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I started off the dreary, rainy morning with stripping the Hemlock and Maple cabins. I took out the dirty laundry, dropped that in the basement, then made the bag of clean laundry for each and dropped those in the cabins. The bags will sit there until the cleaning girls come on Wednesday.

When I was in the house making lunch, around 2 p.m., a customer came into the lodge and said, "We have an emergency in our cabin. The oven was on fire." He explained that something in the oven's broiler pan was on fire and the flames were so big that they had to use the fire extinguisher. I went over there quickly to see the entire cabin in a cloud of smoke, ash and powder. We opened windows, turned on the fan, and I checked out the stove. It was too hot to touch, so I used a towel and opened the broiler pan. There was something there that was about a foot long, inch thick and 6 inches wide that had burnt severely. Maybe a cleaning rag? I carried it out and put it on the sink. It wasn't smoking anymore and the oven was a real mess.

The customers said that they had not used the broiler pan at all. So that meant that I had missed something in the broiler pan after the cleaning girls had cleaned the cabin. Sometimes they forget to clean something, but it is up to me to inspect the cabin and make sure everything is clean. So ultimately it is my fault that something was left in the broiler and we didn't notice it.

So when the customers turned on the oven to cook a pizza, the heat of the gas flames ignited whatever was in the broiler. When they used the extinguisher, they pretty much emptied it out. So I had at least a half inch of white powder everywhere, some places an inch thick, to clean up.

There was powder on and in some of the cabinets, drawers, floor, counter, table, everything on the first floor and up in the loft. I spent 3.5 hours cleaning it up, pulling out the oven to clean behind, under, around, new comforters for the beds in the loft, dusting, washing the floor, etc.

When I was just finishing up, and my arms were black with soot up to my elbows, we had some friends stop by. So she helped me load the cleaning supplies onto the ATV that John was driving, and we went into the lodge for some relaxation. I got the soot off my arms pretty easily and then sat down to chat for awhile.

John had been digging a hole by the Balsam cabin to install a new power pole. The old pole had been taken out by a tree falling in a storm. John had stopped to see if he could help with anything. I told him no and that maybe he could give the customers a beer or drink or something on us. He left to do just that.

Dave showed up later with the vacuum cleaner for me. I hadn't had it earlier because the power was out because of the electrical storm. So not only was I cleaning up the mess, I had to do so in the dim light. When the power came back on, Dave dropped off the vacuum. That made the job a lot easier. I had been using a wet rag and rinsing off the powder over and over. Now I could just vacuum it up. Yeah!

After I was done I tested the oven. It worked fine. In fact when the customers came back from town, they made a pizza. Thankfully the oven is okay. One of the customers complained quite a bit about the dust on the comforters so I replaced them. Then he made a snide remark about how we couldn't have dogs in this cabin but we could have bonfires in the stove or something like that. That wasn't funny.

It wasn't a good day but it could have been much, much worse.

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Saturday, Sunday, May 28, 29, 2011.
We had friends stop by unexpectedly this weekend. So we had to put away our "to do" list and just relax for a couple days. While our friends were out fishing, we actually sat down by the lake, read the newspaper, and waved at the occasional boater going by. Orla played at our feet, the water fowl and eagles made noises and the fish jumped here and there. It was a great weekend.

We grilled out, went for woodland hikes, talked and played dominoes in the lodge, and just had fun visiting. It was a good couple days of vacation for us.

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Friday, May 27, 2011

The picture is of our lagoon & our fake loon at the water's edge. The leaves are out and summer has arrived, in my opinion. The loons call every day and evening, the skeeters are out, and the weather is turning warm. Its also very beautiful on the lake when the leaves are blooming - there are a lot of different tree colors.

We put on our waders and put in the pier off the point. It went in fairly easy until John dropped a wrench in the water. When he reached in, the water felt warm. Sure enough it was so warm we didn't want to take our hands out into the wind.

Later some people from the lake put in their ski boat and she told me that her kids were swimming already. You can't stop kids on Memorial weekend. I remember when my kids were little, they couldn't wait to get in the water, no matter what the temp was. Joey's lips were blue and they were shivering, but it didn't matter to them because they were having fun.

John and I worked on the sump pump of the Ironwood cabin next. We wanted it to be very quiet for our customers since it was still running every 5 minutes or so. It only runs in the spring and it is right under the master bedroom. We didn't think it was loud or anything, but wanted to make sure it didn't disturb anyone at all. So we wrapped insulation around it, put pipes outside to expel the water further from the house, etc.

While we were doing that a friend stopped by with some more items for us to sell in the lodge for her. She and her husband make really cool lamps with Lake Superior rocks all stacked up for the base. They also make rock lamps. They drilled a hole in a rock, put a wick thru and made a basin underneath for oil. Then when you fill the basin with lamp oil, light the wick and watch, the flame feels like your own little campfire. They are pretty cool looking and she said they are selling like hot cakes.

We then had an old friend of John's, Doreen, stop by with another friend of hers and we talked them into staying the night. We had a mutual friend, Amy, coming the same night and it was just classic to see Amy's face when she saw her old friend, Doreen sitting in our lodge. Amy screamed, and they hugged and it was a really fun evening. Doreen just happened to be up north, did not know Amy was coming, and that was fun. Amy came up with her new (6 months) husband, Mark. They were going to go fishing and hang out with us for the weekend. We love it when friends come up to stay with us.

So I had to go into town to get some gas for a boat rental. On the way I stopped at Liz and Matt's and they gave us some sump pump piping to use. That was really nice of them. Then I went to get the gas, and order some fish fries. I stopped at the Pines in town, ordered them (2 with potato pancakes) and then got the gas. So when I picked them up I ran into several friends from the lake. It is like homecoming weekend. A lot of people are up north getting their cabins ready for the summer, putting in piers, stopping by their favorite restaurants and seeing old summer friends. It was fun.

We ate fish fry, visited, drank some beers, and had fun. It was a good day.

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Wednesday, Thursday, May 25-26, 2011.
The days sort of run together here this time of year. For instance it is hard to remember what I did on Wednesday when it is Friday that I have to type about it. The picture is of the Ironwood's master bathroom floor. It had to be dug out and redone and Dave just finished it in time for the girls to clean it on Thursday.

Since I can't remember what day we did some of these things, I am going to just list them. We shocked a well with bleach, ran the hose the next day for awhile to clear the bleach, and the well is still strong with iron. Maybe a water softener is in order.

