It has been a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day in northern Minnesota. That particular reference will not make any sense to you if you did not read your kids the book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst! If you have kids or grandkids, it is a book that I recommend. Some of the books that my grand daughter enjoys reading are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see" by Eric Carle, "The Mixed Up Chameleon" also by Eric Carle, and "I love you, Stinky Face" by Lisa McCourt. You areally can't go wrong with any Eric Carle book, in my opinion!
Anyway, back to this being a tough day...the day actually started out just fine for me but K was not in a good place today and Bill came back to the cabin shortly after he went over to the resort this morning to avoid conflict. That behavior could lead to a whole additional blog but we won't go there today!!
The weather is yucky with a cold wind and rain. The roads are mud puddles. The forecast is for more rain tonight. This situation has not helped anyone's mood today!
The difficult request for me today was being asked not to blog about any resort guests. The concern is that someone knows someone who recognizes someone in the blog and they are offended. I do understand the concern that this would impact business and I should probably have thought about that myself! I will respect this request except for blogging about those of you that I know! :-) However, I do have to admit that 1) I have enjoyed telling stories about what I am seeing and experiencing and 2) there is a side of me that says that people who act dumb in public do not have a right to privacy. I am open to any comments and thoughts on this topic that any blog reader may want to share.
Bill made some very wonderful fresh asparagus soup for supper tonight. I am blessed to be married to this wonderful man who is also a wonderful cook!
My daughter, Chelsey, and her boyfriend, Evan, are coming up tomorrow and staying through Friday and we are looking forward to spending time with them! We have to finish bailing water out of the boat so that they can go fishing. We are planning on taking a field trip on Friday possibly to the bear sanctuary in Orr so we are praying that we get a few days of nice weather!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Flower Beds and Great Guests
Mary and Jerry finished up the flower beds yesterday and they look wonderful! We had the most delightful young man, Alex, who is a guest at the resort, who helped us with flower beds on Saturday. He is about 10 years old and is a very outgoing and helpful young man with a dimply smile that you can't help but love! Here are some pictures from the work in progress on the flower beds.
We gave Mary a hard time on this trip as she did not bring any high heeled shoes (which is why we call her "Northwoods Barbie")! We are looking foward to seeing them again in mid July when they are coming up for a week.
There are the most delightful and friendly guests at the resort this weekend. It is such fun to get to meet new people from all over the state and Midwest US. There is a couple from Grand Rapids who had their daughter and granddaughter come for a visit. Of course, there were several discussions over who had the cutest grand child! :-) There are guests from Iowa who were enjoying seeing the flower beds coming along and also enjoyed grilling some huge steaks (which of course smelled great and made us hungry)!
We did not do much yesterday as I hurt by hip/back loading the patio blocks on Saturday so I spent most of the day reading "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. It was recommneded to me by a friend and when I first read that it was about building cathedrals in the early 1100's, I was not too sure. However, having now finished this monster (800+ pages on my Nook), I would highly recommend it!
PS: Happy 20th Birthday to my daugher, Haley, and Happy 56th Wedding Anniversary to my parents!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Busy day at the resort
All in all, today was a busy day! Bill and I headed over to the garage sale before 8 AM to check out the paving stones/patio block. After driving for a while, he agreed that K and I had gotten quite far off the main road. While my pics are not as good as Bill's pics will be, here are a couple from Dinner Creek (which is where the cool blow down wood is in the creek). I am excited for Bill to take his good camera out and shoot black and whites of this area!
Since we are all feeling the hard work in various muscle groups, we are heading to bed early but looking forward to finishing the last 2 flower beds tomorrow!
So we got 100 8" x 16" patio block for $25 at garage sale and this should be enough for under the water tank plus enough to possibly make a small patio. Two guys at the sale even helped to load all of the block. The truck was riding a little low with all of the weight but we made it safely back home.
I got one cabin partially turned over before my sister and her husband arrived. We had some great chicken soup that Bill had made for lunch and then we ran home to clean up our cabin. When we were heading back, Bill thought we should take the 3 wheeler and I thought we should take my car. However, I jumped on the 3 wheeler but suggested that we got going quickly as it looked like rain. Well, we could not drive forward and kept jack knifing the little cart as we backed up. Finally, I said that I didn't think we were meant to take the 3 wheeler so we switched to my car. We were not even out the driveway (which is pretty darn short) before the skies opened up and the rain and hail started. Bill looked over at me and said, "Good thing we are in the car. You would have killed me if we were on the 3 wheeler!" and he was right! :-)
When we got back to the resort, they already had the biggest flower bed all laid out. My sister is simply amazing in how simple she made the whole effort seem! She has a great eye for plant layout and I will post pics tomorrow so everyone can see how great the flower beds look. We got 5 of the 7 flower beds done before the weather (and our sore backs!) meant we were done for the day.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Life back up north
The trip back up north on Tuesday evening was relatively uneventful. We are planning to meet some of my family at Big Rock Resort on Leech Lake in a couple of weeks so we decided we would take a side trip and check it out. The resort looked fine but my GPS seemed to be having issues when I put in the cabin as our destination when we left the resort. While the mileage was about 50 miles, the travel time was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Well, it turns out that 50 miles did take 1 hour and 10 minutes, so I obviously had forgotten how the roads wind and twist and turn up here!
Yesterday (Thursday) evening, we had multiple guests watching a basketball game in the lodge. One of them was making pheasant for dinner but it apparently was not ready when the game started. Another of the guests overed a pizza (the small frozen kind) that all of them shared, which was fairly obviously only an appetizer when shared by 5 men. At about the end of the first quarter, the guy cooking dinner left the lodge to go back to the cabin and when one of the other guys went to check on him and get some pheasant, he found out that the cook (whose perceptions were perhaps a bit impacted by alcohol consumption) had thrown out the pheasant because the one guy had ordered the pizza! Wow...what a waste of good pheasant and a waste of good brains cells!
