Musings

White birch make pretty fire-logs, don’t they?

Reports that there are still icebergs floating in the bay at Marquette….

RIP Lady Nell; some of the energy in the firmament fizzled last night with her passing….

Posted at 8:09 PM | 1 Comment »

Apple buds.

Hot today, as in marshal the curtains to keep the cottage from getting TOO HOT—the first time this season.

Posted at 4:40 PM | 1 Comment »

I’ve been wanting to photo the trillium carpets we’ve been seeing, and just haven’t stopped to do so. Now, the leaves on the trees above are filling in enough to leave these spring ephemerals in shadow, making the photos like this, spotty, and less eye-catching.

Second post because I forgot to mention that the toilet plumbing project Part 2 happened as hoped. Now that there are no leaks, we still have the excess humidity of the tank to deal with, so I’m desirous of one of those nifty models with an insulated tank.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Comments Off on Well water is COLD

The grass under what I think of as the Uncle Dave maple (because he planted it) has hundreds of tiny maple-tree-wannabes. I don’t remember noticing them ever before. Of course, spring is coming late this year and we are here earlier than usual, so I’m guessing that confluence is the reason for the different plants and different plant phases I have been noticing.

We spotted just a few of these not-asters (as I was calling them in my mind) in the grass, too, farther out from the trunk than the densest of the mini-maples. I had to look them up (KW can testify that I forget my wildflower names!). This one I don’t remember ever identifying before, although they look slightly familiar. The ID book says: Philadelpha fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus). It is indeed in the aster family…. It has a large range across North America, and apparently several Native American groups used the plant in teas and poultices, smokes and snuff, for an assortment of ailments. I love the many dainty petals; this one is hosting a sleeping? spider.

SEE COMMENTS for correction to…English Daisy, still in the Aster/Daisy family.

Posted at 4:58 PM | 2 Comments »

This is the mouth of Mead Creek (foreground), where it flows into the Manistique River (flows right to left, background). We were pleased to note that the banks of the Manistique showed marks that indicated that the water has dropped on the order of 2.5 feet over the last few days. That’s a LOT of water that’s now in Lake Michigan!

Speaking of water, the plumbing parts are from a fix-it project the Guru kindly took on. Sounds like today is Part 1 of a 2-part undertaking (as in: back to the hardware store tomorrow). Note how degraded that gasket is—probably installed in the 60s? earlier?—not sure….

Posted at 6:20 PM | Comments Off on Water water…

Eleven days ago this view was…trunks, branches, and no green atop the trees.

You can’t see the hoards, clouds, and aggressive platoons of black flies. Trust me; they are waiting to vampire you, me, and every unprotected mammal around!

Just before sunset, we watched deer at the edge of the treeline—the first ones we’ve seen on the place this visit. Tracks, yes, but bodies—not until this evening….

Posted at 10:54 PM | Comments Off on Huge changes: coming o’ green

Yesterday you saw the Upper Falls; this is the Lower Falls. There was at least one additional set of falls that logger-developers removed in the later 1800s.

Today has been a “bits” day: bits of this and that, so that when you look back you wonder what you did. One thing I do know: I’m making progress with Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2013).

Today’s sunny has become overcast, and a breeze is kicking up.

Posted at 5:33 PM | 2 Comments »

We hiked about the upper and lower falls of the Tahquamenon from morning through midday with KW and the Twinz. The trail between is closed due to high water. However high this water appears to you, it is flowing over the falls at only half the rate of the highest recorded flow-rate. Wow!

Then we had a bit of downtime in the late afternoon, before we went to the neighbors for venison chili (perhaps the best chili I’ve ever had—succulent!) dogs and a fantastic salad. Most important was we laughed and laughed, and Facetimed with “Keep on Truckee” L.

Posted at 11:54 PM | Comments Off on Social day

We stayed around the place, but today was a critter day even so.

I heard Sandhills while sipping coffee.

Went out to work around the yard a bit and discovered a hop-toad in the water barrel (catches rain from the north side of the roof and porch). The Guru got a yoghurt container and rescued him/her. Major karma there….

My cousin and her husband came up and told us about the fish gathered at the foot of the bluff. They’re pretty good sized, with some stripes down the side. I’m told they’re suckers. Quite a sight, watching them roil around in the shallows. The waves were a bit kicked up, so the water’s not so clear….

And…the Guru found Tick#1 of the year. Sigh. One of the big ones with the white dot. Still walking, thankfully.

Posted at 8:09 PM | 4 Comments »

Black Creek Flooding with a glorious sky.

Cruising back from Library-Town, we passed a fellow walking down the road carrying a very large parrot.

Posted at 5:05 PM | 5 Comments »