John cut down a bunch of small trees that were growing up and blocking the view of the lake from the Ironwood cabin. I did a bunch of laundry and organized the laundry for the Ironwood cabin to be done when the girls have spring cleaned it. Dave finished the trim pieces in the Alder cabin around the floor.

I got Maple cabin ready for customers to arrive on Thursday. I had to wash/dry two large sets of curtains, put them up and then put table cloths, garbage bags, and more in that cabin. I also had to turn on the gas at the propane tank, start the pilot light on the gas fireplace and cook stove, turn on the hot water and the heat/thermostats.

John did a bunch of paperwork and installed the Ironwood pier. John also installed the Maple pier himself. It wasn't easy. He used large posts and metal bars to leverage the pier down the hill and into position. I used to help him with this but my back went out one year, and no more of that. He should hire some 20 somethings to come and help for a few hours, but he didn't want to do that this time.

The dumpster was picked up on Wednesday so John got some more garbage from around the place and put it in the dumpster in preparation. So now its empty and ready for me to start loading stuff in that I have had waiting in the basement. We can't overload the dumpster, but now this week is my big chance.

I sewed on my future grandchild's quilt for a little while. I helped the cleaning girls get organized in Ironwood cabin, got some items for them they needed which required several trips to the basement and back, vacuumed the entire house, cleaned up the bar, made the cleaning girls lunch, made big dinners, had guests over for dinner on Thursday evening, shook out rugs, cleaned up the kitchen, bathrooms, checked the cabins when they were done and other odds and ends. I was going to mow the lawn for the first time this spring but then I didn't find the time.

John and I normally just go about our business and then meet up for lunch and dinner. The evening is usually me doing laundry or sewing and John is usually watching sports center. We have been married 10 years now and we work at what needs to be done with the occasional reminder to each other. It seems to work well.

Some people on the lake launched their pontoons, which means a $10 bill for us, which is always nice. We have a private boat landing and charge that fee. It has been the same fee since John bought the place and we don't have any intention of raising it.

We moved a huge TV we got from John's brother into the lodge, organized the cabinets underneath it and the old one is now a book shelf. The old TV will be put in a cabin, only its not so old - its a flat screen TV I got at an auction last year. Eventually we will get a satellite dish hooked up to all the cabins. Maybe next year.

Well that's it for now. I hope I haven't bored you all to death. Have a great day.

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The picture is of a quilt square I did for my brother/wife's quilt. I need to get it done by Aug. 14.

John had an appointment in Rhinelander today and then afterwards he was going to stop at Menards for more items. We always seem to need something from Menards.

So I had the day with Orla. I took her for a walk and then went along the lake trail after we got back. She loves the lake and to play in the water. I think she needs to see another dog swim though, before she will. She just wades into the water until she starts to float a little then gets out.

Dave put the new tiles in the mortar in Ironwood. Tomorrow is the grout and then I will take a picture of how it looks for you.

John put in the Ironwood pier, shocked the well in Ironwood with bleach, and then moved some rocks around a bit. The well needed to be shocked because of the iron in the water. We did this 3 years ago and it needed to be done again. I helped a little with this but not much.

I sewed most of the day on my future grandchild's quilt. Orla slept under my feet at the sewing table. Once she hit the foot pedal and the machine started sewing. Good thing I didn't have anything under the presser foot.

I did a load of laundry, some paperwork for a customer's deposit, did some telephone calls for the musky tournament and ATV rally that we have coming up. So far no answers but I will keep trying.

The cleaning girls will be coming on Thursday at 10 a.m. When I told Dave that earlier, he jumped into action and put in the tiles. The girls will finish spring cleaning Ironwood and maybe start on Balsam. We don't have power to Balsam yet but hopefully will soon.

I moved all my houseplants back into the house, all the dahlias back into the basement. It is supposed to get real cold again tonight. Oh well.

Some people on the lake came by to launch their pontoon. We talked for a little while, while they were waiting for the repair shop to drop it off and launch it for them. I had been pulling weeds when they pulled up. Soon we will have to mow the lawn because its getting long. As I was pulling weeds, I could hear an eagle overhead peeping. Usually they make a high pitched screech but not this time. It actually sounded like a loud peep, peep, peep as it soared above me. Then a loon called over and over again out on the lake. I don't think it liked the eagle overhead.

The laundry service came today. That is the first time in 6 months. So it was a momentous occasion. Soon all the laundry for the entire resort will be clean, ironed, wrapped in plastic and delivered to my door. I love laundry services. Sometimes I tease John and say that I wouldn't have married him if I had to do all the cabin laundry.

Several times during the day I attempted to sweep and vacuum but I kept getting distracted by the puppy. She loves to chew on brooms. So I put it off until another day. I made a nice dinner and then sat down and read a book after 8 p.m. I just don't know where the day goes sometimes.

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Monday, May 23, 2011
The picture is of Birch - finally all done. I'm not sure if I posted this on my blog yet so here it is.

I had a really busy day. It was overcast and dreary outside so I felt like baking. I'm not sure why those dreary days affect me so, but I baked pumpkin spice bars. Then I looked in the freezer and got out some chicken for dinner and decided to make Jamaican Jerk chicken. Its my son's favorite so I posted on Facebook that I was going to make it for dinner just to see what he would say. He ignored me - the usual.

I knew I had to go grocery shopping when I ran out of sugar. What kind of baker or cook am I if I didn't have a spare bag of sugar around? I was ashamed of myself. But before I could shop at the grocery store, a chore I like, I had other things to do.

The laundry was still in the Ironwood cabin and in order for the girls to get all the spring cleaning in there finished, it had to be done too. So I drove the Chrysler over to the cabin and spent about a half hour getting everything that could be washed into the car. Then I went in the house, told John where I was headed, grabbed my grocery list, and headed out.

The first stop was the grocery store for laundry detergent so I bought a magazine too. Then to the laundromat, where I proceeded to load up 6 commercial washers. $25 later I had all the laundry done, dried, folded, in my laundry bags and back in the car. It had taken me about 1.5 hours which wasn't as bad as the last time I was there. For the most part I had the laundromat all to myself. That was nice. I didn't have to say excuse me when I belched, etc. which is always nice. I don't get to have a lot of time to myself these days so hadn't realized how nice that was.

