At the end of December 2017, R and I (together since 2004, married in 2007) purchased 22.5 acres of raw land in Piscataquis County, Maine. It's about 300 miles from our current home; the total trip length usually amounts to about 6 hours. R and I had talked and dreamed for years about buying some land somewhere relatively remote to build an off-grid cabin, with the purpose of eventually moving there in a few years after my stepdaughter, N, graduates college. We binged watched wilderness shows and kept the dream alive with a small garden and a couple of chickens in our back yard until all the right pieces to the puzzle fell into place. Now, the adventure begins!
Our trusty sidekicks, Tyson the rottweiler and Willow the Grey Ninja *ahem* #adventurecat, are right by our side the whole way having adventures of their own. Our two other cats, Zoey and Sonny, are more homebodies but are nonetheless vital parts of our family in their own ways, and will let Willow take the lead in securing the new land until it is finally The Time for us all go start anew.
It's amazing how silence can seem deafening, even amidst the soft rustling of the already partially transitioned autumn leaves. This is my absolute favorite time of year.🍁♥ Whenever I step outside the cabin, I always take a few seconds to stand and listen to the forest. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" I understand this is meant to be a philosophical question, but I whenever I hear it, I always think to myself, "of course it does". Each tree, twig, leaf, and living being all make sounds within the forest, whether by their own volition or by the power of that lovely light breeze sweeping through the woods, so why not take a few moments to listen to those sounds and get acclimated with them? In doing so, I can learn to identify the sound of an approaching animal or person when I hear slight sounds that are out of place from the norm. It's a comfort having Tyson and Willow with us at camp for many reasons, and every once in a while Tyson will earn his keep by standing at attention while looking off into the woods, emitting a few deep "woofs" of warning to whatever lie beyond our sight that he feels is in need of attention. And though Willow is not allowed to wander the land, she keeps watch from the cabin. I think I need to expand her catio soon. The window screen placed in front of the open door won't keep her at bay for much longer. Love that tail... It's always going.
Willow is observing R working in the yard
One project on our list was to dismantle the a-frame tent we constructed for winter camping. It only consisted of 2x4s and heavy plastic poly, but we stayed warm [enough in 4℉!] with the small wood stove heating the tent. Mission accomplished! It feels good getting things accomplished. Sometimes it seems like there is always an obstacle standing between you and your ultimate goal.
R enjoys getting some sun while disassembling our winter accommodations
In the midst of disassembling the a-frame, we also disassembled some spider webs. ::shivers:: I'm overcoming many fears, and spiders is one of them. I have a hard time looking at pictures of them, never mind nearly walking through their web! It was nearly painful scrolling through pictures online as I tried to identify our creepy neighbors...
Marbled Orb Weaver
Even in the cabin, the spiders move back in quickly...
We try our best not to kill the spiders we encounter. Despite the horror I feel when I see one, I appreciate their worth. They just need to please stay out of the cabin... In addition to spiders, there are also other lovely creepy crawlies that are thriving this summer.
Cicada shell
Hickory Tussock Caterpillar
Nope Rope
Ants
creepies that sting...
slug
We hadn't been down to the river in a while, so R wanted to make the short hike down there to try and see how deep it actually is (again...his last attempt was not a success). It's a minor south shore tributary of a nearby 6,000-acre lake. Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures of the water as I would have liked; just a few of the magical forest heading down there.. I love this forest and can't wait to explore the rest of the land. The canoe was left behind by the prior owner and has seen many better days. Probably we'll bring our own canoe up to camp. It was a little bit of work getting the canoe out to the water, but we did it. We had to trudge through about thirty-feet of waist-height grass before it opened up to the smooth water of the small river. R had a six-foot long stick that he used to estimate the depth. The edge was a couple of feet deep, but then dropped past the six-foot mark of the stick. Plenty deep enough to canoe and fish in! Even as R was sitting there in the canoe, he saw little fish gathering around. Next time we visit camp we'll bring a couple oars so we can explore the river a little more. Mental Note: I will have to remember our Go-Pro camera and set it up on the canoe.
