June 12th/2005

I missed the opening ceremonies for the Haileybury Summer Market at the harbour front on June 10th/2005. The Haileybury Summer Market is held every Friday, from 5 pm to 8 pm. during the summer season. I wanted to see the wide variety of arts and crafts and specialty goods that are there on display and are for sale. For live entertainment, they had Mark Bradford and Kelly Ouimet playing their music. I thank the person who had left a can of 6 inch spiral nails on top of the blue dumpster by my place. These nails will go to good use to nail down the logs for the dock on the Island. Thank you for your kindness. This week-end, I hope to make the walkway from the dock to the shore. I also must try to clear most of the rocks around the docking area so people's boats will not get damaged by hitting any rocks on the bottom. Pontoon boats will find it easy to dock here, as long as they do not forget to hoist up their outboard motor shaft before they come too close to the dock or warf. I still have some trees to cut up that the bever had cut down. I will try to use the tobagan to stack the cut-up logs on and drag it to the woodpile. It may be eaiser than carrying each individual log one at a time and may save me many trips to the woodpile. I still have a little ways to cut through the bush that will connect Lookout Point trail with Enchanted Forest trail. If I can get all these things done this week-end, I will consider it good progress on the project. Later; I would like to try to get that big tee-pee set up. It will make a good camping place for people. I do not know when I will takle that East trail. I have to go through heavly dense underbrush and bush to make the East trail and tie it in with Bever House trail. With all this rain, it will help get those flower bulbs and seeds to germinate and produce shoots to come through the soil. I wounder what it will look like when all the flowers are in bloom? I will just have to wait and see.

June 20th/2005

This weekend I managed to make the walkway for the dock to the shore. I had to retrieved two long logs from the mainland shore which had drifted upon its shore. I managed to drag these into the water and tie a rope around them and tow the logs to the dock on the Island. Once I got these in position, I went about around the Island, looking for suitable driftwood that would make the walkway. These I loaded into the canoe and took them to the dock. Two canoe loads was needed to make the walkway. I managed to nail some of these logs down with the nails I had on hand. Looking at the dock now, the walkway could stand another 5 or 7, 4-5 inch thick logs. Well; Since I had no more nails, I'll gather these extra needed logs when I have more nails with me. While I was already wet, wading in the water to construct the walkway, I decided to clear some of the larger rocks around the docking area. There are still some rocks I would like to remove. But I can do only do this when the water level of the lake goes down a bit. After that job, I hung my sneakers and wet clothes out to dry and put on some dry clothing. After lunch, coffee and a cigarette, I decided to tackle the gather-up the logs to the woodpile job. I used the toboggan to stack up the cut-up logs and drag these to the woodpile. It is a lot better than carrying one log at a time to the woodpile. I still have to cut up those large tree trunks that are lying around where the Teepee campsite is. The other trees that the beaver had cut down, those which are slimmer, I can use these to make some picnic tables. The trail that connect Lookout Point trail with Enchanted Forest trail has finally been done. I will have to gather and burn all that rubble brush that I have stacked in places along the trails. I can walk from the boat landing to the tent-cabin where Lookout Point trail begins and walk along the trail northward to the head of the Island. Then continue on around the point to Enchanted Forest trail where the twisted-up trees are around and continue on to Short-cut trail that is about midway on the Island that leads back across to the tent-cabin. This may sound like a long trail but one can walk it in just a few minuets. After all, we are talking about the Island, which is only a small island. East trail still has to be cut-out that will go around the southern tip of the Island and connect to Beaver House trail. I will have to go through some real very heavy brush to make this East trail. I think I will save this work for the fall season when the weather is not so hot and there are no biting insects around. Looking at what I had accomplished, all in all, a lot got done this weekend. I think the next project I would like to tackle is the camping area where the big Teepee will be set up. The ground work has to be done, and I need to find and cut suitable young trees to make the long poles for the teepee.

