Loon rafts are all out and being occupied.
Arrived at the cabin and once again everything came up just fine. I did need to call Arvig to get the Internet working and DirecTV to get the satellite working but all's well that ends well.
The road isn't as bad as i had feared. A lot of this kind of stuff I'll want to cut back and ...
... 5 or 6 leaners like this which need to come down preemptively.
I have a few more white pine seedlings to plant again this year. I'll just do a couple today because ...
... this happened. It is Minnesota after all.
This is one of the first red pines I planted back in 2017. It was fine last fall but not so much now. I haven't noticed any other fatalities yet. I hope the new guy fares better.
More road work. This is one of those I think needs to come down preemptively.
Alas, it was hung up on the other side of the road so I had to walk it down. Not a problem just time consuming.
Here is another potential problem tree.
This one (actually it's two trees, there's a birch that came down with it) isn't hung up on the other side of the road.
So, an hour and a half later you'd never know there was a problem. (I'll stop posting pictures of trees now.)
The dock is partially out.
Something is wrong with the connection at the outermost section. This will have to be a problem for another day.
Oh no! An oil leak from the outboard motor. This too is a problem for another day.
First hummingbird of the year.
This is another day and the dock is now out.
There WILL NOT be any more nights below freezing.
This saw threw its chain yesterday so I need to sharpen it (at the very least). The other saw seized up (I cannot pull the starter rope) but that's a problem for another day.
My good fortune continues The log cabin appears to have survived another winter unscathed. This is what, the 73rd winter? I should stop being surprised.
Here is the 025 chainsaw that froze up on me the other day. The bad news is that it needs a new cylinder and piston. The good news is that there are repair kits for that and I think I can do this.
This electric water pump has been in the boathouse for as long as I can remember. Surprisingly it will push water all the way up to the hill house so I'm using it to water the trees and grass.
I finally set my ducks free.
I changed the oil filter on the mercury 15hp today (with some difficulty) and added a quart of new oil. I have my fingers crossed.
This stuff does a pretty good job of cleaning up the oil on the boathouse floor. I use that 2x4 block to scrub it into the stain and then sweep it up.
I guess I'll monitor this for a day or so and see how bad the leak is. If it's not too bad I'll treat this like my old Chevy and just add a little oil as needed.
Since it appears I'm not in a rush to go fishing I'm going to pressure wash the inside and bottom. (That's the pressure washer in the background.)
Treating my socks with permethrin. Ticks are pretty bad this year.
The first (partial) mow of the summer.
Of those 10 white pine seedlings I planted this year I've already killed 5. I skipped a couple of watering days and I think they should be watered daily for the first week or so. This is why I can't have nice things.
Despite the constant drizzle I went fishing with Burney today and this is the first bass of the year. It's just a little over 1 pound but it's a start.
How did this happen? I've lost another duck - only 3 left.
I'm going to refinish one of the boat seats before I put it in the water. I've decided to just add oil as needed throughout the summer and then take the motor in to Dorset for service in the fall.
And here is my next challenge: the Stihl 025 replacement engine.
I've started on the boat seat. I'll sand off the old finish, fill some cracks with epoxy, stain it with my favorite gel stain and then apply several coats of varnish.
So, this just happened.
Boat seat done. Nobody would mistake this finish with fine furniture.
Motor on the boat and boat in the water. Always a challenge.
3 AM and I'm awake!
If it's Tuesday it must be fishing with Burney. After a successful day on the lake we had take-out from The Good Life cafe on their dock.
I've started on the 025 chainsaw repair. The clutch needs to be loosened with a 19mm deep socket on the impact driver. I need to get the deep socket and a 3/8" square drive to 1/4" hex adapter to fit it on the impact driver.
I finally took the boat out today (the motor runs fine) and I found my missing duck.
The rear swivel seat cracked. Fortunately I have a spare.
I resurrected the planting bed in front of the garage. Now I need some more flowers.
I got the 19mm deep socket today and was able to zip off the clutch.
This is the saw stripped down pretty much as far as I can go.
Jake's barber shop in PR is open for business. It's appointments only (I made mine 3 days ago) so I don't need a ponytail any more.
Alright, the chainsaw is back together. I'll wait until tomorrow to see if it runs.
6/8/2020
The sweet sound of success. I’ll need to actually use this on a tree to be sure all is right.
A quick trip to the mail box before dinner took a couple of hours.
Ambling across the yard this morning. He stopped at the salt lick for a few minutes and then went on his way.
Very windy today. Too windy to go fishing so I cleaned up the planting area around the log cabin. I also mowed the path to widow's point.
I still have my old Camry which I use to carry my tree cutting paraphernalia. It never goes farther than the mailbox. The right front brake is stuck on - a caliper?
It's not a brake problem but rather a suspension issue. The suspension spring is pressing on the tire. Brakes I could do but this is way outside my wheelhouse.
The Camry is on it's way to Warren's in PR.
Today's homeowner project is tracking down a water leak under the bathroom sink.
In Bemidji today. I think there is an old picture of me next to Paul Bunyan when I could not quite reach his hand. Some things do stay the same.
My old Camry is back in the carport. I still cannot think of a good reason (or, for that matter, any reason) why I am hanging on to this car.
Another Tuesday outing with Burney. Two pike and one 2 1/2 pound bass. Slow going.
Why do I put up with mosquitoes, deer flies, TICKS and trees across the road? Because this is where I have my morning coffee.
