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May 27-
Even though
today is more like a Saturday than a Sunday, it is actually a Sunday (with
tomorrow off) and I figured I may as well keep up my regular rotation.
I can make no future promises, I may update on a Monday or who knows, I
may even get out a journal sooner than 7 days. But anyway, it is the Sunday
of Memorial Day weekend and here I am! Seems hard to believe that it is
Memorial Day weekend already. Seems like just a few weeks ago we were taking
our last snowmobile ride for the season. Memorial Day is a little early
this year, but it still seems hard to believe that the official start to
the summer is happening.
We are having anything
but summer weather right now. A front came through Thursday evening and
we had another one of those 25 degree temperature drops in less than an
hour. We were actually out on the golf course when it happened. I can say
though that I was pretty well prepared for it. I keep a fleece jacket in
my golf bag because it can cool off pretty dramatically on any given evening
up here. I also brought a gortex wind breaker with me because there was
a front and some rains coming at us and it looked like we were going to
get caught while out on the course. The first little shower hit as we were
heading down the third fairway, but it ended about as fast as it started.
The second brief shower hit as we were heading down the 5th or 6th fairway
and again ended briefly. Then as we were finishing up the 7th hole, the
skies grew darker and it looked like our luck would run out. We tee'd off
on number 8 in a pretty steady rain and were able to just barely finish
up the par 3, 8th hole when the heavens opened up with a torrential downpour
and even a flash of lightning followed by the rumble of thunder. We were
already in our carts headed back to the cart barn when the lightning struck
and there were no more lightning strikes, but there is something particularly
unnerving about being on a golf course when a thunderstorm is occurring.
We were unable to finish the game as the rains kept up and we all went
home.
It then rained off
and on for the rest of the evening Thursday. It was good to get a decent
rain up here. I have been watering the grass seed twice a day and the fruits
of my labor have been rewarded by some hairs of grass popping up through
the dirt. I think if we would have had some warmer temps in the past 2
weeks, then the grass seed would have been further along, but at least
it is germinating and hopefully in a couple of weeks we will have green
to look at rather than brown. I have chuckled to myself a few times this
past week as I looked out the window to check on the seed. Something about
getting excited about watching the grass grow! I used to lead such an exciting
life!
Friday was a nice day,
with mostly sunny skies and temps around 60. Yesterday was partly cloudy
and a bit chilly. There was also a pretty stiff breeze yesterday, which
as carried over to today and today has been overcast with temps running
in the upper 40's. Of course you all know already that I am not complaining
about the cool temps. I could honestly be a very happy person if this was
as warm as it got all summer. I do not mind having to wear a jacket and
one of the biggest bright spots to the cool temps is that it keeps the
bugs hiding. I spent a lot of time outside the past few days and have not
had to swat one blackfly or mosquito. From the looks of it, we are going
to have some more cool weather this coming week. Tomorrow and Tuesday look
warmer (but not hot) and then another strong front looks to move through
and cool us back down and then we look to remain cool for the rest of the
week and into the following weekend. I'm sure that this summer will provide
some heat, but for now I am liking how things are going.
We have had some warmer
days too. Wednesday was warm and before the front came through on Thursday
it was warm and humid. In fact, all of us golfers were wearing shorts and
t-shirts and were sweating when we started out. I was the only one with
jackets for the change in the weather. Burt and I have been getting out
for our afternoon adventures every day. Knock on wood, but he is really
getting around well. In fact I think he is getting around better this year
than he was last year. We are taking walks that are 2-2 1/2 miles long
and while he is pretty sore at the end, he is fine the next day. He really
loves living here. When we first moved, I think he did not like it so much.
The Lake Linden home was pretty much his home for most of his life and
had we not been moving to a place where I knew he would love it even more,
I think I might have even waited for him to pass before we made any kind
of move. No need to add any more stress to the guy's life. I cannot put
my finger on the exact date when he became comfortable with this new home
of his, but it was not more than a few weeks. Now when we go back to the
Lake Linden home, he gets paranoid that we are going to leave him behind!
