MY BLOG LIST

I follow other blogs as well as writing my own.  On the right hand side of my blog you will see "My Blog List" and 2 headings underneath it.  the first one is My Life By Buster - it is written by Buster, a dog who lives in Manhatten and visits a dog park.  It is very entertaining.  I recommend it highly especially today when he posts pictures of himself and his friends all dressed up in costumes.
The other one is Stacey's blog.  Jouney to an Ultramarathon...and beyond.  Right now Stacey and Andrew are on a year long trip thru the states in their Airstream.  They are posting pictures of their journey - very interesting pictures.  I am following their every move.
Pay them a visit - you will not be disappointed.

BOOT'S WAY OF SAYING THANKS

Boots usually makes a "deposit" near his feeding dish but this time, it was left on the veranda. I guess it is his way of marking his territory or just saying Thanks - I can think of better ways...

WHO'S THAT A'KNOCKING AT MY FRONT DOOR?

         ...it's Diane!!  We went to the fish fry at the Legion on Friday nite and everyone was invited back to our place to continue the festivities. Diane was the last to arrive - dressed as a (friendly I hope) lion. A little early for trick or treat but we invited her in anyway. We make our own fun up here.

ANOTHER BUSY BEAVER

Came across this beaver dam last Sunday while out hunting with Ron and Mary. It was quite the sight. When you stop and look at the structure, you can see all the work and how many trips that beaver has had to make in order to build his pools. Hense the phrase Busy as a Beaver...

POWER IS BACK ON

On Wednesday morning we woke up to no power.  It wasn't windy out so there must have been an accident.  Up here you get used to being without power more than a few times in a year.  I called Hydro One just in case no one had called it in.  I actually got a live person - you usually get a recording saying it has already been reported and the anticipated time of restoring power.  She indicated there had been an accident and, according to her records, we should have power - I set the record straight and she said she would check into it.  When Rejean called, they said they would try and have it restored by that evening. 
We had to run into town for our flu shots and in travelling down highway 129 south, came across the accident at the bottom of the hill by the 554 cutoff.  A big semi had taken the corner too fast and flipped into the ditch spewing his load of 2 x 4s into the ditch.  He had also taken out the hydro pole and a fibre-optic cable was running across the road.  They had to call a truck from Manitoulin Island to help in the repairs.  Long story short, we didn't get our power restored until 8:30 that evening. 
It's funny how you forget you don't have power - we were still flipping on the light switches all day long. I took advantage of the outage and packed for Florida. 
Thank goodness for modern conveniences...

FINALLY, A DIAGNOSIS

I had my doctor's appointment this morning about my toe.  I have had a pain in my left big toe for over a year and being me, I put  off having it looked at.  I always figure it will just go away.  But it didn't.  And it has been interfering with my exercise routine.  I couldn't do my half marathon this year because I couldn't get in the training because of the pain. And I had to buy an exercise bike for my cardio because I couldn't do my treadmill.  My doctor sent me for x-rays and I got the results today.  I have osteoarthritis of the base of my big toe!!!  I asked the usual questions such as what can I do about it and if it will get worse or if I will get it in other joints.  I said I don't take any pain medication for it as it is really not that hard to live with but she wants me to "manage" the pain by taking extra strength Tylenol 500 mg every 6 hours.  Ugh.  She says it will take care of the inflammation and in doing so, prevent it from getting any worse.  I can see her reasoning.  But I don't like the idea of taking any medication (except my miracle drugs estrogen and progesterone) but I do want to be able to function as a human being in the future so I am taking her advice.  I took my first Tylenol extra strength tablet at 4pm today.  I can still feel the pain in my toe but it is not as bad.  The miracle of modern medicine.
See Ya Bye

CREATURE SIGHTING

From my front room on the second floor I could see ripples in the water close to shore. I snuck downstairs and out the door and crept towards the edge of the hill for a good view. There were 3 otters in the water. They were hissing at the decoy in the water we use to mark the water pump. Then all three crawled out of the water onto the swimming rock. I stayed very still because they were looking over towards me so I knew that they knew I was there. It was a mother and her 2 babies, altho they were a good size. They shook themselves off and were licking each other and rolling around on the warm rock. It was amazing to watch these good size creatures doing what they do in nature. And me without my camera!!! When will I learn!!! I watched them for about 5 minutes and they soon wandered away on shore somewhere. I came back inside as it was a bit cool and I wasn't really dressed for being outside. But what a treat.
They have been around our lake for a number of years - every once in a while you catch a glimpse of them but never that close.
See Ya Bye

