Since we are continuing to lose our majestic cedar trees to the beetle blight, much of our property is beginning to look like a steep hill meadow with moraine (boulders and rocks). It is a pretty site in spring - but very dangerous if not cut back once fire season begins. So, around this time of the year, we usually hire some guys to come in and whack down the grass using our gas string trimmer. This year with the delayed spring, we have not found anyone to do that and the grass keeps growing higher. The weight of the old gas string trimmer is a bit hard on my back and shoulders, so I pulled out the old weed mower and started cutting the grass that was under 3 foot high on the main "lawn" and side 'lawn" (last trip) and around the fire pits and on the lower "lawn" (this trip).
I use the term "lawn" loosely since the grass is mostly clump grass and meadow grass and dies out by mid-summer. Leaving us with a lost of "camp dust" (alas).
While I was burning the debris, I was visited by many of our local butterflies and, unfortunately, bugs. Below is a photo of one of the butterflies. I did not take a photo of the bugs, but I have some nice mosquito and horse fly bites to prove they were there.
Once I finished the closest burn piles and it got too hot to continue mowing, I put the cover on the portable car canopy. I plan to convert the structure to a corrugated roof canopy this summer. But for now, we needed to find a place to store the old mower and old outdoor yard stuff (and the old ATV as we haul it up and back to the lodge). The structure is currently good for keeping the tree sap and sun off the stuff - but not much good for keeping the rain out as the cover has many many holes and patches.
Once the structure is more "permanent", I may use it to store the old canoe and kayaks during the summer. It would be nice to get those out of the basement.
I am hoping that I will be able to do some more burning on our next trip (and that the burning moratorium is not in effect by then). That way, we can clear some more of the debris piles in forest area behind the school and make the property much safer from fire.
I am also planning to remove the chain link fence from the lower part of the road (heading to the portable) and installing a picket fence. The chain link divides our property in two and is just an eyesore. Ugly though it is, I plan to keep the upper chain link and gate fence in tact to keep people off our shared property with the school.
Our neighbors that own the Hyatt Lodge are still making a decision about whether or not they are going to sell (last weekend). I have not heard any decision yet about that. Hoping to know by next visit. It is a lot quieter now that the Russian Church construction guys are gone, and only a few people are at the Hyatt lodge.
Additionally, someone has been marking and cutting trees on the property down from the Hyatt Lodge. The good news is that they are cutting out the dead cedars there, the bad news is that they are leaving them cut, on the property, sometimes leaning on other trees (which is a dangerous decision). I am hoping that they cut them up and remove them - but that may be a silly hope.
And some low lifes stuffed a lot of boxes and garbage into the old boarded up railroad cabin basement (which means someone gets to haul all that stuff to the dump!). And then either a bear or some one else ransacked the junk to see if there was anything worth having in it. A mess!!!! I hate when people are too cheap and lazy to haul their garbage away! There is currently an old couch and a bunch of junk wood piled on that property just rotting away (and not much I can do about that since it is covered with debris, rusty nails and probably full of mold).
And finally, we have transitioned from winter and our campers have returned. I am hoping that they respect the area this summer and do not litter or start any forest fires. Ah, spring (soon to be summer).