There are several things that he loves more about this place than the Lake
Linden house and one of them is to be able to walk out his front door and
be right in the middle
of the woods on our walks. On the warmer days we had over to Burt's
Pond. That seems to be one of his favorite places to go. It is about 1/2
mile away from the cabin and much of it is through shaded woods, so he
does not get too overheated. However, he is glad to get to the pond so
that he can jump in and cool off. We will spend about 1/2 hour letting
him swim and fetch
sticks and then we head back. As
Burt and I walk back along the road that we take for a while to get
back to the cabin, I am reminded of the shot of Andy and Opie Taylor walking
along a dirt road on their way to or from a fishing hole in the woods.
All we need is the music to play and me or someone to whistle along and
it would be a close match.
Another thing that
Burt loves to do up here at the cabin is to lay down outside and relax
in the evenings. The bugs have been pretty bad the past few weeks, but
we put up the screen tent and put the swing inside it and so we have been
spending quite a bit of time in there. The swing can have it's back rest
lowered and converted into more of a bed. Yesterday afternoon I put the
back rest down and we spent a few relaxing hours out there thinking
about pretty much next to nothing! He likes to lay there and sniff
all the scents that are flowing out of the woods and I like to lay there
and watch him. The tent sits in the shade all day long, so I can see that
as a nice place to be on a warm day with a bit of a breeze and we will
be spending quite a bit of time there this summer.
Today was plenty cool
enough to be able to walk in the woods and not have to worry about Burt
overheating. Temps were in the 40's, there was a thick overcast and a stiff
breeze- your typical late October day! Nora, Burt and I took a nice hike
up into the Cliff Range today. We have not been up there for a couple of
years and today seemed like a good day to head up that way. It's nice to
be out exploring again. We did so much of that in previous years, but then
got so busy with the wedding a few years ago and then building the shop
and cabin. I think Burt can sense that we are getting back to the "good
old days" as he used to be reluctant to get into the truck to go somewhere
as it was usually not somewhere fun. Now he has no problems hopping up
into the truck because he knows that we will be going somewhere fun.
It was a perfect day
to be hiking in the woods. No bugs and very comfortable temps to be exerting
yourself. There is nothing better than hiking
the woods of the Keweenaw and having them all to yourself the entire
time. It took us about 30 minutes to hike up to the top- all of it up hill.
However, once at the top, the
rewards are far worth it. The view from up there is really something.
To the southeast are the
highest points in Keweenaw County. Places like Praiseville Hill and
Mt Horace Greely. To the east is the
quiet hamlet of Phoenix. To the south are the
woods of the Keweenaw and well off into the distance the Huron Mountains.
When I would hike up there with Burt and Baileys, they would freak me out
by walking right up to the edge of the cliff and look over. Some of the
drop off's are sheer drops of several hundred feet. Today was no different.
I spent much of the time barking orders to Burt to back away or come close.
I have not had to bark orders to Burt in years. Both he and Baileys really
settled into very well behaved lifestyles a few years ago- knowing what
they can and cannot do. In fact I cannot even remember the last time I
have really had to correct or scold Burt, but it has been years. He is
an incredible dog and both Nora and I know we are so lucky to have had
both him and Baileys in our lives.
The way back down did
not take quite as long as walking down hill is easier than walking up hill.
However, here is a little side track. Walking a lot of down hill is actually
harder than walking a lot of up hill. I think it is because you use different
muscles for walking down hill and those are muscles you do not use as much.
Anyway, if you ever go on a long hike (more than 3-5 miles) and there is
a lot of elevation change. Be prepared for some pain on the way down! Anyway,
we made it back safe and sound. There is a little creek that we have to
cross when we are near the bottom and Burt used it to get a little drink
and cool off as well. Before getting to the bottom, there was a little
trickle of water coming down the hill and I
used it to take a photo. We made it back safe and sound and as I said,
it felt really good to be out and exploring again. Hopefully we will be
able to a lot more of that this summer and autumn.
I have been pretty
busy working in the shop and on the shop. I was able to pretty much finish
up the work benches.
I say "pretty much", because I need to put a piece of hardboard on the
top and also trim out the sides of the top. Perhaps someday I will convert
the tops to laminated hard maple, but for now the doubled up 5/8" OSB and
hardboard will be just fine. Sometime in the next year or so I also plan
to build some cabinets to put underneath the tops. They will store tools
and other items. For now they will server their purpose and were built
with longevity in mind, by using mortise and tennon and half lap jointery.
