Sunday, September 13/2015 - Saturday, September19/2015

Woo hoo..... three days off to start this week.   Well, that in itself is a silly statement.  Who in the world ever heard of a woman with three days off!!!!
The garden continues to call me as there were a few days last week of frost and I had to cover the tomatoes soooo, time to deal with them.
The tomatoes were picked and stored in the mancave safely out of harm's way.   Shirley will be taking most of those as she will be busy making salsa and canned tomatoes out of them.  Gary mentioned he may even try to do some canned tomatoes this year as well.  There are plenty of them to share!!
The little tiny tim tomatoes are certainly ripening quickly and I find that I am again having trouble keeping up with them.  Crumb, I grab two or three everytime I pass by them but I swear I am losing the battle.  Shirley tells me she still has a bag in her fridge and Gary is stocked as well!!  Shit, Oh Dear!!
The cucumbers were picked the night the frost was scheduled so they were saved but the vines are hanging off the fence like death so they had to be dealt with this week.  It is a good thing that it is garbage week as I bagged the vines and threw them intot he can.
The morning glory vines took a huge hit from the frost and they too needed to be taken off the fence and put into bags.  Now, that was a job and a half.  I had no idea just how entwined they got and I will NOT be planting them again.  Man, what a nightmare they were.  It took me two days to get 3/4 of the fence done!!  There is still 1/4 yet to go and I am sooo not looking forward to that!!
John and I managed to get a bit more wood into the trailer for any future fires we might have.  There is nothing like going for a booze cruise down the North Road and ending up with a load of firewood!! Next time though, I think I will wear my runners, my flip flops just don't cut it when it comes to wood gathering!!
It is certainly getting chilly in the evenings now and if one is planning on sitting outside in the evening then it is imperative that there be a fire to ward off the chill.  There is nothing like a hot toddy in front of the fire.   Mmmmm, life is good!!
Even Hogan has gotten into the habit of wearing his coat now!!
I have three days of work scheduled so that will pretty much finish off this week.  Another busy one in the books.

Heading out for some wood

Sunday, September 6/2015 - Saturday, September 12/2015

It is a very busy week for me.  I have scheduled myself at the nursing home for several shifts so I am afraid it is a work, eat and sleep week!!
John finished off the sides of the camper this week so now all that is required is for me to paint them with some elastomeric waterproofing.  It worked well and got done of Wednesday, before my night shift.  Rain was in the forecast so I wanted to get it done before that happened.
Dave had his little fishing boat down at the South end of Otter Lake for part of the summer and decided to go get it and bring it home on Friday.  He asked John if he wanted to go with him and of course, not really needing much of an excuse to get into the side by side agreed to go.  He asked me if I wanted to go after working my night shift.  Once I found out that we would not be leaving until around 1:00 p.m. I said "sure"!!  I would come home, sleep for a few hours then go with them.  What a nice treat after working for most of the week.
We had a great ride to the lake with Arlene and Gary coming with us.  We didn't see any wildlife but it was awesome to see the leaves starting to change their colors.  It was a beautiful sunny day and once again.....Life is good.
We all got back safe and sound and being that I had only a few hours sleep, I showered and headed to bed.  I had one more short shift to do on Saturday.  Three days off coming up.........

Heading into the Block

Otter Lake

Loading the boat

Arlene up above

Heading back out

Another awesome day

Sunday, August 30/2015 - Saturday, September 5/2015

This week I managed to put three shifts in at the home and had the rest of the week off.
The garden is getting out of hand again with the tomatoes turning red faster than any human could possibly keep up with so I am scrambling around handing out bags of them to whoever will  take them.  Gary and Shirley have no say in the matter as I share with them frequently and I also take them over to the nursing home for the girls to pick away at.   My dill is in demand as everyone is ready to start their pickling so I am able to share that with lots of the town folk.  That is a good thing!!
John was busy this week getting the sides built onto the camper so now we have even more storage on the truck deck.  Everything now will be enclosed and that is a good thing.
The elk have really started whistling this week and that is a sure sign of Fall.   When I walked home the other day after a night shift, there was a bit of a chill in the air, and the wind was blowing some of the recently fallen leaves down the street.  Oh, dear.... the leaves are starting to change on many of the trees and time just keeps moving along.
It is the changing of the seasons and with it brings anticipation of our upcoming days and months ahead.   Life is good!!

refreshment break at Lilac Trail

We managed to get in one trip down into the block this week.  I had a day off and we were headed out onto the trails.
Arlene had arrived for one of her visits to Gary, so we took the opportunity to get her out on the trails as well.
We decided to just scoot around by Hooker Lake then over to Harry Piche's Cabin, up to the snowmobile shelter and then back home.  It was an awesome trip and the weather did cooperate.  It was cloudy all day and the threat of rain was in the air but did not materialize.  That, was a very good thing.

Harry Piche's Cabin

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We did manage to see one lone wolf on the trail today.  He was black and big and really did not seem too concerned with us.  He was about 30 feet away from us and simply carried on his way despite the fact that we were close by.  Obviously, he thought he could probably chew us all up if the need should arise.  Fortunately, it did not!!  Of course neither Arlene or myself were quick enough to get a picture of the handsome fellow!!

Another much needed refreshment break!!

We had a  great day on the trails but of course all good things must come to an end and so our day ended with all of us home safe and sound in one piece.  Life is good.