Once we made our way back up to camp, Tyson was exhausted from swimming. He would swim until he died, I think, if we didn't put some sense into his actions. Good thing Willow is up to the job of watching the camp while Tyson sleeps at night. #careof vitamins offer challenges or meaningful quotes on their daily packets of customized vitamins. I grabbed a couple packets randomly as I was packing before our couple-day trip, and smiled when I read that day's challenge.
#unplugging
#attackcat
Probably I've already mentioned this, but when we arrive each time at camp, we grab the SIM card out of our trail camera that is situated at the end of our driveway on the trail leading in to camp to see what has been around the last couple of weeks while we were away. This time was no disappointment! We have a freaking caravan of animals traipsing by our driveway at all hours. Here are a few of our visitors! Check out the Photo Album for moar trail cam videos!
This blog entry is the combination of a couple of visits; I promise I'll update more regularly! 😊 Thanks for following! Don't forget to check out the new Black Birch Acres Facebook page! There is some parallel information between the two, but there is also a bit extra posted there.
As I've mentioned before, it's a long ride to camp (4.5-6 hours) so I start saying key phrases to Willow (e.g. go pee pees, want to go for a RIDE in the TRUCK to CAMP in MAINE, and we'll leave when Daddy gets home) (repetition=training) a few hours before we leave to give her a heads up and I will encourage her to use the litter box. Being a dog, Tyson needs very little notice or encouragement to get excited for a ride in the truck. 😆 I can't remember if I've already gone over this, but for Willow I have a 13x10 Tupperware container with a lid that she uses as a travel litter box (thankfully she's a small cat, otherwise it might not work so well), or she just gets out of the truck on her leashed harness with me when we get gas and does her duty in the leaves/mulch. Then, when it's almost time to go, I'll show Willow her harness. She perks up and starts hanging around out in the open while we get ready. Cracks me up! I never force her to come with us because I want to make sure this is her adventure too, and not just for our enjoyment. She never fails to come out from whenever she is and sits patiently while I put her harness on her and then waits by the door. Or in this case, sits and waits in her bed that we're bringing 😹 I can't get over her sweet little face.
Our little Sonny Boy (he recently turned 1 year), on the other hand, is catching on to the code words too and, not liking it when we leave for a couple days, took his frustrations out on a piece of paper I had left on the bed. I think I even see a little blep of his little pink tongue, possibly mocking me! Fresh! Oh Sonny Boy. Someday you'll be brave enough for an adventure. 😻 You're still a good bit skittish, though ❤️
Sometimes it's hard to stay awake driving that late, but R & I switch off and nap if necessary. We got to camp around 1:00 a.m. I've been driving the second shifts (after the halfway point of Kennebunk) since R wakes up at 3:30am for work in the construction field that day. Since we hadn't yet finished buttoning up the cabin so Willow remains contained during the night while we're asleep, we've still been sleeping in the dated, small camper the former owner left behind - a 1987 Sunline Satellite. Who knows how long it's been sitting there. It keeps us dry and it's decent enough inside, but it's far from ideal. Pretty soon we'll be in the cabin. We're almost done with the soffits.
Of course, a camper left unattended for a couple weeks at a time in the middle of the forest is likely to have some small wilderness occupants. 🐁🐁 We hadn't been bothered by anything while in the camper so far. When we first bought the place last December, we cleaned out the mouse nests we could find and sanitized the surfaces before we starting sleeping in there. As an added bonus, we have Willow eagerly on camper security detail. Truth be told, I think this is her favorite part of the whole weekend.
