Chickadee Manor

Collecting water

When we go to the hunting cabin, we bring along drinking water but all wash water has to come from the river.  This means a little walk down the trail towards the river and then Dwayne scrambling down the bank with 5-gallon pails in hand.  He fills them from the river and then lugs them back up the steep bank and down the trail to the cabin.  Most weekends only a couple of trips are required but this past weekend we had an unexpected house guest - a mouse.  That meant a lot of cleaning and a lot more trips for water.  Let's just say that I am thankful that my husband has a strong back!  The whole family likes to go along for the walk to the river, including the dog, and everyone knows to wait behind a log at the top of the bank so they don't get too close and fall down the steep bank.  It's also just a really fun trail to run up and down for the kids and the dog.  Once we are back at the cabin, Dwayne pours the water into an old beer keg which we heat up on the grill of the fire pit so that we have nice warm water for dishes, washing up, or even an outdoor shower!

 

Overnight at the hunting cabin

We made a spontaneous trip to the hunting cabin this weekend.  Initially, we were going to stay put and do things around the house that needed doing, but then we looked at the calendar filling up and realized it was likely going to be our only opportunity to go as a whole family before the snow falls.  Off we went!  Grouse, gorgeous fall colours, and lots of happy people (and dog!).

 

There are too many of us to go in a single vehicle these days so Dwayne and I each drove one.  This was my co-pilot.

 

Rear view.

 

Our beasty van. It owes us nothing and most of the time it has a very ordinary existence. However, this weekend it was asked to behave like a 4X4. It did pretty well. I only got it stuck once in a big mud hole.

 

Glorious September colours!

 

The real 4X4. It has a winch. We had to use it later down the road.

 

I don't have my hunting license for this season yet so I shot something else.

 

 

Silly faces!

 

Hamming it up!

 

Rose hips.

 

 Beautiful spruce grouse feathers!

 

Shortly after this photo I heard cries of, "I want to see the gizzard! I want to see the gizzard!" Haha! 
(Oh, and Emma is wearing her "hunting bracelet". The girls made camouflage Rainbow Loom bracelets specifically for hunting.)

 

Probably our most enthusiastic hunting companion and also the main feather collector.

 

 Emma is expressive. I can't remember exactly what it was Emma was telling me in this photo but it was something very ordinary to the average adult and very extraordinary to this 3-year old.

 

Tail feathers.

 

 Old woodpecker holes.

 

Poplar forest.

 

Birch leaves.

 

This is where I got the van stuck. The muddy section goes almost to the bend in this photo. Dwayne pulled me through with his 4Runner. We parked the van before the giant mud hole as that one the odds are about 50/50 of the 4X4 getting stuck. We did. That's why we have a winch!

 

 Brilliant greens and yellows!

 

Ruffed grouse.

 

Feathery grasses.

 

Not as swampy as it looks.

 

 Starting in on dinner.  As you can see about 50% of our children like brussels sprouts and grouse, and about 50% do not.  Haha!  Don't worry, they ate, too!

 

Fresh ruffed grouse!  So good!

 

Hendrik enjoying his spruce grouse.  You can see it is much redder than the ruffed grouse.

 

Judah likes grouse but he spits it out after a minute or two as he doesn't have the right teeth to chew it up yet.

 

 COFFEE!!! Oh, and light up flower garlands for Riley, Abby, and Emma. Two hunting trip essentials.

 

 

See? Coffee is ESSENTIAL. Must. Wake. Up.

 

 

Good morning!

 

 

Hobbes

So, this is what Hobbes does every time he sees the camera.  He gets as close to it as possible, sits sideways, and tilts his head up at you with a goofy doggy grin.  Funny creature!

Water fun!

The other day I showed Dwayne a water play idea I had seen on Apartment Therapy.  I had planned on going to the hardware store yesterday to pick up the supplies once Dwayne got home from working on the cabin.  Turns out, he beat me to it!  He started putting it together last night and finished it off this afternoon once all of the Canada Day festivities had wrapped up (sorry, no photos - we left the cameras at home this year!).  The kids have been running through it non-stop since it was put out in the back yard and I confess to spending a fair bit of time running through it as well.  :)  I hadn't planned on it right away but it was so hot and the kids were having so much fun...I ended up going through with my clothes on and then going into change into a swimsuit.  The dog enjoyed the hullabaloo as well but his preference is still to chase the sprinkler, we couldn't get him to run through this contraption.

Water fun! from Jennifer Venema on Vimeo.