Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Today was another beautiful blue sky Texas day. The temps started out cool this morning, which made it comfortable for walking, but by mid morning we were able to be in shorts and short sleeved shirts.

After breakfast John went across the street to the driving range and spent about half an hour hitting golf balls before heading to the golf course for his Wednesday morning game. There is a group of fellows that play nine holes every Wednesday morning. Today there were 8 guys, so they formed two teams of four. John's team shot one under par--he didn't know the score for the other team.

While John was gone, I put out a few more Christmas decorations, mopped the bedroom floor, and did some laundry. There are still one or two little boxes that need to be unpacked and then everything will finally be stowed away. When we went shopping last Saturday there were a few items that we forgot so after lunch we went to Uvalde and hit their Wal Mart. It was a perfect time to shop as the store wasn't very busy. We decided to have an early supper and stopped at Wendy's before hitting the road back to the fort.

When we got home I put the groceries away and John took a walk over to the driving range to look for golf balls. While he was out, he ran into our new neighbors and ended up visiting for a bit. We ended the day watching Survivor and a couple of other TV favorites.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

It was such a beautiful morning that we took a little longer walk than usual. There was nothing pressing that had to be done at home, so we just took our time and enjoyed the weather.

After breakfast John spent most of his morning raking up broken limbs and dead leaves in the yard. Actually, he raked the dirt. With the extreme drought and heat this summer our grass is completely gone leaving only dry, powdery, dirt in its place. We found the house to be very dusty and dirty on the inside, so this morning I started washing some of the windows and got the front door cleaned up. The dust was so thick on the glass that when I sprayed the glass cleaner on it and started to wipe it off with some newspaper, the dust actually turned to mud. I had to go over the glass several times to finally get it sparkling again.

John wanted to play golf again, so following lunch we headed back down to the Par 3 course. Today's game didn't go as good as yesterday's, but that's the way it goes--one day good, the next, poor. On our way home we decided to stop in to see our friend Ralph Ramsey. He had a new fan that needed to be installed, so while we were there, John put it up while Ralph gave direction. From Ralph's we went next door and visited with Dave and Valada who just returned home from a month in Mexico. John T. was also there, so we were able to touch bases with him, too.

We got home just in time to start supper and enjoyed a very quiet evening watching The Biggest Loser and working on the computer.


Monday, November 28, 2011

With temps in the low 30's this morning, we started out our day in jeans and long sleeved shirts. The strong winds of yesterday departed overnight, so it was much nicer walking this morning.

We are getting back into our Fort Clark routine. Monday is wood carvers, so after eating breakfast, John gathered up his tools and headed out to do some ca
rving--his first project is another elf face. When he was done with carving, he headed to the post office to pick up some mail and then made a stop at the fort office to pay a tax bill. While John was gone, I changed the bed linens and started some laundry. The last time I did some was a couple of days before we left home. There was quite a pile of dirty clothes to get clean. I also drug out the Christmas decorations and started putting some of them out in the kitchen area.

Following lunch, we headed down to the Par 3 course to play some golf. I can see some improvement in my game over last year. I even chipped the ball i
n for par on the second hole. It warmed up this afternoon, so we had to trade in our jeans for shorts before hitting the course.


We didn't remove the pin and my ball got
caught between the pin and edge of hole for par.
Red arrow pointing to ball

John got some new clubs and has been trying them out. He has had some good shots and some not so good. He just needs to keep playing and get use to them.

John practicing his putting


A beautiful day for golf. You can see the trees
on the course are beginning to turn

When we returned home from golf, John worked outside raking up some dead branches and leaves in the yard. While he was working outside we had a few more visitors stopping by to chat.
The evening was quiet--just watched some football and did some reading. For those who asked, there is nothing new about the mouse. The traps in the car remain untouched and we haven't seen any in the house. I think he realized it was warm outside and decided to take his chances in the outside world. Time will tell if I'm correct.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

I think we bought the cold weather with us to Texas. This morning the temps were much cooler and we needed to bundle up a little more for our morning walk. Still, it's better than what we left a week ago.

Today we slipped into our Sunday routine of walking, breakfast, and then heading off to church. It was fun visiting with our church family before the service and catching up with what folks had been doing over the summer.

