Boy's Night Out at ManCamp

The cabin continues to be under Coon attack. Although no feeders were found on the ground today, the wire suet feeders had been opened and the suet blocks removed. No doubt, the coons are on a high fat diet. As expected, all of Ninja's feeders were empty and cobs stripped of every corn kernel. He has his own agenda.

A check of the surveillance camera from last night's cabin activities revealed that Tuesday was boy's night out. No Doe allowed! This was a Buck night. ManCamp.

ManCamp Insurgency

Arriving at ManCamp and discovering the squirrel feeders empty and inverted on the trees is becoming commonplace. Ninja squirrel is an impatient dependent always throwing tantrums and taking his frustration out on the feeders when I'm late with hand outs.

What was unexpected is finding the three bird feeders torn off the porch hooks and on the ground 10-14 feet below, two of which were in pieces. Upon close inspection, the largest and most recently added feeder had evidence of aggression with half the Plexiglas ate away. It was clear Ninja has cohorts in crime - COONS!!

I can tolerate skunks, Bambi, Tweety and Thumper. I can even tolerate a coyote, snake, opossum or flock of turkeys. I cannot tolerate raccoons. They are so destructive and unappreciative.

I know what he looks like; he better watch his back.

Word is Out

Well, the word must have got out in the woods about my snack bar I set up below the porch of ManCamp cabin. Dinner guests are rolling in. Let's see if a big buck decides to show up.

A couple of young doe getting their lick in.

Of course. There is always a Coon showing up for dinner.

I think she hears me coming.

Young man out on a date.

Smile. Your on candid camera.

Nature's mystery

It may be a simple wish but one day before I die, I'd like to understand what stimulates life in the woods; I'm perplexed. On any given evening, it may be as quiet as a church mouse with no animals - not even a bird moving. The next day, and it can be the same weather, temperature and conditions, the forest comes to life like a scene from a Walt Disney children's animation. This was one of those days at the cabin. Sitting quietly on the porch this evening, I observed 3 gray squirrels, 1 red squirrel, 2 chipmunks, a rabbit and multiple birds on the ground, in the trees and enjoying the feeders. It was quite obvious there was harmony and unison with a single, united purpose. Why today? Why not yesterday?

There was one glaring omission from this natural gathering - Ninja Squirrel.

I knew this over-sized red rodent was up there in the canopy somewhere though; watching, waiting, lurking. I've spoiled him. He's too good to fill his pouches with nature's ground fodder like the others. He was up in the trees, most likely watching me fill the feeders and loading corn cobs for his next feast. I'm sure he wasted no time scurrying down from his perch after watching me depart.

Tomorrow, I will return and re-fill his empty feeders while accepting the fact that Ninja is now in control and has me trained.

Mowed the "lawn". At ManCamp, a 5' bushhog is used to
mow the lawn. Just want to knock down ivy and run snakes away.

Kuma d.o.g. on the trail as we leave ManCamp for home.

View out of the skylight over the sleeping loft. Perhaps
I'll be able to see Ninja in the trees above.

Kuma d.o.g. on the road to ManCamp. We are entering Ninja country.

Trail camera corrected

With a bridge out on the Alma-Omega Road, the alternate routes to ManCamp are US 23 North to Alma-Omega (west of the bridge replacement) or SR 335 to Wilson Run Road. Kuma d.o.g. and I prefer the Wilson Run route for good reason. The Wilson Run drive-through not only has the coldest cooler known to man but it also has a nice lady at the window that treats brown dogs riding shotgun to beef Slim Jims. Today, we drove Maximus to ManCamp so we could return to the back 40 and correct the sight line of my trail camera. It rained today so Barbie Jeep was left behind; she would slip and slide too much to make this trip. Kuma doesn't appreciate it when I can reach out Maximus and touch the ground as we go around a steep hill on her side; Kuma ends up in my lap.