The only fasteners (screws or nails) were the ones used to secure the OSB
to the frames. Everything I build for the shop I plan to build with the
intent for it to last the rest of my life. A pretty cool thought when I
think about it. These are items that I am creating now and will be around
30+ years from now.
Visible in that last
pic were two other additions to the shop- windows!
I put two windows in today. They too need some more work to be finished.
I need to trim out the outside of the windows and also put back in the
battens on the side of the shop. I need to get some more rough sawn lumber
as we used all of ours to make the tongue and groove siding. The windows
are up pretty high, but I figured the higher I put them up the less chance
there will be of the weather getting in behind them. I caulked them, but
with the rough sawn board and batten siding used on the shop there is no
way to get the kind of weather proofing I would get on a house with engineered
sheathing and house wrap. Plus the snow piles up pretty high on the sides
of the shop. Their main purpose is to let some natural light in as well
as provide for ventilation. I have two more windows I plan to put on the
back wall of the shop, but they will probably not go in for a while.
Other that completing
the trim and batten work on the outside, my next job in the shop is to
hang some OSB above the benches so that I can hang my layout tools and
some hand tools. I have several things that I built that hold hand tools
and some layout tools and right now they are sitting in a box in the shop.
I eventually plan to side the entire inside of the shop in tongue and groove,
but that may not be for a year or more. I have some spare OSB sitting in
the shop, so it will serve as a temporary wall material. Once that is done,
the shop will be pretty much ready for business. I do have a few projects
that I plan to get right into when the shop is ready, so that is kind of
neat to know that there are projects in the waiting.
The woods continue
to green up and are making use of any rain we get. The lake is still way
down and it will take months of above average rainfall to bring it back
up, but every little bit will help. The apple trees that a group of visitors
to the site gave us in memory of my dad are full
of blooms. It will be neat to have some apples this autumn to pick
and eat and maybe even make an apple pie with. What is even more exciting
is to know that these trees will be around for the rest of our lives and
will continue to produce more and more apples. Two weeks ago I planted
a peach tree. We will not have any peaches this year, but next year I am
told we will have plenty. Nothing better than a fresh peach!
Other than that, not
much else is going on. June is almost here and as mentioned I am sure that
so are some pretty hot days. Although I can draw encouragement from the
fact that in 3 months summer will be essentially over. We may still have
some hot and/or humid days left, but we will be at the end of August and
staring down the barrel of September and that is a very good month for
weather up here! Happy Memorial Day everyone!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
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May 20-
Some interesting
weather we have been having lately. On Monday, we rose to 70 degrees by
the late afternoon. Then in the evening, a front came through and dropped
temps 25 degrees in 30 minutes. I think the air got a little help from
the cold waters of Lake Superior. When the winds blow off of it with enough
vigor this time of the year the air can get really cold. In any case, in
30 minutes we went from 70 degrees to 45 degrees. Glad I was not out in
the bush with shorts and a t-shirt on! It remained cold on Tuesday. So
cold that I wanted to wear some gloves on my afternoon walk with Burt.
I probably could have used a hat too, but braved the elements. Then by
Thursday we had my perfect day up here, with crystal clear skies and temps
in the low 60's. At other times of the year, 60 degrees might feel cool,
but when the sun is so strong and I have not yet acclimated to the warmer
temps, then low 60's and bright sunshine is just fine by me. I do not need
to wear a jacket, but am still perfectly comfortable. Friday was in the
70's and I survived just fine, but did break out the shorts to go along
with my t-shirt. Then early Saturday another front came through and we
went from the mid 50's at about 3 am into the mid 40's by 6 am and then
down into the mid 30's by around 8 am. The most interesting thing about
Saturday was that we then stayed in the low to mid 30's all day. Even at
the warmest time of the day, the temps were sitting in the low to mid 30's.
We had a heavy overcast and strong north to northeast winds too. Plus a
bit of rain passed through from time to time and then early this morning
we had some snow. I did not see it, but the airport near Calumet reported
light snow from 1 am until 5 am and I know I had some ice crystals on the
vehicles and boat cover this morning. Temps recovered today, with a high
of around 50. Temps will continue to warm and we could slip into the 80's
by Tuesday and Wednesday. I guess the rule of thumb if you were planning
a trip up here at this time of the year would be to pack for winter, spring
and summer.
