The Bell

We have a new bell in the house, a

dog bell!   (it is cute and came in

a pack of 2)

This is for Teeter to use to get our

attention when she wants to

go outside.

She hasn't had an accident for some time,

I catch her sometimes jumping up at the

door (not on it but up).  We are thinking

this might be a good back up.

She caught on right away that it makes

noise and it might be fun!  She has

only picked it up and moved it once.

 

I tried to catch her trying it out ~

I have been using her paw to ring it

but she could use her nose too.

(she is quick so blurry pictures)

She has done it correctly a few

times.   Each time she touches it, she

is put outside.   When she is let

out at other times, I help her

paw make it ring.

So we will see.

She seems like a smart cookie

and a little (alot) sassy. 

She is scheduled to go in for her

first dogspaw experience soon.

Very Cold

 The Weather Bug app tonight says

Very Cold and it has said that all day.

Very Cold  -21 F with a 

Feels Like:  -38 F

Brrrrr.

The snow is crunchy from the

cold but the

sun does feel good (when you

can get out of the wind).

This is one of our drifts from a 

snow fence that is strategically

placed with hopes to keep the

driveway from blowing full of snow.

So you head to the shop for a few

minutes (it is warm in there at 45 F)

looking out the window at

the day. 

~~~~~~~

Today we discussed some of the tax

preparation ~ it is ready to complete

and drop off at the end of the week.

Some cleaning, filing of paperwork

and a nap!

We had company and some good

conversation.

Stopped and gave Dad some hugs,

he heads out tomorrow afternoon

so he is in town for Tuesday morning

surgery.

~~~~~~~

Stay warm everybody!

And The Cold Has Arrived

 We got enough snow overnight

and yesterday to shovel and

clean out the driveway.   The wind

blew quite a bit into the yard.

The snow fence hubby put up on the

north side of the driveway is doing

a great job (so far).   I will have

to get a picture of some of the big drifts.

~~~~~

It looks like we are going to be in

the icebox with highs/lows being

in the negative for a few days.

~~~~~

This weekend we have the funeral of

our sister-in-laws' mother.    She was

94 years old ~ we have memories of

her over the years when we would

see her at their family gatherings.

Always a happy and very active

lady, may she rest in peace.

Her family is celebrating the life

that she lived.

~~~~

Stay warm this weekend!

Starting to think about flowers and

the garden and what I will be

planting.   But I better hold on, I have

a few other things to get done first!

January To Do List

 Christmas is put away for another 

year.   This year many boxes of Christmas

decor I went through and pulled out

things no longer needed  - for example

the wood greeting that is covered in

Red Glitter (why oh why did I ever buy

that?)  Maybe there will be plans

for a fall craft / Christmas sale.

The information for taxes is "almost"

complete.   I certainly wish I would have

done a little prep work during the year which

for some reason I never found the time

this year.

Next on my list:

- Get  the Christmas Greetings in the 

storage book.

- Start thinking about some summer

events.  Camping has to be scheduled

far ahead of time for availability.

- Manners for Teeter, checking into

some training classes but need to

wait for some things to slow down.

~~~~

January's project was suppose to be

going through a tub of pictures from

Mom and Dad's and starting on my

office closet which is home to lots of

organized pictures, negatives and

other forms of photography.   I

am going to get there!

Busy with family matters ~ dad has

back surgery coming up.

Snowmobiling

 Snowmobiling ~ today we got out on 

the trails, the weather and temperature

were nice.

It was a long ride, 121 miles (that is quite

a day for us) we are usually around 50.

The destination was to the Stompin' Grounds

North of Akeley to eat.  We made it, had

a delicious late lunch came back through

Lake George (fueled up) and then 

back through the Two Inlets Forest and

home.

These were taken in the Paul

Bunyan State Forest

(they must have gotten

more snow than we did

the last dusting)

Closer to the Stompin' Grounds (which

is north of Akeley) the trees had

a little new snow cover and

some areas were frosty.