Maximus is Nic's 2004 4x4 Ranger. In my opinion, one measure of success as a parent is when you can provide your children a better childhood than your own. All three of our kids now drive better cars than me. Nic has his Ranger, Natalie has a 2010 Ford Focus and Brandon owns my dream car, a 2008 black Jeep Rubicon. I'm driving Laura's hand-me-down 2002 Camry that I bought her in 2001. It's now the goose that laid the golden egg. It has 347,000 miles and still runs great so it's the car that keeps on giving. It's a throw away since there's no value in a car with this many miles. In addition to the Camry, I drive Dudley, a 1993 Ford Ranger handed down from Nic and Barbie, my 1995 girlie Jeep.

After sinking a 4x4 post and re-locating the trail camera to get better pictures of guest at our snack bar, Kuma and I went to the cabin. I can't believe the rhetoric that Ninja squirrel is just a raccoon. Yesterday, I filled the feeders and found the biggest ear of corn in my storage bin to put on the nail. I went to Waverly for an hour and upon return, over half the cob was gone as well as half the grain in the feeder. Ninja has to be up in the canopy, constantly watching and waiting. There was no raccoon showing up in the middle of the day - this was Ninja. I feel like we are being watched all the time as he waits.
Kuma went with me to fill his feeders before leaving; don't want to upset him again. 

Looking north off the porch, I may need to cut the grass.

Drove Maximus to re-position the trail camera to correct camera sight lines. A
new post in the ground to catch the guest at my mineral block.

Ninja removed half the kernels off the cob and
half the grain in the feeder in less than an hour
while I went to Waverly.

Father's Day at ManCamp

I started the day with thoughts of dad as I was in his log cabin preparing another breakfast in his memory. Everything is the same as it was in 2005, the last year he could enjoy a Sunday morning breakfast. He looked forward to it so much. Sometimes he would forget what day of the week it was and call me on a Wednesday or Thursday evening to confirm I was coming out the next morning to fix it. I would have to break the news that it wasn't Saturday and that he would have to wait. It's so nice that all my siblings, except for brother Don who lives in North Carolina, attend every Sunday. So another country breakfast of link sausage, sausage patties, bacon, smoked sausage, sausage gravy, eggs, biscuits, and fried potatoes was served to brothers John and Tom and sister Sandy. Sandy's husband Mike and my niece Megan were also there. It doesn't matter who comes, there will always be a breakfast on Sunday's in dad's memory; I'm sure he would be pleased.

After breakfast I spent most of the day at ManCamp cabin. I finally got the front window blinds shortened and some clean up done. The blinds look nice and they don't restrict the view. The wild birds at the porch apparently don't see you when the blinds are tilted as they have no fear coming on the porch even when you're standing at the window.

With Robbie in Nashville and Kuma in Waverly, I worked alone. Today's main project was to install an HD TV in the kitchen. You never want to miss a play in a big game just because you need another ladle of soup beans off the stove. Who would design a TV mount with over 100 parts? It's just a little 19 inch TV with a high technology wall mount that tilts, rotates and extends. I'm glad I was alone while putting this contraption together. Very tedious work with no instructions, just pictures.

I vacated ManCamp to attend my father's day dinner. Laura made the most outstanding fried chicken; it was my father's day request. She marinated it in buttermilk over night before frying. Natalie, Nic, Brandon and Wendy had dinner with us. It was a very good father's day. I am Blessed.

Kitchen TV mounted under cabinet

Living room blinds all installed.

Summer's view

Cabin Errands

I put it off long enough. I had a car trunk full of cabin construction stuff that needed returned to Menard's for refund and/or exchange and no time seemed like the right time so today I just buckled down and did it. A case and half of floor tile and a couple of 42" x 48" blinds and some other stuff went back. I love that store. I didn't have my receipts but they have a computer at the entrance where you can look up all your previous purchases and it will print a duplicate. Amazing how many trips to Menard's I've made just this year.

