Henry Week

We spent most of the last week visiting Henry and his parents. We tried to reciprocate for Betsy and Pete's hospitality by helping them out with some projects around the house. Those all ended well, although an attempt to repair an outside faucet resulted in a broken solder joint that required the help of a plumber. I might have fixed this myself, but in the end the plumbers discovered some very nonstandard plumbing that would have challenged yours truly for awhile. So it was just as well that we engaged professional services. We installed a fence at the back of the yard so that Franklin (and Henry?) will stay put, fixed a carpet edging problem, installed baseboard in Henry's freshly painted room and planed the front door so that it would close properly.

But you would rather see pictures of Henry than read about projects. So here you go. Henry modeled his Halloween costume. I apologize if I am stealing Betsy's thunder by posting this one.

Henry is showing signs of being a capable musician in time. Here he is "gettin' down" with his Dad.

The little man is paying attention to his looks already. He faithfully brushes his teeth each evening, for example. Here he is brushing his hair for the day.

Betsy was home with us on Monday, so we walked to the local Starbucks and did a little shopping. Here he is waiting with Franklin and Grandma Kathie while Betsy and I fetch the goodies, including Henry's vanilla milk.

Perhaps having been influenced by his Uncles, he does like to clown around a bit. Here he is "looking cool" during breakfast.

Since his parents decided to attend UI's Homecoming this weekend, we also got to spend some time with the little guy today. Here he is playing soccer with his Uncles. A shot of Henry with each Uncle is also enclosed. I especially like the one with Uncle Will, which has a serious "monkey see, monkey do" aspect to it. Of course, it is game day, so he and Uncle Rob are appropriately attired.

Last Days of Summer...

The cloudy/rainy conditions at the WI cabin this morning were consistent with my mood as we buttoned up (over the past several days) and prepared to come back to IA. We enjoyed at least nine weeks up there this summer, including visits by several good friends. I know we can and will be back, but I just wasn't quite ready to come home yet. Anyway, I wandered around a bit this morning taking a few pictures that seem to mark this transition.

Kathie and I, with considerable brute force and some help from a block and tackle and a hand winch, managed to pull the dock and the boat lift out of the lake and park them on the shore. It became a challenge which our stubborness insisted we meet.

In the three weeks we were there, the leaves went through an amazing transition, treating us to the most colorful viewing we have had in years.


Some bird evidently dropped a sunflower seed after enjoying our feeders, and a single, last sunflower appeared near our burn ring, and we didn't have the heart to burn anything lest it be destroyed. In turn, it treated us to a full blossom just this morning.

Our friends, the Canada geese, spent days on the lake near us feeding, squabbling, and preparing for a flight south.

Finally, a view of the house, steps, and decks in their new colors, along with the work we did to build new chairs, organize the garage, rebuild dock steps and add a lakeside deck, gave us a sense of all the very nice improvements we accomplished through the summer. We really have made the place ours. Next summer, we should really enjoy being there and can spend more time fishing and playing. I'll be ready to return anytime.

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Phyllis & Bob

Cousin Phyllis and husband Bob Hunwardsen were here with us in WI for a visit the past few days. This might be the longest period of time we have ever spent together, and we all had a wonderful, happy time. Lots of laughing was the order of each day. Way too much food was eaten, of course. Phyllis prepared two meals on Tuesday (excellent chicken soup and Hawaiian ham--she also brought along cookies and three kinds of bread, that she had baked). Kathie fixed some of her terrific meatloaf and spaghetti. The night they arrived, we all stayed up late putting together a 500 piece picture puzzle--just couldn't stop until that last piece was found. Phyllis had the pleasure of inserting that last one. There were walks in the woods, and we played lots of games, too. Phyllis and Bob taught us how to play 500, and we taught them Perudo (the "liar's dice" game). A trip into Hayward gave us a chance to visit some antique shops, to lose a little money at the casino, and, of course, to visit the bakery--after all, we needed more to eat. On Wednesday, we tried our hand at fishing, though with little luck. A few strikes and one perch landed, but nothing more. Nevertheless it was fun, because the fall colors here are so dramatic right now, and the cool crisp Fall air and scenery made it all worthwhile. We were sorry to see them leave yesterday morning, but maybe there can be another visit here next summer, and in the meantime, we can visit each other at home in IA!!

