Floating

Boat in. Engine running—fired up immediately. All systems go. Intense sun, and a little too warm.

“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.”

Melville

Gluttons For Punishment

The to-do list seems to grow faster than the finally-done list.

Somehow the dinghy got factored in.
Otherwise, clouds of midges are wafting about, and although they are mostly along the shoreline, the whine of the swarm can be heard all the way up at the cottage. They don’t bite but are not fun to breathe in large quantities.
Speaking of sound, as night descends here, when the wind drops and the water goes flat, absolute silence can settle in—and there are not that many places in the world where it is impossible to hear anything. Silence is one of the rare qualities of this place (although some neighbors seem to prefer fireworks). Last night was a quiet night—mostly—except for a whippoorwill who came online about ten P.M. Luckily, he was very far away so his rapid and insistent repetition wasn’t bothersome.

Somewhat Annoying…

…were several jobs on today’s to-do list.

Re-installing the repaired Windrider floor required lots of bending, leaning, reaching, straining and twisting, along with a little swearing. Re-glassing the keel on the little dinghy proved to be awkward, messy, and—with all the bugs,—somewhat akin to giving blood. But, both jobs got done.

The bird list (land birds only), as of now, is as follows:
Hairy woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker
Sandhill crane
Raven
Crow
Jay
Blackbird
Ovenbird
Great crested flycatcher
Northern parula
Northern flicker
Robin
Winter wren
Nuthatch

Lots of little warbler type birds way up on the tree tops, but since the binos were forgotten, the ID remains uncertain (unless Merlin helps). The little wren is something else—LOUD, long, convoluted song, delivered tirelessly.

Morning Rain…

…so coffee and reading followed by lunch and naps. Chilly and damp, thus a slow fire in the stove all day.

Afternoon devoted to getting the griddle cleaned and operational. Blew out the spider webs with the compressor. Then discovered that the propane tank was out of gas. Quick trip to Mindemoya for a refill, but when back home discovered that the tank had been over filled. On first start-up the regulator froze and started leaking—which impeded progress. I had to bleed the tank (which was a first) and replace the regulator (a spare hanging in the garage, of course), and then, presto, onion rings, hash browns, and smash burgers.

Trillium Time

Just beginning to bloom.

Trillium like damp maple forests, and they have to grow and flower early before the maples leaf out and steal all the sunlight. Notice the ants in the top photo; trillium depend on ants for seed dispersal (myrmecochory). And, deer are said to love dining on trillium, but you would not know it from visiting the maple forest along the Lake Kagawong shoreline at the end of Mud Creek. Seems to me the deer prefer the cedars and white pines on Serendipity Lane.

Perfect Weather…

…for chainsawing downed trees and raking fallen leaves. On the cold side of cool, with a brisk breeze, so black flies banished. Lots done, but by late afternoon work in the sun was warm, so…the first outdoor shower of the season.

And now…

Another frost warning.

Got It Done…

…although it took longer than it should have.

Hot and cold running water. A fire in the stove. And only one leak. Fire and Water…the two necessities

Big Lake water low, but not seriously low, and coming up. Black flies plentiful and annoying. Calling all flycatchers.

Pasties, Fudge, and Smoked Fish

…yes, we made it to St Ignace.

First fifty miles beautiful, and last fifty miles. In between, mostly annoying. Who knew that Iron Mountain was such a big, sprawling place, with lots of stoplights? And then there were the insects, lots and lots of bug splats on the windshield, usually right in the line of sight.

Anticipation for tomorrow.