Hey Wait – yeeGADS this isn’t my DIARY

As I descend deeper into the black abyss on this 9th day of quarantine all I can think about is wrapping my old calloused fingers around the throat of my tormentor…OOOPS.

Yes dear reader we are back in the busom of the boreal forest! The weather up till today has been hot and dry. The evidence of a very early hot dry spring is everywhere! All the spruces have taken a heavy hit from spruce budworm and dry early heat stress during their candling (or new growth) period. We’ve gotten here approximately two weeks earlier than last season but all the vegetation and insects point to a season point of a normal year as late July! No blackflies to speak of, vast quantities of dragon flies and a low crop of mosquitos. The lake is low at a lower level than most levels at late summer! The lakes weeds beds are flourishing at the lower level and the dragon flies have already bred for the most part. Janet and I have spent several happy hours at the beach watching the sunset listening to the joyous sounds of the loons as well as watching Kevin keep the beach clear of nasty goldeneye and black duck mothers with their rafts of young ones. There are no tree swallows in evidence but they may have already fledged and left.

I’ve once again retrieved my bonsai collection from their winter resting grounds amongst the ostrich ferns. Through the good offices of the benevolent ferns the great majority of my collection has survived. Due to the dry spring I lost 8 of my prized collection. Alas almost all of them the broad leaved specimens. All my maples and alders were wiped out. The Alders were with me for more than 10 years and two were flagship specimens. I am going through some mourning as a result. But I must look at it as a glass 3/4 full. With the collection in their summer digs and getting a constant water supply they are all looking well now.

I have never seen the grass so high as when we arrived! But its all dry and ready to be made into hay. I sharpened the mower blades and replaced one of the mower deck pulley assemblies and The Evil One was off to the races mowing the camp. Today is the first cold and rainy day of our stay. Hence this posting. The forecast says its will be rainy and cool for the next few days. All the rain that we are receiving is soaking into the parched ground so I anticipate no rise in any of the water levels for quite some time. My raised bed was like powder when I tilled it and planted the second day we were here! I’ve never seen that situation before! It took about 30 gallons of water to get the soil conditions to norm. Walking around camp the ground was “thumping” with that hollow sound I hear when its late August – so so dry. On a good note – the service berry bushes are setting fruit so that may bode well for a good berry crop this season.

Yesterday we went fishing for a couple hours and had a ball catching bass like crazy. I lost a huge one on the little shoal when she spat the mepps back at me on the jump. Get this – the mad hook setter – Me – didn’t get a good hook set! But we got a good look at her and The Evil One said it was in the 20″ range. I concur. Also caught several feisty midsized pike. It was a delightful time and the Evil One was blessed with the first and second fish (nice 15″ bass) of the season – it warmed the cockles of her dark black heart! Unfortunately the batteries were low on my camera so no fabulous pics to regal you with in this blog. That situation will be remedied in future posts.

The old lady that is the camp is slowly awakening. Most of the water system is up and things are beginning to get back to normal. I have a lot of chainsaw work to do during this cold snap – really looking forward to it LOL. Also my initial back strain pain is now worked out with the constant work and I am easily getting most of my startup tasks completed.

So, overall the Camp is nearly ready to receive guests as restrictions are normalized. Get your vaccines so I can see you all this summer!