The Buzzing Hole

Ground Bee Nest

Lee came home the other day after mowing a neighbor's camp and said there was a strange buzzing hole in the ground. She didn't get too close to it but said it looked like someone dropped a bowling ball into the ground.
Now curiosity peaked, I had to go take a look. I had seen bee nests in the ground before, but typically they were small holes that the bees came out of and bite you when you inadvertently walked over them or mowed over them.
I approached the hole and I could hear the buzzing then saw several small bees that were yellow but not as big as the yellow jackets I was used to. I also noticed part of the combs from the nest were about two to three feet from the nest. It became obvious to me that a bear heard the buzzing and decided it may contain something good to eat so dug it up creating the large hole and exposing a large portion of the underground nest. The bees would not let me get any closer for a picture without consequences.  I know it isn't that clear but there are horizontal channels in the lower part of the hole and it is completely filled with a nest similar to the ones you see on trees but underground. So the mystery was solved. The bees didn't dig a large hole for their nest a bear did. I wish I could have witnessed the bear digging as I am sure the bees were not happy about the intrusion.

On another note most of the male hummingbirds have gone south. Lee hasn't seen any of them for around 4 days and the consumption of food has dropped significantly. We still have babies and females who will probably be around for another 2 weeks then they too will gradually disappear until next Spring.

Blue Moon last night over Leetonia

Also got a picture of the blue moon over Leetonia last night it was a beautiful clear night. There are a lot of people up for the last major holiday and the weather looks like it may be hot and dry for most of the weekend. Have a great weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Labor Day Weekend in Leetonia

I ran in to a formidable crew down at the White Camp today. The kids in order from left to right are: Madison and Jimmy White and their friend Patrick Kelly. The taller kid in the back is Jim White supervising the lesson in gun safety and target practice.

They saw a large bear cross through the yard last night and I am sure are hoping for more of the same tonight. They will be joined by more kids later today hoping to take in the last big vacation of summer. The weather is perfect for this Labor Day Weekend sunny and in the 70's during the day. Some of the nicest weather we have had all summer. Seems quite a few camps are busy this weekend taking advantage of a well earned nice weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out and watching out for the three banditos of Leetonia!

More Labor Day Photos

Some new construction is happening in Leetonia with a nice new shed behind the old Ottman Camp.

Jessie McRee, Elliott Garr, Michael Terinoni, Kenny, and Vinnie Marzollo, hang out on the Ostrander porch. The camp was full of musical instruments and it appears everyone was enjoying the great weather we had for the weekend. The camp although small was filled with the comfort of relaxing on a summer day in Leetonia.

Inside the camp is the old cook stove that has been there as long as
Vance Ostrander can remember. It was hot and cooking corn bread while I was there. The warm stove left a comforting feel to the crisp morning.

Petites were also up and plan to stay to the end of this week and enjoy the camp after the masses leave from the Labor Day weekend. It is back to work this morning as I am supervising someone completing a job for me today. I will be so glad when I am able to do my own work again. It is hard to be a bystander.

I got word my daughter-in-law's father died this morning after a long bout with cancer. It never seems like the ones we love stick around long enough and I had a warning from my son not to plan to exit this earth soon. So with that command I remain to write a little more about Leetonia and do what so many have done before me here...take one day at a time. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor day weekend and Leetonia was full of children having fun the old fashioned way. The six boys left to right are Timmy Shey, Lee Cassel, Owen Shey, Wyat Grundon, Casey Ahern, and Colton Cassel. They construted two elaborate play forts. The first one being for action figures and the one in the second picture for civil war figures. It appears several of the civil war figures were also trenched in for battle in the third photo.




The girls: Kortney Ebersole, Hannah Ebersole, Madeline Grundon and Toni Ritrovito appear ready to do battle with some unknown foe in the Leetonia area. I hope for the boys sake they aren't on the list of foes cause these girls look serious.

A combination of Ebersoles and Cassels surrounded a feeding table close to the Ebersole camp. I don't believe anyone starved during the weekend. They also had a few games the adults participated in. A friendly game of horseshoes and a game called, "Bongo," which looks like something a golfer made up to use up his old golf balls.

Two racks are made up of 1/2" PVC and they are placed about 15'
apart. The throwing balls are two golf balls with holes drills all the

way through them and attached together with about 12" of rope. There are a total of 6 sets of these balls, 3 sets of one color and 3 sets of another color. The object is to stand at one end and rap the balls around the horizontal bar. The top bar is worth one point, the middle two points and the bottom three points.

I don't have a copy of the rules for winning the game, but I am sure you can make up your own. I tried it for a bit and it seems very addictive. The last picture shows one of the PVC racks.
The upper area of cabins seemed full of people for the weekend. The Anthracite Camp of Fred and Judy Wise, were busy repairing inside their cabin as they had just finished putting on a new steel roof this summer.

I will post some more Labor Day Weekend pictures tomorrow as there was just too much going on for one post. Hope you all had as much fun as they did in Leetonia this weekend. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.