When I got done with the laundry, I drove to the grocery store and shopped for about an hour. $135 later I was finished and back home. It was an expensive day.

John has to drive to Rhinelander tomorrow so he took all the laundry out of the car for me and put it in the basement. He took Orla for a long walk over to Mary Russell's former property to check on the coach house for her nephew, Bobby. There were a lot of trees and branches down since last fall when he was there last. So John called Bobby and told him to bring a chainsaw. Bobby wasn't too happy to hear that but thanked John for his help.

John did a lot of bills and this time of year that is not easy. We don't have a lot of money coming in and there is a lot going out to clean the cabins, get projects finished, etc. Anyway that stressed him out a little and I could understand that.

The loons kept calling all morning and evening. This time of year they are very vocal and we love it. The leaves on the trees are so pretty this time of year too. I took a small walk outside and was surprised that the mosquitoes weren't that bad also. The bats are probably feasting on them every evening, which is good.

Its supposed to get cold the next few nights but tonight maybe low of 40. So I will leave my dahlias out tonight but will probably put them in the basement tomorrow.

Dave got the bad tiles out of the bathroom floor in Ironwood today. He had to make a huge mess of dust to do so. So it is a good thing the cleaning girls didn't finish the cabin yet. They will be back on Thursday.

Its been such a rainy, cold spring that we haven't had time to do painting outside like we usually do. I will be cleaning off and priming the fish cleaning house soon. That is the next project. So hopefully it will warm up soon.

Have a great and fun Memorial weekend! We have 6 openings still. That is a little sad, since we usually have only a few openings. But we'll take what we can get. Everything will be fine, I'm sure. I talked to a customer who wants to change her week this summer. Hopefully she will take a week early or late in the season that is harder to fill. We'll see. It was a good day.

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Sunday, May 22, 2011

We went to my nephew's confirmation party in the morning. The customers left just before us so I was supposed to turn off the hot water and refrigerator but I forgot. So we were on the road when I remembered. Oh well, we'll get it when we get home.

After the family get together, we went to Menards. I had picked out some tiles for the repairs in Ironwood cabin but I didn't get enough. So we headed back. We found some really nice ones at Home Depot (stopped there first) that look like actual rock, which will match the border on the wall of the shower. So we picked those. They were a little expensive, but will look really nice, hopefully.

Then I picked out some cleaning supplies including a telescoping window washer/squeegie. We needed something like that to wash the windows that needed a ladder to get to.

Then we got back home and did some laundry, checked telephone messages, e-mails etc. and then that was it for the day. The drive to Menards takes us over an hour one way, and then the time for shopping, and the drive back, took up our entire afternoon. It felt like a really long day but wasn't too bad.

The rain and tornado warnings were nothing for us up here as there was barely any wind. The leaves are all out and open and grass needs mowing now. Its early this year. It rained a lot during the night too so we will have to wait for it all to dry out before we mow. But it sure is pretty with all the trees blooming. We have a lot of cherry trees here and the blooms are just gorgeous.

I saw 3 eagles flying and squeaking to each other in flight today. That's always amazing to see. It was a good day.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011
The picture is of Orla, our 4 month old puppy. She is getting bigger every day.

The cleaning girls are coming at 10 a.m. so we got Maple cabin ready for them. I made the bags of clean laundry in the basement and John made sure there weren't leaks in Maple's plumbing. It was a warm day so I opened up the windows in the cabin when I went to check on his progress.

Then I went to Ironwood cabin where Dave, our caretaker, has been living most of the winter. It was in very good shape for someone who had been living there for months. I got some things ready in there for the cleaning girls. Then I took the remaining items out of there that Dave left behind. The girls started cleaning there but didn't finish before they had to go for the day.

I did a lot of laundry, hanging some of it outside to dry. I took Orla for 2 walks, one early and one later. I made a lunch of pizzas, like a buffet, for the girls and us.

John and Orla went to the bank and grocery store for a few items in the morning. Then he worked around the resort on plumbing and odds and ends. Dave came into the lodge to say there was an emergency in MN at his ex-girlfriend's and he took off. We didn't have anything immediate that needed to be done anyway so that was okay. We were just worried for his sake.

I went into the basement and started sewing on my daughter's baby quilt. Orla joined me. The rain was coming down very hard and Orla had never been in the rain so naturally she was curious. So I opened the screen door and she ran out into the heavy, steady rain. She played in puddles, ran through them over and over and had a "happy fit" where she runs really fast all over the place. She came back to the door and I let her in and dried her off with a towel. She kept biting the towel while I was drying her, and was a very happy dog. She's such a cutie.

John tended bar for awhile for 3 customers (all men) and I sewed until late while Orla played around in the basement. It was a good day.

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Friday, May 20, 2011

The mosquitoes weren't back yet in the morning, so I spent some time outside by the lake with Orla. She waded in the water while I soaked a worm. I had some success but threw them all back. The lake was like glass and the loons were calling most of the night and into the morning. I had the window open a crack all night so we could hear them.

The cleaning girls were coming at 10 a.m. so John said that Dave told him the water was all set in Birch. So I turned on the hot water heater and we were good to go. They arrived at 10:15 a.m. (most of them) and started to make my day. They cleaned up Birch, and made all the beds, etc. for customers to use it. I had noticed some things that had been missed in other cabins so they took my list and worked on them too.

After the cleaning girls left, I checked the cabin and it looked great. The picture is of Birch. We put a new bathroom in and had the floor sanded down and refinished it. I am very happy about how it turned out. A door needs to be replaced on the main entrance, but that is all that still needs to be done.

I found an oak shelf in the basement and cleaned it up. I put it in Birch to hold all the books, etc. I also put the vinyl recliner on the porch and the adirondack chair in the living room. I love to play house with the cabins. Tomorrow I will hang up some pictures and decorate a little in there.

Later I put sliding pads on the chairs, etc. in Alder. The new wood floor would be scratched up pretty quick without those. John was priming the outside trim boards that were put around the new windows. So I talked to him through the window while we worked.

John and I had started up the water in the Maple cabin in case the girls finished with Birch. He turned on the water and I checked all the valves, etc. in the cabin. It took us awhile to figure out which valve turned on the tub. It doesn't make sense how it is plumbed but we figured it out. It has been re-plumbed twice now and because of issues with the shower pipes freezing, we had to shut it down for the winter. So anyway there is only one little leak and that is the kitchen sink's spray hose. Other than that, it was ready.

