Some Sunny Days

After a long stretch of chilly, cloudy, and we weather, yesterday the sun finally came out for the day. It is back with us again today. Sunshine makes everything seem so much brighter, the sky, the landscape, and my mood!

Our first trip to the Camp was made yesterday, and it was fine weather for it. I admit to having some trepidation about how we would find things upon arrival. With such a set spring I imagined the driveway culvert having washed out, a tree falling on the trailer (it happened before at the Country House), and weeds as high as my waist. I also expected hoards of black flies and mosquitoes.

We found no major issues at the Camp, thank goodness. As the vehicle turned into the driveway, it came to a stop. Across the drive were many pine branches, some quite large, the result of rampaging porcupines. The entry was blocked.

So out we got, and got busy clearing the driveway, dragging the branches up to the open area where our fire pit sits.

There were signs of mice everywhere in the trailer, and our trap had caught quite a few. Shades and windows were opened. The dead mice were disposed of in the bush, and all surfaces were sprayed with hydrogen peroxide. The trap was reset and the cleaning will take place on the next visit.

The trailer slide would not open. Attila had a look at it, decided what tools to bring to try and repair it. The more you own, the more it owns you!

Attila spent our visit whipper snipping all the grass, along our road frontage, along the driveway, and in the open area where we park and the trailer sits.

I spent the day collecting the dead branches that littered the bush around the open area. Things were quite wet, as it was the first sunny day after weeks of rainy weather, so everything was thoroughly wet. My skills at building a camp fire are pretty good. I use a few sheets of newspaper and a long handled igniter to get it going. Because things were so wet, I added a small piece of cardboard as well, to make sure the damp kindling that was gathered from the forest floor would burn. The fire started easily on the first try.

A good bed of coals were ready by lunch time, on which to grill onion and cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches were enjoyed with home canned coleslaw.

After the lunch dishes were done and drying on the picnic table, my attention turned back to the camp fire. Now it was time to section the pine branches, that the porcupines gnawed of the trees, in order to burn them. Pine needles burn intensely, and must be treated with great care. Sectioning them into small pieces to add slowly to the fire controls the burn. It took several hours to burn them all.

There were lots of birds at the Camp on this last visit. The only ones visible were the woodpeckers, Downy woodpeckers, and an unknown species. There were other bird calls, the usual Jays, and others that we could not identify. We surmise that the Rat Snakes have moved on to better hunting grounds. The snakes have abandoned Grace the trailer since the mouse nesting paradise, that was the underbelly, was removed last fall.

Today is another sunny day, and warm. Attila has a load of his laundry hung to dry on the back porch, and is happily working in the garden. He brought in a bowl of mixed greens for my lunch, collected from thinning the rows in the raised beds. There were spinach, beet, and Chinese Broccoli leaves. After browning some chopped onion in olive oil, the previously-frozen and thawed cooked rice was added, briefly fried, then the greens were added with a bit of freshly ground pepper and some garlic granules. A little water was added, the lid placed on the pan, and it was served with some Sweet Thai Chili sauce as soon as the greens had wilted. Oh so good, I am surely going to enjoy this early season of fresh garden greens!

Attila and I continue to live our uneventful, to some boring, quite peaceful, and satisfying life. Most of our actual interactions with the outside world involve medical personnel, and store clerks. We are both sociable introverts, enjoying the company of loved ones, friends, each other, and ourselves… well, and Ginger too of course!

Worldly

Weather

18°C
Date: 1:00 PM EDT Wednesday 28 May 2025
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.4 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 17.5°C
Dew point: 11.3°C
Humidity: 67%
Wind: SSE 11 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1882 – 1945