I have the air conditioners
all ready to go. Not sure if we will be needing them, but I think I will
put them in tomorrow and be all set just in case. The cabin sits in the
shade until about 10-11 am and then dips back into the shade by around
8 pm. It will also stay pretty cool if we do not open the doors and windows
too much, but I know we will be needing the AC's sometime this summer and
I may as well get them in and ready for use. I can tell that the cabin
is well insulated because we did not need heat at all yesterday or overnight
last night. I had even forgot to close the window in the upstairs bedroom
yesterday, but yet we still managed to stay warm without heating up the
floors. It takes a while for the floors to totally cool down and I did
not want them to be warm when we were trying to stay cool, so I am glad
that we did not need heat.
Through all of this
wacky weather the Laurium Glacier managed to melt off Thursday. I do not
know the exact time of day that it melted, but it is gone. Thanks to the
big storm in early April, it seemed to melt about on average. There have
been earlier dates like May 15th and later dates like May 26th, but it
seems like sometime around the third week of may it finally gives up the
ghost. This year I could not see into the spot that it likes to last the
longest without getting out of the car and climbing in a bit and there
are some nasty bushes in there. I have the puncture marks from the thorns!
Plus, each time I stopped, got out of the truck and walked into the ditch
to check on it, there were folks walking the road nearby and they must
have wondered what the heck I was doing! Oh well, a little confusion in
life is always good!
The blackflys are out,
or were. Back on Monday I got the itch to plant grass seed. I had intended
to plant just one section, let it get going and then plant other sections
in stages. Well, I got about 3/8ths done before dinner and just decided
to finish up the rest after dinner. This was before the front came through
and dropped the temps on Monday, so I was out there in the 70 degree temps
and sunshine and bugs. I hate blackflys the most for many reasons. One
being that even bug repellent will not immunize you from them. They do
not like bug spray, but they find areas that you cannot put the spray on,
like your mouth, nose, ears and even your eyes. I ended up with them flying
into all of those areas- nasty buggers! Of course about 30 minutes after
I finished the temps dropped and winds picked up and that sent them scurrying
for cover. Figures!
They did not like Tuesday's
weather and were a no show yesterday and today too. Today seemed warm enough
for them to come out, but perhaps yesterday's cold sent them deep into
cover and they needed more than 50 degrees to get them back out. Would
it ever be nice if they were all killed by yesterday's weather! But I fear
not. They have been around a long time (probably 1000's of years longer
than humans have inhabited the Keweenaw) and they have adapted quite well
to anything the weather up here can throw at them. I guess you have to
give them credit for that, but that is about all I will compliment them
on!
Living in the woods
has also introduced me to all the bugs that live in the woods. I do not
know what they all are. We have been dealing with these tiny beetle like
bugs that Nora and I are calling potato bugs. They are about the size of
a tick, but shaped more like an aphid. They do not seem to do much except
walk around and make a tick when they hit the floor. They also do not seem
to live too long as I have come across more dead ones than alive ones.
We also have been seeing some flying bugs that look much like a fat lightning
bug without the light. Not as many of them as the others and they are mainly
outside rather than inside the house. Among the other bugs we have are
the blackflys, a few mosquitos, bees, centipedes and a few ants. Although
not too many ants thankfully. With a shop made almost completely out of
wood and a house also made mainly of wood. I am keeping my eyes out for
any ants or termites and at the first sign an exterminator will be called
in. If Burt did not walk around so much outside I would probably spray
around the base of the cabin and shop right now.
I have also set up
some natural defense mechanisms to help combat the bugs around here. Nora
gave me a Purple
Martin birdhouse for Christmas and this week I put it together and
we are now just waiting for them to take it over. Hopefully they will as
they eat a tremendous amount of insects. I might look into building a few
bat houses as well. I know we had Barney hanging on the shop last year.