It was very windy all day, so we decided to skip golf and watch some NFL. We were just getting into the game when Sam and Leta stopped in for a visit. John and I spent the entire afternoon with them hearing about their summer adventures in New Mexico, getting caught up on what has been happening here at the fort, and making plans to get together for some golf.

Our evening was spent watching The Amazing Race and Sunday Night Football. This week we hope to get up the Christmas lights and get the house decorated for the holidays.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

We needed to do some major grocery shopping, but didn't want to venture into Del Rio on Black Friday. We decided to chance a trip today thinking that the crowds would be smaller after the sales of yesterday. John and I got up around 6:30 a.m. and we on the road an hour later. It seems we made the right decision, there was not much traffic in Del Rio.

First stop was the feed store to pick up some bird feed--wow, did the price of seed go up from last spring. We might have to rethink feeding the birds if we can't find some less expensive food for them. Next we went to the car wash to give the Honda a bath. It was pretty dirty from hours of highway driving. Final destination was Wal Mart. We never saw so few cars in the parking lot before. John and I were able to get everything on our list and didn't even have to wait in line to check out. Since we had such an early breakfast, we stopped at Wendy's for an early lunch before hitting the road home.

It took a while to get everything unloaded and put away, but now the pantry is pretty well stocked. I also picked up a new HP wireless printer and spent some time getting it set up. Late this afternoon our pastor stopped by to welcome us back and shared some of his Alaskan adventures from the summer. We are looking forward to seeing our church friends tomorrow.

The evening was pretty quiet--just watched some college football and another movie.

Friday, November 25, 2011

It was almost 60 degrees this morning when we left the house for our walk. Since we were more rested today, we decided to walk our longer route around the fort. It seemed strange to hear birds singing after not hearing any for the past few months.

After breakfast John headed into town to pick up a couple of mouse traps. We didn't discover that we had a hitchhiker on our trip down until we unpacked one of the cardboard cartons and found a pile of peanuts in the bottom. We had some for snacking in a plastic bag and found a small hole in it when we unloaded the car. I didn't think anything about it, just thought I caught it on something when getting it from behind the front seat. When we saw the pile of nuts in the box, we knew we had a problem. Not only did the mouse take some peanuts, he, or she, also had the nerve to bite into one of my Hershey's Chocolate Bars--to me that's the greatest insult. No one touches my Hershey Bars!! There are now two traps in the Honda--one with peanut butter and the other with cheese. So far, the traps remain untouched and the Hershey Bars are safe and sound in the fridge.

Once the mouse situation was addressed, we continued with the unpacking. Mid morning Stan Metcalf came to visit for an hour or so and soon after he left, our neighbor lady, Neva, stopped over to welcome us back. She didn't come in as she is starting a cold and didn't want to infect us.

We have a dead tree in the yard, so following lunch, John spent some time cutting branches and getting it ready to come down. While he was working, Chuck Endris, a carving buddy, stopped for a visit.

Since it was such a nice afternoon, we decided to take the golf cart and head over to Unit 37 and do some visiting. We spent some time with John and Lois Carlson. Lois learned earlier this month that she has brain cancer and is currently going five days a week for radiation treatments. She has such a positive attitude and I think she lifted our spirits more than we did her's. Next stop was Wallace's shop where John spent some time looking at the carvings Wallace made over the summer and deciding what he might want to work on this winter. John will back to carving next Monday morning.

John spent some time this evening visiting with his brother in Ohio via phone and then we watched one of our new DVD movies before calling it a day.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

After two and a half long travel days, we needed to get back to our morning walks. It was a pleasant shock to walk outside and be met with warm air--at least if felt warm to us. The temperature this morning was 49 degrees, 30 degrees warmer than when we left home. It felt good to stretch our muscles and get some much needed exercise. As we wound our way around the golf course and back streets, we found that six new homes have been added since we left here six months ago. One new house, which we saw when we drove in, is right across the street from us. We know the folks who who put it in, but they are gone for the holiday, so we'll have to wait until they return to learn about the house.

John spent most of the morning setting up all the outside tables and chairs, hanging up the bird feeders, cleaning off the deck, and charging up the golf cart batteries and getting that running again. I got about half the crates unpacked and all the food items we brought down put away. Things are still pretty chaotic inside, but we couldn't resist taking off after lunch to enjoy the beautiful weather and playing a round of golf on the par three course. I had trouble on the first tee--couldn't hit the ball and when I did, it didn't go very far. I hadn't played any golf since last April, so I was pretty rusty. John did a lot better than me, but also had a few problems. We soon got back into the groove and both of us were happy with our games, considering the long lay off from the game.