I Vill Mezmerize You Vith My Semi-circular Moves...

Those of you who have had the pleasure of playing our Monster Bash pinball game will understand the title to this blog entry. We finished staining the garage and house this morning, and so Rachel and Travis decided to chill for awhile with a few games involving Count Dracula and his friends. Travis is going to barbecue a rack and a half of ribs for us this evening. Yum! Now...on to the golf and the fishing.

A House of a Different Color

Earlier this week, Kathie and I finished staining the stairs to the dock to match the stain we had applied to the upper house deck. The next day, we stained the lower deck and the support posts. Yesterday, we stained the end of the house that has the screened porch. Then help arrived. Travis and Rachel came to stay with us for a few days, knowing that part of the deal was assistance with staining the house and garage in exchange for a few days in the woods. Today, we finished the lake side of the house (both levels) and the woods side of the house, as well as most of the garage. All we have left is the peak of one end of the garage and the southwest end of the house, which we will surely have done by noon tomorrow. Kathie and I are just amazed at the progess we have made in such short time, and we love the results. We hope you will agree, although maybe this photo won't be enough and you will have to come for a visit (or another visit) to really appreciate the change. We think of the color as a kind of Lincoln Log brownish red. Please do come for a visit or another visit (in spite of what the Sawyer County Record says about Gus and our welcoming messages).

Gus Makes the Newspaper!

Our very own Gus, the cute little bear that greets folks at the end of our drive in WI, has made the newspaper. Now, we think it is kind of funny for him to sometimes hold his "Go Away" sign instead of his "Welcome" sign. Evidently, not everyone sees it that way though. Gus appeared on the editorial page of the Sawyer County Record on September 6th, unbeknownst to us. In case you can't read the fine print, here is what the editors had to say:

"Is this the message we want to see at the ends of driveways in the Northwoods? Yes, it's a free country, but our reputation as a friendly place to live and recreate is in jeopardy when property owners post signs on the roadside telling people to "go away," no matter how "cute" they are. There are two letters from readers on this page questioning the welcome visitors receive in our area. Hayward has always been a friendly place. Let's try to keep it that way and show our visitors the respect they deserve. It's time to lose the "Wisconsin full, go home!" bumper stickers."

We don't know who took Gus's picture and decided to bring him to the attention of the paper's editorial staff. Our various neighbors have enjoyed seeing him, and all of them that we spoke to agreed with us that his "Go Away" sign is kind of funny. We are not on a main drag, so we aren't sure how many Wisconsin visitors he has actually offended and chased away. Maybe a realtor showing the available lot next door took offense. In any event, it is kind of amusing to us, as well as ironic, that we (essentially visitors to Wisconsin ourselves) are being challenged to "get with the program." I think I'll write a letter to the editor in reply.

Chairs and Glider

We are back in WI for several weeks. I brought up the glider and the two adirondack chairs that I made back home. I came up here yesterday with the pickup loaded to the gills with these new pieces of deck furniture and a number of other items. The glider was almost finished except for actually hanging the seat onto the base. I transported the chairs in pieces--didn't think I could get everything packed if they were assembled. So, I did the final assembly up here this morning. Kathie and her Mom arrived this afternoon and immediately gave the glider a test glide.

BWCA

As some of you know, we spent some time in the BWCA recently. Here are the details. Kathie and I, along with Jessica, Mike, and Josey, did the trip.

To break up the drive north, we drove to Minneapolis and stayed with Will on the 24th. Alas, Sandy was traveling, so we weren't able to enjoy her company, but Will did a fine job of seeing to it that we had a bed for the night. The next morning, after wishing him farewell, we went to an old favorite--Steamworks--for coffee and waffles with lingonberries. Then we got ourselves back to I35 and headed to Duluth and points further north.

For lunch, we stopped at Betty's Pies, just north of Two Harbors. This place became a favorite of mine years ago.We stayed at the Bluefin Bay Resort that evening. Many of you will remember this as the delightful place we stayed for the several days surrounding Will and Sandy's wedding. One of our motivations for staying here, rather than at the campground at Sawbill was the chance to go up to Grand Marais, including another dining experience, this one being Swen & Ole's. Given that Mike and Jessica are culinary students, we felt they needed the Betty's and Swen & Ole's experiences. Here are some shots near the Bluefin and at Swen & Ole's. (I obviously need to lose more weight and/or improve my posture!) The one of Josey has her fascinated by the waves in Lake Superior as viewed from our second floor window. A gorgeous mountain ash was just outside the window.




