Out and about

Saturday we ventured out with Ranger Blue to recycle paper and plastic stuff.  We took a detour on the way home. 

 As you can see everything is shades of brown. 

soon we had snow and a bit of ice on the old trail

Then snow covered.  There were three areas with trees across the trail...we either drive over them if they are small...or around.  We saw Trumpeter Swans out in the old corn fields and some ducks down on Shell River. 

It was about 60 F yesterday or 15 C eh!  Not much sunshine but Ranger Blue has heat so we were very comfortable. 

We live a hermit lifestyle back here in the woods.  Our only interaction with people in the outside world is at medical appointments or the grocery store.  This week for excitement we had delivery people that delivered the recliner and the Fed X driver who dropped stuff off at the front door.  I did speak with my siblings on the phone and of course Jen and Miss Paige.  Late in the afternoon Saturday my other baby brother, she who sees robins first and their grandson Jordan stopped by for a visit out on the patio!

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Ranger Blue

 Far Guy got Ranger Blue out of the garage and we went for a ride. 

It snowed.  Not much maybe an inch of snow but there is some ice under that snow so it must have rained first. 

Fun to be back on the trails again.

The road home.  

It was fun to get out and about...we didn't see anyone else while we were out...no people, no traffic, no dogs. 

Sunday was a quiet day...Naan Bread Pizza was for supper. 

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A Wildlife

Yes we live a wildlife. 

Picking tomatoes every day and sharing them with others. 

  Painting the Christmas ornaments, Far Guys says there are 109 ornaments.  

We got our Covid Boosters Friday afternoon  So far so good...but as I write this it has just been five hours. So who knows. 

We went for a Ranger Blue ride the other night.  My hip is not as sore as it was so we got to have a longer ride.   I still have some pain, but I am doing the exercises and the whirlpool and heated rice bags.   I hope PT can fit me in their schedule next week...I am on the call list. 

More Doctor appointments have been scheduled...seems like it never ends. 

Far Guy got a call from his Doctors office warning him of an increase in covid hospital admissions, the covid wards in Fargo, ND are open again.  They told him to isolate and stay out of crowds.  We are practically hermits already. 

A fawn with fading spots.  The fawns are slowly turning a darker color.  Their Mama is really dark.

A Grouse on the back road...she is living right behind our house...safe except for the Fox that is a frequent visitor.  Sure hope there is more than one Grouse...we have not seen one in this area for a long time. 

Such is our wildlife:)

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May basket delivery

 Last night we went for a Ranger Blue ride to deliver May Baskets to neighbors.  We have some to deliver to in town children today.  It was a nice evening for a ride. 

Only one May Basket had to be hung on a bag from the door. 

Opie and Teeter barked at us ...the horses paid no attention. 

Fun to see that our area is greening up after the rains. 

Hope you all had a fun May Day! 

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Saturday stuff

We had an eventful morning.  We loaded up Ranger Blue with recycles and garbage for the transfer station...on the way there we encountered blue and red flashing lights.  It was a Conservation Officer...he wanted us to turn on the headlights of the Ranger, he also wants us to display larger letters of our license number ( the place where we bought the Ranger said ours were just fine) and he wants us to drive on the shoulder of the road.  He ran Far Guy's Drivers License.  No ticket just a warning.   Our Ranger is street legal ( it has mirrors and turn signals)...so driving on Township and County roads is permitted....in my opinion he was a little picky.   

 Far Guy finished the Christmas letter, soon they will be tucked into the cards and mailed. We ran out of ink so we made a trip to town.  Town was really busy...we grabbed our printer ink, milk and light bulbs and left the store as quickly as possible.  I think we stood in line longer than we shopped.  After our printing was finally complete we had a nap.  Our weather is cold. 

We had chicken alfredo and green beans for supper.  Far Guy watched some Hockey in the evening.  

I watched two very good movies yesterday.  Love actually...I enjoyed it so much I may watch it again.  Over on tubi there was a show called Finders Fee that was written and directed by Survivor's Jeff Probst that I also found interesting. 

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The Hills

 Now that Deer Hunting is over we ventured back into the Smoky Hills. 

There was ice on the beaver pond.

Proof of beaver life...the shrub on the front right of the photo has been trimmed recently.  It was a really nice Ranger Blue ride.

