The Wolf The Dog and Me

2006-04-16T13:14:00.000-05:00

2006-02-13T19:01:00.000-06:00

We are Under Red Alert!
Snow and more snow. It hasn't stopped for a while now. We are under a winter storm warning right now (10" or more). The animals seem to take it in stride, though they have been getting a little surly of late. Ben (the wolf) has taken up permanent residence with Riley (the dog) in my shop at night. That makes it a pain in the backside for me, for even though they have there own sleeping blankets they love to tip my sawdust bins over and scatter that for bedding.They are both extreamly smart, so it must be laziness that won't let them clean up after themselves. Can't wait for spring, (insert broken record here). Oh, I forgot, for those of you who don't know what a record is, It's a very large CD that we used in the 60's to create all kinds of silliness. Think of a boombox the size of a microwave with a very long extention cord. I'll talk to you all later, time to crank up the snowblower , Majik
Northwoods Rustic Furniture
Majikmushroom Log Furniture

2006-01-28T10:10:00.000-06:00

Ben (The Wolf) has a Girlfriend
Man it's cold out there! Ben(the wolf) has been bringing his girlfriend around lately. She's a pretty thing what I can see of her. She will only come to within about 150 yards of the shop, then she raises cane till he returns to her. She seems to get along with Riley (the dog), but he seems to get along with the pack. I saw him with them about a month ago. He stays pretty close to home though. He doesn't have that nice fur coat his friends do and does not like the cold. He spends most of his time curled up in the corner of my shop. I wish spring would hurry and get here, I dislike winter immensely. Well gotta go. Catch ya later, Majik Majikmushroom Log Furniture
Northwoods Rustic Furniture

2005-11-24T14:40:00.000-06:00

Ben (the wolf) does'nt think the cold is that bad. But than he does'nt have any problems with anything except Boo (the cat). The wind chill is
-22 on this Thanksgiving day. I have a big order of log furniture going to Valdosta, Georgia Monday. I think I might just hitch a ride with the semi, and leave this weather for a few months, ..ya right. I have a house full of family and friends for dinner today, so I will wish everyone a blessed Holiday and hope for good fortune to all.
Catch ya later, Majik

Cedar Log Furniture from Majikmushroom

2005-11-17T17:38:00.000-06:00

White, White and more White. This is what it looked like before dark yesterday, and we got eight more inches on top of that, all before daylight. Thats Riley (the dog) out looking for Ben (the wolf). He's been gone for the last week. But, he came dragging in just before supper time looking as if he had run the Ididerod. He started running with the pack in the last month or so, but always comes back for a pat on the head, supper and world war three with Riley (the dog). Those two go at it like they were worst enemies, but you should see how the stick up for each other and get into trouble together. They are like two brothers, Riley (the dog) makes up the devilment and Ben (the wolf) follows it through. Well I hear the snow blower calling my name, so I better get at it. I have a load of log furniture going out tomorrow and the lot needs clearing. Catch ya later, Majik

2005-11-03T20:28:00.000-06:00

Halloween Ben (the wolf). This is how I dressed him up for halloween. Ya right... I was coming home from bird hunting yesterday, when three miles from home, on an old abandoned railroad grade, the truck broke through an old rotted bridge. Only two feet to the surface of the creek, so no problem. Get the cell phone out. Brother Jim said I was going to spend the night there, for he would need the tractor to pull it out. No lights on the tractor. So I tell him morning's fine. I carry necessities behind the front seat of the truck. After a supper of partridge and canned beans, I settled back to enjoy the fire. The night sky sparkled and danced, casting shadows the full length of the trees. The animal sounds were many, from the dry leaves on the ground. Slowly at first, than instantly it got so quiet I could hear my soul gasp for air. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye, and knew I was in for a fight. I reached behind my head and pulled my weapon. Waiting is the hardest when you know your about to do battle. I could hear it move to the back of me, just outside the firelight. It charged as I reached my feet, leaving me unprotected from the side. Even as I went on the attack, I knew with a sickening feeling that he had me. He ducked under my swing, grabbed my package of cookies and disappeared into the shadows, like the thief he is. Ben (the wolf) knows its not polite to beg, but it doesn't bother him one bit to steal from me. So I put my pillow back on the sleeping bag and waited till he came back to the fire, for a scolding, a pat on the head and a nights sleep next to the fire. Catch ya later, Majik

2005-10-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

Oh my, It's here.

