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I have been wishing there were such buttons for the world the past few days. So far 2020 has not been dull, but not good for the world. In addition to the virus and the rioting that has developed in a host of cities across our nation, there have been far deadlier riots in several countries around the globe so far this year. I am going to refrain from going too deep into my personal feelings on the events since Monday’s tragedy, other than to say one of my rules of life is that two wrongs do not make a right. 

As is the case with many of the issues that plague the densely populated areas, our little piece of the country has been void of any issues. It even seems like there is not much talk about it. I suppose since most folks are in agreement on the major points.

Before I get on with this weeks activities, I need to back up and share a picture from last weeks entry that failed to make it in somehow. While Nora and I were helping Tim and Lisa put up their high tunnel, Grace and Flora (Tim/Lisa’s daughter) were picking dandelions. Not to flip the heads off of them like I did when we were kids, but to bring back to the picnic table and pull the petals off. The whole purpose of that was to make some dandelion jelly. If you have never tried dandelion jelly, you are in for a pleasant surprise. My only recollection of the taste of dandelions is that of being bitter. That is because I was always putting the stalk of the plant into my mouth. The petals actually have a lemony taste and when mixed with sugar and pectin, you end up with a jelly that tastes like lemon/honey. I am not much of a tea drinker, but if I were, I would think it would be a real treat to add it to a cup. It might even be a great way to help get some medicine down the hatch. 

Not a whole lot else very noteworthy happened during the meet of this shortened work week. We all were busy with some smaller projects, but they must not have been too important, as I have forgotten what even kept us busy. I do know that it was a much warmer week. We hit 84 on Wednesday, and were in the 70’s for Tuesday and Thursday, but then cooled into the 50’s for Friday and yesterday and are in the low 70’s today. The big lake has warmed up significantly to the east of us in the past 7-8 days ago. Before Memorial Day weekend, the entire lake’s surface temperature was 38 degrees. On Thursday, it was 52 from around the tip of the Keweenaw south to Big Bay. It has cooled a bit with some winds and sits at around 48. None the less, the east wind is not as bone chilling as it was and is actually quite refreshing. 

On Friday, I had an appointment in Marquette. A friend who makes maple syrup had invited me to visit his sugar bush and syrup making operations a while ago. Since the sugar bush is a bit north of Channing, which is sort of between the Keweenaw and Marquette, I decided to visit him after my appointment. He met me at the highway and took me up and then down into the sugar bush. We drove to the sugar camp and then parked and he walked me around showing me the different aspects of the syrup making process. He calls his a “small” operation and I guess as far as commercial operations go, it probably is smaller than many, but as we walked through the woods, I observed all of the lines traversing through the trees and was amazed at how much work went into that. He said that he has several miles of tubing in his operations. The smallest lines connect to the taps in the trees. They are not your normal taps, they are made of plastic and have valves in the to let the sap only flow out and not in. He told me that in the evenings, the flow reverses and that would suck sap out of the lines. At the end of the season, the taps are removed from the trees. The next season, the taps are put into new holes in the trees.

Those small lines that connect to the trees then connect to larger lines and those lines connect to even larger lines and then the final line runs to the collection tanks. He also told me that during the sap collection process, a bit of carbon dioxide is given off and gets pulled into the lines. Because of this, he has several separators in the lines like this one to let the CO2 out of the lines and let the sap continue to flow.

The collection tanks he has are huge. I believe each one can hold 4000 gallons of sap. The sap then has most of it’s water content removed and that 4000 gallon collection tank makes just enough syrup to fill this tank! The process he and his wife use to thicken up the sap to make syrup is more than just boiling. The first process actually uses a reverse osmosis device. I believe he said that the RO device will remove 30 percent of the water, or maybe it was take the sap down to only 30 percent water. Either way, that is a pretty clever way to do it and uses a lot less energy. The next and final process to get the sap down to syrup level is boiling. Even that piece of equipment is a far cry from a large pot on a wood fire. They do use wood to boil the sap, but their boiler is setup in a way in which no smoke gets into the syrup. I have had more than my fair share of smoky syrup!