We then checked on Balsam but there wasn't any power. We had a storm go through last fall which took down some trees, which in turn took down some wires. We still haven't fixed that problem because the ground was too frozen to dig holes for new posts. So when Dave gets back from his 2 day trip, he will fix them hopefully. He said he would anyway. We offered to call the local electrical contracting company but Dave said he could fix it.

The mosquitoes arrived in the evening. Our customers had been outside throwing a ball around, etc. and they got bit up. They didn't care though because they were having fun. The mosquitoes won't be so bad this year though because they didn't start before the bats came back. The bats were here before they were. So that's great.

Our customers arrived about an hour after I had got their cabin ready. So that was perfect timing. We talked with them awhile and then they went kayaking. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

I organized some things in the basement, took out all my houseplants and put them outside, cleaned up the lodge, loaded up the bar refrigerator with beer and soda and turned that on, swept, did some paperwork, some laundry, and various little jobs. It was a good day.

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Thursday, May 19, 2011
The picture is of the Longaberger basket I am selling on ebay now along with an antique book from the civil war.

We had plans to go out to lunch with some friends of ours so I had wanted to get up early. Last night Orla had an allergic reaction to the pollen that was floating in the lake. She was itching all evening and couldn't sleep later, so I gave her some vet recommended allergy medicine. She was finally fine at about 11 p.m. and then slept for 4 hours. After those 4 hours and the medicine wore off, we sure knew it and I gave her some more. She slept for 5 hours then and the allergy attack had worn off by then so she was fine the rest of the day. I didn't get good sleep though and the next thing I knew was it was 9:40 a.m.

So my plans for the morning were hurried. I quickly put a coat of varnish on the trim pieces I had stained a couple days earlier. Then we went to lunch. Mitch and Lorrie run the Odonata shop in Mercer, a fine arts store. We have the same tourist season and busy time of the year. So going to lunch was a great time to catch up. I kept worrying about Orla in the car because it was warm. So I went to the window several times and she was fine. Lorrie gave me some brochures for the Art Tour that is in the end of July.

While we were eating lunch, Toni Sendra came into the restaurant and we asked her how her new venture was going. She and her husband are in charge of the Cranberry Inn restaurant and motel. They completely gutted the restaurant/bar and motel and redid it completely. Their grand opening is Memorial weekend but they are open for restaurant business tonight. We were excited for her. Its so rare these days in this territory for somebody to have enough capital to do something so extensive. Its nice to see the results of new building, construction and new decorating going on.

John and I talked with Dave, our caretaker, about a plan for getting the resort spring cleaned and the projects completed. We had to go to Minocqua to see my niece's spring concert that evening so we could pick up whatever we needed. After talking for awhile and working a little in Birch, we realized it was time to go. So we left for the spring concert.

When we got back around 10:45 p.m., Dave was just finishing up in the Birch cabin. He worked really hard to get everything done for the cleaning girls, which was great. The girls will be coming tomorrow at 10 a.m. so I had been worried about that.

It was a good day.

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The picture is of a book that John's mom sent back with him. She wants us to see if we can sell it on Ebay or something. So I put it on ebay recently. It is valued at $1500.00! Its from the Civil War. Our ebay listing has it for $1000 at the most, or "buy now".

We've been meaning to sell stuff on ebay for years. So I put a couple things on there for now, the book and a Longaberger basket. I'm not sure I've set everything up exactly the best way or the way it should be for the easiest transactions, so I will see if these 2 things sell before I add more items.

Today, Wednesday, I had plans to go to Rhinelander with my sister, mom and my daughter, Danielle. Danielle is registering at Shopko for baby gifts for her baby showers, etc. There aren't many stores in her area to get baby items and Shopko seemed to have the best variety. So we all helped her pick stuff out. Then we went to Kohl's and all they had were clothing items for babies. I bought my daughter a maternity outfit and we looked around and then all went to lunch. It was a fun day.

After all the baby shopping I took items back to Menards. A lot of the hardwood flooring was extra so we returned it. I have one partial box left over in case we need to replace a board or two some day. One of the boxes had been taped shut when we bought it. When Dave opened it, he noticed that the top board was complete but all the rest were short pieces. So someone had returned their scraps to Menards for a refund. That's stealing, people! We were able to return it as "defective" and get our money back but I wonder if they thought we were trying to pull something on them. I ran through Menards, because I had my sister with me, and picked out stuff on our list. A medicine/mirror cabinet for Birch, caulk for the cabins, electrical outlets, switch, outlet plug, box, and ceramic tile for Ironwood's bathroom. I got home and then realized I didn't buy enough tile. I am 6 squares short! I kicked myself all evening and every time I thought about it. So now I either have to go back to Menards to get more or go and get other tiles somewhere else and return these at a later date. Bummer.

John was very happy to hear the dumpster being emptied. It was the first time since the fall that we've had it emptied. Now it will be picked up every week for the summer. He loaded it up with construction debris from our improvements. Now its full again to be picked up next Wednesday. That project took John many hours since we had stored garbage all over the place in anticipation of the dumpster pick up.

So far this spring we haven't had any bears. Last year, at my first blog, we captured a nuisance bear. Go back and read about it if you want.

John hooked up the old Toyota LandCruiser to a tree stump and yanked it out. He is going to improve the area right behind the dumpsters and that tree was really in the way. We have so many trees around here and more are growing each day. We have saplings of Maples coming up everywhere. Some are right next to foundations. I have some pruning to do soon.

The weather was beautiful today and looks like the next two days are supposed to be too. The mosquitoes aren't here yet so that is wonderful. The bats have arrived though so I hope they are getting enough to eat.

It was a good day. I had a great time with my mom, sister and daughter.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The picture is of Orla on the couch in our living room. She can get up there all by herself now. She's getting so big and now she weighs 30 pounds.

Today I had a lot to do since it was so nice outside. When its nice out, that usually means work around here. Dave went for a motorcycle ride, and then he moved the refrigerator into Alder, finished the trim on the outside of Alder's windows and caulked them.

