First Ice of the Season

Well here it is, our first lake ice for the winter season. All it takes is about 4 -5 overnight lows in the teens and the lake will slowly make ice during the night. By yesterday, (Friday) Chris walked down to the lake and reported we had about three inches of nice clear ice. So how did Chris know that? By using a 2 x 4 and banging it against the ice....and how old is Chris? Actually by this morning there was probably more like 4 inches. Of course he couldn't wait to get out ice fishing this morning, so Chris woke up early and drove in to town to get minnows and was out fishing by 8 am. Here's a picture of his fishing holes and tip-ups. Now, in order for me to get this picture, I had to step out on the ice....yikes! I'm always nervous and cautious on the "first" ice so I only walked out about 10 feet from the shoreline. I told myself if I heard the ice crack or pop, I'd be on that dock so fast......don't worry mom because I'm as scared as you are! Once we have about 8 -10 inches of ice, I will venture out farther, but for now I will wait until we get really good thick ice....I hope that makes you feel better Momma S!


I want to show off the special treat I bought today at a local church craft show. Jenny, my Children's Librarian told me to stop by her church craft sale because the ladies would be selling items they picked up on their recent mission trip to Turkey. I ended up finding this beautiful Turkish woven tapestry, which is meant as a tablecloth, but the woman at the craft show told me she has one and was using it as a throw for her bed. What a great idea. When I saw the colors in this particular tapestry, I thought of my bedroom and the new carpet. Just what I've been looking for. As soon as I put it on the bed, look who couldn't resist laying on it! She also found the little gold tassels on each corner. I wonder how long the tassels will last before they are chewed completely off?

Nice Ending To a Long Day

Today, I had to attend a consortium meeting in Eau Claire. Every other month, all the Library Director's must attend what's called Director's Council. It's basically a consortium meeting for all the
Library Directors in our area. At these meetings, all the Director's get to vote on issues that deal with the operations of their libraries, policies and budget issues. It's really funny because this meeting is where you will see who gets along with who and thoses who clash! Daggers fly, snippy comments errupt, and tempers explode. Who would ever think librarians could be nasty! Geez. I always just sit back and enjoy the show, hee, hee.

After our meeting ended, all of us headed over to Mary's house (Altoona PL Director) for a luncheon to celebrate the marriage of my dear friend Colleen to Allen....see the picture above. I'm so very happy for Colleen and Allen. Colleen has been one my librarian friends for a long time and we've shared many good trips together. The library conference to San Jose, CA was our favorite and most memorable trip. Our "librarian" get-together this afternoon was a nice ending to a long day of library politics!!!!!

Even Chickens Have Odd Days!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this little cute egg. One of my library patrons kept telling Jenny and me about this one particular chicken she has that randomly lays a tiny egg. She hasn't figured out why, but she surprised us today by bringing in this little egg so we could see with our own eyes how tiny it really is. She also told us the yolk is the funniest thing ever....it's just soooooo small. Hey, is this what you would call a "diet egg"??? Every Wednesday, this certain woman brings a couple dozen eggs for Jenny and me. There is nothing like fresh farm eggs. Now for some reason, I can tolerate these eggs. In the past, eggs I bought from the grocery store made me very sick. After about nine months or so, I've just started eating eggs again. All I know is these chickens are pampered and are only feed the best grains. Their chicken coop gets cleaned every other day, fresh water etc. She said her chickens are so well kept that they never get sick. I think she said something about massages and pedicures too.......ha, just kidding!!!!!!!!

Guess What? Ted Won.......

I'm so excited! Ted found out today that he won a seven day mountain bike support trip on the Great Divide trail going through Montana (208 miles). The trip is sponsored by Dirt Rag Magazine,but the trip organizers are Adventure Cycling, which is big bike travel organization throughout the US. They primarily plan and sponsor bike tours/trips throughout the United States. Ted is a member of Adventure Cycling and just decided to enter for the give-away several months ago. The best part of this trip is that it is fully supported meaning they will carry your bags, camping gear and it's catered!!!! We won't have to cook.....how great is that? The trip will be held in July so now Ted is trying to talk me into signing up for the bike tour as well. Of course I have to pay. I've never been to Montana so I'm thinking I need to sign up as well. Ted rode part of the Great Divide trail three years ago when he and his brother Larry started in Jasper, Alberta and connected with the Great Divide trail in Banff and continued on through Jackson Hole, WY. I am so excited that Ted won this trip, and now I can join him too if I choose. I guess I'll have to mark my calendar for July 11-17th, yeeeeeeee ha!

Nothing Left to Chew!

You know, there's nothing left to chew on this cardboard box, but I still find kitty obsessively trying to chew away at the remaining cardboard. I think the box will disappear today or tomorrow! I'm trying to decide if I should give her another box. What kind of cat would chew an entire cardboard box?

Typical Monday

Last month I took this picture of the old train depot, which is now turned into a train museum in Colfax where I work. That is actually the backside towards the train tracks. The train museum isn't open very much, which is a shame because the guy that owns the place is a collector of train memorabilia so the place is filled with stuff. Lots of stuff!!!

It was a typical Monday today with lots of tasks left over from Friday to finish. It's very rare that I have brand new tasks to start on Monday's. The only good thing about Monday's is the fresh cup of java from Cafe 44! Now don't get me wrong, I make good coffee at home, but there's still something about how the coffee is brewed at a coffeehouse. You can't beat that rich brewed flavor....no flavored coffee for this gal, no way. Actually the coffee kept me going strong all afternoon. I went to spinning class at 6 pm tonight so that java helps spin my little legs in fast mode. I'm still teaching spin class on Wednesday evenings and soon to add another spin class during the week. Mark, the other spin teacher would like to drop one of his classes so I will probably pick his class up. I just figured I may as well add to my hectic schedule by making it even more hectic, whoeeeeeeeee!

This is What I Miss

When I found this picture, I thought, this is what I miss! I made this necklace (choker) about three years ago. I really miss making jewelry. I am hoping things settle down soon so I can get back to making a few pieces of jewelry. I have lots of beading supplies that are just sitting there waiting for me to design something unique and simple. One of these days I will take pictures of all my beads and stones. Until then, I will continue to catch up on house chores and other obligations. Maybe a good dose of really cold weather will motivate me to sit down at my jewelry desk and make jewelry on my day off. Bring on the snowstorms!!!!!!!!!!