…among other things. Very windy and quite cool, with a brief evening shower. Village deserted, with the only action being the wind and the waves.
Sue power-washed all existing pier sections and cedar boardwalks to eliminate the slipperiness caused by forest varnish. Meanwhile, I futzed around down at the marina (dingy bailer, dingy motor), and then built the frame of the required additional pier section.
Very sweet, after a 3 year hiatus. Excellent wind, backing from SW to NW and building. A bit down in the Clapperton Channel, but 18 to 20 knots coming down the bay. Everything on the boat, including the crew, worked perfectly.
Mark enjoys these sails, especially after working on boats all the time. Good practice, and chance to learn from the experts.
…of this year. Hot day, but chilly water…which eventually felt pretty nice.
Earlier, sails bent on Heliotrope along with other preparations. Should be ready for a sail to Kagawong tomorrow.
…and all systems working.
The boat floats, the engine runs, and the masthead wind gauge even works thanks to the replacement of its propeller, which blew off years ago.
…and some grocery shopping. Taylor Sawmill, and then on to Mindemoya. Sourcing materials and doing the prep is the worst part of any project.
Daisy Fleabane
Windy and quite chilly last night. Sunny and quite warm today. Heliotrope goes in tomorrow.
This is the annoying river fly or shore fly that has been swarming the shoreline and being gobbled by gulls. Not enough gobbling, however, as plenty left to lay these crusty egg mats. I would appreciate help identifying this insect.
…finally. Beautiful weather, with enough wind to blow the bugs away; smallish projects done at a leisurely pace; time devoted to just sitting, observing, being.
Photo above of last evening, when the sun wouldn’t set. From yesterday’s calm to today’s big blow.
We seem to have, once again, settled in to a solar schedule—heading towards the haystack as night falls, and then thinking about coffee in the pre-dawn (which is way too early). But, the long days make for a lot done.
Today, we declared the boat finished and ready for launch. Also enjoyed and extended dump visit.
The heat that has been inching north across the continent arrived here today, making us glad to have done the boat work early when a light on-shore, foggy breeze kept the work bearable. We have also now re-established the hot weather house routine of staying closed up in the daytime and opening up at night.
Below, a nice patch of sensitive fern, which is sensitive to frost. At present it does not look worried.
And here, is a visitor making itself to home on the front deck.
The few yellow blossoms have been consumed by what we assume to be deer.
Then yesterday this purple flower blossomed. Maybe it will survive the night. It could be that yellow’s more mellow.
In other news, the couple we met in the boatyard several weeks ago (boat right next to Heliotrope, stopped by for lunch today. George and Tracey. Nice folks, with stories and interests not too dissimilar from ours, Some good conversation. Maybe we’ll see more of them.
Mark and Lisanne did the heavy lifting, but I had to go neck deep to find the end point.
Because we started at the steps, as during high water, we are one section short of deep water. An additional section will be added, and from now on the pier will always start at the same place, no matter what the water level.
Everyone was deeply chilled after pier work, but a long leisurely lunch helped remedy that.
Last night, about 3 am, a barred owl right outside the window, loud as a foghorn. I nearly ended up on the floor.
Today was supposed to be pier day, but with high winds and big seas still dominating the bay, installation was postponed, and our agenda switched to boat work. Yes, more boat work.
Sue got started early with sanding, polishing, and cetol application, while, still back at the ranch, I chopped up an ash that had been brought down by yesterday’s big blow. After lunch we teamed up on waxing and buffing the boat’s topsides.
Truth to tell, we have had enough boat work for a while, and, lucky thing, there is very little remaining (that we know of) necessary before launch. In the water next week… At least, that’s the plan.
Probably enough firewood here to last an entire season.
Highly polished, and looking good.
Not sure I’ve ever seen it windier. Bit of a seiche, requiring us to pull the boats to higher ground. Luckily, wind from the west.
Here, a lady slipper, which has decided to live along the steps up to the garage. We feel privileged to have been chosen as its domicile.
…(aka deer flies), are the predominant insects at the moment… which (good news) means that the black flies and no-seeums, and mosquitoes, are mostly gone. The best thing about deer flies is that they are dumb and that they will soon be history. (Note: very necessary, however, to wear a hat in deer fly season.)
Regarding the flying ants (not really sure what they are—about half an inch long, black, with wings and an ant-like appearance, who like to land on people but don’t bite (though you tend to think they might be deer-flies). Anyway, lots and lots of them, mostly along the shoreline, making a large number of gulls very happy. Dozens and dozens of gulls spent the full morning working up and down the shore, one group flying north and another flying south (sometimes missing by fractions of an inch) happily plucking the ant-like creatures out of the air (all with limited squabbling).
Very warm and windy, but the humans here still got in some new-lot cleanup, (mostly Sue) some path restoration, some lawn mowing, a good row, and a bike ride.
…rain from Minocqua to the Sault. Big storms moving diagonally across our path. A little flooding.
Brief stop for some sleepy-time gummy’s.
Long drive, with several construction delays, but now sitting on the porch listening to a big surf roll in.
Everything seems fine, though I haven’t checked the tomatoes. The big, dangerous trees on the new lot have been dropped and chopped, the boats are still on the beach, the Lane has been graded, and the water works!
Forgot to mention that it’s so chilly we thought about a fire in the stove, but ultimately decided a long-sleeved shirt made more sense.
Not the best day for moving, but then few are much better. I finally had to go wallow in the very cold Interlochen Lake.
…on a wooded hill overlooking Squirrel Lake. Lots of Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. Also an extensive genuine bog, complete with pitcher plants, iris, skunk cabbage, Venus fly traps, and arum lily.
And dragonflies.
…including Ellie’s riding lesson.
Bountiful crop of Heriochloe odorata.
Now , on to the braiders.
Shalom Wildlife Zoo near West Bend, that is, with Katy and Will.
We liked the running zebras, the mostly stationary tortoises, and our tasty lunch best of all.
Around here, with the rain and sun, everything is growing fast, including the sweetgrass patch.
I’m thinking it might be time for an initial harvest. Since sweetgrass is a grass, it should be like other grasses and, as opposed to most plants, grow from the base. This should mean that if I trim it off low, it should grow back fine, and maybe produce two crops. We’ll soon find out.
The ArbAtStarin is really coming together. (I know, some photos might be repeats.) But this nice bit of news yesterday:
Jim – I am delighted to confirm that Generac will be making a $15,000 donation to the City of Whitewater to support The Arboretum At Starin Park. These funds are designated to purchase the supplies for the Generac Welcome Center at The Arboretum at Starin Park that will be constructed by the city and volunteers. This is one more way we can support environmental education and give back to where our employees live and work.
In other news, a real duck-drownder this morning, and the robins (along with all the new plantings) are fat and happy.
