Camp Shower Plus Mom and Dad's Return

I headed for the cabin on June 19th to pick back up where I left off, trimming the drive into the cabin. I got to work right away but was quickly chased inside when a thunderstorm came through. I dried off in the cabin while I waited out the storm for a couple of hours. Once the rain stopped, I headed back out to clean up everything that I had trimmed so far. Mom and dad arrived shortly after 9:30 the next morning and I was already hard at work. I had continued up the drive a little ways but was now using the pole chain saw to clear overhead limbs. With mom and dad dragging brush and branches while I trimmed, we made quick work of the remainder of the drive which is good news as they are planning to bring the camper down for Independence Day weekend. 

Lots of brush to clean up

ATV cart loaded up

After cooling off and eating some lunch, dad and I headed into town with his trailer to pick up some lumber for our next projects. Their neighbor had taken down an old wooden fence so mom and dad snagged some of the old panels to use at the cabin. We used 3 of them to build a permanent shower enclosure as the pop up enclosure that we have been using is deteriorating fast. The remaining 3 panels will be put up along the back of the cabin to act as a screen from deer that often cross into and out of my property behind the cabin. 

Dad and I set to work on building the shower while mom headed out to mow. It took a couple of hours to finish but I'm very happy with the end result. It sounds silly, but with only having to take the water heater up and down instead of everything, I am much more likely to get the shower out each trip.

Inside the new shower enclosure

Outside the new shower enclosure

Mom all done with the mowing

After devouring some pizza pie irons for dinner, mom and dad headed for home and I set out to finish up the mowing. I also took some time to check on all of the food plots, which are doing amazing, before enjoying a well deserved shower and early bed time. 

Soybeans are growing very well

Clover on the ridge food plot
looks great!

Clover in the cabin plot is
growing well

Clover on the small field responded well to being 
mowed last trip

On Sunday morning I set out to pull the trail camera cards and then sprayed the new big field food plot with glyphosate to knock back the weeds and grasses that were growing to prepare for planting at the end of July. I also lightly sprayed the soybean plot to eliminate the broadleaf competition. I've been trying to baby that food plot this year because I really want it to succeed. The soybeans are Round Up Ready and clover recovers well from being sprayed with glyphosate so that should be the last work needed on that food plot for the year. I also built some supports and hung a new saucer swing for the girls. It is a surprise for them and I think they will really like it.

New saucer swing

Before heading home, I got some archery practice in but was happy to not have any more work to do because it was getting quite hot out. Next trip down I will have the girls in tow. Mom and dad will be down with their camper too so we will all get to enjoy a weekend of camping together. 

Getting some summer practice in

Finishing Touches on the Cabin

After a very successful remodel of the cabin interior, it was time to give the outside of the cabin some love. I headed down June 5 - 7 with the goal of staining and sealing the wood siding to put the finishing touches on the cabin remodel. I have not done anything with the cabin exterior since we purchased the property 8 years ago and the wood siding was starting to look pretty sad. Last trip, I power washed the outside of the cabin to prep it for sealing. 

Cabin before

Another problem that we have been having is carpenter bees boring into the wood siding.While they don't really pose a danger to humans, they are very aggressive and are slowly destroying my siding. Although I hate to kill pollinators, I used some tempo dust in all of the holes to kill off the bees and nests before using wood putty to fill the holes. I managed to get a 1st coat on the front and East side of the cabin on Friday evening before dark. I finished the rest and applied a 2nd coat on Saturday morning and I think it turned out great!

Finished product

In addition to the applying the stain/sealer, I removed the old satellite dish, security camera mount, and rotted out antlers that the previous owner had installed. I replaced those things with a new sign that dad had made. 

After getting things cleaned up, I hooked up the trail mower and got to work on mowing all of the ATV trails as well as the clover food plots on the ridge, big field, and small field.

Big Field clover more than knee high

Big field clover mowed off

The ATV trails were starting to get a lot of overhanging growth as well so I took my pole chainsaw and pruners to trim everything back. I also had to clean up a few downed tree branches on the trails and ended up clearing out an old ATV loop and connecting trail on the north end to add a couple hundred more yards of trail to ride. 

ATV trails all trimmed and mowed

After cooking supper, I spent some time riding the ATV just for fun before taking a well needed shower and heading to be early. On Sunday morning, I got an early start as I worked on trimming back the trees and brush along the drive behind the cabin. I also trimmed back some overhanging branches along the woods that making mowing more difficult. After that, I got to work on the mowing and also sprayed Clethodim to knock back the grasses that were growing in the Soybean food plot. 

The food plots are all doing very well as we have had consistent rain throughout the spring. I think it was also a benefit to get them in nearly a month earlier than I do most years to take advantage of that rain. The garden isn't doing great as I had no luck with the sweet corn or potatoes but I do have several pumpkin and zucchini plants growing. 

Pumpkins up and growing

Trimming brush behind the cabin

Lots of apples and pears growing this year

Clover in the cabin plot is growing very well