a goat

 Wow it took me forever to get past 1990 the summer of the goat.

We had a Summer exchange student by the name of Anke from Germany that was the same age as our oldest daughter.  Far Guy took all the girls to a centennial celebration over in Ponsford and a goat was being sold at auction…so he bought it for me. The girls thought it was all great fun. BUT I had always wanted a goat. We named him Seger (Ziege).

The goat was supposed to be a miniature goat. Nope not so much he was a good sized brush eater. He would eat anything green…flowers…poison ivy… you get the idea.  We kept him in the dog fence in the daytime but he would often escape. It was fine if he laid down in front of the door…however he began to jump in peoples boats…during this time we owned a resort.  He jumped on top of Far Guy’s car every day when he came home from work.  Seger didn’t care who chased him with a broom he thought it was great fun.  He had a dry place to sleep up in the horse shed.  He followed me around like a dog and would bleat mournfully if he lost sight of me.  He was afraid of thunder and would show up at the front door and I would let him inside where he would bury his head under my arm until the storm had passed. No he did not poop in the house!

One of the camping people put the shucks from sweet corn in a bag on top of his car…well you can guess where the goat went. So I had to rehome the goat.  It was a sad day when I left him with other goats at a tourist attraction where he had lots of room to roam with a tall fence and bridges to cross.

Seger was a very smart goat. He learned that if he lowered his head and ran at teenage girls they would scream and run from him. He tried it with me…I stood my ground and he would stop and press his head against my leg to be scratched. 

I have very fond memories of that goat!

Far Side

Progress

 I am doing a deep sort of all the photos that I have with me.   I brought a huge tote of photos with me.  I will guess that I brought about 3,000 photos with me.  I am making progress.  I have begun the sort for our own album/albums.  I have mostly finished with our daughter's albums. So there is forward progress. 

It all takes time.  Since we have a few less Doctor appointments I do have some time.  I discovered that I should have brought Far Guy's album with me to redo...alas it is back at home.  Oh well I will get to it someday.  In the meantime photos that should be included in his album are being sorted.

Some things you even forget you have.  Like this old postcard photo taken back before there were zip codes...there were other codes...E84E  what ever that means.  We owned this resort from 1987 to 1995.  So it is a bit of our history.   I would guess the photo was taken in the 1940's -1950's.

Interesting that the old metal glider was there.  Far Guy took off the old paint and repainted it and put new wood on it and it was just like new and people used it all the time:) FYI the photograph must have been taken at the waters edge or else the photographer stood in the water. 

Far Guy's Infusion went well...only one stick for the IV !  I went to Aldi and bought fruit. 

Minnesota weather; High was 29 F or -2C  Low was 13F or -11C.  Nice weather for January.  However every place you walk there is ice.  Oh well January is only 1/3 done we still have time for a brutal Minnesota Winter!

Far Side

Younger

 Found this photo, it was most likely taken around 1991 or 1992. 

Amazing Far Guy had hair...well some hair.  My hair was quite long and was not yet grey. 

When I showed this to Far Guy he said "What in the world were we doing?"  

The photo was taken at our old resort Pine Springs and we were moving dirt around in forms so that we could pour cement.  We were making cement pads for the campground.   We borrowed a cement mixer from Uncle Archie and mixed the cement and poured it ourselves. 

We were younger then. 

Far Side

Booster reactions

Both of our arms were really sore! 

After the covid booster Far Guy felt like he had been hit by a truck, he had the chills, headache and body aches.

As per my normal reaction...a fever and fatigue.  I slept all night Friday and most of Saturday.  I was somewhat achy...but again that is normal for me.  

Between the two of us we managed a trip to the transfer station to get rid of our garbage and together we managed supper...which was pretty easy we just warmed up leftovers from the fridge. 

Far Guy woodcarved outside for awhile.  I managed to paint a few Christmas ornaments.  

Our old place on the lake....we lived there nine years (1986-1995).  That is the boathouse that is directly on the lake. 

Far Side

The past week

 I enjoyed the last pontoon ride of the year with my baby brother, his bride and Baxter one afternoon last week.  The Fall color on the lake is very pretty. 

It is always fun to see our old resort from the lake.  All the cabins have been removed only the boat house remains next to the lake.  The fellow who lives there has a home further away from the lake.

