Island Sunrise #16

Island Sunrise #15

Little Things - Little Guy

Those few dedicated followers of Kinda Fuzzy will remember our Pond Project out here in the woods.  Of course that has been pretty much finished (if these things ever are) for a while now.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie enjoy breakfast down there most mornings-

weather permitting.

 
One consideration has been "topping off" the pond as some water is lost by evaporation.  And there is a slight amount of leakage from the small stream when the fountain pump is operating.

The Fuzz had been using a hosepipe to add water when needed; but this was rather crude, and tended to stir up sediment from the bottom.

So The Fuzz and His Sweetie decided to add this guy.

He is a bit slower than the old system, but much cooler!

 

A couple of days ago, The Fuzz was just chilling there with a glass of tea on a hot afternoon.

Something on one of the plants caught his attention.

At first he didn't think much of it...

But then he took a closer look.

This little fellow was only about ½ in long.

Maybe he felt inspired to come out by that big guy on the rock.

But at his size, he better watch out for those fishes!

 

Shakedown Cruise II

Last time we saw Our Fuzz a bit disappointed with the performance of his not exactly new outboard motor.

But we also saw that the mechanically minded fellow had succeeded in locating and correcting the problem.

His Sweetie was game to give it another shot, so a few days later they headed back up to the lake.

This time things went a bit better.

Here is a rare look at The Fuzz himself, heading out to "see what she'll do" as they say.

So where is His Sweetie in this pix?

Well, the truth is that she is not quite the Puddleduck that Our Fuzz is.

Her idea of a day at the lake is to be dropped off on a nice secluded shore with her paints and easel.

So with her happily situated, The Fuzz took off up the lake for some exploring and a bit of fishing.

This lake like most of them in this area is really a dammed up river.  A lot of the shoreline in this area is rather steep with few places to land.

But there are a few...

Mostly private property!

This one looks like a pretty nice set-up.

These folks seem to have solved the problem of finding a place to land.

The Fuzz did eventually find a place and settle down to "feed the fish" as he puts it.

He tied up to a branch sticking out of the water and threw out a line.

This is what comes of trying to do two things at the same time.

Note the ring of ripples in the center of this pix.

The Fuzz was trying to get a picture of his little bobber floating there.  It turned out that this was the moment that it took a nice dive!

So of course he missed that one.

But he did get a couple of the little buggers.

The operative word here is little!

But it was fun.

His Sweetie was set up just on the other side of those trees and they had set up a rendezvous for lunch.

The fish had already had theirs.

The Fuzz beached the boat and joined her in the cool shade of the woods above this small beach.

He had to include this bit of fungus with these pix.

But it was time to leave now.

So they loaded up and had a short cruise back to the boat ramp...

And then back to the woods.

It was a nice day.

Shakedown Cruise I

In a previous post, The Fuzz mentioned a new "Tin Boat".

Well, first there was a bit of official paperwork to take care of.  But getting it home out here in the woods was only the start.  Some more equipment had to be scrounged up.  While perhaps a paddle might satisfy any "requirements" The Fuzz would not be satisfied without a real set of oars.  And these had to be ordered.  And of course life jackets - or rather "PFDs"*

Finally the stuff was gathered and it was time for a shakedown cruise.
And it turned out that there was a lot to shakedown!

Lake Rhodhiss was selected for this...

And the ramp at Castle Bridge.

 The Fuzz and Family had been here some years before on a few canoe outings, and it was not too far to drive.

The Boat made it into the water OK and neither car nor trailer was lost in the lake.

But when The Fuzz tried to crank up the motor...

all he did was exercise his arm.

His Sweetie said they could just go back home if he wanted-

In truth, he was just a mite disappointed.

But he did have those oars.

And he did not want to waste a trip and a chance to get out on the lake.

So they rowed a short way up the lake, tied up to a tree branch and did spend some time fishing and painting.

Back home again, The Fuzz was determined to find out what went wrong.  He had seen the motor running fine before he bought the thing!  Was he doing something wrong?

After going over it a few times in his head, he decided to have a look at the darn thing.  When he tore into it, he discovered that the choke had been somehow disconnected.

That was not hard to fix, and now he could crank it fine.

And so another excursion was planned.

 * "Personal Flotation Device"

Island Sunrise #14

Island Sunrise #13

Shifting Gears

While The Fuzz and His Sweetie were camping at the lake the subject of boats naturally came up.  And while it's never been a subject of this blog, The Fuzz has been contemplating trying to put one together.

And while he has never considered his skills anything like expert, he was confident that he could knock together something out of plywood that would float.