It was pretty quiet on the fort as many folks are gone for the holiday. Tomorrow we'll see about visiting with Ralph and checking out our friends in Unit 37 along with more unpacking. It'll take several days to get everything unpacked and in place, but there's no rush.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

After almost 11 hours on the road, we arrived in Fort Clark Springs, Texas. As we pulled in the driveway, a carving friend of John's pulled right in behind us. He stopped just long enough to give hugs and welcome us back before heading on his way. John turned the water and electricity back on and then we unloaded the car, just dumping everything in the house. We then made a stop at the new Subway to pick up a couple of subs for supper and the grocery store to get some milk and a few other items to hold us over until we can do a major shopping run. After two long days on the road, we just vegged out tonight watching some TV before calling if a night.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

We were up early, repacked the bag, said good-bye to Amy, Dave, and the boys, and were on the road a little after 7 a.m. After driving for an hour, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and then started the long drive south. We pulled into Blackwell, OK around 5 p.m. Tomorrow we hope to get to Fort Clark by late afternoon.

Monday, November 21, 2011

This morning we were up nice and early, got the last of the boxes, computer, and baggage loaded into the car. Then it was a last walk through to make sure everything that needed to be was either turned off or unplugged. Final items were turning off the water and leaving a little To Do list for JD. As we were walking out the door, I looked at the outdoor thermometer and saw that the temp was 18 degrees. We are sooooo ready to head where it's warmer.

We had sunny skies and dry roads throughout the day. Our first stop was just outside of Fargo, ND to gas up the Honda ($3.13 per gal.) and have lunch. From there it was a straight run down I-29 to Sioux Falls, SD. where we are spending the night with Amy's family. Tonight we attended Isaiah's 4-5th grade concert. We have never been able to attend any of their school activities living so far away, so this was a real treat for us. Their program was outstanding.


Isaiah is under the little white dot.

Tomorrow we hope to get an early start and make it to northern Oklahoma. It's a little warmer here in South Dakota, but it doesn't take much to beat the temps at home.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The cold weather continued today and I must say I will be very glad to get out of it. We will be down in the single digits tonight.

We missed church this morning as we needed to get the ham cooked and sliced before heading up to Matt's. John packed the turkey, ham, pie, stuffing and gifts into the back of the pickup and we got to Matt's in plenty of time to reheat the food before
it was time to eat. Sara did her usual great job of setting and decorating the tables and Hanna and Rachel took the time this past week to make place cards for everyone.


The meal was served buffet style and there was plenty of food for everyone. There were three tables set up--one for the girls, one for the boys, and one for the adults. There are just too many of us now to all fit around one table.



Filling the plates

The boys chowing down

After the meal, everyone sat around visiting and then it was time to get the birthday celebration started. We had five grand kids with fall/winter birthdays--Jenni (9), Josh (11), Hanna (13), Sam (14), Isaac (18). The gifts were opened starting with the youngest and on up. I think everyone enjoyed and appreciated the presents they received.


Now that the gifts were given and the meal having had a chance to settle, it was time for pie. Our choices were pumpkin, cherry, apple, and cheese cake, which was made by Rachel. She is becoming quite the chef and does a great job for an eleven year old. With eating finally taken care of for a few hours, the men retired to the living room to watch football while the ladies cleaned up the kitchen and played a game. The kids all bundled up, they're a very hearty group, and headed outside to play football and ride the four wheeler. There is just enough snow on the ground to make tackling a lot of fun. John's sister and her family left soon afterward as they had a long drive home, but the rest of the us hung around and continued to snack on leftovers and play some cards.

We certainly had a wonderful Thanksgiving and birthday celebration--what a send off for our trip south. Before we left, all the kids and grand kids gave us big hugs and wished us safe travels and a good winter. It is always hard to leave for such a long period, but all are faithful to keep in touch and now that we have Skype, it will be even better. We are all packed and ready to go--first stop will be Sioux Falls, SD to visit with Amy' family. Fort Clark friends, we're on our way!!!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

We dropped back down into the deep freeze again today--our highs only reached the mid teens. Thank goodness we only have one more day before we can leave this cold weather and snow.
We have been watching the weather for our route south and so far it looks like sunny weather all the way.