After the tour of the syrup making setup, we headed back into the woods for part 2 of my visit. That was to collect some wood and make boards out of them. Back in late September or early October last year, they had a micro-burst (strong straight line winds) topple a bunch of trees in their woods. He as already cut many of them into wood that can be used for differing purposes. Some has gone on to make veneer, some to make OSB plywood and other to make pallets. He has kept quite a few logs to mill himself and use the boards to build with. He was kind enough to bring one down to his portable saw mill to combine with a few others he already had down by the mill to make some boards for me to take back to my shop. 

I have seen videos of the sawmills in use, but have never been around one to watch it in action. The two of us (mostly him) positioned the logs on the mill and squared them up on four sides and then cut them into boards. The logs we cut were hard maple and basswood. We cut most of the boards at 8/4, which means 2″ thick. I chose that thickness because I can saw them down to the thickness I need using the machines in my shop, but you cannot put them back together to thicken them very easily! It will take the boards at least a year to dry on their own, but I plan to help the process a bit by circulating the air and maybe even using a dehumidifier in the wood storage room where they will be stacked to dry. I am tentatively planning on using the maple to make a new desk top for my office and I plan to use the basswood for some projects using the CNC machine.

With the warm temps, things continue to green up and grow. The trees are not fully filled out yet. Looks like another week or so for most, but the oak in our front yard has not even begun to open it’s buds, so will be more than a week. Nora did more planting this past week. Mostly in containers and one of them she put in a pot and then on top of an old chair and placed that setup under a tree and next to some bushes in our front yard. In the natural department, we have a bunch of Lily of the Valley growing under some trees in the front yard. A few even have flowers that will be opening up soon. By the looks of the cherry tree in the front yard, we could have a pretty good crop of cherries this summer. They are the sweet kind, so I am looking forward to picking them off the tree and eating them right away. Here is a close up shot of the blossoms.

The rest of the front yard is looking pretty good. I have cut the grass a couple of times and while I was hoping to get a nice zero turn mower to cut the lawn, we just did not have the finances to do it. However, just 3 cuts into doing our yard and my brother in-law’s down the road have me already wishing for that zero turn! It takes me around 2 1/2 to three hours to cut our lawn, front and back and about an hour to cut Nora;s brothers. I don’t mind cutting the lawn on our rider, but am looking forward to cutting the time down. Perhaps next season! The back yard is coming along. Still some patches that are not green, but they are filling in and also the seed I planted about a week ago is starting to come up. I just need to water more.

Last, but not least, on the list would be the dogs. All 4 of them! They are all doing good. The newbies, Kashi and Dune, continue to get used to their new home. They are become a bit more mischievous as well. Nothing big, but they like to chew on anything soft that has been left lying on the floor and Dune has taken to grabbing the dog toys that are in the back yard and burying them. I have not seen him do that yet, but Nora has told me about it. I have actually never seen a dog bury something, so I am anxious to see it! Dune has adopted the “dog window” as his spot. He hangs out there most of the day and sleeps there at night. They both are shedding, but Dune is not fond of the process at all, while Kashi let Grace brush her out a bit today. The hair did not only come out in clumps, but took to the air as well! The other day, she had some clumps going airborne as she ran around.

Bleau finally got a hair cut! His last one had been way back in early January and he was in severe need of a cut. The hot weather had really been impacting him and Nora had to stop taking him on her walks with her friends. He has been a crazy guy since getting it cut. Running around the house and being his good old pest to poor Huck. No picture of Huck this week, but he is still getting around pretty good for his age and joint problems. Kashi is most certainly Grace’s dog, while Dune’s favorite is Nora. Huck has always been my boy and still is, although Bleau has really taken to hanging out a lot with Huck and I. No matter which way you look at it, we are a happy home and grateful.

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Hope that you all are doing well and enjoying the holiday. The Dee’s sure are! We had summer arrive this Wednesday and it has managed to stick around this time. Been in the upper 60’s to low 70’s every day since and we might even have our first thunderstorm of the season in a few hours. Those upper 60’s and low 70’s are cooler than most of the rest of the peninsula have been seeing. Yesterday the airport rose to 79 and so far the high today was 83. So for weeks, I have been cursing the lakes cooling and finally I get to bless it! I think that for the most part, Jacobsville will be a very wonderful place to live in the summer.

