Fourteen down, four to go....

As it always does, another season is flying by with us beginning the fifteenth week of our eighteen week operating season. With so much of the season past already, you might think that it's time to put things on "autopilot" and cruise through the last four weeks. Unfortunately that's just not the way it works with plenty more work to do with camp full of fishermen and starting next Saturday bear hunters. Bear baiting will help to keep us plenty busy around here in additional to the "normal" stuff. On a positive note, the very warm summer has kept our woodpile in pretty good shape so instead of three weeks in the bush cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking wood, we should be able to replenish what we need in about half that time. On the negative side, it looks as if the washing machine here in camp which we have been nursing all year, has finally spun it's last load and is headed to the dump.

There are still a few lingering projects from the summer also that we want to get the finishing touches on, including the last bit of siding here on the lodge which was delayed when those nasty bald faced hornets built a nest inside one of the walls. Note to anyone who has to spray those things...watch out they are fast as I found out on my first attempt to spray them. I thought I could get the spray straw in the opening in the wall, foam the heck out of them before they knew what hit 'em and be outta there. Turns out they must post a guard right out front as I didn't have one seconds worth of foam going when "the guard" was on the tip of my trigger finger and left me with a swollen right index finger about double the size of the left one and an ache that lasted all day. Man, do those little buggers pack a punch! Thankfully, they didn't send the whole nest to protect the queen! They may have won the battle, but I won the war, as I later re-armed myself with more foam insecticide and full body armor to give them the ultimate "foam bath of death".

The weather here has been variable with a short period of cooler nights now followed by a warmup with some temperatures in the low 80's again forecast for this week and lows only in the upper 50's. Not quite feeling like fall yet, but certainly better than the heat of the summer. Fall colors are starting to spread around the lake now also despite the continued warm weather which is a visual reminder that summer is fading. It is very beautiful here this time of year as the sun lights up the shoreline colors and they reflect off the water.

Well better go for now. Remember to check the website for the weekly fishing reports and to email us your pictures if you were in camp recently!