All About Me (Isabelle)

My name is Isabelle!  I am 7 years old.  I am in 2nd Grade!  My teacher's name is Miss Knott.  A week a go we went to Family Fun Night !!!!  My dad couldn't come because he was at work.  So we drove to family fun night then we got pizza, chips, lemonade! Then we got cotton candy, Then a snow cone!! It was  delicious. Now we got in the game fun!!! First we did the jumpy thing ! Then we did all of the other games. One of my favorites was the bandage one you had to pretend that you had a broken something! I got a broken finger. Then we went home. Then we took a picture! Then my dad thought my broken finger was real that was the funny part!!! So he called us and said are the girls all right! And then a couple days latter we went to the Meijer Gardens!!! We went on the tree house! And then we went on a floating dock. Then we saw a muskrat dam! The first thing we did was go in the room ware the butterflies are! Now they have new birds there they are orange! Then we went out side. And then we went to the old barn! There were numbers by old tools that we had to guess. Then we had to flip up this flap. And it would tell you what it was. And today we are going  to Craigs Cruisers with our firends (the Timmers)

Isabelle

Winter Camping

What has been more than a year in the making finally came to fruition. Jamie and I conquered the Green Timbers wilderness, battled blizzards (more like a light dusting,) sub-zero (lows in the mid twenties) temps, ice floes cracking beneath our feet (that actually did happen to one foot very briefly,) and basically everything that mother nature could throw at us with a stiff upper lip. The only downside to the trip was that the snow was not very deep. We were both hoping for enough depth to be able to use our snowshoes. As it was, there was only a stretch of about a quarter mile that would have even begun to work with snowshoes.

Jamie, with his pulk.

The "Green Timbers" cabin. Our home the first night. Some thoughtful soul tarped the entrance of the cabin to keep out the wind. It actually worked much better than it looked.

The inside of Green TImbers. Dank. Dumpy. Home.

I had an idea in my mind of digging out a shelter, placing a tarp over the top and having a roaring fire in front, and enjoying a sip of good bourbon. Rest assured, dear reader, that the bourbon was for snake bites only. Alas, Jamie had the idea of using huge rolled snowballs for the walls, which worked great. We slept warmer in the snow shelter than we did in the cabin.

Melting snow in a homemade wood-stove.

The third night we hiked into the "Honeymoon Cabin" about two miles north of Green Timbers. What a fantastic site for a cabin! It is located on a bluff overlooking the river, surrounded by beautiful woods. The cabin was in much better shape than Green Timbers also. It looks like local hikers take pretty good care of these, even leaving little treats for follow on visitors, things like cans of beans, sardines, MRE's, Pringles, etc. We left some coffee. We also tried to bag some meat for the pot by hunting. We left without even seeing a rabbit, nevermind actually shooting anything. We did teach those cans a lesson though.

Sunset at Honeymoon

What a great trip! I left wanting more. Next time we will have to search out deeper snow, and more game.

M

Hunting '09

Hunting season '09 has ended literally with a bang. I finally got my deer this morning. I am lucky to have a few friends with property, or access to property that are gracious enough to allow me to hunt there. First, the details: I drove up to a few acres on M-82 this morning to hunt some private land for the late antlerless season. It was a beautiful morning with snow covering all of the branches, very little wind, and not too cold. I found a very recent deer trail and followed it. After walking around a 1/4 mile or so, a little (and I do mean little) deer trotted out from some pines ahead of me. I don't think he knew what I was, or exactly where I was at because he stopped around 75 yards away from me and started looking around. When he stopped trotting and started walking, I could see him limping. He was all alone. Normally I would not have shot a deer this small, but he was all alone which I think is unusual this time of year for a yearling, he was limping, it was the last day I could hunt, and he was made of delicious meat. BANG. Season over.

So with the story out of the way, here is what I experienced this year. I "discovered" places new to me that I can't wait to visit again. I found tiny creeks with cedars drooping close to the water and salmon everywhere I looked. I camped with a good friend and got to know him much better. We shared delicious meals cooked by a camp fire, saw gorgeous scenery, and fished somewhat unsuccessfully for said salmon in pouring rain. And I know I loved every minute of it. I took my kids out to experience God's creation first hand, to try to explain what it means to be part of the food chain. I found a fresh badger den with his footprints clearly visible. I saw turkeys come down from their roosts, heard their yelps, and scared the dickens out of a few of them that didn't know I was there. I watched pileated woodpeckers hammer out holes in dead beeches. I made venison chili over an open fire to share with friends at deer camp. I watched the sun rise, the moon set, the sun set, and moon rise. I played hide-and-seek with a deer circling a huge spruce tree. I watched a flock of easily a thousand grackles move through the woods feeding and moving, rolling along like a wave. I listened to owls, saw cranes circling several thousand feet up, watched formations of ducks and geese flying south. I spent mornings sitting in cool green moss surrounded by mist, waiting. Always waiting, listening, looking, and paying attention. I took an active part in providing my family with meat. Now it's only 10 more months until I can do it again.

