Hippo Murders Dye

Wan spawn term, dare worsted ladle gull, hoe lift widow groin murder honor itch offer lodge, dork florist.... (or some such—I can't remember). Bit, rally, inny weigh, hippo murders dye ail use murders.

Painting and projects here. Sue finished the entry and most of the bathroom while I built the wall/bookcase that will form the end of the built-in bench on the north (now TV wall). We thought abut going out to Mum's for breakfast, but decided on work instead.

Bright, beautiful day, warming up to the point where it was necessary to shed sweatshirts (though a fire in the grate tonight feels nice). First trip of the season to the dump (with old toilet remnants and lots of miscellaneous of ther stuff).

The water is up... 

Green and Blue

This is (very)approximately the color Sue has selected for the cottage entryway.

This is the Green Living Expo, where I spent from 8:30 to 3:30 "selling" trees for MASC. That's our MP Carole Hughes up front reading a statement.

This is the blue of the water when no longer covered in ice.

And this is an old boat, more colorful than seaworthy.

Open Bay

Rain and a warmer wind, and the last of the ice blew out. One loud clap of thunder this morning and the power went out, too, frustrating my plan to do projects. To kill time, Pax and I walked down to the Thomson's to see if they had hydro (which they didn't).  Murray and I looked around and decided there was no better time than a power outage to attack phragmites, and that became the plan.

Phragmites is mighty, but Murray is mighter.

We spent nearly 3 hours whacking away at this 60 foot diameter patch. Hard, frustrating work. Scythes didn't cut it. And with even the heaviest string, the weed-whackers needed re-stringing every few minutes. We actually ran out of string with just a few canes standing, so it's back to whack tomorrow.

Ice in the morning, but not a trace remaining tonight.

Fire and Ice...

 ...and thunderstorms—morning storm, and then evening storm. Various minor projects, and later, over to Kerry's new place, the utterly wrecked century farmhouse he bought for next to nothing and has transformed into a real gem.

 ...From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
 

(but) 

..........ice
is also great  
And would suffice.

Ice all gone tomorrow, or I am a monkey's uncle.

Cottage Life

Replacing a toilet is part of cottage life just like sailing, swiming, and sitting on the deck.

Bob and Wendy are here, spending the night. 

And boats are going in the water, although all the remaining ice will be preventing them from going anywhere...

Too Much To Do

And too little time. Projects take far longer than they should. Then Kerry and Dave stopped by, and then we had to go to dinner at the LLoyds at 5 p.m. Pax didn't even get his afternoon run.

Non-stop, high speed conversation at dinner with Don and Joan, and Murray and Elaine. It is quite amazing how many interesting topics are available—from bear attacks to windmills, to the "micro fiber" brewery on the dock—not to mention all sorts of gossip. 

Beautiful, sunny, cool day, nearly calm. Just one brief morning burn in the stove. Still lots of ice in the bay, and it has moved back in towards the marina, as this shot by Sue illustrates. 

SnowBirds

Cloudy, calm, and very cool. The ice has moved back in some, but still no threat to our shore. There is more remaining than I thought, but its days are numbered. 

Sidetracked this morning by a leaky dishwasher, apparently another winter casualty. Had to pull it out, hook it back up, and run it through a cycle to find the leak, which appeares to be the little plastsic solenoid kind of thing at the low point of all the apparatus. A repair man is coming tomorrow with new parts.

Met Don Lloyd on the lane and he is looking fit and well. His suggestion is that the animal on the ice was a fisher, a creature brought here to control porkupines. Imagine a creature adapted to do that. I would not want Pax to tangle with one. 

Pax, however, did get into something today. He was gone for an hour or two, but when I whistled, came back with a face covered in mud, and blood. Sue washed away the grime and found a gash on his right schnozzle.  The old boy seems to be having just a little trouble adjusting to being back, and I think it's a case of olfactory overload—just too many faqscinating smells.

The Christmas present is now fully functional (apart from no service provider). But in addition to Blu-Ray, we now have Netflix and Amazon, and truly, apart from NCAA March Madness, what else do you need? 