We went from the postcard at the left, to total bare trees in just two weeks. It looks so bad even the animals are in a bad mood. Riley (the dog) and Ben (the wolf) have been walking the ridges out behind the shop, looking for something to torment.
We have had two snows so far, but it melted right away. Tomorrow it's time to start getting ready for the ugly white stuff. Snow blower, shovels, long johns etc. etc.. But, I won't complain this year out of respect for all the people who have lost everything in the recent storms, in the south. Some times I forget how fortunate I am, to live in these beautiful north woods. I received an email from nine year old Athley in North Carolina, asking what Ben (the wolf) likes to eat. He will eat anything he can put in his mouth, from dog food to jelly donuts, his favorite. He disappears for a couple of weeks at a time, so than, he probably eats wolf food. Mice, birds or any animal he can hunt. I will post again next week and let you know if we are waist deep in the cold white.
Catch ya later,
Majik

2005-09-06T18:37:00.000-05:00

This is Ben (the Wolf).

Isn't he cute? Isn't he adorable? Ya right.
As Forrest Gump would say, " Isn't he just a big pain in the but-tocks"?
Sometimes I would like to ring his neck, and feed him to the pack. I sound mean don't I? Well, Ben (the wolf) is about a half a bubble out of plumb. He acts like a child, eats like a hog, but believe me, he is definitely one hundred percent wolf. The bad part about it, he is not even mine. No, he belongs to another strange one, Riley (the dog). That's right Riley (the dog) brought him in, one fall afternoon, about two years ago. He was half dead and fell a hundred yards from the shop. Remember, I build log furniture. I know , shameless plug, that. Anyway, Riley (the dog) finally
convinced me to follow him. What a sight he was, Ben (the wolf). Blood, from his whiskers to where the sun don't shine. No, not from feeding or fighting, someone, the (#*!*^!!^*()_&*), shot him just in front of his rear legs. Well I have to tell you, I'm not cold hearted by nature, but come on now. This half crazed wild wolf, was not exhibiting what I call a sociably acceptable behavior. But I needed to do something before Riley (the dog ) suffered a sever case of apoplexy, I don't know what that is, but he was getting it. So, one very large piece of canvass thrown over him and I was ready to head to the vet, right? Wrong. Don't laugh at me, that mangy animal tried to severely and permanently, relieve me of ALL appendages. If he wouldn't have been near dead I would never have stood a chance locking him up in a storage building.
So, I pick him up from the vet four days later, before the DNR could take over, and cage in hand we merrily go on our way...What? You thought that was it? Oh NO! Two weeks of harboring a fugitive, ( It's against the law to keep a wild animal without a license ), I let him go. Bye bye wolfy. Two days later he's laying outside the shop door with Riley (the dog). Now he has become part of the family, but I still haven't forgiven him for trying to relieve me of precious parts of my anatomy.
I have a lot of stories of Riley (the dog) and Ben (the wolf), if you would like more. Drop me an Email

Catch ya later,
Majik

2005-09-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

Man, what a weekend!

