July 27-
So here we are, the
final entry for July. I can remember not too long ago that turning the month
from July to August was a pretty exciting thing for me. It meant that we
were in the final month of summer and that the amount of hot days was
getting more limited. This summer has been so absent of the really hot and
humid days, that it makes the change over to August less eventful.
I can say that on Monday we had the hottest and most
humid day of our summer so far, with a high of 90 degrees and dewpoints in
the low 70's. I did spend quite a bit of time in the air conditioned house,
but when I did go outside, I did not find it totally unbearable. I suppose
there are those that would think that 90 and pretty high humidity is not
that unbearable to begin with, but it is well past what I typically would
considerable tolerable.
Showers and storms arrived with a cold front on Tuesday
and we spent the rest of the week in beautiful 70's and quite a bit of
sunshine. The week ahead sees loads of 70's and quite a bit of sunshine as
well, so perfect summer weather lies ahead.
The big doings this week were Nora's dad and step mom
coming to visit for a few days and then later in the week, her aunt arrived
to spend some time. It sure is nice to have the accommodations for visitors
now! We have an official "guest" bedroom and another room that can
serve as a guest bedroom, plus plenty of room for us all to get around and
not be on top of each other, like we had with the setup before the addition.
Another big doing this week was the
first day of soccer for Gracie on Saturday. I promise to you that she
was not coached to pose that way, just as I was taking the picture, she
crouched down like that!
This was not only the first day of soccer for her, but
the first time she has been involved in any organized sport. I know both
Nora and I were a little curious to see how things would go. She is a
sweetie and is not shy by any means, but also has a very strong personality
and my concern was that she might try and rule the roost. Things went very
well, she got along just fine with all the other kids and as much as she
wanted to score a goal, I think she might end up being one of the star defensemen
of the league. She is much better at stopping other players from moving into
scoring position than taking the ball down field and putting it in the net.
Either way will be fine for me and I hope she will learn to be fine with it
as well and I can say that she and all the other kids on her team seemed to
have a great time, which was great to see. Here is a shot of them getting
ready to start the scrimmage game.
As nice as the weather was, we did not use the pool very
much this week. Monday would have been a perfect day, but company arrived.
Gracie and I did go for a little swim on Thursday, but it has been covered
up with the heater off since. It has been a pretty tough summer for pool
going, but we sure have made the most of most of the days we could use it. I
suppose if in a few weeks, the current weather pattern persists, it will
just come down as it will be too cool to use it.
The bugs seem to be abating a bit. We have been dry
enough to allow the mosquito population to level off to a pretty typical
level for us in the heart of summer. I know that there are lots of jokes
about the mosquito being the UP state bird, and I suppose if you are in the
deep woods, they are bad, but in the more open areas they are really not too
much of a bother. We can get around pretty freely in our sunny areas without
being bothered. Sunrise and sunset is a different story!
Yesterday afternoon, Nora and her aunt that is visiting
as well as he aunt that lives in the UP all went kayaking.
We have a ton of spots that are perfect for kayaking and I would imagine
that once Gracie is old enough to do it on her own, we will pick up some and
do it. More immediate plans (like within the next 2 years) is to get a boat
to tool around in. I miss JHIF (Just Happy it Floats) and getting out on the
water. So I would say that an 18-22' open bow Boston Whaler is in our
future.
Anyway, Nora did take some neat pictures on her
adventure. Here is a
nice panorama of the waterway to the south entry. Here is a
closer up shot of that barn, it has actually been converted into a
residence. I sure wonder what it looks like inside. Perhaps the owner is
reading this and will send me an invite! :) Here is a picture of a
much older structure, I don't even know what it was, but sure looks to
have a heavy Scandinavian influence to it.
