Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

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

Excerpt: We had a meeting of a group we are going to call Black's Cliff Alumni Group. Those that have chosen to put up their own 4 walls and swinging bed in the Northwoods and move up. Jim and Nancy are the newest members who are enjoying their retirement in the Northwoods and Al an Roberta are trying to find... Read more

Excerpt: I thought it would be fun this year to include pictures of the entries since I had pictures of just about everyone April 2nd we have 2 entires Sam Scully who was entered by his Grandma Char along with his sister and 2 cousins. Shown above showing off his great horseshoe skills at Hilltop. Grandma Char is watching from behind... Read more

Excerpt: What do you do in March? Sarah and Gloria came up for Spring Break. When Sarah was younger she headed to the exotic locations like Miami with her friends and now asks Mom to go to the cold Northwoods with her for springbreak. What to do... You sneak into the shed and pull out a few beach chairs to... Read more

Excerpt: Under the advice of management president, Steve headed to the rental store to rent some tools. When he came back with 2 large black cases I was a little worried Before getting into "The Black Boxes" I must show the interior of Wigwam at the moment. Somewhere the livingroom is underneath all the construction materials Better yet the kitchen... Read more

Excerpt: While we were gone Steve got quite a ways on Birchwood and Wigwam's remodeling projects. Walls were going up on Birchwood Steve learned from Craig where to write his notes and measurements My job is never done, innocently taking pictures and roped into helping... I seem to remember doing this in Wigwam and being blamed for a crooked wall... Read more

Excerpt: How much snow you ask.. well Mack asked as well and down the beach steps we went. They were definitely snow covered once again Yep time to get the boots back out. I would like to point out that these boots had been put on much earlier to drive to town on Hwy 51 to get 3 kids to... Read more

Excerpt: Cliff was not looking to excited when we pulled in the driveway. If anything he looks slightly depressed at how spring is turning out so far. Tomorrow we have 13 inches of snow in the forecast. Will the Northern schools finally call a snow day on Wednesday or atleast cancel track practice? The edges of the lake were showing... Read more

Excerpt: Tuesday: A chance of snow before 10am, then snow likely, possibly mixed with sleet. Cloudy, with a high near 34. East wind between 10 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than 1 inch possible. Tuesday Night: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times... Read more

Excerpt: I had these pictures sent to me by Rob Moore who was at the resort this weekend while we were gone and snapped them of the Super Moon that was the closest moon in 20 years over Lower Kaubashine Thanks for sharing Rob!... Read more