Flag marks the Spot

Should you come by to visit, remember it is where 36 Hwy almost runs north to south just three miles east of Mt. Moriah. When you see Erica Jo's old 4-H project, the American Flag built of lath and plywood, you'll know you found us. Pull in the drive and immediately turn left. Take the trail where it dips into the timber . . . come on down and sit a spell.

King

Here is Himself walking the dam, surveying his Kingdom . . . he took about 30 trees down off this dam single handedly. I went over the side and pulled or chopped about 300 (3,000!) small cedar trees. Now he keeps it mowed to protect the dam's integrity. Guess he has reason to feel satisfied . . .

Happy Trails, again

It has been a wet year, at III. There was quite a bit of snow last winter. There was a whole lot of rain this spring and summer! There was another 5" of rain just last week. It has been a wet, rough year at III. We lost part of the riverbank to the summer flood. We have had trees rotting off at ground level and falling onto the trails. There was a tree blocking the Ravine Trail until last visit. I got fed up and went and pushed and chopped and pulled until that dead ol' tree was shoved aside and we could get the 4-wheeler through on the Ravine Trail.

Two trees have been down on the River Trail, all summer. We have been in on the River Trail, from both ends, but we couldn't make the loop. Those trees were too big for me to handle so today, Himself dusted off the trusty Husqbarna, jumped on his trusty steed and with me riding pillion we set out to save the day! No. Oh no. Not to save the day but to clear the trail.

It didn't take long. Himself made one cut and let the "leaner" down, above. Two cuts on the big log laying across the trail. We rolled the dead, heavy log away and the River Trail is open again!

I bought this heavy wooden piece about 15 years ago. I paid a whole $5.00 for it. $5.00 now, seems very cheap, but at the time we had four children at home and I didn’t usually spend $5.00 on some garage sale item with no apparent use or resale value. However, this one grabbed my attention and hung on. This shelf? Mantle? Altar? has set in my washroom closet since -- until I brought it here to III. Snuck it into the Jeep when Himself wasn’t looking, one trip down.

It has set in the corner here all summer but with the coming of fall, that old inborn instinct to prepare for winter, to lay by food, to chink the cracks took over. Himself and I tidied up and finished up, this trip. I replaced the screens on two windows, swept the bugs out from under the bed, washed windows and sorted out.

A shelf that Craig made and gifted me was hung above the bed to hold my glasses, at night, along with a rustic, fun picture.

'Course, it all would look better with paneling or beadboard behind it . . . and we'll get to that. Someday!

Too Step

These steps led quite the life at Too. They were the front steps. The steps with a tree branch for the hand rail. These steps saw a lot of coming and going over the years at Too. Thousands of firecrackers and fireflies. They were run up and down hundreds, probably thousands of times, by excited children. They held many an adult at the end of a long day, easing the load or enjoying cool evening air. They held folks eating hot dogs, sweet corn and best of all, watermelon. You sat out on the front steps so you could spit watermelon seeds and let the juice run down your arms.

Well, we screened the ol’ porch in at Too and Himself built a fine screen door for the porch but he only built one door, for one set of steps, and these old worn steps weren’t needed anymore at Too.

Oh, but wait! They were needed! They were needed at III!. At III we’ve always used two cement blocks and 2X6 boards for steps. The folks that built the cabin at III, didn’t take the time to build steps or didn't know how.

So rather than burn these old boards, we hauled them to III. We set the steps up against III’s porch and screwed them into place. Tho not level and not perfect, they work! They do the job.

PS: and the cement blocks and 2X6? Well, they have been recycled too. They are at the end of the porch so that when you are in a hurry to get to the outhouse, you can take a direct route.

Do you . . . Remember This?

The Place: Twin Lake

The Year: 2000

The Baby: Morghan Grace

The Supporting Cast: Tracia, Erica, Kristy and Nana

The Director

Tinkerbell

This picture of the deep canopy over the river bottom was taken in June. I have looked and studied and pondered this picture. I do not know what that white object is but finally decided that this is the land of Peter Pan and that is Tinkerbell.

The Lane

This is The Lane. It is the drive into III. "Lush" comes to mind. Thick, abundant foliage. This is what The Lane looked like last trip but each trip it has a different look, a different feel.

Himself and I will visit there this weekend. Wonder how it will have changed in three weeks time? We look forward to finding out!

Picture Frame

Sitting in the shade room at III, this is like a picture frame . . .