Red Deer Log Cabins

It's amazing how such a small animal can have such a big tail!

The least bittern is back, I heard it yesterday.

Very tropical out there this morning.

For years, there has been a hummingbird coming to my front porch.  He's back!  I usually put a fuchsia there for him to feed upon.  This year, it has been too cold so far for any flowers to be put out.  Also, I cannot find a fuchsia locally.  It seems none of the garden centres supply them any more.  Last summer it was a begonia instead.  A red one.  Wrong shape, right colour.  My hummingbird fed on it anyway as far as I could see.
Until I put the hydro and phone service underground, I would often see him perched on the wires.  Now I have no idea where he rests. 
I heard on a CBC show (some authoritative professorial type) that hummingbirds are NOT attracted to red.  Right.  That's why he tries to land in my hair...
So do bees.  Apparently they are not attracted to red either.  Apparently the ones here are colour blind.  Maybe the people who study them are colour blind?  But I digress...
To be sure, I don't know if My Hummingbird is a he or a she.
Hummingbirds make me happy.  I won't feed them from a plastic POC (piece of crap) filled with sugar water.  I will find an appropriate flower.  They also feed from the so called "silver maple" that is found all over the neighbourhood.  Apparently an ornamental from Europe that came with settlers, this tree, which defies taxonomy, is prolific in the area, and upon my land.  First comes the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, a relative of the Woodpecker, who pecks holes (woodpeckers eat insects, sapsuckers suck sap.  Strangely).  After that, Squirrels drink the sap, and Hummingbirds float and tap sap while in midair, from the same puncture wounds on the tree.
Ah, that humans would cooperate so easily!  What a wonderful world it would be...

I didn't see her, but I sure heard her.  Just at sunrise there was a big kafuffle outside.
A vixen just went screaming through here. 
Deer too, between the cabins, more fresh tracks.

Remember the part where you are NOT supposed to put butter on a burn?  Slathering yourself with lotion (most of which is scented, and will attract biting bugs) is NOT a good idea.  The best cure is vinegar, plain old cheap white vinegar.  It rebalances the skin's pH, and will heal a moderate sunburn overnight.
Vinegar is the camper's friend.  It is a mild disinfectant, it can be used to clean wounds and scraps, to disinfect dishes, to cure sunburns, and also to heal dry skin.  Try it next time you have cracked skin from your hands being in soapy water. or soil (gardening).  Most times, the skin's protective mantle has been disrupted by soap and water, or earth; pH correction speeds healing, and the vinegar will not keep air from the skin as a cream will, so it can heal faster than if cream is applied.
To rehydrate the skin, use aloe vera.
Any cream with an oily base will slow healing.

It's that time of year.  Unfortunately for tourists, black flies also love beautiful weather.  When it is cold or wet they don't fly.  The heat brings them out of the ground, where they hide to stay cool. 
They were a little ahead of schedule this year, and so some people were bothered by them on the Victoria Day weekend.  I was bothered a bit by what I discovered afterward.  One guest sprayed DEET on the windows of the cabin, to kill the flies that went inside with him.

Black flies do not bite once they are indoors.  They go to the windows, to the light, trying to escape.  If they do not escape, they die when the sun goes down, unlike mosquitoes.  Spraying windows with DEET is
1.  unnecessary, because the flies will die anyway, and won't bite you indoors
2. harmful, because any DEET that is oversprayed on the paint or varnish eats through it.  Many a piece of furniture here has been ruined due to bug dope bottles being parked upon them without being cleaned off.  Paint will not stick to the surface again, so repainting is a useless exercise.
3.  difficult to clean off the windows.  DEET does not reduce easily (see above, about ruining furniture).
4.  toxic to the person sleeping/staying in the room.  I thought people came here to get away from pollution?

DEET was developed for use by the American military in malarial countries.  It says on the bottle not to put it on your skin, only your clothing.  As skin 'eats', understand that you are ingesting this very toxic chemical.  'Overuse' can cause nerve damage.  In children, it has been shown to lead to permanent brain damage (multiple studies).  Even the official government information says to wash it off once you come indoors, and do not spray in an enclosed space!

A much more effective bug dope is olive oil (or any other oil, pick one).  Black flies smother in it; they cannot bite through it.  Instead of being covered in bites at the end of the day, you will be covered in dead black flies.  Olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil are all good for the hair and skin.  The down side is that you will burn faster in the sun.

