The weather has certainly improved and that is a good thing. It looks like the garden will be planted this week and that too will be a good thing.
On Sunday, we joined Dave and Shirley at Buck Lake. The trail has been blocked by fallen trees since the Spring and today, Dave wanted to take the chainsaw and cut the trail open. I had worked night shift on Saturday so we made plans to head out to the trail a bit later in the day.
John cut a bit of grass before we left then followed Dave and Shirley out to the trail. We had to empty the sewer tote before we headed out so were a few minutes behind them.
When we arrived at the trail, Dave and Shirley had already cut the offending trees out of the way and were sitting in their lawn chairs enjoying an adult beverage on the hill, overlooking the lake.
It was a beautiful day and oh so peaceful here at the lake. It wasn't long before John and I joined them and we too enjoyed the day's sunshine and incredible scenery.
Booko ran around like the pup he is and made several trips down to the water's edge. He obviously has no issues going into the water as he came back soaked!! Of course the mosquitoes and horseflies loved that and he made several trips down to the water in what we think were fruitless attempts to evade the nasty little insects. Eventually, he headed to the truck and looked at John as if to say "can you please open the door and let me in?" He huddled in the truck for a while "hiding" from the offensive little insects. He did eventually come back out and tolerated us spraying him with bug repellent although I swear, he thinks we are trying to kill him with it!!
Eventually, the sun waned and it was time to think about heading home. Before we did that though, John asked Dave to stop and cut a few pieces of wood for us. There were several long trees stacked up at the end of the trail so, we did stop and get a good jag of wood that could be put into the trailer for future use in the campfire!!
When we did arrive home, John started a fire and Dave and Shirley came over and we shared a few more adult beverages......Lord only knows, we sure needed them!! LOL
On Monday, the skies looked very threatening and it sure looked like rain was in our near future. Shirley brought her coffee over and we started on the garden. We had it done in about 2 1/2 hours and that was a VERY GOOD THING!! The skies had started to sprinkle on us and we thought.....go ahead, rain now!! All that needs to be done now is for us to watch it grow and harvest what it offers!!
Tuesday was a work day so I had to rest up for my night shift!! The sun was shining and I am sure the little seeds we planted yesterday were busy sprouting!! I walked over and had a coffee with Cheryle today and gave her the cilantro seeds I had. Cheryle plants her herbs from seed into pots while I prefer to plant my herbs as bedding plants. It gives them a head start, that is for sure.
Gary had been out fishing and brought back some good sized northern pike today. While he was filleting them he somehow managed to cut his finger so I had to provide some first aid to the bleeding wound. Man, I really hate the sight of blood!! I got paid for my services though as we now have a good feed of fresh fish for tomorrow's supper!! Actually we would have had the fish without the first aid services!! Work went without a hitch but it was good to finally get to hit the bed in morning.
John fried up the fish using the "secret" recipe I got from Terry in Utah and it was delicious!! Soooo yummy and with the french fries and coleslaw. Man, what an awesome meal. I really am going to have to get my fishing license this year as we do so enjoy the fish.
Thursday found us in the side by side headed down into "The Block". We wanted to see if we could make it to Otter Lake. Who knows how many trees are down along the trail but we were bound to find out. Gary came with us and we made a few stops along the way for refreshments. We stopped along Beau Creek and Mr. Beaver had been busy adding to his dam. The flow of the water had been slowed but not stopped completely.
It was at this spot that I realized just how bad the tent caterpillar infestation was. One could actually hear the little creepy crawlers chewing on the leaves.....that is how bad it was!! The leaves were falling from the trees like they do in the fall. The ground was covered with half eaten leaves and there were several caterpillars swimming on the surface tension of the nearby pond. One had to only look up on the surrounding hills to see the huge areas of denuded trees to see the destruction these worms were causing. It was really quite ugly.
We carried on down the trail and with each low hanging branch we passed under and disturbed we had to pick off several caterpillars that had fallen on us. Good Grief.....they were everywhere and at one point I thought I was in some sort of Hitchcock horror movie. I swear that by the end of the day, I had picked 975 million caterpillars off John and I!! Give or take a few!!
Unfortunately, we were unable to get to Otter Lake as we came upon a few huge trees that were down across the trail and we were unable to go around them as they were down in an area that had a rather steep cliff to one side. I wasn't too terribly upset by this as I had just about had enough of those damn caterpillars!! We turned around and headed back the way we came. The only saving grace with this was that I was hoping that we had knocked most of the caterpillars off the branches we had just passed under!! All in all though, it was an awesome day in the forest (caterpillars not included).
We made it home in good time and John BBQ'd steak for supper as I was scheduled for two day shifts this upcoming weekend so would miss our usual Saturday steak supper. Now, being a steak lover.....that was not going to happen!!
Friday night found us huddled around the campfire under the umbrellas as the rain Gods felt that is was necessary to make their presence known to us. We enjoyed a few vodkas until I somehow managed to break the glass container that the vodka was in and I soon had the Lake of Vodka on the man cave floor. Imagine my horror as I watched it spread out across the floor knowing there was not one thing I could do to save any of it. The glass had shattered into a bazillion pieces and the floor was filthy. There would be no saving any of it and I was SAD!!
I had to confess my most recent "sin" to John who simply said "Nothing surprises me anymore from you". Now, what the hell is that supposed to mean??? LOL
I walked to work Saturday morning in the rain and the day remained dreary. We had a "good day at the office" but I was glad when the shift was over and I could come home, put my feet up and rest a bit before heading to bed.
It was a busy week but a good one. I battled nature's caterpillars and the Vodka demons but I seem to have survived both. Life is Good!!
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