Olio

Haven't written anything here in awhile, so thought I'd offer just a few notions of what we've been doing. Anders was here the first few days after his school ended. He and I are going to build a treehouse for him up at their northern Minnesota property, so we spent some time prefabricating so that we can save some time once we get all the materials up there.

A few days later, our friends Richard and Rina came for a week. We met other friends, Joe and Jan at a local breakfast place called Robins Nest.

Unfortunately, the fishing was not highly productive while Richard and Rina were here. Richard and I threw lots of big lures hoping for a Muskie, but these big fish were having none of what we offered. Richard did eventually catch one decent-sized Northern, and Rina later caught a really nice 18" Smallmouth Bass.

I had purchased a new TV for the cabin, going from our old 42" model to a 60" model. This one is wall mounted. Richard helped me with that. A really nice upgrade in picture quality just in time for me to take in the majority of the College World Series! The old set is going down to the lower level to provide options for the grandkids and guests.

Our Japanese Lilac bloomed this week. Amazing feathery, white blossoms. This tree/bush has really grown since we planted it years ago as a bare root spring acquisition. Together with our Mountain Ash, these two trees really dress up the yard.

Finally, we are busy staining all of our entry stoops, decks, and dock steps. Lots of work, but since we had the cabin resided in a different color last year, we wanted to get these adjacent spaces updated to match the house trim. Things are looking really nice so far. I'll share some photos of the final results eventually.