The new trebuchet is being built.

I have completed the throwing arm assembly and am about to build the “A” frames and weight box. The completion of the base is awaiting a nice day! The old trebuchet was named Gordowulf but the new one is open to be named by the highest bidder! I will personally engrave the name on the throwing arm for all to see. Please keep in mind that I will be engraving it with a wood chisel so keep the number of characters down!

Here are some shots of the throwing arm and pivot point assembly. It is considerably more robust than the old trebuchet and I believe it is truly a work of art. Soon a moving rock throwing work of art! I expect to be able to power up this trebuchet to a ton – but will probably keep it down to about 3/4 ton. I am not trying to make it throw much farther than Gorduwulf but am striving to make this device robust and durable. I am using all pressure treated timber in the throwing arm pivot assembly and am treating the birch log throwing arm several times with wood preservative. The “A” frames will all be constructed from 4″ by 6″ creosoted timbers and the base logs will also be treated several times with wood preservative and will be founded on large granite rock bases. Over all it should be a very durable device. All the lessons learned from Gordowulf are being incorporated into the new device.

The next naming opportunity is an as yet unnamed “one of a kind” day-lily given to me by fellow fishhead and day-lily breeder par-excellance Skip Waskowiak.

He was so kind as to name two absolutely beautiful lilies after me and Janet and Sportsmen’s Camp and has been extremely magnanimous in giving many fans of one of a kind lilies that were not quite up to his high standards for patenting. This lily has narrow leaves and very large blossoms as well as the fantastic colors and the elegant outlining of the major petals – a really fine looking flower!

It is still raining almost daily here and I am beginning to believe that I should be building an ark instead of a trebuchet. The big problem is that Monsoon Joan will be showing up and that usually makes the clouds open up! Send Lawyers Guns and Money! The temps have been warm. The fishing has been getting progressively better as time passes and the weed beds become more developed. The lake temperature is back down to 72F and the lake level has gone up an inch from last eve’s deluge. The way its raining I half way expect to be fishing in the back yard.

SUPREME GALACTIC OVERLORD!

Attention puny and insignificant denizens of planet earth I have a battle fleet poised and ready, bent on your subjugation or annihilation!

I have presented a picture of just one of the thousands of Tibetan Terror Battle Cruisers in orbit above your miserable kitty litterbox of a planet. The choice is yours! You have three days to announce your total and complete capitulation to my supreme authority as Galactic Overlord. I will expect daily tribute in the way of doggie – er – Supreme Galactic Overlord treats, full run of Sportsmen’s Camp, many bad mangy kitties, chipmunks, red squirrels and groundhogs to chase, swimming daily in Firth Lake, fishing with Daddy and Mommy as well as many squirmy children to chase. Hey just a second – I already get all that stuff – I must have already subjugated this planet – hmmm never-mind!

But before I sign off – Daddy asked that I tell everyone that the lake temperature is 75F and the fishing is definitely on track.

Yes we are reviving the Naming Rights Idea to help fund the new generator purchase. Sled has agreed (albeit in a drunken state) to route signs for the named cabins/locations etc. So get your check books in hand as all the best places will be named but corporate sponsors in no time! We are also instituting sponsorship of National Camp Holidays. The Evil Janeeto (nee of planet Janetron) has National Vodker on the Beach Day, Mary Colombi has Mojito Monday, and Emmy is going for Hemmy’s Horrendous Hoopla Hootenanny (Date as yet undetermined). But I can tell you that Janeeto is very busy coordinating all the new Holidays with her busy social calendar! So get your Holidays scheduled before all the “plum” dates are taken or all the Vodker is consumed!

The weather has finally seemed to take a turn to summer – we’ve had three nice days in a row! The lake temp is up around 76 – 78F and the lake level is dropping to normal spring pool level. The major mayfly hatches seem to be concluded and the weeds are finally beginning to poke their noses out of the lake surface. There are several very nice patches of “pike weed” pillars in the weed bed and they are producing some very nice bass. Its odd though because the central weed bed (still as yet unnamed – hint, hint) north of Elephant Rock is not yet in evidence! I did pick up some minor weed when I trolled the area on Sunday, but it isn’t holding shoals of minnows yet. My lupines haven’t even finished blooming! All told the fishing conditions on Firth are about 3 weeks behind developmentally from calendar date! But I expect that things should develop nicely with the addition of some sun! Well its too nice outside to be in here writing this drivel and besides I get to take the garbage today – So I must be going.

It started out much the same way it did last year. Mike Neal arrived in camp. He is known at Sportsmen’s Camp as “The Bear Whisperer”. Mike shows up, the bear shows up. So, why were we surprised when the day after Mike and his nephew Loic arrived a bear tore into the garbage can near his camper. Jack installed the diabolic bear zapper and the bear got zapped that very night. It was not enough to deter him from coming into camp many times over the next two weeks.

This bear was not as big as the 2007 bear but he still damaged three porch screens and had the audacity to invade cabin 7’s kitchen. Luckily Pat and Carol Cherry were up in the Sportsmen’s Camp Tavern, er, I mean Store when he invaded their cabin. Here are pictures of the damage to the screen and the paw marks on the door from when he pushed it open.

He also broke into Cabin 11’s porch twice, once at 5:30 AM awakening Mark Goacher. Mark yelled and slammed the door but the bear just casually walked away. Earlier that same night I heard Mr. Bear on my back porch. I shined the flashlight out the bathroom window but did not see him. When I walked back into the living room there he was standing up at the big window. Very scary stuff!

Pat “my hero” Cherry vowed to stay here until the bear was gone. On July 5^th Pat permanently ended the bear’s reign of terror. The bear was about 100 –120 pounds and very skinny.

I will let you all know when Mike calls to make his reservation for 2009 just in case you would like to have an up close and personal encounter with a black bear in northern Ontario.