Busy Days

John and I have had a busy couple of days.  Tuesday's weather was beautiful, so John headed into town for a round of golf while I went to the dentist for my semi-annual teeth cleaning.  I also made a stop at the post office to ship my ebay sales.  The dental office was running a little behind, so I didn't get back home until after 12:30--just in time for a quick lunch, get ready to pick up Matt, and drive to Crookston, MN for a track meet.

The track meet was held at the U of M Crookston track facility.  There were 15 schools in attendance which meant a lot of kids and many heats for some of the field and track events.  The meet started at 4 p.m. and finished just as darkness was falling.  Hanna ran her personal best in the mile, Sam ran his personal best in the open 400 placing third overall, and the boy's 4 x 2 broke the school record.  Sam ran the first leg of that relay.  Needless to say, it was a very late night.

Today John was out bright and early to help Matt put up trim for a customer and  I headed to Bemidji to see my foot surgeon for a checkup.  He was very pleased with how my foot looked, but decided to hold off on removing the screw--that might be sometime this fall.  I also had an appointment for a bone density scan, so I made a stop at the UPS store and gassed up the car while waiting for the appointment time to roll around.   Once the scan was done, I headed to Hobby Lobby and Wal Mart for some shopping before returning home.  Tomorrow we're back to Crookston for a jr. high track meet--hopefully we won't get home late again.


 

Cleaning Windows

Since it was such a beautiful day, John and I decided to tackle one of the more unpleasant Spring jobs--window washing.  John got all the screens out of the basement and we set each one on sawhorses to be hosed off and scrubbed with soap and water.  While the screens were drying, he washed the windows on the outside and I took care of the cleaning on the inside.  We had the entire job finished just in time for some lunch even though we took a little break for visiting with our neighbor who was out for a walk.

I guess it'll be no surprise what we did after our noon meal.  That's right, we headed into town to play a round of golf.  This course is much more difficult for me than what we play on in Texas, but I'm proud to say I finally pared one hole--it was a par three.

This evening I kept busy packaging up the items I sold on E-bay so they can be dropped off at the post office tomorrow when I go to town for a dental appointment.  There is also a track meet in the afternoon, so it's going to be a very busy day.

 

Warmer Weather At Last!

As you can tell from the title of this blog entry, our weather has finally turned warm.  The weatherman tells us the last of the real cold night time temps are gone until next fall (I hope) and beautiful weather is on the horizon for this week.

Saturday John and I just hung out around the house taking care of some forgotten chores.  He spent a good portion of his morning working on his latest project--a windmill.  John is toying with the idea of using wind power to generate some electricity.  Most of the parts came off an old ceiling fan he grabbed out of the neighbor's trash while we were still in Texas.  This whole idea is just in the beginning stages, but you have to start somewhere.  Matt and Sam were on the own since the girls were all busy, so they came down and we spent several hours watching videos of Sam's basketball games.

This morning was the usual Sunday routine--breakfast and then off to church.  Since my birthday was yesterday and John's is on Wednesday, we celebrated by going out to lunch with Matt, Sara, and the kids.  We had a nice time visiting with everyone and catching up on what will be going on this week.  Later in the afternoon John and I headed into town for a round of golf.  This was a good time to go as there were only a few folks still playing.

This week, not to mention next month, is going to be a busy time with tracks meets, Confirmation, graduations, and Sara starting her new job.

Another Cool Day

Our weather was still on the cool side with highs reaching into the upper 40's, but at least the strong winds finally died down.

Right after breakfast John headed out to help Matt put down some decking and was back at the house a little after noon.  He has been chomping at the bit to get back out on the golf course, so he went into town to play a round this afternoon.  I opted out as I don't like playing when it's so cold.  My fall decorations were still up, so I took advantage of a quiet house and got the pumpkins and fall flowers packed up and put away.

This evening the Clearbrook Bears football team was having a spaghetti dinner fundraiser, so we went up to the school for supper.  All the Science Fair projects were on the display in the gym, so John and I took some time to view the many different projects.  Hanna won third place for her exhibit.  We were suppose to attend a track meet today, but it was canceled due to snow on the track.  We don't have any snow on the ground around here, but they must have gotten more further north from Saturday and Sunday's stormy weather.

Cold But Sunny

Tuesday felt like a January day with cold temps and blowing snow.  John went with Matt for an hour or so to help him move a tub into place for a bathroom project; however, they ran into a slight problem as the tub was too large to fit through the bathroom door.  Obviously the homeowner didn't measure the door opening and will now have to return the tub and find something else.  I finally got my old Kindle listed on ebay and it sold within the first hour.  There are still six days left on the auction, so hopefully more bids will be made.