Today was the final packing day as we'll be gone all day tomorrow for our Thanksgiving/birthday party. We got the last of the boxes filled and John started loading the car after lunch. Everything is in except those last minute items you need to use right up to the last moment. We gave the house a quick dusting and vacuuming and did a final walk through to make sure nothing was missed. Now we can relax and enjoy tomorrow.

Sara asked me to cook the turkey and bring a pie for tomorrow, so this afternoon, I baked a pumpkin pie and when that was out of the oven, put in the turkey. When it was done and cooled down, John sliced it up so we'll only have to reheat it tomorrow along with the stuffing and ham. We spent the evening watching a Christmas movie and some college football. Hard to believe we're down to one day until we leave.

Friday, November 18, 2011

There was a heat wave today--temps got up into the 30's. Nothing much different going on today. Just kept on packing and double checking our lists to make sure we weren't forgetting anything. Took a quick trip to Bemidji to pick up a small ham for Sunday's Thanksgiving meal--found out we were having three additional folks, so thought to play it safe as I wasn't sure the turkey we have would be large enough to feed everyone that's coming. This evening we watched some TV and football before calling it a night.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

We had another very cold day--temps only reaching the upper teens. At least the sun was shining and the winds were light.

Matt called this morning and asked John if he could come up to the job site and pick up the air compressor and take it back to his place and get it warmed up. The compressor sat out in the equipment trailer overnight, and with temps of 5 degre
es this morning, the electric motor would not turn over. John hauled it back to Matt's garage where he hooked up a propane heater and got the compressor running. He then got it back to the job site so the guys could use their air equipment.

After lunch, John went back up to the job to see how the guys were making out and took these photos.
All exterior and interior walls are up


Isaac sweeping snow from between the studs
He finally broke down and put on insulated coveralls

We did more packing today and now only have those things that have to wait until the last minute. We plan to head out in three more days.


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

We woke this morning to strong winds, cloudy skies and temps in the teens. There was about an inch of snow on the ground and we had snow flurries throughout the day. John shoveled the driveway for the first time in years. It was a good day to stay inside, keep warm, and get more packing done.


This afternoon we got a couple more boxes ready to go and vacuumed seal some freezer foods to take with us. After supper John went up to Clearbrook to pick the generator. The carburetor needed to be cleaned out and now it's working once again. That was pretty much our day--just keeping getting ready to head south. We hope to pull out next Monday if the weather co-operates.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

We needed to run a few errands today and since the weather was suppose to get snowy this afternoon, decided to take off early this morning and take care of them. First stop was the landfill to drop off the trash. From there we went at the local drug store to get several hunting photos printed.

With those two jobs completed, we hit the highway to Bemidji. We are having our family Thanksgiving this Sunday and I needed to pick up the makings for pumpkin pie along with a few other items. We stopped at Wal Mart first--being earlier in the day we avoided the crowds in the grocery section and were able to zip right through and get everything we needed. We gassed up the Honda next and then made one final stop at the bank to take care of some finances before heading south.

By late afternoon it started snowing and we now have about an inch on the ground. We were hoping to leave here before any measurable snow came, but I think we won't be that lucky--a storm is predicted for the weekend.

Monday, November 14, 2011

We had a pretty quiet day today. The temps remained cold with highs in the 30's and sunny skies. Joanne and the kids stopped in this morning after helping out in the shop. I had some extra scrap booking stickers she wanted to look through and she found some she could use.

I had gotten an update for my financial software program, so after Jo and the kids left, I installed the new program on both our PC and laptop and then worked on getting everything updated and onto both computers. The office stuff is now already to use this winter in Texas.

John cleaned out the Honda and did a little more sorting and gathering of items to take. As we fill crates and boxes, we stack them back in the office. We try to get everything stored in one place so we won't forget anything. We spent the evening watching the Vikings and Packers and caching up on emails and blogs.


Sunday, November 13, 2011

Today we said good-bye to the warm weather we've been enjoying over the past week. Today was cold, high's only in the 30's, with wind and cloudy skies. The cold weather seems here to stay, night time temps will be in the 20's and teens this week. Hopefully the snow will hold off until we can get out of here sometime next week.

We followed our normal Sunday morning routine--breakfast, showers, and then off to church. This afternoon we watched some NFL and then packed some canned goods for the trip south. John went out to sit in the deer stand, but didn't see a single deer. Rifle season is now over for another year.