I have been meaning to do two small gardens by the entrance to our resort. So I set out with the wheelbarrow, sifting screen, perennials, shovel and puppy. I dug up all the dirt in the areas I wanted and sifted out all the weeds. Then I placed rocks in a circle next to each rock pillar. Then I dumped the sifted soil into the circle of rocks. After I planted the perennials in the fresh soil, I took Orla back home. I had lathered myself up with an all natural bug repellent. It worked but after I took a shower, I noticed some of it was still gooped in my hair along my hairline. Yuck. When I was working on the gardens, a "neighbor" stopped by. His name is Ike and he originally came from Denmark. He and his wife have a place on Mills Point which is down the road from us. He and his two nephews from Denmark visited with Orla and I and then they left. I felt so dirty and icky with the bug repellent smeared on my face and all the dirt all over me but there was nothing I could do.

I took Orla on a walk down by the lake on the shoreline trail. She drank a lot of water and walked around in the lake a lot. Then we went in the house so I could clean up. She slept the entire time it took me to shower and get presentable.

Later I sanded and stained 9 trim boards for the Alder cabin, put my dahlias outside, did two loads of laundry, moved furniture and rugs back into Birch, and some paperwork. The sanding and staining of the trim took a toll on my hands which were already sore from shoveling. Later that evening I couldn't even scoop my own ice cream because my hands were too sore.

I checked on the finished cabins and noticed they needed some items like tablecloths, the 3-ring informational binder, etc. I also noticed that the cleaning girls forgot some things so I made a list for them. They will be back on Friday and Saturday.

John came home around 7 p.m. and so I helped him move the mattress back into Maple. He had it strapped to the top of the car for the ride back from Door County. My son called the cell phone, which John had, and asked if he was in Wabeno. Apparently someone my son knew had spotted our car and asked Joey if that was us. Its funny sometimes how small the world is. I guess a car with a mattress strapped to the top isn't inconspicuous.

While I was working outside, I could hear a hawk calling to another. The hummingbirds were fighting over the nectar, loons called on the lake and the buds were coming out on the trees. It was a good day.

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Monday, May 16, 2011
The picture is of the sunset and beach area from our back deck.

Today I had to go up to the towns of Hurley and Ironwood. Orla had a 1:00 p.m. vet appointment for shots.

In the morning I took Orla for a walk. Then I started getting the memorial garden dug out for our two dog's ashes. Buddy was put down in November and Senna died in March. Orla helped me dig and I used a shovel to get out some big rocks. Soon it was time to leave though and I cleaned up, got all the stuff I needed and we left.

Going to Hurley and Ironwood (MI) is like going to the big city for me. Mercer has most of what we need, but not all. Hurley has a commercial distributor, Lakes Dist., and they have bulk toilet paper, paper towel, bathroom spray cleaner, etc. So I got a few things there first.

Hurley also has a beer distributor. It is Range Beverage and is right next to the vet. So I stopped there and picked up some Moosehead, New Glarus Spotted Cow, New Glarus Fat Squirrel, Guinness Stout and Point beer. We still had a half hour before her appointment so I took her to Dairy Queen. I got lunch and she got a big cup of water and 2 dog treats.

Soon we were finished with her appointment and then we went to a park for her to walk around while I ate my lunch. She played with a young boy, about 5, at the park while his dad paced around the perimeter of the basketball court. He didn't even say hello, which was weird.

I still had some things to pick up so I went to Ink Rx to pick up two ink cartridges and to dump about 25 used up ones on them for recycling. After that I went to the bank where Orla got 2 more treats (because she's so cute). Then we went home. She slept all the way.

At home I went outside and raked by Spruce cabin, took Orla for a walk, finished the memorial garden for the two old dogs, raked up the mess in front of Ironwood where a big pine branch fell and many little ones fell, loaded all the cut up branches into the wheelbarrow (to the top) and took them down to the campfire area, re-piled the wood pile that fell, added the new pine logs, took Orla on another walk and then put all the Dahlias back in the basement. When I was finished with that, I loaded up a door and shelves of a refrigerator in the wheelbarrow and took them up to Alder. We will move the refrigerator itself up to Alder tomorrow.

We were supposed to get a frost tonight so I didn't want to take a chance on leaving the dahlias outside. Dave got home from MN in the evening and he stored his motorcycle in our basement for now. He said he will help me to organize the basement tomorrow.

Last year a huge beam, almost like an old fireplace mantle, floated up to the resort. So I carted it over to the edge of the parking area thinking it would serve as a parking barrier. Its just too big for that so tomorrow I will have to think of something better for it. There are just too many possibilities.

Hopefully it will be nicer tomorrow for John to come home from Door County with a mattress on the top of the car. It was just too windy the past couple days. But it was a good day.

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

I took Orla to church with me but left her in the car with the windows open a little. It was only 45 degrees outside so she wouldn't be too hot. After church I took her down to the boat landing behind the church for her to have some fun. Then I went grocery shopping.

Later I organized some laundry, checked e-mails, did some computer work, visited with some friends and kids who came to visit, and that's about it. It was an easy day as it should be for a Sunday. I sewed for about 10 minutes and then a friend and her kids showed up to visit. I love it when they stop by - I just wish I had made some cookies for them. The kids got hungry after awhile and I didn't have anything they would like so I felt terrible. I'll be prepared next time. I guess I have to keep a supply of cookies in the cookie jar all the time now.

I heard that my sister and her husband are back up north from Florida. I was glad to hear that because they've been gone since late October.

The wind was incredibly cold today. The high was 48 degrees, but the wind was about 20 mph over the lake. So it was frigid. So I didn't do much else than take the dog for a walk outside today. Hopefully it will get warmer.

The hummingbirds are back so I put out their feeder. Within a half hour they were fighting over it. Spring is here.

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

The picture on the right is of Orla after she was playing in a mud puddle. She was having so much fun that I didn't stop her. I had a lot of laughs watching her too.

We had some girls arrive to help with the spring cleaning at 10 a.m. We had a good crew and it was nice to have all that help for sure. They started on Alder and then went into Hemlock. The picture on the left is of Alder after it was all cleaned. We are thrilled about how the flooring and windows turned out. I am sure customers will be too.

John had some difficulty getting the Hemlock pipes hooked up because of a small leak but eventually everything went fine. When I started the heater in the morning, to warm it up for the cleaning crew, that started fine too. After the fiasco yesterday with the water shooting out the back of Birch, we were happy everything went well.

