I SAW THE BEAR!!!

When Jason and Renee were here they spotted a bear on my veranda and walking around in front of the house. She sent me some pictures but I don't know how to transfer them from my email to my blog or Picassa. We knew he was a round so we were being very alert. This evening when rick and Joan pulled in, we were going for a walk over to the building site. They guys were waiting for Joan to come out so I walked back to look at the garden. As I was half way there I looked up and saw the bear coming around the big tree down the stairs - he saw me at the same time I saw him. We both stood there for what seemed to be ages and then he turned and ran down the trail to the bridge. I called the guys and we tried to see him from the safety of the hill by the house. Rejean saw him standing on the bridge and he blew the air horn we have and he took off as soon as he heard it. He took off to the right. He was a nice healthy looking 2 year old cub. He had a nice brown nose and he was hefty. Putting on the weight before he hibernates. But I think we scared him off but we will be very careful when we are outside. And if he comes back, we may have to make a phone call....
See Ya Bye

THE MIGHTY MISSISSAGI AGAIN

Water levels are up after last weekend's weather system

HOOVERVILLE LANDING

Another pretty view

A TRIP DOWN THE HIGHWAY

After I got back from town I took a trip down the highway to check the colors and the water level of the River - the colors were amazing, even if they are on the downside of the peak. AND the water levels are way up - and I spotted some nice holes...

A VIEW OF STONEY POINT

A lot of our colors have gone but it still looks niiiiice

A NEW MEMBER OF MY FAMILY

Stacey has had this little guy in her garden by her front door since she moved into her house and I have always liked it - it just makes me feel good. And since she is moving and purging, I just asked if I could have him. And she said YES!!! I love him and he is a good addition to my garden. Thank you Stacey!!!

COLORS GALORE

A view of Axe Lake in all her glory
Mississagi River in full color

$600!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's how much we spent at Costco yesterday and they tried to sell me the Executive Membership - I would have made $12 on yesterday's visit alone. No ThankYou. But we got a lot of stuff including some winter gloves that I am hoping will keep my hands warm this winter. My hands get sooooo cold but these gloves - mittens actually kind of - have a separate fleece glove that you put on first then slip your hand inside the mitten which has fingers in it and there is a pocket for a hand warmer - which we bought a box of at Costco. So, hopefully I am all set. We got vitamins, pretzels (sourdough ones that I love but I swear I am not going to touch because I personally ate the last 2 containers of them) coffee, paper towels, etc etc etc etc. We will be loaded on the way back home as usual.
And the leaves are at their peak so I will be taking pictures for all to see.
See Ya Bye

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!!!

It was Sean's 25th birthday yesterday and he blew out all his candles. I hope his wish comes true...

THE WHOLE FAM DAMILY

Well, the majority of them. We all gathered at Lise and Dan's place, and saw the transformation of their kitchen and living room - they redid the whole thing, taking out walls etc. Gave me some ideas...but it was nice to see everyone again. The group from
Quebec enjoyed themselves. They did a lot of talking in French as Therese, Micheal's wife, does not speak English but every now and then they would translate for me. I did a lot of smiling and nodding during this time. AND to boot, it was Sean's 25th birthday - 25 on the 25th - that has to be lucky. Food galore and 3 deserts!!! And we are doing it all again today!!! I slept in til 9:45am today and that is a first for me!!!
See Ya Bye

7 INCHES

No!! But that is apparently how much rainfall we received during the storm - on our way here we saw a lot of overflowing ditches and streams. And the power has been out since 6pm today - it rained for 2 days straight!!! A nice steady rain tho. Windy too. Hope we don't have too many of those in the future...

COLORADO LOW???

I think that is what is going on up here - it is a massive rain storm expected to last 2 days and could drop over 100 mill I think but now they are talking centimeters. We just got back from a walk around the place checking the drains Rejean has made around the property - they are just a'flowing. We checked Steve's place and there appears to be no leaks which I am sure he will be glad to hear. Rick is trapped here with us. But he still has a smile on his face...

