A SURE SIGN OF SPRING

All the trailers and boats and 4 wheelers heading North

THE COCKPIT

This is where the Captain will be sitting with all his controls - soon!!

I WAS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Who's been walking across my highway...not too far from home...

Nice Mr. Bear - always good that you are in your car when you see one of these

...good Dr John song - but I digress. I had a meeting tonite so I remembered to take my camera and since it was the right time of the night, I had my camera handy - out of the case and in my lap - just waiting for something to move. And, lo and behold, on my way back home, I see a bear starting to cross the road in front of me. Well, I quickly checked my rear view mirror and saw that I was safe to slow down and stop. I fumbled for my camera and turned it on, and with my tremor switching into full gear because I was excited - well, it wasn't a pretty sight. But I got it going and up to take a picture of it before it had crossed the road. I pulled up along side of it and got the passenger side window down - remembering to check my rear view mirror for oncoming traffic - non - safe -and I turned down my radio - I don't think the bear would like Vince Gill - and then I got a picture of it wandering into the bush and looking back at me. It was a pretty one - all fluffy and healthy looking - with that beautiful brown nose. It didn't take long for him/her to wander quickly off into the bush. A good sign of bear avoiding humans. It was between here and Axe Lake Road on our side of the highway - so we are aware of it in the area. A good thing to be.

And, we finished the wood today, did some work in the garden - mulched it - got word the decal is ready, after some tweaking of the font and the paint is ready. And we got in a nice walk to the mine side after dinner. A good day.

See Ya Bye

SPENT MOTHER'S DAY SPLITTING WOOD

All the wood out and ready to be split.

The work area

Notice my row of stacked wood kind'a fell over. I am not very good at stacking.

On my way over to the other property to split the wood
on one of our trails

That's what I did today - helped split wood. In the morning, I did a bit of gardening - when the sun shines and it is sunny and warm, I have to do some gardening. I pulled out all the old growth from last year and cut the grass that grows on my rocks. I took a couple of wheelbarrows of dead stuff to the swamp. Then I turned the dirt in the veggie garden. I must say that is good earth. After all those years of adding fertilizer and top soil, it has finally paid off. After I was done, I headed to the Post to get some beer for the guys. I didn't take my camera and, you guessed it, there was a photo opportunity at the Post. There was about 6 or 8 nice looking motorcycles parked in the lot. The riders were just taking a break. But nice bikes!! One was a bright orange and it had a side car. The rest were nice and shiny.

I then helped the guys. Rejean was stacking the split wood, Rick was manning the controls and I was feeding the splitter. I was picking the logs up and setting them on the splitter - I figure I don't have to do a work out tonite. We got a row of logs done. It certainly is fast with 3 people working together. We should be done either tomorrow or Wednesday morning.

That's about it for my day. It was nice and sunny and warm here today - for a change.

See Ya Bye

I MISS MY MOM

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there who deserves to be called a Mother. I miss my Mother especially hard on this day. But I see her in stuff that I do. She held her mouth a certain way when she was working and I find myself doing that. And I see a bit of her when I look in the mirror. I think of if she felt the same when she was my age. She died when she was 61 and that is just a few short years away for me. I think of what she missed. Her third grandchild, Kyle. A little step great grandchild in Bishop. Coming up here and spending time on the Lake. I know Father would have loved it up here. And I know my Mom would have liked to fish - just like her daughters.
I wish she were here...

...but, I am a Mom myself - Stacey and Jodie - they have treated me as their Mom for over 30 years - I am blessed to have married into them. :o)

ALMOST READY TO LAUNCH

Bill's Boat almost ready

The solid oak transom - just a spare piece of oak we had hanging around

We just got the call that the motor is ready to be picked up so that was the last thing we needed - other than a few little odds and ends to be done on the boat. Rejean put the floor in the front of the boat in the storage compartment and he installed the rod holders and, most importantly, the drink cup holders. We are all set and ready to go. We just have to wait for the pickerel season to open. Tunnel Lake will never be the same.

We also stopped by Laird Signs on Highway 17 and ordered a decal for the boat - it will say BILL'S BOAT with a jumping pickerel between the words. How appropriate.

See Ya Bye

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY...

Taking it easy thru the puddles but we still got muddy

One of the puddles we came upon

Getting ready to go - the guys gassed up

After the rain cleared up and the guys finished their work on the boat (it looks great - the seats are installed and the new oak transom is in place) we decided to go for a 4 wheeler ride - Rejean passed because he caught my cold ( I have no idea how) so Barry, Ed and I got changed and hit the road. We went down the highway to the Axe Lake road then off on a trail. It actually took us to FootPrint Lake Road and boy, was it muddy. We had a riot. I led the way, hoping that I wouldn't run into a mother bear and cubs or a moose on the trail. I only have a 250 cc and the guys have bigger bikes so I was a little cautious in some of the puddles. I have had to be winched out before so I know to take it easy. There were a few spots that were a little dicey - at one point, the guys had to come and lift my bike over a culvert that I couldn't quite get over because of the ground clearnance of my bike. But that was the only time I needed their help. We were a little late getting back home but we had fun. The guys enjoyed it!! Me too!!

See Ya Bye