July 23rd, 2006 at 6:38pm
We got back to Valdez last night. Spent Saturday night with Chris, Robin and Aron. Brought back a Papa Murphy pizza and salad makings to their place. It was nice catching up, but we were pretty wiped out so we turned in for the night by 12:00. (3:00am Minnesota time).
Great seeing Katie. We spent today slowly putting things away and catching up on mail. I’m going to have to get Bill to show me again how to post pictures. (How quickly I forget….)
July 19th, 2006 at 11:13am
We had a great storm last night. Quite a bit of rain in a short amount of time. Some good lightening strikes as well. The rain was much needed. The fire hazzard is high right now.
3 more mice bit the dust on the cabin trap line this morning.
Bill’s mom and dad relaxed with us today enjoying the off shore breezes and beating the 88 degree temperatures in the shade of these beautiful white pines before heading back to Alden.
We took a bike ride down to the South Campground after Bill and Arlene left. My cousin Margo and her husband Chuck walked the beach down from their cabin for a chat and invited us back to their place for evening dessert. We took a quik dip in the lake after they left. We had to walk out at least 200 yards to get out to waste deep water, but the lake felt good and quite refreshing.
Bill’s making contact with a fellow who lives near our Debs property. He works on wells. We’re hoping to get him over to check out our pump and see if he’s able to help us get it up and running again before next summer.
It’s 9:20 and the sun is just setting on the west side of the lake. Another beautiful Pike Bay sunset. I’m sitting out on the deck typing away on my comptuter and the mosquitos are not bad at all.
Have to stop. We’re going to paddle down to Margo and Chuck’s cabin.
July 15th, 2006 at 11:13am
We’re into our third day of very hot and humid weather. We were up and out of the cabin by 9:15 this morning. “Art in the Park” was taking place in Bemidji this weekend and we wanted to get there early so we could check things out and head out to our land for the last time this summer.
Lots of fun arts and crafts along the shores of Lake Bemidji. It was a hot morning so we ambled through fairly quickly. We ran into Tom and Sandy Richards. I picked up some fun ear rings and a necklace of for Katie that had a hand-made bead. I wanted to pick something up for her for taking care of Rudy this summer.
We stopped off on our way up to Debs to give Mom some sheets to wash from the cabin.
Very hot on the land!! We tried to cool off in the screened in tent a little, then stained the shed. We also put hardware cloth over the particle board doors to try and detour the porkies from gnawing into the door.
         
At two different times during the day we startled deer on the property. We never saw either of them but heard them both snort a warning. It must be the season of the monarch butterflies. Today they were flitting around us on a pretty constant basis.
We took down the tent around 7:00pm, put away the folding chairs, and put the other odds and ends into the shed we wanted to keep at the property. Bill locked the shed with our new padlock and we headed back to the cabin. Very satisfying getting a few things done on the land this year. We’ll keep you posted on the next building project.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:12am
Another beautiful day at the cabin. We called and placed an order for one of the 8X8 foot sheds in Cass Lake. They will deliver it to our Debs property tomorrow and stay long enough to hep us get it in place and leveled.
After many walks around on the property and much discussion we finally decided the best location for the shed is the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 14. Another words, when you drive into the first meadow, the shed is to the north tucked hidden away from view. We’re hoping by putting it there, it won’t be noticed easily by the person who randomly happens to drive into the property.
This morning, after a walk around Tacagami Loop, Bill cleaned out the pine needles from the rain gutters and I swept down the spider web/egg sacks and swept the deck and side walk area.
There’s a pleasant off shore breeze today. I would bet Zac and Bun are entertaining Wendy and Scott on the sail boat today.
We still haven’t heard what Bill and Arlene have decided to drive up north. It may be the motorhome with 4 wheelers or the jeep with 4 wheelers.
Now we’re relaxing on the porch reading, blogging, and doing Sudakos. Nice!
July 11th, 2006 at 11:13am
Bill and Arlene arrived around 8:30 last night and Bill 3 and Erin joined us closer to midnight. After a quick game of Farkle, to teach Arlene, we all went to bed. But not before Bill had set out a short trapline for the mice that are once again getting out of hand.
This morning three mice managed to get caught and the day was already off to a hot start. By the time we ate breakfast and got organized to leave Bill and Erin had already taken a brief swim to cool down. Bill and BJ took the trailer with four wheelers and met up in Cass Lake to lead the way to the Debs land for the man who was delivering our shed. Bill and Arlene stopped in Bemidji briefly to meet up with friends, and Erin and I hit the maul for a little shopping.
By the time we arrived at the Debs property it was after noon and had to be close to 90. The shed was already nestled back in it’s new location and looks great. We’re kind of wishing we hadn’t picked up the gallon of brown stain because the exhisiting grey seems to blend into the surroundings so well.
Bill and Arlene were already sitting on the camp chairs in the screened in tent among the red pines trying to catch some breeze. Bill, Erin and Bill took off on the four wheelers. I was so excited about our new fire ring and wanted to try it out, but it was just too hot. So after setting up our picnic on a make shift table that Arlene and Bill had brought with them, I joined Bill’s folks hoping for a cool breeze.
Bill & Bill tried priming the pump to no avail.
I made Bill join me for a brief four wheel ride before we left the land. There are some wonderful trails that lead off in the woods. They will be fun exploring.