Hanna received an early Christmas present from her parents--a new laptop. She downloaded Skype on it and asked me to do the same with my laptop. This afternoon we tried our first video calling and after a few minor tweaks, we were able to visit over the computer. This is going to be a great way to keep up with the family over the winter.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

We had another beautiful day--sunshine with temps that reached into the 50's. This weather is so unusual for this time of November and we are really enjoying it. Bitter cold and snow can show up at any time now. We just hope it holds off until we head south.

This morning John helped JD cut up firewood for the shop. While he was busy with that, I did some laundry and changed the bed linens. John was checking on something in our upright freezer in the garage and found that some of the venison he had put in there the other night was not completely frozen. That led him to examine other items and discover that the freezer wasn't as cold as it should be--our frozen foods were defrosting.

This being a Saturday afternoon, we weren't able to get a repair person out and, with the realization that we purchased the freezer when we built the house over 14 years ago, the decision was made to get a new one. John and I stopped up at JD's to borrow his big pickup truck and headed off to Bemidji. We looked at freezers in Sears, Menards, and Home Depot. The best deal was offered by Sears, plus they had the one we wanted in stock. The freezer was loaded onto the bed of the truck and we returned home. John was able to unload it and we got it set up and running. We're so thankful to have discovered this problem before we left and now can have peace of mind that the freezer will keep everything cold.

When we got home this afternoon, there was a deer standing in the driveway on the west side of the house. That spurred John on to go hunting this evening. He sat out in the stand right behind the house, but didn't see anything. Tomorrow is the last day of this year's rifle season.



Friday, November 11, 2011

Today the weather was just about perfect for a road trip--sunny skies and warm temps. John and I picked up Isaac a little before 9 a.m. and headed off to Grand Forks, ND. Isaac is spending the weekend visiting with his grandfather, cousins, etc. on his dad's side of the family. We were right on time dropping him off, and after spending a few minutes visiting, we left to do some shopping.

Our first stop was Best Buy to get the laptop checked out. It has been freezing up and showing a blue screen error message that shuts Windows down. After running a couple of diagnostic tests, it was decided the problem is a software one. The tech rem
oved the software for the printer we use in Texas to see if that's the root of the problem. It's an older printer and I had to download a special driver to get it to work with Windows 7. We'll have to look into a printer that's compatible with this operating system once we get back down south.

It was after noon by the time we left Best Buy, so we de
cided to grab a quick lunch at Culver's which was right across the parking lot. Our next stop was Sam's Club to pick up a few things we want to take to Texas and then we headed back across the river to Cabela's. John found a couple of pairs of shorts on the sale rack and couldn't pass them up.

Our final stop of the road trip was DQ where we each go
t a Blizzard. It was the perfect way to end our outing. This evening Matt called and said he shot an eight point buck, so John went up to see it and got a picture.



Thursday, November 10, 2011

We woke up this morning to find that yesterday's dusting of snow turned into an inch or so that stuck to the grass and road. Fortunately, the temps reached the upper 30's with some sun, so most of the white stuff has melted. The ten day forecast looks pretty good for our area--sunny, cold, but, so far, no more snow. We hope to get out of here before any substantial snow amounts hit.

This morning John left right after breakfast to take the Honda to Bemidji for an oil change and to get the right rear tire checked out--it has been losing air
over the past several days. The service man found a nail in the tire. It was in such a spot that he felt repairing the tire would not make it safe for driving and John agreed, so he ended up getting a new tire. We had just put new ones on the car the beginning of June and thought we wouldn't be replacing any for quite some time.

While John was busy in Bemidji, I spent some time this
morning with computer tech support working on our office PC. The computer was running slow, freezing up, and the mouse wasn't working right. They took over the computer and within 45 minutes had it working good as new. I then spent the rest of the morning cleaning out the kitchen cabinets sorting through what foods to pack and what to leave here until next spring. We have managed to get the food down to a good level--not too much to take or leave behind.

Following lunch, John got the one garage all locked up for the winter. JD will use the house garage to store the plowing pickup so he doesn't need to keep the other one cleared this winter. I started sorting through the freezer and getting some of the foods sealed and ready for the trip. We still have a little more work to do on that project.

