Nice Weather for a Change

Well spring has finally come to Northern Michigan, at least on the eastern side of the tip of the mitt. We have had very nice days of late. But with the nice weather comes the bugs. In late spring and early summer in the north country the bugs are something to be concerned about. We have the ants like you get ion the north east but along with the no-sseums we get BLACK FKIES. Black flies bite, and they come by the hundreds. People ( 100 years ago) who worked in the woods, have died from black fly bites. Some people like our gardener react badly form their bite. The swelling and itching can be overpowering. Bug dope and the proper attire are all you can do to endure them. Or you can do what I do and find an indoor project to do, like updating this blog.

The pictures are of our gardener and the other is of Wall the Wizard. Wally was a "Art Walk" purchase last fall. He spent the winter on our entrance way deck and was moved to his summer home when I needed to pressure walk the deck. Michigan U. ams should like the colors, Michigan State fans..........not so much. We Penn State fans could care less either way.

A few weeks ago we were in the U.P. and met Wally's creator. He is a very interesting carver and has done some very impressive work. I will find his website and edit this post to include it later. Right now I have to go bring in the feeders before Gentle Ben comes a-calling. He was here checking things out Saturday morning about 2 am by the camera clock.
Ok I think I fixed the slide show. One would expect a cut and paste operation to go without a hitch.
Remember...click on the pictures to see larger versions.