Shawano Lake on New Year's Eve

Picture of the Lake and a few shacks while standing on the ice in the boat landing area at Swan Acres. (Left)

View from the landing at Swan Acres. (Right)

Here are a few of the shacks out on Cecil Bay. The picture was taken from the BP gas station on the corner of 22 and 117. (Left)

Hot Time on the Old Grill Tonight!

We like to Grill out year around. Most of the time we use the gas grill, but once in a while when we have extra time and want a different flavor we use the charcoal grill. We don't get into a lot of fancy dishes or anything like that. Most of the time we just like a big greasy hamburger on a toasted bun smothered in butter. Now isn't that healthy?

Other times we'll stick with "beer can chicken" or brats. "Beer Can Chicken" is the one where you stick the can of beer up the chicken's butt. Once in a while we like to enjoy a good porterhouse or tenderloin steak but the hamburger is #1.

Picutred above: John fires up the old grill as Mona and Brew look on. Brew likes to watch pretty close... just in case something would happen to roll of the grill. He doesn't believe in the old five-second rule either. (Where if the food is on the ground for less than 5-seconds it's still good for human consumption.)

The Christmas Dog

Brew The Christmas Party Dog poses under our Christmas Tree this year.

He just got a haircut the week before the Holidays and he thinks he looks pretty cool.

Brew likes to try to crawl under the tree to check out his gifts. "Jack the Cat" and Brew both received their repective treats this year from the guy in the "Red Suit" and the "White Beard".

The dog received a few toys and "Rawhides" too... it looks like he got more than the cat.

Christmas Day

We definitely have a "White Christmas" this year. There's four to five inches of snow on the ground and more in front of the garage doors blocking the vehicles of course. The lake is full of ice fishing shanties and there are a few die-hards out there on this holiday trying to catch a few fish for the freezer or frying pan.

We had Christmas at our house last night and expect to leave for Manitowoc and Valders shortly where we will spend most of the day. (Poor Brew will be here by himself in his kennel.)

Merry Christmas!

(After further review... the Bears still suck!)

Happy Anniversary

37 Years Today!

Merry Christmas - Happy New Year

This may not be politically correct but that's that. Mona and I would like to wish all of our visitors a "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" It's Christmas and I won't say Happy Holidays!

We're still working on our Christmas Cards because time has gotten away from us again. (Please Be patient!)

Hopefully we'll be able to post some items regarding the Holidays in the next few weeks.

That's a Fact Jack!!!

"Jack the Cat" is a new member to our family. He was dropped off by his owners on Sunday, July 16th as they were trying to get rid of a kitten litter and Mona was looking for a cat at the right price (free!). We found we had a mouse problem in our garage last winter when we were storing grass seed and our bird seed in there.

"Jack's" job will be to hunt down and eliminate the unwanted rodents. He just turned 8 weeks old and he got his first mouse that we know of last night (Friday). Mona was in the garage while getting some canning jars because we were canning green beans and heard some noise in the bird seed and decided to get our "attack cat" over there to check it out. The little guy leaped (or fell) into the plastic garbage can where we store the bags of bird seed and took care of business.

Mona said he had the pest in his mouth and he was growling like a Lion. (Well I kind of exaggerated there. But he was growling like a kitten.) I can attest to the fact the little guy has sharp claws because he likes to jump up and grap your pants leg and crawl right up - leaving small holes in your skin as he's coming up your back.

Right now his home is in the garage and he is welcome as long as he is a good mouser. Mona said she gave him his name because if we run into problems in the future, she can always say: "Hit the road - Jack!"

Oh - by the way, after getting home from work after 5:00 pm, we canned 34 pints of green beans and got to bed shortly after midnight when the second pressure cooker full of jars finally got done.

Secchi Testing

Mona and I volunteer to do Secchi Testing on both Washington Lake and Shawano Lake for the WDNR. These photos are from July 15th after we had gone to the Shawano Lake Boat Sinking Contest (below) and then The Sandbar where I got to have my Chili!!!