Graceland

Graceland is Mourning 

Back in February of 2020, we visited

Graceland on our way home from the

State of Louisiana.

It was very much the off season with

no crowds but we had a nice tour

and there was lunch available at Vernon's.

The actual mansion was very interesting

and parts were beautiful.

Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, was

buried today.   She was almost the same

age as me.  There has been story after

story on social media about it.

The Meditation Garden where now since

we have been there in 2020 Lisa Marie's

son is buried and now she is.   They are buried

across from Elvis Presley on the other side.

I looked back through pictures I had taken

and only found

this one of Elvis and Lisa Marie.  There is 

now a Lisa Marie Display "Growing Up

Presley" which was opened

before she passed away.

Rest in Peace to the Presleys.

Birthday Cards 2022

 I tried to be creative last year

for special days throughout 

the year ~ for most adult birthdays

and anniversaries I found old dated

pictures and had a black and white

print made, then made a

card to send to the individual(s).

Here is what was sent out over

the year ~ it was fun!

I had some nice comments and

some "oh thanks" comments   :)

It was fun! 

Now on to 2023!!

Beautiful Weekend in January

 Saturday we got out snowmobiling ~

headed to Elbow Lake Lodge f/k/a

Elbow Lake Store.

The trails were good ~ we still

have snow covered trees from

the ice / snow storm in

mid-December.  You could tell

which area of the trails that

had some  tree debris from the

storm.

The snowmobile clubs and

communities have done a great job

on the trails (we did wonder if there

would be any trail riding this year 

back in December).

It was good to get out and enjoy

the outdoors!

We had temps in the twenties on

Saturday and then Sunday was

fabulous - I saw a 37 degrees

(we had some melting).

An awesome weekend for the

month of January ~ easy on

the livestock, outside animals

and us people  :) 

We are dog sitting while one of

our kids' & family is on vacation, they

headed south to sunshine & warmth.

Grand #1 and #3 visited

a lego store.

Our other family is enjoying the 

snowy outdoors like us.

Grand  #2 and #4

Teeter

 The week after Christmas Teeter

transformed from a toddler to a doggy

teenager!

Just prior to the holidays she had

some accidents when she had been

doing so well.   Looking back, I thought

is it because we were busy and not

paying attention (she is pretty smart).

She wants to know what is going

on everywhere.

almost 5 months old

Those first couple of days after the 

New Year ~ I bought a new red

collar she outgrew the first one.

funny and we actually made this

little collar bigger twice.

Oh she was so little back in

October and just only 6 lbs.

~~~~

And somebody was losing teeth,

I found many on the floor.

I usually wouldn't keep these

but this happened within a week.

Some of the grands wondered

if she had any teeth left.

Yes plenty!

She seems to have grown up, no

accidents in quite while and all

of her eating/tummy issues are

currently not an issue.    We started

giving bits of carrots for treats.

Both dogs love them!

She now weighs just over

12 lbs.

Now to work on new things!

Around Here

 Our trees are still heavy with

snow, from the rain / snowstorm we

had the middle of December. 

Many of the tree limbs are hanging

really low ~ I wonder what things

will look like come spring.

Today it was very pleasant, 29 degrees Fahrenheit,

I didn't see it hit 30 but at 10 pm

it is still 26 degrees.

There is moisture in the air so it

is to be foggy and possibly slippery

in the morning.

Extra snow time outside today.
 

    Mitts (the brother cat) was hanging

around all day ~ he really enjoys

his time with the dogs.

January Arrived

 January arrived with decent weather,

no snowstorms and not to terribly cold.

By the end of the first week, we had

temps in the 20's (seemed very nice)

and the sun made an appearance more

than one day!

January 7, 2023

Our fields covered with snow and

now wind blown ~ looks like water!

                                                January 8, 2023

A sunset to end the weekend.

~~~

We both were fighting colds this first

week of January ~ hoping in the next

few days it is completely cleared up.

Today we got out on the snowmobiles,

it was a nice ride and we had a good

lunch!

