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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.