The boat is in storage, the dock and lift are in the yard

 I know the best fishing is usually in the fall but I just cannot keep the boat setup much past Labour Day. Once we get to mid-September I am ready to pack it all in for the season. I have moved on, summer is over and it is time to get started on the whole long list of chores that must be done before the first snow flakes fall. 

I'm missing something, I know. There is a special time here in Minnesota to be out of doors and I am ditching it. Yes I am. Autumn is a trickster. It deceives. It looks like it will linger, yet rarely does. I don't think it actually exists. 

I have heard people who are natives say that they love the four seasons of this country. They cannot count. Knoxville has four seasons. St. Louis has four seasons. Baltimore has four seasons. Minnesota has two. Summer and Winter. There are three phases to winter. Cool Winter, followed by Deep Winter, followed by Soggy Winter. Summer has three phases as well. Soggy summer, Big Summer and Harvest Summer. Harvest Summer and Cool Winter overlap by about a week. Same for Soggy Winter and Soggy Summer, which only the lengthening of days allows one to distinguish between them. 

My boat is in storage in Scott County. Here is my boat lift and dock. Until May (Soggy Summer).

First post of 2016

My how things like twitter and linked in take away from blogging. I really used to love this but there is something about that evil little bird that keeps me from posting here like I should. What are the big things in my life this summer?

A new granddaughter, a special reminder of how wonderful God is and how the world is blessed by new children who are born into loving homes where He is honored.

A new dock service. Hooray! No more days waking up at night wondering if the dock is going out in the spring or if it will freeze to the lake in the fall.

Gooseberries, currants, and hazelnuts from bushes I planted three years ago.

New landscaping on a hillside that was once home to an old shed.

That is all for now. Just wanted to get something plugged into the blog today. If I recall right one of my new years resolutions was to blog more this year than last. I have some work to do.

Spring finally

I don't know why it has taken so long for me to post to this blog. Try to put something here at least monthly.


It has been a good spring, though wetter than we would like. I suppose there is always something about the climate to love or hate and this year it is all the water. Our drought that began last summer is over. The lower part of the lot is under water, about a foot of it. That means that the dock and lift are still waiting to be pushed off the shore and the boat is still in the driveway. There are ducks and geese swimming where I normally cut grass.


As an amateur gardener, it has been a busy spring. Time will tell whether it is productive. In addition to a small vegetable garden the weekends have been spent clearing brush and planting a number of small shrubs, for both their flowers and fruit. We have planted cranberries, lilacs, gooseberries, blueberries, currants. A straw bale garden is also underway.
We have taken down six trees that were either in danger of falling over, or had outgrown their space. Now the challenge is to get grass and shrubs to grow where the trees once stood.
I am sitting on my deck looking out over woods full of songbirds and you can almost see the leaves growing by the hour. Royals and Seattle on the radio.
It is mothers day and I am so thankful for the mother of my children, for my mother and the soon to be mother of my first grandchild. It's a good day.

The pieces are coming together

Enough about IRS witch hunts and phone intercepts.

The house, the lake, the woodchipper, the riding lawn mower, the well, the dock, the lift, the boat... the pieces of our escape out of the city are coming together.

This was the weekend I was on the boat almost everyday and caught the first fish on the Lake, a couple of small-mid size northern pike. A good start.

It was also a weekend of family gathering with my brother in town, who likes to stay off the grid and shall remain nameless. He found us breakfast in Waconia when the power went out and also was full of some sound boating advice. Power was out for about three hours, not too bad. In any event that would not have affected the smoking plans. I must admit they turned out pretty good. Ribs and pork shoulder on the smoker, its getting where I can almost do this blindfolded.

Regarding bbq, this year I began using a rack for the ribs to stand them sideways. Boy does that make a difference. Not sure what it is but i think it has to do with a more even cooking. Nice and tender. 5-6 hours at around 225. No fancy rubs on the ribs or shoulder. Just salt and pepper. 

One last note. The shoulder and ribs had been frozen for about a month. I have smoked both fresh meat and the frozen then thawed. I cannot tell the difference. I guess I'd need to have them side by side. I'll keep freezing so I dont have to run to Costco every weekend.