Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Bass Lake Firefighter Lance

    The local fire departments met with a few trucks in Hayward last weekend for a few hours to recruit more volunteers.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Cabin By The Lake

I have cleaned cabins this week. Tuesday's cabin was built over a hundred years ago. When you drive up through the tree lined lane you see a low lying log structure with four stone chimneys. There are two screened in porches and the front door is fronted by one of these. The door is solid wood planking with a brass knocker and the family crest emblazoned there. No door knob, just an old fashioned barn door handle with a catch. The later generations have added a dead bolt. The door swings open grandly to a huge room with two spacious fireplaces, french doors leading to the other porch that stretches the full length of the house, and a low ceiling of logs and planks. It's dusky in this room always, the only lighting is lamps on stands and two very rustic fixtures with forty watt bulbs in them.
The family has brought to this room deep chairs, rugs, a couch, and all sorts of oddments of coffee tables, lamp stands and the decor of a hundred years of styles.
The mice had the run of the two cabins we cleaned today. The Guest House cabin was the worst. Frances and I vacuumed, scrubbed, and polished for almost two hours to make it welcoming again. Its just a tiny little cabin with white walls, and chinz upholsery. In the sitting room is a Norwegian painting that covers one whole wall. The romantic couple depicted there seem never to tire of smiling into each others' eyes.
The last cabin we cleaned is straight out of a Carol Ryrie Brink book to be sure. There's no running water there unless you count the hand pump outside. And the floors are all slanty in unexpected places. The owners have added new wood to the floors, and the fireplace is fake, but most everything else is authentic cabin stuff.
BTW, Carol Ryrie Brink's son lives on Windigo Lake not too far around the shore from where we cleaned today. Read Brink's book called Winter Cottage. The setting is right here in our area. The two children in the book canoe across three lakes to visit the St. Francis Mission. When the weather is right we can hear the bells at six in the morning and evening from the mission.
Okay, so that was a rambling tale. Come visit us in our own cabin in the woods in Wisconsin. We'll take you fishing if you like or we can sit around a fire all evening and visit.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

May Post







    Yes, we're cooking and eating outside again.  Summer came with a bang and now it's time to plant the garden and flower beds.  

   

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A Page Of The Big Project

    This is what a Make The Cut program can do for scrapbooking.  All those daises are programed by my computer then sent to the Cricut to cut.  MTC means that now we can cut any shape or font we find.

    Having taken on the project of scrapbooking every single picture we have of our lives has been just fun.  Jennifer termed it a "colossal job" when I emailed her asking for the year of their wedding. 

     You had a lovely home reception, Jennifer.  Everything was as near to perfect for you as can be: the lawn, your mother's flowers, and your dad's wonderful maintenance of the home place are all in evidence. 

Saturday, May 8, 2010


Elv and the children's gifts to me for Mother's Day. I feel rather blessed and spoiled. The roses are awesome.
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Friday, May 7, 2010

Snow In May


    That's snow coming down today.   We have potatoes planted and there are blossoming strawberries under the tarps.  

      The forecast is calling for 2 to 4 inches of snow.  We hope that the almost blooming lilacs don't become discouraged.  But it's moisture so we're not really complaining.

 

                                        So we brought spring indoors.  

Monday, May 3, 2010

Mother's Day


      Mom holding her youngest grandchild. She is also a great-grandmother to two almost three of our grandchildren.  And I remember when she was 24!

       Mom is a good mom to all nine of us.  She prays for us everyday and tries to talk to each of us every week either by phone or email.

       We're praying for you, Mom, these days while you agonize over your children daily.  Maybe this is the hardest thing a mother is called to do...trust Him when she can't reach or help a child in deep trouble.

     

    

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Saturday Scribbles


 

   It was hot hoecakes for breakfast this morning with either peanut butter and syrup or butter and gooseberry syrup.  Then Lance, Elv and I went down to Rice Lake to collect materials for a new closet in the boy's cabin, and 30 new bricks for the patio.

   We left three people home to mow the lawn and to clean the house with the carrot being fishing when we got back.  Well it clouded over and the wind came up so with the clouds spitting at us, we decided to stay home and play board games.  The lawn is beautiful and the house clean.  

   Also Herb's informed us by email that Buddy Davis is to be in Duluth tomorrow evening so we are relishing the anticipation of hearing him in concert.  

   Is ours the only house that people drive by very slowly looking in? What are they seeing?  The dead tires, travel trailer, metal pile, and scattered firewood piles?  Or maybe they're admiring our stone house accented with stained half-log siding.  Perhaps they're counting vehicle and wondering if that many people actually live there.  Maybe it's an odd sight to see a freshly planted garden and huge wash line? If I were just driving by, what would I be seeing? I bet since today is opening day for fishing they're counting the two boats and two canoes not  being used and wondering about that.  If any of you knows what strange and unusual spectacle we are unconsciously making of ourselves, I wish you clue us in.  



    


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