August 31, 2010

The promised storm seems to have postponed itself until another day. I was up at 6:30 and the skies were full of clouds, the air was heavy and of course the frickin' mosquitoes made it impossible to enjoy my last morning on the deck. It would have been a great morning to sit outside...the temp was about 70 degrees and it was quiet on the deck...unlike the noise from the A/C that was running (loudly) all night long! So back inside I went. We had coffee and muffins, cleaned up, locked up and packed up - looking forward to our next visit.

On the way out, I was in the midst of a photo opportunity not to be ignored, yet almost missed! There we a couple of fawns on the road that sprang into the dense trees just as I got my camera out...however, their mom was waiting on the side and posed as we drove by. (damn fence)

I grabbed a couple scenery shots before we hit the highway.

And not to be forgotten are the memorable quotes of the weekend:

* No Bill Nye, tell me!

* Yes, please tell me all about surface area and the difference between a couch and a sofa!

* What are you writing, huh?

* I would sleep better if this couch was just 6" wider!

* Dropping names like you know 'em!

* Someone's here!

* What??? No visitors?

* When we win the lottery!

* Mas! ♥

August 30, 2010

After dreams/nightmares of modern day pirates (argh!), wave runners and mazes, I was exhausted when I finally got out of bed. I guess i should not have gotten up at 2:30 am for that salami sandwich snack! By 9:00 am I had two cups of coffee and Carlo had a broken tractor - seriously broken...broken enough to have to buy a new one!

We had our summer snack of fresh corn and tomato sandwiches - gosh, I really love the summer months for the fresh veggies.

While waiting for our tractor excursion, I spotted a couple of bugs on the front porch. It looks like one died while trying to eat the other one...obviously, that one is dead too!

We dropped the broken tractor off down by Steve and headed to Tractor Supply and that's when Carlo became the proud owner of an 18HP tractor. Almost the same as the old one: 42" double blade and red in color, just a bigger engine. When we got back he was off on his new mower cutting the grass.

I picked up some branches - the never ending chore - and then settled in for some OLTL. When it was over, I helped Carlo clear some brush and branches down by the river and even cut a tree. We still have 19 more to cut! It made a huge difference to clean up the shore line. We even found out the a 10' x 3' section of shore had fallen into the river...not good.

After our much needed showers, we had an O'Wich smorgasbord of all our leftovers. We went to bed on the early side, pooped for our lumber jacking day!

August 29, 2010

I had a crappy night of sleep, but certainly not due to the air temp - most likely it was the Pollo Jalisco! After tossing and turning, I was finally out of bed by 9:00 and enjoying a cup of coffee - it tastes so much better when you have such a great view. I even watched the turkeys scarf down tons of feed that was around the tree. They were so involved in their meal that I barely frightened them when I opened the door!

I took some panoramic photos of the property, which is a super awesome feature of my neat little camera! I need to work on the joining of the frames prior to the camera stitching them together!

I wanted to check out the strange new formation of the sand bars in the river, so Carlo decided we would drive down to the river. I was worried about the soft ground but Carlo pointed out how we would be kicking up so many mosquitoes if we walked - so driving was the best option. Our trip to the river didn't last long even with the SSS coverage. I took some pictures just as the lunch bell was ringing. On the mosquito menu: Human Feet and Legs with a side of Arms and Backs. We're outta here! No food for you!

We spent the early part of the afternoon at the Taste of Portage. It was the last day and many of the vendors were already gone - even the Lions Club; who was serving Alligator on a Stick - gee, too bad we missed them??? Yep, too bad!!! We indulged in Pulled Pork and Polish from Po' Boy (Rio) and Pizza and Chicken Roller from Bud's (Portage). We ate and listened to a live band; Kristy and the B's. For country they were pretty good. We shared a Funnel Cake and took some photos before heading back to the cabin.

It was a fun afternoon and it was great to get out and do something different. I wouldn't be telling a lie if I said we enjoyed being back inside with the A/C on, since the temp went up to 92 degrees with over 70% humidity. We watched a movie, I napped, and then it was time for Karen's giant meatballs and gravy! Yummy!

August 28, 2010

At 2:00 in the afternoon I was enjoying the beautiful sunshine, the cool air, gentle breezes, peace and quiet and of course...O'Wich! We grilled hot dogs for lunch and watched the hummingbirds frolic around the feeder. What a great follow up to having worked last night - I wish every day could be like this!