See Ya Bye

MOOSE TRACKS

That is actually the name of my favourite ice cream but in this case, it is the actual tracks of the moose. They were everywhere - a cow and calf tracks and some lone tracks of a big one. You never know what is around the bend...

LOOK WHO WE CAME ACROSS

I always seem to run into Bob - either on the river or out in the middle of the bush - he was all in camo so if he hadn't been standing on the road when we went by, we never would have seen him ;o) He has his cross-bow and was out hunting moose - we saw some amazingly big tracks - fresh - but no animal.

COLORS!!

Just some pretty leaves I came across during our hunt yesterday - Rick spotted one but we couldn't find it - Rejean spooked one and I never saw one on my turn in the lead - but I did spot a deer - actually the "tail" end of a deer with it's white tail flashing as it took off. Neat.
We are expecting the big storm today - over 100 mll of rain expected - we are battening down the hatches...

I would say that the colors up here will be peaking this weekend - with the rain we are expecting they may be all washed out.

A GOOD DAY FISHING

We decided to take a break from work and go fishing yesterday afternoon and are we glad we did. Rejean got 4 rainbows and 1 pickerel and I got a rainbow - the one on the bottom is mine. Ricky lost a big one and so did I. The pickerel was full of crawfish!!

BOTHERED BY BEARS!!!

Apparently we had a visit from a bear last nite - our BBQ was pushed out of place, a propane tank was overturned and the paper wrapping was torn and my burnable container was disturbed!!!
We don't leave any food around and we don't leave our garbage out - there has been reports of bears around for the past few weeks - Linda on Axe Lake saw one by her burn barrel and scared it away with one of John's firecrackers - and Jerry saw one around his place last week. So they are around. You just have to be careful and make noise when you are outside. The last thing you want to do is startle one!!
I'll have to get my gun out...

A BUMPY RIDE

This is Natalie pulling Liam in his stroller up the cordoroy road - there has to be hundreds of cedar logs put down in a stretch of a path around the lake - It is a marshy area and this allows access even when it is wet. But it was a bumpy ride for Liam - talk about whip lash...but he loved it!

NICE BOOTS BUDDY

This is a picture of my little buddy Liam and his new boots - they were alligators!! His pants were tucked into his boots and he walked very slowly and deliberately, lifting his feet up very high - he wasn't used to the feeling. It was funny. And you can see Jenn's new boots in the background - who says you can't buy stylish things in Thessalon???

THE BIG BUILD BUILDERS

I would have liked to show the faces of the builders but I didn't get one of those - so this will have to do.
From left to right: Steve, Marshall (aka Murray or Marcel or Warren - Rejean just couldn't remember
his name) Sean, Ricky and Rejean - they were installing the patio doors on the front of the bunkie. It was a heavy sucker.
They had to fit it 3 times before it fit properly but it is in now :o) They did an excellant job in just the few days they had and the weather co-operated as well.

THERE IS A ROOF

As promised a picture of the finished roof - and they had a nice day to do it. Looks great - what do you think? And it is also the first picture taken on my new Fuji Finepix AV190 I picked up at Walmart on sale for $79!! Plus the memory card and carrying case I spent about $106. But I have always wanted a smaller camera - one that could fit in my pocket - I like my other camera but it is big and bulky and not always the easiest to carry around on a hike. I think the picture came out fine - my only complaint about the camera is that you have to delete one picture at a time - there is no delete all mode that I have on my other camera. Oh well - you get what you pay for. But I think the picture quality is fine for what I need it for. It's a keeper!!