Channeling her ancestral barn cat lineage from northern Vermont, she caught two of the resident mice soon after we arrived. I was bringing supplies in from the truck and, in the light of my headlamp, thought I saw something in her mouth as she ran to the other end of the camper. She brought the damn thing right on to our freaking bed! So I had to scoop it up in an empty small trash bin that was nearby. Unabashedly I admit that I screamed "like a girl" when I tried to be brave and pick the little mouse up by its tail in a quick attempt to save it from any harm done by Willow's razor claws as it then curled up and started for my hand... and Husband says - let her have it! But I don't want blood and gore all over our bed, thank you. I'm ready for bed at this point and that's not something I wanted to deal with. The small mouse couldn't climb out of the bin, so I took the little guy, apparently unharmed, outside and put him at the edge of the woods. Probably he'll be back... 🙄
The second one was a couple hours later around 3:00 AM after I finally fell asleep (or was it the same one having returned...? 🤔) I felt a *POUNCE* on my feet and I leapt up, startled! Another damn mouse! I cry out Willow's name as I see her in my headlamp light with the mouse in her mouth and she growled at me! "Not taking another one from me Mum!!!" I try to wake Husband but he's dead to the world. I don't want to rouse the dog and get him excited in the tiny camper, and the door is located PAST the dog. I sit for a moment, unsure how to handle the situation...! Willow has the mouse trapped in a tiny cubby-hole (campers have tiny cubbys, inner compartments and all manner of small spaces inside the walls), and every time the mouse tries to crawl out she snatches it back up and into the cubby. I heard it scurrying around in there, it squeaked once, she'd bap at it with her paw like she's trying to stun it...silence...a quick scurry, and Willow SMASHES her body into the side of the cubby! *SLAM* I jumped! 😅 There was a small space at the top of the interior wall that the mouse could fit through that Willow could not! 😹Willow was so mad.
🐁 - 1
🐈 - 0
I promptly passed back out until the next morning around 7am. Husband had no clue what had gone on. To my chagrin, I heard rain pattering on the roof of the camper. We'd been lucky so far with the weather. It had been mostly good for all of our visits.
So, when life gives you rain but you still have to get stuff done in the limited time available and you don't have a rain coat, make a poncho out of trash bags! As you can see, we are just starting our day in the picture below. My hair was even still a bit dry in this picture. At first it was fine - dance in the rain, right? Embrace what Mother Nature is offering us.
So.Much.Rain. 💦 You can only stay soaked and positive for so long. 😆 After a while, everything is soaked to the core, cutting lumber is more difficult, can't get the tools too wet, clothes are suctioned to your body, eyes burning from sweaty rain running down from off of your forehead, blurry/foggy glasses, on ladders against the outside cabin wall holding wicked heavy planks above our heads with rain pouring down our backs from off of the roof as we try to install a soffit, nail gun misfires.. holding.. holding... too heavy, look out, let it drop...
Just the other day I said to R that this is a never-ending life we are headed towards. There will forever be work to do, forever be wood to cut, forever be a project, eventually animals, crops, maybe a business... But working your ass off to survive is so rewarding for us. It feels right. We don't want to work for someone else to ear money to pay bills to buy more STUFF. We feel...our SOULS feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off our shoulders when we're there, working towards that never-ending future. HOPE springs forth and gives us the motivation to make it through the mundane work day, knowing what we have to look forward to. THAT'S what everyone needs to find in life. Something that inspires you, that you look forward to. Whatever it may be - pets, children, gardening, ANYTHING! Sometimes if you open yourself to the endless possibilities, that thing might be out of the box of normality, and that's ok. Just like some believe the heart doesn't choose who it loves, I don't think you can choose where your passion lies. FIND YOUR PASSION!
ahem. 😄 Speaking of passions, we like to find ways to reuse items. The former owner left behind some trash, but he also left behind some things that we can reuse - like the pile of dirty tongue-and-groove flooring. Clean it up a bit, let it bake in the sun for a while to dry out - good as new! 😁 So now we'll use it to close the open gable. When the cabin collapsed long ago, apparently the gable hadn't been re-assembled yet. It also needed to be reinforced because it was not structurally sound... My father was kind enough to let us borrow his battery operated circular saw since we don't have any electricity. We have a generator that we could bring with us, but it won't power an electric circular saw because the initial electrical draw of the saw is too great. Our Toyota Tacoma has an electrical outlet in the bed that we can hook up a sawzall to, but sometimes it's awkward for me.
