We had a pretty quiet Sunday--church this morning and watching the NFL this afternoon.  Not a good football day for us as the Vikings and Eagles both loss close games.

This afternoon between games, John took a few minutes to store the outboard and trawling motors in the basement.  I took some time to work on birthday presents as we have several fall birthdays coming up.  That was pretty much our day--like I said, pretty quiet.

Today was absolutely beautiful with bright blue skies and much warmer temps--we reached the low 60's and, after having highs in the 30's, it felt wonderful.  The warm weather actually brought out some flies and ladybugs again.

With the light snowfall and rain showers of this past week, John thought the ground might be soft enough to till the garden and his new spot for raspberries.  The garden tilled up real nice, but his new raspberry patch will take a little more work as the moisture didn't get too deep.

 New raspberry patch east of garden

 Garden put to bed for the winter

John and I spent the afternoon taking care of the outdoor chores that had been put off due to the cold, wet weather.  John cleaned the leaves out of the house gutters and then hosed them out to clear the downspouts.  We bagged up the cushions from the porch furniture and stored them away along with the wind chimes and plants.  I then gave the carpet a good vacuuming and we brought in the other deck furniture onto the porch to store for the winter.  The trees around the house are just about bare, so I swept the deck clear of leaves while John drained the hoses and got them stored away.  There are just a few containers in the garage that need to get stored away and then we have the outside ready for winter.

 John getting the gutters and downspouts cleared

While we were standing outside, John happened to look into the field north of our house and saw a turkey.  I ran inside to get the cameras and we stalked it getting some good photos.  We don't know what kind of turkey it was, but think it belonged to the neighbors as it didn't seem to spook when we got closer to it.  When it was done walking around behind the shop, it headed back down the hill toward their place.

 After a busy day, we spent a quiet evening watching some TV and working on the computer.

 

 

We had another very chilly day with strong breezes.  This morning's low was nineteen degrees with the highs only reaching into the forties.  It's suppose to warm up into the fifties over the next few days--we certainly hope so.  We need to spend some time outside to finish clearing the porch and winterizing the shrubs.

Matt call first thing this morning to ask John to accompany him to a customer's house to look at what the home owner wanted done so he could give a bid.  This job, if Matt should get it, would be putting an addition on the house.  When they got back to our place, Matt stayed and visited for a while.

John bundled up and did some work in the garden cutting the grape vines back and then put our potato harvest into storage containers.  I kept busy in the office doing some sorting and cleaning.  We were out of milk and cereal so we decided to make a quick run to Bemidji to restock the few items we needed.  Our first stop was the mall where I managed to find a nice dressy jacket --best of all, I had a coupon for 40% off.  From there we went to our favorite pizza parlor for some supper and, after eating, headed to Wal Mart to pick up the few items we needed.  As we plan to leave in about three weeks, we are trying to keep our purchases at a minimum so we can use up most of our food before we hit the road south.

Our evening was pretty quiet--Matt and Rachel stopped over so she borrow John's 22 rifle so she can practice shooting.  Rae is taking her firearm safety course so she can rifle hunt this fall.

We had an inch or so of snow overnight but, with the sunshine this morning, it didn't take long for it to melt.  Clouds came back in so the day didn't warm up very much--temps only reached the upper 30's and a strong breeze made it feel even colder.

John was pretty tired after working with Matt, so this morning we both slept in an extra hour or so. JD needed some help in the shop today, so John spent a few hours helping him with sanding tops and staining.  I did a few more loads of laundry and gathered more items for Texas.  John has had a piece of exercise equipment set up in the den for most of the summer, so today we re-arranged some furniture in the office and move the equipment into there.  Once the den was opened up again, I gave it a good cleaning.

This evening was a varsity football game and Parents' Night.  I opted out of going, but John donned his heavy snow pants, hooded sweatshirt, vest, and hunting jacket and headed off to watch.  John just returned home and told me the Bears were victorious once again and that he was glad he wore so many layers of clothes.

Matt, Sam, and Sara at Parents' Night

Today started off with clear skies, sunny and chilly.  John went off bright and early to work with Matt.  They worked the entire day and got the sliding door installed and finished up all the interior window trim. That portion of the job is complete and now they have to wait for the home owner to make a decision about rock for the front the house.  John will have some time off now and that's good as we need to get some chores completed around here before we leave for the winter.

Even though the day stated sunny, by mid morning the clouds and showers moved back in, so instead of cleaning the porch, I decided it was a good time to list a few things on ebay and get some laundry done.  I also did some more sorting of clothes for Texas.  After supper we watched Survivor and a few other shows before calling it a day.

 The trees by the drive are just about

the only ones with leaves

Our weather was constantly changing today--it started off with rain, then snow showers, and finally a little bit of sunshine.  John and Matt were able to get in a full day on the job and will finish up the siding and windows tomorrow. 

I took some time today to work on the finances and got them up-to-date.  I had bought a new mop and cleaner for the kitchen floor and decided since John was gone for the day, it was a good time to give the floor a thorough cleaning.  

Our days are pretty quiet now that football and volleyball are done for the season.  Now the countdown for Texas really begins--we hope to leave right after election day.  

Even though there was possible rain in today's forecast, John left bright and early to meet up with Matt on the job site. They managed to install a big picture window before they had to call it quits because of rain which hung around for most of the day.  This is the first rainy day we have had in over three months and was much appreciated.

Since John got home early, we took some time this afternoon to pack up some of the foods we canned over the summer and got them ready to haul to Texas.  John also helped JD in the shop making some lawn signs for the Clearbrook school referendum.  I continued sorting through clothing to pack and, with the day being so damp and chilly, made a stew for supper.  We spent the evening watching some TV shows we recorded earlier and the NFL game.