Work has been busy for both of us ~ mine

seems to be constantly changing plus

we are very busy.  We have

had 6 people leave since the end

of June.    They say change is good.....

I am trying!

~~~~

A couple of ornaments to close up the

Christmas decor.

This was from my sister whose horse

family friend made the doily and 

she decorated.

This yarn star was made by Daughter

and grands, so very colorful!

Looking Back at 2022

2022 In Review

We didn't get much down time following

the Christmas gatherings of 2021.

The 2nd weekend in January the

weather was frigid cold -39 degrees

Fahrenheit.    Brrrr 

We met our kids at a hotel with a pool and

waterslide for a family weekend.

                                That is the weekend, that we found out

dad would be becoming a member of

the "zipper club".   He had a heart attack

at age 77.  

The next few weeks, we all rallied around

mom and dad (grandma and grandpa)

 the best we knew how.

This was new ground for each and every

one of us and it took togetherness,

listening, talking, some truth, some fear,

lots of words and some big tears.

But we did it.

It was a decent snowobile season after the

first of the year and we rode through

March 12th.   The sleds got 480 plus miles

put on them.   We made it to Ice Cracking, Knob & 

Kettle, Pinehurst and Stompin' Grounds.   Hubby

got out with Lineman Son and his brother also.

~~~~

Springtime brought nice weather but we

didn't get the Mustang out and doing any

cruising until June.   We made up for it

in the fall with our last drive being

Oct 30th (which is a record).

~~~~

Three camping trips (locally) to

Huntersville over the 4th of July, Crow

Wing Campground with the kids and

to the Stompin' Grounds.

~~~~

In July, we celebrated our 36th

Wedding Anniversary.   The month of

July, I dealt with a poison ivy rash and

some type of allergic reaction.   I was

determine to do something for our

anniversary so we went to the 

International Peace Garden, it was a 

nice place to visit (although I was 

pretty miserable it was an extremely hot day).

We kept busy with the flower gardens

and the vegetable garden trying zuchinni

and finding out it grows too easy.   

We planted more

trees and spent the summer getting them

started.

We had weekend visits from each

of the older grands.

There was fun getting together for

Birthday parties this year.

In the spring, there was a 

Kindergarten graduation, a 

Field Trip to  Robbins Island Park

and in the fall we had a

First Grader, a Kindergartener and

2 Preschoolers go back to school.

We kept busy with several projects -

game cameras, the gardens and crafting.

Hubby officially started his Stump Grinding

and Tilling business and kept pretty busy

(and by fall even had some return customers

with the tilling).

We said goodbye to three of our animal

family members:

Zoey on my birthday.  She was

16 yrs old

Kodi left us in September.  She

was almost 12 yrs old.

and Blue, left us by accident in

November.  He was 6 yrs old.

Lineman Son and family also said

goodbye to Lucy this year, she

was 11 yrs old.

~~~~~

Teeter joined our family, a little by

surprise!

So small, 8 wks old and 6 lbs.

~~~~~

Deer hunting success = 0

Another year gone by, our children are

busy adults with good sized families.  The

grandchildren are all healthy

and growing!

We are blessed and very fortunate for

all of the things we have.

My folks after the bumps in the road the

first part of the year (including a flooded

basement) are doing well.

My in-laws still live in their home.

  They are still getting out to eat

and go to medical appointments.  They

join us when the kids are home.

We are blessed as a family, nobody was

seriously ill, medical issues for those were

resolved.

~~~~~~~~~

2022 and Covid

unfortunately it is still a thing and always 

will be. 

We still wear masks at the clinic/hospitals.

In January, when dad had his surgery masks

were required and they only allowed two

visitors and no children.   The dentist office

also requires mask until late in the year ~ then

no more masks. 

Neither of us got covid this year, we haven't

done any more vaccinations but we did

test at home several times when the

need arised.

We are still quite cautious ~ cautious

with our gatherings and cautious

in what we do or who we are around.

The end of 2022, the news indicates that

numbers are again high.

Things seem more normal and some

things such as supply and service 

sometimes are still wonky.

Now on to 2023!