K and I had to run to Deer River today as she needed to get a license for the pontoon (yes, we did find one for those of you who knew we were looking for one) and we needed some groceries. We stopped at a garage sale right off the road and that, of course, just whetted our appetite for garage sales! So, when we saw another garage sale sign on a dirt road, we decided it probably wasn't far to the sale. Well, that was not quite a correct assumption to make up north but the drive was beautiful! The trees are multiple shades of green and yellow as the leaves come out and there was a really cool creek with tree trucks sticking out of it. K and I both said that we need to have Bill come back and see about taking a picture. After a much longer drive than we anticipated, we finally found the garage sale and they were selling paving stones...which we just happen to need for our water tank! Since I am not really familiar with what we need, Bill gets to make the drive tomorrow morning to see if he wants them and can check out the creek for picture material!
We have seen a woodchuck a couple of times and we now believe that he is living in our culvert!! While this does mean that skunks will not live there (which we believe may have happened in the past), we are also not so excited about this. Bill is trying to decide what we do about this so stay tuned!! :-)
Tonight we are heading back to the resort after dinner to hang out and make rhubarb crunch. Tomorrow, my sister, Mary, and her husband are coming up to plant flower gardens. We will be doing the planting either between or during the rain, so we are praying for some breaks in the rain!!
Yesterday (Thursday) evening, we had multiple guests watching a basketball game in the lodge. One of them was making pheasant for dinner but it apparently was not ready when the game started. Another of the guests overed a pizza (the small frozen kind) that all of them shared, which was fairly obviously only an appetizer when shared by 5 men. At about the end of the first quarter, the guy cooking dinner left the lodge to go back to the cabin and when one of the other guys went to check on him and get some pheasant, he found out that the cook (whose perceptions were perhaps a bit impacted by alcohol consumption) had thrown out the pheasant because the one guy had ordered the pizza! Wow...what a waste of good pheasant and a waste of good brains cells!
K and I had to run to Deer River today as she needed to get a license for the pontoon (yes, we did find one for those of you who knew we were looking for one) and we needed some groceries. We stopped at a garage sale right off the road and that, of course, just whetted our appetite for garage sales! So, when we saw another garage sale sign on a dirt road, we decided it probably wasn't far to the sale. Well, that was not quite a correct assumption to make up north but the drive was beautiful! The trees are multiple shades of green and yellow as the leaves come out and there was a really cool creek with tree trucks sticking out of it. K and I both said that we need to have Bill come back and see about taking a picture. After a much longer drive than we anticipated, we finally found the garage sale and they were selling paving stones...which we just happen to need for our water tank! Since I am not really familiar with what we need, Bill gets to make the drive tomorrow morning to see if he wants them and can check out the creek for picture material!
We have seen a woodchuck a couple of times and we now believe that he is living in our culvert!! While this does mean that skunks will not live there (which we believe may have happened in the past), we are also not so excited about this. Bill is trying to decide what we do about this so stay tuned!! :-)
Tonight we are heading back to the resort after dinner to hang out and make rhubarb crunch. Tomorrow, my sister, Mary, and her husband are coming up to plant flower gardens. We will be doing the planting either between or during the rain, so we are praying for some breaks in the rain!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Life in the big city
It was great to see a bunch of my friends at work today. I have training all day on "scrum" which is a software development methodology that will be used on one of the products I manage. The training was actually well done (as opposed to a recent training where the trainer read the slides...makes me crazy!).
We celebrated Haley's 20th birthday with dinner tonight (since we won't be in town on her actual birthday) with Matt, Macy, Tip, Minnow, Haley, Mandy (house guest) and Kristy (house guest). We were able to enjoy the nice weather and eat outside which was such a treat. We had bbq chicken, homemade mac-n-cheese, fresh asparagus, fruit and stawberry angel food cake...it was good birthday food!! Hard to believe that my youngest child will be 20 in a week since it seems like I was 20 not long ago. The years go by so fast and seem to go faster every year...I figure a year will seem like a week by the time I am 90 or so!! :-)
K had a doctor appointment today and got the rest of the staples removed, the last drain removed, and a port put in (for the upcoming chemo). She said that the nerve medication is helping with the pain and she is very happy to be rid of the staples and drain. She starts chemo again on June 2nd so she will be able to enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day weekend before starting treatment again.
While we have enjoyed our time back in Cloudy Town, the crappies are biting and resort needs tending so it is time to head back up north tomorrow after work.
We celebrated Haley's 20th birthday with dinner tonight (since we won't be in town on her actual birthday) with Matt, Macy, Tip, Minnow, Haley, Mandy (house guest) and Kristy (house guest). We were able to enjoy the nice weather and eat outside which was such a treat. We had bbq chicken, homemade mac-n-cheese, fresh asparagus, fruit and stawberry angel food cake...it was good birthday food!! Hard to believe that my youngest child will be 20 in a week since it seems like I was 20 not long ago. The years go by so fast and seem to go faster every year...I figure a year will seem like a week by the time I am 90 or so!! :-)
K had a doctor appointment today and got the rest of the staples removed, the last drain removed, and a port put in (for the upcoming chemo). She said that the nerve medication is helping with the pain and she is very happy to be rid of the staples and drain. She starts chemo again on June 2nd so she will be able to enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day weekend before starting treatment again.
While we have enjoyed our time back in Cloudy Town, the crappies are biting and resort needs tending so it is time to head back up north tomorrow after work.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Indoor plumbing...what a concept!
I have to say that it was quite a concept to just get up and go to the bathroom last night rather than:
1) climb down the loft ladder
2) find shoes/slippers
3) find flashlight
4) find jacket (if it is cold)
5) go out to bathroom (and watch out for wild animals?)
It was a great day today. We had Minnow overnight and took her along to church where it was great to see many of our friends! We went out to Paynesville and had a great dinner...fresh chicken, fresh garden lettuce salad, fresh asparagus, homemade bread with raspberry jelly...man, it was all GOOD!! We installed a new computer for Mom so that she can get back on the internet and email as she has finally moved from dial up to high speed internet.