I picked up the last set of 2" wood blinds for the front windows; this time the right length. I also picked up a replacement bird feeder. Some big butt bird most have sat on the last one and broke the hanger loose. It splintered into multiple pieces after the 14' fall from the porch. Kicked it up a notch and got them a bigger one since I've had so many wild birds stopping by. Also had to get another 20 lbs of squirrel food for Ninja squirrel. He's up to 20 pounds of kibbles and a bag of field corn a week. If I catch him, I'll take him to the fair.

Took another asset from Laura for the cabin; she let me take a steam mop to keep the kitchen floor tile clean. I took her Oreck vacuum earlier since she upgraded to a Dyson at the house.

Kuma helped me kill off a box of Cheez It crackers between hanging and adjusting the length of the new window blinds and feeding the birds and Ninja.

I was so happy to find over 30 pictures on my trail camera where we set up a snack bar for the wild life. It was very disappointing to find all the corn gone and evidence of much activity but the camera mispositioned to where I was cutting off their heads in pictures or just getting the background. I did catch a curious snake checking out the Trail camera. There were wild turkeys nibbling around when we showed up so I suspect they ate the 50 pounds of corn on the ground. Tomorrow, I'll drive a stake in the ground to mount it much lower.

A snake slithering down the tree where the trail camera is mounted.

Hated cutting off this young buck stopping by for a snack.



New feeder installed. Hopefully big enough for all the guests.

Looks like another young man stopping by.

Cabin Time is Quality Time

Well, after a rough few days it was very rewarding to load up big brown dog (aka Kuma d.o.g.) and head for the hills. At the cabin, the squirrel feeders were found empty and Ninja Squirrel was obviously PO'd. He clearly took his rage out on each of the empty feeders; two flipped over on their tree mounts and one with the lid half off.

I should have sent someone to feed Ninja in my absence.

With the evening rain and a fog rolling up through the vegetation below, the porch was extremely peaceful tonight. Everyone deserves a panic room or a place to go; this is mine. The adult beverages placed on ice in the Char-Wood cooler Saturday morning for some weekend enjoyment had unfortunately been abandoned in place. There were multiple casualties of neglect, some floating and some submerged but all at ambient temperature. The super-sized bag of ice was now nothing more than dog water. Kuma was very appreciative as I drained it into a bucket; it beat drinking from a puddle.Warm didn't matter, just knowing I was back on the porch with my loyal side kick made sampling a can recovered from the drink very enjoyable. Besides, if the European's consume it warm, so can I.

Sometimes you just need to thank God for at least one good thing in your life. Today I came up with many as I thanked Him for the air in my lungs, my family, Kuma d.o.g. and my cabin.

Disrupted Plans

Well, the weekend started out as planned. Picked up Robbie bright and early Saturday morning. Had him, 20# of ice, adult beverages, sandwiches and Pringles in the front end loader and heading to the cabin. Once there, we had numerous projects planned to complete during the day. We planned on cutting and installing the last of the ceramic tile in the bathroom and utility room; staining baseboards; sanding and staining ceiling panels; hanging the living room blinds and cutting out the over hang on the roof for the kitchen flue. Unfortunately, no sooner than we got things set up and started working on the floor tile, I started receiving phone calls and pages from work. We had to close down our activities quick with no chance of resuming Saturday or Sunday. After getting in from work this evening, I gathered Nic and Kuma d.o.g. with me and we went to the cabin for some relaxation. Nic seems to really enjoy the cabin. He sat at the bar in the kitchen and played with the survival radio; cranking it up, pulling in classic blues stations. Kuma and I sat on the porch in the dark just listening to the tree frogs, pond frogs and crickets while I enjoyed one of the beverages still on ice in the cooler. After shutting down, we hiked back to the truck under a 3/4 moon and flushed out 2 deer on our way. Maybe I'll get a break this week to complete the bathroom tile and get cabin construction back on track.

