December 8-12, 2011

This trip north marked the first ski outing of the season. We figured we would have snow, but were not sure how much or what conditions the trails would be in. Mary and I cross-country skied three times, twice on the Three-Eagle Trail and once on the trail just north of Land O’ Lakes. Three-Eagle was great and, even with just 5-6” of snow, had been groomed and had a good base.

Got a little work done around the cabin; namely, putting up the final wood trim around the laundry closet, installing handles on the two cabinets within the closet, and installing shelving in the walk-in closet in our bedroom.

November 17-20, 2011

Mary and I went to the cabin late Thursday afternoon. Worked on Friday and Saturday finishing the laundry closet by hanging the bi-fold doors and the two wall cabinets. This marked the last piece of work on an 8-year project to finish the first floor shell that we put up in late 2003.

On Saturday it started to rain about mid-day and to snow in the afternoon. We took a walk late in the afternoon as the light was beginning to fade. It was beautiful with snow clinging to all the trees and pine boughs. And it was quiet. You know how quiet can set in with new snow. It’s like the Northwoods has a librarian around every tree hushing anything that might make noise.

October 20-22, 2011

Mary and I went to the cabin on Thursday afternoon and left for home about mid afternoon Saturday. We finished the sunroom by installing final pieces of wood trim around the window and baseboard, and putting sealer on the grout lines in the tile. I finished a log slab table I made. Actually, I should give some credit to the tree. It made the slab and I just shaped and polished it and installed four legs. It is a slab that Hanson and I cut several years ago from a downed maple tree near the Cambridge golf course.

We hung on a wall the cubby unit that I made five years ago, and placed the bench below it. We always intended these items for this location; just took us a little time to get the room finished I guess.

We finished with lots of exterior work in anticipation of winter. Got the boats into the boathouse, blew pine needles out of the roof valleys, and trimmed a few balsam pines from along the driveway. I also rescued 3 3-foot red pines and planted them along the circle driveway.

It was a quiet and relatively short trip. And, who doesn't love the smell of wood smoke from the fireplace on a cool fall morning?

October 6 - 10, 2011

Mary and I went to the cabin on Thursday the 6th and returned on Monday the 10th. It's nice to avoid the weekend traffic. We worked hard three days on the sunroom, laying the ceramic tile. The room came out great; now all I have to do is prepare and install a few pieces of wood trim around the big window and along the baseboard.

I took what was probably my last sail of the year on Saturday. Great wind and balmy temperatures. I left the sail boat out on the beach. You never know - when we're back in a couple weeks we might hit another warm stretch.

August 26-29, 2011 Work Weekend

Mary and I went to the cabin for a good old-fashioned work weekend. Had not done one of those for a while and we enjoy projects. Now, all our muscles are sore but that goes with the territory I guess. We transformed the porch into what we're now calling the sunroom. The pictures illustrate what we're doing: painting the walls, installing subfloor and ceramic tile, and finishing the window jambs. We'll eventually move the adirondack chairs and a log-slab table into the new room.

Mary did a good job of touching up the brown paint on the cedar-sided basement walls. Black berries were in abundance and we picked a lot of them, and I was glad to still be able to pick a handful or two of blue berries.

August 7-13, 2011

Mary, Linds and I went up for a few days. We spent a lot of time relaxing, reading, and took a walk every night after dinner. We rode bikes on the Three Eagle Trail, and also the trail from Sayner to St. Germaine, and the trail out of Land O’ Lakes. Linds and I enjoyed a nice sail around the lake. Saw some wildlife, and the “bear magnet” (Linds) helped us spot a bear crossing the road between Phelps and Land O’ Lakes. We succeeded in getting the dryer hooked up and vented! We also rescued 18 red pines and planted them around the property.

28 July - 31 July 2011 Bike Trip

Went up Thursday morning with Mark Hanson and Gary Greene to do some serious biking on the scenic paved bike trails. We rode around Phelps Thursday afternoon, and, upon returning to the cabin I got my first flat tire. Friday we went to Sayner and biked to St. Germaine. On the way back I got my second flat tire. Went to Eagle Waters Friday night for a great meal. Saturday we went to Boulder Junction and biked toward Sayner and back. We turned back toward Boulder Junction a little short of Sayner because of approaching storm clouds. I was cruising along, ran over a chipmunk, got my third flat and it started to pour. All three of us got soaked, but it now makes for a good story. I am certain that the spirit of the chipmunk was involved in some way. Saturday night we drove over to St. Germaine to take part in Joe Bucher's Blues Festival. We also found time to get the LP kit installed on the dyer over at Jensen Akins in Conover.

July 14-17, 2011

Mary and I went up about mid-day on our 38th anniversary. Hojem's arrived about mid-day on Friday. On Saturday we rode the bike trail from Sayner to St. Germaine, a terrific trail with gorgeous views and fairly easy roller-coaster hills. We later toured a car show in St. Germaine and walked through the Artarama in Eagle River. Later Saturday Mary and I got a lot of the excess stuff out of the entry porch so we can get to work finishing that room. We made great progress before leaving for home Sunday.

Brice and Family

Mary and I went up Friday morning July 8th, and Brice, Jeanne, Aidan and Reese came up that afternoon for a fun weekend. We repaired the swing on Walton's Mountain, Reese and Aidan rode the tractor around, Reese and I went sailing, we had a great campfire on the beach, went to the Northwoods Children's Museum, and both kids went kayaking where we went to see the beaver dam being reconstructed. Spent a little time at Kartway in Eagle River where we had a crash-crazy kart ride, someone got soaked in the bumper boats, and the kids enjoyed 18 holes of mini golf. Clooney and Buster came as well, and both dogs enjoyed the out-of-doors and all the new experiences and smells. Fortunately, none of them ran into porcupines or skunks. We all headed for home late morning or early afternoon on Sunday, July 10th.

July 4th 2011 Visit

Mary and I went to the cabin on Thursday, June 30th for the 4th of July holiday weekend. We biked with Hojems about 10 miles on the Three Eagle Trail, and then we did another 10 on the Land O' Lakes trail on July 4th. Weather was great; I went sailing 5 times, and we transplanted 11 trees, 10 red pines and one white spruce.

Father's Day Weekend

I rode up Friday morning with Hojem's. Dano and Mary came up Friday night after Dano got in Madison from work. I got to the cabin about 12:45 p.m. and spent two hours mowing. Then moved three trailers of rocks for the rock wall I am building around the new circle driveway. We took a 14-mile bike ride on the paved trails out of Sayner on Saturday. Great day for a ride. Went to eat at Holiday Lodge Saturday night, and headed for home by about 11 a.m. Sunday. Before we left Sunday, Dano gave me her Father's Day present which was glassware that she had produced (through her work) that have an image of the cabin and me skiing on the other side. We headed for home by about 11:00 a.m. Sunday. Linds was not able to join us because she had a wedding in Minneapolis to attend.

First Post to this Blog

This is my first post ever to a blog. My intent is to chronicle the progress and development of our up north retreat at 2574 Black Bear Lane in Phelps, Wisconsin. More to come!