Not sure where he went, but bats are around here and they love to eat insects
too. The martins will take care of them in the daytime and the bats can
eat them at night. To be honest, most of the bugs do not bother me that
much. I could even deal with blackflys and mosquitos if they did not want
to latch onto me and suck my blood! I am perfectly happy to let the male
mosquitos live in harmony with me up here! For the females, I have two
mosquito magnets going for them. The mosquitos have not been too bad just
yet, but the traps have been catching quite few blackflys. I know last
year that at the end of May the mosquitos were pretty bad, so we set up
the magnet up here, it caught quite a few and then I think it and all the
dry weather we had really beat down the mosquito population because we
really did not have many problems with them from about the end of June
on. So we'll see how the two of them work this year.
Nora and I have been
doing some other tasks around the property. Nothing major, but it is starting
to look pretty nice around here with all of her flowers blossoming. I am
really looking forward to having some grass. Not looking forward to mowing
it, but it will be nice to look out and see grass rather than mud. Burt
likes to lay in the grass too, so I am sure he will enjoy it once it finally
comes up. The shop continues to come along. I am pretty much at the stage
where I need to build some workbenches. I did pick up the lumber for them
this past week. I got their spaces in the shop all cleaned out and there
really is nothing more left to do in the shop except build them, put them
into place and then fill them up with tools and other various items. Then
I can finish organizing the shop and get on with building some things in
it.
The weather has presented
its share of challenges to us for our outdoor adventures. It seems like
one day we are all bundled up and then next are sweating it out. Today
the sun was out and it was not too cold, so we decided to take a trip to
the beach. Well, as we got near enough to the lake to see it, I saw whitecaps
on it and knew that it would be a pretty chilly walk on the beach as the
temps were in the 40's. It was chilly, but tolerable. We walked a while
and then turned around and headed back. Burt did not even want to go for
a swim. Not sure why, perhaps it was chilly enough he did not feel the
need to cool off. Last time we were out there it was a whole lot warmer
and even though we had to climb over the ice pack to get to the water,
we did and he went for a swim. Anyway, it was a brisk day to be at the
beach, but I have yet to encounter a day when I did not want to be there-
no matter what the weather is. Something about walking the
shores of the big lake.
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
May 13-
Sometimes these
journals are easy to start and sometimes they are difficult. I cannot put
my finger on why it is one way other than the other, but tonight it was
difficult. I actually have some things to write about, so you would think
I would be able to just jump right into it, but I first had to get past
the block. So the best way I could come up with tonight was to just talk
about it rather than try and figure out something more cleaver to say and
then continue on. It looks like it worked, because I am rolling along now!
Spring continues to
pop out around here. The
trees have all burst their buds and are in differing stages of filling
out. Its fun to live in the woods and see the transformation occur.
Two weeks ago the grass was starting to green a bit, but all the trees
and bushes were still in winter mode. A week ago the buds were just starting
to open on trees like the birch, with the maples and oak still holding
back any signs of summer foliage. Then this week everything opened up and
some of the ground cover plants like the ferns have also popped up. So
things are going from a varied shade of browns to different shades of green
and the depth as which you can see into the woods is also decreasing. Soon
we will be all nestled into an intimate pocket in the woods, with a thick
Keweenaw forest surrounding us. I know I am looking forward to the shade
and the intimacy of the summer foliage.
We are suppose to get
some rain tonight and tomorrow, which will be very welcomed. In addition
the the greening up of the woods, some rain will really help to knock down
the fire danger. So far so good up this way, with the fire in Baraga County
being put under control last week and no new fires of significance going
on close by. There is a big one in northeast MN and the rains are suppose
to hit that one too. Not that the rains will put it out, but will help!
The big lake continues to shrink. Normally it is an asset that lakes like
the Portage and Torch are connected to the big lake, but this is one of
those times that it is a liability, because they too are down about 18".
That is not that big of a deal for the big lake, at least in most cases,
but it is making a pretty big deal to the connected lakes- especially the
ones with a shallower shoreline. The Torch and Portage lakes are just those
types of lakes which are connected and also have rather shallow shorelines.
As a result, we have a
lot of stranded docks right now. That was the dock at the village park
in Lake Linden. The docks at the boat launch are fine as the water there
is plenty deep. However that scene is being repeated in many areas right
now. So any rain in the Lake Superior basin will be welcomed. The low water
levels have not been impacting Burt much. He still finds the water just
fine and gets after
a stick that is tossed out into it. So from a purely selfish standpoint
the low water levels are not impacting us, but I do feel sorry for folks
that have docks sitting on dry land right now.