June 24th, 2005

Got my gear into the canoe and was on my way to the Island by 9.AM. Already the day was hot and humid by the time I got the canoe down to the lake. After arriving to the Island, I unpacked my gear to settle in. I figured that I would need quite a few long poles to make the teepee. I looked about the Island for those trees that would make the poles, but they were not to be had. So I took to the canoe and surveyed the mainland shoreline for such trees that would serve for the teepee poles. These had to be slim, tall and straight. To my great surprise, I found a bunch of these trees that had no foliage on them. I went ashore to investigate. I was able to knock one of these trees very easily just by pushing on it. It cracked at the base of the tree and I found them to be dry and very light. I managed to find eight of these trees within the general area. I trimmed the branches and carried these down to the shoreline. Then I lassoed them together with a rope and towed them to the Island. I got most of the dead bark off the trees and tied three of these poles together. After three tries, I finally got it up to form a huge tripod. Then I spread the poles equally apart to form the general shape of a teepee. Then I added the remaining five poles to it. When I got that done, I figured that I would need at least four more poles to give the teepee its final shape. But that would have to wait for another day. This teepee has a circumference of ten feet at its base. Plenty room to sleep seven adults if one did not mind being too choosy. All in all, I thought that I had done a pretty good job for a guy who had never built a teepee before. I cooked some supper and listen to the radio. Tomorrow was going to be another hot day.

June 25th, 2005

This morning I knew that I had to find four more trees to make the poles I needed for the teepee. After breakfast, I set out to the mainland shoreline right across from the Island and landed on a small sandy beach. Going through the bushy, rocky terrain, I had found quite a few trees that had been knocked down by the wind. These trees were on a rocky ledge where its roots could not run deep into the ground. I picked the four best trees that would make the poles I needed and proceeded to cut the tree from its root system. After having trimmed the branches off, I carried these trees to the water edge. The I bundled these up and lassoed them together with a rope and towed them to the Island. Once back to the Island, I took the axe and made sure that the poles was smooth so that when I am ready to put the tarp on, it would not snag and damage the tarp. By now, it was around lunch time so I headed back to the tent cabin. When I got back to camp, I noticed that the cloths line was down. I investigated it and found that the polyurethane rope had compleatly decomposed that it broke apart with the least effort. The strong rays of the sun had done the job. I remember that I had tied the three poles together for the teepee, with the same kind of rope. If the sun rays get on it, it would decompose as had the clothesline and the teepee would come crashing down. That would not do, so I decided after lunch, I would have to retie the top of the teepee where the poles crosses over, and retie these with a fabric rope. I shimmied up one of the teepee poles and wrapped the rope three times around the whole bundle of poles. Satisfied with the job, I also tied a feather on a string to one of the outriggers to act as a wind indicator. Then I shimmied back down. Now I was more at ease about that fibre rope. It would not easily be effected by the sun's rays as the polyurethane rope . I hope that it would last for a good while. Then I cut up some green bowels that bend without breaking and formed the circular entrance of the teepee. With that job done, I decided to cut up the huge tree that the beaver had cut down and use these for people's seating area around the campfire pit. Now the teepee is ready for its covering. I will probably use a plastic tarp for the teepee skin. At least it would be wind and rain proof. I will have to make a paper model teepee when I get back home to figure out how I need to cut the tarp to fit this teepee. I spent a quiet evening reading a book and spent the last hour before going to bed, listening to the radio.

June 27th, 2005

Today I will just cut the overgrowth that had grown on the trails. I do not plan to do too much today. I just want to rest and take it easy. I took the canoe out and motored alomg the mainland shoreline to see if I could find another automobile tire to match the one I had found which had drifted along the shore near Mill Creek. I had used that tire as a bumper for the dock, and I still need one more tire to finish the job. I followed the shoreline from Haileybury to Bucke Park, but I could not find any tire. So I went back to the Island and had an early lunch. By one thirty in the afternoon, I packed up my gear and loaded the canoe for my return home to Haileybury before the weather changes. It is calling for strong winds, rain and a thunderstorm for the afternoon. When I got to the Haileybury boat ramp, I saw George Weston putting up a sign about the early history of this spot that was known as the "Entrence Winter Road". You can read about this historic Winter Road Entrence location in the "Interesting Facts" section of this web site.