Yesterday I had lunch with my best friend Susie.   We met at a local in the boonies eating establishment that is about half way in between our homes.  We had a great visit!  She sent home Walleye for us...she and her husband are fishermen.  We had some for supper and it was really really good. 

Our weather has turned cold...we had a hard frost early Friday morning.  29 F or -1 C  eh!  If we had pumpkins there would be frost on them.

Baxter says Hi!  He loves a pontoon ride.

Here he is outstanding on his dock. 

Oh and how about Apple Pie?   It was great one afternoon...neighbors Steve and Jo shared their apple pie with us...apples from our old resort! 

I had a really bad tooth ache...an abscess.  Luckily our Dentist believes me and ordered antibiotics right away on Monday morning.  Then in a procedure on Thursday he opened up the tooth and put some medication down inside and sealed it up...if this doesn't work I have to go see the Oral Surgeon.  ( At least they have laughing gas!)

Far Side

Pinball Whiz

 Years ago when we owned the resort on Straight Lake we had a recreation room it had books to read, games to play, a ping pong table and several pinball machines...it also had a Coke cooler that dispensed cans of pop...until the tourist kids got smart and popped the tops on the can and stuck a straw in and emptied the cans.  Our daughters spent lots of time playing ping pong and pin ball.   They would challenge their Dad to games of ping pong.  Some winters the pin ball machines were moved into the large hallway in the house and Far Guy worked on them....naturally they were played. 

Then we sold the resort.   Years later one of the owners was looking for some extra money and wanted to know if we were serious about buying one of the machines.

We bought the one called Card Whiz which we then sold to Jen.  She and Andy have had it refurbished and repaired and now they have it in their basement.  

Far Guy and I play it almost every day.   Jen holds the record at 124,000 points..Far Guy at 103,000 and then me at 97,000. 

It brings back many memories. 

One day I asked Far Guy if he could recall how we used to play pinball at Schmiders?  I would play one flipper and he would play the other...nope that memory is gone for him. 

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: Mate on the Roof

G'Day Mate was Far Guy's dog, I gave her to him so he wouldn't be tempted to sell her.  She was from a litter of four from our Misty and Moses, both Registered Shetland Sheepdogs or Shelties.

She was stubborn as the day is long.  She spent most of her life as a juvenile delinquent.
Who else would be on the roof.

Far Guy was continually fixing the valley on this roof at the house at the resort.  Mate was born in 1986 so this must have been 1988 -1990 or so.
Far Side

Wistful Wednesday : The girls and dogs

This is most likely 1991 or 1992.  About 26-27 years ago.

 

Jen and Trica posing on a snowy day with our three Sheltand Sheepdogs/Shelties.  This was taken at  our resort out back by a spruce tree.  Trica would have been going to college at Moorhead State University and Jen was most likely in 9th or 10th grade.  Those teenage years would not be real high on my list of years to repeat.

Trica on the right is holding onto Misty and Moses…they are the Mother and Father of G’Day Mate who Jen is holding. Misty was really well behaved, she had been to Dog Obedience and Moses had been to puppy classes…and Mate well she had a mind of her own and a real stubborn streak.   She was really Far Guy’s dog…I gave her to him…so I wouldn’t have to sell her.  There were four puppies in that litter, when the puppies were little we would get them out on a blanket in the living room and watch what we called puppy tv.  Those were fun evenings….when we were all home safe and sound being entertained by puppies.

Wistful Wednesday: Rabbits

When I was growing up my brother and I had a rabbit, it was a gift from my Uncle Theron so it was appropriate that the rabbit was named Theron…we may have had more than one rabbit…two maybe.

Years later at the resort I may have taken leave of my senses and purchased two angora rabbits…they died…not sure why.  The children visiting the resort loved the rabbits…the next spring I purchased two regular old rabbits…I was told they were the same sex.  Either both boys or both girls. We named them Ebony and Ivory.

One morning Far Guy hollered for me, something was wrong with Ivory she had blood all over her.  Well I could see nothing visibly wrong with her…then I checked the nest box.  Screamed and slammed the top closed.  Baby bunnies…Ivory was a Mom…which meant that Ebony was the Dad..and they were not the same sex.  Ebony needed to go in his own cage…male rabbits will eat baby bunnies.  Ivory was keeping him at bay…or entertaining him…who really knows what rabbits think.

