Canada Part III: By land, by air... now by water

No angels or trumpets sounded from on high to welcome us, just a light breeze, water lapping at the rocks, and lots and lots of silence...that is until an unsuspecting soul let one go (the word "one" here refers to a smallish fart that I am sure surprised it's owner, not that I would know about that) as they grunted to pick up a load to be carried from the dock to the cabin.  Welcome to heaven.


For the next 12 days, our home would be a rustic cabin on Fiart Island, approximately 3 acres in size (the island, not the cabin).

Fiart Island.  It takes up the width of this photo, but the
trees in the background make it difficult to discern between
the mainland and the island...but you get the picture
(pun intended).

A closer look.  This photo was from last summer.  The
water level was about 3 feet lower on this trip we just
returned from.  We were "climbing" in and out of the boats

The island consists of a cabin (made from real, locally harvested trees) with a screened in front porch, open living room/dining room/card room kitchen area, 4 walled off bedrooms big enough to have a bunk bed and turn around in, and a bathroom with running water (toilet, sink, and shower) that was added after the cabin was built.  A number of what you might call out buildings...a solar shed (recently converted from a gasoline shed), generator shed, motor/gas shed, and a tool shed.  The last and one of my favorite places to collect my thoughts is the North Star.

The North Star.  Before indoor plumbing,
this was your place of business and still
is for the purist.

The view from the North Star.  I'd like to
think of this spot as the origin of my many
epiphany (or would that be epiphanies, or
epiphani?).

Mik did her part to help conserve on the
septic system too.
I've never been more proud!

Adorning one of the walls of the North Star
is this piece of mid 20th century artwork
which no self-respecting outhouse would
be without.

Here are a couple of photos showing the dining area and kitchen.  I dug into the archives for these pictures, I have some others showing the upgrades you'll see in future entries.

Between the electric lights over the table are two gas
lights.  They are still used on occasion. 

Cooking time brings crowded conditions, at least
until this last trip (more on that to come).

The bedrooms all have second generation wooden bunk beds that replaced the original squeaky metal ones.  A small dresser houses your clean clothes and your over worn, fish smelling pants and rain gear (among other things) hang from the many hooks lining the wall.

I was on top of Miki...oh come on!
Keep it out of the gutter.

You can see Miki left me a couple of hooks.
It is hard on a relationship to always be the
one giving and giving and giving.
I didn't mean to air our laundry, my bloggist apologies.

There is a burn barrel for paper products, a filleting table, and an outdoor cooking pit on the point in front of the cabin.

Here, Carol admires her husband's handy work with his
filet knife.  Bruce did much of the filleting of the Walleye
that were caught for our lunches.

Rodney and Greg were the open flame fry cooks.
Don't be fooled, their skills out weigh their appearance.

From the filet table, to the kitchen, to the
frying pan.  The results were nuggets of fresh
Walleye that were dipped in batter and fried
to a golden brown...quite tasty!

Our schedule, like our digs, was simple.  Get up, have a hearty breakfast, discuss the days events, go fishing til around 2, prepare and have fish for lunch, quiet time (ZZzzz...), fish a little more, dinner on your own, maybe fish a little more or recreation time (cribbage or a game of some sort), bedtime (dream of fishing).  With some variations, this is how heaven works.

To be continued...

My Zen from heaven:  You don't have to have a lot of things to be in heaven.  If your basic needs are met (fed, clothed, sheltered from the elements, feel loved and appreciated) then you are there.  I experience these during my short visits to Fiart.  You don't have to die to experience heaven.

I can't believe I just spewed all that... I am sooo close to having the MOST TOYS!