The end of the snow...

It looks like winter is officially over. There are MANY bare spots through the woods and in the yard. The driveway is bare...and the decks have been shoveled off. Let spring begin!

Today was kind of a nasty day. There was not much, if any, precipitation. The clouds hung around and it stayed relatively cool. When I got in the truck to come home we were sitting in the low 40s. Not terrible I suppose...but it could have been warmer! Due to the cold I did not spend much time outdoors. I have been meaning to fog the sleds since the weekend...but just have not gotten around to it yet. Hopefully tomorrow will let me get out and finally put them in the garage for the summer.

I am the proud recipient of one of the new five dollar bills! Straight from the fed. I read about them last year when they were first showing them off...but had completely forgotten about them until today! My wife mentioned that our neice had one in KY. (That is strange calling her neice...I have never had one of those before. hehe) So I took it upon myself to remind them at work that it was about that time. ;) I picked a couple up and will be adding them to my collection. Other than those, I have not seen any coins or paper money that screams "Add me to your collection!!!" I am really hoping money never screams at me...but you will be the first to know if it does.

I do not believe that I spoke of my second knife yet. I started it the night before we left for KY. I got it cut out, sanded, and sharpened all in one evening. Not too bad for a second try! I still need to try to temper it...this time I will take pictures of that process. It is the same basic design as the first knife. The blade has a little less curve to it...possibly making it a bit sturdier in the hand. I have been searching for options to keep them knives from rusting. My dad gave me the idea to get some gun blue and work with that. Seems like a good idea...and it would add a unique color to the knives. I imagine the first few are going to be for looks...since they are not made of hardened steel. They will be really cool either way...in my opinion anyway. I have enough steel to make one large knife or two small knives. When I cut them out I will certainly take pictures of that this time as well. I am kind of doing the pictures and posts in reverse order...not intentionally. :P

I am really anxious to get the four wheeler out! I rode it up and down the driveway a bit...and a little out on the road. Unfortunately you cannot ride legally on the roads here...so I kept it to a very short trip to the corner and back. Once the snow is gone we will be able to take it through the trails on the property...and maybe even head over to the state land near the house. I need to do a bit of searching through DNR information before I get too excited about that.

I think in the next few posts I will start to highlight a bit about my kit that I carry when I hike or camp. Nothing too impressive...but I have enough stuff to last a little while. If anyone has ideas for items to carry in a survival kit...let me know. :)

Good night from Northern Michigan!

-Derek