Serendipity Sunshine

Morning drizzle giving way to glorious sunshine. The glacier on the front deck melted away to nothing, and we sat out there after work (such as it was) and watched cat's paws paint patterns on what was previously ice. The water is up. This could be because of a strong west wind, but up it is, and definitely so. The Very Small Boat Harbor (VSBH) is almost full, and the previous pier position is apparently perilous.

Mudge Bay is now 80% clear, with ice pile-ups on the far north-west end and on Gooseberry.  Pax and I got back into our groove—a bike-ride/run down to Sandy Beach. He behaved, and there were no wild deer chases up the bluff, or beyond.  (I must note, however, that we have countless piles of deer droppings everywhere, especially on the paths. Apparently starving deer poop prodigiously.)

Our special Christmas present has been mounted on the wall (with a cabinetry yet to be made), and a BlueRay player attached, and so, tonight, we will be attempting to watch Castle episode #7869934 or, perhaps, something streamed on Netflix, such as the BBC series "Heat of the Sun" recommended by the Texas contingent. Will it work?  Stay tuned.

Foggy With Drizzle

Cloudy, foggy, with pretty much continuous drizzle. Went to Gore Bay for a few groceries and to order a new toilet. Met Murray and Elaine on the Lane, and it turns out they beat us here by 2 days. Stopped by the library and signed up for the library.on.ca e-book program (and hi to Jill). Did some ditching work on the driveways to improve drainage, and planted half a dozen swamp white oak and half a dozen hackberry seedlings, to be here, if they survive, in decades hence when the ash are gone.

A calm and quiet day, with icebergs slowly drifting by in a great slow motion panoply. High today of about 40 but the house has warmed up nicely, and now the stove damped all the way down is keeping things cozy.

The result of ice come ashore prior to our arrival.

Found one tree that did succumb. An old ash, now hung up on two younger ones. Getting this down could be tircky, but it will yield a lot of firewood.

Iceberg slowly drifting by.  Bay now over 50 percent open.

Anticipation

Heading back to the cottage after a 6 month absence—so many questions.

Will it still be there? If so, what damage? How many trees down? How bad the erosion? What insurmountable problems will be encountered hooking up the water system?  What will be changed on the Lane. And, of course, what will the water level be? 

By way of answer: everything survived the fearsome winter. Cottage and garage fine, J & ME's place fine. No major trees down. Just the usual erosion. The swales full and the rivulets flowing. The Kagawong River a raging torrent. The Bay about half ice. The Christian's place for sale (no details yet).

And we have hot and cold running water! The carefully designed water system continues to work—using the guzzler to get the water up to the pump, and then using the pump to pump up to the house. And how sweet it is. The only casualty this year being the upstairs toilet, which is significantly cracked. Either bad winterizing on my part or weak antifreeze. 

I had to wade through some ice floes to place the foot valve out in deep enough water, and even wearing John's chest waders, I came out of the water with my skin glowing red. But, well worth it.

All quiet tonight—the only sounds a light patter of drizzle on the metal roof,  the babbling of the brooks flowing down the bluff to the Lake, and the tinkle of brash ice breaking up and melting away. 

The woodburning stove is glowiing red hot, and 3 electric radiators are cranking out heat, and already there is a noticable difference between the inside and outside of the house. Of course, it will take days to get the massive heat sink of the concrete floor up to a comfortable range. But, as I may have mentioned, we have hot and cold running water. 

And, the water is up, the water in the Lake that is. Not way up, but up some, and this is still early in the water cycle. The level should continue to rise for the next two months and will, perhaps reach the long term average.  It depends on spring rain, of course, but, as I write this, there is a drumming on the roof as heavier rain comes down. (Pax just went under a bed.)

Good to be here. Long drive, being done driving two hours before acutal arrival. But once here, it feels good—back home, as though we'd never left. So, tonight, snuggled into a chilly cottage, with a lively fire in the stove, some hot tea, the immense quiet, and hot and cold running water.

St. Ignace, this morning

Blind River

Little Current, with iceberg floating down the channel.

Home port.

Unknown creature wandering out on the ice between Tyson's and Thompson's—smaller than a bear, but pretty big.

A familiar resident, looking good after the long winter.

And, winter's remnants on the front deck.