Matt called this evening and asked John to come up and help with cutting up the deer. The guys started out in the garage cutting the meat off the carcass and then took it down the basement where Matt has an area set up for processing the it. Isaac wants to take some venison to his grandfather tomorrow and we'll also drop some off at Amy's on our way
south.




Isaac bagging up the venison


Wednesday, November 9, 2011

First thing this morning John and I headed up to Sara's for haircuts. These are the last ones at Sara's until next spring. On the way home we stopped by Matt's job site to see how the guys were coming along and found Matt and Isaac busy building headers for over the windows. John has an extra winter jacket and told Isaac he would drop it off after lunch. The weather has been getting colder every day--we actually had a dusting of snow this afternoon.

Following lunch, John grabbed the winter jacket and an extra water bottle and drove back up to where the guys were working. The home owner has picked a very nice secluded spot off the main highway and down a gravel road. Chris, a friend of Ma
tt's who is also working on this job, came this afternoon. He's a contractor in Bemidji and had a couple of jobs to finish up before he could come and start working with Matt. John got there just in time to help the guys raise the first wall.


Laying out the walls

First wall is up

We ended our day watching Survivor, reading, and working on the computer.


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The winds finally died down and we had a pretty nice day with sunshine and temps in the low 40's. There has been many a year when the high temps during the first week of November only reach into the 20's. John and I were commenting that we have had a warm and enjoyable fall which certainly made up for the long, cold spring.

We decided that we wanted an additional cooler to be able to take more frozen foods down to Texas, so a trip to Bemidji was now on our day's agenda. A list was made of some additional errands that needed to done and we hit the road. Our first stop was Target where we found just the size cooler we wanted. Next was a stop at the bank and then on to downtown to pick up some glass for picture frames. It was almost noon by then, so a stop at BK was next. As we walked through the doors, we saw some dear old friends that we hadn't seen for a long time--we ended up eating lunch and visiting with them for a bit before heading back home.

The remainder of the day was pretty uneventful--just did some work on finances and the computer and then watched The Biggest Loser this evening.



Monday, November 7, 2011

The high winds, cold temps, and cloudy skies continued until late this afternoon when the clouds finally gave way to sunshine. Today the high temp reached the upper 30's--winter is on its way and our thoughts are turning more and more to heading south.

John spent some time today sorting through golf balls and tees and cleaning up our golf clubs and bags. They are now sitting back in the office ready and waiting to go to Texas. I did a couple of loads of laundry this morning and this afternoon made birthday cards and wrapped presents. We're now ready for our family combination Thanksgiving and birthday party to be held in a couple of weeks. The next job for this week is to start sorting through our canned goods and see what needs to be packed up and what can stay here until next spring. I hope to start tackling that job tomorrow. A quiet evening was spent watching the Eagles play the Bears.




Sunday, November 6, 2011

Today our weather was cold, windy, and cloudy with rain. John was so glad he had gotten his deer yesterday and didn't have to be out on a deer stand this afternoon.

Our Sunday was pretty quiet. We went up to church this morning and then spent most of the afternoon watching the NFL games. John has been looking for a certain golf club on ebay and spent some time looking and bidding. So far he's been outbid at the last second on the clubs he wanted.
Our evening was spent reading, watching more football, and working on the computer.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Today was the big day--the opening of the deer hunting season. The excitement level for those hunting is comparable to Christmas morning. John had cleaned his rifle yesterday and got all his gear around last night so all would be ready to go this morning. The alarm went off at 5 a.m. We usually don't use the alarm and it took me a moment or two to figure out what the noise was and how to make it stop. John got right up, headed for the shower, and was soon dressed and downstairs eating breakfast. Since I wasn't hunting, I just rolled over and went back to sleep for several more hours.

John got to Matt's house around 6 a.m. Everyone
was dressed and ready to head out. Matt, Sam, and Isaac drove to the public land while John and Hanna walked out to the stand they would use. They got in the stand and situated by 6:45 a.m. No one can shoot until it's light which is around 7:45 a.m. No deer showed up, so by 10 a.m. John and Hanna decided to call it a morning and went back to the house.

Hana ready for action, but there wasn't any.

John ready to shoot with his uncle's old rifle

John return home around 11 a.m. and reported that Isaac had shot a small buck. From his stand, Sam had seen that buck and a smaller one walking through the woods toward Matt and Isaac. Sam called his Dad on the cell phone and told him to be on the lookout for them. I don't know any other details, except Isaac shot his first deer.