Willow came in to the cabin for the first time. She was a little overwhelmed, but did really well overall. I'm going to have to transfer her catio to one of the cabin windows (I designed it so it should be relatively simple).
Having changed into dry clothes, we figured we'd stay dry by taking a slow trail ride in our truck and do some more exploring of the local area. The 2 mile trail into camp is quite nice when you're not rushing in at one in the morning. Willow loves the rain, and really enjoys trail rides, too. We're backing slowly out of our driveway in this video.
Willow was so exhausted from an exciting weekend filled with mice and exploring that she totally conked out on the ride home. Blep!
The following weekend...
....that we make the trek to camp (we've visited every other weekend pretty regularly) was very productive. So productive, in fact, that I failed to take any pictures! When we arrived (another 1:00 a.m. arrival), I heard R's concerned voice about the sound of a rodent chewing on something inside the wall of the camper. It didn't even startle when he knocked hard on the wall... We had to get out of there and into the cabin ASAP. Ugh. No thank you. I don't want to sleep in that camper anymore.
Soooo finish buttoning up the cabin we did! We were able to sleep in the cabin for the first time! HOORAY! A wonderful milestone! We built a loft for our bed, and I built some "rustic" stairs 😂 to climb up to the loft. I'll take pictures of the cabin interior next time. We're so excited for the next weekend because it's Labor Day and we're taking that Friday off so we can have an extra day at camp.
While I didn't take many pictures during our last visit, our trial camera was rolling while we were gone. We move it every time to see what we get in different areas and this is the first time we had it on the trail at the end of the driveway. The trail bisects our land, and the driveway you see in the video is ours. Our land extends to the left in the video frame. I had switched the trail camera from picture mode to video mode after seeing some videos on a couple of Trail Camera Facebook pages. Boy I'm glad I did! We caught a glimpse of a raccoon that we've seen around before, but also saw video of a neighbor we did not expect to see. We had to pick ourselves up off of the flor after seeing this!
Oh. You know. Just a HUGE FREAKING BOBCAT taking a stroll down our road like it owns the place! Tyson will be kept especially close in the morning and evening now. Freaking "Feline Ninja Jiu Jitsu Master" more than likely watching us from the darkness of the thick woods this whole time without us ever seeing him...!
Pick your jaw up off the floor. I know. Crazy. We can't get over it, and it increases our night time paranoia just a tad. However, just like this bobcat is moving forward, probably to his next meal or doing a territory perimeter check, my piece of chocolate kindly reminded me that...
Another wonderful, albeit short, trip. R was gratefully let out of work early on the Friday after Independence Day so we were able to get on the road by 3:30pm and arrived to camp in good time at 8:30pm - just in time to see a young buck with a small rack jog in front of our car down the trail when we were less than half a mile away from camp!
Willow has actually seemed to learn to time the trip so she doesn't have to use the litter box on the road. When we stop for us and for Tyson, I offer her the litter box (a large tupperware container with a lid). She used to use it at most every stop, but now she seems to wait until we get there if she can. The day before we leave we usually start asking Tyson and Willow if they "want to go to camp in Maine for a couple days" and that we'll "take a ride in the truck to camp". Repetition is key with training animals, and they seem to be learning what those phrases mean. When we're almost there, we start saying, "almost to camp!" and they both get up and start looking out the windows with interest. The same goes for when we're almost home. It seems like they can smell the unique differences in each location and are growing familiar with them - that they're just not in some strange area. Animals are so amazing.
Last time we left camp a couple of weeks ago I remembered to set up the trail cam. Hooray! We were fortunate enough to catch some wonderful images of two fawn frolicking in the clearing outside our camper!
Practicing for the reindeer games!