Fri. July 1st./ 2005

On this Canada Day I reflected upon the people who make up the nation of Canada. A people that had come from various cultures brought together by fate to make a home upon this land. A people of various cultures and of great divergence in political and religious beliefs which has moulded the nation of Canada to become the people we have become. Yet, through it all, despite those differences, it is what has moulded our nation and kept our people and nation together under the one flag, the Maple Leaf. Oh Canada, you are a land where people are free to achieve their dreams and develop their full potentional to make a better life for themselves. A nation where its people share a common bond with each other, that is of wanting to be happy and having the best that life has to offer for ourselves and for our fellow human beings. Today, I can only say that I am glad and forever humbly greatful to be a Canadian, to be a part of this grand nation, this Canada. Happy Canada Day, fellow Canadians.

On this day, I also, unfortunately, reflected about how our nation is ever increasingly moving towards the global New World Order system in which Canada will loose its national independence, as will other nations, and be radically altered and controlled by outside forces. Much of our freedoms, privacy and choices we make in life, will be greatly limited by the powers that be. They will create and bring with it a calamitous new age.

Sat. July 2nd /2005

I had returned to the Island to measure the teepee so that I can get the right size of tarp to cover it. I did not have a measuring tape with me when I had first set up the teepee poles, so I did not know its exact dimensions. After I get the tarp on the teepee, I can then paint the First Nation clan symbols on the teepee to represent the various First Nation people within our local region. I think it will be something to view as people pass by the western side of the island in their boats. It will also be an excellent camping spot for people to camp there.

What the teepee and the outhouse (in the background) will look like at this camping spot.

I have found a good location for the outhouse which people will be able to use while camping at this camp site. It is close by the teepee so people will not have to wander too far off in the brush from the teepee during the night. I cleared the area of the brush and dug the pit. Then I constructed the base of the outhouse over the pit. I inclosed the base and installed a toilet seat and set up the four poles that will make up the walls and roof of the outhouse. I will use driftwood that abound the shoreline to make the wall, door and roof of the outhouse. But I could not go any further constructing the outhouse because I ran out of nails. I have to obtain more nails to compleat the landing dock and the outhouse. That night I could not get any sleep because of those pesky mosquitoes. Usually, there are very few mosquitoes found on the Island during the summer months. But because of the rains and high water mark on the lake, it has turned the southern part of the Island, where it is very low, almost at lake level, it is now a swampy area that is a breeding ground for the pesky mosquitoes. I had no Deet or House & Garden bug killer on hand and the mosquitoes had a fine feast on my body. So far, I see no sign of any flower buds coming through the ground from the windflower seeds I had planted. They should be popping up from the ground by now. Well, time will tell if these flowers will ever come up and flourish to show their bright colours this summer. I am beginning to think that the windflower seeds I had planted have not germinated or taken root.

Sun. July 3rd/ 2005

I was still fighting off the mosquitoes as dawn was comming on. I got out of bed and made some coffee. I wanted a cigareet but I found out that I had forgotten to bring along my tub of tabacoo. Being that I could not do any more work on the teepee, outhouse or the landing dock, I decided to head back into town. I loaded my gear into the canoe and headed back to my appartment in Haileybury. Once I got back to my appartment, I made some coffee, had a smoke and then promptly went to bed to catch up on my inteurrupted, much delayed sleep. The big Teepee on the Island will need a tarp size of 14X40 ft to cover it. It would be nice to have one white tarp to cover the entire teepee, but I do not have the money to buy it. Instead, I will have to try and gather enough pieces of tarps to cover the entire teepee and then sew these together. I have a 10x20 ft tarp I can donate to the project, but it will take more tarps to fully cover the teepee. Once the teepee cover is made, I will have to paint it white to make it look like the real thing. This coming weekend, my only plan is to work on the outhouse. I can gather suitable pieces of three inch thick driftwood from the mainland shore and use these for the walls, the roof and the door for the outhouse. I have received some four inch nails that should do the job. I hope it will be enough to compleat the outhouse. The weather forecast calls for hot, sunny weather during the entire weekend. I must also see if I can get another old car tire, to go with the other one which I had used as a bumper for the landing dock. If I get all this done, I'll be a happy camper.

