It's almost one year later and summer is half over already. We only got out fishing once so far this year on Shawano Lake and didn't catch anything worth keeping. I figured I'd throw a post up here once, just to keep the site active.

Summer

Where is the summer going this year?  Seems like yesterday we were waiting for the ice and snow to melt to welcome in Spring. Once the Packers start playing football we know Fall is right around the corner.

Merry ChristmasHappy New Year

To you all as 2017 continues to wind down.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thought I should just make a post so that I don't forget how.

March 2nd

One of the coldest winters on record, at least the sun was shining all day today but there’s nothing melting yet.

We’re Still Here!!!

Not much going on but I figured I better post something once before they delete this space.

Thanksgiving and the rest of the Holidays are approaching really fast now. We’ll try to get a little more regular on here.

Hey! Hey! It’s about time…

As of tomorrow, I’ll be retired for one week. I sure didn’t get much done during my first week off from work. Can’t say the weather wasn’t cooperative, Mona had off yesterday and we had temperatures in the 50’s.

Went to the Sandbar for lunch after we got groceries. Mona wanted to make sure we got $100.00 worth of groceries so she could get a few cents of on some shredded cheese.

I said: “A $100.00 – looks closer to $250.00 to me.”  Ended up to be $244.00 and change. Didn’t even need two carts.

Snowmobile Race

Races took place at the Red River area just North of Dykesville on the Bay of Green Bay on February 11.  The temperatures were in the low single digits and and the wind chill was minus digits (Sub-zero). There was a nip in the air…

      

Granddaughter Miranda on sled # 65 participated in her first snowmobile races over the weekend. Her friend Nick posed for a shot on a classic sled # 19.

Miranda’s first run hit 61 mile per hour while her last run topped out at 91. Nick, I assume not on the vintage sled but on his racing sled had a high speed of 101 which was the fastest speed of the day. Nick’s parents run Simonar Sports Inc. in Luxemburg, WI. There was a little bit of tragedy that followed the race when Miranda and Nick decided to take a run after the race had ended. For some reason Nick wiped out his sled and ended up in the hospital over night. At this time everything appears to be OK.

Short Trip to Rochester

Got to Rochester, NH two days ago and it hasn’t stopped raining yet. The weatherman is saying they won’t have sunshine for 5 days yet. Great weather.

Leaving for home at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Hoping we’re not fogged in.

Here is a photo out my hotel room window. Note the nice cloudy sky. The silver building in the foreground is the Rocker Diner (Restaurant). It’s a 50’s era establishment that serve a pretty good breakfast. The Shell Station in the background is our liquor store where we buy a six-pack of beer to take back to the room.

John’s New Hobby

John has been getting setup to make wooden pens for about 4 or 5 months now and finally got around to starting his new hobby. The first pen went to Mona, the 2nd to Tracy and the 3rd to Miranda.

Since then he got a couple ahead for a while. Eventually he wants to sell them at craft sales or on the internet.

Different species of wood included in his pens are Black Walnut, Zebra Wood, Olive Wood, Spalted Maple, Koa Wood (from Hawaii), Padauk, Black Wood, Cherry, Mesquite, Aromatic Cedar, Hedge Apple (the yellow one), Spalted Birch, Mahogany, Apple, Soft Maple and Mopani.

All the woods are natural colored, there was no stain applied to any of the pens. Not all pens are pictured above.

Picketing in Madison

On Saturday, February 26th Mona and I went down to Madison to support the Wisconsin Public Workers. I had received a call from APWU National Postal Press Association President, Tony Carobine the preceding day inquiring as to whether Mona and I would like to join him and his wife in the adventure.

 
 
 
 
 
(Left) John takes a break after walking around the Capital building several times. (Right) Mona was given a sign from AFSCME. You can see the snow is coming down pretty good.
An adventure it was. There were between 70,000 and 100,000 people filling the sidewalks, the lawn, the streets and the Capital building itself. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

(L-R) John, Mona, Cathy, and Tony

Click on photos to enlarge.

Three Day-er

Mona and I have a 3 day weekend comin’ up and we hope to get in a little bit of fishing at least one day. That depends though on whether I can get the Ice-Auger started. It probably hasn’t been started in 2-3 years so it might need some coaxing?

It’s Christmas Eve… and we have way too much snow!

John out plowing snow again.  It’s the third time already this year that he’s had to clear the driveway. We have over three months to go yet!

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Above left – Shawano Lake in the background; also snow covered with about12 inches of ice and 4 inches of slush for the fishermen that are driving out there.

Cory Durben

CHRISTMAS AT ARLINGTON CEMETERY

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.
Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...

Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.

HERE'S A TIP FROM A FRIEND ----

Much of our clothing, sheets, towels, etc. now comes from companies outside of America. Even the most expensive stores sell clothing from China, Indonesia, etc. The bed bugs are coming in on the clothing from these and other foreign countries.

Professionals recommend that if you buy any new clothing, even underwear and socks, sheets, towels, etc., that you put them in your clothes dryer for at least 20 minutes. The heat will kill the bugs and their eggs. DO NOT PURCHASE CLOTHES AND HANG THEM IN THE CLOSET without first washing, or at least putting in the dryer.

It doesn't matter what the price range is of the clothes, or if the outfit comes from the most expensive store in your town. They still get shipments from foreign countries and the bugs can come in any new clothes.

(P.S. We didn't have that problem when clothes were made in America.)

Mona's Sandhill Crane Photo

Last Saturday I had a Fishing Club Meeting at the Walleyes For Tomorrow Office in Fond Du Lac, WI. (About 85 miles from Cecil.) There was some pretty good stretches of fog every once in a while so it was a little tuff to see where we were from time to time. Below is one of the photos that Mona snapped in once area where the fog lifted some. It was taken about midway between Navarino and Black Creek.

Mona caught this photo last Saturday morning.

Sauerkraut 2010 Update

The white kraut on the left is half fermented. It needs a total of 6 weeks. The kraut on the right was made just over a week ago with two heads of white and one head of red cabbage. We've got 36 quarts of kraut fermenting compared to 17 last year. We just cleaned up the last jar from last year yesterday.

More Rain

The "Old Weather Man" is telling us we're going to get 2 to 5 inches of rain before this storm front blows over some time tomorrow. Whoopee!

Sure glad it's not snow...

Starting to Look like Fall on Shawano Lake 2010

We're only three weeks into September and the change in tempuratures and the change of the colors outside is making me think that fall has one foot in the door already. We should have a few days yet before it's official. Below are a couple of photos I took today around the Lake.