The road through the hills is in great shape.  We did see two hunters.  Not sure what they were hunting. 

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Fixed!

 My other baby brother took a look at Ranger Blue and figured out what the problem was.  A ground wire that was not installed properly at the factory.   He got the wire held down with a nut and it is good to go.  Many thanks to my other baby brother!

We went for a short ride to charge up the battery.

Far Guy and I have really missed our Ranger rides.

It was just past sunset when we went for a ride. 

The weather was beautiful yesterday, earlier in the day we delivered some old photos to some of my cousins and some Christmas ornaments.  It was 49 F or 10 C eh and very windy late in the afternoon.  Nice weather for mid November!

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Time goes on

 Yesterday Far Guy and I put up some No Trespassing signs and we went to recycle. AND just like that the day was over.  Pretty soon the day will be over before we drag ourselves out of bed. 

There was some snow in the air yesterday...if you look real hard you can see some of the glorious white stuff amongst the leaves.  It probably wasn't enough to be called a second snow.

Ranger Blue needs a new battery...so that is a project for today.  I hear it will cost just one arm and one leg or 69 skeins of my favorite yarn.

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Trail Ride

 We went for a trail ride with my baby brother and his bride yesterday.  

After the rain and a frost last week the golden colors are very vibrant.  We are pretty much past peak but the golden color was lovely.

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Fall color and a mission

 Yesterday we went for a trail ride.  We had a purpose.  Far Guy gathered together some black dirt a small shovel and a hoe.  We thought we had grass seed, but looked high and low for it.  Fortunately my baby brother had some.   My Father's grave site needed a bit of grass seed and since the weather is now rainy it is a good time to plant some seed.  We can travel to the cemetery using forest trails. 

The road work that started in June is now finished and the road is open.  We can now go to Detroit Lakes or Fargo without going on the detour.  The vehicles you see all have trailers that have ATV's or UTV's for riding the trails.

The leaves are peak and in some places past peak. 

The trail up to the cemetery.

We accomplished our mission. We met twenty ATV/UTV's along the way enjoying the colorful leaves. 

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Evening Trail Ride

 We went for a short trail ride. 

It was a nice end to our busy day.  We worked on Christmas woodcarvings and we now have 80 ready to paint.  I mulched leaves in the neighborhood and along our road and the trails through the wild gardens. It was a very dusty job. 

We got to watch the sunset.

This time of year the sun goes down really fast. 

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Area Happenings

 We went for a Ranger Blue ride last evening. 

Clouds and sun were interesting.

A old stand of pines was logged off. I wonder if the neighborhood bear used to live there.

Titus wanted us to stop and visit...so we did.  He loves Far Guy.  Titus is part Border Collie and part Great Pyrenees...he is a tall boy.

Sunset over the trees and the bean field.

Deer in the bean field, the bean field to the South of us was being harvested...note the dust going West and away from us.  

It was a nice evening out and about.

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Rainbows

 We went for a Ranger Blue ride and delivered some jelly to the neighbors.   I counted my Chokecherry jelly jars...32 are full.  So no need to pick chokecherries to make chokecherry juice this year for jelly. It was not a great year for Chokecherries as it was a bit dry. 

As we made our way around the "block" we got to see a rainbow.  The rain missed us and went South. 

If you have a real good imagination you can see the double bow off to the right.

Far Guy has Tilly all polished up and ready to go to a car show this weekend. 

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Out and about

We went for a Ranger Blue ride.  Looks like a beaver has moved in down at the Dead Beaver Area...unless he has been trapped.  The river is up a bit. 

The snow is melting slowly.   It was a great evening for a ride.  We could smell smoke as soon as we left our house...we confirmed that it was stumps burning a mile west of us.

They had all winter to burn the darn things...I suppose they will smolder for days. 

We are happy to put this week of appointments behind us and look forward to staying out of Clinics for a few days. 

Far Guy is still struggling with shortness of breath and some congestion...I have one eye on him. He had lung function tests this week and is at 20% lung function.  He has been worse and he has been better.  One day at a time. 

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Into the Hills

 Sunday was a decent day...it wasn't snowing but it had snowed...and it snowed yesterday too and it seems to be the word for the whole week. 