This is a picture of a night stand before I get it to the shop. Remember? I do log furniture. The trees were thicker than fuzz in your dryer lint trap. It took a day just to get in to our unit. It's about five thousand acres of privately owned property. Tom Benson is the manager of the whole thing and was kind of happy we were only interested in the immature trees. He's had a lot of inquiries about logging the one hundred plus year old trees, but he said that wasn't in the the plans for the another twenty years or so.
It was just my brother Jim and I. Well, unless you count Riley (the dog). That's right, we had to take him with. He jumped in the back of the pick up the morning we left. The fool dog almost destroyed our camping gear, when I tried to get him out. So it was a late start, I had to get his camping stuff. It took twenty minutes to find his chewed up teddy bear, he cant sleep without it.
The work came the second morning when we split up and started to mark our furniture. We do this by tying a yellow plastic ribbon around the base of the tree and mark the general location on a topographical map that Tom supplied us with. Then, in about two weeks he will go around and approve our choices by painting a orange blaze on the stump. Now it gets technical. Remember when I said we have to harvest cedar in the winter? What would happen if Tom were to mark the trees on the stump? Yep your right, it would be covered by the snow. He marks them about six feet off the ground, nifty huh. So much for the boring stuff.
We pitched our tent at the foot of a beaver dam, alongside a creek. Jim walked around the backside to try for supper, while Riley (the dog) and I watched the beaver pups. They didn't seem to care that the snow would be knocking at their backdoor in another few weeks. Brrr, gives me shivers just to write about it. It was fun watching the pups play till Riley (the dog) decided to do a full one and a half cannonball and join them. He still cant figure out where they disappeared to.
Supper was cold water trout, corn muffins with blueberries and good company.
See, Jim and I were friends long before we understood the obligations of being family.
Catch ya later,
Majik

Oh, by the way, I appreciate the emails, and yes, I will explain how we came to be adopted by Ben (the wolf). But, that's another story.

2005-09-01T17:20:00.000-05:00

Stumbling to the Berry Patch

This guy was trying to explain that this was his berry patch. I was more than willing to see his side of it, but Riley (the lab) and Ben (the wolf), sort of told him that there was enough for everyone. After much discussion he decided to go a little farther down the trail for his blackberry feast. I have never seen a year when all the berries ripened at the same time. I've been going out in the afternoon now for two weeks picking and they are in unbelievable the quantities. We have stocked up on blackberries, raspberries,wild strawberries and my personal favorite blueberries. Riley (the dog) likes the blackberries. Yes its true, I have a dog (Riley) that loves to eat berries. I think he may have been a bird in a previous life. Tomorrow, I have to go on a little camping trip with my brother, into the Goodman Cedar Swamps. We have to flag the cedar trees that we will need for the coming year. That probably didn't make sense to you, but we build log furniture and winter is the only time the ground is frozen to allow harvesting in the low ground where the best cedar grows. That's always an interesting trip. It's smack dab in the deepest part of the Nicolet National Forest. I'll take along my pocket recorder and camera to pass along some of the goodies of Northern Wisconsin. Catch ya later Majik

2005-08-30T17:16:00.000-05:00

Majikmushroom Log Furniture to match any Log Home Decor
Northwoods Rustic Furniture

2005-08-10T19:45:00.000-05:00

Aug 10
There are two things I dislike about August. First, It's my birthday month. Jeeze I hate getting old. Don't get me wrong, the warmth of the month is good therapy for worn out muscles, worn out joints and just plain worn out. But, what the heck, I should not complain, right? Wrong! The biggest trick God ever played on mankind, was putting August in there. It's there to be the infintesimal repreave before he pulls the rug out. Yes, thats what I said, PULL THE RUG OUT!
Have a little patience with me, I'm getting there.
Figured it out yet? It's winter after that and I'm not talking about a christmas card, white, soft, fluffy, winter. You know, the one they talk about in Florida, Arizona and California.
No sir, we are talking about the real thing. Winter with a capital W. The kind where you take out a loan in August to pay for six months worth of heating bills, driveway plowing and sidewalk salt. Where a complete Christmas tree contains a new snow blower or tire chains for the four wheel drive.
Where I live, Northern Wisconsin, minus five degrees is a warm front.
It gets so cold here my pet wolf wants to sleep with the cat, over the heating vent.
Well you get the picture. I have to go now, the snowmobile needs a tune-up and my ice fishing auger needs sharpening.
Catch ya later,
Majik