We stopped at Great Clips at the mall and Macy gave haircuts to both Bill and I. We are going for the short low maintenance look since we don't wash our hair every day!
We had a leadership meeting at church tonight which was interesting as we have a new stewardship council and are trying to get through the budget process for the first time. It was great to see more of our friends at that meeting and enjoyed some great gingerbread strips (which are just like cookies except cut into strips).
Haley has 2 other friends staying overnight tonight so it is starting to feel like we are running a hotel. We debated whether to have the fight or just get through the week until she moves out. At this point, we are trying the "just ride it out" path but patience and tempers are running short so it will be an interesting next 2 days.
1) climb down the loft ladder
2) find shoes/slippers
3) find flashlight
4) find jacket (if it is cold)
5) go out to bathroom (and watch out for wild animals?)
It was a great day today. We had Minnow overnight and took her along to church where it was great to see many of our friends! We went out to Paynesville and had a great dinner...fresh chicken, fresh garden lettuce salad, fresh asparagus, homemade bread with raspberry jelly...man, it was all GOOD!! We installed a new computer for Mom so that she can get back on the internet and email as she has finally moved from dial up to high speed internet.
We stopped at Great Clips at the mall and Macy gave haircuts to both Bill and I. We are going for the short low maintenance look since we don't wash our hair every day!
We had a leadership meeting at church tonight which was interesting as we have a new stewardship council and are trying to get through the budget process for the first time. It was great to see more of our friends at that meeting and enjoyed some great gingerbread strips (which are just like cookies except cut into strips).
Haley has 2 other friends staying overnight tonight so it is starting to feel like we are running a hotel. We debated whether to have the fight or just get through the week until she moves out. At this point, we are trying the "just ride it out" path but patience and tempers are running short so it will be an interesting next 2 days.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Leeches, Mosquitoes and coming home to St. Cloud
The bait man comes to the resort every Thursday to deliver minnows, nightcrawlers, and leeches. I can deal with minnows and nightcrawlers but I do not like leeches. And, of course, that is the one kind of bait that you actually have to handle and package! K patiently explained the difference between a blood sucker and a leech...who knew they weren't the same thing?? Anyway, a blood sucker supposedly sucks/bites at the end with the sucker and a leech supposedly sucks at one end and eats/bites at the other. This means that leeches can attach to you but will not be biting you. Personally, I have not had time to Google and verify if this was accurate. Anyway, the leeches come in a 1 pound bag and have to be separated into a dozen in each container. I quickly volunteered to pour water over them after K separated and counted them. I have put leeches on my hook a couple of times when fishing but it has never been an enjoyable event. Maybe I will feel differently about them by the end of the summer but I wouldn't take any bets on this!
The mosquitoes have also arrived up north. The first mosquitoes of the summer are always the size of hummingbirds...okay, maybe not quite that big but they are the biggest ones that we see all summer. The only good thing about them being that big is that they are slower than the smaller ones so they are a little easier to slap! We tried fishing off the dock on Friday night but we felt like we were going to be carried away by the mosquitoes so needless to say we didn't catch any fish.
I got to talk to Dominic (my oldest daughter, Angie's, stepson) as he called to say thank you for his recent birthday money. He had great stores about how his friend who moved away got to come to the party, how he found out that birthday candles are not edible, that he had 3 kinds of birthday cake (and liked the oreo one best!) and how he is saving his money for a Play Station 3. I also got an update on my youngest grandchild, Deven, who has 2 teeth, is jabbering, and is starting to get up on his hands and knees. When we got back to St. Cloud, Macy dropped of Minnow (AKA Ja'Leyah) so it has been a great grandchild day!!
Since Haley had 2 friends move in with her in our house a week ago, we were a little nervous to come home and we gave them fair warning that we were on our way. I have to say that other than a sticky kitchen floor and some nail polish on the tile floor, they did a good job cleaning up the house! It was a pleasant surprise that they were able to clean up so well after a "small dinner party" which I have a funny feeling went much later than dinner! No complaints from the neighbors so that is good news.
We were out talking with one of our neighbors when another one brought over this wonderful rhubarb dessert for everyone to share. I have to say that I miss those impromptu neighborly get togethers up north! It is not quite the same when your nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile down the road rather than across the lawn.
The mosquitoes have also arrived up north. The first mosquitoes of the summer are always the size of hummingbirds...okay, maybe not quite that big but they are the biggest ones that we see all summer. The only good thing about them being that big is that they are slower than the smaller ones so they are a little easier to slap! We tried fishing off the dock on Friday night but we felt like we were going to be carried away by the mosquitoes so needless to say we didn't catch any fish.
I got to talk to Dominic (my oldest daughter, Angie's, stepson) as he called to say thank you for his recent birthday money. He had great stores about how his friend who moved away got to come to the party, how he found out that birthday candles are not edible, that he had 3 kinds of birthday cake (and liked the oreo one best!) and how he is saving his money for a Play Station 3. I also got an update on my youngest grandchild, Deven, who has 2 teeth, is jabbering, and is starting to get up on his hands and knees. When we got back to St. Cloud, Macy dropped of Minnow (AKA Ja'Leyah) so it has been a great grandchild day!!
Since Haley had 2 friends move in with her in our house a week ago, we were a little nervous to come home and we gave them fair warning that we were on our way. I have to say that other than a sticky kitchen floor and some nail polish on the tile floor, they did a good job cleaning up the house! It was a pleasant surprise that they were able to clean up so well after a "small dinner party" which I have a funny feeling went much later than dinner! No complaints from the neighbors so that is good news.
We were out talking with one of our neighbors when another one brought over this wonderful rhubarb dessert for everyone to share. I have to say that I miss those impromptu neighborly get togethers up north! It is not quite the same when your nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile down the road rather than across the lawn.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tough Day at the resort...