Today John and I were up and out bright and early as I had an 8:30  doctor's appointment.  I was in and out in a little over an hour, including a blood test.  Since we skipped breakfast at home, John and I stopped at Perkins for something to eat and then continued on to Hobby Lobby and Wal Mart before hitting the road home.  Our weather was much improved today with clear skies and sunshine, but the winds were still on the strong side.

Following lunch, John met up with Matt to give him a hand with a deck he is building for a customer.  I spent most of my afternoon listing items on ebay.  We still have some small wood components left over from the business and found ebay is the best way to unload them.   Tomorrow we off to a junior high track meet in the afternoon--might be a late night. 

Winter Returns

Today was pretty quiet around as the weather outside was miserable.  The rain turned to a light snow around mid-morning along with very strong winds.  It felt like a January day.

Matt was out and about looking over jobs so he could submit bids and stopped in for a visit.  Since he wasn't in any hurry, he stayed for lunch.  John spent the morning fixing a leaking shut-off valve for the washer and taking care of a couple of other little jobs.  I worked on cleaning out the office files and sorting through all the papers we hauled home from Texas.  We also got some items ready to put on e-bay.  Hopefully I'll get to that job tomorrow as the weather is forecast to stay on the colder side.  

Cooler Weather For Now

The beautiful weather we enjoyed our first few days at home has gone.  Rain moved in overnight and the temps dropped down into a more normal range.  We were very happy to see the rain as it will help with the fire danger here in northern Minnesota.

With the wet weather, our day was pretty quiet.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then headed off to church.  This afternoon we just vegged out and watched the PGA on TV.  We were also entertained by this acrobatic squirrel on the bird feeded.

 

Nice Weather Continued

Our temps have been about 15 degrees above normal, but according to the weather forecast, that is about to change.  Rain and much cooler temps are suppose to arrive sometime this evening.  The warmer weather made it a little easier to adjust to being back in northern Minnesota.

This morning I got the last crate unpacked and now just about everything is put away in it's proper place.  I also spent some time working on a birthday present for one of our grandson's.  John headed into town after lunch to play a round of golf--I opted out as my back as been acting up again.  I go back to Pain Management in a couple of weeks and will then decide if I will have another nerve denervation treatment.

This evening was the Clearbrook/Gonvick High School 2015 prom.  John and I went up to the school where we met up with Matt and Sara to watch the grand march.  The theme for the evening was "Once Upon A Dream" with the gym looking like a scene from Cinderella.  

As each couple was individually introduced, the girl stepped through the castle doorway and was met by her date.  They then strolled down the stone pathway and stopped several times to allow the proud parents to take their picture.

Sam and Ruth

Hanna and Luke

Golfing Again

After looking at the weather forecast seeing high winds predicted for this afternoon, we decided to play a round of golf this morning.  It felt good to be back out on the course and to play on nice fairways and greens.  We get plenty of exercise playing here at home since we walk the course instead of using a golf cart.  

This afternoon John did some cleaning up in his little shop while I did some more unpacking and baked bread.  Since the warmer weather will be here to stay pretty soon, I have been putting away some of the winter clothing and cleaning out closets.  

It's very dry in our area and we desparately need rain as the fire danger is pretty high.  The local fire companies have already been called out several times this last week to put out grass fires.  The strong winds have not helped the situation and make firefighting very difficult.

Another Track Meet

Our plan was to get back into the routine of a morning walk, but when we got up this morning, it was raining, so our walk was canceled.  John had used Matt's trailer to haul our four wheeler home on Wednesday, so following breakfast, he took the trailer back and stayed a while to watch the track videos from Tuesday's meet. 

I managed to get a couple of crates completely emptied and the clothing put away before we ate an early lunch.  By noon the day had turned warm and sunny, so we picked Rachel up at school and then stopped for Matt.  The track meet was held in Bemidji, so we didn't have a long way to go and Sara met us there after her class in Detroit Lakes.  Sam and Hanna had a rough meet--Sam suffered a groin pull in the 100 meter dash and had to drop out of his remaining events.  Hanna miscounted her mile laps thinking she was done after three laps instead of four.  Since she had put her all into the first three laps, she really struggled to finish the race, but finish she did.  We're very proud of her that she didn't quite, but kept going.

Busy Couple of Days

It always takes a while to get back into the routine we have for ourselves here at home and especially to remember where things are in the kitchen.  Tuesday morning I kept busy with laundry--there was a pile left here last fall plus what we brought home from Texas.  While I was taking care of cleaning the clothes, John spent some time checking things out in his little shop and the other buildings.  Everything seems to have survived the winter in good shape.

