Every year as we slide into March, we begin to think about upcoming outdoor jobs that will need to be done as soon as Spring arrives and the snow begins to melt. When we spot our neighbour's maple syrup collection buckets, we know that warmer temperatures are about to make the maple sap run, and that Spring must be just around the corner.
Spring can be a bit of a tease though. This year, just a week after we were treated to the sight of the buckets, another snow storm arrived.
We had a few visits from some local deer and it was such a treat to watch them from our windows. I am sure they were probably just as ready as we were for a change in weather, and a more varied diet!
Rumours of a particularly nasty ice storm in early April dashed our hopes for getting out to begin collecting our firewood anytime soon. We stocked up on a few necessities, and prepared for some time closer to home.
After the storm moved on, we ventured out for a walk. The road in wasn't too icy and we were able to view some of the damage. And the beauty!
A large tree had come down on our local power lines, and we had to guess that Ontario Hydro had cleared the tree and branches, leaving them all on our property at the side of the road. We made plans to go collect it for firewood once the weather improved. We checked on our reserve firewood stack and it was completely covered in ice. It really looked like winter had come back.
But just a couple of days later, it began to warm up, and we were greeted one morning by the sound of the Phoebes returning. I can't imagine that they were thrilled with our weather on their return. By April 13th though we had some lovely warm temperatures, and as you can see below, it was warm enough for a t-shirt, but so strange as we still had snow all around us on our walk!
With a bit more time to work at some indoor jobs, Rob decided to do some much needed organizing of his workshop. He built this cabinet many years ago for the workshop in Navan, and finally got a chance to set it up properly again.
He was also busy programming a microcomputer that he hoped would allow him to use a foot pedal to make changes to his PC keyboard. When he is recording himself playing guitar, he needed to be able to more easily switch the camera off and on without having to stop and lean over to use his keyboard. Just another little project on the go! I never know what he will be dreaming up, but this one made me smile.
I had been busy painting lampshades for the log cabin bedrooms and doing many sewing repairs.
Unfortunately my amazing 50+ year old sewing machine stopped working and we were waiting for some parts to arrive to see if we could fix it. My backup machine would not wind the bobbin any longer, but Rob took it apart and fixed it with a hose washer until parts for it could arrive too!
In the meantime, I was trying to come to some sort of decision as to whether to fly out to Vancouver to visit family. I had "some concerns" (actually lots!) about the trip as friends had told me to be prepared for long flight delays and cancellations, and I also worried about Covid and the chance that I might bring it to my 96 year old mom. Fortunately, despite the fact that I spent 4 hours seated in front of someone who coughed and hacked their way through the entire first portion of my flights, I managed to stay healthy. The flight delays weren't too bad and I arrived in Vancouver only a bit later than planned. Unfortunately, no sooner did I book my flight than the airline announced a possible strike before my return home ! Of all my concerns, an airline strike wasn't one of them.
I had a good trip, spending most of it in my Mom's apartment, as we had a list of things that needed doing, but did manage to get out with her for a short time each day to take care of a few things as well. She takes cabs a bit more often now, but will still take a city bus from time to time if she is up for it. I couldn't convince her to try the motorized shopping cart at the nearby supermarket, and she insisted on pushing the manual cart herself, while I dashed around trying to find items and save her a few steps. I also lost the argument about who would sleep on her couch. She is a fiercely independent little Welsh woman for sure. She is still a pretty wicked Scrabble player too.
My breath of fresh air is always my much anticipated ferry trip to the Sunshine Coast to spend time with my cherished brother and sister-in-law. It is also the time that I most regret that Rob and I didn't make the trip to Vancouver together. It's a hard choice, but I always feel like I should focus as much of my attention on my Mom as I can while I am there. We also had to consider that one of us should remain at home to look after our sweet senior cat, Axle. At the age of 20 he is now the equivalent in age of even more human years than my mom. The minute I stepped on the ferry though and saw this view, I sure wished that Rob could have been there with me too. And I know he would have loved the chance to visit family on the coast as well.
