Groundhog day and camp count down

That's it! That's the thing that had us jumping and running. 

Ground hog; wood chuck. It's brown and fat, so it's a beaver!!

Now I know what's been happening to a lot of (well...some of...) the produce in my garden. Ground hog! What I thought was a beaver was a ground hog. I saw him again this morning while I was sitting on the deck. It shot out from beneath the opposite side of the deck. But I got a good look at him and researched him on the Internet. They are harmless, but love to eat and enjoy living under decks over the spring and summer months. It's kind of cute, regardless, that woodchuck---thing has got to go!


Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to camp he'll go.
DP and I are packing his camping gear. We have half the required clothing items and bought a few things over the weekend. I had about 5 different kinds of bug repellent on hand, so that was no problem. DP has started counting down the number of days until he boards the bus for the North Country. I confess, I will miss him.

At least 20 lbs of camping gear! Fortunately it's  roller bag.

Last year he went to Iowa for a week and, while the rest was nice, the quiet in the house was deafening and the animals kept running to the door looking for him every time they heard a noise. He called almost every other day. Since he won't be gone long enough to write home, I bought him a composition note book and suggested he keep a journal of all his adventures. He can share it with me when he gets back; in the mean time, I am hoping he won't feel so lonely when night falls and his bunk mates are settled in. He has a flashlight...Oops, that reminds me, pack extra batteries.

It will be interesting to see how he copes with being away from home without a phone. There will not be a "DP phone home" this time and just like "E.T.," DP will have to wait for transportation (the bus) to be rescued.