While Nora was out kayaking, Gracie, the pups and I piled
into the truck with fingers crossed to head to the beach. I had not heard
any reports in a few days on the ankle biters, so I was really hoping that
they would not be bad. I know at our place they really dropped off
noticeably, so we decided to try our luck. We got to the beach and I got out
of the truck first to "test the waters". The minute I closed the
truck door, one flew and landed on the window and I got ready to bolt back
into the truck. However, no more arrived and that one flew off and never
returned, so I let the pups out and then went around to let Gracie out.
We were able to spend an enjoyable afternoon at the
beach, tossing the new
toy out into the lake for the pups to fetch. I don't know if it was the
wind, or the fact that we were all moving around a bunch or just if the
nasty ankle biters finally were on their way out, but we were fine for most
of the time there. Millie did hurt her leg, either twisted an ankle or elbow
or something and was limping a bit, so I had her take it easy while we
tossed they toy for Huck. The winds died off a bit and there were a few
flies that started to bother Millie while she sat on the beach quietly. So I
decided to call it an afternoon and we headed back. Millie's ailment was
already noticeably better by the time we got back home and she is back to
her speedy self today- which we are all thankful for!
It was a pretty busy second half of the week in the
woodshop. I did not do any work on Monday or Tuesday, but got in there on
Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday and today and was able to get almost
all of the doors done. All but 4 are built, finished
and mounted. Two of the 4 still left to do are for the corner
cabinet and two are for the upper doors are . I was able to construct
all but one of the upper cabinet doors this morning and will hopefully
finish and mount them tomorrow. The other 2 uppers will contain glass panels
at the top, so they need a bit more construction work to be done. Once all
the doors are done, there are just two more custom drawers to do and then
the toe kicks and the kitchen will be all done! It sure is nice to see the
kitchen almost finally done and I think it will really change the look of
things once all the
uppers have their doors on.
So I guess that about covers it for this one, other than
to say that I have been able to set the dates for the Keweenaw Trails work
session. They are Friday and Saturday, September 10 & 20. This year we
will be re-building and repairing bridges. So no brushing. Leave the loppers
and chainsaws and bring your hammers. I will be making more details known in
a little bit, including where the workers will be able to lodge for free,
but did want to get the dates out so that folks could make plans.
Until next time...
Good night from the Keweenaw..
JD-
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July 20-
I need to start out
this entry with an apology. In last week's entry, I called the owner of Land
O' Lakes Recreation "Tom". To this moment, I have no idea why!
There is a Tom that works there, but I honestly do not think that is the
reason why. I just had a major mental lapse and called Bruce by the name of
Tom!!! I have already personally apologized to Bruce, but I also wanted to
make a public one, as it was a public gaff! I bet I never do that again! At
least I hope!
Speaking of LOL Rec, they are having a swap meet on
September 27th and I will be there. So if you are in the Wisconsin
Northwoods that weekend, be sure to stop in and say hi and perhaps pick up a
deal. I can also say that if you are in the market for a tractor such as I
picked up this spring and are interested in the same make, but do not live
in the WI Northwoods, but do live in southern WI or northern IL, you can
stop by LOL Rec's "branch office" just off I-94 in Kenosha. It's
not really their branch office, but it is a new Mahindra dealership in
Kenosha also owned by Bruce.
Speaking of Mahindra Tractors, I used mine again
this week. I have been making firewood in a hand-to-mouth fashion this
summer. With heating the pool and the cool temps so far this summer, I have
been burning almost as much wood as we do in the winter. Last week I went
and cut down a big old birch tree that was dead standing. It was over 40
feet tall, as I cut five 8 foot sections and still had some of the top above
that. I have less than one 8 foot section left before I am out of wood
again. The good news is that there is another, similar sized dead-standing
birch in the same general area I can cut and use Big Red to haul over to the
wood boiler, plus I found a dead-standing maple not too far from the pool
and wood boiler that I can also drop.
