September 2020

Our furnace went on Sept 8th!!  That is pretty early, but just for a few days as a cold front came down and changed our weather.   Winter coats, hats and gloves are out of the closet. Eric had to cover the tomatoes and peppers.  

Our first week in Sept had lots of fun animals in the yard:

cute little Woodchuck, he lives under the deck for the sauna.

this buck has been coming by, last week he had felt on his antlers, this week the felt is all rubbed off.

Our colt is getting so big, he is flying in now!

Nighthawks are making their move south..

this crazy squirrel has a pear in his mouth!  does he think he can store it for winter?

the pear is bigger than his head.  He took about 4 or 5 pears before going back to eating corn.

Eric and I went golfing, first time together this summer.  I do take a few mulligans but... we had the same number of putts but I had two more strokes..  It was fun to get out without binoculars!

Eric's friend Scott J. planted Winter Wheat, after harvesting, Scott gave him a pint jar of the fruits of their labor!

Eric began with a mortar and pestle but it was too hard to process, he then went to the rolling pin, that was not working either.  Kathy came to the rescue with the coffee grinder!  That was the answer.  along with a sifter we were making wheat flour!

We ended up with about 2 cups of wheat.  So glad we only had a one pint jar and not the bushel Scott promised anyone who helped him harvest!

Next step is to make pancakes....

They were very very good.  Eric used one cup of the flour.  Of course we used plenty of Wisconsin maple syrup, the pancakes by themselves were pretty tasty.

Guys weekend at our place was cancelled this year!  This would have been the 21st gathering.  Eric somehow contacted a bug.  He did get tested for Covid-19 but was negative.  Not sure where he could have gotten it as we are in a two person bubble.  We had gone shopping on Wed, we always wear masks and always sanitize our hands each and every time we get into the car.  At first he thought it was food poisoning but we pretty much eat the same foods and I was fine.  When he got the chills and fever we suspected it was not anything he ate. Its a mystery that has us perplexed. 

Luckily the guys were able to go to Scott's in Hayward for a beautiful weekend.  I am sure they had a great time and probably less chores!

Sept 20,  the last day we seen our Crane family.  They must have flown south.  Good luck to them, we will see the parents next spring.

Our fall colors are really popping!  Love the look of the trees in color especially with the sun shining and a blue sky.

We had two beautiful days to cruise the lake. On Tues we went to Lower Long Lake for a 7 hour cruise.  Pretty quiet on the lake.  On Wed we did a shorter cruise on Upper Long Lake then took the pontoon out for the season.  This majestic Eagle needed to get his picture taken..

Could this be our final Friday night Fish Fry?  Pan fried Walleye, coated with Italian panko.  Oh so Good!  We have had a few very very good fish frys at home this year.  Not sure if we will need to go out looking for better next year!

My final day of shorts in Birchwood?

Going Up North for a few days of Birding. We are staying at the Hampton Inn in Superior from Sun-Fri.  The weather is forecasted to be cold and windy but we have proper clothing.  Hoping to get at least 6 new year birds.

There are a number of people out and about at the birding sites, all keeping distance but friendly.

Sunday we headed to Wisconsin Point, not far from our hotel.  Found 2 new year birds!  Weather was not too bad, sunny and 65

Monday we ended up at Hawk Ridge for the annual Hawk Count.  2 more new year birds!

Tuesday we went to the Sax-Zim Bog.  2 more new year birds!

Wed we hung around Duluth no new year birds!

Wisconsin Point:

Duluth side, who does that?

always a beautiful picture on Lake Superior

one more day but all in all a great trip up north.  we had decent weather, warmer than anticipated, sunnier too.  a little rain and NW winds but it was all good.