Fall Begins 2023

 I think Fall is my favorite season.  Short pants & sweatshirts.  Colorful leaves.  Cool enough to have the fireplace going in the morning,  but warm enough the furnace isn't running. 

I took a drive up to the Sandcastle to install a solar panel for my cell-tower-connected trailcam.  The leaves were really starting to turn.  

Here's my new set up for the camera. 

Last winter the camera ended up behind a big snow bank & the batteries went dead.  I hope I have solved that problem. 

One of my first photos was of this coyote strolling by with his rabbit dinner. 

After enjoying the fall leaves up North,  I came home and noticed my own yard is looking pretty great. 

The East side of my yard,  always a show stopper. I can't see it from in the house, but I'm sure the neighbors enjoy it. 

Looking out my living room window. 

I always hope the leaves hang on for awhile,  such a delight to see these fall colors. 

Blackhawk Football

 Great nephew, Jackson, plays both offense & defense for the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks.  Jackson is a senior.  I finally got a chance to go to one of his games in person, normally I'm home watching on the live stream.

Although, Rice Lake prevailed, it was a close game and Jackson had 2 touchdowns and many tackles.

Here is a series of photos of his successful run to the end zone.

Jackson is a strong player and his defensive skills are racking up some good stats.

At the bottom of the pile, but across the goal line, is #17 with the ball.

Glenn and Kathy were there to watch too.

Jackson's brother, Jake, with grandma and grandpa after the game.

It was a perfect night for football.  An exciting game and I had fun trying to capture some of the action.

Rice Lake got lucky on a few calls by the refs and a few mistakes by the Hawks and they squeaked out the win.

Hail Damage Repairs, Part 1

 The roofing crew arrived Tuesday morning, early.  The weather prediction was iffy, the only thing that was for sure, was that it was going to get hot.

                                    The supplies had been delivered the week before.

                                        The haul off truck was placed early that morning.

This truck was backed in there very, very tightly.

These are out of order, this is the final work being completed on the house.

The scraping begins

The crew works as a team and the progress is quick.

The noise was bad.  Poor kitty Barley hid under my bed for most of the day.
I didn't like the noise either, but at least I understood what was happening, she was very scared.

I filled a cooler with iced Gatorade, some Kwik rip cookies and a bag of Halloween candies.

I added a sign to be sure the workers knew this was meant for them.

I had cameras set up to see the house from the backyard and the garage from the front porch.  It was interesting to watch the progress from the comfort of my cool living room.

The end of the day, all that was left was a few cubes of ice.

Mission accomplished!

I can't really see the roof of the house very well for a photo, but the garage is easy to see from the front porch.  I like the new shingle color called TerraCotta.

The rain gutters and siding and deck are still to be scheduled, I suppose we will mess with this all fall.

So it goes.

Barley has recovered and is once again enjoying the peaceful world that is usually hers.

She is a sun worshipper and a heat seeker.

All is well.

Volleyball begins for 2023

 First night in the gym for the 2023 Volleyball Season.  It was nice to see so much family there to support both Ruby on the JV squad and Stella on the Varsity.  It happened to be Stella's 17th birthday as a bonus.

Great nephews August & Jens sat behind me.  It was fun listening to them encouraging the girls to hit the ball.  I turned my camera on selfie and took these to snaps as they laughed and cheered on the team.

Now some action from the JV Squad game. 

Ruby and her team are improving since their middle school days.

It was a losing night for the Cardinals but a good start to the season.

Stella has a new coach this year.  Isabel played at Luck and went on to play at UWLaCrosse.  It is nice to see her back as the Varsity coach.

I am planning on getting to as many games as I can.  This is Stella's senior season.