Dockside---

I had a bit of an idea to make more of a 'dock' down by the lake. It was kicked into motion when some friends visited. Janet got me supplies and God sent the sunny day, so I got to work.

 One of the tires got away from me and rolled down the hill. Oddly, I made a ringer!!! 

 Once the tires were in place, I headed up to work on the 'hard' part.

 Pallet from Janet. I trimmed a bit off here and there with hammer, small pry bar, pliers, and bow saw. I was pretty impressed with how it turned out!

 I was going to line it with plastic (we have some left over from when the basement fiasco happened), but forgot pallets have a spine. So, I worked around it.

 This was the worst part. I had a piece of foam from when I made the first pallet 'dock' a few years ago. I also had a sawzall back then and it was a hundred times more efficient than a bow saw. I recall using a hand saw one other time, but could not find it ANYWHERE! These little styro bits are horrid. Thankfully, it was not windy, so I could work in the garage with the door open (also good as the place is still without power!) and I was able to collect most of the white bits. Such a mess and so very bad for the environment.

 I stuffed the pieces in the pallet and covered them with the plastic, hammered the ends on and it looked pretty good! Huzzah-  (hmmm, The pieces in the pallet are protected by the plastic. I think I need to watch 'Court Jester' again!!)

 I carted it down to the lake and placed it firmly on the tires. It fit on a portion of one already placed and one of the newer tires. I like having an extra one, but maybe I can get another pallet..although, there really isn't much of the foam block left!

 It is going to be a perfect place to sit in the sunshine or at night to watch the stars and northern lights.

 
 After 8pm, I decided to go out and see how it 'worked' with the kayak. It was nice to have a place to put things while I was getting in and out. I think it was a good idea and I'm very thankful for the push to put it together and the sunny day in which to do it! The lake is still really shallow, but more rain is expected, so please, God, let the lake keep rising!

Mom's Kayak

I had a wonderful adventure on the lake at mum's on Thursday. I was able to take the kayak out and glide across the waters I once played on. I think this squirrel was laughing at me during parts of it, but I didn't care!

 As you can see, there was still ice on mum's side of the lake. The rest of it is clear and COLD. I managed to kayak over the ice into the open water and on my way back, I broke it up so I'd have a path--which is sort of a moot point now. It's all clear today!

 I always wanted to have a house on this knoll. Mum's is around the bend and the house across the lake is almost even with this bend. We didn't have neighbor's when we were kids.

 I found a note in a bottle seeking help--mum said it was one of the kids across the lake. I am going to go back and put a note in it from me!

 Mum's house from the lake.

 I was very excited to see lily pads growing. I love spring!

 Here the kayak and I are moving through some broken ice. It made the neatest noise as I glided past the chunks.

 And the chunks were large! You can see how rotten the ice was, even if it was thick.

 The most difficult part of being in a kayak is exiting it. Yup, I stepped out carefully and then filled my rubber boot with ice cold melt water. Definitely not one of my finer moments--but I laughed! I can't wait to go out again.