Over the River and Through the Woods.....Really!

Over the river and through the woods to Jeanne & Jake's house we go!  Really, we had to cross the Wisconsin River and go through the woods!  So first, my family headed to Southwest Wisconsin to spend Thanksgiving holiday with my parents.  Sorry, forgot to get photos of our Thanksgiving meal, however we had a second post Thanksgiving meal at our son's soon-to-be in-laws, Jeanne & Jake (Trisha's parent).

Jeanne & Jake live in Muscoda,Wisconsin. which just happens to be about 20 miles from where I grew up in Richland Center.  Jake built their beautiful log home about ten years ago and the craftsmanship is amazing.  I just love all the wood.

Can you tell this is a family of hunters?  I didn't snap a picture of the basement, but there are lots of  antler sheds displayed on the wall....nice.

Jeanne's large dinning room table accommodated all of us; my parents, our daughter and son, Trisha and her parents and of course Bike man and me.  We had a delicious homemade meal prepared by Jeanne & Trisha.  I'm so happy our son found a wonderful young woman to marry.  The wedding date is set for August 1, 2015.  Let the count down begin!!!

Co-op Retreat

It started in the morning with food and excellent coffee.

And then more delicious food at noon.....good quality food....local & organic.

We have an amazing General Manager (Crystal), who runs our Menomonie Market Food Co-op!

Yesterday was our annual Board of Directors retreat at Crystals house. Our agenda was full, but we took in all the useful information to plan for the Co-op's future.

Did we plan this?  All wearing blue?  No, but somehow we all chose the same color and blue represents reliable and responsibility.  Blue also seeks peace and tranquility,  So there you have it!!!  The two other board members wore green....harmony and balance.

Our GM also gave us an update on our new Co-op expansion.  The floors plans are set and ground breaking should take place the first or second week of  November.  Whoo hoo!!!

It Was Time

More than 28 years, this screen porch and deck has served it purpose.  We moved into our house 28 years ago this month and I believe our deck and screen porch was built 30 years ago.  It has served it's purpose with our family, however the untreated wood had seen it's life and it was time to remove the rotted wood.  Not sure why old man Oscar used untreated wood to build a deck, but that's what we inherited when we bought our house.  

  

It was a slow process, but thankfully our son Chris came home this weekend to help us.

The weather was perfect today.  Highs around 60 degrees and sunshine made for a pleasant day.  

As the wood deck was dismantled, I took the time to look for childhood treasures from Becca and Chris's era.  I remember those years when the kids were young and many items got dropped underneath the deck.  So what did I find?  A tennis ball, several plastic dinnerware items from their playware, straws, a pen and pencil and broken glass.

After the deck and screen porch were removed, I asked Chris to pose for a picture to send to his fiancee, who just happens to be on business in South Carolina..  After years of talking and planning, we are finally getting this project completed.   Thank you Chris for helping.

We will be putting in a new sliding glass door within the next several weeks and hopefully a new wood deck next spring.    

Beauties

Our apples this year were sparse, but the few that were on our apple tree were simply beautiful.  We finally picked them a few days ago.

So, of course I had to bake a pie today.  I used some of our apples and some of the apples my dad bought for me while he was visiting Bayfield, Wisconsin.  My recipe for a homemade apple pie?  A little white sugar, a little brown sugar, lots of cinnamon and some quick tapioca.  Fill a single pie crust with the apple mixture and top with homemade streusel.  Bake 50-55 minutes @375 degrees.

Guess who had the first piece of pie?  Our son Chris.  Chris is home this weekend to help his dad with chores around our house.  Gotta feed those hard working men!

My Momma

 It's always fun to have my mom come and visit me, and even Becca came too!

We enjoyed a girls day today, beginning with a trip to the Grain Bin store to buy some bulk items and some freshly made scones....yum.  Then we headed to Menomonie to enjoy lunch at Acoustic Cafe.  Lots of good conversations and catching up with family affairs. Mom is here for a couple days and then will head back to Southwest Wisconsin.  This is a once a year trip for my mom, so I appreciate her coming.  Oh yeah, and my four cats LOVE her too!  

Good Bye Bitter Sweet

I actually felt bad to see Bike man cut down the Bitter Sweet bush that was growing along the lake bank.  That was my favorite bush to take photos of in the early winter with it's beautiful red berries.   But........

Oriental Bitter Sweet is considered an invasive plant and will eventually spread and take over our lake bank, so tonight was cut, pull & burn!

Bike man cut and pulled the Bitter Sweet bush and I walked the branches up the lake steps to burn in our fire pit.  It only took about an hour or so to burn.  The smell was rather pungent.  Goodbye beautiful red berries.

On a side note, it was my husbands birthday today......and I forgot!  Yes, I totally forgot after 30 years of marriage.  Thanks to our daughter who called later today and reminded me it was her dad's birthday.  Forgetting my hubby's birthday just proves my job & my life is way too busy and I really need to slow down.  I felt upset with myself for forgetting this important day, but my hubby was really nice about my forgetfulness.  After working late last night, it was nice to just be home tonight with Bike man.  No birthday cake, but just a bowl of ice cream.        

I'm Still Here

I apologize for my absence and lack of blog posts.  Life is busy and sometimes exhausting.  Maybe I'm just getting old, but it seems that I can't keep up with blogging, emails and Facebook management of three (yes three) Facebook pages......Lisa, Colfax Public Library, and my Arbonne FB page.  Social media can be good in one way and can be bad in another.

On a personal note, I'm loving fall.....the warm weather, the beautiful colors and the wonderful fall fruits and vegetables.  Our trees are turning colors fast and the pine cones are dropping heavy this year.  I've been taking some time off from work since I have a lot of vacation time to use up.  Over the last 14 years, I apparently was too dedicated to my job, but now I NEED to take time off for my health and peace of mind!  Oh yeah, and I'll loose those vacation days if I don't use them, so it's a no brainier to take the time off.

I hope you enjoy my Amaryllis photo.  Can you believe the Amaryllis was blooming  several weeks ago?  All of our Amaryllis plants spend the summer outdoors.....they love it.  Sometimes they even bloom again in January or February!

Thanks for checking in.