What Next?

The Fuzz and His Sweetie made it home from the beach okay.

But there was little time for relaxing.

In a very few days it was off again on another trip.

This time into the Land of the Yankees.

How did this happen?

1st, The Fuzz's Sweetie had a convention in New Jersey.

&

2nd, The Fuzz had a Cousin's Reunion in upstate New York*

But New Jersey is a long way from The Fuzz's home here in the Carolina Woods.

Fortunately, there is family in northern Virginia, and they would graciously put The Fuzz and His Sweetie up for the night.

The plan was that since The Fuzz was not attending the convention himself, he would stay at a nearby campground for the duration of His Sweetie's convention.

Then, since the reunion would not be until the following weekend, they would ride up to Maine and camp there for a few days before heading over to Upstate New York.

The Fuzz had gone online and made reservations for campsites in both New Jersey and Maine.

So things were looking good.

They left home Wednesday morning, a bit later than planned and made it up to Springfield VA, a bit late, but intact, and reasonably sane.

Then after a good night's rest, it was back on the road, this time, for New Jersey.

The spent some time on a few scenic back roads, and got lost once.  But they did make it to The Fuzz's Camp before dark.
His Sweetie helped The Fuzz with the tent, and then headed out for her own destination.

This was on Thursday, and she would not be back until Sunday.
So The Fuzz was on his own, literally.  He was the only one in the campground.

Next time we'll have a word about bears and things that go BANG in the night.

*The shameful truth is that, although we don't like to mention it in front of him, The Poor Fuzz was actually born a Yankee!

Beach and Beyond

How about this?

It's been almost a month since The Fuzz has been here.

So...

What's his excuse this time?

Well, besides simple laziness, there was the annual Beach Trip.

This is when the whole family, at least those that can make it, go in on renting a house for a week on Topsail Island.

And then...

After being home only 3 days, it was off again for

Yankee Land!

Let's face it,

retirement ain't for sissies.

But for now we'll only deal with The Beach.

In times past, The Fuzz found it necessary to bring a trailer load of gear for the Beach Week.

But the family outgrew that place*, and was forced to rent a bigger beach house, on the other end of the island.

But the new place has a lot more amenities provided, so there is not nearly so much to bring.  And with the Not So Young Anymore Daughter out on her own these days, it is only The Fuzz and His Sweetie to pack for.  And so this time the trailer could be dispensed with.

Everyone made it out there to the far eastern end of The Old North State without any trouble.

One of The Fuzz's favorite things to do out there, is a early morning walk to catch the sunrise on the beach.

He's not always the only one out there.

The fishermen like to get an early start as well.

On this end of the island, one has to walk all the way to the end to catch an unobstructed sunrise view.

So The Fuzz had to settle for a shot like this.

But of course there are other things to do out there besides walking in the sand.

There is swimming of course.

Happily nobody got shark bit this year.

The Fuzz likes to get out on the sound in a kayak when he can and explore all those little tidal channels.

And there is always a canoe for Family Fun.

And then it was home to the Woods for a few days to pack up for the next big adventure...

a trip into Yankee Land!

*It had even become necessary, at the old place, to bring a tent to put up for an extra bedroom.

Dry..? Not Dry..?

It has been kinda dry out here in the woods lately.

And Hot as well.

But when The Fuzz walked down to the small creek behind the trailer yesterday, he was a bit surprised to find this situation!

What happened to the water?

There were a few pools left here and there...

But No Flow!

The creek bed was still pretty wet, and when he poked his cane down into the sand, some water did seep into the hole.

But, Yikes!

In the pool pictured above, several small fish were swimming back and forth, with nowhere else to go.

After some thought, and a word with His Sweetie, The Fuzz decided to try and move at least a few of those guys up into the Garden Pond.  It is already stocked with some of those "feeder" goldfish (8 for a dollar) from the pet store.

The guys from the creek weren't any bigger than the current residents, so The Fuzz figured they might get along okay.

And as things were looking at this point...

they were

DOOMED!

Not having any sort of net, The Fuzz tried to use a bit of window screen, and a bucket to catch those little guys.

But it didn't work out very well.

