December 2006 Notes

After much deliberation we were able to put the wedding gift certificates that Jan and Traci gave us to good use. We bought this rug that complements the wood tones of the cabin.

The LEGO sign serves to remind us of the job we had that required us to sort tens of thousands of LEGO pieces which enabled us to buy the tractor. Thanks to Neil for his creativity in providing the decal.

We heard a rumor that the small town of Kaleva had a large grasshopper problem so we decided to investigate; nothing more impressive than the hoppers that we have at the ranch. We declared the town safe, and headed home.

While Haile spent some time with Memere in July we had fun playing various games. Here we're trying to figure out the Great Grape Escape game that Paul brought to the cabin from his house.

On a spring day walk in the woods we nearly overlooked this Lady Slipper buried in dead leaves at the edge of the state land.

Remember the old nursery rhyme: "Mistress Mary, how does your garden grow?" Well, with enough watering and a low fence to discourage rabbits the garden gave me just enough work and satisfaction, but not very many flowers.

Our very fine outhouse lacked the proper hygienic supplies but that was solved when the Schoonovers gave us a fancy foam dispenser to maintain the standards.

Digging a trench to install electric service between the house and garage.

Harlene checks to make sure that the underground electrical cable is buried to the correct depth.

Big Game Hunter Bruce usually visits with high hopes of bagging a duck, goose or turkey. They seem to avoid his visits and he has yet to go home with a reward for his efforts. When he is not around, we frequently see the turkeys feeding from around our bird feeders.

We bought this huge pile of manure from a local farmer. Left to "cook" through the winter, it will make great fertilizer for the garden that we intend to plant in the Spring.

The last project for 2006 was to install a garage door opener. After a making a few minor adjustments, everything seemed to work fine. (No installers were harmed in the making of this picture.)

2006 Journal

Early in the year Paul was able to put his new toy, the John Deere tractor to good use. With a couple of swipes up and down the driveway we're able to drive in without any problems. As he plows I follow in the car.	After much deliberation we were able to put the wedding gift certificates that Jan and Traci gave us to good use. We bought this rug that complements the wood tones of the cabin.

The LEGO sign serves to remind us of the job we had that required us to sort tens of thousands of LEGO pieces which enabled us to buy the tractor. Thanks to Neil for his creativity in providing the decal.	A winter evening with a light cover of new snow.

We heard a rumor that the small town of Kaleva had a large grasshopper problem so we decided to investigate; nothing more impressive than the hoppers that we have at the ranch. We declared the town safe, and headed home.	While Haile spent some time with Memere in July we had fun playing various games. Here we're trying to figure out the Great Grape Escape game that Paul brought to the cabin from his house.

On a spring day walk in the woods we nearly overlooked this Lady Slipper buried in dead leaves at the edge of the state land.	Even though this may look like snow, it's actually seeds from the cottonwood trees in June.

Remember the old nursery rhyme: "Mistress Mary, how does your garden grow?" Well, with enough watering and a low fence to discourage rabbits the garden gave me just enough work and satisfaction, but not very many flowers.	Our very fine outhouse lacked the proper hygienic supplies but that was solved when the Schoonovers gave us a fancy foam dispenser to maintain the standards.

The wind and snow of 2005 caused a few of the pine trees to be blown over. We first used a chain saw to remove the limbs and then rented this chipper to reduce them to wood chips that we use on various walkways and as mulch.	Harlene, Alison, and Wes enjoy a Moomers ice cream. Yep... that's fresh ice cream. The cows that made the milk are in the background.

Digging a trench to install electric service between the house and garage.	Harlene checks to make sure that the underground electrical cable is buried to the correct depth.

Big Game Hunter Bruce usually visits with high hopes of bagging a duck, goose or turkey. They seem to avoid his visits and he has yet to go home with a reward for his efforts. When he is not around, we frequently see the turkeys feeding from around our bird feeders.	We installed a weather station that will allow us to keep a watch on the place while we are away. This is the sensor package that supplies the weather data that you can see on this website.

This year we decided to try our hand at gardening. We planted quite a variety of crops. The result.... well... let's just say that we now know what the deer and rabits like to eat. We did have some success with Harlene's heritage tomatoes. The new asparagus root stock went un-noticed by the critters. We were able to save a few ears of popcorn from the deer which, after drying, tasted just great.

We bought this huge pile of manure from a local farmer. Left to "cook" through the winter, it will make great fertilizer for the garden that we intend to plant in the Spring.	The last project for 2006 was to install a garage door opener. After a making a few minor adjustments, everything seemed to work fine. (No installers were harmed in the making of this picture.)