FINALLY DONE

We finished the wood yesterday - we had 5 3/4 rows -28 feet long and 4 feet high - we figure about 20 cord. (if someone wants to do the math and let me know if that is correct). There's a lot of work in this picture. The only thing we didn't do was take the trees down - we had some left over steel roofing that we placed on top and put rocks and cement blocks on it to keep them in place. We went over this morning after the big wind/rain storm we had and had to replace a few rocks. We lost a tree in the front by the big rock where Susan parks her 4 wheeler. A hemlock - not real big but enough to keep us busy for a few hours cleaning it up. We also lost our power this morning from about 7am until 11:30am - you can almost count on losing power when it is that windy out. The rain has brought up the lake levels just when it really doesn't matter.
I have started getting my clothes ready for Florida - that is coming up quick. I will need some sun and blender drinks right about then...

GIRLS RULE!!

My friend Debbie and her wonder dog BoBo came over to the hall today in her 4 wheeler. It is hunting season and she hadn't got any birds so she brought her gun along. Good thing she did because she spotted this baby on the way over and she got it!!! It was a nice big one, too. She was very happy with herself - as she should be.
I haven't been out yet this season so maybe after all the wood is done and the weather holds, I should be able to get out and try my luck.
It is quiet during the week in the bush so maybe I'll get lucky...
See Ya Bye

SCALLOP POTATOS

The scallop potatoes turned out so good at the dinner, I decided to make some today at the hall with the leftover stuff. I did it all by myself and they were good. Vickie and I each took some home for dinner - I also took a hamburger pie home - I think they are my favourite of all the pies we make. Just ground beef, shredded carrots and onions and Vickie's gravy. Vickie makes all the fillings for the pies and Phyllis makes the dough - I just fill the shells and put the "lids" on the pies then keep an eye on them baking in the ovens. I also put the ridges on the edges of the pies - I used to think it was such hard work to do that stuff but now - not so much - easy peasy.

PIES!!

Back at it again today - 9am til 5:30pm. We got 61 big pies and lots of baby pies done and Carl even came over to buy some. I've got 2 of the hunters' pies in my freezer - hamburger and roast beef. We cleaned up the hall as well. No more meals this year - just the Breakfast With Santa in late November. That is a full breakfast for $5.00 -we loose money on that one but it is for the community and the kids.
I don't have to go back to work at the Hall til Monday so now I can help Rejean finish the wood. Yea!!

SOME OF THE CROWD

This picture was taken after the 2 sittings and we finally got a chance to sit down and eat. It was good. I, too, have to wear a hair net and hat and white apron. I remember back when I got my first job at The Red Barn I had to wear an apron, too. A little white apron on my black skirt and white blouse. I don't remember if I had to wear a hat - maybe somebody out there can remember what we wore. This would be back in the late 60's. I know, I am dating myself but what can I say...

HALL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

We had our last dinner at the Hall on Sunday nite - it wasn't a sell-out but we made money. We had lots of help this dinner so it makes it easier - Gail, Sharon, Vicki, Phyllis, Leslie, Debbie and myself did a great job. We got all the dishes washed and put away and just the roasters left to soak over nite.
We headed back there on Monday and made 65 big meat pies and 15 individual (I call them baby pies). And we are going back again on Tuesday to make more. Then I am free the rest of the week.
But getting back to the Birthday cakes. We knew of 3 birthdays that evening so Phyllis baked and decorated these little cakes. And we all sang Happy Birthday to the recipients. Just like the big chain restaurants.

ps - look in the background and you can see my deviled eggs I made for the dinner - are you sick of me talking about my deviled eggs yet?

HMMMMM

This chap was playing with the trail cam and pushed it upside down so all our other pictures were up side down and he took a bite of it and punctured a lens. A lucky one to have not been shot - yet.

BOOTS???

This little guy showed up on the trail cam as well. Could be Boots.

EENY MEENY MINY MOE

Rejean had his trail camera out again and got this scene - kinda neat. Let's see ... I didn't get a doe tag...