Starting another little project.
Another bad windstorm last night. Fortunately most of the trees around the cabins have already been blow down so it's just this dead pine which I was going to cut down anyway.
The carport did however take a hit. But what about the road you ask ...
The road suffered some. Besides a tree on the gate there were many, many trees across the road. With Burney hauling limbs and me cutting we got the road passable in a little over 6 hours.
Midsummer loon count this morning:
..............Juveniles....Adults
Barry & Steve......8...........20
Bill......................0.............9
Rich....................1.............7
Arlis & Janet........2...........13
Burney & Barb...11...........27
Totals................22...........76
This is how I left the tree on the gate Thursday. I came back today with a ladder to finish up. Note: this was all done with a hand saw. No chain saws while on a ladder.
I've started on the carport rehabilitation. The tarp looks OK but I need new clips.
Cutting the new tarp clips to lenght.
This is a simple little jig to hold the wood away from my fingers while I cut a kerf in it.
Finally I need a hole at the top of the kerf for a 1/4" dowel to lock in the tarp.
I finally got a picture of this turkey that has been hanging around.
Last night's severe storm turned out to be not so severe after all. Another big bullet dodged. I've started to replace the tarp on the carport.
Carport is functional again. This took a LOT longer than I planned but I did make a few changes to hopefully make it more wind resistant.
This is one of those changes (if you can see it). There is now a 2x4 extending out from the top of the rafter giving another 3 1/2 inched of surface to secure the tarp.
This is just a picture of one of the new tarp clips. This design worked well, the old one where just starting to rot.
This is peak hummingbird season. I have to fill this feeder twice a day.
These lilies (or whatever they are) are in bloom again.
At last, it's a bit cooler and the ticks aren't so bad. I'm finally clearing the blow down in front of and north of the cabin. I haven't had a burn pile in a long time.
This big birch is destined for the fireplace so I need to cut it into short lengths and then split them. That also means I have to carry the logs up the hill.
Fishing with Burney: 2.5 pounds. This is too big to eat but I did catch a 1.8 pounder on the next cast and I did keep that one for dinner.
Little by little I'm getting these birch logs up the hill and split into firewood.
I found this on the ground just north of the log cabin. The light bulb is good, it's the socket that broke away from the fixture.
This is the light fixture in question. I'll need to give this some thought.
There's a guy on the lake who owns this. He flies in from Duluth almost every week. It would be fun to have one of these but ... I never leave the lake.
Two serious fishermen heading out for their Thursday excursion in my boat. (I had bass for dinner tonight.)
Here's a bit of a surprise - Chris Farden showed up to grade my road. It really, really needed it. He did a good job too.
3.8 pound, 18" smallmouth bass. I haven't caught a smallmouth bass in 20 years. I'm told that this is a really big fish.
Rob and Terri arrived late tonight. Driving straight through from Denver is not something I would want to do but then they are younger than I am.
Andrew arrived last night. He drove this camper from Houston staying a couple of night in the ozarks.
Fischer's 9th annual block party. Appropriately scaled back this year in deference to the pandemic.
Before: This is the existing whole house water filter setup.
During: The top loop with the filter removed. We're working on it on the assembly table.
After: Here is the finished setup. There is now a bypass so I can isolate the filter without turning off the water to the whole house.
This is the condenser to my new mini-split AC/heat pump.
This is the inside unit in the living room. I used to have that old wooden clock on the wall here but now it would need to be 8" lower and I didn't like the looks of that. This is a nice picture of birch trees that Dorothy gave me.
Here in the bedroom all I needed to do was move Trish's clock a bit to the right and rotate the mirror.
Rob and Andrew decided to try transplanting a 7' tree. It took them over an hour to dig this guy out.
We won't really know if this tree will make it until next spring. My fingers are crossed.
Winter is on its way. Temperature was in the 30s this morning. Note: the heat pump works.
Frozen bird bath - another sign.
This is a new boat seat. The old one retained water in the foam padding giving me a wet seat whenever I sat on it.
Here we are reupholstering the old set to see if it can be rehabilitated. I'll replace the front seat with this one.
I forgot to take a picture of this before I started. It was a pretty big burn pile about an hour ago.
Some leaves are starting to turn.
Rob, Terri & Andrew are packing up for an early morning departure.
Not as early as they hoped but they're off. Thanks for all the help, I'm glad you could come.
Mid 20s this morning. This is probably the end for all the outside flowers. The bird bath is frozen solid and frost is everywhere.
I helped the Fischer's install this new garage door opener. It took longer than we expected mostly because we didn't know that safety features are required now. It will not work without the electric eye.
I'm pressurizing the water pipes (to 30 psi) in order to blow out the water. One by one I open and close any valve that can let water escape. There are 12.
The ducks are out of the water until next year.
Pulling the boat out of the water with the wench. This is pull one.
The next pull lines up with the boat house. I'll get the motor off another day.
Boat & motor, bench, dock and ducks are in for the winter.
Some of the trees still have their leaves but probably not for much longer.
I've turned my attention to the dead-fall south of the hill house. It's been there for four years (since the big blow-down). This is the start of a new burn pile.
I'm going to need to get out of here pretty soon.
Hey Andrew, remember all that wood you split? That's what it is now - a memory.
A snowy farewell to the cabin, 6" of heavy wet snow yesterday and more coming tomorrow. I need to get out while I can.