Matt came down and picked us up around 3 p.m. to head an hour south for a track meet.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and it made for an enjoyable time watching the many different track events.  Hanna ran the mile while Sam ran the 100 meters (2nd place), the 400 meters (5th place) and the 4 x 2 relay (team got 4th).  After the meet, we stopped at McDonald's for a quick meal and then headed back to Bagley.  I took video of the races with my new tablet and while John operated that, I got a few pics of Sam's 400 race.  Sam is in the black uniform with the yellow shoes.

This morning John and I were up and out the door bright and early as we had an 8:30 a.m. appointment at the Chevy dealership to get the car serviced.  Instead of just sitting and waiting for it to get done, we walked over to Home Depot and did a little shopping.  Once the car was finished, we did some banking and then stopped at the new Hobby Lobby which opened while we were gone.  The final stop was Wal Mart for some groceries before hitting the road back to Bagley.  Tomorrow is another track meet, so I hope the weather will co-operate.

Back Home Again

John and I had another early start to the day and made it home by noon.  We made a stop for lunch at Dairy Queen and then the local grocery store to pick up some milk and a few other items to hold us over until we can do some major grocery shopping.  We found that our house had survived the winter just fine and after checking everything over, spent the rest of the afternoon unloading the car and doing some unpacking.

Matt had called last night and invited us to the winter sports banquet at the school this evening.  Both Sam and Hanna received special awards--Sam was All Conference and Hanna was selected to the Conference Second team.  Rachel also had a track meet today (son JD is the junior high track coach) and came in second in the half mile and mile running her best times.  Tomorrow we're off the watch Sam and Hanna run.  Home less than a day and already the rest of the week is full of sporting events and other appointments.

 Sam and Hanna after awards banquet

 

 Rachel running in her first track meet

 

Sam and Hanna with their conference awards

 

Almost Home

It was another long day on the road.  We were up and out by 6:30 and made good time until we hit heavy rains in the middle of Kansas.  It wasn't too long before we drove out of it and the weather was good the remainder of our drive.  Our usual stopping place is Brookings, SD, but when we went to get a room, we found they had more than doubled the price--almost $200.  There was a high school FFA convention at the local college, so I guess that was the reason for the price gouging.  We drove another 50 miles and found a nice, resonably priced motel for the evening.  Tomorrow is the final leg of the journey home. 

On The Road

John and I were up bright and early, put the finishing touches on closing up the house, and were on the road by 6:30 a.m.  Our first stop was McDonald's in Del Rio for a quick breakfast and then we hit the road north.  It was overcast most of the day which made for very pleasant driving.  Our first day ended in Blackwell, OK--tomorrow we hope to be in Brookings, SD.

Saying A Final Good-bye

Today was our last day here on the fort and it always turns out to be the saddest.  This morning John took our leftover food items to Sam and Leta, washed the car, and made a final stop at the post office.  While he was gone, I finished up the packing.  The only thing we had left to do this afternoon was give the place a final cleaning and say good-bye to our friends.

 Since there is now no food in the house, we headed down to Burger and Shake for lunch.  Our neighbor, Dale, followed us in so we invited her to join us.  On our way home, we decided to stop and say a few good-byes.  First stop was Dave and Valada S. and then we walked right next door to see Ralph R.  From there it was a short trip down the street to see Chuck and Lois and to find out if Lois was going to Bingo tonight--she is, so I'll pick her up.  Next was Wallace and Becky.  As we were walking out of their place, we saw Betty Wright sitting outside along with Kit and Jerry and her family.  We ended up spending quite a bit of time there visiting.  This was truly a final farewell as Betty is fighting terminal cancer.  Betty and John became good friends through wood carvers and she took John under her wing when he first started.  We're all going to miss her great sense of humor and wonderful personality.

Once we returned home, we finished cleaning up the house, mopping the floor, and clearing out the fridge.  Lois and I went to Bingo this evening where we were both winners.  Even though we are looking forward to getting back up north, we'll miss the folks here on the fort and look forward to returning again next fall.  

Still Packing Up

John and I have spent these last couple of days getting ready for the trip north.  He played golf Wednesday morning for the last time and now the golf clubs are packed up and ready to be hauled home.  The golf cart has been cleaned and the batteries readied for the summer.  It now sits covered and jacked up in our cart port where it will remain until we return next fall.

Most of the packing is now done, so the only job left to do now is to clean the house and get the floors mopped.  That will get done tomorrow along with loading up the car.

I got an insect bite on my upper arm Monday evening while standing outside visiting.  By Tuesday the bite site was red, itchy, and swollen.
Following the advice of Sam Lark, I made a doctor's appointment and ended up getting tentanus and antibiotic injections along with a prescription for another antibiotic I have to take for ten days.  The doctor felt it was some sort of spider bite and I need to watch out for bacterial infection.  What a way to end up our winter here in Texas!