Q: Where do hummingbirds live?

A: In nests...I doubt if they're the burrowing birds of North America.

There must be something in the air with the new neighbors~we talked about "Dripping Rain", "Couching Tiger" and the "Pink Pelican". It might have been a flamingo, but I don't care for flamingos! Too bad there was no one nearby to impress! I got in a nap until dinner and then we drove to find the missing An Siope Eire - think we found it! Then we went to LaTolteca - the food was great as always, but the service sucked - we got the new guy! By 9:00 we were back at O'Wich and glad the day was over - time for a restful night of sleep!

August 20 – August 23, 2010

Friday: 12:30 marked the time we finally got to O’Wich with only stopping for gas – I am ready for cliffhanger Friday episodes of OLTL and GH. I got in a short nap and then we headed out to shop. I went to Wal-Mart to pick up stuff for the outing tomorrow and a pocket size camera while Carlo went to the grocery store for beer, wine and roasted chickens. Divide and conquer! Within the hour, the heat and the humidity, we headed back to O’Wich with the only double purchase being ice cream! Not a bad choice for doubling up on! I cleaned the chicken and it rained…no it poured for an hour, with lots of thunder and weather warnings…again?! We watched TV and hit the sack. It’s so hard to concentrate when I’m tired!

Saturday: I believe we slept through the rest of the storms and glad to have missed them. We were up by 7:30. I had coffee and set up my new camera ~ did I mention it is blue with a matching case??!! Carlo went for ice and I enjoyed a burger from last week. Carlo had one yesterday but today he described it as; “like a meatball or a meatloaf. They're too thick.” Of course it reminded me of my parent’s grilled burgers and it is a known fact that the Listermann family is a bunch of carnivores! Best burger ever – secret ingredients: grated onion (Karen) and A-1 (me). We are taking Chicken Rollers to Debbie and John’s and if “the sun comes up and dries up all the rain,” they are going to take us on a pontoon ride on Jordan Lake along with Carol and Phil. I really hope the sun comes up – don’t care if it dries anything out – just comes up! Carlo fogged in hopes of keeping the heavily populated mosquitoes at bay since they are up 800 times from last year…no lie! We made our rollers and headed out by 12:45. We had a great visit and went on the boat tour. It was overcast but comfortable. After the cruise, we munched on appetizers, visited some more and had a tasty BBQ. We had a very nice afternoon and headed back around 7:00.When we hit O, we were blocked from our travels by a group of Guinea Hens that escaped from their coop. We offered to help the owners corral them but they were just about under control by then. Our evening was filled with peace and quiet and we were exhausted from all of the fresh air. Say goodnight Gracie…g’night, Gracie! Who's Gracie?

Sunday: At 6:00 it finally was down to 64 degrees outside. The tops of the trees were covered with fog – as was the river and it had an eerie look to it. Now add the noises that sound like “caw, caw, caw” – which were coming from somewhere along the river, and you’ve got yourself the setting of an Alfred Hitchcock flick!

We haven’t seen much wildlife this weekend other than a few hummingbirds. Even the bird feeders are in tact and not yet “wiped out.” We put some scraps by the trunk and the only things missing are the cherry tomatoes. We even put the treats in a handy traveling tray for the convenience of our patrons!

After napping the morning away, we went to find An Siope Eire – it’s an Irish shop in Portage…or so we thought. We followed the given directions and ended up in a residential area with only houses. Since that was a bust, we went to Do It Best for seed and then stopped for corn and tomatoes. When we got back we ate corn and tomato sandwiches…fantastic! We delivered a tray of rollers to Carla and Tony and saw the changes made to the ‘once was Rick’s place.’ After a short visit there, we headed to visit Betty and Paul. They gave us some garden goodies and then we went back to the cabin for some UN-people time and bottle of Arbor Mist. By 8:00, we were hungry and Carlo ran for a Bud’s special. Can’t believe it’s already time to pack up to head home in the morning. At least we’ll be back on Saturday and hopefully the heat, humidity and mosquitoes will be gone or down so we can get some outside work done!

Monday: We started the day off with a lazy morning watching a woodchuck hit the feed pile. Then we got busy fixing the windows, cleaning and getting things into the shed so we could head home. F-I-V-E more days!