Fall Molt

 Moving the hens to their winter coop late has had consequences. The main reason we do it is to give them artificial light because they will stop laying with less than 14-hour days. I neglected to think of the other day length cue—molting. Many birds molt seasonally. Some do it to change to and from breeding colors. Others, including chickens, do it to replace worn and damaged feathers prior to winter's cold. Molting and lack of egg laying are two sides of the same coin. Hens have resources to grow new feathers or lay eggs, but not both. For most of September, day after day I’d find piles of feathers under the roost in the morning. Five of the eight hens looked more bedraggled by the day.

Silvia and Luella. Note Silvia's unkempt appearance and
downy feathers peeking through on Luella's chest.

Trudy is losing her characteristic bronze feathers with black edge. 
She is a golden Wyandott like Luella, above, and should look the same.

Goldie having a bad feather day

Close up of wing feathers growing in

Someone who (I suspect) spends too much time on the internet told me that molting is painful for chickens, and you shouldn’t pick them up while they are growing feathers. I was skeptical. I did some googling and found words like “sensitive,” which could be interpreted as painful, but how maladaptive would that be? Feathers are analogous to hair in mammals. Hair doesn’t hurt when it grows. I have observed my chickens preening constantly (poking at their skin and pulling their feathers through their beak). To me, it looks like molting itches, which would be annoying enough, certainly. Bad news—molting takes 8 to 12 weeks. We may not have extra eggs until Thanksgiving.

Frankie preening or scratching itches. Hard to tell

Lucky doesn’t molt. She’s too young. She’s grown into a pretty young lady. She is not showing any signs of getting ready to lay, more’s the pity.

Lucky

Her feathers are iridescent green when the sun hits at a certain angle. It doesn’t show up well in the picture, but it’s impressive in person.

Lucky's iridescent feathers

The silver Wyandotts also don’t seem to be molting, but I can’t explain why. They don’t look like they’re missing feathers.

The two silver Wyandotts, Dottie (left) and Bonnie

Right now, we get 0, 1 or 2 eggs a day. It takes more than a week to accumulate a dozen. I know for a fact that Goldie and Silvia are not laying as we have not gotten a blue egg in over a month. I think that only Bonnie and Dottie are laying. We seem to be getting only two kinds of eggs. One is normal and the other is an odd elongated shape. I don’t know which one lays which. For now, we’re just grateful for what we get.

Same breed, two egg colors and shapes. A mystery.

Boundary Waters Days 5 and 6

 On Thursday of vacation, we had eggs with stuff, fried corn and potatoes, and bacon. I hoped the julienned potatoes would take on a hashbrown-like presentation, but it turned out the julienned does not equal grated.

Breakfast

We finished breakfast at 11:30 and proceeded directly to Sydney’s for a Turtle Sundae lunch. The custard was smooth and lovely as usual. The caramel sauce was delicious. But they were low on hot fudge and what the server scraped off the bottom of the warmer pot was burned. The pecans were neither roasted nor salted. We were disappointed.

Jane eats a less-than-satisfactory turtle sundae

I took a bazillion pictures of the gulls on the beach trying to decide if they were ring-billed or herring. I think it might have been a mix. Some of the gulls definitely had a black stripe on their bills.

Ring-billed gulls?

We did some shopping, picking up our 2025 calendars from Betsy Bowan. We had leftover brats for supper with margaritas. After supper, we put together out last jigsaw, “Summer Gazebo.”

Summer Gazebo

Friday was a day to just unwind at the cabin. We had pancakes for breakfast and “smorgasbord” (eat what you can find) for the rest of the day. 

Last pancakes, last peach

It rained sometimes and misted sometimes. We were not inclined to go anywhere. We only left the cabin to pay our bill and book the first week in August next summer.

We packed. We slept. We drove home Saturday.

Boundary Waters, Day 4

 We started Wednesday, Aug. 7 with Eggs ‘n’ Stuff (garden fresh tomatoes, onion, green peppers) and bacon. The only bread we had was brat buns, which were excellent fried in butter.

