Just the moose, bear and us

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We haven’t seen the moose (the plural of moose is moose) but a kayaker reported seeing a bull moose on the beach 2 days ago.

Moose tracks are appearing closer to the keeper’s house. I sing various songs my 0.8 mile ride to the boathouse/sauna/harbor. Yesterday was Frere Jacque (I had to look up the french for the second verse). Today was Delta Dawn with totally made up words.

We haven’t seen more evidence of the bear other than visitors reporting they saw scat.

We snuck out during a brief window of fair weather this am for Tim to get his 3rd rabies vaccine from Ontario Public Health. Sunrise was beautiful. Next and last will be due in one week when we expect to be off island.

Now the winds are rising and a gale is forecast for tomorrow. At least it’s from the south. Yesterday, we had strong, cold northwest winds, which kept blowing out our propane fridge. Lucky for us, food supplies are running low. We picked up ice today for the Yeti cooler and should be fine. Dinner tonight was delicious trout provided by two young men from Minnesota.

It’s so much less stressful when a storm is predicted and you have no place to go. We’re tucked in nicely. Sauna, shower and dip in the Lake today. Yesterday was pretty cold, with the wind from the plains and Tim fired up the wood burning furnace. Things got toasty quickly.

No stress means a good night’s sleep.

A quiet ending to a beautiful weekend

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Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer in Canada and the USA. We had plenty of boats and visitors yesterday to commemorate the end of summer.

They were rafted together with more at the other docks. Two boatloads of visitors arrived by charter as well. The sauna was put to good use. A pair of young men from Minnesota cooked trout for everyone.

I participated in a stone carving workshop and made a bear as a fitting memento of our stay. Unfortunately, the head fell off and I’ll have to glue it together but the instructor, Deborah Spears, gave me an alabaster bear as consolation.

Tim helped people to and from the lighthouse while I remained at the dock and handled big business at the giftshop.

Today was a different story. Weather is coming and the last two boats left early this am. I finally had some time to try my new loom and do some bead weaving.

I don’t have the right color beads but this is going to be tiger eyes for a barrette. I like the idea of two eyes looking back.

I’ve also been busy with critter traps. Flies had overrun the kitchen when we first arrived. We found some flypaper, which definitely helped, and I made an inverted bottle trap with dish soap, vanilla, and yeast. Grocery stores don’t carry snap traps for mice so I improvised with a spackle bucket with water, and a rod with a can that spins, coated with peanut butter. So far, one for one.

Tim awakened to a bat in the bedroom during a nap, and after much discussion amongo ourselves and Public Health, he started the rabies vaccine series. He didn’t know if there had been contact and rabies is lethal. Getting the series according to schedule may be a challenge due to weather.

There’s definitely a moose and at least one calf roaming the island. We haven’t seen anything more than footprints yet.

Much of the rock along the shore is lava and there is lichen and succulents in abundance.

As predicted winds and rough seas arrived and stayed for two days. It was a good day to dry laundry but the solar panels kept blowing over.

Today, Tim is off for the next of his rabies vaccines and I’ll minds the island and visitors. This is the last day of official tours and it should be busy.

We use that boat to get to shore and I ride the 0.8 miles to and from the lighthouse on my trusty steed, which is too small, has no gears, but I love the ride.

Where saunas are de rigeur

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There are several self serve saunas along this part of Lake Superior. There’s currently no hot water in the residence but we were assured we could shower near the sauna.

The past couple of days boaters started it up themselves. We quietly observed. Sauna, jump in the lake, sauna, jump in the lake, repeat. We tried it when it was already going and I loved it – Tim, not so much.

Then we learned splashing water on the stones ramps up the heat and steam. Tim split wood from the woodpile and resupplied the sauna.

We were on our own yesterday so I fired it up. After about an hour it was up to temperature. And in we went. The lake felt lovely although it was reportedly 62 degrees. Sauna, lake, sauna lake with shampoo and rinse in between.

I barely stayed awake until sunset and, last night, slept like a baby.

From Tasmania to Lake Superior

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We met a kayaker in 2019 while we were caretakers for Tasmania Parks snd Wildlife at Deal Island. Tim reconnected with him last year and learned he is connected with the Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior, which manages several lighthouses on the Canadian side of Lake Superior.

We were interviewed and invited to Porphyry Island, located north of Isle Royale (pronounced Royal by both Americans and Canadians). It’s the end of the season and we’ll help close the island. We’ve hosted lovely visitors as well.

We drove around the north of Lake ONTARIO and Lake Superior. We thought we would swim along the way but it was cold and rainy. We found a lovely pool though and swam before one of our days’ drive.

We found beautiful places to stop and tried to avoid typical fast food.

We arrived Sunday after the fog had lifted. There hadn’t been fog for a month but then it settled in thickly for a couple of days, just long enough for us to hope the solar panels would keep up.

The local bear decided to chew up one of the cart’s seats our first night. Always the bears! Luckily we had some duct tape to repair it.

The weather finally cleared today and we could appreciate the views.

Sleeping Giant to our west.

There’s a tradition of wood fired saunas along the lake. We tried it yesterday followed by cold plunges and found it a great way to end the day. I slept like the sleeping giant.

The lighthouse is smaller than we are used to. The Yeti cup is included for perspective.

This is actually a replica of the original which was demolished when they switched to diesel in the 1960’s.

If we lose our GPS on the boat, there’s a backup Radio Direction Finder (its predecessor) in the residence.

We found the black sand beach and s perfect place to lounge today.

Now I get to organize. And sleep to the sounds of waves crashing on the shore.

Tim urged me to include one of his photos of me planning my next task.