The other good news is that it looks like we are done
with the unusually cool temps for a while. This week was "deja vu all
over again", as we had soup for dinner on Tuesday because it was so
chilly. Temps dropped into the low 30's in areas away from the lake
Wednesday morning and then temps warmed by the end of the week. We are
currently at 80 and temps look to make a run towards 90 early this week,
before they back down into the 70's for the second half of the week.
It was kind of an uneventful week for us up here. I
continued to chip away at the remaining kitchen cabinet work. I switched
gears and went from the solid door fronts to the frame and panel type, which
will also be how the doors were done. Once things were all set up in the
shop, the construction of the frame and panel pieces went very smoothly and
quickly. I had actually cut up the panels in spring of 2013, so it was nice
(and a bit amazing) that they all fit the frames perfectly! Here is a
bank of three drawers and one single, large drawer. Inside the large
drawer is a set of
plastic bins that we are going to use for recyclables. The bins could
also be used for garbage, but we were afraid that even with a setup that had
a lid, the stink would show up. So we are going to go with paper and
aluminum recyclables.
I got one door done and still have about 14 or so to do,
but the construction goes pretty quick, it is just the finishing that takes
longer, as they need to be finished on both sides, rather than just one like
the door fronts did. We are having some of Nora's family up early this week,
so I am not sure how much I will be able to get done, but hopefully I will
be able to get most of the lower doors done by next week at this time and
then finish things off next week.
Last week I talked about how the strawberries were at
peak. We have a few plants in above ground planters at the front of the
house and all week I kept looking for ripe ones, but they were disappearing.
I figured a critter like a chipmunk, squirrel or perhaps rabbit was eating
the ripe ones. Then this week I was outside with the pups and the culprit
was revealed as I watched Huck saunter over to the plants, stick his nose in
and start eating them. The funniest thing about the whole deal was that he
was able to smell which ones were ripe, as he passed up all the green ones
and picked only the red ones! I got quite the laugh about it and did not
stop him. I figure if he is smart enough to figure out they are good to eat
and which ones are the ones to eat, he can go ahead and have them. I do have
plans to have a big patch of them in the near future and he will not be
allowed in there when they are ripening up!
We sure are getting lots of mileage out of the screen
porch. I am really glad that Nora insisted on it. It has become a pretty
regular thing for all of us to go and sit and relax in after dinner. We do
have a rule that no electronic sounds (radio, tv, or sounds from iPad/iPhone)
are allowed, but things like the iPad/iPhone can be used to read or browse.
I mostly either sit and relax, or will read a book or magazine. Gracie loves
it out there too and at times can be seen just chill'n
with Huck.
So I guess that covers it for another week. Probably not
the most engrossing entry I have ever written, but I guess sometimes that is
the way things go.
Good night from the Keweenaw..
JD-
July 13-
In one way it seems
like this week flew by and then when I think back to what was going on at
the beginning of the week, it seems like that happened 2 weeks ago. So I
guess I can take my pick... either it flew by, or took forever!
The weather this week was very similar to the week
before. Quite chilly and raw early on and then beautiful for the end. I had
some errands to run Tuesday morning and it was so chilly that when I got
home for lunch, I actually made a bowl of soup to warm me up! I think our
high on Tuesday was only 53 and we had overcast skies and even some light
rain. Wednesday it started to improve, with clear skies, but was still on
the cool side. The clear skies Wednesday night/Thursday morning led to temps
in the mid 30's in spots up here, with one locale in the eastern UP getting
down to 32! It did warm up nicely by Thursday afternoon and we were actually
able to get into the pool by the late afternoon. Friday and Saturday were
also both good days to hit the pool and this afternoon could have been, but
we found ourselves doing other things.