Fri. July 8th. 2005

Left my apartment on a sunny, hot, Friday morning to go to the Island to work on the outhouse and cover the teepee with the 10x20 ft. blue tarp that I had on hand. I picked up from Herb's Pro hardware store a can of House & Garden bug spray and a bottle of insect repellent. After I got to the Island, I started working on the outhouse. I went along the mainland shoreline, picking up suitable driftwood for the outhouse walls and roof. These I loaded into the canoe and transported them to the boat landing where the teepee is located. I had to make three trips to get all the wood I needed for the outhouse. I built the walls of the outhouse 3/4 of the way up, attached a roof and put some waterproof covering over the roof to prevent the rain from wetting the inside of the outhouse. Then I ran out of nails so I could not carry on with the outhouse. After I had rested and had a something to eat, had a couple cups of coffee and a cigarette, I got the blue tarp out to see how I would fit it over the teepee. I had tried fitting the blue tarp, this way and that way, always keeping in mind on how it will look on the teepee. I had tried various ways of putting the tarp on the teepee, until I found which was the best way to do it, that will cover as much of the teepee as possible with what I had. By now it was late in the evening and I called it a day. I sprayed the tent-cabin with the House & Garden bug spray to kill any mosquito that may be lingering around. I want to make sure that I will be able to get some sleep tonight. Boy, was it ever hot today.

Sat. July 9th. 2005

Woke up to a cool morning. Last night I had no problem getting any sleep. There were no pesky mosquitos around to feed on me. After breakfast, I worked on the teepee until 11 AM. Then I changed my clothes and went into Haileybury to get some much needed nails for the outhouse and the landing dock. I picked up from Herb's Pro hardware store some four inch nails, I still had some money left over so I bought some CC batteries for the radio and a white tarp for the teepee. Hopefully, the blue and white tarp will cover most of the teepee. By the time I had finished my shopping, it was close to noon. While waiting to see if Chris will be down with his canoe, I saw a sign for a yard sale close by, right next door to the Bayport Village which are lakeside townhouses that overlooks the Haileybury Marina, so I went up to see if there was anything there that I could use for the Island. While speaking to Val and Jean, the people who were having the yard sale, I came across some hand tools, mostly in rusty condition, and wanted to buy these for the tent-cabin. Val let me have those hand tools for nothing, given the work that I was doing on the Island. Jean and Val came to Haileybury from Gowganda. Jean, Val's husband, is a part-time trapper. Val and Jean are really nice and good people. We had a good talk about trapping and the bush life until I noticed that the time had passed by so quickly. It was around one o'clock by now and I had not seen Chris, so I had to get back to the Island. I said my farewell to Val and Jean and headed back to the canoe. They will bring the children to the Island for a picnic or spend some time fishing and camping. When I arrived back to the Island, it was so hot inside the tent-cabin, more like a hothouse or greenhouse, that I just grabbed something ready to eat and had my lunch outside in the shade where it was cool. After lunch I worked on the outhouse and fitted the white tarp to the teepee. I had never built a teepee before this, so the teepee looked real fine to me. I took the canoe out and paddled out to the mainland shore to see how the teepee and camping place looked from there. I must say, it looked pretty impressive. Any boat passing by the western side of the Island would not help notice this teepee. All I need to do now is to get and fit a piece of white tarp to cover the back of the teepee. I also need to fit and make the vent wings, then sew all the pieces together. I had just taped the tarp together with duck tape to keep it all in place. I need to get some very strong thread for this job. Roland is going to give me some strong thread that he has on hand. Roland is a friend who had also given me a machete to help me blaze a trail through some heavy dense bush I had to go through. That reminds me, I still have to make the East trail and finish Beaver House trail. All this in very, very dense bush. All in all, I think I had done plenty for one day.