We have been busy up
here this past week and especially this past weekend. Nora and I went down
to the Lake Linden house yesterday and cut the grass for the first time
this season. That is actually pretty early for the first cut and it really
needed it too. Not that it was like a wheat field, but it did need cutting.
Normally we can make it until around the 15th before it even shows signs
of needing to be cut. Anyway, that was done and the other big job left
down there got done too. We got all my lumber out of the shop in the basement.
Good Old Blue was called into duty again. We were able to put all the plywood
and all of the cherry wood into
the back in one load. I am not one to hang onto a lot of useless things,
but the one exception is the "cut off's" from all of my woodworking projects.
We did not save any cut off's from building the cabin, but I
sure had a bunch of them from my woodworking projects in the past 8
years. It took three 35 gallon garbage cans as well as a couple of boxes
to get them all up from the shop. That was load number 2 for Old Blue yesterday
and also the final load of the day. I can also say that I was able to get
beyond hanging onto the cut off's and they are destined for the wood boiler.
This morning I put
the wood storage racks up in the shop up here and got all the wood sorted,
stacked and stickered. I also did a little more organizing of the
shop today and it is coming along. In the lower right there looks to
be a big mess still sitting there, but it is really
not as bad as it looks. That is a lot of the gardening stuff and some
other things that will get put away once the shop comes along a little
further. My next job for the shop is to build two work benches, then I
can get some things stored in and on them and then I can make the final
arrangements to things in the shop and it will be pretty well set up and
I can start using it to build things that I want to for the cabin. As I
was working in there today, I realized that this is the 5th home for the
shop in the past 12 years. I also realized that like me, this is the final
home for it. Well, I plan to make my final home the log home we will build
next to the cabin in a few years, but it will be part of the "group" of
buildings up here. Pretty neat thought and pretty exciting to know that
this is it. No more moves!
Nora was busy yesterday
afternoon planting a
garden next to the cabin. She had a nice perennial garden down in Lake
Linden and grabbed a few plants from that and brought them up here
to start a new one up here. She also picked up some annuals to help color
things up around here. She does a great job with her flowers and other
plants and was worried that we would not have the sunshine up here that
we have down there, but we have seen that while there is a lot more trees
and shade up here, there are also some very sunny spots. I even plan to
put some raised beds on top of the septic field to plant some strawberries
on. That will happen next year though! I also hope to get some domesticated
raspberries going up here (we have some wild patches around the property)
as well as some blueberries. I think those projects will have to wait until
next year too as right now my main landscaping project is
this. To plant grass there. I plan to do it in about 3 stages working
from front to back. There was a few pockets of grass that came with the
top fill for the septic, but not enough to let go on it's own.
So a lot had been done
in the past week and there certainly is quite a bit more to do, but we'll
keep on plugging and chugging and take care of things one at a time. Nothing
that we have left to do needs to be done immediately, so that is nice too.
We can do some relaxing and do not have the stress of a time table.
Not much else going
on up here. I did play my first round of golf up here. Not bad for the
first round on a new course that I have never even been on. Hopefully the
score will come down a bit, but I was not disappointed by things last night.
The Laurium Glacier continues to shrink. Depending on the temps this week,
it may just disappear. I will need to start keeping a closer eye on it
this week. Keep an eye out for the big news in the next week or so. About
the only other item of interest is that tomorrow marks my 8th anniversary
of moving up here. The details of that day are still fresh in my mind and
probably will be for a long time if not forever. It was such a monumental
event in my life and one that changed it for the better more than I could
have ever imagined it would. Hard to believe it has been 8 years. Seems
like just a few years ago. Time flies!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
May 6-
Hard to believe
another week has flown by, but according to the calendar it has. This will
likely be a short one as I really do not have a ton to write about and
am sorry to say that I do not even have a single picture to share with
you. It's been a busy week up here, but mostly work mixed in with a bit
of play. I have actually been battling a Lateral Epicondylitis of late
and have had to also take it easy. For those of you that do not know what
that is, it may sound pretty serious, but it is actually commonly known
as "Tennis Elbow". I have not played tennis for at least 10 years, so I
suspect that mine could more accurately be called builders elbow. I developed
it sometime while building the cabin. I had so many sore muscles back when
we were doing the building, I really cannot pinpoint when I got it. I do
know that it would flare up off and on through the winter and seemed to
be worse after a hard snowmobile ride. Then this spring it was bothering
me to the point where it was interfering with my sleep. So when I went
to my annual check up back at the end of March, I mentioned to my Dr my
elbow and forearm pain. He took a look at it and diagnosed it at the lateral
Epicondylitis and gave me a prescription to see a physical therapist. I
started that about a month ago and actually was not too good with the instructions
to make it heal. I did get one of those arm bands that helps keep the muscles
in the forearm from contracting too much and that helped. I did go to the
physical therapist like I was suppose to, but I was also suppose to rest
it and do some stretching exercises and did not do those last two very
much. In fact I took a snowmobile ride and ATV ride rather than resting
it and was doing all that work at the Lake Linden house and in the shop.