M

Trestle Table Done!

The table is finished! That didn't take nearly as long as the girls' bunk beds. It couldn't have. I don't have enough time left on this life to have taken that long. Jen seems happy with it, and I've heard several comments that were positive. I haven't head any offering me obscene amounts of money for me to make them one yet, though. Oh well, maybe once I make a boat the offers will come flooding in. We can only hope.

The table is southern yellow pine, made with only hand tools, finished with three different colors of milk paint, a milk paint sealer, and pure linseed oil. Like I said before, hand tools only, nothing with a plug touched this thing. Well, technically the lumberyard may have cut the wood using some powered equipment, but you can't hold that against me, can you?

Please forgive the crappy photos, I wasn't in the mood to play with lighting, or do much of anything for that matter. If you want to see what it really looks like, you'll just have to come over.

M

Hand Tool Rambling

No pictures this time, just rambling. It has come to my attention that we are in need of a new dining room table. The one we have is functional, not beautiful. It does nothing for me, or anyone else that sees it for that matter. Jen wants me to build a trestle table we saw at Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City. But first, the tools to do it with. I have always been fascinated by traditional woodworking. I love doing things by hand. Every project I do I move farther away from a plugged in shop to one utilizing only hand tools. It is absolutely amazing what can be accomplished using 100-200 year old (design, not age) tools. I have several tools that I use regularly that were my great-grandfather's. You can still see his initials stamped in some of them. And they work great! Take a look at these Woodwright's Shop videos. You'll see simple tools, wielded by masters, making incredible things. I love the "bible box" form that Peter Follansbee works on. http://flash.unctv.org/woodwrightss/2800/wws_2812.html http://flash.unctv.org/woodwrightss/wws_2701.html As my regression (or is it progression?) continues I realize that my tool needs, while simple, are not complete. So it looks like I need to get a hewing axe, some gouges, and take up blacksmithing. I'll settle for the axe first. Jen will kill me if I take up another hobby. M

Backpacking with G

We did it! All three kids got their "alone-time-with-Dad-backpacking-super-adventure" (or "ATWDSA") done. Garrett rounded out the field Tuesday to Wednesday. We went once again to Bowman Lake. The weather was not quite as cooperative this time. We ran through a quick shower on the way up. I thought we still might be okay, and I reasoned that if we were wet, it wasn't too far out to walk back and hit plan B. Plan B was never officially thought of, but I do my best work under pressure. We walked in, set up camp, and just as I was popping the tent up, the skies opened up. Whew, what timing. We dove into the tent, set up our beds and waited the storm out. And waited. I finally cooked supper by reaching out into the rain to fire up my stove (which was acting very cranky) and boiling water to make "special noodles." Special Noodles are just any packet of Lipton Noodles & Sauce; cheap, easy, and actually not too bad. Well, actually not too good, but the kids eat them, and you can get full on them. Perfect. The stove being cranky doesn't sound horrible until you realize that cranky means going full bore with 2 ft. of flame jetting out of it, to needing to be pumped up again to continue the 2 ft. of flame. Simmer, I had not. This is the same stove that almost burned our tent down in Canada. This is the same stove that almost burned our tent down in Bowman Lake now too. I would have killed for an Optimus Nova Plus at that moment.

The rain quit. We went fishing, and caught quite a few nice 'gills and one bass. We caught frogs. We had the mother of all light saber battles (yes, we carried in light sabers.) And we slept like babies. Only to awake to a huge rainstorm again. Thank you Lord for seam sealing.

Proud papa.

Garrett shaking water off of hands (just missed a frog I think.)

The sugar maples are just starting to turn color.

Isn't he handsome? Looks like someone I know...

I wish this could have been a nicer looking boat, but I did like the composition.

Backpacking with Bella

Bella and I went backpacking to Bowman Lake, the same place Amelia and I went. Once again we had great weather and a wonderful time. We brought the fishing poles this time and Bella caught some bluegills and quite a few bass. I was glad to get out with her before school started. She is so excited to get outside. She loves to "start the fire," fish, catch frogs, color, and take pictures. In other words, she was in paradise. I hope this is a tradition that we keep doing. Someday I hope to take the kids (maybe the whole family, Jen?) on a longer trip such as Isle Royal, or parts of the Appalachian Trail (AT.) I remember my dad having one of the old Colin Fletcher "Complete Walker" books, and being absolutely amazed by that. That book really opened up new adventures for me. I hope it does for my kids too.

M

Catching frogs

Foggy morning on North Country Trail

I think this has been here a while

LOVES fishing (I wonder who she gets that from?)

All ready to go. She carried her own pack the whole way! Way to go Bella!