Well, I've been a little slow on the blogging lately, been busy with the schooling.

Tuesday evening.

On Tuesday the Grasshopper had her first boat lesson. Here she feels the need for speed.


Some cabins.

Hey Richie, the dock is still there. As if your new boss will let you see it this summer.

I suppose you guys will come up when the temperature reaches 90 degrees American.

On Wednesday we went to town. Because the driveway is still mushy, we decided to leave the truck at Linda's, so Grasshopper had to drive and park the boat all by herself. She did a real good job, no damage to the boat or dock. We spent the whole day in town, a new experience for me. I've been learning too. I've learned that you are not supposed to fill up the washer and sit on the lid to keep it closed. You actually have to sort clothes by colour!(?)

Yesterday we went for a boat ride down the river and checked out the beaver dam that controls the water level in the lake. It's in good shape and the water should go down a couple more inches over the next week or so. Then we went to meet the Kelly's and pick up the mail. Today we are going to see TT, Keesha, and Jocko, I mean Jake.

That's it for today, TTFN.

Yesterday we got the dock and boat in the water and took a tour of the lake. Kita was in his normal pilot position. All the ice was gone. The unofficial winner of the pool is ED, to be confirmed by Gord and Barb. Ed, I think MY steak covers the loonie.


Doc, maybe we'll finally meet soon, just don't ask me to cough.


I'll start posting pics of the camps on the lake, they all look like they made it through the winter ok.


The temps have been in the 20's the last few days with lots of sun. While out in the boat I thought that this spring thing is ok. Maybe not as much fun as the Yammie, but I can live with it.

The Grasshopper is slowly adjusting to life in the bush, but I think it will take a few more days to get the fog and smog out of her soul. Her lessons are going well, so far she has learned to do dishes (real ones, not paper), laundry and cook supper. It's a long, rough road to enlightenment. The only problem so far is that I've had to eat something called broccoli and brussel sprouts

Tim, we have walleye and small mouth in our lake. I don't know too much about props. But Michelle might be able to help you out. She worked at the North Bay Arts center for a few years.

Sheila, if you come back as a toilet seat, I'll be all over that.

Sun set over Lake Nipissing last evening. It's not a Great Lake, but it is a pretty big lake.

This morning the ice was about a hundred yards off shore, no it is gone past the narrows, heading into Fennell's Bay. I guess I'll have to get the boat in the water tomorrow to fulfill my duties as official ice out observer.



We are not alone. The Hermit has a Grasshopper. (Remember "take the pebble from my hand"?) It seems that the Cliche Queen has reached one of those crossroads of life and is not sure which path to take. What better place to start a new journey than in the middle of nowhere, or as I like to call it, the center of the universe? We're not sure how long the training will take, it only took me fifty years to find enlightenment. Sorry Sheila, only one pupil at a time. I'll pencil you in for the next reincarnation, just don't come back as a mosquito!

I guess the Hermit won't be a hermit much longer, when the ice leaves and the boat is in the water. The boat's all ready to go, except for the new plug. REMIND ME ABOUT THE PLUG!

Looking west at 7 AM.


Looking east at 12:30.

So far today, six flocks of geese have flown right over the cabin.



Razor, the way the ice is going, I should be motoring over the middle of next week. I guess we'll be putting in your docks soon. Maybe this year a pic of your wet suit will make the blog.

Tim, I think you have cabin fever. Way too much time to think.

That's it for today, going to spend time outside before the bugs arrive.

Yogi Hermit's idol to the BVSQ is not looking too good today.


Kita and I went for a walk this morning. There were 4 grouse drumming for business between my gate and the first turn. If a tree falls in the forest, does it fall across my driveway? Luckily, not this one.

Kita was really interested in these fresh bear tracks. With cowardice being the better part of valor, we turned around and whistled all the way home.

I can't walk on the water anymore. No, it's not the holes in the feet, that's the other guy.