Mama doe must have been in the woods out of the camera's sight. You can see in a couple of pictures where the fawn are looking into the woods, and sometimes you can see a slight shift in colors behind some of the leaves, maybe indicating Mama was there with her watchful eyes. There are tons more images in the Black Birch Acres Photo Album, but here are a couple of animations Google Photos put together for me of the sequenced images. Before we saw the pictures of the two fawn we thought there was only one fawn, but then noticed how the spots were different. Then both came in to view! Apparently, does give birth to between one and three fawns, and the babies keep their spots until they are about 4 months of age.
The mosquitoes and horseflies were not intolerable, but they seem to get consistently worse with every visit. Probably I have at least a dozen or more mosquito bites covering my body. I will gladly accept all of the bug bites so long as none of the itchies turn in to Poison Ivy. PLEASE NO.
I try my best to steer clear of the plant with [sometimes] mitten-shaped leaves. Unfortunately, all it takes is Tyson or Willow traipsing through some Poison Ivy, unknowingly getting slathered with the unseen urushiol (you-ROO-shee-all) oil from the plant, and then transferring it to our skin when we pet them or they rub against our bare leg. Then if we were to wipe the sweat off our brow with the hand that just pet them. It can turn into such a mess! Heck, the oil can even adhere to firewood or gardening tools, so we need to be cognizant on where we place these items on the ground. With the presence of Poison Ivy (I've gotten it once so far from camp but it wasn't bad at all fortunately), I'm very hesitant to mow the lawn. It's getting tall, though. I suppose one would wear long sleeves, a dust mask, pants, boots; then remove all of said items immediately afterwards. Don't touch any of the clothing articles because the oil can stay on objects for weeks. Wash them and you with water and soap afterwards immediately. Say a little prayer.. Probably we'll take the mower next time.
Additionally, thankfully, what I thought may have been Poison Ivy may not be, and the rhyme "leaves of three, leave it be" is not always entirely accurate because many plants have groupings of three leaves. What I thought was Poison Ivy may actually be blackberries(!), according to some people in a Native Plants Facebook group. Apparently, identifying Poison Ivy is a learned skill because the plant has many forms.
The hairy/prickly stem is apparently an indicator that it is blackberries and not Poison Ivy.
See the three-leaved wild strawberry in the left picture?
While "leaves of three, leave it be" may not be totally accurate, it does hold a bit of truth. Some other rhymes I found for identifying poison ivy are:
If butterflies land there, don't put your hand there. Butterflies land on Poison Ivy because they aren't affected by it, and it sometimes keeps predators away from them.
Hairy vine, no friend of mine. Poison Ivy on trees has a furry raggy appearance. If you see it, you may not want to touch or climb that tree.
Red leaflets in the spring, it's a dangerous thing. New Ivy leaflets can have a reddish appearance in the spring, but will eventually turn green, and become harder to identify as summer approaches.
Side leaflets like mittens will itch like the dickens. Watch for the little notches. These can be a dead give away that you're messing with the wrong plant!
Keeping a keen...ahem...paranoid...eye out for poisonous plants, we took a little walk through the woods to see more of what beautiful nature has to offer. It's awesomely amazing how you can see the clear division of wetlands versus forest as you get nearer to the river.
Forest/Wetland line
Do you see what I see? A face in the formation? Slightly creepy.
The canoe left behind by the former owner still...er...holds water. I guess that means it should still float! We will bring a bucket with us to empty it next time. Can't wait to take the canoe out on the river! The river flows in to the lake nearby, flowing east. R and Tyson actually walked out through the tall grass to try and see the actual river. R walked up to about his waist. Tyson was literally swimming, the current almost taking him down river before he was able to recover and come back to shore. R said it pretty much just dropped off at one point and was a good depth. We look forward to fishing the small river eventually and wonder what types of fish are present.
After our explorations, we headed back to do some work solidifying the cabin shell that was put up by the former owner. It's coming along slowly but surely. Our plan is to make it safe and button it up the rest of the way so we can move from the tiny camper into the larger space of the cabin temporarily. Once the coming winter passes, we'll begin plans to properly build our own cabin. While we were in the cabin shell discussing plans for a bathroom with an indoor composting toilet, R noticed something on the wall. Is that an eye shining in the camera flash?!?! THE EYES OF A BIG FREAKING SPIDER. NO THANK YOU AT ALL.
