I tried to post this last Wednesday but obviously it didn’t work and I am too lazy to piss around with it to rewrite it.  WP fucked up…or more likely it was me.  Hopefully I’ll have the latest saga written up and posted (properly) before we head out again this Thursday.  I hope y’all are well, I am trying to catch up, I miss your words.

I’m home…for a minute anyway.  I had a long ass day today and a short ass day tomorrow (that’s a lot of ass days but it all evens out) and then we’re headed back to la cabina.  We are almost ready to start on the roof…as soon as we get the necessary materials.  Every step of this construction is costing more than we originally projected and taking waaaay more time.  I thought we’d be living in it by now but even once the roof is on we have to do the insulating, build the staircase, put on vapour barrier and do flooring and walls all before I can paint.  I want to get to the fun stuff NOW dammit!!

The building looks pretty cool.  It looks like a two story box that someone cut the diagonal off the top.  That probably makes no sense.  I was going to post a photo of it but I want to wait until it’s done and then post the whole process from moving the trailer out to moving in to the cabin.  I can’t wait to decorate!!  I like the idea of something beachy with wainscoting and light colored laminate flooring.  Is that cliche?  Should I be more daring?  Any suggestions?  Someone at the lake thought maybe I should make it all pretty and inviting but I don’t really want to attract people so I might just have to paint a big skull on the side, mount some cannons and maybe fly a Jolly Roger.  “Aaaaargghhh!  Fuck off ye landlubbers this here barge be mine and me don’t take kindly to bein’ plundered.”…at least not by just any old pirate.  

Perhaps the heat is getting to me, I am so not used to it.  I am not complaining about the weather (surprise!?!) but it does not surprise me that the he two hottest days of the year and I am stuck in a small unventilated room with a buncha hairy women.  Nice.  The story of my life.

I was going to post last night but I opted for spending some time with someone hairy and sweaty who I enjoy naked and who doesn’t have to pay me…most of the time.  Contrary to what one might think, the Bluebird Hilton is not the most discreet place to play naughty school girl and the bus driver.  The shocks are gone and I don’t think it’s very level because the slightest motion makes the whole thing move.  Seriously, if the bus is a rockin’, I’m probably just brushing my teeth.  There have been too many people around lately for us to make the most of the motion but this weekend it appears as though we’ll have some time alone so perhaps we’ll have to take a turn on the picnic table…or better yet christen the cabin!!  

We’re never really alone on the island, we share our patch of dirt with a tribe(?!) of fairly rare critters.  They are called Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels and they are like mutant chipmunks.  Apparently these little guys are only found in certain forested areas of North America but I have never seen them anywhere but on our island…not that I have been everywhere in North America…or anywhere at all really.  For all I know these things are everywhere.  

We have always taken peanuts (unsalted of course) to the lake every spring and keep a steady supply to feed to our fine furry friends.  I remember my grandpa putting the nuts on his cap so the ‘chippers’ would climb atop his head for the treats,  Somewhere there is video footage of them taking peanuts from my mouth ”look ma, no rabies!”  I’ve been bitten, peed on and pooped on and while I am sure there must be something unsanitary to them nobody has ever gotten sick from the rodents, at least not as far as we know. 

For me these guys are better than TV, and y’all know I love my TV.  It takes some time for them to trust the two leggers but they seem to know that Mika is not a threat (last year I put peanuts between her toes and the squirrels came right up to her to steal them).  I’ll be more careful not though as my mutt has recently taken to eating the peanuts herself which makes me wonder if she’ll develop a taste for the squirrels since I imagine they have a bit of a peanut buttery flavour.  I watch these little guys a lot and I have learned to identify which is which and have often named my favorites.  There was one with half a tail (they are pretty mild mannered creatures but they can get very vicious with each other over food and territory) who I call Stubby, last year there was “Al Pacino”, he had scars all over his face and this year my favorite is “Vinnie” the amputee.  We’ve seen some seriously battered beasties but none who have suffered a battle wound like his.  Vincent (as in Van Gogh) has only one ear.  It is not uncommon to see bits of ear missing but Vinnie has lost it all…apparently there is a Mike Tyson in the pack too!  The mono eared dude has been fairly elusive all summer, he’s a little skittish (understandably) and it has only been the last few days that he has been making regular appearances at our site.  I save the good shit for Vin, oh sure he gets nuts but he also gets watermelon, celery and carrots.  He’s not quite eating out of my palm yet, like this one…

But at least he finally let me take his picture.

Speak up!

I love him.  I want to keep him.  Yeah, yeah I know it would be wrong blah blah blah but I know I could give him a better life.  I could teach him how to sign and I am pretty sure that if they can grow a human ear on the back of a mouse then they should be able to grow a ground squirrel ear too!!  My heart breaks for Vinnie, I am sure the other squirrels tease him and how is he supposed to find a mate when males in general have enough trouble listening when they have all of their auditory faculties in tact.

Ok ok before I officially become the crazy squirrel lady I have one more tail (har har) to tell.

My cousin’s wife is about as bright as a three watt bulb and about as sharp as a marshmallow but she thinks she knows everything.  Last weekend she saw Stubby (the chipper with half a tail) and she told us not to worry because it would grow back.  We looked at her stunned.  “Really!” she insisted, “When I was little I tried to grab one by the tail and I pulled it right off.  I told my grandma I was just petting it and the tail fell off.  My grandmother told me that  when they lose their tails they always grow back.”  

Riiiight, if they’re LIZARDS!!

This from the chick who says she has ‘eagle ears’!

Ok, one more photo before I go.  Is it any wonder why I love this place?!

if I could marry a view it would be this one