Eggs 'n' Stuff

The main activity for the day was our annual visit to the Chik-Wauk Nature Center. They had a new exhibit this year—a trapping cabin down by the water. The trail was not exactly handicapped accessible. Jane got down okay, but there was a moment when we weren’t sure she would get back up. That first step was a doozy.

Trapper's cabin by the lake

The cabin excited my imagination. It was tiny, but had everything a man would need except social interaction. You’d have to be a loner to begin with to choose such a profession, and the isolation was likely to make you quirkier. I expect many of them were known as “characters.”

Inside of the cabin, spare, but adequate

Various traps hung on one wall along with a long board that might have been some kind of sled.

Traps

The room was heated by a cheaply-constructed, light-weight stove, according to a plaque. The trappers preferred them because (obviously) they were easier to transport to remote parts of the wilderness.

A typical but hazardous trapper's stove

The downside was that the stoves got wicked hot and tended to burn the shack down. There’s always a catch.

The cabin as displayed seemed to have adequate space to move around. I read the information about a trapper’s life and imagined what it would look like with pelts stacked everywhere. Furthermore, what would that smell like? Not good. A trapper could work all winter and have the whole stash go up in smoke from the tin-can stove. Tough life.

Before we left, we admired some tiny ferns at the side of the parking lot. Jane is fond of tiny ferns.

Tiny ferns growing on a hill

I made something new for supper that turned out very well. I sauteed a chicken breast with green beans, garlic, peppers, onion, and cherry tomatoes. Basil would have been a good addition, but it does not travel well. I threw in some cooked penne at the end.

Supper

After supper, we did the next jigsaw, “Colorful Harvest.”

"Colorful Harvest"

For dessert, we had scones with blueberry and peach compote. It was another lovely day.

Scones, blueberries, and peaches
(Don't be shocked by the plastic spoon. We've been using the same ones for years)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

 

I’ll get back to vacation blogging soon. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the last of the harvest is coming in. Kudos to me for picking the carrots before they split this year! I was pretty excited.

Perfect, not overgrown carrots, for once.

I only had one weird composite carrot this year, but it was a good one. Is Mr. Carrot walking to the right or the left? You decide.

Mr. Carrot hits his stride

I had to pull the beets too. They were not doing well in the heat. Their leaves were yellow and droopy. I thought it was only a matter of time before the roots started getting soft, so in they came. I made a big batch of borscht, one of Terry’s favorites. I didn’t meet to make such a large quantity, but it grew as I added more and more vegetables. It was enough for three meals, two of which are now in the freezer. The rest I canned as pickled beets.

Beet harvest

Goldenrod are blooming everywhere. Since I took these pictures, the New England asters have also flowered. These two are the last gasp of summer.

So much goldenrod!

The ironweed and great blue lobelia that I grew from seed finally bloomed! I’ve seen hummingbirds at the lobelia.

Ironweed

Ironweed, close up

Great Blue Lobelia

The partridge pea and wild senna seedlings also bloomed.

Partridge Pea

Wild senna, first year

The senna seedling is puny in comparison to the second year senna, which is over my head.

Wild Senna, second year

Last year’s cup plant also got very tall this year. I can hardly believe my efforts have been so successful. Now we wait to see if they start spreading.

Cup plant, second year

I found this awesome spider nearby, large and beautifully colored.

Big, beautiful spide

I was surprised to see boneset growing next to one of the plantings I did last year. I didn’t put it there. Build it, and they will come! I wonder what else will pop up unexpectedly as the ground recovers from years of corn and soy.

Boneset

 

Boundary Waters, Day 3

 

Tuesday, August 6.

Rain was in the forecast for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We felt it best to take our drive around Greenwood Lake today while the weather was nice.

I packed a lunch while Jane went to the Loon’s Nest Café for chocolate croissants. They had just come out of the oven when she got there and were still a little warm when she returned to the cabin. I love chocolate croissants!

We did not see much wildlife on our drive. We have not seen moose in several years, but Nancy, the outfitter, said that guests the week before had seen a cow moose and calf cross Hungry Jake Rd. the week before. All we saw was this ruffed grouse, tail spread and head feathers erect. Jane stopped the car so I could take pictures.