I wonder if getting a boat ready has the opposite effect of buying a grader and a new snow machine?

Tim; I can insult anybody I want, my blog my rules. Oops, that was your blog. Any way, if you weren't dyslexic, or is that schizophrenic?, you would be able to read a very simple statement.

7:30 this morning.


OK, Ok, get off of the Ascetic Hermit's back. You can have your stupid spring. Yesterday I even dragged The Little Tomiko ice breaker around to the lake. It's almost ready to go. I even got a new plug for it. I broke the old one about five or six years ago, and have been using a jambonied one since then. The next tuff job is getting the boat down the hill into the liquid ice. Well, getting it down isn't too bad, getting it down gracefully is a little harder.


The other day, while I was preaching to you, Kita was telling me it was time for a walk. We walked out to the Notman road. We, I mean I heard five grouse drumming.

And that's all I have to say today.

OK, you can all kneel to the power of the Hermit Fakir. You are very, very welcome.

To thank the Blessed White Virgin Snow Queen's bountiful gift, I decided to build an idol in Her honour.






I think I got the proportions just right.



YES! Beautiful white snow. What a wonderful sight, especially when you don't have to be crammed into a cubicle at 8 in the morning.

On Tuesday I split a bunch of maple and white birch by hand. I knew those Karate lessons would come in handy. (Yeah Tim, I'm that good. Too bad the witty gene was all wore out by the time it got to you) On Wednesday I finally dragged the rest of that yellow birch out. I had to use the gas splitter on it. I think the longest straight grain in it was about 3 inches. The splitter didn't really split it, more like tore it up.

Sis, not bird or mouse blood.

Sheila, you know you could be excommunicated for blasphemous thoughts like that. The Fakir says "Take ye outside and make a snow angel".

Jose, I hope Ed really enjoyed MY steak. May be I'll be over soon on the Yammie.

Sensei Hermit here with your sermon. Yeah, I'm getting to the bottom of the thesaurus.

After a week of little sunshine the sky started clearing Monday evening. Yesterday was a nice day. I think I got a bit of sun burn while splitting wood in just a T shirt.


I like watching the sun rise and set putting shadows across the lake. You don't get that effect in August, do you?.

Kita and I went for a walk the other day. A Berlin bird was busy on this tree.

We can't blame George for this one. It flew into my CLEAN window. You don't notice the yellow when they fly at mach 2.

I was invited out for Easter supper at Jose's Monday but didn't go because of the condition of the driveway. I should have asked if they had delivery.

The lake level looks like it's up a little. Don't panic, it will go down to the level of the beaver dam. We also wouldn't want to use bloated bodies to plug up holes in the dam, would we? They just came out with the long range forecast and they are calling for a hotter, drier summer than normal.

C, yup, O neg, the universal donor, I could give you my blood. Would you give me yours? No, I didn't think so.

Sheila, Sometimes it hurts my brain just to write sermons. I could probably write letters, I mean articles for Penthouse, though.

The Easter Bunny came to visit the Hermit Sadhu yesterday.


He only left some raisins. I think that they were stale, they tasted funny and were crunchy.


The sun came out late yesterday and put shadows on the ice. It has only showed it's face for a few minutes at a time this past week.


Today looks like it'll be nice. I'll take Kita for a walk and then see what treasures the vanishing snow reveals behind the trees.

Speaking of snow, I see on other blogs that some people are blaming me for all the snow (30 Cm's, a lot???), in N.S. Sorry, my aim was off. We only got a trace. The thing about the snow down there is that by the time you finish shoveling the driveway, it all melts away.

Speaking of the province that time forgot, I see on other blogs that some are home sick. Let's reminiscence a little; bone chilling fog, high unemployment, high sin taxes, did I mention the fog?, human waste floating in the harbour, not knowing if the sun is shining because of the fog, using calenders from the 70's, and the fog. The only thing left in N.S. is family, and I think it's their turn to visit. BUT, if they do come here, they might not go back.