NICE VIEW

This is a view from Joanne and Mitch's dock taken a couple of weeks ago when it wasn't raining which it has been for the past few days and is expected for the next 5 days....but who's complaining? Perfect weather for working at the Hall getting ready for the last supper of the season - the Ham and Roast Beef dinner. We will be having ham, roast beef, scallopped potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, brown beans, gravy, devilled eggs (only 7 dozen this time) cole slaw, carrot salad, cesare salad, about 50 million kinds of jello salads and, of course, hoe made fruit pies. Jerry is coming this morning to peel 75 pounds of potatoes (I hope he is not reading this before he comes or he may chicken out). But we only epect about 150 people so there is not a lot of pressure. Besides, Phyllis, Vickie and myself are skilled professionals. Robin's mom, Gail, came and helped us yesterday - she re-organized (I shouldn't say RE-organized because they were in no means organized before) our cupboards - what a help. It is always nice to have extra help.
When it finally does stop raining, Rejea and I will finish our wood - and it will be a good job done.
See Ya Bye

STILL DOING WOOD

Ron brought his tractor over to help us with the big logs. We rolled the big ones into his bucket then he placed them on the splitter - it really helped us. We could never have lifted some of the big ones. We got that done in the morning then relaxed in the afternoon - it is still beautiful weather here. Tomorrow the guys go hunting. I will be doing stuff around the house.

LAST LEAVES

I took this picture a couple of days ago - the leaves have all pretty much come down except for the oaks and a few maples and birch. It was a good year for the colors.

TYPICAL

Now tell me, how many women do you see? None. We were all sitting outside while the guys congregated in the garage. Notice the cooking area and the cook with the flashy apron on. John G.
But I must say that John did not want any help from us ladies. He had a guy passing the fish around, a guy taking the cooked food to the house to keep warm, a guy refilling the cooking pots. It was nice to be waited on for a change. I did clear a few plates tho.
It was fun.
Thanks John and Lisa.

KENNY'S GROWTH

Kenny asked me to take a picture of him and post it on my blog so I did. I think he wants his wife to see his beard. A nice beard I must say.

FISH FRY ON AXE

The other evening we were invited over to Axe Lake for a fish fry at John G's. I, of course, made my deviled eggs (you can still see some on the table - they went fast but at least they made it to the table). When I got there they were just starting to pass some fish as appetizers. Then they passed some more, then some more. I asked John if we were having a meal or was this the meal. He said he still had 30 pounds more to cook!!! We ate fish for hours. Pike, rainbow trout, walley, bass - all done up just right. Then they set the table. People up here can cook!! Even the single guys!! It was delicious. And home made pies for desert. We are spoiled.

WHO, LINDA???

Linda's friends, Darlene and Cathy, saw this little sign and just had to get it for Linda. Now, Linda's handle on the CB is Snowbitch and her email address is Snowbich (because Snowbitch was already taken). She has somehow, in her years up at the Lake, acquired this moniker but I can't see it. She's ok by me.
See Ya Bye

PRETTY GIRL

Ute asked me to stop in at the Humane Society to take a look at this little girl. What a beauty. She was very gentle and very appreciative of my pats thru the bars.
I was crying...

CAN YOU SEE THE GREEN, JOANNE?

It's coming...

GETTING IT DONE

The weather has been absolutely spectacular - really - and I have from now until next Friday off from work at the Hall - I feel as tho I am on vacation!!!! We are trying to get the wood split during this time - and it seems to be happening. But we don't work until we are tired - today we started late because I got my hair cut (another blog topic) so we started at about 10:30 and then worked til about 2 this afternoon when we stopped to help Rick close up the trailer. Rejean is stacking it, as you can tell because the stack is still standing - we are not going to make it any taller - we will start another row. We figure we have enough for next year + so we don't have to take any trees down next spring. Look at the size of some of those logs - we can't pick them up by ourselves and the splitter doesn't go low enough to roll them on so we will load them into the brown trailer with the tractor then roll them out the back of the trailer on to the splitter - I didn't think of that one. The master did, but what a good idea that the 2 of us can handle.

See Ya Bye

AMAZING

I took this at the end of the driveway a couple of mornings ago. The dew outlined this spider's web perfectly. Thank goodness the home owner was no where to be seen.
See Ya Bye

THIS IS FOR YOU JOANNE AND MITCH

A trailer full of cedar kindling

We will deliver

You are very welcome