Cleaning up for camper check-in

Camp Muncie is officially a big, huge mess!

But it's a beautiful, awesome big, huge mess. The holidays are fast approaching -- and if we're going to show this place off as the fabulous cottage by the river that it is, we're going to have to get busy.


See the pretty picture? That's what Camp Muncie looks like in mid-May, when everything's green, and clean, and airy. Since the weather's nice, the temperature's just right, and the mosquitos and carpenter bees haven't yet invaded, cleaning is a snap. But keeping Camp Muncie up in late October and early November is an entirely different story!

Outside, it's leaves, leaves, and more leaves. Leaves blown between the storm door and the wood door. Leaves about 6 inches deep on the walkway. Leaves tucked into the corner of the deck, where the broom couldn't quite fit. Leaves where I'd swept the deck clean only the day before yesterday. Yes...the day before yesterday -- but you'd never know that I had spent the better part of an hour sweeping, and raking, and wheelbarrow-ing.

Inside, it's clutter, clutter, and more clutter. My papers. Janie's papers. Our clothes -- folded and stacked on top of dressers, chests, chairs, and a couple of other flat surfaces, because neither of us has been especially inclined to finish putting them all into our respective closets.

This blog is going to tell -- I hope! -- the story of Camp Muncie's semi-miraculous transformation from a relatively sparse "campsite" to cottage living at its best. This place will never be especially fancy -- and really, the best camps wouldn't bother with such silly pretensions. We're much more interested in helping this place on the river show off its natural rustic beauty and charm. With, of course, a little help from our friends, human and critter alike.