Filling the Freezer

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Hunting season .... we are meat eaters in our family.  When we hunt, we hunt to feed the family, not for the sport.

We have great respect for Mother Nature and all she provides for us.  This year however, was a bust.  Hunting season is over for another year.  No deer were shot.  Our freezer will now have to be filled with beef, chicken and pork on sale from the grocery store instead.

Word around these parts is the overabundance of wolves which in turn chase the deer away.  A neighbor stopped by last week and informed us that when he was passing by earlier the day before a large grey wolf was spotted leaving our driveway.

photo credit

My morning walks will need to be kept close to the house and definitely during daylight hours.  Our pets will need to be kept indoors for the time being. I hope the wolves move along soon and the deer move back in.  There is nothing prettier than watching the deer make their way along the property after a snowfall.  They are so graceful and beautiful.

Hoping that you have a lovely week and remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Waiting for It

Pin It We are waiting for it.

Waiting for the onslaught that will start tonight .... the arrival of the HUNTERS!  Hunting season officially starts tomorrow morning and like each year we have family that arrives each weekend for the three weeks that hunting season is open.  They stay all weekend, go home on Sunday evenings and then return again Friday nights.

We are hoping for a full freezer this year as last year we were skunked.  It made for a pretty slim winter.  Let the hunt begin!

Good luck to those hunters out there and remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Neighbor Dave

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Neighbor Dave and his wife Liz live behind us.  Their back property borders a creek and on the other side of that creek is our back property line.  We call neighbor Dave, "ND".  Now ND is a long haul truck driver.  He runs the same route three times a week and each run is approximately 14 hours straight.  Since his run is mainly the overnight hours, he tends to have quite a bit of free time during the day each week.  They are not only great neighbors but great friends.

He stops by on his days off for morning coffee and likes to catch up on the gossip with my dear hubby.   The other day when the coffee and chatting was over, he invited hubby and I over to his place.  He had been having some problems with bears and needed hubby to give him a hand moving some feed.  ND and Liz feed deer year round ... except during hunting season as it is illegal to do so.  Neither of them hunt deer....they feed them for entertainment....and an expensive entertainment it is as the deer eat over 200 pounds of corn a week!

It was a beautiful sunny, fall morning so I grabbed my camera on the way out the door....I figured I might see something different that I would want to capture on film.  I love wandering around a new piece of land, you just never know what you might see!

Now their property was once an old farm.  

The barn and chicken coop has long been torn down but remnants remain...like the little milk house... and I had a grand time exploring while the men were busy.  

We have been there many times before but seeing the property through the lens was a different picture.

ND and Liz have a wonderful property.  Most of the trees were planted by them when they first purchased the land and their children were young.  

Towering pines, poplar, birch and even oak now are scattered throughout the fields along with wild plum, apple and crab-apple.

They have built themselves a wonderful property but best of all they built themselves a wonderful home.    

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Just Precious!

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My Mom sent me an email the other day and I just had to share it with you. It is just too precious!




One pound deer - he is beautiful! ! !This tiny deer was delivered by Caesarean section at a wildlife hospital after a car killed his mother. Little Rupert, who is so small he can fit in an adult's hand, was born after vets failed in their battle to save his mother.

At just six inches tall and weighing just over a pound, he is now in an incubator in the intensive care unit at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire. He has only recently opened his eyes.Les Stocker, founder of Tiggywinkles, said, "Rupert's mother had very severe injuries. We brought him out and got him breathing, and then he went into an incubator on oxygen. He is now being fed by a tube."

Tucked up: Rupert in an incubator

Rupert pulls a striking pose for the camera.

Asleep: Rupert takes 40 winks.

Staff members are optimistic that Rupert, now five days old, will make a full recovery.
"Deer are very, very tricky, but this one has spirit. He's an extremely feisty little guy and quite pushy," Mr. Stocker said.

It is little things like this that make life so precious.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Woo Hoo!!! One Proud Mamma!

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Busy weekend with hunters and much excitement. Saturday morning started out slow with many shots heard all around us but not from any of our men. Then bang ... but nothing. Our great nephew Chase shot at a doe but it got away. Disappointment!

Around 3:30pm, they headed out once again. At about 4:40 we heard shots, then Chase running in the door yelling Luke got a buck!

We whooped for joy as it is Luke's first hunting experience and with one shot in the neck at 75 yards he bagged an eight point buck.

I was never so proud and excited. We jumped on the four-wheeler, tagged and dragged it to the shop where the engine hoist was ready for gutting.

Neighbors nearby were at the shop immediately to check it out. Many handshakes, pats on the back and then the cutting began.

The rule around here is.... if you shot it, you gut it. Luke had no problem and Loren our brother-in-law guided him along.

After the messy job was done, we headed to the house for a huge turkey dinner to celebrate.

Unfortunately the rest of the weekend turned up nothing else but there is still 2 and 1/2 weeks left to fill all the tags. We aren't too worried. LOL

Luke and I are headed to Canada tomorrow for some appointments so I will be back on Wednesday. Have a great evening!

It Has Begun!

