Mille Lacs the next time

Went back up to the big lake yesterday.

A far village.

A near village.

I found fish right away, but they just weren't biting. Caught a couple small ones.

These are some pics I took of my underwater cam.

I had lots of fish check out my bait, including perch, walleye and tulibee. Nothing worked. I threw everything down there except "The Kitchen Sink". I don't think I've ever changed lures and bait as often as I did yesterday. Moved to another spot and found fish again, all sizes and flavors and again couldn't get any hooked. I watched some of them come up and take the bait and spit it out. They never took it in far enough to get hooked. Anyway I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Maybe, as my Dad used to say, "I'm just not holding my mouth right". Maybe I'm not going back to the "Dead Sea".

Ice fishing

Well I finally made it up to Mille Lacs today.

I try not to get too close to a "Village"

It looks a little lonely out there doesn't it.

Here's my little portable. Took me awhile to find fish and then I only found small ones. Fished here for a couple hours and then decided to move. That's when I noticed it was snowing quite a bit and blowing. Went to look for another spot but by the time I got loaded up I could no longer see where the drifts were or where the shore was. So I headed back in. I was about three miles out and it just kept getting worse. Made it back, but no fish. Still had fun though, my new underwater camera works great and so does my auger after I overhauled it. It really is fun to watch the fish down there. A walleye came and sniffed my minnow three times, but wouldn't bite. Maybe next time.

Doe in the snow

This morning as it was getting light out I went back to the bedroom to get dressed and go do the chores. When I glanced out the bedroom window I saw something was different. There was a doe sleeping and one walking around heading back North deeper into the woods. They don't usually hang around once it gets light.

Can't see the other one cause it moved out of sight before I got the camera.

Here the sun is up, but the doe isn't. I guess she likes to stay in bed late like the FD. :)

You can tell by the short nose that it's most likely a fawn, born last spring. Anyway she stayed there until about 10:00 and then slowly headed North. A couple of years ago we had about 20 deer laying back there in the same spot. Cool huh? I took the last pic through my critter scope, turned out good.

Rock polishing IV, no pics

Here's an update for those interested parties. I put the rocks through the polish grind and it did not turn out well. Some came out shiny as they should, but most did not. So I did it again. Same result. Now you must remember that this takes a week, so it is a slow process. This morning I put them in again and tried using less water than before, so we'll see what happens. I'm hoping that it was just a matter of too much water, which can prevent the correct abrasive action. I'll let you know in a week.

Winter horses and pigs

Well, we have had quite a winter here. It got cold earlier than usual and stayed cold, until last week. It got up to 38 degrees here for two days and rained. Then it got cold again. It's 8 below zero right now. So the rain and then cold has been causing all kinds of problems around here. I've had to use the big torch to thaw out numerous things that the rain got into and then froze. At least the horses have nice warm coats to wear.

Here is Ingrid hiding behind her hairdo. Doesn't she look svelte?

Now you can see her eyes.

Here's Aksel wondering why I'm not feeding him.

Here he is looking for crumbs. Poor starving horses.

Here's Perky sleeping in the straw. You see, if you bury your face the rest of you feels warm. Usually the boys sleep together but Pinky was busy looking for something to eat.

                  Now they're both looking for something to eat.

                          Feed us you mean old farmer.

It's not too often that we get a full dozen eggs cause we eat them almost everyday, but sometimes they catch up to us, so I took a pic. Pretty aren't they? Yummmm!

Happy New Year

2010 was a very good year at the farm. It was also very busy. I get tired just remembering.

We tapped maples for the first time in an attempt to make syrup.

It worked. It worked really well. Hoping to double what we got last year. Of course it all depends on nature.

We got our first eggs this spring. Yummy. We expanded the coop twice. We got more chickens, twice.

We got a new boat. No, I already had the "Cute Chick".

                       

We had all of our family here for our anniversary and my birthday.

 There was fishing.

And more fishing.

 And snacking while fishing.

And more fishing.

We landscaped around the house. We added a deck, a patio and a concrete driveway.

We built a hay shed.

We filled the hay shed.

We grew giant squash and tiny pumpkins.

We grew tasty sweet corn.

We harvested deer.

We plowed and shoveled snow. Lots of snow.

I decided for the New Year I'd get a new look. What do you think? I think I'll take a nap. Happy New Year.

Christmas 2010

Christmas dinner was on the day after Christmas this year. That's the only time our kids could come. The Farmer Daughter couldn't make it cause she still wasn't feeling too good from her recent surgery. : (      But The Boy and the FDL and their kids made it. : )   Gramma made all the Christmas food for one day. Swedish meatballs, Swedish sausage, roasted potatoes and lasagna. Yummy.

Mary and Bubba about to open their gifts.

Mary is happy, Bubba not so much.

Mary is still happy, Bubba, still not so much.

Now the one for both.

Ok, now it's not so bad.

Mary showing me her loose tooth. I had the string and the brick, but she said no.

They brought presents for the dogs. Heidi enjoyed hers in the middle of the floor.

Mick hid his under Gramma's table.

Sunday night some fog rolled in and there was hoar frost everywhere. Very pretty. Pic's a little blurry cause I took it out of the car window. Monday morning we took Christmas dinner over to the FD's and I plowed out the farm with the bobcat so she didn't have to. She's starting to feel better so that's good. : )