I still have trouble viewing this and avert my eyes quickly when I do. <insert nervous laughter> I just can't with spiders. Can't.Even. R and I agreed not to kill it. I don't like killing any living things unnecessarily, and we haven't claimed this cabin as our own yet really, so technically the bugs and animals still "own" it until we put our mark on it and seal the building up. This spider gets a second chance; just DON'T come back and you'll be ok. I think we would need a goddamn sledge hammer to kill it anyways because surely a flip flop would NOT do the trick.
I basically fled the scene and retreated to the camper. I would have NO PART in capturing this...spider. It's funny. As I type this, I keep starting to refer to the spider as a monster, but alas, my rational side says no, it is not a monster. However, I tell you what, my life nearly flashed before my eyes as I was standing there before this arachnidon the wall and pictured this...huge beast...going on the offensive and leaping off the wall at my face! AAAAHHHH! <throws arms up in front of face> Ok. Getting ahold of myself. Sorry. Let's pull the rational thinking rope back in. I'm sure this big spider just...just eats..the...bad..spiders. I can't even bring myself to research spider pictures to identify it. UGH. R came in to the camper to get a cup and a paper plate to trap it. BRAVE MAN. I took a video and pictures before he deposited it far up the driveway. Please stay away. I don't want to have to hurt you Big Guy.
It was another late arrival. R worked Friday so we ended up leaving around 6:00 p.m. and did not arrive at camp until midnight. This worked out well though because we didn't hit a lot of traffic, and since I had the day off from work, I was able to stay awake well enough to drive late into the night while R dozed beside me. I also got to test my driving-with-a-trailer skills again because we brought more lumber with us, as we did last visit. It frays my nerves driving with a trailer because you have to watch the lines and make sure the trailer doesn't drift into the adjoining lane, but it was fine. I was ok. We got there safely.
I'm sure I've mentioned it before that R has been collecting lumber from the various construction sites he's worked at for a while now, so our backyard at home is nearly a lumber yard all on it's own, so bit by bit we're bringing loads of lumber up to camp. It's all wood that the construction companies would have thrown away because they used it for temporary purposes and were done with it at the end of a job; there's not much wrong with it other than some nails that can just be removed. We have everything from sheets of particle board and 2x4s, to 2x6s and 2x12s, all of various lengths with some reaching up to 16 feet long. Probably there is thousands of dollars worth of wood that he's collected piecemeal over the last year. One man's trash is another's treasure, for sure!
We awoke around 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning, eager to get going on the day's projects. Our visit was only Friday night to Sunday, so we had just one full day to get done what we wanted to. O how we long for the day that we can spend a week at camp! I started breakfast while R took the first measurements of the day to further reinforce the cabin shell.
Willow the Grey Monkey "helping" R get ready for the morning
I was kindly and gratefully gifted a set of cast iron pans that I'm still learning to cook in. Someone in a Homestead group on Facebook suggested I cook bacon in the cast iron pans at first to help cure them. No complaints here! Bacon, eggs, and toast with some coffee to get us going. My internal alarms made me aware that the bacon smell may attract unwanted wildlife visitors, so my ears were open to the sounds of the forest.
In those sounds we heard some lovely bullfrogs, making their *womp*womp* calls. I found myself a few times throughout the day pausing because I heard what sounded maybe like a person, but then turned out to be the frogs. I chuckled to myself because days before I had finished listening to the audiobook Pet Sematary by Stephen King, read by Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Six Feet Under) which actually takes place about 50 miles from camp. In the book, two characters are walking through a terrifying swamp when one character says to the other, "You might hear voices, but those are just the loons down south toward Prospect. The sound carries. It's funny." I'm pretty sure these were just frogs. In addition to the frogs, we also have a new friend who made its presence known - a chipmunk! When I was little, we had a chipmunk who lived in the stone wall behind our house. My late mum used to call it Charlie, so this one, too, shall be called Charlie.