We sure have been getting a lot of mileage out of the
pool this summer, thanks largely to it being heated. If it were not, I doubt
Nora and I would even have gone in! I am sure Gracie would have gone
swimming many time, but would not have lasted as long. We have plans to
upgrade to a bigger pool for next season. I am debating on taking an above
ground and sinking it a bit below or perhaps even building an in-ground
using insulated concrete blocks. The advantage to using the pre-made above
ground unit is it would be easier to build, although I also want to create a
deep end, so having that and sinking the pool partially below ground would
be a little more work, but I basically see it as more time in Big Red! The
advantage to using ICF's and something like gunite sprayed onto them is that
the pups would be able to join us in that type of pool. If we use a liner,
then they would not be allowed in because of their nails tearing the liner.
I am interested in learning as much as I can about all the different ways to
go, so if anyone has experience, let me know!
So the summer keeps rolling along and we are now about
halfway through. To me, the second half is usually the best half. Usually
the worst of the bugs are over, the waters are warming up, both of which
make the beaches more enjoyable. Plus, the second half of the summer is
berry season! The berry season is kicked off by strawberries, which this
year seem to have been a bumper crop with all the moisture we have had. Nora
picked up 16 quarts earlier in the week. Here is a
shot of 8 of them. No we did not pick through and toss out the un-ripe
or over-ripe ones. That is the beauty of getting fresh picked berries, they
are all picked at the peak of ripeness (am I sounding like a TV
commercial?!). Because they are all at the peak of ripeness, they also are
much sweeter than you can get at a grocery store. So no sweetening is
needed.
Now I suppose many of you are wondering, "If those
berries are so ripe and you got 16 quarts, how do you eat them all before
they spoil?" The answer is to freeze them. Nora rinses them and then cleans
them all. Then they get put into vacuum seal bags, which Gracie
efficiently puts the date on, so we know what year they are from and
then they are vacuum sealed and frozen, providing bags and bags
of Keweenaw sunshine all year long! I will admit that once thawed, they
are much softer (mushy even) than when frozen, but we tend to use them in
things like smoothies and baking, so the texture is not important and the
taste is like the day they were frozen. A real treat in the dead of winter
up here! We also do the exact same thing with blueberries and have done
raspberries and blackberries too.
The next berries to be ready for picking will be the
raspberries. They will come on line at the end of July into early August,
then the blueberries will overlap them, with picking in the first few weeks
of August. Blackberries are at the end of August and sometimes can even be
threatened by an early frost, but that is pretty rare and usually confined
to the Traprock Valley.
As far as the bugs go, the mosquitoes are still around.
We keep getting rain, so they keep sticking around. They are not torturous,
but if you find yourself in the deep woods, you will want to be coated with
a decent repellant. I do not know what the beaches are like as we did not go
to one this week. I can say that those nasty ankle biters have found their
way to our neck of the woods. Not nearly as bad as at the beach, but we have
had to swat a few while being in the pool or working outdoors. The deerflies
are also numerous in spots where they tend to congregate (near bodies of
water with vegetation). On our walk earlier this week, poor Huckie got bit
several times by the buggers. A bite on his nose and on his left eyelid even
swelled up. We put some medication on the bites and in about a day or two he
was back to normal. Poor guy though, his one eye was almost swelled shut!
I had a pretty productive week with projects around the
house. Our peach tree was lost to the severe winter we had. It basically
split at the first main branching of limbs and that was enough to kill
the whole tree. So on Tuesday, I fired up the chain saw and cut it down
and then fired up Big Red and used the borrowed backhoe to dig up the root
ball.
That went smoothly enough that I then decided to take out
two of the three stumps that were created when I cut down the maple trees a
few weeks back. The peach tree was tiny and the stump cam out with ease. The
maple trees were not so tiny and provided a bit more of a challenge, but
still not an insurmountable one.
I used the backhoe to dig
around the stump and also break its roots. Then used the backhoe to lift/drag
the stumps out of the holes. There were some pretty
big holes left behind! I then used the
forks to lift the stumps up and carry them off into the woods where they
will rot away in time. Short of paying someone to come in and do all of
that, I really am not sure what I would have done. Thanks Big Red and thanks
Bruce from Land 'O Lakes Recreation for letting me use the backhoe. I have one
last important job to do with the backhoe and that is to lay some drain tile
from the front of the house, past the front of the shop and then down the
side of the shop where the lean-to will go for Big Red. Pretty much an
afternoon project, but I need to get it done before Bruce wants his backhoe
back!!!
