Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

Excerpt: It was a day of piles that kept appearing everywhere around the resort getting ready for spring. Truck load of cedar mulch for the gardens Steve trying to figure out what to do on the side of Kaubashine to stop the erosion. First layer road gravel Playground getting a delivery of wood chips You ordered then now where do... Read more

Excerpt: A truck filled with tools means the guys are moving and almost done with their job in Wigwam Fire going means they are cleaning up the evidence of their destruction Steve showing off his new shelves that Tim Hixson requested last summer. It should be a nice addition to cupboard space in Wigwam. Steve would like to point out... Read more

Excerpt: After 2 days of tantalizing me with far off calls and appearing by the road when I was in a hurry on the way to pick someone up or drop off at school with no camera I finally caught the loon! With a lake still half frozen the loon has restricted swimming area for awhile but it was hanging... Read more

Excerpt: How can you have this look on your face and feel better than you have your entire life? The answer to all problems is in the pot of maple sap. Just dip your glass in and... drink away. Steve says it is wetter than water and colder than ice. He actually shaved this morning clean shaven and you can... Read more

Excerpt: Our Ice out 2011 winner is Mike Grady who picked today April 19th as his day for Cliff to plunge into Lower Kaubashine. Mike was a 2nd place winner a few years ago getting his 5 dollar coupon to Hilltop Bar in a previous contest. Congrats to Mike and also to Ruth where ever she is... We looked over... Read more

Excerpt: So why did our minivan get so dirty... driving down 10 miles of roads like this with muddy spots in them had us gripping the wheel as we plowed through the slippery mud praying we would not get stuck and seen on the local news as missing in the Chequamagon forest surrounded by wolves and surviving on granola bars... Read more

Excerpt: Why was our van so dirty in the last entry. We went exploring an hour and a half from the resort up to Copper Falls State Park. Anything at Copper Falls involves stairs many many stairs! We headed up to the tower first. 1/2 of the stairways and paths were developed during FDR's CCC days by WWI vets called... Read more

Excerpt: Best Buy made good finally on my broken camera. January 12th I sent my camera in, to have it cleaned. It came back the end of January with a smashed LCD screen. Returned to Best Buy February 8th for them to repair the damage they did, many phone calls later a talk with the store manager when I was... Read more

Excerpt: Why no entries the last few days and a filthy dirty mini van full of mud? Well that is a tale for another day... We returned from our crazy adventure to find Cliff nearing the edge of the ice. We were happy he did not drop while we were gone. Mack was happy to see his swimming hole had... Read more

Excerpt: Really we are under a Winter Storm Watch on Tuesday.... Not funny Mother Nature...... It is April isn't it? If no painting gets done this spring you will all know why Tuesday: A chance of rain and snow after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. East wind between 6 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 2... Read more

Excerpt: We were about to put away our sap collecting containers and the trees decided to have one last horah. Usually a 60 degree day shuts the trees down, instead I think it put them in hibernation and they came out with a vengence today. We had one of our biggest colletion days and will have to be busy tomorrow... Read more

Excerpt: Time to rake some leaves. Steve showed up for work with his assistant for a day of playing in the leaves Troy had already started ahead of Steve hauling leaves out to cover the new septic by Shamrock Our first challenge this spring is keeping this area from washing away. First thing to do is try to cover it... Read more

Excerpt: With warmer temps and rain projected this weekend Troy thought it was time to make Cliff a little safer on the ice. Time to give the guy a life line and tie him in for his big plunge into Lower Kaubashine See ya when you are floating I just get used to ice being over my swimming hole and... Read more

Excerpt: Fire going burning off the last of our maple sap, beautiful spring day means one thing, lunch by the fire. No healthy food allowed Yum, maple sap boiling and hotdog cooking First Smore of the season eaten Cleaning up the yard of all the fallen sticks burned in the fire. This fire served so many purposes Just after lunch... Read more

Excerpt: We had blue skies and storms rolling across the lake. It made for some interesting lighting on the lake Ice turning colors but not retreating much Cliff starting to sink a bit. What day will he take the plunge....... Read more

Excerpt: I thought I would post the before I start cleaning up after the guys in Birchwood picture. This may take days..... This mirror has always hung in the livingroom of Birchwood and I love the mirror but it did not have just the right place. But now I think I have it. The new big bedroom of Birchwood. I... Read more

Excerpt: Time to finish our first batch of Maple Syrup. We have been boiling the same batch off and on for a week adding sap as we go and today was the day to finish the first batch. We needed a sap hydrometor and its holder otherwise sometimes known as a candy thermometer. A syrup one is labled for where... Read more

Excerpt: Time to do some Maply Syrup Sap cooking. We had never done this before and were scratchng our heads a bit this morning but got started. Both Troy and I remember doing it a little as kids but not since. This is sometimes known as a turkey frying pot but we have made it our big filtering pot for... Read more

Excerpt: This smart little red squirrel figured out how to foil our squirrel flipping bird feeder. We have a Yankee Droll Flipper that I got from Minocqua Hardware which flips them off when they hit the green bar. This bugger is the first one in over a year that figured out a way around it. He wedged himself in the... Read more

Excerpt: The sap is running and this is one way of enjoying what they call "The Sweet Run of Spring" Many of Grant's friends tap trees and he is no stranger to enjoying when the sap runs. He is happy we finally decided to join in. We only have 15 trees tapped this spring compared with his friend down the... Read more