John left to go to a memorial of a friend's son. John's friend, Jeff Bignell, had a son who died in Afghanistan. So there was a memorial for him in Adams Friendship at 7 p.m. on Saturday. John left around 2 p.m. and he called later to tell me he made it okay.

I took Orla for a walk, did 2 loads of cleaning laundry, made up all the bags for the Hemlock cabin for the girls, took out rugs to air them out, cleaned up the house and did some computer work. I answered some telephone calls about openings and answered some e-mails. I also did some confirmations from deposits we received. Before I realized it the day was over.

Orla and I played for a while that evening and we were tired before 9:30 p.m. There was nothing good on TV so I went to bed after the news. It was a good day.

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Friday, May 13, 2011
The picture is of the finished Birch flooring. I put the final coat on Thursday. It is so cold out today that the floor isn't drying well. At least there will be enough coats on it, regardless if it is drying shiny or dull. It looks like half is shiny and the last half I did is dull. I guess it got pretty cold at the end of the project and it won't shine but with all the furniture that we will be putting on it (a week from now), you'll hardly be able to tell anyway.

The cleaning girls are coming at noon. So I went into Cedar and turned on the hot water. Then I realized it will need some space heaters since it was only 42 degrees. So I found one in the basement and took it upstairs to try it first. I didn't want to burn down the cabin so I tried it where I could watch it for awhile. It worked fine and then I took it up to Cedar, plugged it in and nervously left. The girls arrived on time and went to work.

When I went to pull the Chrysler down to the basement to load all the cleaning supplies in it, the lever wouldn't go into reverse. Finally it slammed into reverse and every time I tried to pull the lever to get it to do it again, it made a hard click too. When I dropped off the cleaning supplies into Alder after the girls were gone, the lever almost came completely off. Yikes. I hope we won't have car troubles now.

I went into the basement and made the bags up for Cedar of all the clean laundry. It was always fun to get out all the quilts I sewed and curtains, etc. for the cabins again.

Cedar looks great. The girls all had to leave after that was done, but that's okay. The beds are all made and it looks so nice all ready for renters. The smell of soap and cleaner is so much nicer than stale air.

I went down to the basement area and put all the dahlias back into the safety of the basement. They had been outside and it wasn't getting any warmer. In fact, it was now 40 degrees. So since they are fair weather plants, I had to be careful.

I moved some furniture back into Alder and then while John was fixing a couple small drips in the plumbing, I waited around for him to help with moving the heavy furniture. The leaks took so long, I got crabby. I shouldn't have waited for him so long. So I left and made dinner.

Some other things we did during the day were John drove to the bank and hardware store, he did a lot of paperwork, we moved a television into Aspen, got another television ready to move into Spruce, I did some computer work and paperwork, and John finished hooking up the pipes for Hemlock. We got an old rug unrolled from the basement and laid it outside on the asphalt to lie flat and air out. In a week we will put it in Birch.

We also tried and failed to turn on the water to the Balsam cabin. I was in the well pump house and John was up at the cabin where he had hooked up the pipes earlier. He said to flip the switch. So I turned on the water for Balsam, walked outside and checked the well box for leaking and none was evident so I walked up to Balsam. John and I walked around and checked and everything seemed to be fine. John stayed up there to turn on the hot water heater and I went back down the hill. That's when I saw it. Water was shooting out the back of the Birch cabin. So I ran into the pump house and turned off the water. Then I came out, yelled up to John what was happening, and we spent the next hour mopping up water in Birch's kitchen. Luckily nothing happened to the newly varnished floor. This kind of stuff happens some times. It was not a great day but there weren't any disasters that couldn't be fixed.

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Thursday, May 12, 2011

The picture is of Alder's new windows and wood flooring that is finally finished. Yeah!

It was a big day today - we turned on the water to some of the old cabins. The cabins that were built in 1938 weren't insulated underneath, so turning on the water had to wait until the weather was warm enough.

First I had to put the last coat of varnish on the floor of the Birch cabin. It was already 60 degrees in the morning, so I put on my painting shorts and t-shirt (full of previous paint & stain colors) and went to work. John had to go into town to get some supplies, so I had to watch Orla, our puppy. First I took her on a little walk down by the lake and onto the lake trail. Then I barricaded myself into the area I needed to varnish so Orla wouldn't be able to walk onto the floor. She complained a little but she could go outside or come in and look at me varnishing. She chose to lay just outside the barricade and watch me. Soon she was asleep and I was just finishing up when John came home from his errands. Orla ran out to greet him and I could hear John laughing about her antics.

The floor was getting really cold for some reason so when I finished I felt chilled. It turned out that the weather was changing fast. It was now 58 degrees. I quickly changed into warmer clothes. John was working on the Cedar cabin's pipes - hooking them back up and getting ready for the cabin to be cleaned on Friday. When he was ready, I went down into our basement and turned on the water for Cedar. I ran outside to hear if he was yelling to shut it off. All was well. He had to tighten some bolts and stuff to stop a slow drip or two but Cedar went fine.

Then we went to Hemlock cabin. He went into the cabin to wait for me to turn on the water. In order to do this, I had to go into Aspen, take the hatch door off of the crawl space entrance, look around with the flashlight for snakes or anything scary, then descend into the crawl space. I crept along to the water pipe and turned on the water to the Hemlock cabin, which was accessed in the basement of Aspen, and then quickly crept out and up through the hatch. I didn't hear John yelling to turn it off, so I went outside, walked around the Hemlock cabin, and saw that the outside pipes were okay. I asked John, who was checking the pipes inside the cabin, if all was okay and he said it looked good.

After awhile, John and I went up to the Alder cabin. Dave had just about finished the wood floor up there, and I swept it, took some pictures, and figured out what we needed to do to help. I would stain the window frame that was now around our two new windows in the dining area. So I got out some of our various cans in the basement, found one that would match well, and went up to Alder to start. I found my palm sander, some 220 grit sand paper, and sanded down the pine window frame. Then I put a coat of stain on, wiped off the excess and stood back to see the result. It blended in perfectly with the older window's color that had to be matched.

Dave came into the cabin when I was finishing up and finished the last board of the flooring, put the thresholds on the doorway floors, and put the heating vent covers back into place. He was going to be gone for the weekend so he wanted this job done. He left later that evening.