I had made the choice not to bring my camera on this trip, which wasn't an easy decision for me. A friend had kindly lent me a cell phone for my trip so that I could keep updated on the airline situation, so I thought I could simply use the phone for taking photos instead. But I found that without my camera, I pretty much forgot about taking photos! I am not in the habit of using a phone as a camera at all.
I did manage to grab a pic of the lovely Hidden Grove Recreation area where I went for a short hike (with two of my favourite people!), and another one of the lovely sea (and two of my favourite people again!) before I returned to Vancouver less than 48 hours later. Much too short a time but I was so grateful to have had the chance to visit.
My other brother passed away last year, and so my trip was rather an emotional one at times. The last time I had returned to Vancouver on the ferry I had met up with him for a coffee downtown, and I was filled with mixed emotions to pass through that area again. I was thankful to have a chance to spend a couple of hours one evening with his son.
I returned home somewhat tired, jet lagged, and introspective. I took it easy for a few days, and then we ventured out into the bush in search of downed trees to pull out for this winter's firewood. We usually start earlier in the season, before mosquitoes and black flies are out in full force, and long before the arrival of the poison ivy, but the weather and my trip had delayed us. Unfortunately shortly after we pulled out the first two downed trees, the tractor signaled a problem, and stopped working. It took a couple of days to diagnose the issue, but Rob was able to get it working again, just before a mini heat wave hit! There are always lots of other jobs that need doing so we decided to delay the firewood for a bit longer until the temperatures dropped a bit. The forecast was for more moderate temperatures in just a couple of days.
A large pine had snapped off this winter, so as soon as the temperatures dropped, we got at it. After moving a portion of it out, we gathered up the huge number of pine branches that had come down as they too make for good firewood. Cutting them into lengths is a tedious job though. So after watching some videos, this new crib was constructed and we tried it out. It worked perfectly! We were glad of it, as we later found more smaller diameter lengths of wood that were easier to cut in this as well. The crib allowed us to simply lay the branches in and then Rob was able to chainsaw through several at a time, and all at the same length so as to later fit into the woodstove.
I'm not usually the one to talk about or praise tools, but here is a little gizmo that has proven to be most useful this year. Meet "Millie" our Milwaukee Hatchet Pruning Saw. Battery operated, it is light enough for me to use, and it has been super at allowing me to help trim the branches of the trees we are gathering for this year's firewood.
Usually this is the point where I say "And in no time the firewood was done". Well, not this year. The smoke I mentioned earlier got worse as more fires burned in Quebec, and then one started about 60k south of us. Air quality warnings were issued for our area, with warnings to wear N95 masks if doing any outdoor activities. We continued doing firewood, while wearing masks, but then decided to wait until the air cleared a bit to continue. The smoke does produce some rather spectacular sunsets, but the cause detracts from the beauty.
With conditions so dry, our area was already under a total fire ban. I pulled out my list of items to bring in the event of an evacuation order, and we discussed our emergency plans just in case. With hundreds of fires burning across Canada it is foolish to think it can't happen, as much as we all hope it won't.
Fortunately a bit of rain arrived, and although it wasn't enough to make a huge difference, the air quality improved. We got back to doing firewood, with a short break as we needed to get some new parts for the chainsaw. We made pretty good progress and were pleased with our work. But the tractor announced another problem, so we had to take a break again to fix it. Once complete, Rob took a short trip with it to get some parts for our scrap wood box. And that's when the hydraulic hose blew. Yikes, what a mess it made!
More parts, more hydraulic fluid and a LOT of clean up later, it was back up and running.
We worked for a couple of more days on our firewood and declared it done. We still have more dead and fallen trees to pull out, (like the dead elm in the rear left of the photo below) but we think it might be better to wait until late fall or even early next spring. The stacks on the left are our well seasoned oak, and the ones on the right are our more recent work. We would have liked perhaps to have done a bit more, but I am sure that we have more than enough. And we both agreed that June 19th is the latest we've ever finished the wood, and aim to do better next year.