With the arrival of summer weather so quickly, it was kind of weird to be wearing a t-shirt and sweating a bit as I folded laundry that consisted of flannel shirts, thermal base layers and fleece long-sleeve sweat shirts. I have broken out the shorts and the whiteness of my skin in the strong sun is blinding! I just hope that aircraft do not mistake me for the airport beacon and try to land.

The arrival of the warmer temps has also spurred on the opening of the buds on the trees, as well as the growth of the grass and other living greenery. The trees still have a while to go, but should be fully opened by the end of this week. I cut the grass for the first time yesterday and had to break down and plant seed in the spots that did not survive the ice rink. I am strongly questioning if I will do a rink next winter. It was a ton of work to put up, maintain and take down and now is still making me work by having to work seed in and water every day. We’ll see come next December what happens. 

As I have mentioned in past Journals on Memorial Day, the Keweenaw gives a lot of respect to the meaning of the holiday. The differing American Legions host ceremonies in many of the cemeteries in the community and since Nora came into my life, we have been going to many of the ceremonies held in the Jacobsville Cemetery. This year was the first year in which we did not have to commute! Well…a short jaunt in the car, but if we had wanted to, we could have walked. The ceremony is simple and short. Several of the members of the Lake Linden Legion post say a few words. There is a gun salute and then most stick around, chat for a while and eventually go home. The cemetery is nicely decorated with American Flags at the grave sites of those that served. Before we left, I snapped this shot. The gravestone in the background just above the flag in the foreground is Nora’s grandparents. Her grandfather served in WW II and she also has a great grandfather that served in WW I and received a purple heart.

The warm weather this week kept us outside and working. Nora planted more of her plants, I put in a culvert pipe in a drainage ditch between the house and shop. It was put in by the previous owners to help shed water from the area and they had bridged it with a makeshift wooden bridge. That worked fine for foot traffic and a lawn mower, but was too small for Big Red. So when I was clearing the path for me to get from the house to my office in the shop. I would have to approach it from both sides and do my best to try and clear the snow off of the bridge without destroying it! I added fill on top of the pipe and planted seed, so next winter I will be able to just drive across it with Big Red while clearing snow. 

The friends of ours that live in the yurt and are homesteaders purchased a “high tunnel”. It is basically a greenhouse that is able to be permanently left up. It will allow them to grow more food for their family by having a large area that will be safe from the elements, giving them a much longer growing season. They asked if I could come up with Big Red and help them unload the pieces. The frame for the high tunnel is made out of galvanized pipe that is around 2 1/2″ in diameter, which makes it pretty heavy. So Friday evening I drove Big Red down so that it would be ready to go when the high tunnel arrived Saturday. Nora followed me to give me a ride back home and on the way, we played a bit of NASCAR. She edged me out by a few miles, but I hung in there a bit and was tempted to rub her a bit. Here is a shot she took as we were racing.

The tunnel arrived Saturday morning around 9 am, Nora drove me down there and we got the pieces unloaded for Tim and Lisa. We headed home and Tim got busy pounding the posts into the ground that the superstructure would sit on. I am not sure how far he had to sink the posts, but he had 26 to do and did them all by hand. Thankfully the ground down here is not like that in most of the Keweenaw and filled with rocks, but it still had to be a very exhausting job to sink all of those posts!

Tim and Lisa then spent Saturday morning assembling the superstructure and I headed down with Big Red, with Nora following to help them lift the pieces in place. It turned out that Big Red could not lift high enough to get the pieces to the height where they could be dropped into the posts, so Tim devised a modification to the fork lift assembly on Big Red so that it would lift the superstructures high enough. The modification slowed the process down for a bit, but once the first assembly was set in place and we learned the trick(s), we were able to get the rest of the assemblies in place in around 35 minutes. They still have some purlins to put on the roof structure and then the entire structure get covered with plastic, but we were all thankful and surprised things went so well with the setting of the superstructures. 