On the left I raise the Secchi disk out of the water after trying to determine the water clarity on Washington Lake. After I've got the reading of how far down we can see the disk I relay the information to Mona (right) so that she can record the information that will eventually end up on the WDNR Website for those Lakes. We also take note as to if the water level is high, low or normal, if the water is stained, if we see any wildlife, boater activity and water temperature.

Boat Sinking Contest on Shawano Lake

(Shawano, WI.) On Sunday, July 15th, Mona and I took a ride with our boat on the lake to attend the Annual Boat Sinking Contest, held at the old "Bamboo Bar" on the south shore of Shawano Lake. We fished for about an hour or so before the event was to begin. Mona caught about 2 or 3 small Northerns and I didn't get anything in the boat except for some of the famous weeds we have in this Lake. You could say I was just practicing my casting skills?

We ran about 4 miles west on the Lake from where we launched at Swan Acres and were about the 4th or 5th boat to drop anchor in the front row. Some friends of ours from The Sandbar happened to anchor their pontoon boat next to us afterwards. The woman from the pontoon boat is also a cook at The Sandbar and makes excellent soups including "Chili"!!! There were supposed to be 9 boats entered in the contest but only 8 of them participated after a 15 minute delay waiting for number 9.

You'll see in the upper right picture (click on it to enlarge) that this is towards the end of the contest. The one boat is just ready to go down because it is taking in water as the people shift their weight. Eventually the green Mirro Boat on the left will be the winner of the event. Mona and I think they should have been disqualified because all through the contest they sat on the side and hardly participated thus they were able to stay afloat.

Basic rules of the game were that all the boats had to stay in a roped off area. There were three people in each boat. One person steered the boat with oars and the other two had buckets they filled with water as fast as they could and threw it towards the other boats to sink them. One final rule was that you could not bail water out of your boat so you better fill someone elses before they fill yours.

The event lasted for about 45 minutes. I know I would not be able to participate in this event because I cannot imagine filling a 5-gallon bucket with water and continually throwing it as far as I could to fill the other boat. At my age - this is an extreme sport.

Looking at Old Pictures

Ervin Schwoerer, Jacob Durben (Pete's Grandson) and Lisa Schwoerer look through the pictures in one of the Albums that Toni brought.

This Photo was taken by Mona.

Hell's Angels on Wheels!

No, not really. Corey, Tracy and Squirt (Miranda) decided to take advantage of the great weather I ordered for the Reunion. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. There was lots of sunshine and no rain.

Joy, Pete and Dave

Joy and Dave Nienow brought Joy's Father Pete Durben to the Reunion. It was good to spend a little time with them. (That's the only advantage to having a smaller group attend the reunion - it gives you more time to spend with each individual.)

Toni and Cindi

Toni brought her three binders full of Durben information for everyone to look at. She puts a lot of work into her hobby. Cindi broke away from the Camp Grounds for a few hours to attend the Reunion.

Mat, Lisa and Ervin Schwoerer

Mat, Lisa and Ervin represented the Schwoerer Family this year at the Reunion. We learned that Mat and Lisa's daughter will be furthering her education this year at UWGB.

Courtney Wallenfang

Poor Courtney showed up at the 2007 Family Reunion shortly after everyone had left. She made the trip from Green Bay right after work and was unable to make it in time. As mentioned in an earlier posting - we were in the process of cleaning up the shelter at the Park in Valders (about a 40-45 minute drive depending on your driving habits).

Doug Joas and Daughter Vicki

Members of the Joas Family showed up for the Reunion.

I had a good time sitting there talking with them and learning a little for about that side of the relation.

I envy them with there house on Lake Winnibago.

2007 Paul & Nora Durben Family Reunion

The 2007 Paul and Nora Durben Family Reunion was held at the Memorial Park in Valders, Wisconsin on Saturday, July 14th.