We went to town and got stuff to build a new hutch…one with an insulated nesting box so the babies would have a chance. One died…as I recall there were 12 little bunnies, they are born hairless or nearly so and look all wrinkled and funny.

We moved the hutches to a spot under the low hanging branches of the Spruce trees where they would be protected by the branches and out of the north wind.  I would have to feed everyone all winter.

Do you know that a rabbits gestation peroid is about 31 days?  

Seems that while Ivory was keeping  Ebony away from her babies…she had been entertaining him…in 31 days we had another batch of rabbits…14 this time if I recall correctly. We had to modify Ebony’s hutch to give him space on one half of the hutch and moved the month old baby rabbits to the other half of his hutch until they could be moved back in with Ivory after the new babies were old enough. 

I fed rabbits all winter and took them fresh water three times a day.   They were tame rabbits and loved to be petted.

At that time we had four Shelties, Misty, Moses, Captain and G’Day Mate.  I taught them not to chase rabbits.  “No chasing bunnies” Oh they wanted too…but they wanted to please me more….and hated being scolded.

G’Day Mate, Ebony, Me and Miss Misty watching from outside of the fence.

The dogs were curious about the bunnies but left them alone.  You see my plan was to release some of the bunnies and find homes for some…my sister Julie took quite a few.

The release went well. My husband had done the math…once he told me how many rabbits I would have to take care of the next winter I knew I had to release them.

We had bunnies all colors, black, white, and every shade of brown.  I fed them morning and night…they would come running out of the woods when I hollered for them.  A few found the way into the neighbors gardens.  Arvilla once said “Funny we have never had problems with rabbits eating our gardens but now we do.”  Rabbits were everywhere that summer, the tourists thought it was great and little kids would run after them…some of the retired guests would see how many bunnies they could count in a day.

A number of years later when we moved back here just about a half a mile from the old resort we drove in the driveway and there was a bunny that greeted us.  Far Guy said “I bet that is a relative of one of your bunnies.”  I got out of the vehicle and just talked to the bunny, it stood up on its haunches and listened. (Perhaps I am a rabbit whisperer)

So you see the rabbits that feed under the bird feeders in our yard probably look like regular domestic rabbits…because they are relatives of the rabbits I accidently raised.

To this day I cannot understand why rabbits are not raised in poor countries for food.  I found rabbits really easy to raise.

Wistful Wednesday: The Boat House

The Boat House at the resort on Straight Lake.

Last summer.

Not the greatest photo with the sunspot.  But you get the idea.   It has a stone foundation.

In 1989

We used to keep the lawn mowed close to the lake.  I almost went into the lake a few times with the lawn mower making a circle on the bottom of that hill.

The steps on the left are still looking good.  Far Guy and I used railroad ties and rebar and leveled the dirt between the ties with a shovel.  It took us most of an afternoon.  We were younger then.

Most structures cannot be this close to the lake anymore.  This boat house was most likely built in the 1920’s.

The downstairs was used for storage of life jackets, tackle, extra anchors, boat cleaning supplies and a tub of night crawlers that we harvested ourselves and sold on the honor system.

The upstairs was a great place to sit and play cards or look at the lake.  We had many tables and chairs, a ping pong table, a pop machine, and a couple of pin ball machines and bookshelves with books and games.  If we had a gathering..like a confirmation or graduation or wedding shower if it was in late spring, summer or early fall it was a perfect place to host a gathering when you were going to feed a whole bunch of people.

Lady’s Slippers 75 and counting

Dave invited us down to see the Lady’s Slippers.  He lives on the property that we used to own…Pine Springs Resort…it is no longer a resort but a private home.

Far Guy found these Lady Slippers in June way back in about 1987, there were two blooms that year, peaking up around a log on the log pile.

We built a fence to protect them and from then on we have enjoyed seeing the clump get larger and larger.

 

I counted at least 75 blooms this year.  2 blooms that first year and 29 years later there are over 75…amazing!

They are just beautiful!  Her real name is Cypripedium reginae or Showy Lady’s Slipper the State Flower of Minnesota.

Here is one view of the lake.

I kinda miss living on the lake, Far Guy does not.  We met many wonderful people from all walks of life and it was a good place to raise teenage girls.  Neither of us miss cleaning  cottages, and Far Guy doesn’t miss the 90 mile one way compute to work.  He commuted daily for just about ten years.