We returned to the cabin by early evening and cooled down briefly in the lake. The six of us had a nice dinner chatting on the porch before Erin and Bill headed back up to Cook.
Nice day over all but hotter that blazes.
July 10th, 2006 at 11:12am
Today is Erin’s birthday! 26 years old! We hope she’s celebrating in a fun way.
We began yesterday at the cabin biking with Zac, Bun, Wendy and Scott, and Kanga (theirnew heins 57 dog). Perfectweather. A nice breeze to keep the bugs away.
Bill and I spent the latter part of the afternoon at Home Depot pricing lumber for a shed. We also checked sheds that were already completed and kits as well. We had pretty much decided we were going to build the shed, but noticed more sheds for sale in Cass Lake as we headed back to the cabin. After taking a look at the Cass Lake sheds this morning we decided for the small amount more we would need to pay, it would be worth it to buy one of the already assembled sheds. The sheds are well made and in an 8X8 foot barn shape. The store will deliver as well.
It’s just as well we chose to go this route. Bill’s mom and dad no more than got on the road this morning heading our direction, (9miles from home) when a tire blew out on the motorhome. There was some additional under carrage problems as well. We encouraged them to get things taken care of and get a good nights rest before trying again tomorrow. At this point I think they will come in the jeep and pull the trailer up with the 4 wheelers and the new fire ring.
We went out to lunch with mom this morning and took her grocery shopping. We headed out to our land, put up the new screened in tent in the stand of red pines in the front meadow. We added the camp chairs, dragged in the cooler, and enjoyed listening to the wind in the pines while munching on chips and sipping sodas and reading. Nice!
We wrapped up the evening visiting mom. Bill had an hour long telephone board meeting and we ejoyed some gab time.
The icing in the cake was driving back to the cabin with a beautiful full moon rising.
July 5th, 2006 at 11:11am
It was a beautiful day at the cabin. Sunshine, nice breeze, no bugs. Bill spent the day running around Bemidji taking care of some Debs property concerns. Jody and I hauled 14 bags of garbage down to Ojibway. Came back and spent a couple hours on the dock talking and catching some sunshine. The Walker Realtor came by to take a quick look at the cabin. He will give us an estimate what he thinks the cabin could sell for. Jody and I took a quick bike ride down to the South Campground. The guys fixed an awesome dinner! Mark grilled pork chops on the grill and Bill made a great stir fry. Jody and I on clean up brigade. Margo, Chuck and their daughter Heidi came down for a quick beach visit. Two eagles were hanging out in one of the taller white pines down near the beach. One adult and one immature. Nice having time to connect with Jody and Mark.
June 19th, 2006 at 9:55pm
Kate and I headed out for a short kayak at Robe Lake. The weather couldn’t decide if it wanted to break out with sun or rain. Taking the kayaks off the truck.
We watched red-throated greebs building their nest, watched some pretty fantastic breaches (minnow breaches). (Katie’s already thinking like a Stan Stevens tour guide…)
The day was beautiful in spite of the lack of sun. Fun listening to all the bird sounds. We were the only people at the lake.
I caught Katie on the deck chatting with one of her PLU friends.
I’m still having some goofy things happen when I try to put pictures on my blog, but it’s coming together slowly. Thanks to all Bill’s help!
June 18th, 2006 at 9:12pm
We returned last night from Northway where a memorial for our good friend, Don Spitler, took place. We had worked with Don and his wife for 12 years in Northway at the school. June 7th, Don crashed his ultra light plane just a short distance from the airport. The service was fittingly held in the school gym. Diane and Joe, Don’s kids, along with their families decorated the gym with lots and lots of hunting, fishing, trapping pictures intersperced with moose antlers, caribou racks wild flowers and other adventure memoribilia. The grandkids had put together a slide show of a variety of his pictures from over the years that continued to play through out the service. Chandice, Don’s oldest grand daughter, Tom Teasdale the local minister for years, and Brad Heck, a good friend and former principal, all shared some great memories. The community organized a potluck that followed the ceremony. The icing on the cake was heading up the hill behind Spitler’s place to enjoy the view, swap Don stories, and share caribou steaks around the fire. It was almost like old home week. Several teachers from the “early days” made a point of coming to honor a wonderful friend. He will be missed by many.
June 13th, 2006 at 10:02pm
We have finished up our Round Robin Quilts! 6 of us began this quilt project back in the fall. The center scrappy wreath is what I made. I said I liked scrappy quilts and supplied as much Christmas fabric as I had tucked away. None of us have seen our original block quilts since the first month. Each person in the group had a month to add a border to each quilt. We had our unveiling this past Thursday at the Mai Tai. Check them out! This first one is the one I will end up with because I created the center block.
This next one is Cindy’s. She supplied all the batik fabrics and wanted a rainbow effect.
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This next one is Danae’s. She used reds and wanted to “step out of her confort zone”.
Round Robin Quilt 4 is Jody’s. Jody has a wonderful eye for fabric choices. She supplied all the fabric for us and said, “I love scrappy quilts. Suprise me!”. I think this is one of my favorites!
Chanin’s is truly art in my mind. She began the quilt with a beautiful paper-pieced center. I set it on point and added four more small paper-pieced flowers. Flying geese designs followed and it began taking on a Japanese flavor. Beautiful!
Janai also wanted a Christmas quilt. But she specified no larger than wall hanging size.
