It's been kinda busy.....

Our Location: Lakeshore Road N, Tehkummah, Ontario

Hello, I know you thought I was missing but truly I’m not, I’m lazy, tired and a few other things. ~laugh~ It’s been a busy time here settling in, getting things set up, visiting folks and just working on a number of small things. I apologize for the long absence but well you know how it is. 

Seen from the rear above our spot, the whitish area is all rock.

We’ve been spending our time getting back to Island Time and Island Pace which isn’t speedy. ~laugh~ I think if we get any slower we’ll be stopped. However it’s a nice pace to settle into for now. By summer’s end we’ll be ready for a faster pace, not rapid but faster. 

 

Same spot as above but a bit different angle

We’ve been dealing with Riley’s medical issue and I believe we have things pretty much heading forward in the right direction. The blood test results came back with no markers showing so there is no indication of cancer in her tumor/cyst. We have an appointment in Sudbury on June 15 with the a Gynecologist and we are hoping the wait will be short to have this thing removed. After that we’ll deal with her foot issue and hopefully by mid summer everything will be back to normal. 

 

Higher up with a view of the Lake

The Dogsled is still bearing Alabama plates as the broker at the custom office in Queenston neglected to send me away with ALL the proper documentation. I was not impressed to say the least. Argo Brokers will never again have any of my business, I would avoid them if at all possible if anyone is looking for a broker. However I now have all things necessary to finish the job here to be registered in Ontario. I have until June 1 before the safety expires so I’ll have everything completed by then.

 

The Igloo is to the left and down a level from this spot

 

A few mechanical issues have cropped up as well but I’ll deal with those one at time. While the buying in the US experience has been a learning curve I would be much better prepared if I ever do this again. I think the whole thing would be much easier as I would now know what to expect, where to go, exactly what papers are needed and I would be more diligent in my preparation. I would just pick a different broker.

A view of our fire pit from above, Igloo is to the left (not seen)

 

The days have been cooler than expected here with overnights touching into the below or right at freezing levels. We’ve had a few nice days with lots of sun but the wind has been from the north and as we all know that north wind is not EVER warm. ~laugh~ We’ve had a bit of rain and this week Riley and I managed to get ourselves into a massive downpour while driving home. It was raining hard enough to remind us both of rainy days in the US south. Hard, pelting, driving rain with strong winds, didn’t last longer than about 45 minutes but it made driving less than enjoyable.

 

The back of the Igloo as seen from the back side of our fire pit.

 

Visits with my sister Janet on a number of days have been nice, getting caught up and just enjoying the company. My brother Rick and I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and just chatter but we did manage about an hour the other day. We do meet every morning at Dad’s for coffee time before brother heads off to work. Catching up with SIL Barb has been about the same since she too is working most days. Managed a quick visit with my Aunt and her hubby the other day, it was nice to see them both. We’ll be visiting a few more folks as time goes forward.

 

Our back patio (before the big BBQ was brought out of storage

 

Our neighbours, Holmes’ Cattle (8 cows, 8 calves, 1 bull) have been around the area for about a week now but they haven’t dropped in at the Igloo for a visit yet. ~laugh~ We have had a number of other visitors though, a porcupine, a rabbit, a chipmunk, numerous vultures and of course some smaller birds. Nearby I’ve seen deer, otter, geese, ducks, loons and some sand hill cranes. Folks have been talking about a bear but I haven’t seen any indications of one so far. 

 

Our summer location, although it doesn't show it it's actually pretty green.

 

 Our days are filled with putzing around, cleaning up, setting up, doing a few things to help family, and just settling back in. I walk every day, usually at least a couple of miles, sometimes further, some times less. I’ve used my new reciprocating saw a few times, works well as I’ve been trimming things here and there. So as you can see we’ve been much busier here than we were down south. I find that by the end of the day I’m tired and usually my fingers are aching from all the days activities and the last thing I want to do is pound on the keys of the computer. By the time dinner is finished and we’ve cleaned up we are both usually ready for some relaxation and there just isn’t any way I can spend the next couple of hours writing and editing as I’m just too tuckered. ~laugh~ So again I apologize for being absent but it is the way of things here on Manitoulin Island in our summer place. Perhaps once things get settled more, or we are more used to the cool crisp air instead of dragging our butts at the end of the day I’ll be able to spend a bit of evening time doing some writing. 

 

Our side yard which is usually much more green than now

 

The solar panels are working very well, they keep our batteries topped up nicely. I will admit we aren’t charging much though and we aren’t using a lot of power either. However I am impressed so far. We’ve discovered we may need a heavier cable from the batteries to the 12V plug by the TV as it just doesn’t seem to be heavy enough to run the necessary inverter for the tv. We’ve tried a few other things and we know there is enough power but just not at the plug. Since we are using portable inverters as we have no major need for a big one I’m thinking the running of a heavier cable  may be the way to go. I’ll talk to my nephew the electrician and ask his opinion. 

Bay at Rogers Creek on one of my morning walks

 

Thanks for dropping by, I’ll be around from time to time but I doubt I”ll be writing much more often than once a week for a while.

For Patsy who asked for recent pics of our summer spot, I hope you enjoy these, I took them with my phone and not the big camera as I was up working on the very top of the hill and had my phone with me.

 

Looking up Rogers Creek on one of my morning walks

Until next time…be safe, take care….