So now I know how to build a high tunnel when we get ours! Kidding of course. Nora would probably kill me if I told her I wanted to do something like that. While on the subject of outdoor shelters, I am selling the auto shelter that I kept many of my woodworking machines in while we moved. It is 10 feet wide by 20 feet long by 8 feet tall. I have all of the parts and it was only used for 3 months. I have it listed in the Facebook Marketplace if you are interested in it. 

As I mentioned, Nora planted more things around the house. Gracie helped her out a lot too and the two of them also planted some things down the road at the old school house. It is now a community building, hosting bingo on Wednesdays, social hour after services at the chapel and other get together’s in the Jacobsville Community. Here is a shot Nora took as she and Gracie headed to the old school to their planting. I think Grace is one of the few girls that will have a book in her hand while heading down the road, pulling a wagon full of plants she will be helping plant!

Nora also provided a few more pictures for this entry. In fact they are the best ones in the writings for this week! She met up with a friend to share a cup of coffee as they watched the sun rise over the waters at White City. The sun rises at a little after 6 am and I was glad I was not invited! Although it sure looks like it was both peaceful and beautiful and perhaps when the sun is rising a bit later as we get into August, Nora and I will head down there to catch a sun rise.

The two new dogs continue to get adjusted to their new home. Kashi remains the most adjusted and is still the diva, giving Huck and Bleau her attitude when she feels like it. Dune has really taken to Nora and it is sweet to see the two of them get along and he so comfortable when he is around her. He is getting pretty comfortable with Grace, but is still very cautious of me. I did spend some one-on-one time with him this week and we did some bonding. He loves me when I am holding his bowl of food, tail wagging a hundred miles an hour, but most other times has his tail between his legs and is very timid around me. I am prepared to do what ever it takes for him to be comfortable around me and know it will happen. Just will take time and will have to be on his time, not mine.

Huck and Bleau are doing great too, although poor Bleau is REALLY in need of a hair cut! Now that the warmer weather is here, he gets really hot running around in the yard. Nora has been trying to keep the hair trimmed back enough around his eyes so that he can see, but it seems like it is growing faster than she can keep up with! The other day, they put a hair tie in his hair to help keep it out of his eyes! I believe we might be having a friend over to trim him this week. I sure hope so, because I get hot just looking at the poor guy.

I guess that covers it for this one. Have a great week and stay well!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

 

I wish I could report that Nora and I won the lottery. Of course, if we did, I think we would try our best to keep it under wraps. The green is not in our wallets, but rather on the ground. The lawn has been gradually turning green for the past month or so, but with the sporadic warmth we have had, along with some recent rains, it has finally achieved the warm season look.

I fully realize that for many of you reading this, that fact is probably about as exciting as watching it grow, but for those of us that have to wait until mid-May to see it green and then watch it gradually start turning brown in mid to late September, it is a welcomed sight. More welcomed will be when the trees begin leaf-out. The buds have burst on most and I think with the week ahead’s warmer weather, they will begin to fill out in earnest.

Not all of the grass is that green. The spot where the ice rink sat all winter is still in the process of rebounding. It is greening, so I am not worried about it filling back in. I am going to plant some seed where the vegetation is thin. I get a variety of grass seen that grows amazingly well here in the Keweenaw. So good, the local hardware store actually calls it the “Keweenaw Blend”. I planted it in the ground that was torn up during the construction of the shop and septic system last autumn. It was already too cold for the seeds to sprout, but after spending about 5 months under snow (that sat on top of straw I put on the ground after seeding), they were still viable. So I am very happy to know that I will not have to re-seed all of that ground.

The weather this past week? Well, it was OK. Nothing too stellar and nothing too bad. We had a gradual warming trend, with a high last Sunday of only 39. Then we worked through the 40’s Monday and Tuesday, with a high of 52 on Wednesday. A front and it’s rains kept us in the 40’s Thursday and then we shot to 58 for Friday. Yesterday was pretty pleasant during the day, but then clouds hit and an east wind picked up and those are the two ingredients needed to make conditions chilly or even downright cold here in Jacobsville. We have a LOT of lake to the east of us and this time of the year, that lake is COLD (about 38 degrees) and puts a real chill on the air. I suppose it will be nice in the heat of summer, but right now, it makes for a very raw cold.