Today was kind of a tough day at the resort...not because of the work but it was tough day for K. She went to see her oncologist and found that she will have chemo once per week for 12 weeks and then radiation every day for 5 weeks. And all of this treatment is about 60 miles away...the travel costs and time will mount quickly. Needless this was hard news to take and she was really struggling with that plus nerve pain and so I spent most of the afternoon just talking with her. She is going to start taking a new medication tonight for the nerve pain. I really appreciate if everyone could pray for K at this time in her struggle.
We had the last of the morel mushrooms for supper tonight and they were still wonderful! That will probably be the last of them for the season since the weather has been so warm the last couple of days.
Bill and K went over to look at a guitar that a local woman had and give her an idea on the price (so that she didn't get ripped off). Bill was hoping to get to see an older Martin but it was only a 1996 so no such luck.
I spent part of the evening crushing beer and pop cans. It is amazing how many cans can be emptied in a single weekend. Of course, that plus several empty tequila bottles explain the bathroom mess!
For those of you in St. Cloud, Bill and I will be coming home late on Saturday night and will head back on Tuesday evening. Bill has to shoot and print some art shots and I have training at work on Monday and Tuesday. We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
We had the last of the morel mushrooms for supper tonight and they were still wonderful! That will probably be the last of them for the season since the weather has been so warm the last couple of days.
Bill and K went over to look at a guitar that a local woman had and give her an idea on the price (so that she didn't get ripped off). Bill was hoping to get to see an older Martin but it was only a 1996 so no such luck.
I spent part of the evening crushing beer and pop cans. It is amazing how many cans can be emptied in a single weekend. Of course, that plus several empty tequila bottles explain the bathroom mess!
For those of you in St. Cloud, Bill and I will be coming home late on Saturday night and will head back on Tuesday evening. Bill has to shoot and print some art shots and I have training at work on Monday and Tuesday. We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Cabin Cleaning...interesting
It was very interesting to do the kitchen and bathroom cleaning of cabins yesterday. If anyone is still at the get "puking drunk" stage and you stay anywhere that you leave a mess in the bathroom, please also leave a VERY NICE tip for the cleaning staff! I have discovered that I would much rather clean up messy kitchens than messy bathrooms. Actually, only one cabin had a messy bathroom but that was enough to convince me that kitchens are preferred!
I finished all of the kitchens and bathrooms yesterday and finished the bedrooms and floors today. I am hoping to get the supply room organized tomorrow. Gee, isn't it a surprise that I want things organized!! :-)
Bill finished up the mowing and weed trimming today. His face was a dust mask by the time he finished!!
K goes to see her oncologist tomorrow morning and then we will know next steps in her treatment program. We know that she will have more chemo but are not sure when the treatments will start.
I hope that everyone had the wonderful weather that we have had the past couple of days and was able to enjoy it...incredible!!
I finished all of the kitchens and bathrooms yesterday and finished the bedrooms and floors today. I am hoping to get the supply room organized tomorrow. Gee, isn't it a surprise that I want things organized!! :-)
Bill finished up the mowing and weed trimming today. His face was a dust mask by the time he finished!!
K goes to see her oncologist tomorrow morning and then we will know next steps in her treatment program. We know that she will have more chemo but are not sure when the treatments will start.
I hope that everyone had the wonderful weather that we have had the past couple of days and was able to enjoy it...incredible!!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Mushroom Pics
Bill, K, and D found a nice patch of morel mushrooms on Sunday afternoon and we had them for supper on Sunday. D battered 1/2 of them and sauteed them all in butter. Oh, man, were they good! Bill took these pictures of the delicious little mushrooms:
K went to the doctor yesterday and got 1/2 the staples removed but still has 1 drain. She goes back on Thursday to get the rest of the staples removed and maybe the drain (depending on the drainage rate). She also goes to the oncologist on Thursday and then we will find out the next steps in treatment but we expect chemo and radiation.
I did my first "turn over" cleaning yesterday and it is not really much different than initial cleaning but not quite as comprehensive. I am still pretty slow at it but we got the trash and bedding removed from all of the cabins, started washing bedding and I got one cabin kitchen and bathroom cleaned. Other than the 2 cabins that are rented all week, we don't have new guests coming in until Friday so there is not a big rush on the turn over. Bill spent the afternoon riding the lawn mower and got about 1/2 done with the mowing...lots of lawn to mow!
Bill and I went fishing in the evening and I caught a perch right away so we were thinking we might get enough for a meal but no such luck. I had one other perch that I lost as I am still not great at setting my hook or remembering to keep the tip of the rod up to keep tension! Bill had a couple of bites and caught one little perch. It was a clear still evening and it was absolutely incredible to see the reflection of the trees on the lake. It felt like I was looking up when I was looking down! The full moon was coming up as we were heading in and made the whole scene incredibly magical.
Life is good and we are grateful.
K went to the doctor yesterday and got 1/2 the staples removed but still has 1 drain. She goes back on Thursday to get the rest of the staples removed and maybe the drain (depending on the drainage rate). She also goes to the oncologist on Thursday and then we will find out the next steps in treatment but we expect chemo and radiation.
I did my first "turn over" cleaning yesterday and it is not really much different than initial cleaning but not quite as comprehensive. I am still pretty slow at it but we got the trash and bedding removed from all of the cabins, started washing bedding and I got one cabin kitchen and bathroom cleaned. Other than the 2 cabins that are rented all week, we don't have new guests coming in until Friday so there is not a big rush on the turn over. Bill spent the afternoon riding the lawn mower and got about 1/2 done with the mowing...lots of lawn to mow!
Bill and I went fishing in the evening and I caught a perch right away so we were thinking we might get enough for a meal but no such luck. I had one other perch that I lost as I am still not great at setting my hook or remembering to keep the tip of the rod up to keep tension! Bill had a couple of bites and caught one little perch. It was a clear still evening and it was absolutely incredible to see the reflection of the trees on the lake. It felt like I was looking up when I was looking down! The full moon was coming up as we were heading in and made the whole scene incredibly magical.
Life is good and we are grateful.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Wonderful day to do NOTHING!!