 

Packing Up

It was late last night after we finished watching Duke beat Wisconsin, so I skipped posting for yesterday.  Our regular weekly routine has changed since all of the activities here on the fort have been put on hold until next fall.  John skipped wood carvers on Monday and spent the morning storing all of our outdoor furniture in the shed.  With all the rain this winter and the very warm temps, our grass grew quite a bit, so the folks we hire to mow our lawn showed up and spent an hour or so getting the grass back in shape.

Outside now ready for us to leave

After supper we took a golf cart ride around the golf course and found the turkeys and deer were out and about enjoying the nice evening.  We also found signs that the Spring is truly here.

 

This morning following our walk and breakfast, we played a round of golf before it got too hot and then spent the remainder of the day in the AC packing and doing a little bit of cleaning.  Chuck and Lois called late this afternoon and asked us join them for supper.  As we're getting down on what's available to eat, we were glad to join them as Subway.  The packing is coming along quite nicely, so we should be ready to leave bright and early Saturday morning.

Happy Easter

Our Easter morning started off a little on the cool side with a cloudy sky.  John walked alone as I had some last minute preparations to attend to for our dinner.

Our church service was full this morning due to many out of town visitors here for the holiday.  When John and I got home, we put the finishing touches on our turkey dinner.  Chuck and Lois joined us since their relatives had already headed north last week and they were alone for Easter.  We had a very enjoyable dinner and then spent most of the afternoon visiting and playing cards. 

Since the Las Moras Golf Tournament will be held here next weekend, we won't be able to use the golf course, so it has finally been decided--we are heading north on Saturday, April 11th.  Now the packing and cleaning can begin in earnest.

No Title 8

The weather was warm and humid when John and I took our morning walk and, as we were walking, we talked about what a change it's going to be for us when we get home in a week or so.  Instead of shorts and tee shirts, we'll probably be wearing our winter jackets, hats, and mittens.

Following breakfast, John headed once again over to Wallace's to finish painting his latest carving project.  He finally got it completed and I think he did a great job. 

 We needed to gas up the car and pick up a few groceries to hold us over until we leave here, so it was decided to go to Del Rio. Our first stop was Sonic for some lunch and then we headed to Wal Mart to complete the rest of our errands.  Once we were back home, John decided to play some golf.  I opted out because it was just too hot and humid for me.  Tonight I met up with Lois and Vicky for Bingo and came away a winner.

Overnight a cold front moved in and our temps were much more comfortable today.  I headed into town bright and early to get a haircut while John took care of some golf cart maintenance.  Since the weather was much cooler, we played a round of golf this afternoon.  With so many Winter Texans gone, we had the whole course to ourselves with only a few other players scattered about.  

Tonight was spent watching the Final Four basketball games.  So far Duke has won the first game which made John very happy.  Sorry family Kentucky fans, but we're rooting for Wisconsin!!




 

No Title 7

I think today was the hottest so far this spring with the temps reaching into the upper 90's.  It was overcast with very high humidity when we took our morning walk.  Right after breakfast John went over to Wallace's to do more painting on his carving project--he should get it finished up tomorrow.

This afternoon was couple's golf and we played with Wes and Shirley Camfield for the first time this year.  As usual, we had a good time and lots of laughs.  The only drawback to today's golfing was the heat--temps were in the mid-90's by the time we finished.  I think everyone was glad to get back into the air conditioning.  I know I was ready to cool down.  After supper John went to wood carvers and I got caught up on more recorded shows while he was gone.

We are down to less than two weeks before we head north, so every day I do a little more clearing out and packing.   We just need to keep and eye on the weather and make the final decision of our departure date.

No Title 6

Yesterday was warm but overcast for most of the day.  John and I took our usual walk and then we went our separate ways for the morning.  I headed to the clubhouse where I met up with Linda for a round of golf.  We were the only ones from our golfing group available to play as some of the others had already left for home and others were getting packed up to leave in a day or two.  John went over to Wallace's where Becky, Wallace's wife, helped John get started on painting his latest wood carving project.  As soon as he gets it done I'll post a photo of the finished project.

After lunch John went out to play a round of golf, I opted out since I was pretty tired from playing in the morning.  I did some more packing while he was gone.  Last night we watched the final Hobbitt movie and then called it a day.

Today was men's golf and six guys showed up to play.  John played with Jim H. and Jerry W. and they came in with a score of three under par.  As soon as he returned home, we headed into town for a farewell lunch with Lloyd, Ginny, Gene, and Jeanne.  They are pulling out tomorrow and that leaves just Chuck and Lois from our group still here with us.  John and I played golf this afternoon and then spent the evening watching some recorded DVR shows.  The weather has gotten pretty warm, so the AC is now running full time.