Slow Progress

Progress when building a cabin is often measured in small incremental steps; today was no exception. With Kuma d.o.g. at my side, (how could I deny her again?) we went to the cabin and found it a comfortable 80 degrees while outside it was a sweltering 93. Thank goodness for the refrigerator and freezer after firing up the generator. Stuffed full of bottled water, there was plenty of relief from the heat for both of us.

I finally started hanging the last of the window blinds. It may not sound like much but I purchased the wrong size for the front windows and had problems finding the right size to 'custom' fit the frames. Blinds are now on hand and are going up. In today's heat, I stopped after completing the first set.

Kuma and I visited the food stand set up below the cabin for the deer and turkey. Looks like we have some customers showing up.

New blinds installed on front windows

For privacy or security, the new blinds are functional

A young visitor to the 'snack bar' set up below the cabin

She seems to enjoy the free treats.

Kuma tagging along in the hollow as we check the trail camera





Not Ninja Squirrel

I went to the cabin this evening without Kuma so I could have some quiet time to watch for deer in the meadow below. Needless to say, she was not happy. She looks forward to the trips to the farm as much as I do. Unfortunately, trying to watch deer when she is around is seldom successful. It's like taking a small child; there is no keeping her quiet. Between panting uncontrollably, getting up and clicking her claws on the porch or jerking violently at the sight of a bug or wasp, she is constantly making noise. It doesn't do any good to say anything to her as she will just get up looking for additional attention while making more noise.

Arriving at the cabin I noted the empty feeders and bare cobs of corn after filling each the day before - Ninja squirrel was still around.

Once settled into the porch glider, it wasn't long before the birds resumed singing; no longer sensing danger. A successful observation requires being extremely still for a long period of time so your presence goes unnoticed. After about 40 minutes, I was into the routine and patiently waiting. Suddenly, off to my lower left, I heard the familiar sound of a feeder lid opening and slamming shut. Could this be Ninja Squirrel, I thought? I quickly turned my undivided attention to the feeder hoping to finally catch Ninja in action. To my surprise, there was nothing there but an empty feeder. I stared in wonderment trying to understand the source of the sound I had just heard. Just then, a small head peeked out above the Plexiglas retainer. NINJA! I thought! As a little fur ball crawled out, it's cheek pouches fully distended with the dregs left behind by the king of squirrels, I realized it wasn't Ninja but a chipmunk.

Over the next hour, it was amazing how many trips this little fellow would make between the feeder and his burrow while hauling the grain to his hidden stash. It was clear this little striped critter no more than 4 inches long was not the one responsible for emptying the feeders. He was a bottom feeder willing to wait his turn after Ninja satisfied his needs.

I left the cabin without spotting any deer but happy to witness one of nature's smallest forest mammals hard at work. I still hold out hope that one day I will catch the Ninja squirrel in action as he empties my feeders.

Barbie Jeep is so full of herself

With winter's ice and snow a distant memory and the mud from the Spring monsoon season dried hard under the sun, Barbie now thinks she can take me anywhere I want to go on the farm. How soon she forgets leaving me stranded over a snow bank or knee deep in mud ruts. Now that everything is dry, she has no trouble taking me to the back 40 where we spent time this evening dodging thunderstorms setting up to take family pictures of the neighbors.

A mineral block, 50 pounds of shelled corn and a trail camera should be all that's needed to populate the Blog with more pictures of ManCamp visitors. From the cabin porch, I routinely watch deer walking below as they hug the tree line just above the creek. This is also a route the coyotes take. Deer don't like to get too far out into the clearing; they prefer to stay close to the security of the forest even in transit. Since this is a routine pathway, it was a prime spot to set up a snack bar and camera for those passing through. The corn is for the flocks of turkey that come through nosing for food.

The cabin is about 70 yards above, just far enough to enjoy the view while not being detected. Some might consider it the ultimate Tree Stand.

Once our snack area was set up, Kuma d.o.g. and I took another 20 pounds of mixed treats and a bag of corn cobs up to the cabin to feed the infamous Ninja squirrel. A thunderstorm moved in so Barbie turned tailgate home; she was worried about getting swamped in the creek from the runoff up the watershed. I'll get her back out when it dries up again.