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Deer hunting has begun! With a houseful of hunters, I will be cooking and baking from now until Monday. Then I will have a break during the week and it will start all over again on Friday.

I will be back on Monday....hopefully with some pictures of the deer that we have shot!

Have a great weekend everyone and make sure to give your loved ones a hug! =)

Apples and Awesome Views

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Sunday was spent peeling apples and peeling more apples. Pasie's apple tree produced a huge crop this year. We had six - 50 pound bushel boxes of apples from one little tree!

There were so many apples I didn't think we would ever finish! Many were rotten but they were tossed out to the deer .... we have to feed those little ones as well!

Here is my Mom busy at it. Notice our cups of tea sitting there with us? Can't be without a cuppa to help us complete our job.

We used this older apple peeler for a while...but many of the apples were odd-shaped which made it difficult to use this contraption so we resorted to hand peeling. We ended up with quite a few bags that will be later used for apple crisp, applesauce, apple cookies.. MMMM, just thinking about it puts me in the baking mood.

That morning, the deer wandered through the yard....

I think they could smell the apples from inside the house and were waiting for their share! So cute....three little ones. They didn't stick around for long as the ducks chased them away from their grain! =)

Give your loved ones a hug tonight...never take them for granted. Have a great evening!

Some Preparing for Winter and Planning for Hunting Season

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EEEK!! I saw this today!





See that little tiny tree in the middle of the picture? Do you see the colors of the leaves!!! Yellow!! They are yellow!!

Panic has set in....fall is officially here. So while working in the garden this afternoon and after seeing that little tree with the bright foliage, I began to think of what is to come.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, hunting season, and Christmas....but the snow is what I am most worried about.

I walked around the yard, picking up items and putting them away either in the storage trailer or in the sheds that are no longer needed for this year. When you start seeing leaves change in Northern Minnesota, you have to work fast at getting ready for colder temperatures...it can literally happen overnight.

I managed to clean up quite a bit and was satisfied with my accomplishments so I decided to take a meander over to the deer stand to see how it is holding up for another upcoming hunting season.



I noticed some of the tarp is falling down a little so I will have to make sure either Luke or Bob takes a hammer and nail to it before hunting season begins. Can't have those deer seeing you through the slits! That wouldn't work.




As you can see the stand is quite high up in a tree. Bob built it for Pasie a few years ago and it is used alot. In the winter it is fun to climb up and be able to see for miles once all the leaves have fallen and there is snow on the ground.

It is fun to climb up on a star filled night and feel that you can almost reach out and touch them... some nights it seems like you really could.

With the approach of hunting season comes lots of baking and cooking. We usually have alot of family here that I need to be prepared for. Now is the time that I begin to bake and cook so I can freeze everything. When the men arrive...all I have to do it pull something out and a nice, warm meal is ready for when then head in after night falls. It saves my sanity to be organized. :)

Well, off to make my list. I have already received requests for cabbage rolls, swedish meatballs, and taco dip. It will be a busy time once again but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Give all your loved ones a hug tonight. :)

Working and Wheeling

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We were blessed once again with beautiful weather today. I am very thankful as I know what will be coming soon weather-wise. Bob has been extremely busy in the shop lately with repairs and the cars are lined up in the driveway waiting to be serviced. So when it is busy like this, Luke and I spend the day in the shop with him to give him a hand with anything he might need.

I always have a bag of knitting with me. I get so much knitting done on days like this!





Tigger likes to help too.

Here is a better picture of Tigger's perch. He just hangs around all day, oblivious to the noise surrounding him.

Sammy is the same way.....oblivious.

Here is Bob diagnosing a car out in the driveway....they are lined up ready to be serviced!

You can tell autumn is here when the cars are lined up in the driveway. Everyone panics once the cooler weather hits...they want their cars ready before the snow flies.

So after a hearty dinner of sloppy joes on homemade buns, salad and homemade apple pie for dessert...we decided it was time to go wheeling again.

So I brought the camera along one more time! :)

When we go four-wheeling off the property, we go riding down the 'grate'. The 'grate' is an old railroad track that the city removed and now it is used only for people who ride four-wheelers. The picture is a little blurry as I was sitting on the back...going about 40 miles an hour!

This track runs for over 20 miles with lots of little stops along the way. Many trails go off the main one ...with lots of little surprises along the way.

I thought this flower was just so cute! As you can tell it was getting dark already.

Stopping for a break.

One spot we found was right along the St. Louis River. I loved the sign.....

It was getting dark and someone, on a previous visit, had left more than enough firewood for a small fire.....who could resist?!

The temperature was dropping quickly after the sun set and I was still in shorts and a t-shirt so I made sure I warmed up well by the fire before we headed for home.

One last picture before total darkness.

As we were driving toward home a very large owl almost landed on Bob's shoulder. It scared us to death and I didn't have the camera ready.... dang it! and then we were driving along, two deer also ran across the road right in front of us....a few minutes earlier and we would have been road kill!

Arriving home safely, we munched on hot chocolate and cookies. A perfect end to a perfect day. We love making memories that will last a lifetime.