Still sunny in the BWCA

Mike's working on making it rain up here! He figures that if we have the sprinkler system up and running we'll get some rain... we really need it. We have a total fire ban across all of northern Minnesota - includes the west half of the BWCA as well as our eastern half - no campfires, no outside burning, we can't even grill a couple hamburgers on the charcoal grill. We really need a good soaking rain or two... or three!

So, the sprinklers are running... to encourage those rain clouds down south to move a little further north! I think maybe I'll go wash my car?

In the meantime, the resort water system is charged and ready to go, I've been working on the cabins, and Mike's been doing a bit of painting along with hooking up water lines (no water in them yet, it's still a little early - that rain we're hoping for could be snow, which would be fine...) - we're getting ready for guests!

Gorgeous weather continues

What a beautiful spring we're having! We'd love a little more rain - green-up hasn't arrived yet - but the ice is gone, the water is blue and clear - and we're getting some work done ahead of schedule!

Our annual Food Show trip to Duluth was this week and Mike's happy that his motors are repaired and looking great. We haven't put boats on the water yet, but we're ready for spring fishing as soon as opener arrives. I filled the rest of the truck with cleaning supplies and stuff for the cabins, so I'm ready to start cleaning. Mike's even talking about turning on the water system!

Gorgeous weather in the BWCA!

I don't think this is the same snowshoe hare I saw just before Easter - surely they don't change color quite this quickly? This one was in our house yard this morning, his back is brown already but his belly and legs are still white. You can see why the white one was so nervous - this one really makes another "where's Waldo" puzzle to find, his brown back camoflauge is so good!

Speaking of our animal population, I saw Clipper, our flying squirrel again last night and ... if I thought she was getting fat before... wow! I didn't shine a light on her or try for a photo because I didn't want to scare her and I'm not sure how she managed to glide into the birdfeeder.

The beavers (alias our landscape architects) are back and trimming off poplar trees again. Mike cut a couple down up here by the house and "planted" them by our dock, maybe we can lure one up here to work on some of the house trees I'd like to have removed!

In the meantime, my indoor garden is doing great. I brought the plants up a couple weeks ago and they are leafing out and some are blooming already. We should have plenty of flowers for the resort this summer!

Now... hate to say it... but we could use some rain - everything would turn green!

Spring is coming to the BWCA!

Happy Easter! Can you spot "Bonnie and Clyde" in this photo? Grouse sure have great camouflage, don't they? They've been up to the house almost every evening lately, checking to see if the birds have dropped any seeds... there must be some, or they wouldn't keep coming?


The other night we saw the local "Easter Bunny" and boy, was he unhappy! Unlike the grouse, he doesn't blend in - our snowshoe hares are still bright, shiny white. He was hopping along and every second step he'd stop and look nervously at the sky - I couldn't get a picture because he decided it was way too open - and brown - his white coat stood out like a sore thumb - and he took off for the woods like a rocket! I think he was very smart, I've seen an eagle sitting on one of the trees looking for lunch several times lately.

Mike has been painting this week - warm enough for that! The lake ice is black and there's open water along the shore and in the channel between the outfitting building and the island. I think he's right about an unusually early ice-out, (unless we get a really hard freeze that sticks around) the ice should be gone soon.

Yesterday I finally got one of the butterflies we've been seeing for the past several weeks to pose for me, there were two sunning themselves on the porch.