Grouse wearing a tiara

The grouse just stood there, and we just sat there, staring at each other. Suddenly a chick burst forth from the underbrush and scurried across the road. It did not wait around long enough for my camera to focus on it.

Baby grouse

We went back to staring at Mama Grouse. Another chick exploded from the side of the road and flew awkwardly to the other side. Then another, and another. Four all together. Finally, the mama moved off.

We saw a beaver lodge, but no beaver.

Beaver lodge

Happily, our favorite campsite on Esther Lake was unoccupied. We sat at the picnic table and had a leisurely lunch, enjoying the view of the lake and the exceptionally pleasant weather.

"Our" campsite at Esther Lake

I explored the back of the campsite after lunch. It is amazing how many plants will grow on solid rock. Where the rock is flat, trees eke out a living on the dead material that slowly accumulates.

Rock wall with mosses and ferns, plus trees on top growing with hardly any soil.

We finished up the loop in Grand Marais. We went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. So much cheaper than Sydney’s. Back at the cabin we grilled brats and ate the last of the sweet corn.

The whole loon family came by. We first saw them in the bay to our left,

Loon, party of three

And later right in front of us.

Closer view

Jane and I sat out on the deck until bedtime, talking and soaking up the perfect summer evening, the sun on the water, the air pleasantly cool, and no mosquitos!

Boundary Waters, Day 2

 Monday was a beautiful day. I went down before breakfast to take pictures on the mirror-like lake.

Cabin 1 dock and row boat

Jane and I sipped coffee/tea and talked, getting a leisurely start to our day. It was nearly 10:00 before breakfast was on the table. I made eggs scrambled with green pepper, onions, cherry tomatoes and cheese. Using the leftovers from dinner the night before, I made fried corn and potatoes. We had the obligatory slice of bacon, too.

Eggs with stuff, fried corn and potatoes, bacon

We sat on the deck for an hour after breakfast, watching birds flit in and out of the trees. Most of them were uncooperative about posing for the camera. Only a downy woodpecker and a chickadee stood still long enough for a photo op, and the chickadee stubbornly refused to turn around.

Male downy woodpecker

A shy chickadee's backside

When it was time for custard, we drove to town. Some of my readers expressed concern over the status of Sydney’s before we left. I can reassure you that Sydney’s was open and back in its old location. They have not yet rebuilt, however. They simply moved the shipping containers. The wood-fired pizza oven has been repaired and was functioning.

Sydney's temporary shipping containers in blue; wood-fired oven to the right

Around the back on the lake side, construction of a new dining room was in progress. The floor was littered with something that looked like insulation, but was not. It was chunks of burned pizza dough. One would not think they were intentionally trying to attract gulls, but I can’t imagine another reason. Perhaps it was an unfortunate pizza accident?

Construction at Sydney's with pizza crust crumbs scattered on the floor.

Dutch chocolate custard had returned! In exchange for—gasp—$15, we got two small cones, which we ate while sitting on a bench overlooking Lake Superior.

Small Dutch chocolate cone, market value with tax = $7.50

Superior was unusually calm. Here is Artists’ Point, northeast of Sydney’s.

Looking out toward Artists' Point

A young boy skipped stones on the smooth water. It makes me happy to see children carry on old traditions of play. 

Kids still skip stones! (The guy on the left wasn't in long. The water was probably cold.)

We spend the rest of the afternoon shopping for one thing and another. We went to Oddz and Endz, our favorite resale shop. I didn’t find any more of the glasses I got there last year, but Jane found some bowls that went with a set she had.

We were back at the cabin for 4:00 happy hour. We had refried beans, salsa, and cheese on corn chips with garden-fresh pico de gallo and margaritas.

Snacks broiled on foil, as there were no baking pans.

We had quesadilla with leftover steak and grilled poblanos for supper.

Steak and poblano quesadilla

For our evening entertainment, we put together a vacation-themed 300-piece jigsaw puzzle entitled “Lake Cabin.”

"Lake Cabin"

Not much excitement, but a thoroughly pleasant day.