John came into Alder to see the results too and asked me if I could go into the crawl space to turn off the water spicket (sp?) that was open so we could turn on the water tomorrow. I opened the hatch, looked around with my flashlight for anything ugly, and then descended into the crawl space. Its much easier for me to do this because I am so short. John would have to sit on the dirt and scootch around on his butt. So I found the water nozzle and turned it off. Then I got out of there fast. I hate creepy crawlers.

I took Orla on another little walk and then John finished up with his plumbing projects. We had a nice dinner and I was very tired from all the work we had done today. Tomorrow the Cedar cabin will be cleaned, hopefully, and maybe even Hemlock. We'll see.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The picture is of Orla running on the shore of Lake Mendota in Madison. We spent a few days there last week. She is so much fun.

Yesterday morning I awoke to 60 degrees and humidity. So I put on shorts for the first time this season, started my day early, and got to work. I wanted to be able to open windows in the house, especially as it is supposed to get up to 70 degrees, and it exceeded that. But to open windows in the lodge and house, it requires work.

The lodge is an old building built in 1938 along with the older cabins. There are antique windows on the south side of the house that have old storm windows. So I made trips up and down the stairs to the basement. On my trip downstairs I would carry a storm window and on the way up I would carry a screen. Finally they were all in place and I opened up the windows to let the fresh air in.

Later I did some computer work, and took Orla for a walk. I checked the floor in the Birch cabin and the varnish is finally shiny. That means that it no longer is soaking in and is finally requiring only one more coat to seal it all up. I have to wait 48 hours between coats, so I will do the final one tomorrow. Then we will let it sit for a week before we move furniture in.

I put all the dahlia bulbs (previous blog) outside and they got rained on twice during the day's thunderstorms. The storms came and went twice and it was warm and sunny in between them so it was okay. I think the dahlia plants grew about 6 inches in one day so the rain was really good for them. I will plant them in the church's gardens around Memorial weekend.

When I looked into my closet for my sandals, I realized all my wool sweaters and winter clothes should be put away. So I proceeded to do that. About an hour or so later I finally had all my clothes switched from winter to summer. I don't have very much closet space so I had to put the clothes in a plastic bin, stacked way high and put the cover on top of the pile. Then I took one of my beach wraps (batik fabric) and hung that over the flat top of the bin, which sets next to my bed. So it looks like I covered a high table (height of my headboard) with a pretty blanket. At least my winter stuff is stored away, even if it is within sight.

Later I did two loads of laundry, dishes, meals and the usual household stuff.

Earlier in the week I had called the cleaning girls and the next cleaning day is Friday at noon. So John and I talked about turning on the water in the Cedar cabin. Every time we were going to do so, it would start to pour. So I sat down and finished my book, Jane Austen's Memoirs. It was very good and I recommend it to everyone.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The picture is of Orla at my mother-in-law, Denny's. Orla just loves her and when she took Denny's house slipper outside, and slept with her head on it, Denny didn't mind. Denny is selling her house now so Orla might never be back there - one of her favorite places.

John stayed there another day and a half after I left on Sunday. Dave arrived there on Sunday with his truck to help with some of the stuff we still had there. They loaded a large TV that John's brother gave us, an ATV, TV stand and much more in the truck. They came back around supper time yesterday. It was really nice to have John back home. We still have a queen sized mattress there that we took out of the Maple cabin. John said he has a plan but I'm afraid to hear what it is.

I played with Orla for most of the morning. I took her on a walk and saw where a deer had been killed in our cedar swamp. There is still deer fur spread out in a large area. It was amazing to see and the swamp is so pretty to walk in that it was an interesting hike.

In the afternoon I put another coat of varnish on the floor in Birch cabin. It is looking great and will only need one more coat after this one. After I was finished, I took Orla down to the lake. She went in pretty far this time and is really starting to have fun in the water.

On my way back I went onto the deck out front of the lodge. The stain we put on the deck boards last near is peeling off everywhere. That was a lot of work and now it is for nothing. We had the deck spray washed, and then after it dried for a week we put a deck paint on it. Mistake! We should have used a deck stain that you can see through, not a decking paint. Now we will have to scrape and stain it and it will look like crap. This is just another example of how much work we put into this place and how much of it is wasted. The last example is when we put in the wood floors and redid the bar. The plumber who put in the pipes for the ice maker didn't do them well and water leaked out that night. One third of the wood floor is warped a little now, and always will be. There there's the bathroom in Ironwood. The entire floor of ceramic tiles is popping up after only 3 years. So it has to be replaced already. We paid good money for that! I could keep going on about this stuff but it only gets me angry and that's not worth ruining my day.

Yesterday I raked so much that my hands were sore all day today. So I took it easy. I did some paperwork, sent out confirmations, checked and answered e-mails, etc. I suppose varnishing the floor in Birch didn't help, but my hands were okay by the evening.

At 6:30 p.m. I went to a local writer's group that meets the first Tuesday of every month at Your Arts Studio. It is always fun to go there and since I am back home now, I can join it again. We are always looking for new writers, so if you're interested, come on and join us. After I got home at around 9:00 p.m., John and I played with Orla for awhile and then went to bed around 10 p.m. We were both tired from our last few days of work and Orla was tired from all her playing too. It was a good day.

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Monday, May 9, 2011
John and I went to Madison to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We stayed at John's sister's condo which is only 3 blocks from a beach on Lake Mendota. The picture is of John on the shoreline while Orla and I play in the sand. Orla, our 4 month old golden retriever, had a great time in the water. She has yet to go swimming, but as soon as she sees other dogs do so this summer, I am sure she will swim too.

Before we left I put another coat of varnish on the floor of Birch cabin. It is looking nice. Sunday, 5/8, I got home too late to do another coat. So I thought I would do one yesterday. Instead we had 50 mph wind gusts, rain and cold. The high all day was 60 and that didn't happen until after 3 pm. I took Orla in the car for a trip downtown in the morning. I got groceries, another gallon of varnish and went all the way down to Manitowish Waters to go to our bank. When I got back, Hwy J and H and Pine Forest Road were covered in down trees and branches. Luckily the trees were small enough to drive around. I tried to move a tree out of the way but it was too big for that so I had to drive over the top of it as far to the side of the road as I could go.

I raked for hours in between the rains. Orla kept biting the rake which made the job very difficult. Aspen has a very large pine tree next to the driveway and it must have littered 2 large wheelbarrows full of pine branches alone.