So he has been studying various websites, books and plans.

Of course while he had been making various preparations and gathering tools with this in mind, he had never quite gotten to the point of actually cutting a board.

This would certainly end up as a long term project.

And at The Fuzz's age he had to ask the question-

"Is the point the actual building, or getting out on the water?"

And as much as he admires fine craftsmanship in the boatyard, and those wonderful traditional wooden boats; he reluctantly had to admit that at this point, what he really wanted was to be floating again.

"Again..."
The Fuzz actually did grow up on a lake back in the Old Country.  And it seems he has never really gotten that out of his system as it were.
So once they were back home he went on into town to visit the local Marine Dealer/Pawn Shop.
That sounds like quite a combination and of course it is.

But all that aside, they just so happened to have on the lot almost exactly what he had grown up with.
So now he was torn with the decision, to hold out and go with a classic somewhere, or just cave in for this "Grumpier Old Men" style aluminum skiff.

The skiff won.  

Island Sunrise #12

Post-Family Camping

Family campouts involve family.  But unlike The Fuzz and His Sweetie, most of the family have jobs and other responsibilities.  That is of course why these things are set up for weekends.
Now it was time for them to leave for home and a new week's activities.

This guy must have been planning an escape from the campground by riding out on one of the cars.  He was caught in the act and didn't make it.  But every one did get a good look at him.  The Fuzz likes the color contrast in his portrait.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie, not having jobs to return to, had made arrangements to stay on a few more days on their own.

The Fuzz had discovered that as a "Senior Citizen" he now qualified for a Lifetime fishing license at a very affordable price.  In his youth he had done a good bit of fishing, but it was one of those things that gets dropped as life moves on for us.  But now there was no reason not to have a go at it again.
Since they had been at the lake he had slipped off a few times to "feed the fish" as he put it.  And those guys had eaten up most of his bait.
So the next day, he and His Sweetie slipped out to get some ice, some worms
And…

"Homemade Ice Cream"

The Fuzz found the truck interesting as well having driven a similar one for 20 years or so.  But that is another story for another time.

The ice cream  was good and The Fuzz did manage to replenish his supply of fishing worms.

Early in the morning he got up to attempt a photo of the full moon.
This has been kind of a project for Our Fuzz, and with little success it must be admitted. 
But he hasn't given up yet.

The moon was out and over the lake.
But as can be seen, sorta out of focus.
So he tried a bunch of different things and finally came up with this one.

But he has no idea how!

So now it was time to feed those little fishes again.
The Fuzz got his worms and fish pole, and took off in the kayak.

It is great for getting into those little places that are hard to reach by foot.

While he was there he got a couple of shots of this little fellow.

Here's a view looking back out toward the lake.

With no more bait it was time to paddle back to the camp for a snack and a swim.

And...
The Fuzz is happy to report that he actually did catch some of those fishes-
8 of 'em!

But he did send them back home.
They were happy - The Fuzz was happy!
A good day.  

Family Camping

Besides fresh berries, Summertime is good for campouts.  And recently the family gathered at Jordan Lake for just that purpose.

Since there was a boat involved, sites on the lake were desirable, and reserved ahead of time at the Poplar Point Campground.  If one can put in for one in time, there are campsites available right on the lake shore.

There is a highway nearby but it is easy to forget about that while you are there.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie made it in before dark and set up camp.  Most of the others were already there and supper was waiting.

Then after a time around the campfire it was time for bed.

The Fuzz was up early and while His Sweetie was occupied with her own things he headed down to the lake.

The early sun was starting to hit parts of the shoreline by now.

He was not the only one out there.

Other folks were enjoying a quiet morning on the water.

There was just a touch of mist on the surface of this cove.

It was time to go back to camp for a bit of breakfast.

It's nice having people who are into campfire cooking!

Later The Fuzz got his little kayak out and did a bit of exploring.
He stopped here on shore to take care of some coffee-related personal business.

But he couldn't stay long - the flies were vicious!

The rest of the day was nice, with great weather, and swimming to cool off.

Then it was evening again.

The sun was going down across the lake.

The Fuzz couldn't resist a last shot of the sun shining through this tent.

Then after some time at the campfire, the Fuzz slipped off to bed.

Berry Nice

Well Summertime has a lot going for it.

Blueberries for one thing.

We have quite a patch of them out here in the woods, and they are starting to come in.

And there is a story behind this that The Fuzz won't go into here, but if you're interested-

Blueberries

And then there are these guys as well.

Very tasty...

But just a bit dangerous to pick!

Island Sunrise #11