The John & Dorothy Durben Family was in charge of hosting and setup of the event this year.

Attendance was quite small with only about 20 relatives in total taking time out to participate in the event.

There was a large assortment of food at the "bring a dish to pass" smorgasbord and no one should have an excuse for leaving hungry.

People started to arrive just past 11:00 am and it started to break-up by 3:00. Poor Courtney Wallenfang arrived just after the last guest had left and we were in the process of cleaning up the shelter. She had to work and made the long trip from Green Bay for nothing. Sorry Courtney.

Pictured above: (front row from left) Our daughter: Tracy Hucek, Granddaughter Miranda Hucek, Mona, Dorothy "Mom" Durben, (back row from left) Son-in-law Corey Hucek, Me, Brother Eugene Durben.

Thanks to all who attended - we had a great time!

Note: This professional looking photo was taken by Cindi Maas.

Winter Exercises

Winter exercises for those of us that are getting older....

Just came across this exercise suggested for seniors, to build muscle strength in the arms and shoulders. It seems so easy, so I thought I'd pass it on to some of my friends and family. The article suggested doing it three days a week.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, then relax. Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then 50-lb potato sacks. Eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

(I'm at this level)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

Five-Way Cincinnati Chili

I normally eat Chili 2-4 times a week. I have 4 or 5 recipes I switch off with and I am still working on one that I want to enter in Chili Cook-offs once I get it the way I want it. This is one of the recipes we switch off with.

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 medium onion finely chopped
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 can (28 0z.) Italian plum tomatoes
1 cup water
8 ounces vermicelli*, cooked
1 can (15 ¼ ounces) red kidney beans, heated (optional)
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 ounces Cheddar Cheese, finely grated

Instructions:

Cook ground beef with medium onion and garlic in Dutch Oven over medium high heat until beef loses its pink color.

Pour off drippings. Stir in chili powder, cocoa, dry mustard, cumin, paprika, salt, red and black pepper, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, tomatoes and water.

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.

Prepare Vermicelli as directed on package. *Thin spaghetti may be substituted for vermicelli.

To assemble chili, layer the following ingredients:
Vermicelli, beans, chili mixture, finely chopped onion and cheese

Note: To serve Four-Way Cincinnati Chili, layer vermicelli, the chili mixture, onion and cheese; to serve Three-Way Cincinnati Chili, layer vermicelli, chili mixture and cheese.

Since I don’t care for the beans in this type of chili we skip the beans and make the Four-Way.

Mona and I always make at least a double batch of this Chili when we make it. That leaves enough leftovers to make individual servings and throw them in the freezer to take to work for lunch. Depending on what our taste buds are hungry for when we make this, (doubling the batch again) instead of 4 tablespoons of regular chili powder, we’ll use 3 tablespoons of regular chili powder and 1 tablespoon of “Extra Hot” chili powder. It gives it a completely different flavor. (There are other times we’ll double up on the “Extra Hot” but I guess I’m getting past that macho stuff and looking for good spicy flavor.)

Brewster Mescalero

This is Brewster Mescalero ("Brew" for short) our 2 1/2 year old Standard Poodle.

He likes to sit by the windows in the house and watch the birds, rabbits, squirrels, gophers and anything else that moves out there. He'll drive anyone nuts when he runs from room to room checking all the windows as he trys to follow his prey.

Mona took Brew to obedience class for a while at Packerland Kennel Club and he listens to simple commands most of the time. (Well, some of the time.) They competed in some competition at one of the classes against some of the other pets and they even won a trophy.

He doesn't get to go fishing with us too often but when he does, he likes to give the fish kisses before we release them back into the water. He's only fallen out of the boat once or twice so far, not like our first Poodle that fell in the lake every time we went out. We finally had to buy him a life preserver.

Thanksgiving 2006

This picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day in 2006 by Tracy. It was our first Thanksgiving at the house in Cecil.