Kyle's Family

Well, for those of you who know Kyle, this is a nice family picture from Christmas time.

Stella, Kyle, Gage, Jack, Heather & Ruby

All stressed out with no place to go

Barley spent the morning locked inside the walk-in closet. It must have tired her out.

Post removed

You may have noticed that I removed a previous post. Well, I made a huge mistake and used much of what a web page, We Are Grantsburg, had posted as the story about the Luck vs. Grantsburg game. Rightly so the owner of that site contacted me with his concerns. I regret not just posting his story and giving him credit. Learning that blogging has it's literary & legal responsibilities.
To read the original story: http://www.wearegrantsburg.com/

The Good, The Bad, and it ended Ugly

Barley and Hops really are sweet kitties as you can see from this photo. They love each other and are very affectionate with me and any guests who have been here.

But, they are also kittens who can't leave well enough alone. Yesterday I was trying to figure out how I was going to help my amaryllis hold up the 3 beautiful red blooms that were starting to open. The stem on the flower was very tall and starting to lean. Sometime during the night last night, I heard a noise in the dining room. I got up to investigate, and Barley had managed to pull 2 of the buds off the stem. Saddened, I moved the plant to the kitchen window and put the blooms into a glass of water.

Later, another noise, this time Barley had dumped the whole plant (antique Coors pot and all) into the kitchen sink. I guess I won't be enjoying an amaryllis this year!

Trees, trees and more trees

Today I called and ordered 75 trees from Barron County. I will have 50 Balsam Fir Trees & 25 Northern High-Bush Cranberry Trees to plant in my yard come April. The price is very cheap, I'm sure the trees are small seedlings, but I am planning to plan a wind break between my garage and the county road.

Real Babies JUMP

Lora and Anders came to stay overnight on Saturday. We met at Clayton, WI to watch Jack play in a 8 year olds basketball tournament. Then sis in law, Lois, and Lora with Anders came to my house in Rice Lake. We had a nice visit and did some shopping on Main Street at the teacher's supply store and also made a stop at Farm & Fleet (my personal favorite store in Rice Lake).

Sunday morning Anders lounged on the living room floor while Lora and I had our coffee. He's getting so big! Anders is a good jumper on his buckin' bronco. I hope you enjoy the video of his horse back riding too!

Anders really loves to eat the rice cereal now.

The cats were very curious about Anders, and I think he would have loved to have crawled over to get the kitty.

Ride 'em cowboy!

Fishing but no catching

On Friday, I met brother, Glenn, at his lake cottage on Big Moon Lake for an afternoon of ice fishing. We had a pop up fish house and spent about 4 hours fishing. We didn't catch anything but the minnows got some good swim time. The ice is about 10 inches deep. Not sure where the fish went that day.

I could pull the fish house on the ice, but had to let Glenn pull it up the hill back to the lake cottage.

Hoare Frost

Wow, what a beautiful morning. The hoare frost was heavy on all the branches of the trees. I tried to take some pictures before the sun hits the branches and it all goes away. The blue jays look like ornaments on the tree branches.

We are supposed to have 30 degrees today, so that will feel great. Tomorrow I am going ice fishing with Glenn on Big Moon Lake, so I am hoping for sunshine and hungry fish!

Remembering

Well, what a historic day for America. Quite a beautiful pageant that celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama today.

I am remembering as I watch that 40 years ago I marched in the 1969 Inaugural Parade for Richard Nixon. Regardless of the history that unfolded in that administration, that day was quite memorable for me and the others in the Lakewood High School marching band that performed in the parade. Did I say 40 years?? Wholly cow.

I can see their breath!

Yesterday and today, the little birds at the bird feeder really are tough. I can see their breath as they gobble up the seeds. I can't imagine why they don't turn into little feathered ice cubes! I had -26 this morning, my brother Glenn's thermometer said -40. I think once you go below -10 it's just stinking cold!
Yesterday afternoon this Mr. Cardinal paid a visit to my bird feeder. He sat quite awhile, the wind blowing his cone head feathers around. Quite the sight! Next time I'll be mindful of the background so we can see him better.

Thankful for....

On a morning when the temperature is 22 degrees below zero, I am thankful for a working furnace, mailmen, policemen, firemen, good windows, warm socks, hot coffee, a good book, retirement!


Cold this morning and predicted to be even colder tomorrow morning, maybe -30 tomorrow. I'll be here with the kitties. The good news is that Saturday is supposed to be in the 20s, so that will feel like a heat wave!

Last night I went to Menomonie, WI to see my cousin's daughter play college basketball. Britta (Petersen) was WIAC player of the week last week. It was an exciting game with the Steven's Point 'Pointers' having a big second half to come back from a 6 point deficit at the half and win the game. Both teams play real hustle basketball and it was an exciting game.

Basketball

On Thursday I went to Luck for the High School baseketball games. I watched the Varsity girls and Varsity boys both win. At half time of the Varsity boys game, the 8 year old boys played a 9 minute game. Here's a picture of great nephew Jack (Kyle & Heather's oldest). He's pretty good at moving the ball up the court. If you look closely I'm in the background of his shooting picture, far left, front row with camera ready.

A nice start

It feels like today is really the start of the New Year with folks returning to work and the kids back in school. It's also a time for me to decide what I am going to do to keep busy during the rest of the winter. One thing that I know I'll enjoy is the traffic at the bird feeder. This morning I grabbed the camera because there was a squirrel sitting on the backyard platform feeder, but before I clicked a picture, these two showed up. Mrs. Cardinal was there briefly too, but she didn't stick for the picture.

Let's go to the cabin

Here's a fun video of the drive into the cabin via 320th on New Year's Eve afternoon.

Wrapping up 2008

Anders had his first sled ride.

I'm not sure if that is enjoyment on his face.

Grandpa Gus took the girls for a 4wheeler ride in the woods. The loved that! Then there was much coloring getting done. These girls are practically professional colorers.

A big snowfall on December 30th made for a nice Cabin Christmas. Here are a few pictures from our stay. We had lots of good food, yummy glasses of cheer, visiting, games, some sliding, a bonfire, and plenty of good family time.

Lois and Lora and Gus were decked out to ring in the new year!