We had a great fishing opener at the resort yesterday. It was cold and rainy overnight but warmed up as the day went on. Rented one more cabin in the afternoon. It was a bit of rush to finish cleaning and get it stocked but between D, Bill, and myself, we got it done! We also worked on cleaning up a washer and dryer that can be used by guests and to wash cabins sheets, etc. The dryer needed some work (as it was making an awful noise) and D and Bill figured out how to make it work without having to buy new parts.
My sister, Mary, came up last night to take a look at the gardens at the resort. After supper, we walked around and she took some notes on the size and sun exposure so that she can plan flower layout. K is very excited about having flowers in her flower beds and I am excited that Mary has volunteered to do this as I was not born with a green thumb (unlike my parents and several of my siblings!). We got to enjoy a glass of Gpa Fuchs's Concord wine as we walked around to plan flower beds. It is a little sweet but Mary and D both like it! We also cut some fresh rhubarb and made rhubarb crunch (recipe below as it is awesome!!).
Bill and I had a very nice morning with Mary (as she stayed in the bunkhouse). Bill made great buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and we sat around and had coffee and talked. We do not often get a chance to do that so it was actually quite excellent! Mary went over to the resort to mark flower beds for expansion and spray roundup on the grass while Bill and I made potato soup. To be totally honest, Bill let me peel and chop potatoes and he did the rest of the cooking. Needless to say, it was an awesome soup and we had lunch on the deck since the weather was so nice. Mary headed home soon after lunch but we are looking forward to seeing her again in 2 weeks when she is coming up to plant the flowers!
The resort lodge is closed on Sunday so Bill is off looking for mushrooms with K and D and I am just hanging around reading and relaxing.
Our lives are so blessed and we are so grateful!
My sister, Mary, came up last night to take a look at the gardens at the resort. After supper, we walked around and she took some notes on the size and sun exposure so that she can plan flower layout. K is very excited about having flowers in her flower beds and I am excited that Mary has volunteered to do this as I was not born with a green thumb (unlike my parents and several of my siblings!). We got to enjoy a glass of Gpa Fuchs's Concord wine as we walked around to plan flower beds. It is a little sweet but Mary and D both like it! We also cut some fresh rhubarb and made rhubarb crunch (recipe below as it is awesome!!).
Bill and I had a very nice morning with Mary (as she stayed in the bunkhouse). Bill made great buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and we sat around and had coffee and talked. We do not often get a chance to do that so it was actually quite excellent! Mary went over to the resort to mark flower beds for expansion and spray roundup on the grass while Bill and I made potato soup. To be totally honest, Bill let me peel and chop potatoes and he did the rest of the cooking. Needless to say, it was an awesome soup and we had lunch on the deck since the weather was so nice. Mary headed home soon after lunch but we are looking forward to seeing her again in 2 weeks when she is coming up to plant the flowers!
The resort lodge is closed on Sunday so Bill is off looking for mushrooms with K and D and I am just hanging around reading and relaxing.
Our lives are so blessed and we are so grateful!
Rhubarb Crunch
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (melted)
2 cups brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (we prefer old fashioned)
2 tsp cinnamon
Mix the ingredients. Press half of the oatmeal mixture in greased 9 x 13 pan.
Put 8 to 9 cups of chopped Rhubarb in pan over pressed oatmeal mixture.
Boil together until thickened:
2 cups water
2 cups white sugar
4 Tablespoons corn starch
When thickened, remove from heat and add:
2 tsp vanilla
Pour this mixture over the chopped Rhubarb
Top with remaining oatmeal mixture (crumbled)
Bake 1 hour @ 350
Very excellent warm with vanilla ice cream!! :-)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Trip to Bemdji and OPENING DAY!!
We took a field trip yesterday into Bemdji to get supplies for ourselves and the resort. We checked out Goodwill and picked up some flannel shirts (which do happen to be required clothing in Northern Minnesota!). We also found a great chocolate shop (Chocolate Plus) as I have been surviving with very little chocolate in my life (which I know is shocking to those of you who know how much I love chocolate!!). We did some exploring of the town as we had never really spent much time in Bemidji (or BURmidji, if you are my husband...as it does get cold up here!). We found a great coffee shop connected to a very nice pawn shop...something for me and something for Bill...life is good!
We were debating eating or shopping and Bill was not hungry yet so we decided to go shopping. Imagine this...we start shopping at about 5:45 or so. We had 2 shopping lists (one for us and one for the resort) and were shopping in a SuperWalmart where we do not know where to find stuff and the locations of items does not appear to be logical. Needless to say, this shopping trip too longer than I anticipated and, of course, this lead to me being very hungry, which lead to me being very crabby (or as my friends know, 5 minutes past bitchy!!). At that point, I actually whipped a granola bar out of my purse and ate it in the frozen section of Walmart (much to my husband's bewilderment). You would think after 15 years together, that he would understand this and not be surprised!!
On the way out of the store, I stopped suddenly and Bill was not able to stop the heavy cart of items that he had and ran into my heel. I was shocked that I only said "Son of a...." and did not finish the statement. I then turned to my husband (who did this very accidentally) and told him that he was darn lucky that I had eaten the granola bar or the outcome would have been very different!!
We went back to downtown Bemidji and had a great dinner at Backyard BBQ. Bill had the 1/2 rack and I had a pulled pork sandwich. The meat was very good (but not as good as Bill's) and the corn bread was very good (better than mine, I admit). I would recommend the restaurant if anyone is in Bemidji looking for a good place to eat at a reasonable price.
Today is opening day at the resort. We had a few things to finish up but were basically ready when the first guests arrived! I am looking forward to meeting everyone and finding out more about fishing opener at a resort!!
We were debating eating or shopping and Bill was not hungry yet so we decided to go shopping. Imagine this...we start shopping at about 5:45 or so. We had 2 shopping lists (one for us and one for the resort) and were shopping in a SuperWalmart where we do not know where to find stuff and the locations of items does not appear to be logical. Needless to say, this shopping trip too longer than I anticipated and, of course, this lead to me being very hungry, which lead to me being very crabby (or as my friends know, 5 minutes past bitchy!!). At that point, I actually whipped a granola bar out of my purse and ate it in the frozen section of Walmart (much to my husband's bewilderment). You would think after 15 years together, that he would understand this and not be surprised!!
