Michelle tells me we have a mink under the house again. She watched a mink come out from under the cabin and cross toward our Power Point on two separate occasions.
I had hints that a mink might be present last week when I sorted lumber for the veranda project (see It’s Time to Replace the Veranda). Digging around under the back bedroom add-on, I caught more than a whiff of mink musk.
One of our homestead’s most used and appreciated features requires replacement.
The “veranda,” as we call it, a salvaged section of decking with a large corner bench built on it, may be the outdoor focus of life on our property. It is the most natural place to go first on our land, after descending the ridge above, coming through the forest, and seeing the revealed view. Almost every visitor to the homestead gravitates there on first visit, and often on subsequent ones. As a family, we’ve eaten countless meals there. It’s where we sit to read, work on projects, enjoy a glass of wine, watch whales, boats, aurora borealis, stars, and anything and everything else that passes by or appears before us. We wedge our sun oven in the corner of the seats to brace it against strong winds.
Use the “search” function on this page to look up “veranda,” and the hits might overwhelm you. It is, as I say, a central feature of our lives here.
The venerable veranda, grown old in service to two families (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
