Beads!

When we went to the fair trade store in Fond du Lac after Christmas, I bought a bag of really cool paper beads. Yesterday, I bought some findings, and today I made five pairs of earrings and a bracelet.


We've had an incredibly productive Sunday. We went to the gym for the beginner yoga class - not what I would consider beginner level, but it was a good workout. We ran a few errands and ended up at a new Asian grocery called H-Mart. Lovely meat/fish, an entire wall of rice cookers, a food court, a diamond merchant, and a toy store - completely packed with people! We'll have go again when it's not so busy, but we got some fun things to try.

Breakfast on the Wing

Yesterday morning Jeff was standing at the sink looking at the birdfeeder. The birds, mostly sparrows, fly back and forth from the evergreens by our house to the birdfeeder all day long. All of a sudden "swoosh" our resident red-tailed hawk flew between the house and the bird feeder picking up a sparrow in mid-air. Wow. Guess trimming the trees really helped the hawk-a larger airspace now around the feeder.

I wonder if the hawk knows what happened to my bunny. I had been feeding him hay in hopes he would leave my shrubs alone and suddenly the bunny has disappeared. Hum?

Color

I felt the need for the colors of winter. Anyone have any winter pictures from Christmas I can use behind the blog's title?

I know, the "Fresh Bait" is hard to read over the photo of the trees.  But, it is a nice photo.