On the way out of the store, I stopped suddenly and Bill was not able to stop the heavy cart of items that he had and ran into my heel. I was shocked that I only said "Son of a...." and did not finish the statement. I then turned to my husband (who did this very accidentally) and told him that he was darn lucky that I had eaten the granola bar or the outcome would have been very different!!
We went back to downtown Bemidji and had a great dinner at Backyard BBQ. Bill had the 1/2 rack and I had a pulled pork sandwich. The meat was very good (but not as good as Bill's) and the corn bread was very good (better than mine, I admit). I would recommend the restaurant if anyone is in Bemidji looking for a good place to eat at a reasonable price.
Today is opening day at the resort. We had a few things to finish up but were basically ready when the first guests arrived! I am looking forward to meeting everyone and finding out more about fishing opener at a resort!!
Hummingbirds have arrived!!
We put up our hummingbird feeder over the weekend and got to see our first hummingbirds today! One just about hit Bill in the head on the way to the feeder (as it is located about 5 feet off our deck).
It was a glorious day today and we ALMOST got the cabins completely finished. As I was talking to K at the end of the day, she asked about checking smoke detectors and fire extinguisher renewal dates. Just one more detail that I had not thought of. I am going to make a checklist (such a surprise to those who know me!) as this revisiting a cabin about a zillion times is starting to get old. Also, if we have others helping to clean, it will help ensure that everything gets checked and done.
K pushed herself too hard yesterday and so was very sore today and took it easy. It has not been easy for her to sit back and watch all of this when she is used to doing it all. We have talked about how difficult this is but that she needs to let people love on her at this time. If anyone is ever strugging with this topic, there is book called 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper which does a great job of talking about this subject.
Here is the book synopsis: As he is driving home from a minister's conference, Baptist minister Don Piper collides with a semi-truck that crosses into his lane. He is pronounced dead at the scene. For the next 90 minutes, Piper experiences heaven where he is greeted by those who had influenced him spiritually. He hears beautiful music and feels true peace.Back on earth, a passing minister who had also been at the conference is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man is dead. Piper miraculously comes back to life and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery.For years Piper kept his heavenly experience to himself. Finally, however, friends and family convinced him to share his remarkable story.
Anyway, we got the cabins 99% ready to go and got the lodge cleaned. Bill and D got the fishing cleaning shack and the bait shack ready to go. Bill raked and picked up sticks around the cabins this afternoon (since quite a few showed up from the hail storm)!
Tonight we are heading over for our once a week shower...big occasion in our lives! For those of you who may come to visit, you will be happy to know that we will shower more often as the weather gets warmer and we sweat more! We are also thinking about building an outdoor shower but we really need to get our water system set up and hooked into the kitchen as the first priority. We do plan to get started on the water system once we are past this initial push to get everything ready at the resort.
This blog got pretty long so please feel free to comment if I am rambling on too long! :-)
It was a glorious day today and we ALMOST got the cabins completely finished. As I was talking to K at the end of the day, she asked about checking smoke detectors and fire extinguisher renewal dates. Just one more detail that I had not thought of. I am going to make a checklist (such a surprise to those who know me!) as this revisiting a cabin about a zillion times is starting to get old. Also, if we have others helping to clean, it will help ensure that everything gets checked and done.
K pushed herself too hard yesterday and so was very sore today and took it easy. It has not been easy for her to sit back and watch all of this when she is used to doing it all. We have talked about how difficult this is but that she needs to let people love on her at this time. If anyone is ever strugging with this topic, there is book called 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper which does a great job of talking about this subject.
Here is the book synopsis: As he is driving home from a minister's conference, Baptist minister Don Piper collides with a semi-truck that crosses into his lane. He is pronounced dead at the scene. For the next 90 minutes, Piper experiences heaven where he is greeted by those who had influenced him spiritually. He hears beautiful music and feels true peace.Back on earth, a passing minister who had also been at the conference is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man is dead. Piper miraculously comes back to life and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery.For years Piper kept his heavenly experience to himself. Finally, however, friends and family convinced him to share his remarkable story.
Anyway, we got the cabins 99% ready to go and got the lodge cleaned. Bill and D got the fishing cleaning shack and the bait shack ready to go. Bill raked and picked up sticks around the cabins this afternoon (since quite a few showed up from the hail storm)!
Tonight we are heading over for our once a week shower...big occasion in our lives! For those of you who may come to visit, you will be happy to know that we will shower more often as the weather gets warmer and we sweat more! We are also thinking about building an outdoor shower but we really need to get our water system set up and hooked into the kitchen as the first priority. We do plan to get started on the water system once we are past this initial push to get everything ready at the resort.
This blog got pretty long so please feel free to comment if I am rambling on too long! :-)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Heck of a Hail Storm
We woke up this morning to clouds, winds, and thunder. Bill came to the bunkhouse/office about 7:30 or so and we talked about the weather looking kind of ugly. All of a sudden, it started to hail. The first hail was pretty small (about pencil eraser size) but it kept getting bigger and bigger until we had about 1 inch hail falling fast and furious. The insulation muffled the noise inside but it was an incredible racket on the tin roof when we opened the door to listen!! As the pictures show, it looked like it snowed! We will be going to Bemidji on Thursday to have my car looked at (and we need to pick up some supplies for the resort).
Of course, just when we had most of the branches and leaves cleaned up at the resort, this storm has caused a new mess to clean up with lots of little branches, etc.
There were 4 volunteers who came to the resort this afternoon to help put all of the curtains back up and make the beds. I got to be in charge (which is just not me, right?) of assigning people to cabins and getting bedding to the cabins ahead of the crews! I also went around and touched up floors behind the crews and put out toilet paper, rugs, and garbage bags.
