We were home this weekend.   And we accomplished a lot.   Lot’s of little things keep adding up.  Chris already had the Christmas tree decorated,  she did it all by herself.    It looks great!  And we did some preparing for winter,  the snow blower is running and the plow is on the ATV.  Had to cut and move some firewood today, and have the house nice and warm right now,  while it is only 22 degrees outside.  And trimmed some branches and bushes that needed done, and some work in the garage that has been on the list for awhile.  All good stuff that I am glad is done.  Chris did a lot of cleaning in the kitchen today and we just had a great pork roast she made.   So life is good.  Now a glass of wine and watch some football.  Chris has some Christmas cards for me to finish,  she has most done.  I’ll watch the Vikings or the fire and do that.   And we have a short week to look forward to.  Wednesday night to Milwaukee to see Mom, and then fly out of Milwaukee early Thursday morning for Florida,  I can’t wait.    Noel and Jo Ann and Al Miller will join us to watch the Christmas boat parade on Friday night!  Looks like high near 80,  lows in the 60’s!   Oh yeah baby!

Oh by the way,  a Packer game to watch Monday night.

We had a very relaxing weekend.  The bed and breakfast turned out to be a wonderful place.   Very nicely decorated and hospitable.  We walked a lot around Saugatuck, MI and spent part of one day in Holland, MI.     We had some great micro brews and great food.   And spent quality time with MJ and John.   We had a lot of fun.   Late evenings we played some games back at the bed and breakfast.   Weather turned out well, we had some rain driving each way but not bad.  And Friday was an OK day for walking around and Saturday was even better!  We made it home late afternoon Sunday.  I Pass is great,  I think we saved a lot of drive time because of it.  And the GPS is a must have from now on!

So we hope everyone had as nice a weekend.   November they say was one of our warmest on record,   so guess what we need to get back to average?  It sounds like we will have it this coming weekend.  In the meantime enjoy!

Yes, that is a turkey.  Out in back of the house.  There actually are about a dozen we have seen.   Or maybe the others are already getting ready for the table!   I just happened to have the camera ready when this one came around.

Actually almost Thanksgiving means it is hunting season!  Noel Andrew and Lou are already at Fort McCoy tonight,  and I think Tiff.   I have to make my appearance at work tomorrow but will leave early to drive in the afternoon daylight.    I drove over last weekend and did some scouting,  the signs look good.   So now the deer just need to co-operate!  It sounds like we will have good weather most of the time I am there.   So it will be nice sit in the woods.  I can’t wait to get there!

Then it will be home,  unpack and pack for Michigan and a few more relaxing days.   This is a good time of the year.   Sounds like the Thanksgiving weekend will be much colder though,  I could do without that.    But it soon will be December, and then we get a few days in Florida to look forward to.

So everyone have a good weekend,  Up here in Wisconsin it would be a good weekend to put the outside decorations up.  I’ll wait for colder weather.

Hey, Happy Birthday Bro!       A nice weekend,  November so far is a pretty good weather month.   We were home this weekend and accomplished a lot.   A lot of cleaning and organizing on Saturday.   And I took the new Pontoon out for a ride to make sure everything was working well after I had the marina put the other engine on.  Everything ran great!    So then the pontoon back to the driveway and it is now emptied, cleaned, and all wrapped up for the winter.

This morning I headed over to Fort McCoy, the area we usually hunt was open for scouting and I wanted to take advantage of it.   A number of changes on the fort,  I think due to all the training and more federal money coming in!   But our hunting area looks good, so will be heading back there next weekend!   I got my morning exercise walking up hills most of the morning.   It seems there are more ups than downs!

And our Christmas tree is up.  Chris takes the weekend I leave to decorate it.  So a busy weekend coming up, hunting for me, then home for a little work and then off to Milwaukee then Saugatuck, MI.  I’ll hope for a positive week at work while I wait for the weekend.    I hope you all enjoy!

The good news is we have been having great weather,  better than September I think.  We have had some sunny days and temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s.  This is good.   And it is so nice to have the nice sunny days, there had been a long stretch without it.   We know its temporary but you can’t get much better for November.   We seem to keep busy and are getting things around the yard ready for winter.   Of course with the sun setting early there is not much I can accomplish outside after work.   But we are getting there.   And this coming weekend we plan to be home,  which we have not had much of on weekends.  It is fun to get to Milwaukee and see friends but good to have some days at home.   And this will be the only weekend home for me this month.  Next week is the deer hunt, and the weekend after that we will be in Southwest Michigan.

We made it to the St Pius auction this last Saturday night, and found some ‘bargains’ as usual.   And happy that a group of us bought Father Bob’s bar b que again.   A few people thought we should give someone else a chance,   well they always have a chance to outbid us!  We had a good time and Steve ‘the homer’ True is always an entertaining auctioneer.

Before we left for Milwaukee Saturday Chris and I did some shuffling of boats.   The Enders/Bauer partnership has bought another pontoon.   Harlan and Barb decided to sell their boat and trailer.  Their boat has been nicely taken care of, and we would not have had a trailer without theirs!   But we put a newer engine on Ender’s boat a couple of years ago, and Saturday we took both boats in to a marina in Oshkosh to have them swap engines for us.   And yesterday after work we brought them home.    On the way there I got in another boat ride, taking the old boat by water.   But the marina let us use their pontoon trailer to get it home. I actually would have liked to bring it back on the water, with the nice calm days,   but we just did not have enough time to get it all done before sunset.  So they are home, and if the weather turns real nice on Saturday, who knows, the new boat might get one more ride.   And Oh by the way, we have a boat for sale.