Interestingly, the surface temps are nearly identical to the bottom temps as well. I do not know if the entire profile of the lake is 38 degrees, but right now, the top is the same as the bottom. Hopefully not to last too long, Grace is just itching to swim. We told her that the next 60 degree day she could. I have no doubts that she will!

None the less, Huck and I took a nice little walk on Thursday, heading down the road a bit and then heading up the peaceful two track to the chapel. Good old Huck is still getting around very well for his age and all of the joint issues he has. Sometimes it is painful to watch him get up from laying down, or when he gets knocked to the ground playing with Bleau, but he makes no sound and does not seem to be phased by the lack of strength in his hind quarters. I sure to miss the way he and Millie used to chase each other through the woods, full speed, jumping over logs and rocks and smashing through the brush.

Anyway, we made it to the chapel and no matter the weather or the look of things elsewhere in the neighborhood, the chapel always looks beautiful. As you likely noticed, it is still all boarded up, but we have hopes that Sunday evening services will resume for this summer. Nora and Grace made the trek down from Mohawk every week last summer and I joined them when I felt I had enough energy to not be a wreck the next morning for work. Now we can just stroll over to the chapel and I even have plans to make a foot path through the woods to it. There are already trails leading about 1/2 way and it would not take much doing to finish the last half.

Things are still very quiet as far as the virus goes up here. Keweenaw County has yet to report a case and Houghton County has only reported 2. The first when things first started to get serious in the states and the other just over a month ago. Both made full recoveries. So our family has loosened up our own personal restrictions some. In addition to hanging out with others in Jacobsville that have been fairly well separated from the rest of the public, we are getting together with some others. Nora’s brother and his wife came up and spent last week working on their camp near by and we fished, ate dinner with them and also just hung out with them freely. They are from downstate MI. 

Last night we had a bonfire in the new pit. It was actually the 3rd or 4th, but had the biggest gathering to date and despite the looks on the faces of most in that picture, we had a lot of fun. Everyone there are great people and enjoy each other’s company. The Jacobsville was a very tight nit community in the 60’s and 70’s and then many of it’s long time residents passed on. A re-birth of the community is underway and it is so nice to have folks that we can not only socialize with, but count on to help each other out without even having to ask. Most likely very similar to the “old days”.

Last week I spent some time in the shop and built two chairs for the bonfire pit. Since Nora is a full-on Norwegian, I built them in the style of the Viking Camp chair style. Just two boards, one passing through the other and able to be taken apart simply and transported. They are actually first edition builds, as I plan to make more with some modifications. They are actually pretty comfortable and I sat in that one all through last night’s get together. The finish is actually Japanese. I take a flame to the wood and char it, that makes the wood weather/rot-resistant and add a layer of wipe-on oil-varnish. Doing this to cedar is called Shou Sugi Ban and is nearly weather/rot-proof.

That about covers it for this one. The final bit of news is an update on my finger. It is healing very good. There is still a bit of ulceration at the tip, but no more thick scabbing. It is still very sensitive to cold and creates it’s own pain because the blood flow is still poor to it and thus it gets cold quickly and thus hurts quite a bit of the time. I can get by just fine and will warm it up by breathing on it for a minute or two. It is still a bit sensitive to bumps, but not nearly as bad as it was. So I am thankful that the healing process is going well and looks like I am pretty much out of the woods as far as any complications go.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend everyone, I will be writing on Monday rather than Sunday to give me two full day’s off next weekend!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

It’s been over 7 days since Kashi and Dune came to join us and things are going very well. There have been a few bumps along the road, but anyone bringing a dog home into your home and thinking that there will not be some issues to deal with had either re-think things or not bring that dog home. None of the bumps have been big ones. The main issue continues to be them feeling 100% comfortable. 