We drove to Sawbill bright and early and had breakfast at the outfitters, after which we began to pack up for the trip. We entered the BWCA at Sawbill. The trip we planned was similar to the Cherokee Loop that SCO has listed as one of its suggested routes. We did the trip over four nights and the better part of five days, staying at Cherokee an extra night.













The portages up to Cherokee are not too bad, and I found out that though I'm older and not as strong as I used to be, I can still do this!! It was good to be back out after many years not being able to revisit the wilderness. We found a great camp site at Cherokee, one with a very well-placed, if not perfectly flat rock, situated by the fire and useful as a "table." There was also a nice flat rock for sun bathing, staring at sunsets, and canoe landings.

It was interesting to have Josey along for the trip. She took to the canoe well, and except for having to watch first out of one side and then the other, thus tipping the canoe awkwardly back and forth, she was fine. She took to the portage travels naturally, blazing the way for us and beating us to the end every time. Of course, these busy days left her without her usual quota of naps, so she crashed at the campsite without fail. She always stayed nearby when we were in camp, and she took to sleeping with us in the tent quite well. One evening she sat staring at a brushy area for the longest time. We knew she had spotted some little critter. Eventually, she pounced on and killed a mouse that was unfortunate enough to have attracted this attention.



For entertainment one day, Kathie decided we needed to make boats out of natural materials. The results were interesting to say the least. From left to right in the picture, you see Kathie's entry, mine, Mike's, and Jessica's. Kathie's turned out to be the best sailing vessel and won the race (last seen heading far across Cherokee). I cheated and tried to use a rubber band to make a paddle--I thought this marvelous invention would surely win, but the paddle got caught in the opening and only spun a few times. Good design, bad engineering. Mike probably did the most work, soaking bark to make ties to lash together twigs. His was the Kon Tiki entry, but it did not want to sit upright very well once the sail was attached. Jessica's boat looked like something out of Kevin Costner's Waterworld movie, and it also tended not to want to stay upright.




We left Cherokee on the third day out and traveled to the north end of Kelley Lake. The fourth day, we traveled to Smoke Lake. The final morning, we did our single final portage back to Sawbill, paddled back to SCO, took those much-wanted showers, bought the mandatory new T-shirts and sweatshirts, visited with the Hansons, and then started our drive home. Lunchtime occurred with our arrival in Duluth, so we had a first serious non-freeze-dried meal at Grandma's. It was a great trip.

Dinner Party

One of the significant benefits of having a child doing degree work in the culinary arts is being treated to interesting new dining experiences. Jessica and her boyfriend, Mike, are staying with us for a few days, and they agreed to prepare a meal for us and a few good friends. Both are students at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. They started yesterday with menu planning and continued today with shopping trips. At about 2PM, the preparations began for the actual dinner party, which was planned for about 6:30PM. They were really "on top of their game", because everything came together right on schedule and continued right through until about 10:30PM. It is probable that every pot, pan, appliance, burner, oven, and measuring utensil was in play at some point. There was much chopping, mincing, dicing, mixing, and so forth going on for hours.


Everything was wonderful, starting with sangria, hors d'oeuvres, and conversation in the back yard (on a beautiful summer evening). Then we moved to the table for the rest of the meal. Hors d'oeuvres consisted of proscuitto-wrapped melon and strawberries with balsamic glaze and maple-glazed scallops wrapped in bacon. The appetizer/first course was a goat cheese souffle served over baby greens with a pear balsamic vinagrette. For the entree, we had pan-seared tuna steak with lentil succotash and baby bok choy. Dessert was a lemon burdino (kind of a custard/cake combination). There were several excellent wines to choose from as well of both red and white varieties. Good friends and excellent food--what could be better? I suppose that would be the chance to feel such pride in knowing that your own children made all of this possible. We just sat back and enjoyed the experience.


At the end of the day, after being on their feet for hours and chopping, whipping, and what have you, both of our chefs were rather worn out. Kathie brought out the big gun (a serious vibrating massage machine) to give each of them a bit of relief. As I write this, each of them has now crashed and burned or is on the verge of same. As for us, contented sleep also beckons.