Anyway we went to recycle and then went for a trail ride into the nearby hills.  Ranger Blue has a great heater and as long as you wear warm boots you could spend all day trail riding!   Ranger Blue will do fine in some snow but when the drifts get too deep it is time to stay on well traveled township roads.   My baby brother has tracks for his Ranger so he can go anywhere he wants all winter! 

We checked out the road to the tower and then we went over to the beaver  area.

Monday I spent 20 minutes in the Post Office mailing Christmas Ornaments so they are on the way.   The roads were slippery.  We got a couple of inches of new white stuff...I do believe that Winter is here. 

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Thursday Things

 Grocery pickup was uneventful.  Everything was available...it was a miracle!  I have noticed that everything is still going up in price a bit every week. 

Ranger Blue is back from its service call...oil change and a loose cable.   It was only gone 24 hours this time...that is most likely a miracle too. 

I worked on Christmas Cards...it takes me a couple of hours to watercolor five cards.  That will keep me out of trouble for many evenings or rainy afternoons.

It spit rain on Thursday so I was not able to paint the garage door, but I have the correct roller now!  

Elbow Lake in Smoky Hills.  There are many lakes named Elbow Lake in Minnesota.  I looked it up there are 7 lakes that boast the Elbow Lake name.   The lake name that wins a prize is Long Lake as there are 27 lakes named Long Lake in Minnesota. Not sure how people keep them straight!

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Pretty Leaves

 The leaves are not yet prime but they will be in the next week.  

We went for a Ranger Blue ride before supper....it gets dark earlier every evening.  By the way we made pork chops and along with them we tried the corn on the cob that we froze about a month ago (some husks removed and vacuum sealed)...we are not a fan....it tasted like husks and cobs.

Anyways...we saw a large bird most likely a hawk and a bunch of turkeys.  No deer and no bear. 

We enjoyed the time away in the woods.  Only met one other couple out and about. 

It will most likely freeze on Wednesday morning ...early Tuesday morning it was 35 F. 

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Weekend Activities

 We went for a couple of trail rides with my other baby brother and she who sees robins first.  I won't explain why they were both opening their doors going down the trail.

One night as we were returning home the moon was coming up. 

In other activities, we worked on the Christmas Ornaments.   I have decided how to paint them and have completed a sample.   It will work.   I made a list of the things I need to complete that project.  Far Guy is not done carving yet...and I can paint them later in the Fall when the weather outside gets rotten.  

I designed the outside of this years Christmas Card.  I have yet to work out the inside.   I ordered card stock and envelopes and made a list of what I need to finish the cards...a few brushes and some water color pencils.   I hope to have everything in process so that I can put them together during the craft retreat in October. 

We trimmed some branches that were bugging me when I was mowing the lawn.  I hate the ones that I have to push out of the way with my arm! Far Guy and my other baby brother put new mulching blades on my lawn mower ...so when the leaves begin to fall I can mulch them.   I mulch about ten different times before the leaves are all out of the trees. 

We have a very busy week ahead of us. Lots of appointments and places we have to be.  Next week isn't looking much better. 

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Bears and wolves oh my

 We went for a trail ride.  Packed a lunch and spent the afternoon out on the trails.  Saw a bear crossing the road in front of us. 

It was in an area like this...he/she was running pretty fast.  No photo of the bear.  Yes the bear was faster than me and the camera.

Then we took off toward Coleman Lake.  The DNR has snares set in the area for wolf research.  There is a sign warning pet owners. 

We finally made it to Coleman Lake

Two adult swans and two juveniles

No additional bears or wolves were spotted. 

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Bass Lake

 We took the trails over to Bass Lake one evening.

We saw a partridge getting gravel from the road ( no photo), a turtle looking to lay some eggs in the road and a few deer when we got closer to home. 

Can you find the turtle?  She was about a half a mile from a lake. 

I believe we saw six deer that evening.

Yesterday Far Guy wood carved and I sprayed Poison Ivy and Thistle.  Freezer food was supper...Far Guy had Seafood Gumbo with Wild Rice and I had Chili.  Nice to have individual servings frozen to warm up when we have a night off of cooking!  The Butcher Shop in town has really good pork chops we had those one night with sweet potatoes and green beans.  I seem to have lost my cooking mojo....I hope Far Guy doesn't lose his:)

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