Sun. July 10th. 2005

Today turned out to be another very hot day. I spent the day working on the dock by driving nails to hold fast the walkway. I also made some wooden cleats for boats to tie on to. The day got extremely hot that it sapped all of the strength right out of me. I then got into the water to cool off and removed any more rocks I could find leading to the dock that might damage a boat hull. When I had finished that job, I then went over to the boat landing where the teepee camp site is located and cleared the area of any rocks that might damage a boat hull. I worked out clearing rocks up to waist deep water. A runabout boat can now run up to the shore safely without damaging the hull. What rocks that are on the bottom, they are flat and even with the ground. Having cooled off, I then worked on the front of the outhouse and trimmed the logs so they looked even. All I have to do now is make a door for the outhouse. I need to make a door frame and then nail some sticks on it. Then fasten this onto the door post with some cut rubber strips from an old auto tire and use these for hinges. But all this will have to wait because I have no more nails and no more money to buy some.

Mon. July 11th. 2005

This morning started to get hot early in the day. Inside the tent-cabin, it was already getting so hot despite the door and windows were open. I took one of the blankets and lined the inside roof with it to retard or stem the heat from coming into the tent-cabin. But to do that, I would have to cover the entire roof. I did not have enough blankets to do that. The only job that I could do for now is to hack through the dense bush to make up East Trail or work on the Beaver House trail, but it was just too hot to do it now. I could also gather some driftwood for the picnic tables I want to make after I finish the work on the teepee. But then again, it was just too hot of a day for getting into that kind of work. I remember that the weather forecaster had said that it would get even hotter in the afternoon. I decided to just pack up my things and head back to Haileybury. I still have to haul my canoe and gear to my apartment. I thought that I had better do this while the going was good before it got too hot in the day to do it. These past few days were the hottest days we had so far. I would not mind if we got a little rain to cool things off a might. All in all, it was a pretty good weekend despite the very hot weather. So far, every time I had been coming to work on the Island, it was during the weekend. Right at the very same time when most people can only get out to visit the Island. Next week, I will change my work schedule where I do volunteer work at the Haileybury Heritage Museum to the weekend and work on the Island during the week day when most people are busy working at their jobs. That will leave the Island free for people during the weekends. I am sure that people will feel more at ease to explore the Island and use the facilities that are there when I am not around.

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The weather cooled down somewhat so I went to the Island to work on the teepee. I spent the time sewing the tarp that cover the teepee and added the vent wings to it. All that is left is to get a piece of tarp for the back and for the door. I will get this done when I have some spare money to buy another sheet of tarp. Oh; I still have to make a door for the outhouse at the teepee location. But the tent-cabin and teepee can be used as a camping place right now. My next project is to make some picnic tables at key locations. I will have to gather a lot of driftwwod that are along the shore to make these picnic tables. I do not think that there will be any flowers blooming this summer from the wildflower seeds that I had planted. I must find out what went wrong and try again next spring. Next time I go to the Island, I will take my artist paints and paint the various Algonquin clan symbols on the teepee. On the teepee door, when I get it done, I think I will paint the Matis flag on it to represent the Matis people who played a big part in the opening up and helped in the developement of the North.

