Booya Days

We decided to head over to Beaver Creek Reserve this afternoon since Booya Days was going on. Booya Days just happens to be a really big fundraiser for the Beaver Creek Reserve, especially since Eau Claire County no longer funds the operation and they need to find ways to help bring in funding. Beaver Creek is where Bike man has spent lots of time with his stream monitoring work. Of course you can't have a Booya celebration without a beaver!

Turned out to be a cloudy, cool, and windy day with localized showers.

This was a good day to enjoy a little booya......a chicken & pork stew with potatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions, green beans, corn, garlic and herbs.

Very yummy, but I had to add lots of Tabasco since I like it hot and spicy. Now I'm motivated to make a big batch of Booya myself. Found a recipe on Allrecipes.com, so I'll let you know if it's good.

Refreshing

Today, I headed about 45 miles north to attend an all-day work seminar. The day started out with morning sunshine, but soon turned into dark and moisture filled clouds. I wasn't able to catch any fall colors until my drive home late in the afternoon.

I purposely drove slow, analyzing where to stop and take pictures. One thing I've learned about fall, it's short-lived so take advantage while you can. Fall seems to be early this year, so it took me a little off guard. Can't believe the leaves are already starting to drop.

I decided to take the backroads north instead of the "fast" four-lane route. It doesn't matter if you are a city person or country person. Backroads are the only way to see real America.

I still had lots of cloud cover driving back home late this afternoon, but every once in a while the sunshine would peak out. For me, that meant lay on the car brakes! Quick, stop and take that photo while the sun was shining bright.

It took me longer to get home, but I didn't care. Just taking in the beautiful fall colors was well worth the drive north today. Ironically, the speaker today was a well-know blogger, (David Lee King.) I learned a lot today about the whole social media thing that's taking over everything. Sorry, I won't do Twitter, as I'm too busy with my real surroundings and planning my next bicycle ride. I just have to draw the line somewhere. Geez, does that make me old and not hip because I won't set up a Twitter account?

Hang In There Dad

My dad had his surgery yesterday. It was a really long day for him. He is still in the hospital and will find out when and where he will take his cancer treatments. I believe it will be both chemo and radiation, but still waiting for all the details. My sister Lynn and my mom are there with dad to give him love and support. Hang in there dad.....we love you.

Got a Lesson

Got a lesson tonight on how to bottle homemade brew. Our son enjoys brewing homemade beer, so tonight was the night for bottling his latest batch....Peace Coffee Stout. My job was to help sanitize the bottles. 45 bottles to be exact!


The five gallon bucket is on top of the table, but we sat on the floor when bottling the brew.

Capping the bottle is pretty easy.

Look who showed up to help supervise the bottling process! It's true, cats are so curious.

Gosh, I'm tired tonight. Didn't ride today, but took a 3 mile walk with my friend Joan. We had a long conversation about a mutual friend who is struggling with her husband's diagnoses of stage 4 colon cancer. What a shock when I found out tonight....he's only in his 50's. All I can say is count your blessings.

Three Of Us!

Headed over to the RC trail after work to meet up with Kim. The long-lost Bike man came too, what a treat! We started our ride a few minutes after 5 pm, so now we are trying to beat the clock when it comes to darkness. We've had to cut our mileage by about six miles, but hey, that's better than not riding at all!

It's amazing how few people we see now on the trail. We mostly come across walkers and runners. Speaking of runners, we came upon our mystery man John....again. Seems like this is the third or fourth time we've run into you John. We almost didn't recognize him as he was not biking today, but running. Hope you enjoyed your peaceful run tonight John.

Kim and I were complaining before we ended our ride tonight that our biking abilities have already been fading, plus butt soreness is already a factor. If you don't use it, you loose it....gosh dang it! We'll keep trying to ride well into the fall, but once the snow flies, that's it for the RC trail as it doesn't allow bikers in the winter months.

Nice weather for the rest of the week. Refreshing.

Just Out For A Sunday Ride

Turned out to be a busy day with helping out in the nursery at church, grocery shopping, house chores and pre-cooking dinner for late night guests. I still managed to hop on my bike and take a Sunday ride in the hood....that's Tainter Lake neighborhood! About a mile and a half from our house, the farm workers are harvesting potatoes. These potatoes are generally used for making potato chips!

I rode by my girlfriends church....Norton Lutheran Church. Years ago there actually was a little town called Norton. Now only the church represents the heritage of Norton, plus the old Norton one-room school that was converted into a house.

And then there's the railroad tracks not far from our house. Yup, these track go right through the old town of Norton....the town that doesn't exist.

One of the great things about killing time on your bicycle is seeing every little thing around you. I noticed these mushrooms not too far from our house along the highway. Aren't they pretty?

And just as I was ending my Sunday ride, I discovered these white mushrooms growing near the entrance of our driveway. What a beautiful day with blue skies and upper 50's.

We had late night dinner guests, so we grilled hamburgers. Spent the rest of the night bat monitoring on the lake for the last time of the season. We only recorded about six bats for the whole hour we were out on the lake. Most bats at this time of the year are already starting to hibernate or migrate south for the winter. In the next several months, we should find out what types of bats we actually recorded on our lake. There's only one specialized bat Biologist for the whole state of Wisconsin that reads the bat recordings, so we'll just have to wait to see what our testing shows. It was a nice send off to the end of the summer season!!!

Turned out to be a beautiful cool and crisp day. The leaves on the kiwi trees in our yard are turning purple and yellow. Now that the kiwi leaves are falling off, you can really see the dense and twisted kiwi vines.

Enjoyed a canine visitor today. Jerney came along for a visit with our daughter Becca. It's so fun to watch Jerney play when she comes to visit. The city dog gets a taste of the country life. Jerney played and played all afternoon until she was tuckered out tonight.

It was actually a whole family affair today as the Son was at our house today too. One of Chris's favorite things to do when he is home is slow cook BBQ ribs on the charcoal grill. Who can resist the smell of a charcoal grill? With some whipped mashed potatoes and cornbread stuffing with craisins, it was a perfect autumn meal to share with my family. We even ate outside around the campfire! These perfect fall days are to be cherished for a long time.

What did I make for dessert? Caramel Apple Cake (Turtle Recipes).