Last weekend things actually got worse with my arm and when I told the
therapist, she already knew of my activities and strongly urged me to take
it easy. So all of last week I did take it pretty easy and did my stretches
and it made very good progress. So good that I was able to resume work
on the shop Friday and have been doing work there and a bit at the Lake
Linden house too. It still gets a bit sore with these more active days,
but I can tell that it is getting much better. Actually one of the things
that can be most irritating to it is typing and I do feel things pull and
hurt a bit when I type. So I guess that will be another excuse to keep
this short.
Not much has been happening
with the weather up here. We have not had a lick of rain in about a week.
Last Sunday was warm, dry and very windy and a prescribed burn set by some
government entity on government land on Friday restarted and got out of
hand to the south of Baraga and north of Covington. It burned pretty hard
for about 2 days and then the winds calmed down and temps dropped a bit
and they were able to get it about 90% contained as of Friday. However,
today has been windy and warm and I would not be surprised to hear about
the fire getting bigger again. Thankfully there have been no major fires
burning up this way. I did see the DNR spotter plane on Thursday or Friday
flying overhead, so they are watching for things, but so far so good (at
least that is what I know as I type!).
The temps have been
pretty comfortable. I actually enjoy it when the temps are in the 50's.
I do not mind at all having to wear a jacket and would take that over an
80 degree day on almost any occasion in the warm months. Of course today
we hit 70 and with the breeze, that felt pretty good too. Things are starting
to green up a bit. The grass is greening the most and would be very green
if we would get a decent rain. The buds on the trees are just starting
to burst. Usually we do not have a full canopy until the end of May, so
it looks like things are on schedule to reach that full canopy in about
3 weeks. All the rivers and creeks are back down to summer levels. The
surge with the snow melt is over and if we do not get some meaningful rain
soon they will be at late summer levels soon. The lake is also way, way
low. As low as I have ever seen it. I have actually not been to the big
lake, but have seen the Portage and Torch Lakes and am seeing things there
that I have never seen. Actually I take that back. I did see the big lake
at Keweenaw Bay and did see lake bottom in spots between L'Anse and Baraga
that I have never seen before. I had no idea it was that shallow in those
particular spots!
As mentioned I have
been doing some work. The work at Lake Linden is just about over. All we
need to do is get all my lumber up out of the basement. I then want to
paint the wall that my lumber storage racks are near and we will be completely
done with work down there. It does look a lot better than it did just a
month ago, so we'll see if those efforts make any difference. I am sure
that they will eventually and am just glad to know that those tasks are
done and we have done about all we can to that place to make it presentable
for sale. The saga up here with the shop continues. I did finish some of
the storage space in the rafters and yesterday Nora and I did get most
of the items I want to put up there up there. I also built a little hanging
wood storage rack for some of the left over lumber from building the cabin.
There is still quite a bit of organizing to do and I need to build two
workbenches that will help with that organizing. In fact, once those are
done, things will go very quickly as I will have a place to put all the
hand tools. Right now by looking at things you probably would not notice
much of a difference in there, but that will change soon and I will take
a few pictures this week to show the progress. I really cannot believe
all the stuff we had at the Lake Linden house and we really need to have
a garage sale! Maybe this autumn.
Well, I think that
actually covers things for this one. I will be starting up my summer forecasts
tomorrow, so you will have something to check out on the site that is updated
daily now! (other than the discussion board). Take care and...
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