We celebrated with a great homemade beer that evening at the point, and put our feet up and enjoyed the river view, but didn't waste much time before getting at our next "task" for the summer. There is still some siding that needs to be finished, and we really want that job to be done this year. There is still one small section on the east side of the workshop to be done, as well as the back of the shop. We are just waiting to hear whether the propane company will agree to move our tanks for us. We should probably do this section first as it requires the longest and most noticeable pieces of siding.
Rob has set up scaffolding in preparation for completing the back of the shop. This area requires shorter boards, and we are hoping we have enough to complete that side. The "porch" area may be done in metal siding if we don't have enough wood, or we may have to see if we can find some at the local mills to complete it. I think we still have lots of stain to use up!
As soon as were set up and ready to begin, the forecast changed to some much needed rain. Which didn't arrive, but more wildfire smoke did, and it was the heaviest yet. We drove up to visit a friend and were stunned by how heavy the smoke was, and how poor the visibility, especially on one of the lakes (called Lake Clear, but definitely not-so-clear when there is smoke fall out !)
Oh, and those Phoebes that arrived in April ? Well, this is a photo of the first brood in the nest at the front door just before they all flew away. We didn't think they would nest there as we had finished the siding and ceiling in that area, and there wasn't much room, but they were determined. Rob put a little extra ledge there for them and that seemed to help. There is a second brood coming along now so we are avoiding using that door as much as we can so as not to disturb them.
We had robins nesting on a tarp next to the workshop door, and the babies left the nest a couple of weeks after I took this photo of them.
We had another robin nesting at the cabin, but I found broken eggs at the door so I will guess something destroyed the eggs.
They are trying again in a new nest set on a ledge on the porch now. I hope this batch of eggs works out for them.
I found a starling inside the wood stove one day and ran to get Rob so we could escort it safely out. It had a bit of a flight around the cabin before we caught it again, and left a bird-like smudge on the window that I thought looked pretty cool, but I guess I will have to wipe it off. It seemed none the worse for it's time in the stove, and flew off. I have been checking every day now to make sure another one doesn't come down the chimney pipe.
On an afternoon walk one day this month we had the chance to watch a grouse have a dust bath. They are usually pretty shy and fly away when we come across them on our walks, but I think this one was simply enjoying it's bath too much to leave.
Our wildlife cams have revealed a parade almost every day and night of fox, hares, fisher, deer, raccoons, porcupine, wild turkeys, coyote and a very brave little cat. In the video of the cat, it appears it chased a young fox back down the path, reappearing minutes later, puffed up to twice it’s size and casting an evil eye back to where the fox had been. A few minutes later a very nervous looking fox came back up the path. That little cat shows up on the camera a lot, usually late at night. I hope it stays safe. It looks healthy and well fed so I will guess it may belong to one of our neighbours.
A young hare is outside of the house most days, and seems pretty accustomed to our comings and goings. I am glad that it can’t hop up onto my raised bed garden though, or it would make short work I think of my lettuce and spinach.
And my battles with the chipmunk continue. This year it is building tunnels in my garden. I read that onions are a good deterrent so scattered lots of cut up onion onto the soil and into the tunnel before replacing the soil. It seemed to work for a while, until I found a new excavation with all the onions pulled away. A little ghost pepper powder worked too, until I water the garden and then it is no longer effective. I just continue my efforts, and hope for the best. I have what looks like a good crop of tomatillos coming up so hope they survive. We have already enjoyed kale, cress, spinach, chives, cilantro and lettuce. The chippie thankfully seems to not care about those!
We are now a week into "Summer" and the smoky skies have cleared somewhat for now. We are hoping the siding project will go smoothly and try to imagine what it will be like to have that task off of our "to-do" list. I think we have been working on that job for the past three summers! We are making plans for a bathroom renovation at the log cabin later this summer if all goes well. We are also making plans to take time off to scout out the area a bit more. We have friends arriving from Germany in the fall and we could use some new locations to explore.
Of course, summer is also the time when we love to relax outside. We have had a few lovely evenings sitting out at our point, and look forward to more. The river levels have dropped significantly, so I hope we will soon venture in for our first river walk of the year. And of course, if the hot summer weather arrives, the day will come when we simply plop our chairs into the cool river and sit for a while.