THANKS FOR REMINDING ME

Apparently it was my anniversary yesterday - September 16th - Joan called during the day and wished me happy anniversary - I said "what?" and lo and behold, it was my anniversary - we always forget about it until we get an anniversary card from Rejean's mom but we didn't get one this year - 27 years with this character!!! I cooked for the masses yesterday and even made my Italian Bread for the meal - Jenn picked up a cake in town so that was our celebration - that's as far as it goes.
I have to head into town today because our hot water heater finally quit on us yesterday - it was at least 15 years old so it was time. And a plug outside that Jenn has been using for cooking her bacon and stuff also went so I am picking one of those up as well. Tomorrow I head into the Sault to pick up Mitch's quad all fixed up. Busy Busy Busy.

Pictures of the progress of the Big Build with be forthcoming.

See ya Bye

A NICE DAY FOR A CRUISE

Liam was so bundled in his life jacket, he couldn't move, so Jenn had to move his hand for him. Mom Natalie, manned the fishing rod, that didn't produce today - but it is all jenn's fault - she had been fishing and, true to form, she didn't catch any. She has never caught a fish in our lake - ever - she is cursed.

NICE COLORS

This bush is on the way back from Jenn and Steve's place - it's quite colorful.

BIG BUILD UPDATE

It is day 3 and, as I type, they are finishing the roof. Just the plywood, not the steel roofing. They are predicting rain tomorrow so they are hustling. It is looking good I must say. Bigger than I expected - but they have a loft for sleeping so the main floor is just for enjoying - It will be nice.

See Ya Bye

WHAT DAY IS IT TODAY??

The 2 gable ends in place

Marshall and Sean doing work on the floor of the loft

A good view of the opening for the patio doors - there are 9 windows in the structure!!!

My little buddy Liam - what a sweetheart. He is 2!!! He's having a good time up here.

Ok - they came in Sunday and worked half a day, Monday was the first full day and I guess today was the 2nd full day of THE BIG BUILD - we should have a tv show about this project. There is a tv show on the DIY network - Blog Cabin - and it's follows the building of a considerably larger structure. But it has nothing on this one. It is being built by people who have limited experience - except Sean who is a contractor -building a bunkie. And building a cabin is on Marshall's bucket list - I guess you have to be more specific about whose cabin you build - he can cross this one off his list. And, I might add, it is looking good!!! The girls, Jenn, her sister Natalie and myself decided there should be a dormer to take in the view but Steve said no - it was too late for that - we should have planned it sooner - but that can always be done later - all they do in the dormer is sleep anyway ;o)

It is coming along just fine as far as I am concerned. Jenn has big plans for the inside - white washing the walls, they have the floor left over from their home in Windsor and plans for some Ikea stuff. It is an adventure.

Can't wait to see it completed at the end of the week!!!

See ya Bye

GETTING THE FLOOR DONE

This is what they worked on first thing this morning - it seems to be going well - we haven't heard any cursing or swearing - yet. I think the guys are all working well together - sometimes when you get that many men -5 to be exact - that's a lot of testosterone and egos flying around the work site. But it appears to be working - there is a lot of years of experience in this crowd. All working towards the same goal - Jenn and Steve's new Bunkie!!!

DAY 2 - THE BIG BUILD

Another good day to build - nice and sunny, crisp and dry. Altho sometimes the clouds made you think you are going to get a soaking but it doesn't happen. They got one wall up and are working on the second one - they got the two peaks that go on either end of the roof done as well. When you have a nice flat surface to work on - like the floor - you take advantage of it. Jenn has been the gofer - she just got back from the Post with her daily beer supply - you have to keep the workers hydrated. She fed the masses at breakfast - I made a lasagna for lunch - and there is chili for dinner - I have a loaf of sour dough bread that I got out of the freezer for dinner. So far so good.

CLOUDS

This was an approaching storm - it hailed - but didn't last long - some thunder and lightning

HELL HAS OFFICIALLY FROZEN OVER

My neighbour offered some apples to me and I decided to make apple crumble for desert yesterday - I can't believe I did that!!! But, thanks to the work I do at the Hall, I am not intimidated by cooking anymore. For other people that is. But this recipe turned out to be pretty good - everyone liked it - even me. I licked the crumble bowl - it was goooood. That is what I do.