Their first night here, they spent in kennels in the garage. The kennels had blankets in them and a larg blanket draped over the, so they were quite cozy. None the less, Nora, Grace and I were not comfortable with the idea of them being in the garage and everyone else in the house. So the next night, they spent in the house. We have a doggy gate that separates the mud and utility rooms from the rest of the house. It is where we put Huck and Bleau when they are wet and/or dirty. It is also where we put them when we are gone from the house, so that they cannot get into any trouble in the rest of the house (mainly garbage cans).

Kashi and Dune seemed a bit nervous coming into the house, but they slept well and seemed pretty at ease the next morning. They have spent the nights there ever since and now seem to have adopted it as their space. they now only are outside when we are all outside and spend the rest of the time indoors. We kept the gate closed for the first two days after moving them inside, just to get them used to being inside and not going potty. The did so well, that by Wednesday we were keeping the gate open. At first, the did not want to leave their space at all, but eventually they have become more comfortable with wandering around a bit. They still do not get too far from the utility room, but at least are exploring on their own. They also still are quite timid of Huck and Bleau. More Bleau than Huck, but that is because Bleau is younger and has way more energy. He wants to play and so does a lot of bounding around near them. That makes Kashi and Dune nervous.

We have been working with Bleau to tone it down a bit and in the past 2 days, I have noticed that he has done just that. Both Kashi and Dune did pee in the house a few times, but they do go potty outside just about every time we let them out and seem to understand that the inside is not for going potty.

I am sure that eventually, they will be 100 percent potty trained and also given time, they will be comfortable with Huck and Bleau. Their first 24 hours here, Dune was quite afraid of me and Kashi would come to me, but was also timid and nervous when she did. They both now come to me without reservation and will even wagg their tail from time to time while doing so. As with just about all dogs, treats have been a great ice breaker and motivator. 

It’s been another week of not-so-great weather. With the exception of Wednesday, when we spiked to 56 degrees, our highs have been in the upper 30’s to mid 40’s for highs. Nights have not been too cold, with lows in the mid to upper 20’s, but this stuff is getting old. Our location in Jacobsville is proving to be much more windy than where we were situated in Mohawk. The place in Mohawk was surrounded by thick woods and unless it was blowing like a hurricane, we hardly had any wind in the clearing where the house and other buildings were. Here in Jake, it seems like every day the wind is noticeable. That will be a blessing once the warmer temps of summer come, but on days like today when the temp is struggling to rise above 35, it makes it that much colder. The worst winds are the east winds at this time of the year. They bring the air that has been chilled into the 30’s from the big lake over to us. South winds are a bit better, but can still be chilly, especially if they are from the southeast. There have been time when we are quite a bit cooler than the airport, which is about 20 miles north of us and also at a higher elevation. In contrast, the west and north winds do not bring the lake chilled air to us that much. We have enough land between us and the lake in that direction that we will be one of the warmer spots on the peninsula. Wednesday’s high of 56 was one such day.

We did get a bit of snow Thursday night into Friday morning. Just a dusting, but still enough to be a kick in the emotional gut. I am not sure if it was just coincidence, but Friday morning was also the first time that any birds had found the feeder I put up by the shop and in view of the AL Cam. Hopefully they will keep coming and will get paid visits by all of the colorful species that spend their summers here. I have a humming bird feeder that I will be putting up as well, once they arrive. 

As is the case with the snows that fall this time of the year, the stuff on the ground Friday morning was gone by early afternoon. Grace and I spent the afternoon doing work outside (Nora has to work until 3:30). Grace’s main chore was to split the cedar logs we cut last week into pieces suitable for the bonfire pit. The previous owners left us their electric log splitter and while smaller and slower than a gas powered one, it does the job and Grace was able to take a chunk out of the pile of logs. We even had our first bonefire in the new pit Thursday evening and another Friday evening. I believe that is going to be a pretty regular occurence down here!