Black flies are attracted by CO2 (your exhalation, your idling vehicle), colour (white, yellow, and khaki  are least attractive, and so the best to wear in this environment), and heat (your body and vehicle).  Oh, also any perfumed personal hygiene products are a HUGE attractant.  Leave the smelly soaps and shampoos at home.  Use ivory soap, or wash with straight baking soda instead.  Wear a white hat.  Black, brown, purple and navy blue are for the city at this time of year.  Purple stirs up stinging insects as well, like bees and hornets. 

Black flies love thick dark hair.  They think you are a moose!

If you eat sweet foods, biting bugs will find you more attractive.  The absolute worst fruit to eat during black fly season is the BANANA.  It makes you irresistible to the little black monsters.

If you use these simple bug management techniques, you will not only have a better time in the great outdoors, you will also save a substantial amount of money, and be healthier in the long run.  You may not have side effects immediately, but with enough exposure to toxins, you may be miserable in your old age.

For more info on DEET
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/deet.htm
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa042703a.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002763.htm
http://www.naturalnews.com/029136_deet_toxic.html

Just heard from my next volunteers, a couple from Austria.  They will be here in a week, they are in Windypeg right now.  I've already had a young lad from France here this season, from the land of Camembert Cheese.  His 2 weeks were busy and productive, and his English is much, much better.

But the sun is out!

I now have confirmation that the annual OFTR trail bike ride is Father's Day weekend, June 14/15.  Cabin requests are arriving.  Book now to make sure you have a spot.  Camping also available for the event, of course.

In response to questions/comments re: Memorial Day

1. Wild mushrooms.  It's too early, and the weather isn't exactly mushroom weather, it is too cold!  I did see some gyromitra esculenta (false morels), but those are the ones that have to be cooked specially, and are not for everyone.  No sitings of morels.  Next likely bloom is chanterelles, but the weather has to get warmer.

2.  Moore's falls is rockin'!  Lots of water coming over, we just had buckets of rain again the last couple of days.  There were kayakers here already to ride the falls, before the Victoria Day weekend.  The river level is high this year; maybe you heard about the flooding in Bancroft, Whitney, and Huntsville?  Serious downpours the 20ish of April, washed out a lot of trails in Algonquin Park, tons of flood damage (they thought the dam at Whitney was going to blow), but it was all ok here.  Also, the sinkhole that swallowed a car opened up on Hwy 62 just north of Bancroft again.  I don't know about Algonquin Park, but everything else has pretty much been put back in order.

3.  Spring Peepers are singing their little hearts out.   Makes it hard to hear the falls at night!

For those of you who haven't been in the neighbourhood for a while, please note the following changes to the booming metropolis of Madawaska...
1.  Currently there is no gas station.  The AllStar Variety has been bought by Algonquin Bound outfitters, and they are still waiting for their gas contract to commence.
2.  The post office is still in that building.
3.  The great little restaurant that opened in town last summer, The Mad Diner, has folded up, and Mike is gone.  Too bad, he was an excellent cook.  Rumour has it that someone else is going to open there, but who knows what will be offered.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!  Don't know that there will be many tourists venturing this way.  It was barely above zero this morning, and though the sun is on its way, it is not looking much like summer.
Soon though...

THAT is self explanatory.  Most WEMFers already knew that, so this is old news.  What this means is that I don't need to have a noise disclaimer for that weekend.  So...if you want to enjoy a quiet place in the middle of August, it is business as usual here.

After 2 years of construction on a place for me to live, I almost have things in order. 
I have always had a place for YOU to stay! 

Recent wildlife activity includes:
a moose in the upper campground
a baby deer, also called a doe, stepping right beside the big boy's tracks
deer between the cabins
a rabbit, when there were campers in on the Victoria Day weekend
4 geese on the waterfront, one with a bad leg.  I feel badly about having to scare them away so that the beach will be clean for swimmers.
BIRDS, BIRDS BIRDS!
Of course, there are many things I don't see, because I am busy making every thing right for your arrival.

In spite of watching, the 4 solar storms (CMEs) last week apparently did not result in aurora at this location.  It seems the CMEs pointed away from earth.