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Monday turned out to be a real hot day. I had left home this morning at 7 AM to go to the Island to spend some time there. The water was dead calm and I had an easy passage in the canoe. Passing Grant's place, the construction is coming along fine from what I can see. The construction crew are working on the second half of Grant's place, making and pouring the wall forms on top of the foundation base. It is going to be a very large place compared to the homes around this area. I wounder what Grant's place will be like when the construction is completed? Time will tell. After I had arrived to the Island and had put my gear away, I made a cup of coffee and I found a note on the little table beside the bunk. It was from people who had visited the Island. I hope that Susie & Lee will return to the Island and do a little camping at the tent-cabin or teepee. I had recived many good comments from people who had come to the Island and left their notes. They all like the the Island Botanical Park idea. I must one day gather all the notes I had recived from people who had come to the Island and post their comments on this section of my Haileybury web site. I also pondered what was the first thing that I was going to tackle this morning, the teepee door or finish the outhouse. I choose the teepee door. After I had my coffee, I set about looking for straight, narrow, flexible branches to make the circular frame of the teepee door. The first set of branches broke when I had tried to bend them. They were too thick, I think. So I gathered another set of branches that were flexible enough to do the job. These I cut and bound them together to form a sort-of oblong loop to fit the teepee doorway. Then I sewed onto this loop, the piece of tarp that I had used for my "Jean's Art Studio" sign some time ago. Now it would make a perfect covering for the teepee doorway. Once that was done and I had fitted it in place. Then I had some lunch which consisted a Pam sandwich and a cup of coffee. After lunch, I got some soapy water and some steel wool and scrubed the Jean's Art Studio sign off the now door for the teepee. With that done, I went about to gather more driftwood for the outhouse. I still had to enclose the front part of the outhouse where the doorway is to be. I also had to get two good stout, straight logs for the doorway. By evening, I had collected what I needed. I had also installed the two stout, straight logs that would frame the doorway. After supper, I had a coffee and sat on the dock, listening to the radio as I watched the sun set. It had been a fine day all around. Tuesday morning was very warm and a bit hazy. After breakfast, I set about to enclose the front of the outhouse. I cut up the driftwood into short pieces and nailed these to the outhouse. By noon, I could hear the roar of thunder that was not very far away. It came from the direction of New Liskeard. Shure enough it started to rain, lightly at first, all the while lightening and the sound of thunder coming closer to the Island. I gathered up my things and headed to the tent-cabin.

The wind started to pick up suddenly that the lake turned into a wild raging sea as the wind grew stronger. I can see the trees swaying and bending under the force of the wind. It seemed like all hell broke loose in this tempest. Then the rain came pouring down like someone using a water hose on the tent-cabin. The sound of rain was that loud in the tent-cabin that I could no longer hear the radio next to me. Boy, this is shure on heck of a storm. The rain continued all through the night. Wednesday morning, it was still raining, but the storm had passed by without any damage to the tent-cabin or teepee. That was a wounder, given how strong the wind had blown yesterday. I put some wood in the wood stove and lit it because it felt damp and clammy in the tent-cabin. The warm dry heat cheered me up quite a bit. I just spent the morning cleaning up and reading while drinking coffee and smoke a few cigarettes. Buy 10 AM the rain had let up for now. The weather forecaster is calling for more thunder storms throughout the day. So I decided to pack up my gear and head back to Haileybury. No sense staying here if I can not do any work around here. I left a note to Susie & Lee in the hope that they might return to the Island. I loaded my gear into the canoe, after I had bailed out the flood of water that was in it, and made my way to the Haileybury Marina. The weather is kinda foggy and the lake is still choppy as a misty rain is falling down. When I got to the boat ramp, I unloaded the canoe and got the canoe on its carriage, loaded the canoe with my gear and walked home, canoe in tow behind me. Boy, that was some thunder storm we had the other day. But all had turned out well in the end. I had plans to make a Botanical Park to place flower rock planters along the Island shoreline and along the various trails in key locations. To have picnic tables at the north and south end of the Island for people to use. Make a large tee-pee at the south end of the Island. The tee-pee represents the first Nation People during the early years of the area. People will be able to use the tee-pee or my tent-cabin to use as a camp. I also hope to install a coin- operated field glass like they have at Niagra Falls at Lookout Point where people may have a close-up view of Haileybury, New Liskeard and Notre-Dame du Nord. Have outhouses for the public to use at the north, and south end of the Island. And something for the little children, like installing a miniature dwarf village as the Enchanted Forest. Lastly, make a docking wharf for boats on the western side of the Island. This project I believe will take me five years to compleat. I hope to really get started on this project next spring when I will be on my retirement pention and move to the Island so that I can dedicate my full time on it. Most people whom I have talked about it, at least here in Haileybury, seem to like the idea for the Island. It would also be nice for school outings as part of their education on local history, on wild flowers and horticulture, or to just have a fun day on the Island.