After the leaves were all removed, I spread some grass seed for shady areas. It seems like that is a yearly job. There are so many trees around here that the leaves are so thick that grass doesn't get a chance. Even though I rake in the fall, more fall or blow everywhere like against the cabins, etc. So when spring comes along I find it difficult to get all 9 cabins raked out before the leaves choke off the grass. Oh well. At least the new grass looks good for a summer.

When I got home from town, I noticed that the power was off so I called the outage number. They estimated the power would be off until 5 pm. I thought that's no big deal and then went outside to rake. Later when I came in and noticed it was after 7:30 pm and the power was not on yet, I called again. Then they estimated the power to be off until noon the next day. I worried about the food in the fridge/freezer so I didn't open it except to put the recent groceries in. The power came on after I heard two big trucks drive by at 3:30 a.m. I was so very happy to hear that fridge kick in.

On my way back on Mothers Day I visited with my kids in Laona, and then drove closer to home and visited with my mom in Sugar Camp. It was so very fun to watch our two puppies play with each other. Orla even ran around with the 3 kittens, who are used to dogs. We had a lot of laughs. Orla slept all the way home and then after dinner slept all night until 6 a.m. She played hard.

So last evening with no power to watch any movies, etc. and without John to keep me company (he is still at his mom's), I read a book by lamp light. I have 3 old antique oil lamps. I lit one and set it on the kitchen table. I sat there and read Jane Austen's memoirs by lamp light. How appropriate is that?

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Monday, May 2, 2011

The picture is of a Longaberger basket that we have for sale on Craigslist. It is the first time I am trying to sell something on that web site. So far (24 hours) there haven't been any e-mails. I checked out baskets just like this one and they were going for $399 on eBay. But I am trying to sell it for $199. If I don't sell it on Craigslist, I will put it on eBay eventually and then ask a little more.

Dave, our caretaker, was working in Alder putting in the new windows to make a better view, when he saw a squirrel in a tree right outside. He then saw an eagle swoop down and land on it. Then the eagle sat there for awhile looking around like he didn't know he was sitting holding a squirrel. When Dave went outside to get a better view, the eagle flew away with the squirrel across the bay. Dave could see it sitting there and when he moved even closer to the bank, the eagle flew further away and left the dead squirrel in the tree. He hoped it would come back but didn't, when he was looking anyway.

The Alder cabin now has two new windows. One is on each side of the picture window that faces the lake. I will post a picture tomorrow. It makes the view much better and they can be opened to make a cross breeze.

I raked a little, John did a lot of paperwork, he took Orla for a long walk while I vacuumed the lodge and entire house, then we ate a nice dinner.

Later I made all the bags of clean laundry up for the Aspen cabin. The cleaning girls are coming tomorrow to finish spring cleaning it. That way when it is cleaned, they can make up the bags, etc. and it will be ready to rent out. That took me awhile because I had to sort through the laundry I still had in bags from the laundromat.

We watched TV coverage of Osama Bin Laden's demise most of the day, on and off. It is strange to me how happy people are to have him dead. I would rather have had him go through trial, be sent to prison for life into solitary confinement. But to each his own opinion. Thankfully we all have the right to voice our own opinion. That's one of the major benefits of our freedom, thanks to all the people in our military.

Orla, our golden retriever puppy, is getting pretty big now. She can jump up into my car, onto the couch, and hopefully is now too big for the eagles. She is such a cutie and will be a wonderful addition to the resort. The kids will especially love her. She really makes our day when we see her, play with her and spend time with her. If it weren't for her, we would be depressed thinking about the incredible loss of Buddy and Senna. We know our customers would be too.

Today it was very cold and blustery (high of 38) until the evening when it finally cleared up and got sunny just before sunset. Hopefully tomorrow will be warmer.

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Sunday, May, 1, 2011
The picture is of a quilt I made around Christmas. I am working on 2 twin sized quilts for the Spruce cabin. When I finish them, I will post the actual picture.

So yesterday I sewed, made meals, went to church, picked up some groceries and a paper and then John and I mostly sat around the house all day. It was one of those days and since it was on a Sunday, that makes it more okay.

Of course we played with Orla. John took our little puppy on an hour walk with Dave. Dave did most of the work yesterday. He started on Alder and worked in there for over 4 hours. We bought two new windows and laminate wood flooring to be put in there.

The weather turned really cold around noon when the wind changed. The high maybe got to 38 degrees all day. Brrr.

Late at night after we watched my favorite movie, we heard the news that Osama Bin Laden had been finally found and killed. The operation went so smoothly that there were no casualties except him and his people. Congratulations to the U.S. military on a job well done.

I called my son, a Marine, about 11:00 p.m. and asked if he had heard the news. He did but I had woken him up. It is a great day for the United States.

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Saturday, April 30, 2011

The picture is of the Birch cabin's floor after I put a coat of oil-based polyurethane on it. The wood was really dry and soaked it up pretty quick. Now I just have to wait for the weather to get better before I put on more coats.

Our neighbor, Harry, stopped over in the morning. He decided to drive the 1.5 miles over rather than call, which was fine. He hung out for about 20 minutes and then left. He just asked me to look up someone for him because he couldn't find them on-line himself. I couldn't find the person either. I think he got their name spelled wrong. Oh well.

John and Dave went to Menards to get more supplies for Alder. So while they were gone Orla and I played, I watched a movie and then I made a really nice dinner. I made focaccia bread with a bunch of stuff in it (baked) and then a Hungarian mushroom soup. It was very yummy.

I did some computer work, backing up files, making CD's of pictures, etc. I had been putting it off and it was time. That took a couple hours to get everything finished I wanted to do. It always feels so much better to finish something that's been on your mind awhile.

John was going to hook up some pipes today but decided to go to Menards instead. They bought a sawsall, linoleum for Alder's kitchen, glue, leveler, etc. to finish that job and to finish Birch's bathroom too. Its a long ways from here - 70 miles, so it took them all afternoon/evening. The weather was really windy and rainy, so it wasn't fun to have the back window of the car open with a roll of linoleum sticking out.

Our customers stuck around Mercer today. They went to the Wampum shop, the Pines for dinner and then back to the resort. They had fun and said it was nice to get away from home for awhile. I spent some time talking with them in the lodge, but not very long. They love our puppy and the kids enjoyed playing with her.

I just felt like baking today so I did some of that. I had fun. I'm a little spoiled that way. Those poor guys going to Menards and everything...