Pots of gold under the rainbow

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My bees’ honey for the year has been collected, spun, filtered, and bottled. All told they produced 41 pounds in 2 hives. There is still at least another 15 pounds out there but I think I’ll leave it for their winter stores. I’m not entirely altruistic, just exhausted from the whole sticky process.

This summer has been a whirlwind. I collected in stages. First I removed the capped honey frames and stored them while we entertained grandchildren and went camping. Then I spun the frames in a centrifuge to collect the honey. I made the mistake of doing it early in the day when it was cool and the honey was thick. I lost control of the process and made a bit of a mess of the wax and discard when I melted down the wax. Although I tried to clean up, doorknobs and any surface I touched had the faintest bit of stickiness as a reminder for days afterward.

In the meantime, a bird or dragonfly snatched Monty the Monarch chrysalis off its perch.

Our kids and most grandkids are coming here while we head off to a lighthouse in Lake Superior. I thought that spackle bucket might have come to a bad end so, as part of my travel preparations, I jarred the honey.

I’ll keep jars that have some wax in them for us and distribute the rest.

On our flight home from DC this weekend, after a fabulous visit with our newest, very happy grand daughter and her family, our flight captain announced we were heading into strong winds and thunderstorms. I was braced for the worst. Instead we saw this.

And came home to not one but at least 35 pots of gold.

Monty’s summer travels

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A couple of weeks ago, I pulled a milkweed plant out of the raised garden bed and spotted a monarch caterpillar. It was its lucky day. The grandkids were coming and it would be an intetesting exhibit. First thing they did was name it Monty.

That’s a hand not a mouth in the background

It lived in a large mason jar, initially with a cheesecloth lid. Last year I thought I had found monarch eggs, but when they started walking, realized they were actually aphids and not eggs at all.

We had an ample supply of milkweed leaves and Monty grew to about 2 inches in ten days.

Then the grandkids went home and we went on a vacation of our own. Monty came with us. Grandkids received updates.

Just as predicted, he climbed to the ceiling, now a coffee filter, and attached itself upside down. It hung like that for a day and then, while we slept, formed its chrysalis.

We came home only to turn around and go camping for a couple of days. It takes 10-14 days for the butterfly to emerge. We had an opportunity, while it dissolved and metamorphosed, and left it home on its own.

Since we couldn’t be sure we would be here when it emerges, it had to head back to nature. I read it could be easily moved because there was a fairly substantial tuft of silk securing it to the coffee filter.

I pried it off and secured it to a crabapple branch with dental floss.

I’ve seen a Monarch chrysalis before and remembered the delicate gold edging. But the best is yet to come.

Outside the thick of things

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Tim loves boats, all kinds of boats. There were going to be lots of boats and planes along the Hudson River for the 4th of July celebration. Tim planned to go. I was reluctant, I hate big crowds, there was a heatwave and who knows what hijinx the festivities would attract. First he planned an18 hour day trip I wanted no part of. Then he arranged a place to stay along the Hudson, with a balcony and air conditioning. This was more inviting so I booked an Amtrak ticket into Penn Station.

Turns out, a big wedding was going to take at place at Madison Square Garden right about when we arrived. Another wrinkle in the trip. Multiple exits and roads along the Garden were closed but we made it to the blocked off street, unscathed, and were greeted by a caravan of Black Cadillacs and Mercedes.

We made our way in the sweltering heat to the apartment where warships were already anchored in the river outside the balcony. Let the fun begin. First a wild thunderstorm rolled through with 70 mph winds that tossed boats and balcony furniture.

Followed by a stunning sunset.

The 4th began with numerous flyovers of all sorts of planes and bombers.

Then the tall ships, except for the Clearwater, which was kicked out for saying they wanted clean water, began to make their way north along the Hudson.

We had fun identifying international flags. If we were right, Ecuador, with a navy of nine ships, had two tall ships in the parade?
We watched from the balcony for a while but as it grew hotter, and we grew tired, we moved indoors. As the ships made their way back south, we knew the party was over and, like the ships, headed home.

Back to the islands

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I try not to miss a trip to the ocean whenever I visit Long Island. We had enough time this trip to return to Fire Island, where we spent one fabulous winter. During winter, residents (not mere seasonal residents like us) are permitted to drive to eastern towns because the ferry doesn’t run. This includes workers and the school buses. This season, a lot of beach has eroded and a school bus recently got stuck in the sand.

Perhaps they needed a pretty tread like this.

A Celtic knot might have helped.

Next, we visited Stony Brook Harbor, when the tide was low and the water was calm..

So calm it was hard to differentiate water from sky.

West Meadow Beach has been mostly restored to its natural state but the Gamecock Cottage still stands.

Lastly we visited the Big Island and admired the buildings, beautiful weather and people.


Three islands in three days. Quite a journey.

This plant is so dramatic

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If it needs water, it completely wilts. The first time I found it in a slump, I was ready to add it to the compost. I watered it and, to my surprise, a few hours later it pepped up. This has happened repeatedly. Today was a perfect example.

This morning

Leaves sagging over the pot and the petals completely drooping.

Tanked it up and Bob’s your uncle.

All perky, flowers standing tall and new buds on the way. Happy with just a little sunshine and water. Until the next time.

Illusions

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I’m a sucker for optical illusions. The mind plays tricks, even without AI, am I seeing what I think?

This photo from Rocky Mountain National Park always surprises me when it pops up in my photo library.

Is there something protruding in front of the rock? Or not? When I look at it quickly, there is. Step back and one can see the illusion because the shadow becomes less obvious.

This was another surprise. I sent this photo of pretty spring tulips to my daughter. She questioned where I bought the huge flowers. To her, they looked like they were sitting on the floor. But apparently our butcher block table looks exactly like our floor and was lined up perfectly so one cannot see where the table ends and the floor begins.

I won’t take anything for granted.