Yesterday was a tad bit warmer. I think we made it to around 50 degrees for a high. It was also mostly sunny, so not too bad of a day to be outside. So we did more work and then broke free in the mid-afternoon to hang out by the lake. Living just stones throw from the lake and also near one of the nicest beaches the lake has will be very nice once the warmer days of summer arrive. For now, we are content to hang out on the shores and relax.

It looks like a pretty big change in the upper air pattern will be unfolding as we get to late next week or more so late in the following weekend/early part of the week of the 18th. The change would bring much warmer air to all of the Midwest. There could also be better chances for showers and thunderstorms, but I will take a few of those if it means we can ditch the winter clothing!

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD

I’m not sure how many of you saw it, or if you did, remember it, but back in mid March, we paid a visit to come friends that are sled dog mushers. I posted a shot of Grace hanging out with two of the dogs, Kashi the yellow one and Dune the black one. I did not mention it at the time, but there was more to that visit than just a drop-in.

The story actually starts back in December, when the Copper Dog holds their annual event in Calumet where they have some local dog teams to meet and greet and people can even get rides around the park on a sled pulled by a team of dogs. In that visit, Nora stopped to talk to a friend of her’s Pat. Pat and her husband have a bunch of sled dogs and race in many of the events in the upper Midwest over the winter. While Nora and Pat were talking, Grace got down in the snow and was playing with Kashi. They hit it off immediately and Nora mentioned to Pat that if Kashi were ever to come up for adoption (most retired sled dogs are adopted to live the rest of their lives on “vacation”), to let us know. Pat immideatly responded by saying that they were looking for a good home for Kashi. Gracie heard this and was excited, but Nora said it would be up to me. So I was sent pictures and some video of Grace and Kashi having fun in the snow. Kashi reminded me a lot of Millie and I did not hesitate to say we could adopt her. We had managed three dogs just fine before Millie passed and this was not a puppy, it was an adult dog that was past the crazy puppy stage and also in need of a good home. 

So fast forward to this past mid-March. We took a trip down to Pat and Jerry’s home so that I could see Kashi and set some details for the transfer. Pat and Jerry have 17 dogs in their “pack”. Most are still pulling sleds, but some, like Kashi, are retired. They keep all the dogs in 2 dog pens that have dog houses for them to crash out in. Each pen is fenced in and all of the pens are then surrounded by another fence. Kashi and Dune were sharing the same pen, so we got to meet him while hanging out with Kashi. Kashi was happy to see Grace again and said a quick hi to Nora and I, but it was Dune that really poured himself on Nora and I. We both actually thought he might make a better fit for our house and Nora mentioned it to Pat. She said that they were looking for a good home for him too. In further discussions, Pat said that the two had been pen mates for pretty much their entire time with them and that they were best of friends. It was at that point that I pretty much made a declaration that I did not want to break these two best friends up and that we either got both or none. There was not much friction from Nora on the idea and of course Gracie was all for it. So the plans were made for both to come and live out the rest of their lives with the Dee’s.

We need to make preperations for them. The first being to fence in the entire back yard. We were going to do it this spring for Huck and Bleau, but the arrival of Kashi and Dune put the task on the front burner. The problem was, we still had snow on the ground in mid-March and there were 4 large cedar trees that had fallen in the storm just before Thanksgiving and they were laying in a spot the fence was to go. So we waited for the snow to melt and then for things to dry up enough so that we could get to work on things. 

April 23rd was the start of the tree cutting. I hauled the small chain saw out and started by trimming the branches. It took a full afternoon and part of another to get that done and then Nora and Grace helped me haul some of the branches into the woods. I then started on the trunks of the trees. I had initially planned to cut them into 10 foot lengths and have a friend with a sawmill cut them into boards, but the ground was still too wet for Big Red to get to them without tearing up the yard and some of the best trees had begun to rot, probably the reason they came down during the storm. So I just cut them into firewood length pieces and Grace worked very hard to pick up the pieces and put them into the back of the garden cart and then haul them over to where we were going to keep the firewood for bonfires. 

