Summer Half Way

If feels like I just finished work for the summer yesterday.  I don’t know where the summer has gone.  It has been a busy summer so far.  We built a new dock this one happens to float.  It turned out nicely.  Jesse worked up all the plans in Solid Works which is just amazing.  With those plans, we had exactly what we needed for not only lumber, but down to the very last screw.  How many of you can say that about your building projects.  Anyway we took a day to build the frames, and then I spend a couple days digging out the foundation for where it anchors into the shoreline.  Then a few 55 gallon blue plastic drums and some decking we had some floating docks.  We bought some galvanized pipes and with some help from Greg at work we were able to get some augers installed on the ends of them that just burrowed their way down into the lake bottom.  It was really amazing how well they screwed in.  With some mounting hardware they were attached to the dock and now we have a secure floating dock.  All thats left for that project is figuring out what to do when winter comes.  Do we pull it out, or let it deal with the harsh effects of thick lake ice?

The other big project of the spring was a new roof for our house.  We decided to put a metal roof on instead of shingles in hopes that the snow will shed during the winter which should prevent those pesky ice damns.  Also there is the hope that it will last longer than a shingled roof.  Either way with the help of Glenn, Jim, and Jesse we were able to remove all the old shingles, and tear off the flat portion of the roof.  After a lot of figuring, and plenty of lumber we were able to create a new sloped roof line over the gutted existing flat roof.  With all that taken care of and a fresh layer of ice guard, and tar paper laid down we began the process of putting on the new metal.  Our roof is so funky we ended up with nine different lengths of metal.  It was a bit of a process, but the roof is now covered and keeping the water out.  We still need to do some trim work to really finish things off, but we have been so busy, that hasn’t happened yet.

Besides all the changes around the house, Erin has been working on her Masters and doing an amazing job of juggling that along with everything else in her life.  I don’t know how she does it so gracefully.  We have been enjoying the summer and have been out on the motorcycle and the sail boat.  It sure is nice to get out in the fresh air.

I have also been working on getting my private pilots license.  It has been fun learning to fly with my dad who has license to be a certified flight instructor (CFI).  We have been using a friends airplane for the lessons and it really has been amazing.  It is fun to get up and see this land from the air.  Looking over lake vermilion and the surroundings I drive through on a daily basis is really cool.  If you’d like to keep up with my flight training you can follow that over on www.iflymn.com.

Erin and I are about to head down to the cities this weekend for a Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney concert at Target Field.  We are really looking forward to not only the concert, but also getting to spend some time together.  It seems like we have been going non stop for the last few weeks.  Crazy how summer can be like that.

I hope you all are having a nice summer.  If you have to work, I hope you get the opportunity to relax and enjoy the warm weather.  Take some time to relax with the ones you love and don’t let time fly by as it can so easily do.

April 16 Snow Storm

Seems like we got more snow today than we did all winter. Nice to have a snow day, but it would have been nice to have power.

Ice sure is powerful

Spring is Springing

Winter is here

It seems that fall was taking its time with moderate temperatures and sunny skies.  It was a great time to be out in the woods.  I spent quite a bit of time working on clearing the ski trails of downed trees prior to the snow fall.  I would take off after work and clear trails for a couple hours each evening.  I think I cleared about 20 trees.  This appears to be a constant battle as Erin and I took a quick ride out to one of the trails we had completely cleared and in just a short distance came across two new downed trees crossing the trail.  🙁  Snow is on the ground now, so it won’t be long until its time to strap on the skis and head out on the trails.

After our quick ride we came back to the house and while Erin was working on school work I started hauling wood for the first time this fall.  I loaded up both the inside and outside wood boxes and got the stove filled up ready for a match.  Here is a bit of a photo progression of the work.

All this work because the outside world is beginning to look like this….

Great Saturday

Slept in this morning until 9. It was so nice to get some extra rest. I don’t know what it is about the week of school after a long break, but it really wipes you out. After some honey nut cheerios I dropped Erin off at Jesse and Aprils house and went out for a ski. It was about 6 below when I stared skiing. The sun was shining a the snow was sparkling everywhere. The trail was snowed over from the wind and snow we had last night so I was breaking the trail again. There were lot of fresh tracks already out. I wasn’t sure but I think there were fox, wolf, and deer.

After skiing I hauled wood to fill up the “wood box” outside our house. Then I relaxed and took a sauna.

Let the new year begin

2010 was a great year with lots of fun and lots of work.  I’ve been working very hard on getting my masters in educational technology.  In 2010 I completed 27 credits, 9 in the spring semester, 9 in the summer session, and 9 in the fall semester.  I’ve only two classes left and will finish the program this summer.  Erin and I have some exciting news, and it doesn’t involve a baby.  😉  In the last month of the year we officially purchased our home on lake Vermilion.  We love living on the lake and enjoy getting out in all the seasons Northern Minnesota has to offer.  School (work) is going well.  I am teamed up with a guy named Steve who works for a technology company based in Duluth.  He comes up to Virginia twice a week and we hammer out the tickets created by our staff k-12.

We’ve had a nice amount of snow this year so far.  I’ve only been out skiing once though.  🙁  I am hoping to ski at least three times a week in the coming months.  I may have blogged about this already, but I’m not sure.  Jesse and I built a sauna this summer.  We’ve been using it quite a bit and I’m really excited to use it after skiing this year.

Well.  I hope to blog more often in 2011.  We’ll see how that goes.

Fall

Fall has been going by pretty quickly here on the lake.  Work has been very busy.  We are working with a company out of Duluth that will help with our schools computer network.  They are great to work with and very knowledgeable.  Steve is my main point of contact for the company.  He has been spending quite a bit of time at our building helping the year get started.  We are hoping that things begin t slow down for us, at least in the realm of hardware failure and poorly images computers.

At home Erin and I have been enjoying our time on the lake.  Weekend boat rides dubbed the “Apple Cider Tour” are taken frequently.  We have been using the suana on almost a daily basis.  It is so nice to come home from work and relax in the sauna.  We are still jumping in the lake to cool off from time to time, but those swims sure are getting shorter and shorter.  We’ll see if I am crazy enough to jump in this winter.

Here is glimpse of what our neck of the woods looks like this time of year.

Wheezer

The last few nights Erin and i have heard a wheezing sound outside our house.  At first Erin thought it was me, but we were able to narrow it down to a sound coming from the woods by our house.  Erin thought there was something big and dangerous in the woods that would devour me whole and wouldn’t let me go investigate.  So last night when we heard the sound again I armed myself with some bug spray, a headlamp with spotlight mode, a camera, and a tripod.  This is the resulting image of the scary animal.

Back Home

Its nice to be home after a week in Fairbanks.  I had a nice time working for the Alaska State Wide Mentor Project.  They are a great staff and fun to work with.  Even though the work was fun, its nice to be home hanging out with Erin again.  We got the “big boat” in on Sunday after I broke myself out of a 15 hour slumber.  Jesse, April, and Sawyer came out and we all (Jim included) went for a little boat ride.  It sure is nice to have the boat in this early in the year.  I hear we should be seeing temps in the 70s in the next couple of days.  Sounds like we should take a boat ride after school.