The rest of the week was spent working on the kitchen
work. In between the outdoor work and playing in the pool, some pretty good
headway was made. I was able to make 5 more drawer fronts and have just 7
more to go. I am awaiting some solid stock cherry and then will be able to
finish out 4 of the drawers this week. The other three are going to be done
like the doors, in frame and panel, so they will get done at the same time
as the doors. Anyway, here is a shot of a bank of three
of the drawers done this week. I think that the kitchen is really going
to look great once everything is done and the penciled in date is around
10-14 days from now. Once that is done, we can stick a fork in the
addition/remodel work!
So my final item for tonight is that there are some plans
afoot to see about making the work sessions for Keweenaw Trails Services be
repairing/re-building some of our bridges. We have several that need work
done on them and so we have talked seriously about making them jobs to do
during the work session. However, late October is when we usually have those
work sessions and the weather might not be so pretty for that kind of work,
so we are thinking on making the dates either late August or sometime in
September. Initially I was thinking late August as that is when the weather
is truly awesome up here and workers could take advantage of it by hanging
out at the beach or other sightseeing when not working, but I have also
thought about later in September, to catch the early stages of the color and
hopefully some still nice enough weather to get the work done. There is a
little thread going on the
discussion board about it here. If folks want to chime in on what might
be more desirable/feasible for them feel free, but I guess instead of
loppers and chain saws it looks like we will need folks with hammers and
saws!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
JD-
July 6-
Happy Independence Day,
plus 2! It's been a pretty busy week for us. Nothing highly unusual, just
lots of little things. In addition to the 4th, I had to go to Marquette on
Wednesday for my annual pacemaker check up. All went well and it is behaving
as it should and I am in good shape. Not much of a surprise, as I can say I
am feeling as good as I can ever remember. I feel like I should knock on
wood when I say that, but perhaps I am in a well deserved break from health
issues. What ever the case may be, I am feeling really good and sure to
appreciate it- every day!
One of the other items that kept me busy this week was I
finally got my rear in gear and started hammering out the final work to be
done on the kitchen. Truth be told, I was really waiting for a 2-3 week
window where there would be no major interruptions. A day or so is not a big
deal, but I knew there would be quite the re-acquaintance
The re-acquaintance went around as well as it could. I
was actually quite amazed at how it all came back to me, seeing as though it
had been around 14 months since I halted work on the cabinets to get going
on the addition and remodel. The proof of things was when I went to go fit
the drawer bottoms that had already been cut back in April of 2013 with the
drawer sides that were made this week. All fit like a glove and the
drawers fit the cabinets fine. All told, 8 drawers were made and fitted
and there are only 2 more to do. Then the fronts will go on and things will look
like those already done. The final task will be to make the doors and
mount them. That should actually take less time than the drawers, as I have
done all the drawers with dovetails, even though the dovetails will only be
seen when the drawers are opened. Once I have the bits setup for making the
door rails/stiles (frames), then it will be a pretty quick process to make
them and fit the panels, which were already made back in April 2013. All of
the lower cabinet doors get mounted with the same setup, so once one door is
setup, then all the others will follow that setup. The same goes for the
upper cabinet doors. Once one is done, then the others will follow the same
setup. I am not going to put pressure on me by giving a complete date, but
if all goes as planned and I am able to get in a few hours a day, perhaps in
2 weeks, the kitchen will be done at last and we can call it a wrap!
The weather has been a bit of a challenge this week. We
had rain a couple of the mornings, so that knocked out the morning walk with
the pups. I suppose I could have taken the walks in the afternoon, but it is
usually getting warm enough out that I do not want to overheat them. Then,
on Friday, we took our morning walk, but were swarmed by deerflies.
