A Week in Review.......My Thoughts

Well our wonderful Red Wings didn't win last night but I honestly think they weren't hungry enough. They always play wonderful but they didn't seem to have their hearts in it. Maybe that's just what I saw though. I believe the Penguins played an incredibly awesome game and they truly deserve the Stanley Cup. If we had won of course I would have been proud but I must say that I would have felt true sadness for the Penguins since they seems to care so much more. Maybe the Wings need to take a rest for a few years in the playoffs and then when they earn the honor of playing in the Finals again they will again be the Red Wings I've come to know and love and be enthusiastic and focused. They are great guys and I hate to see anyone ever loose. Congratulations Penguins!!!! Job well done.

I wanted to share a sweet picture of the little yearling we had visit our salt lick this past weekend at our house in Kalkaska, Michigan. This little one was just precious to watch.....so innocent but then also so observant and smart. We love our vacation home in the woods. Nature is everywhere and who could ask for more!

I have alot to accomplish today and tomorrow. Cleaning and all those usual chores plus a light bit of gardening, fertilizing and the ongoing privacy fence construction. We went to the store to buy the 4"x4" post and then began the construction. We already have the other lumber for the fence. We have to make the 8' panels in one piece because we are installing the fence right inside the lot line on one of our neighbors sides. They aren't the best folks to talk with about installing a fence and expecting them to be positive and supportive so we need to do the best we can to solve the situation....that's by putting it inside the already existing chain link fence that is there now. Those panels are quite heavy but after we make and install 11 of them we can construct the rest of the fence the usual way. I am staining the neighbors side of the panels before we install and then I can stain our inside all at once.

This is a picture of a partially made panel. We are going to round the corners slightly (hence the white templates in the corner) and then attach them to the 4" x 4" posts. It should look very neat and clean and give us the privacy we so badly need. I've decided 6 foot privacy fences make awesome neighbors!

Enjoy your weekend.... I'm off the make more fence panels with Tom.

Darlene

A Full Weekend

My husband and I decided to make a one day trip to our house in the upper part of lower Michigan. We feed the deer up there and it was about time to make another trip with goodies to eat. This past fall we had delivered a few loads of sugar beets so now it is time for some yummy 3rd cut alfalfa hay.


We woke up early this past Saturday morning, packed some water for the dogs, and headed to the feed store to load up on hay. My husband and the man at the store managed to jam 19 bales of hay in the bed of our truck. Unbelievable how much that bed holds!



There was a snowfall predicted for our area which is the opposite of what we are used to when we travel upnorth. We usually leave our home here and hit a bit storm on the way up there but not this time.



There is alot of snow upnorth. They started getting hit with storms on Nov. 15th and it really hasn't melted in between much. We had at least 2 feet in our driveway so we knew we weren't even trying to pull in there .... 4 wheel drive or not. We didn't want to take the time to plow it out first since we weren't staying the weekend.





My husband Tom decided he would make ump-teen trips in 2 feet of soft snow and carry hay bales. I felt so bad for him because I couldn't help. They are just too heavy for me. I had suggested bringing a tarp so we could drag a few at a time but he insisted on carrying them himself and have me rest. What a nice guy he is :-) Once Tom made a few trips with some hay he had packed the snow down so it felt like 1 foot he said instead of two!




Sadie had decided to take it easy on this trip and relax LOL! She is usually running around like a crazy girl but I guess she was tired this time.


It didn't take long before she got nice and warm in her blanket and took a snooze.
I think these eyelids are getting a bit heavy....







Gretchen, on the other hand, was having a blast in the snow and a big help to Tom....NOT!



She loved climbing up the mountain of snow to watch Tom and wait for his return.


Tom got all the hay set up at the back of our fenced yard and we were ready to go when my cousing Mel stopped by to say HI. He invited us down the road to his house for a drink or two. We decided to take a break before heading back home. We sat and talked, had a few drinks and talked some more. Three hours later (and dark now) we started our trek back home. We knew there was a winter storm hitting our area at home but we honestly weren't sure how much was accumulating. We definately found out as we got closer south. The expressway finally became totally snowcovered and slippery. You couldn't see any lanes and there were vehicles and emergency vehicles off the road and all over the sides of the road. It was a long trip home but we made it! Tired and hungry we unpacked and crashed for the night.


On Sunday we chilled most of the day. Tom said he actually was feeling his age after carrying all that weight and I was achy from doggie day care responsibilities on the trip. I did alot of walking with the dogs and playing and then of course they think they are lap sized dogs (even though they aren't )so my hips were feeling the extra weight. Of course we had to shovel our driveway and decks here Sunday morning. Whew....lots of work this weekend.



All is normal today but more snow is predicted soon and some really bone-chilling temps coming up in a couple of days.

Keep warm everyone!
Darlene