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I'm sure by now that everybody is wondering if we survived our weekend out in the wilderness or not. Well obviously we did. Or there is some scam artist typing this. Nope. Just the artist's loving, dutiful and understanding husband. It was very interesting and a tad bit chilly. The only heat in our log "cabin" was from a fireplace. Oh darn, I had to play with, I mean keep the fire going so we didn't have to wear our jackets indoors. That was a very tuff job for me. But some how I managed to keep the inside temp above 65. I used half of their firewood in the process, but they said I could use all I wanted, or was it needed. Who cares. All that matters is that I had fun, I mean that we stayed warm. As for the rest of our trip I'll let my lovely and talented wife tell the story.Or mostly show & tell a little... Here's the back of our SUV loaded with half our house. 
The log cabin overlooking Lightfoot Bay, our home for the weekend!
And inside is just as woodsy...
Joe's prize winning fire, by which we enjoyed our beer in mason jars. Without any distractions of TV, Internet, phones (by the way there was NO cell phone reception, either), or any other people, I ended up learning a little poker playing two nights in a row. Clearly neither of us has a poker face.
Joe pumping our air mattress, on which we sandwiched ourselves between two huge sleeping bags. Not too shabby... until we woke up in the morning against the hard wooden bed bottom. 
Really, that was probably the closest we came to a real camping experience. Joe got to play with more fire in the morning to take the chill out of the cabin and cooked his usual weekend breakfast. The Saturday's program went great, with close to 20 people attending and creating artwork, thought there's no pictures to share.... In the evening we celebrated our adventure in the wilderness over our tiny Weber's grill.
We seriously thought Joe's grilled shrimp and beef might attract bears (we saw many evidences), but the only visitors we had were the cabin's long-time residence mice during the night. In the morning we woke up to tiny black droppings all over the kitchen stove and counter, including right inside our frying pan and in my tea cup!!! I'm sure they were quite relieved to be left alone in the quiet cabin after two days of my talking and squealing right to the invisible mice. 
Today (Sunday) was a beautiful autumn day for a drive back home. We explored a couple of new rivers for fishing. Though neither of us felt any fish nor even saw a fish, we enjoyed simply being out in the nature. At one point, a huge eagle almost embraced us both as it flew right above the tree top over our head. What an experience! And after such adventure, it was very nice to be home indeed.
This Saturday I'm participating (so is Joe as a wonderful artist's husband) in an art & science field trip for adults to help with art activities. The program takes place at Lightfoot Bay, a remote recently-acquired-public-nature-area. We took a planning trip on Sunday for the first time. There's also a 1920's vintage lodge, and we get to stay there for the weekend to enjoy a mildly rustic camping experience.
We walked the shore to check things out... and were informed that there's various wildlife preserved in the area, including moose. We don't get to see much of them, but it's a fact that there are moose in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Sure enough! we spotted moose tracks on the beach. 
Definitely not a deer. Look how big the tracks are!! It's going to be a neat experience staying at Lightfoot Bay this weekend.
Probably more like "hooch" or "bathtub booze." Yup, it's our very first time trying to make homemade grape wine. Check back in after 10 days of fermentation. Now all we need to do is stir daily and wait. I already told Joe that I'd let him taste it first to see if he goes blind or not. I think he appreciates my honesty. 
Last night we stayed up late making two batches of grape jelly. Joe patiently dripped and squeezed grape juice while I chatted with my mom on the phone, for about an hour. Everything seemed to have been under control (Joe was very careful with any red splatters) until the final few seconds of boiling. We watched the whole pot of jelly foam come up and spill over in vain. It was rather comical. Definitely a blog pic opportunity. 
Jars of grape jelly, freshly canned and inverted on the counter... still very much in chaos. This was at midnight yesterday.
This is today: all jars have popped and cooled, standing in rows.Yes, we did sample our jelly already. It's very good, tangy and sweet.
Of course, we've checked on our grapes now and then, throughout the summer... but as our August flew by and gone, the grapes seem to have grown and ripen all of a sudden. After a week or so of hot weather the first couple days of September brought cool autumn air to us. Sure enough! our grapes are ready to be picked.
About a month earlier than last year and not having seen any frost, these grapes are actually pleasantly sweet. We won't have to put as much sugar to make jelly. Tonight Joe picked the ripen ones, approximately 5-6 lb., leaving enough for another pick.
Good night, Grapes! Sweet dreams in the fridge....
The log cabin overlooking Lightfoot Bay, our home for the weekend!
And inside is just as woodsy...
Joe's prize winning fire, by which we enjoyed our beer in mason jars. Without any distractions of TV, Internet, phones (by the way there was NO cell phone reception, either), or any other people, I ended up learning a little poker playing two nights in a row. Clearly neither of us has a poker face.
Joe pumping our air mattress, on which we sandwiched ourselves between two huge sleeping bags. Not too shabby... until we woke up in the morning against the hard wooden bed bottom. 
Really, that was probably the closest we came to a real camping experience. Joe got to play with more fire in the morning to take the chill out of the cabin and cooked his usual weekend breakfast. The Saturday's program went great, with close to 20 people attending and creating artwork, thought there's no pictures to share.... In the evening we celebrated our adventure in the wilderness over our tiny Weber's grill.
We seriously thought Joe's grilled shrimp and beef might attract bears (we saw many evidences), but the only visitors we had were the cabin's long-time residence mice during the night. In the morning we woke up to tiny black droppings all over the kitchen stove and counter, including right inside our frying pan and in my tea cup!!! I'm sure they were quite relieved to be left alone in the quiet cabin after two days of my talking and squealing right to the invisible mice. 
Today (Sunday) was a beautiful autumn day for a drive back home. We explored a couple of new rivers for fishing. Though neither of us felt any fish nor even saw a fish, we enjoyed simply being out in the nature. At one point, a huge eagle almost embraced us both as it flew right above the tree top over our head. What an experience! And after such adventure, it was very nice to be home indeed. 