As soon as he got in there, he stirred up so much muck that it was impossible to even see them, let alone catch the boogers!

So he gave it up as a lost cause.

Then...

This morning, he took a look to see how they were doing.

This time...

What the hell?

No water yesterday...

And no rain since...

But now???

Where'd this come from?

And The Fuzz's little friends seem to be doing okay without him!

Well, one can't complain about this of course,

But it does seem a bit strange,

At least to The Fuzz!

Details

There are a lot of details that need to be taken care of with a project like this.

Here's a look down the path to the pond.

And the next phase.

So what is this box hanging on a fencepost anyway?

Well, here's a look at the other side.

And the inside.

While the pump for the fountain had been running...

it had just been plugged up to a drop cord,that was pugged up under the trailer.

While this worked, it was not a permanent solution.

So the Fuzz ran an underground wire out...

and wired up this switch box.

(We won't go into the business with the yellow jacket nest.  But The Fuzz did survive.)

Finished, and turned on!

Squatters

The Fuzz has been spending a lot of time on this project.

But it has been worth it.

And he is not the only one to appreciate it.

What is a pond without a few fishes?

And then there are the Squatters!

Squatter No. 1 is not all that hard to see.

But No. 2 is a little bit shy.

But they seem to have made themselves right at home.

Well...

The Fuzz says, "the more the merrier".

There's room for them all.

Still At It

Just a quick update on the Pond Project out here in the woods.

Things are coming along pretty well.

The Fuzz's Sweetie has been starting to get a few plants in the ground.  But of course that will be a long term project.  These things evolve as they go.

Speaking of evolving...

Whilst having a bite of breakfast at their favorite local cafe, the subject of the patio area by the new Pond came up.

And it was proposed -and the motion was carried- to invest in some flagstones, to "pave" this area.

And The Fuzz has gotten a start working on this.

It is a slow go.

1st the ground must be built up a bit to kinda level things up.

Fortunately, there is available the dirt that was originally removed from the pond area itself.

And then the stones had to be moved from the spot where they had been delivered.

This was a job in itself.

But now comes the fun part...

Piecing the odd shapes together!

This should keep Our Fuzz occupied for a bit...

...and hopefully, out of trouble!

A Little Thing

The Fuzz is staying busy these days.

There is of course the ongoing Pond Project.

This is currently involving a bit of a situation with a nest of Yellowjackets!

But even this will get worked out in the end.

So on to other things.

 The Fuzz would like to point out a few things you may have missed in the previous post.

#1 The Jack under the Motorcycle

#2 The Bike is up on the Center Stand

#3 The Air Hose

So, what's the deal here?

Well…

After spending the night over at the Old Place,  Fuzz rode over to the Snack Shop to meet His Sweetie for breakfast.

He got there a bit early, so sat on a bench on the sidewalk to wait.

While there, the Observant Fuzz noticed a tiny shiny little thing on his rear tire.

Upon closer examination, he discovered what could only be a nail, imbedded in his tire!

A nail is just a little thing, but can be a big problem.

Especially with a motorcycle, which of course, carries no spare tire.

Although the tire was not loosing air, The Fuzz realized that this situation would have to be addressed, and soon.

The tire in question still had plenty of tread, was in fact in great shape-

except, of course, for this nail.

So although as a rule it is not recommended, The Fuzz decided to try to get by with a simple plug.

First the offending nail was removed with some pliers.

(This also removed the air from the tire.)

Then the hole was reamed out, and the plug inserted.

The plug was trimmed-

and checked for leaks.

And everything seems to be okay.

And while this tire affair was happening, and the bike up on the center stand, The Fuzz also took the opportunity to have the front tire replaced.

(The tire had already been obtained and was just waiting to be installed.)

All that was left was to make a test flight.

It is possible that The Fuzz might have exceeded the legal speed limit, but everything seems to be fine.

Perhaps there will be another Bike Trip in the future.

Still Livin'

Just a quick post here to show that The Fuzz is still living.

1st

We would like to report that The Fuzz and His sweetie did make it back home to the woods safe and sound.

They did have quite an adventure, being gone about 3 weeks this time.

