Temporary Skidoo shed Part 2

Everything has to be square so that the tarp will fit

Snow load is so heavy here you have to have good support

Notice the shed is being built right over the Alpine Skidoo

helper Bee

After being nailed the tarp is tied with rope to get the wind from taking it.
It took about 4 hours to get all the poles and another 2 hours to put it up.

Temporary Skidoo Shed Part 1

The poles had been collected a few weeks ago.

Log skidder is made out of old Chrome Fenders

Everything is done by chainsaw

Squaring it all up and putting side rails where tarp ends

Dusk

look right in middle of pic.....there's two quad headlights

Hannah smelling out what the take was today.

There's a 200 ft fire guard around the fenced in area

Bee and Hannah

We both knew it was time for bryan to come back so out we went.  (I'm feeling just about normal).

Saving Seeds

Pansy seeds

 You have to wait until just before the snow comes and then gather up next years seeds.  I let them dry for a couple of weeks before putting them away in used envelopes.
My back is really getting alot more moveable.  But I'm still staying inside doing all sorts of little things like the above.  Bryan is out each day on the quad putting out sets.  Snowed 2 " this morning.
I've been listening to the SBX Radio more and it's great to hear other trappers out there doing the same thing as we are.  Some are not as remote but there are 2 or 3 others that are.  Also heard a young couple with 2 kids that are doing home schooling out on the trapline.  I just listen in on their conversations.  Bryan does the talking on the radio &  I do the typing on the computer.

Dill seeds

Poppy seeds

Marigold seeds

Flocks seeds

Lake Ice

I got up at midnight and the full moon was shining on the lake which was being polished by HIGH WINDS and frozen grit and had all the luster of a new black Cadilac.  I would have to describe the sounds as a conversation of whales and wolfs with the occasional comment from a distant Thunderstorm.  When we had gone to bed it was -8 cel by dawn -18 cel.  Still no snow but when it comes .....IT COMES.      Bryan

When you're stuck indoors

Vikki swept the wharf snow off with a broom and was rewarded with a week of sitting in the cabin with a bad back.   It is just about better but Bryan is going out on the trapline alone

Bead work for my snow mitts

FREEZE-UP....heading into our 4th winter out here

Nov 18

Large "uummm  wah" boomed across the ice, sounding like whales talking  The ice is cracking as it expands.  The crack can go zipping out hundreds of yards

Nov 18.....still a large portion of the east lake open

Nov 19  froze over.... notice the ice cracks

Nov 19  Narrows......   ice cracks

At night the ice makes the whales noises the most but it happens during the day also.  They are loud !!!!!!
   2007  Nov 6 lake freezing, Nov 12 Lake Frozen, Nov 18 4" of ice at end of wharf, Nov 28 10"
   2008  Nov 7 lake freezing, Nov 13 Lake Frozen
   2009  Nov 13 Lake froze over but wind took it out on the 15.   Nov 16 Lake Frozen for good
   2010  Nov 18 Lake freezing, Nov 19 East lake frozen....west lake still open.

Porches full of wood

There was a poor looking Robin out there yesterday...really late going south.  Also the baby loons are still here and also a surf scooter.  Lake will probably be frozen solid in a week.   When it happens here it happens fast. 

Art ....let me know if I erased it too quickly.

Storing Wood and Battening Down the Hatches

The first half a cord of dry spruce.

Needs more air in the tire!  Out on the trail low air makes a smoother ride but not hauling wood.

Seven Cords of wood and putting tarps up around the porches.  We are out in the weather and snow everyday so the last thing we need is to come back to the cabin and have to shovel 2 ' of snow off  the porch to get into the cabin.  Also when you open the cabin door there is an 8' neutral space between you and the great outdoors.  No wind can throw the snow into your warm spot.

-27 Cel Wind Chill Forecast for tomorrow night.......now that gets our attention!!!!!

Our lake is like a fiqure 8, with our cabin located in the centre Narrows 

The portion west of us is 3km long with a depth of 128'.  The smaller portion east of us is 2 kms long with a maxium depth of 100'. 