 

Resort 1987

In the Fall of 1986 we were really restless, although we liked living “in town” we didn’t feel it was the best place to raise teenagers. We lived in Moorhead back then and Far Guy worked in Fargo for the North Dakota Air National Guard and was often gone TDY (Temporary Duty).  Our house was small a two bedroom one bath with a huge yard.

We began to look at properties outside of town…rural properties. The girls were 11 and 14.  Trica wanted a horse so country life would be a plus for her, Jennifer just wanted to live in town forever and go to the local 7-11/Stop n Go Store every day.

One day we got a phone call with an interesting offer.  Would we be interested in buying an old resort that had been struck by a tornado and was in total disrepair?  My parents owned a resort on the same lake and were not interested.  Oh my, it sounded good and the price was right.   We knew the people from Indiana that had a mechanics lien on the property…they just wanted their original loan amount back…if we didn’t want the resort they wouldn’t pursue the Quit Claim process. After a few minutes of discussion we said “yes.”

One day in the summer of 1987 we sat in the Lawyer’s Office to finalize the papers for the sale.  The Attorney asked Koons and Elsie if they were sure that they wanted to sell the property that they had acquired the day before for the same amount that they had tied up in it ….I guess it seemed too good to be true to the lawyer.  And possibly a little strange as our house had not sold yet so the bulk of the down payment was in the form of an IOU when the house sold. The lawyer asked again if they were sure, he said “Their home may never sell.”  Koons and Elsie said “Well it is a nice home, sooner or later someone will buy it.”

The house sold two months later.  We needed those two months to do repairs.

The first day we went to the resort, Jennifer was stung by a couple of wasps.  We had to break into one of the cottages through a window so we would have a place to clean up and sleep overnight.  Water had to be carried in and there were several outhouses.

The first morning we were there Trica came out of the cottage and asked “Where is this out house?”  we pointed the way.  She walked down the road to the outhouse opened the door and peered inside…she closed the door and walked back to the cottage to wake up her little sister to accompany her.

July 27 1987  The house on the right…painted three different colors of green…the Fish Cleaning House is straight ahead. There were trees from the tornado laying all over the place.

We had two Shetland Sheepdogs  “Shelties” back then Misty and Moses. Misty is down by the end of that log and Moses is running to meet her.   They would discover that fish washed up on shore were wonderful to roll in. In this photo is a cottage on the left, the old shower house/bath house and two outhouses.

It was a few days until we could have the power company come out and get us some electricity.

Far Guy and his Dad having a lunch break.  The resort gave Marvin something to do in his retirement, there was always something that needed fixing or a granddaughter that needed a ride home after a school activity.

Getting water was the worst…the resort sat vacant for a number of years.  Mice had fallen in the well and had to be fished out…not a job for the weak stomached.  Once the sand point was pulled up, replaced and the mice removed, the well was sanitized and tested so that we knew the water was drinkable.

Once we had water the next step was getting rid of sewage…the resort had a lift station that lifted the sewage to a drain field…my other baby brother and Far Guy took on that crappy job.

Having electricity, water and sewer were a big start to making the place livable.  My Mother told us that the house was so bad it should be bulldozed down…yet we managed to live there for nine years.  Lots of elbow grease and some paint made a big difference.

Far Guy would commute 180 miles round trip for nine years.   He would go through two cars.  The girls would adjust to country/lake living…although the adjustments are never easy when you move to a new house and a new school.  The resort would not officially open until the summer of 1988.

Stone Masons

A long time ago a stone mason built a stone fireplace at our old resort, it was falling apart, we repaired it the best we could.   It was a beautiful fireplace with a metal door and a tall chimney.  We put wire racks above the fire box.  It would roast a few marshmallows or fry up a couple of hot dogs.  I must have an old photo of it someplace.
I found one!

Far Guy’s Dad Marvin fixing a picnic table/ bench…you can see someone has started a fire in the outdoor fireplace…I think Far Guy is back behind the fireplace breaking up some small sticks of wood…or goofing off. Photo taken by me in August 1989 Pine Springs Resort, Osage Township, Becker County Minnesota.