So work remains busy for me and the days go quickly.  Our plant could use more volume but my piece of the world stays busy.  And the evenings go even faster.  Tomorrow night our homebrew club executive board meets here,  lot’s of business gets conducted (I have some new beers to try).

So everyone have a great week!

We are in November, month of early sunsets,  football, hunting, Thanksgiving, colder weather, snow, ice.   I thought the world series used to be October,  but I guess world series , basketball, hockey.    We had a pretty nice weekend,  not raining at least.   Friday night down to Milwaukee for Al’s party, thanks Al.  Home on Saturday afternoon and accomplished a lot around the yard.  Between Saturday and Sunday took the shovel to the garden and worked in lot’s of leaves.  Too wet to roto till so the shovel it was.  It does do a good job.  And of course picking up lot’s of leaves to work in.  Sunday the wind was calm and I had a chance to burn lot’ of brush that had been waiting for the rain and north wind to stop.   So it felt good to catch up a bit,  of course I still feel it today!

And the road was finished today,  of course it was dark when I came home,  but it sure felt nice to drive on.  And no Craig I don’t have to clean snow off all of that,  but I have been known to go pretty far!  I did have the ATV out this weekend to move the pontoon trailer around.  That is part of the next weeks project, we bought Harlan and Barb’s pontoon boat and trailer, and am going to have engines swapped between pontoon boats.   So need to get them both to the marina.    And stock club in Milwaukee on Wednesday.  Next Saturday in Wauwatosa for St Pius auction.  So a full week ahead.  Tonight do some on line reading on wi fi routers, see some of the football game, and rest my shoulder! (other than a beverage or two)

(do these guys look like a southern road crew or what?)

Finally!   It is only the first coat of asphalt down,  but it is down!  So it looks beautiful to just see blacktop!   Now they may not be back for a few days, and then we will have more weather to deal with,  but we have this instead of dust and gravel.  Well lately mud and gravel.

And we are only getting a few days break before the next front comes through with some more moisture.  But it feels good to not have cold damp winds.  So we will take all we can get.  This may be our Indian summer.  Not dry enough to work on the garden, so still don’t know when that time will come.  But still making progress on some of the other things around the house that need to be done before winter.

And Friday night down to Milwaukee for Al Miller’s Hallowine party, and do some shopping for Mom.   Then back home and hopefully get some more done.  Saturday night is the time change, so next week I won’t be able to do anything outside after work!  Remember to check those clocks!

It is almost the end of October,  even though it has felt like November for weeks!    But slowly getting ready for the winter.   We could use some rainless days so I can get to the garden, but with Noel’s help this weekend we accomplished the biggest project.  The docks are out, and the boat lift is moved into winter position.  So we worked hard in a northwest wind but accomplished a lot.  A little fine tuning at the lake yet when I get a good day.

Our road is dug out and waiting asphalt.  They are scheduled to be back tomorrow,  but with all the rain today I am not sure it will classify as ‘weather permitting’.  It is supposed to be a good day tomorrow but I think they prefer a dry base to put the asphalt down.  But we will see what tomorrow brings.   It would be nice to have something besides dirt and pot holes.

So we made it through Monday,  I visited the dentist today (so far so good),  tomorrow I give blood at the company blood drive.   Hopefully get a couple of issues fixed, and the work day will be over.   Hey we are almost to hump day.

Another week gone by. It seemed like a quick week,  lot’s going on at work,  I had my homebrew club exec. board meeting here Wed, did the newsletter and sent it out, down to Milwaukee Friday night, Packer game today.   We did get the Bayliner into the storage, Chris cleaned it up during the week and when we got home from Milwaukee Saturday afternoon we put that into the boathouse.  Then we pulled out the pontoon boat and set that into the driveway for the winter.  And managed to dig out the carrots, everything else is frozen.  I’ll look for a chance to start roto tilling the garden.

Today was an invite to the Packer game with a company.  They have nice inside club seats I was able to sit in once before.  A very nice way to enjoy Lambeau Field!  And of course always better when topped off by a win.  Photos on the Album page; the view of the field, the club level of Lambeau (the carrot cake is great!) and various shots of the parking area and vehicles.  The revamped ambulances have TV’s, liquour cabinets and cooking areas.

this week Chris and I are going to an Octoberfest dinner, I have an SOB meeting, and Friday the SOB’s are volunteering for a church fundraiser in Neenah (serving good beers of course)

Back home again,  a little while ago.   Made good time coming back from Detroit,  although from MJ and John’s house to here I don’t think we ever got out of the construction zone.  But Sunday a good day to travel we still moved along well.   Before we left we bought a GPS we were thinking of .   It was a great addition.  It made all the trip and running around in Detroit very easy.  Amazing technology.  Still more to learn about it but we got our money’s worth the last 4 days.

The trip to Detroit we took the ferry from Milwaukee, expensive but worth it.  Left Mlwaukee 6 am Thursday morning.  Got to watch the sun come up on the lake, do some napping and relaxing.   Could not have done that driving through Chicago,  well maybe the nap.    Then just over 3 hours once we landed in Muskegon, after a 2.5 hour ride.   Much quicker and more relaxing than the drive would have been.

Looks like a hard frost must have been here while we were gone.  All the plants look done, even the marigolds.    It is supposed to be a well below normal temperature week.  Hopefully we get some warmer weather to end the month!