Charlie the Chipmunk
Something else we took note of were the three-leafed plants growing *every*where. Three leaves leave them be, right? Not always right. Wild Strawberries also have three leaves. If you look very closely you can see the difference in the veins and color. The Wild Strawberries have veins on the leaves that touch together at the center line, whereas Poison Ivy's veins are staggered. I have a hard time telling the difference in quick passing without taking a minute to really look. R and I both have had terrible bouts of poison ivy in the past, and we're terrified of getting it again. Three leaves are *all*over* the yard, though, I think, and all it takes is Tyson or Willow to walk in it and then come in contact with us to spread the oil. Eek!
Poison Ivy vs. Wild Strawberries
Wild Strawberries
While R was working on the cabin, it was my goal this weekend to build Willow a catio at camp. It will allow her to enjoy the outdoors a bit and keep her entertained, but will also keep her safe when I can't watch her. I built two catios at home and all three cats use them frequently year round. I figured I'd start out small to make it a quick job, but I'd design it so I could easily add on to it in the future. Small - yes; quick - no. 😁 I need to get myself a tool belt so I'm not walking around looking for the tool I just put down, and we need to get a second battery operated screw gun because it's impossible to get anything done quickly with two people needing to use the only screw gun we have.
Catio construction underway - 5 feet long x 18 inches deep
While Willow was taking a cat nap for most of the catio's construction, towards the end she started getting curious and I would see her looking out the window. She was thrilled with it!
I can't get over her cute little face, and just look at those adorable little feet..
Willow enjoying her new catio for the first time
She rewarded me with lots of snuggles and Happy Paws that night. ❤ It was a very good weekend.
This visit was quite enjoyable because it was our longest stay so far. The four of us arrived late Friday night, and headed back south Monday afternoon.
We started to cut and install some 2x4s to help support the rickety cabin shell, so I got to use some power tools. A little intimidating, but R gives good instructions.
Rob measured and marked; I cut.
Willow enjoyed time relaxing in the camper looking for mice and bugs that were heard crawling around in the walls. A friend suggested sprinkling whole cloves throughout the camper next time to help repel pests, and then just sweeping them up upon return. Duly noted!
Willow taking a break from her "duties"
Speaking of bugs...they were plentiful. We'd heard of Bug Season but had yet to experience it. It was borderline intolerable but not so terrible that we couldn't get anything done. In moving wood that has not been touched in ages, we came across a few creepies and crawlies. I don't mind salamanders, but spiders give me the willies... I did a quick internet search and I'm pretty sure there aren't any poisonous spiders in Maine. 🤞
We'll most certainly need to bring a lawnmower next time because the grassy area will probably be much longer by then. Ticks are a big concern. Tyson is protected by a topical flea/tick/mosquito medicine, and Willow has a Seresto collar, but that doesn't protect R and I. I keep a lint roller at camp to use after we've trudged through the woods to try and remove ticks that way (a "hack" I read somewhere).
We took our Yamaha Banshee ATV this time. The view from about half a mile away from camp of Borestone Mountain was amazing.
In cleaning the camp area of debris and seeing what we can repurpose, we found a nice pile of aluminum roofing we'll use for something. Score!
We also discovered a gnarly old skeleton near the cabin; probably it's a porcupine. Look at that front tooth! That's what caused all the chew marks inside the cabin shell. Notice the other teeth are flat and blocky. I have to say - as much as I love nature in all its forms - I don't really look forward to the day that we encounter a porcupine.
As I've mentioned in the past, Willow is not much of a cuddle-cat at home, but when we're camping she's all about letting loose and enjoying the company of her humans. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to find her on my pillow next to my head (which is why the picture is off a bit, because it was dark and I lightened the photo a little). I can't get over how freaking cute she is. Can't. Get. Over. Her. Obsessed.