I have to say that I do not know how K and D did this by themselves in past years...there is a A LOT of work to getting a resort ready to open (which is not a surprise to anyone who has done this but it is surprising to us novices). Bill spent the afternoon finishing up on the dock work. He reinforced about 1/2 of the dock pieces and notched some that did not fit right over connecting bolts, etc. We are heading back this evening to work on a leak in the fishing cleaning house (from when the pipes froze last week).
Tomorrow we should will finish up the cabins - plug in fridges, turn on gas and light pilot lights, replace a few light bulbs, etc. Then we will finish cleaning up the lodge. Bill and D will be working on finishing the bait shack work (as they put in new minnow tanks this year). Amazing how long all of this takes!
Of course, just when we had most of the branches and leaves cleaned up at the resort, this storm has caused a new mess to clean up with lots of little branches, etc.
I have to say that I do not know how K and D did this by themselves in past years...there is a A LOT of work to getting a resort ready to open (which is not a surprise to anyone who has done this but it is surprising to us novices). Bill spent the afternoon finishing up on the dock work. He reinforced about 1/2 of the dock pieces and notched some that did not fit right over connecting bolts, etc. We are heading back this evening to work on a leak in the fishing cleaning house (from when the pipes froze last week).
Tomorrow we should will finish up the cabins - plug in fridges, turn on gas and light pilot lights, replace a few light bulbs, etc. Then we will finish cleaning up the lodge. Bill and D will be working on finishing the bait shack work (as they put in new minnow tanks this year). Amazing how long all of this takes!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Eagle diving for fish...really cool!
Bill and I got the last 2 rented cabins cleaned today. We still have 2 to clean but they are not rented for this weekend so we have time if needed. We have a couple of people coming to help tomorrow to put all the curtains back up, make the beds, and stock the cabins with toilet paper, garbage bags, etc. With any luck at all, we will have all the rented cabins ready by tomorrow night! We also have to finish cleaning the lodge, get the bait shack ready and filled, and do some additional work on the dock. My sister, Mary, is coming up this weekend to help us get flower beds ready. She has kindly volunteered to plant all of the flower beds with mostly perennials and K is very excited about this!
While Bill and I were cleaning today, he happened to be looking out the window when he saw an eagle drop straight out of the sky and grab a fish out of the lake! I missed seeing the eagle drop but got to see it fly off just above the water. It is pretty incredible that a bird moving that fast can just stop, grab a fish and take off again!
K went to the doctor today and they removed 2 of her drains so she only has 1 left (which is a good thing!). She is healing very well and has only a 10 pound weight lift restriction. Her arms and shoulders are sore so she has exercises to ensure that she keeps moving.
People from church will be bringing over lunch the rest of the week to help out. They are a great bunch of friends who have rallied around K and D throughout this time. Although Bill enjoys cooking, he is not going to mind a few days off as we finish getting ready for the opening weekend! I do have to say that he made some really wonderful beef stroganoff for supper tonight...I do love his cooking!!
While Bill and I were cleaning today, he happened to be looking out the window when he saw an eagle drop straight out of the sky and grab a fish out of the lake! I missed seeing the eagle drop but got to see it fly off just above the water. It is pretty incredible that a bird moving that fast can just stop, grab a fish and take off again!
K went to the doctor today and they removed 2 of her drains so she only has 1 left (which is a good thing!). She is healing very well and has only a 10 pound weight lift restriction. Her arms and shoulders are sore so she has exercises to ensure that she keeps moving.
People from church will be bringing over lunch the rest of the week to help out. They are a great bunch of friends who have rallied around K and D throughout this time. Although Bill enjoys cooking, he is not going to mind a few days off as we finish getting ready for the opening weekend! I do have to say that he made some really wonderful beef stroganoff for supper tonight...I do love his cooking!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Dock Day!
It was a very lazy morning as we basically sat around and hung out! We got the Iowa Queen (small boat) flipped over and took it (and our laundry) over to the resort to wash. After lunch (and a nap!), Bill worked on cleaning the boat while I worked on cleaning the cabin.
We put up our hummingbird feeder as I thought I heard some hummingbirds when I was sitting outside. We are excited to see and hear all of the birds in the area. K has a CD to learn bird sounds and we are going to borrow that for a while.
This evening we got to help put in a dock. This was a first time experience for me and it was rather interesting! Due to the ice damage and the high water level, there was quite a bit of work to do on the various dock sections. I got to wear waders for the first time and I was amazed at the water pressure and how it sucked the wader tight against my skin! It was like wearing compression socks over whatever part of my body was in the water...very interesting. They certainly kept out the cold water which was great as the water is still pretty cold as I learned when I had to reach in and move cement blocks. We had 3 of us in the water and 2 guys helping from on land/dock. We ended up tipping over one section of the dock and had a bit of struggle to get it upright again but it all worked out in the end. By the end, it was getting dark and I was chilled from having wet sleeves on my T-shirt and the cool night breeze. It felt darn good to take a shower and clean/warm up! Here a few pictures when we were working on the first section of dock!
We put up our hummingbird feeder as I thought I heard some hummingbirds when I was sitting outside. We are excited to see and hear all of the birds in the area. K has a CD to learn bird sounds and we are going to borrow that for a while.
This evening we got to help put in a dock. This was a first time experience for me and it was rather interesting! Due to the ice damage and the high water level, there was quite a bit of work to do on the various dock sections. I got to wear waders for the first time and I was amazed at the water pressure and how it sucked the wader tight against my skin! It was like wearing compression socks over whatever part of my body was in the water...very interesting. They certainly kept out the cold water which was great as the water is still pretty cold as I learned when I had to reach in and move cement blocks. We had 3 of us in the water and 2 guys helping from on land/dock. We ended up tipping over one section of the dock and had a bit of struggle to get it upright again but it all worked out in the end. By the end, it was getting dark and I was chilled from having wet sleeves on my T-shirt and the cool night breeze. It felt darn good to take a shower and clean/warm up! Here a few pictures when we were working on the first section of dock!
Friday, May 6, 2011
What a glorious day!!