The whole foundation of the boat house at the resort was stone.  We think that a stone mason stayed and worked at the resort and the surrounding area in the 1920’s.  Some of the driveways at the resort had stone walls…right outside our home was about a three foot high stone wall…it was a great place for snakes so I never sat there.
Arvilla and Carl had a stone piece in their yard.  They moved here in 1953 and the structure was there when they moved in.  ( Carl and Arvilla lived right across the road from the resort. Jolynn and Steve live there now.)

Arvilla always planted it with Red Geraniums…and Jolynn is carrying on the tradition.

I think this might have been a wishing well at one time…or a fountain or a bird bath/flower planter.  The top has been repaired.  It was more than likely built in the 1920’s to 1930’s.

Over at Tamarac Wildlife Refuge one of the picnic areas has a stone wall.

Over at Linnell Cemetery there are stone walls at the main entrance.

There are a few other places where old stone work can be seen.  I should probably photograph them all.  One of the nearby “estates” has a stone porch and several stone buildings….I suppose in the name of history I could get myself invited over for coffee.  

Wistful Wednesday: July 1989

If I had kept a blog back in 1989 I would know who is in this photo.  But since I didn’t even know about blogging back then I will have to guess.

These are either my baby brothers children or my other baby brothers children…or a mixture of both. Three from one family and two kids from another.  My best guess is  from left to right Logan, Stacey, Ben, Kirk and Josh.  But the little girl could be Ellen but I don’t remember her with a pony tail.

July 4 1989 at Pine Springs Resort 

That old stump with the red tractor seat was a great place to sit without getting all full of sand.  Then the stump rotted and had to be pulled out.

The swimming beach had a short dock (far left) for wet kids to sit on, no boats were allowed in this area, it wasn’t a half bad spot to swim for little kids.  Our girls always hated the weeds, so they usually took inner tubes or the canoe out in the deeper areas.  On several really warm days I was known to walk right on in clothes and all. 

There was a cottage right on the beach with a deck where you could sit and watch kids in the water… when the cottage was not occupied it was one of my favorite places to sit and watch the goings on out on the lake, and escape for just a little while.

Update from my baby brother: Logan Ellen Josh Ben and Kirk

Wistful Wednesday: Pine Springs and Mowing

Years ago 1986 to 1995 we owned a small fishing resort.  It had eight cottages and a campground.  Far Guy worked in Fargo and commuted 92 miles one way 184 miles everyday.  I ran the resort. The girls were in 9th grade and 6th grade when we moved them out of the city to the boonies.

Mowing was a big deal.  The grounds had to be well groomed.  The girls spent a fair amount of time on the mower..as did I.

We had an old Toro riding mower that was almost worthless.  Sometimes it ran and sometimes it didn’t.  Of course we had a push mower too.   The hillside was a bugger and was best mowed by making downhill  attacks and then circling around to the top of the hill again and again.  Far Guy would mow it sitting half on and half off the tractor seat.

Mowing was best done on turnover day which was Saturday or when everyone was out fishing or off to town.  I was known for trying to drive up power poles.  I tried to drive up trees too…especially the two times I was in a cast..once from a surgery and once for broken bones in my foot.  Sometimes I would take off to mow without my crutches…one time I ran out of gas and crawled to one of the docks.  The girls never noticed that I was missing, the dogs kept me company until Far Guy came home and asked “Where is your Mother?”

One year I had it with old junky mowers.  I called Far Guy and said I was going to drive that Toro off the dock into the lake.  He said “You better not, someone will fine you for polluting the lake.”

I went to the bank and got a loan for a new riding mower.  I think I needed $1,200 to purchase it.  I had to see the loan officer ( he and I graduated from high school together).  He asked me what I had for collateral other than projected income from the resort.  I said “I have a 1985 Ford Bronco II and two registered Shetland Sheepdogs.”  He wanted to know what Far Guy had too.. I said “Wait a minute, I am the one that wants the loan. Whatever his income is doesn’t count.”  I got the loan, and paid it off in three months.   Cash flow is sometimes a problem with a summer business. 

Mulching blades, electric start…it was a real honey of a mower.  It had a leaf bagger attachment and every fall I would spend at least 7 days picking up leaves.

The resort is private property now, one fellow lives there.  The cottages have all been sold and moved elsewhere.  Now we live just a half a mile down the road.