Actually, I was OK, just had a few buzzing my hat, but the poor pups had at
least a dozen buzzing them. Both got bit a few times and poor Hucky even had
a bit of a reaction to two of the bites. He got one in the eyelid and one on
the bridge of the nose and both swelled up pretty good. The one over his eye
almost caused it to be
completely shut. Nora and I did attend to him and it did get better, but
took around 24 hours for the swelling to completely go away- but he is back
to his hansom old self again. It was kind of a strange thing, as he has
never had a reaction like that before.
The 4th of July holiday is always a big one up here. Lots
of folks come back to visit family and lots of other come to just visit the
area. It's great to see all the folks up here, as it really is a big shot in
the arm to the businesses up here. Some of the motels actually make most of
their income between the 4th of July and Labor Day. Being such a big
holiday, there are several fireworks shows to be able to see and on
different days to boot. On the 3rd, Lake Linden always has their show down
at the village park. It is probably tied for 1st as far as attendance, with
several thousand folks going to it. Gracie, Nora and I could be counted in
those numbers this year. We did not go into the park, but rather chose to
watch the show from the "old fairgrounds". It is about 1/3rd of a
mile northeast of the park, but gives a pretty good vantage point.
My 3rd of July started a little after 4 am, so I took a
nap from around 6-8 pm to be able to stay awake. Gracie ended up falling
asleep before we left as well, but we woke her up to ask if she wanted to
see the fireworks or just stay sleeping. She chose to go, but then promptly fell
back asleep on the way down to Lake Linden. Sometimes the old
fairgrounds site can fill up, so we left pretty early to make sure we got a
spot and were there probably 90 minutes before the show was to go on. So we
let Gracie sleep for another hour or so and then work her up in time for the
show. The bugs were a bit of a nuisance, but not so bad that we were chased
back inside of the vehicle. The three of us sat on the back of the Honda
Pilot and enjoyed the
show.
On the 4th itself, there is the kids bike parade and
games in the park in Mohawk. Gracie really gets excited for the parade and
loves to decorate her bike with Nora and I. So we got it all dressed up
again and here is a shot of Gracie posing
in front of the handiwork. Here she is all
set for the start of the parade and here she is in
action. Yea, I know, it's time for a new bike for her, but I was really
hoping to be able to hold off until she did not need training wheels
anymore. That way she could learn to ride without them on this smaller bike
and be able to move up to one that will be larger and not have to be
replaced as quickly. We'll see I guess.
There are lots of kids that partake in the parade and
lots of smiles. It is one of those gifts and joys of living in small town
America. Most everyone know each other and there is such a strong sense of
community. Bringing up the rear of the parade this year was last years Wish
Child and some of his family, traveling in the
Side-by-Side that was his wish, towing a boat full of relatives.
Once the parade is over, they have some games in the park
for the kids, as well as some food from the concession stand. Gracie
took part in the sack race and did pretty good. It was her first time
and did not fall once. I think she even managed to come in 3rd. After the
games were over, we came back home and gave the beach a try, but the biting
flies, beach flies, or ankle biters, which ever you call them were out. In
fact, we had heard that they were out, so when we got to the beach, Nora and
Gracie stayed in the car and let the pups and I be the guinea pigs for
testing the presence of flies. It took all of 10 seconds to be swarmed and
Nora said three flew into the car while we got out, so needless so say we
abandoned that idea and came back home and floated in the pool. Rough life!
Although I did feel sorry for the pups, which have not been able to get any
real exercise quite a bit lately.
Even this morning it was raining, so the morning walk was
suspended and Gracie and Nora had fun doing
some crafts. It is not raining at the moment and it looks like there are
some storms headed our way in around 45-60 minutes, so perhaps I will finish
this up, sneak out with them before the rains hit.
Good night from the Keweenaw..
JD-
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