The Narrows is about 400 ft  (150 meters) wide   8 ' deep and 1/2 km long.

Ice starting

I could hear a bulldozer coming!!!!  Looking out and there was Bryan destoying the ice.  He had made a pass first to see if the wave was benging the ice.  Then he did the Ice Breaker thing.  The first 20' in and the second closer to shore.

Holding boat at the right speed to create a big wave..... first pass......ice is about 3/4" thick. 

End of first pass.   When he had completed the second pass the Opaque Ice had turned translucent and slushy.  Hopefully this will give us a few more days to be able to reach the west portion of the lake by boat.

another marten...... and we haven't really put out the trapline for them yet.  We are just finishing off water trapping.

Pine Grosbeck

While having coffee inside the cabin there was a bang on the window.  Outside was this male Pine Grosbeck on the porch.  We put him in a box by the woodstove.  When he started to flutter 15 minutes later  we took him outside.  You can see he is still distressed. 

We noticed his partner showed up on the porch and we placed him there beside her. 

They sat there for 30 min. and then she flew off.  He finally flew off a while later.  Hopefully he'll make it.

Wolves are here again

The close howl had me bolt upright in bed...... "Get Hannah inside!!!!!!!"  I yelled.  Bryan was still absorbed in his book and hadn't heard our dog's soft barks at the door.  I had heard the three barks but the wolf must have heard them also.  The generator was still on so after getting Hannah inside the outside lights were turned on and the inside off.  We peered out the windows but couldn't see anything. 
Earlier on in the day while checking the sets.... we had come across 8 fresh wolf tracks.  There was also a cow moose and her young calf standing in the creek which meant the wolves had just been there and we had scared them off.  The cow and calf just stared at us as we passed within 20 feet of them.  No way was she getting out of the water.  In water they have a fighting chance against a pack of wolves.
On the Alaskan radio channel we listen to.... we just heard that there is a warming out to a certain area to be careful because the wolves there were loosing their fear of humans. 
We believe there is only one confirmed case of an Engineer/Geologist beginning killed by wolves in Saskatchewan .      BUT DOGS>>>>>>The list goes on and on

Please REMEMBER

We respect our Canadian Military and on Remembrance Day they are in the well deserved spotlight.  Many have made the ultimate sacrifice or have come home with a lost " peace of mind".  Many civilians nowadays believe that they are all entitled to the privileges and easy life they now enjoy but that is not the case.  Those privileges came with great cost.   The world is a diverse place with lots of individual beliefs .  No one Nation or group of Nations has the right to impose their beliefs on the rest of the world.
This year I planted Remembrance Day's Flanders Field Poppies.  I collected the seeds from the poppies and will start spreading them around. 

Beaver . And an Otter ate trapped Muskrat.

I will have this Beaver tanned for replacing the worn out old rabbit fur on  my old bush hat.  This is the first Beaver we have gone after since coming here 4 years ago.  They have a hard time here.... what with the wolves, lynx, wolverine and otter after them.  But this group keeps damning the River where the salmon come up to spawn here.  The fisheries department tore down the damn twice this summer.  There are five Beavers in this colony and we are going to try to take two.  In the last photo you will see the leftovers from a trapped Muskrat.  Otter are real meat eatters.  Their favourite foods here are Beaver pups and sometimes adults, muskrat and of course fish.

Cached Camp comes home

There's a whole camp packed on this quad.  We'd spent 17 days wall tenting it so that we didn't need to come back to the cabin each night while making trail.  It had been cached high up in trees so that the curious bears wouldn't get into it.  It had to all come back to be dried and put away.  There's a big wall tent, a double foamy, a large sleeping bag, 2 chairs, extra food, frying pan, coffee pot, rubber boots, the alaskan mill, a chainsaw,  4 large tarps.  We barge the quad to the end of the lake because it is quicker than the trail along the lake.  Took Bryan an hour just to tie the stuff on. Another hour to reach the end of the lake and then a 15 min barge ride. 

 

 Appreciate all the comments!!!!! but until things get alittle less busy here and I can spend more than 15 on the computer I can't reply.  That should change soon.  The big push is on right now because the snow has not started yet.