Up North

Last weekend I ventured north again to visit my parents and my friends. Due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I had that Monday off, so I took advantage of the extra day and spent a sunny and relatively "warm" January weekend gallavanting around the Northwoods. In the top picture, Mom's warm brown eyes show a glint of happiness. The second picture shows her joyfully doing what she loves...sewing!

Right before I had arrived, Dad had been doing some snow touch-ups around the trails. He accidentally drove his tractor over an area where an extension cord that was connected from the house to the pole building in back had been laying. The cord had been unplugged, but as you can see if you look at the green in the middle of the plow blades, it certainly became quite an entangled mess...

Oops!

No worries though. Dad handled the problem with great ease, using a wirecutter to cut and break through the plastic snarl. In fact, I daresay Dad seemed to rather enjoy the challenge! (Although he was bummed about ruining a good extension cord).

Thanks Mom and Dad for the nice visit!

Saturday afternoon I drove to Springstead (just a few miles from Park Falls) to visit my good friends Ingrid and Craig and their little boy, Soren. Having just returned from living in Anchorage, Alaska for the last five years, Ingrid and Craig did not think that they would be buying another house for awhile, but when they saw this unique Bavarian house and the gorgeous property it is located on--complete with a barn, chicken coop, and other various small buildings--for a price that was within their budget, they couldn't pass it up the opportunity. Pictured: Their home and barn.

As you can see, the barn is used as both garage and workshop. It has electricity and heating. Craig is extremely talented at making and fixing things and his tool collection is quite impressive.

Here is little Soren trying on his dad's tennis shoes.

I know I took this in sepia, but those are really big blue eyes, just like Ingrid's.

This is Jack, Ingrid and Craig's mixed breed dog they adopted when they moved to Alaska. He is a very good boy.

This is inside the barn at the far end of the building. There is a large stall with this gate (being swung shut by Soren who liked to demonstrate how things worked).

Father and son standing in the stall.

Snowshoes hung on hooks made from different tree branches nailed onto a board.

Craig after he cleaned the creosote out of the chimney.

The inside of the chicken coop. It's a little dirty, but they will clean it out in the spring and, yes, they will be getting chickens!

Ingrid, Soren, and I went snowshoeing on Sunday morning. Here, Soren is all strapped in and ready to roll for an adventure.

Squirrel! Jack at attention when we spotted a squirrel and told him.

It was such a gorgeous day and the land itself was just beautiful.

I observed lots of large paper birch like this one on the land. In the background shows a wetland covered by snow. There also is a stream that runs through this area.

A hunting shack sits on the edge of the woods and the marsh.

A pretty, lonely little plant triumphs through the snow.

I hadn't been snowshoeing in years! It was a lot of fun...

We looped around the land.

Ingrid and Soren standing close to a few fruit trees that are planted on the property.

This house was built by a German family who wanted to start a farm and bring other German immigrants to this area.

A close-up of the wooden beams that make-up the actual frame of the house. These beams run "exposed" through the interior of the house as well, making it very unique.

Craig is collecting some old farming implements as well.

Craig and Ingrid

Playtime! Soren slides down a mound of snow.

A very active birdfeeder--lots of chick-a-dees and this little bird (I don't know the name of it) which is actually just about to land on a branch.

Good boy, Jack!

Lily and Mingo both were very bummed that I didn't take them north with me this time. Poor Lillers!

And I thought I would end this blog with a rare shot: Britches and Fanny actually kind of cuddled up next to each other on a chair (do note Fanny's look of annoyance though).