Isaac with his buck which is hanging in the garage

John spent several hours at home before heading back out around 3 p.m. This time he went to a different stand as Sara and the girls went to the "Sniper Shack". He saw a couple of small deer moving through the woods and then come out into a clearing. John debated whether or not to shoot, but decided to go for it and took down the doe.



John with his trophy

John got home a little after 8 p.m.--it was a long day of hunting for everyone. Matt, Sam, and Isaac stayed out the entire day and only saw the buck the Isaac shot. Sara and the girls didn't see anything either. They all still have next week to hunt, but we're glad Isaac was successful his first time out.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Today we had sunny skies with temps in the low 50's with strong winds reaching 30 mph. There was a lot of traffic on our gravel road from our neighbor hauling hay and livestock. There was so much dust and dirt blowing around we ended up inside for most of the day.

Matt needed a couple of picture frames so John headed down to the shop this morning to get them made and then stained and lacquered them this afternoon. I spent the majority of my day cleaning out our walk-in closet, sorting through what clothes would stay here for the winter, what we'll need to pack for Texas, and what can be given to Goodwill. It's always nice to get that job out of the way and have the closet organized once more.

Isaac needed a hunting jacket for tomorrow's opener, so after supper John took an extra one that he had up to Matt's. The plans are in place for tomorrow morning. Matt, Sam, Isaac, and Adam will be hunting on public ground north of Matt's place and John and Hanna will be in the "Sniper Shack" behind the house. I'm not sure if Sara and Rachel will be going out in the morning. John has everything ready to go--it'll be a very early morning for him as they want to be out in the stands before daylight. Hopefully we'll have some victory photos on here tomorrow evening.


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Our weather remains very nice for the first week of November--sunny skies with temps in the low 50's. A storm is in the forecast for the weekend, but the weatherman says the temps will stay above freezing so we should get rain and not snow.

The materials arrived late yesterday afternoon for the garage the guys have been working on, so John left early this morning to work with Matt and Isaac. They got the metal roofing all on, so John's part of the job is done. Windows, doors,
and a few other things still need to be completed.

Matt on roof finishing the ridgecap

Isaac pointing out the repair work they did
on the house--can't even tell there was a fire


The new garage with metal roof--still
needs the window and doors

I took advantage of the fact that John was gone the whole day and cleaned the entire downstairs, got the last of the laundry folded and upstairs, and cooked a nice roast beef for supper. We have a tentative plan to have a combined Thanksgiving and birthday celebration November 20th. John hopes to get on the road to Texas that week if the weather cooperates. We have been hearing from several of our friends saying their heading south and we're anxious to get going.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

With the deer hunting season opener just three days away, John needed to get his hunting license. I sold everything that I had listed on ebay and needed to get them to the post office and mailed off to my customers. After breakfast, we headed into town and the post office. With the packages on their way, we drove to Bemidji and Gander Mountain where John got his license. We made a stop at the grocery store for a few items and then gassed up the Honda. Since it was lunchtime, we stopped at Burger King for a bite to eat, and then went on to Office Max and then Wal Mart before heading back home.

This afternoon John and I took an hour or so and got the basement put back together. We sorted through things and decided what would stay and what would be stored somewhere else. Our main goal was to set up a place to store the canning jars as they are emptied. John needed a snack or two to eat while out hunting, so I baked up a batch of chocolate cookies when we were finished with the basement. That was pretty much our day which ended by watching Survivor and working on the computer.


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

We skipped our walk this morning since John was scheduled to work with Matt and Isaac. The job for today was to get the rafters up and the sheeting on the roof. They had gotten the side walls done yesterday. Now they are waiting for the metal for the roof--hopefully it arrive tomorrow so they can keep working. Matt needs to get this job completed as he has a house to start next week--he wants to get it under roof and sealed up before the snow and real cold weather hits. He'll then have work for the winter months.

Isaac on the scaffold and Matt on roof

I spent my day finishing up the finances, getting the files cleaned out, and now have all the office items ready for Texas. Our evening was pretty quiet--watched The Biggest Loser and a couple of other favorites.


Roofing Being Done Everywhere!!

John and I have been keeping pretty busy over these last several weeks.  Our weather has turned quite warm, but the nights cool down very ni...