It works!

We had 3-1/4" of rain in the past week. The ground was too soft and I tore up the newly sown grass but Himself had asked me to clean up some piles of timber so I hooked the drogue up to the "mule" and hauled a load away to be cut into fire wood. It worked! My sled will be useful. It didn't fall apart and it hauled a load that would have taken me 5 or 6 trips (or more) to hand carry. The drogue is a success.

Blue Bells

The Bluebells look pretty pale in the photo but in "real life" are more vivid and lovely.

Spring visits

We have had a couple of nice visits to III in April. The wildflowers are blooming, the daytime temperatures are warmer, the trees are leafing out and it is nice! Last weekend, Himself presented me with great huge bunches of wild Bluebells. The patches are as big as double garages, vivid purple, and this past weekend, the aroma wafted through the trees on the "bottom" and sweetened the air. Miss Gabrielle, visiting, was asked each time she went on a 4-wheeler ride, did you see the blue bells? "yes", she would nod. Did you hear them ring? And she learned to answer, yes; yes, she did.

This is our third Spring at III and the first that we found the Bluebells. That seems to say that each season, each year, will bring new, lovely surprises.

Both weekends were relaxing with no major projects. There is always some pruning and tree cutting to do, sweeping out and dusting in the cabin. The evenings are still cool enough we need a little fire in the woodstove but this time, we didn't need it until about 3:30 a.m. Himself claimed I had taken all the covers so he crawled out of bed in the wee hours, started a small fire and had the cabin warm and cozy in just a short time.

Gabrielle and Joey washed rocks for their Nana and begged for 4-wheeler rides. One more ride, mid afternoon, and Joe would have been napping on the front of the 4-wheeler! He loves those rides.

Both weekends, I walked and walked, looking for the elusive morel. South hillsides, damp areas, dead elms, I checked them all but not one mushroom did I find. Well, that just gives me something to look forward to. I crawled through timber, under brush, waded ditches, met brambles and thorns and grass and trees and did not see a tick. Craig arrived from Kansas City, hit the ground and walked to the pond where he threw in a fishing line and had the first tick of the season. He is good at finding ticks, now if he could learn to find the mushrooms. Or fish!

Next weekend visit, we will erect the new shower, gift of Ron. It will be "shower season" as the days are warmer and since the first tick has been found. Thank you, brother Ron!

I did see a couple of grasshoppers this weekend. It is way too early for grasshoppers; they usually show up in late summer. Himself was amazed at the number of wasps there are this year. I said, you have done away with the carpenter bees and perhaps this has let the wasps into this territory. You, Himself, have changed the ecological balance and now will be fighting hoards of wasps! and you probably caused global warming too! the other side

If you have been reading this in May 2009, CLICK to go back

Son's signs

As we ride the trails, we come upon these signs now, thanks to our son who made them for us for Christmas. I like the look of them and as they are still "new", I am always pleasantly surprised to find them on our trails.

I like them! Thank you, Traci and Craig!

The Wood Stove

Bbrrrrrrrrr

We have given up on warmer weather so we loaded up Saturday and headed to III. We had most of the walls of the old hunting cabin insulated so we stopped at our favorite old-time lumberyard and got two more bundles of fiberglass insulation and went to work. Himself took to the ladder while I cut to length and in a couple of hours we had those two bundles of insulation snugged up in the ceiling. It wasn't enough insulation to do the whole roof but that is all our ol' Jeep would carry and we were satisfied with our day's labor.

Then Himself lay in a supply of firewood while I re-situated all the furniture, necessities and knick knacks. A light supper, some local country western radio and plenty of peace and quiet. Night fell, as did the temperatures, but we were cozied up in the cabin with Cousin Clint's electric light, extra clothes and the wood stove primed and heated.

The low fell to 18 degrees or so -- frosty! but I had a good night's sleep in the 4-post cedar bed. Himself, the hardy pioneer, took to the davenport so as to be closer to the stove. He had to pile on more wood 2 or 3 times in the night but slept between. I only woke a couple of times to see if Himself was on duty and knowing that he was, slept the sleep of Queens.

A good time . . . the other side

The deer are laughing

This should have been a likely spot to get photos of deer or other wildlife. We have seen many tracks up this trail. Didn't get a one, tho! So we have moved it again.

Game Cam

Himself and I, for Christmas, purchased a "Game Cam" so that we could capture photos of the wildlife on our poor acreage, III. We waited through January, through cold February and finally in March ventured down to our timber and posted the camera on a likely tree near where we had seen deer tracks and evidence of other wild life. We left it there and went back two weeks later. Amazingly, the only animals captured on "film" were Himself and I after we situated the camera. So we relocated it and left for another two weeks. This time "zilch, zero, none". What is going on?

So, when all else fails, read the directions. We did, and once again re-situated the camera to another likely spot. We tested it, made sure it was working and have left it again, primed and ready -- multi battery operated, a flash for night photos and motion-sensored.

Meanwhile, we find deer tracks between the cabin and the pond which leads us to the only logical conclusion -- our wildlife is camera shy!