Down the beach by Doelles, we found these plants. It is an ancient species. One of the first vascular plants or plants with tubes to conduct water that ever existed. It dates back over 400 million years from the Devonian epoch, to when life had first risen from the seas and begun its terrestrial conquest. Name aside it is not a moss. Appearances aside it is also not a fir, but something more ancient. Named for its club-like projections or “candles” that can be seen held above the small leaved, conifer-like stems, they stick up and are known as strobili. They produces numerous minute spores for reproduction, for 400 million years now and counting.

Anne and Bill arrived. They brought the contract for the roofer that caused way more problems downstate than expected. Maybe I should have gone the printed route as he first suggested? Thanks to Anne and Bill for their assistance.

Not much new on the squirrel front. It went 36 hours without a peep, but then at first light I heard its tale-tell scratching. They sounded weaker than before, either he is becoming more cagey or he is really trapped and is growing weaker. It was quiet enough that I was able to fall asleep again and Anne never even woke up. If you are out past midnight gazing at the stars, you are not going to be a morning person. I googled squirrel bait and peanut butter is recommend, which is what we are using. Anne added the tops of strawberries that we had had for breakfast. The guinea pigs always liked those. Anne crawled beneath the cabin looking for holes, but couldn’t find any. We only ever hear or see this critter in the loft. I think that it is trapped up there and our only hope is to lure it into one of the smaller traps before it dies.

I cooked up a storm, fixing maque choux to go with the taco meat I cooked the day before. We’ll be living off of this combo for days yet to come. I also made creme brûlée. Haute cuisine has come to the cabin, but we’ll top it with ice cream to maintain our roots.

Second squirrel 🐿 update: This morning Anne was awoken by the squirrel at 4 AM. It is definitely a morning person, woman, man… Then she felt debris (pine cones and pink insulation) falling near her from above. She also heard stuff falling near the door. I had just swept the floors yesterday! Then she heard a loud snap. Rising to investigate she found a rather dead mouse 🐁 in the rat trap. Using a coat hanger, she took it all outside. Later I was informed that it is a gentleman’s job to dispose of the body in the swamp. I did it, but I should point out that she is the landlord around here. While writing this a squabble erupted between a pair of squirrels outside and Anne ran to the window to investigate. Waving my hand, I had to say, those are not the squirrels you are looking for.