Wow...what a glorious day the Lord has made! K came home from the hospital and is feeling like she has been kicked by a mule (quote from her) but is glad to be out of the hospital. She hung around outside for a while as she is tired of being inside (just like the rest of us).
I got another cabin cleaned today with the help of K's sister who is up visiting for a few days. We also got 2 loads of curtains washed so we will hang those back up over the weekend. Bill helped to rake up leaves around the cabins. I also got about half a dozen chairs cleaned. They are re-upholstered metal chairs that were in a bowling alley and then in storage so they are a little dirty!!
We cooked pork steak over the fire for dinner and enjoyed a glass of Gpa Fuchs's wine. His latest medley is really quite excellent!
However, this whole scene was changed by a call from American Eagle regarding an order that I supposedly placed. You guessed it...someone got a hold of my credit card # and was ordering stuff on line. Not sure what tipped off AE to call and verify but I am appreciative of their call. The other good thing is that Discover was absolutely wonderful about verifying which charges were legit, cancelling our card, reversing the fraululent charges, etc. I talked to three different individuals at Discover and they were all wonderfully helpful. Not a major issue...just inconvenient!
We will be putting in a dock tomorrow so darn, we won't be able to attend the local smelt fry. I mean really...why would I want to eat fish with the fins and bones...not breaking my heart that we won't be able to participate in that event!
I got another cabin cleaned today with the help of K's sister who is up visiting for a few days. We also got 2 loads of curtains washed so we will hang those back up over the weekend. Bill helped to rake up leaves around the cabins. I also got about half a dozen chairs cleaned. They are re-upholstered metal chairs that were in a bowling alley and then in storage so they are a little dirty!!
We cooked pork steak over the fire for dinner and enjoyed a glass of Gpa Fuchs's wine. His latest medley is really quite excellent!
However, this whole scene was changed by a call from American Eagle regarding an order that I supposedly placed. You guessed it...someone got a hold of my credit card # and was ordering stuff on line. Not sure what tipped off AE to call and verify but I am appreciative of their call. The other good thing is that Discover was absolutely wonderful about verifying which charges were legit, cancelling our card, reversing the fraululent charges, etc. I talked to three different individuals at Discover and they were all wonderfully helpful. Not a major issue...just inconvenient!
We will be putting in a dock tomorrow so darn, we won't be able to attend the local smelt fry. I mean really...why would I want to eat fish with the fins and bones...not breaking my heart that we won't be able to participate in that event!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Surgery went well!
Why do doctors and hospitals seem to operate on the "hurry up and wait" principle? K had a double masectomy yesterday and while the surgery went well (we are very thankful for that!), it was a frustrating day of "hurry up and wait" all day long! Guess we were all meant to learn a lesson in patience yesterday (and we all know that is a lesson with which I continually struggle).
At the resort, we have 2 of the 7 cabins ready except for bedding (which we will put in next week) and we have the dock about half rebuilt. Tuesday was a beautiful spring day and we enjoyed being able to got some work done. We are hoping that this afternoon will be nice enough to get more stuff done.
We saw 30+ deer on the road on the way back from Bemidji last night (which makes driving at dusk a bit nerve wracking). We had 2 deer in our yard this morning so they must be getting used to having us around (as we have not had them that close to the cabin in the past).
While we have been here only a short time, we are amazed at much less we are spending on "stuff" yet still have everything that we need. Of course, this is much easier to do when we have no real stores within 30 miles and are living in a 16 x 20 cabin with no storage space!!
At the resort, we have 2 of the 7 cabins ready except for bedding (which we will put in next week) and we have the dock about half rebuilt. Tuesday was a beautiful spring day and we enjoyed being able to got some work done. We are hoping that this afternoon will be nice enough to get more stuff done.
We saw 30+ deer on the road on the way back from Bemidji last night (which makes driving at dusk a bit nerve wracking). We had 2 deer in our yard this morning so they must be getting used to having us around (as we have not had them that close to the cabin in the past).
While we have been here only a short time, we are amazed at much less we are spending on "stuff" yet still have everything that we need. Of course, this is much easier to do when we have no real stores within 30 miles and are living in a 16 x 20 cabin with no storage space!!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Siting of a Black Bear
We were on our way back from a trip to town (to get a new handle for the splitting maul and cuz my husband needed a road trip) when we saw a real live BLACK BEAR in the opposite ditch. We did a quick stop and backed up and the bear just sat in the sun, nibbling on grass. It was a pretty big bear...we are guessing 350 + lbs! We took pictures with an older cell phone and are now trying to figure out how to get those sent and downloaded! We could tell that one of its front paws was sore when it finally got up and lumbered off after about 10 minutes of letting us watch it. What an incredible experience to see a bear in the wild!!
Bill was also impressed on Saturday to learn a new way to split wood (from a true Northern MN wood splitter, of course)! If you just tap the wood with the splitting maul at 4 different locations and give it a split, the wood generally just splits into 4 pieces. Bill gave it a try as soon as we got home on Saturday and was amazed at how much easier this is than swinging the maul from on high for each split.
Our friend, K, is having surgery on Wednesday and is really struggling as that approaches so she is coming over to have supper (chicken medallions and wild rice...man, I love my husband's cooking!) and hang out with us so that she is not sitting home alone (as her husband, D, is at work). I pray that we are able to offer some comfort and distraction to her! Keep her in your prayers, please!
Bill was also impressed on Saturday to learn a new way to split wood (from a true Northern MN wood splitter, of course)! If you just tap the wood with the splitting maul at 4 different locations and give it a split, the wood generally just splits into 4 pieces. Bill gave it a try as soon as we got home on Saturday and was amazed at how much easier this is than swinging the maul from on high for each split.
Our friend, K, is having surgery on Wednesday and is really struggling as that approaches so she is coming over to have supper (chicken medallions and wild rice...man, I love my husband's cooking!) and hang out with us so that she is not sitting home alone (as her husband, D, is at work). I pray that we are able to offer some comfort and distraction to her! Keep her in your prayers, please!
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