Bleau and Huck did a lot of supervising of the operations. It took several afternoon’s, including one in which we burned the rest of the branches in a small fire at the very back. It was the very day that the DNR had lifted the burn ban and sure was welcomed over having to haul all the branches into the woods! By early last week, all the clean up of the wind-falls was done and it was time to get onto the fence! Plus we had at least a seasons worth of bonfire wood. I was so proud and impressed with how hard Grace worked. With the exception of some of the bigger pieces, she hauled all of that wood over. We did reward her with paying off the remaining debt on the Swiss Army knife we bought for her and she will be stacking all of that wood neatly to earn some more money. She wants to get a skateboard next!

The fencing actually went in pretty smoothly and quickly. We switched gears from using cedar posts (from the wind-falls) to metal t-posts and steel fencing. The ground here is not very rocky, as apposed to most of the Keweenaw. There were some roots that presented a challenge in spots, but in all, it took me about 2 1/2 afternoons to get the backyard’s approximate 2 acres fenced in. 

So this past Saturday, we drove down to pick up Kashi and Dune. We kept Huck and Bleau at home and our plan was and still is, to take things very slow in letting Kashi and Dune settle into their new home. Nora did a lot of research on what is the best way to introduce older dogs to a new home with existing dogs and even introducing retired sled dogs into a home with existing dogs. She is very good at researching things via the internet and for all the internet’s ills, it sure is an amazing things for things such as this.

Anyway, all the research said to take it slow and to let the new dogs meet and greet with the existing ones in small batches until they are comfortable with each other. So when we first got home, we took Kashi and Dune into the back yard on leashes and just walked around with them. After a while, we let them off their leashes. We all then hung out with them for a while, but Huck and Bleau remained in the house.

After lunch, we then took Bleau and Huck out one at a time for their first meet and greet with the new family members. Things went well, there was no aggressive behavior with any of the dogs, but Kashi and Dune were very skittish of both Huck and Bleau. We did several more meet and greets with the dogs, eventually having both Huck and Bleau together and then even on long leads. Dune was and still is the most skittish about Huck and Bleau, but Kashi seemed to be pretty comfortable right out of the box with Huck. Even giving him a doggy hand-shake. By the end of the day, Dune was feeling relaxed enough to lay down and take in his new digs and both Dune and Kashi even took a nap in the shade by later in the afternoon.

Grace and I also worked on the firepit for the backyard on Saturday. I placed the rocks and then Grace did the hard work of digging out some of the dirt to make it a true pit. Kashi has proven to be one that is extremely interested in checking things out and she came over to see what Gracie was doing and then give her some kisses for a good job. The pit turned out great, but our hopes of taking it on it’s maiden voyage were dashed by mother nature and her strong winds. Not to worry, as Nora, Gracie and I all love to have bonfires and it is a pretty regular thing with all of our friends we have down here in Jacobsville, so it will be getting PLENTY of action in the days, weeks, months and years to come!

So one of the other events here the past week was the first bear visit. None of us saw it, so no pictures. Actually Bleau might have seen it, as the night it came, he was doing a very cautious growl in the middle of the night, but none of us got up to see what it was all about. So how did we know a bear had come to pay a visit in the middle of the night Wednesday? Well, the bird feeder had taken a pretty good hit and I am confident it was not squirrles! 

I think that just about covers it for this for this one. All of the Dees are still healthy and also have not had any family or friends come down with the virus. I am chuckling at some of the persons talking about how desperately they need a hair cut. I am one of the lucky ones. I do not have enough hair to really screw up giving myself my own cut. I just keep cutting it until it looks even. The same cannot be said for poor Bleau. He really is in desperate need of a cut. We were all hanging out in the living room the other evening and he popped his head up to look at me and I could not help but chuckle and take this shot of him.

For as nice as Friday and Saturday were, sunny, 71 and 68 respectively, yesterday was ugly. Low 40’s a heavy overcast and windy. We had a few sprinkles late in the afternoon, but there were reports of a few flakes of snow in the higher terrain up in Keweenaw County. It was a good day to stay inside and that is exactly what Huck and I did, we even added a fire in the fireplace and a bowl of popcorn to make it just right. Life is crazy, life is good.

Good Night from the Keweenaw..
–JD