Cabin Trip - May 2017

My husband and I made a trip to the cabin in May.  I just have not had a chance to post the photos until now.  The end of May was very busy for us.   The trip started for us as many seem to do, with rain forecast for nearly every day we planned to be up there.  It was sunny when we started out, but by the time the mountains came into view, we could begin to see the clouds were building. However, it remained dry for the drive up there.  We had great views of sunny fields where the hay was being gathered and the next crops were being planted.  This year there is going to be a lot of corn planted.  I could see acres of it.

This trip up, the rain came mostly at night.  It did not just rain, it poured torrential downpours for hours.  Then, by morning, the storms cleared out, leaving everything dripping wet and fresh.  It was a relief to see the rain.  Although the storms could be scary, we were happy to see it rain.  Last year, the summer was dry and there was a forest fire nearby.  We were fortunate that the cabins in our area survived.  For now, the streams are full and roaring and the vegetation is lush.  I hope it will stay that way.

The moist conditions have spawned a lot of mushrooms and fungi.  There is some type of fungi growing on a tree up near the spring box.  It is hard to judge the size of the fungi in a photo, but the largest of these mushrooms is about the size of a dinner plate.  I think it has at least doubled in size since we were up there in April.  You can see that the top mushroom is starting to show some rot due to it holding water in the depression in the center.  However, the upper mushroom is sheltering the lower two and they are continuing to grow larger.

Since there is so much moisture up there at the moment moss is also growing.  The large rock in the photo is covered with moss.  I don't remember it having that much on it in some time.  When my brother and I were children, we used to pretend this rock was a canoe.  We would spend hours on imaginary adventures canoeing on the river.  I always enjoy seeing it when we drive up.  It brings back many good memories.  It also lets me know that the cabin is just around the bend in the road.  It is a welcome sight after a long drive.

We took a walk down to the old house and back up through the woods.  The rhododendrons were blooming.  I am glad we were able to be up here while they were out.  The blossoms do not last long. Speaking of blossoms, there was a tree blooming at the edge of our yard.  It had thousands of blossoms on it and they fell all over the yard.  There were so many that by the end of the week it looked like that part of the yard was covered with snow.  After looking it up when I came home, it appears that the tree is a black locust.  I don't think I had seen that tree in bloom before.

Some of our trip was spent helping a family member with some work.  After that, we started on this years project, which is replacing the floor upstairs.  We thought that we were pretty much finished with cabin upgrades, but then we found that the underlayment upstairs was crumbling.  It is possible that someone upstairs could step on it and step right through it and through the brand new wood slat ceiling we had installed downstairs.  So we hauled up some plywood and got to work.  We did not get too far, because my husband strained some muscles in his hand.  We had to leave it for another trip.  I hope we will be able to complete the floor this year.  It will take multiple trips to finish up there.  Other than the floor, I think we are going to leave the upstairs alone.  We have spent years working on the cabin.  We need some relax time.  Yes, I know, famous last words.  I had to laugh the other day.  I was listening to the radio and a caller was saying he was going to his beach house.  The radio host said he was envious.  The caller told him not to be because all he ever did there was work on the house.  I know exactly what he means.

Now that I am home again, I hope to have some new blog posts on a more regular basis.  I have some updates on some of my long term projects.  They are taking a long time to complete, but at least progress is being made.  Check back Thursday for the latest on one of the projects.