Barbie watching the set up for trail pictures

Cabin at ManCamp hidden in trees above

Another view of cabin hidden in forest providing view of meadow below

Kuma d.o.g. bored and ready to move on. Camera is set.

A walk in the dark

Once again, Kuma d.o.g. insisted we go to the cabin, this time well after dark. One never knows when we'll be at the cabin in the woods; darkness is no deterrent. With no moon or light to illuminate our path, we slowly navigated our way along the ruts in the road and around the pond. When the sun goes down on the farm, the hollow fills with a fog that creeps out of the pond, cattails and wetland. Even in the midst of summer, a sweater feels pretty good when in the coolness of the hollow at night. As we dropped down around the bend on the backside of the pond, 2 large deer sharing a drink were startled by our presence. It was too dark to tell if they were bucks but they were large and heavy as they ran up the pasture into the state forest. They sounded like horses more than deer as they dug in their hooves to escape danger. All that could be  made out was their long white tails as they faded in the distance. Kuma was so startled she didn't bark until they were far in the distance. It was such a surprise to her that she kept turning around as we proceeded to the cabin watching and confirming they were gone.

On the porch, I settled into the glider and relaxed to enjoy the peace of the night. It was so dark, you could barely make out the tree line on the distant horizon. Kuma stretched out beside me and was a willing participant in a short nap that was abruptly interrupted by the sounds of something, most likely deer, stomping through the darkness of the woods below. Kuma was too scared of the unknown to bark as she could tell that whatever was out there was large.

After an hour of hearing nothing but frogs and crickets, we arose and headed back. Kuma was now visibly uncomfortable with walking in the darkness as she stayed close at my side matching me step by step and stop by stop. I wondered what would happen if we flushed out a coyote; what would she do, how would I react? On this walk, I didn't have my 38 so there would be no quick answer to an attack. I wondered if she was attacked if I would be willing to intervene to save her life as she could never defeat a coyote. I was thankful we returned to the car without having to find out. Kuma discovered she is still a city dog and has much to learn about going to ManCamp in the dark.

Whippoorwill's Song of Summer

It was almost 8 this evening when Kuma awoke me from a nap on the couch begging for a trip to the farm. A Labrador can be very persuasive when committed to a mission; so we went. As we hiked up to the cabin, the sun was dropping behind the western pines giving relief from the unseasonably high temperatures that again topped in the upper 90s. Once at the cabin, we both settled on the porch to enjoy the surroundings. Within minutes, the birds resumed their evening symphony, breaking out in songs to end the day. Kuma was captivated by the squirrels as they jumped from branch to branch in the canopy above. The frogs on the pond contributed like bass players in the background. Everyone should take time to experience and appreciate nature's beauty; so very peaceful. 

 On the day of my dad's birthday, I couldn't help but reminisce about how much he loved the farm and how pleased he would be with the cabin. I made a trip to the kitchen cabinet and retrieved the Crown Royal reserved for special occasions.  I poured a toast and raised it in quiet solitude, "you did good, dad." 

 Upon return to the porch, the sun was now down with darkness closing in. The many birds had fallen silent and only crickets and frogs could be heard. The Ridgeway clock on the cabin wall chimed the 9th hour of the afternoon alerting the end of the day. It was time to go; it would be dark very soon. Then, to my surprise a distant whippoorwill began singing its song of summer. The sound took me back 45 years on the farm when I would lay in bed with my window open in our farm house listening to the whippoorwills as they would sing me to sleep. We had no air conditioning in the 60s so on a night like tonight, the metal roof would transfer the sun's heat into my room where it was sometimes unbearable for sleeping. It was still very peaceful, secure and home. The whippoorwill is one of God's many gifts. Those that hear the whippoorwill sing, will always remember its unique mating song as it invokes memories later in life. My memories tonight were pleasant and peaceful.

Kuma enjoying squirrels.