 Maybe The Fuzz will have more to say about that later.

But for now... no.

But he has been busy since their return.

There was a bit of yard work to catch up on.

And He finally got around to working on the "bricks".

Going back...

Way back...

To the start of the Pond Project.

A close look will show that there were more than rocks involved in this delivery.

The Bricks were to be used for the Fuzz's shop,

in the "carport" area where he parks his bike, and works on larger projects.

This kept being put off for various reasons-

some not all that good.

But now it was time to get it done.

New steps!
Of course it is not exactly finished.
The Fuzz needs to add a bit of mortar to the bricks on the edges, and sweep a bit of sand into the gaps between the bricks.

But it is a big improvement.

Road Tripping 1

Well...

The Fuzz has been gone from here for a while.

He and His Sweetie have been "out of town" if that can be applied to being out of the woods as well.

It began as an attempt to visit out of state family.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie realized that this wasn't a 2 or 3 hour drive they were dealing with, so more planning would be involved.

And why not see some sights along the way?

They have always been fond of camping,

(they actually met in the woods)

so that seemed like a good way to handle the accommodations-

at least part of the time.

Neither of them is very fond of those new fangled GPS things, so one of those Road Atlases was purchased instead.

And then an itinerary was planned utilizing various state park campgrounds.

The first stop was Alabama's Cheaha State Park.

Most of these state parks seem to be RV friendly.

But there are still places for those, like the Fuzz, who prefer tents and such, usually referred to as "Primitive Campsites."

And so it was here.

Since Summer had not officially started,

(with Memorial Day)

they pretty much had the place to themselves.

The "primitive" campsites are located right at the top of the mountain, which is billed as the highest point in the state.

Here's is the view from the campsites early in the morning.

How about another?

They planned for 2 nights here, so as to have a day without packing up and moving.  This way there was a bit of time to enjoy the park itself.

Morning Fog blowing through the campsite.

There are cabins for rent there also.

Some have incredible views.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie took a walk around the park.

There is also a hotel, restaurant, and swimming pool, which was being readied for the coming season.

They met this guy by the pool.

All this stone work was done by the CCC

(Civilian Conservation Corps)

during the Depression.

They built the tower there, which is also a museum now.

After a day of rest at Cheaha State Park,

it was time to get on the road for southern Alabama and the next stop...

Gulf State Park.

Pond Project II

The Fuzz has spent the last few days on this, and here's a few pix.

First, here is how things stand at the moment.

The pond itself is basically done.

Of course The Fuzz's Sweetie has her own plans for the landscaping around it, and what plants to put in.

But that will take a bit of time of course.

But here's a look at some of the details.

The Water flows through this shallow pool and down into the main pond...

after dropping from the upper pool, and into a narrow channel.

And how does it get into that pool?

Cool, huh?

This area has sun in the morning, and shade in the afternoon.

Really it's the perfect place for something like this.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie have already been enjoying breakfast here to the sound of running water.

But new adventures await them.

With any luck The Fuzz will be able to keep all his loyal readers posted in this next phase of those "little things of  daily life".

The Pond Project

Suffice it to say that that Adventurous Fuzz made it home to the woods, safe and sound.

But there was a job waiting there...

The New Water Feature.

This idea had been around for a while.

It was one of those things that seemed like a good idea, but never quite made it past the "good idea" phase.

When it comes down to it, Our Fuzz is not much of a self starter.

Sometimes it takes a good woman to get things moving,

and in this case, The Fuzz's Sweetie was that "Good Woman."

The 1st step was some online research.

Then a liner and pump were ordered.

With both of them digging, the hole was done surprisingly quickly, although it did get a bit complicated when the template didn't seem to match the liner.

Sand was brought up from the creek to line the bottom of the hole.

Then the liner was put in, and slowly filled while The Fuzz tried to pack sand behind it.

Once it was filled, The Fuzz began to put some of the rocks in place.

But this was not to be merely a simple pool.

The plan called for an upper pool with water cascading down to the lower, main, pool.

Here we see a rough idea of this.

How did it come out?

Well, the story will continue...