Does anybody know how to get blood off a carpet? What? No reason, just wondering. Never mind, George is licking it up. I think O neg is his favorite flavour.

Hello Pilgrims. Short sermon today. Dial up is really s--- l-------- o-------w.

Two geese landed on the ice the other day. What day, you say? I don't know. Some time between the last sermon and this one.


I was almost out of water, so instead of driving all the out the Notman road and all the way back in the Sand Dam road, I decided to go to town and get some there. There are wolf tracks all over the Notman.


The Tomiko river.

When I got to town around 9:00, things were pretty slow. Around noon, when I left, there were many, many humans racing around. You all know my thoughts on many of the humans in the human race. I have a prepaid card for water at Brewsky's. I show up at 10:00. Sign says open at 10:00 on Saturdays. At 10:15 I go pick up some other stuff around town. At 11:30 I go back to Brewsky's and they are still closed. ^%#$@#%. So, all the way out to Frasertown and make Razor have a "pop" break from cutting fire wood.

Our friend Jack Birkby passed away yesterday. There will be no formal service. Linda can be reached at 519-672-8734.

Her mailing address is :
Sand Dam Rd.
North Bay, On
P1B 8G3

Who says that the Hermit Savant doesn't have some pull with the Blessed Virgin? Kita loved it, until I chained him up.






It's been so warm lately that I don't light a fire until the evening. Sometimes George almost climbs right in. I think he has a whole bunch of those cold girlie genes.


It's snowing pretty hard right now. I can hardly see the lake. We might get close to 10 Cm's before it's over!

I've been thinking, ouch!, about our day of rest. Since there are other sects that observe Saturdays and Sundays, we will honour them too. W, wo, wor, working Fridays suck, since YOU are looking forward to the weekend. W, wo, wor, working Mondays really suck, since YOUR brain is probably still fuzzy and tired from all the partying. So, since the other sects get two days off, we'll take two days too. If your boss complains about paying you for five days, for only 3 days w, wo, wor, work, just tell him that he already does.

C, Glad to see that my depression brightened your day.

Sheila, I think that you do get it.

Sis, Repent!

Dear Superkids,
I think that puddles are highly over rated. Just think of all the fun of winter. Tobogganing, skating, snowmobiling, building igloos, making snow angels, snow ball fights. Oops, are snow ball fights politically correct any more? Any way, winter is much more fun than running naked through mud puddles, and swatting black flies.

The Hermit Shaman is too depressed today to preach very much. It's so sad to watch the ice go in a slow, agonizing way.

My batteries are almost as depressed as I am. When I become Ruler of the Universe, I'm cancelling spring. Every four years I'll throw in an August for you. Other than that, March, April, May, June, July, all gone. Think of all the trees we'll save on calenders.

Why is the Hermit Lama giving you two sermons in a row? Two reasons. 1)I know that this is a special day, after all they named it for you. 2) I'm an old guy set in my ways, certain things get done on certain days. I picked odd days to preach because you are odd, or you wouldn't be here.

Sun up this morning. It's too bad that the iridescence doesn't come through.

Kita is still depressed.


Lots of butterflies yesterday.


What happens when two squirrels, doing the dirty, find themselves in a screened in deck with a twenty pound cat? More work for me, that's what happens. I'll spare you the further details for those of you who think that cows come wrapped in plastic.

I spent the whole day cleaning up out side yesterday. It seemed that every tree I went behind that there was something hidden there. There is now a mountain of junk behind the garage. The forecast is for rain the next four days, so I'll work to down size the cabin and garage some more.

They are calling for a high of -8 on Thursday. Last week Barb called looking for my guess for the ice out pool. There was three feet of open water on my shore, so I picked the fourteenth or fifteenth. That night it froze back over and has been frozen ever since.

OK, here's the sun up pics, right side up. Happy April's Fools day.