May 16th & 17th

We are finally heading  back to Port Wing... with our front step project ..adding the deck and Pergola took up quite a few weekends!

Steve took Wednesday off because there were already 2 guys taking Sunday.. He called his buddy Dan to let him know we were going to be there and invited him to join us.. Dan is a Widower and has been on disability for quite a few years ...he worked with Steve at General Mills.

There was still a detour between St Cloud and Foley...it wasn't that bad though.. We stopped in Mora at the unclaimed freight..Steve needed a gas can and Murphy needed a leash.. found the leash but no gas can... we went down the road to the Fleet Store and found one there.

We stopped at Cassidy's in Hinckley for lunch and then off to Port Wing..we took the new route we tried last time...it did save us time and is a very nice drive.

It was Sunny and warm when we arrived ..the trailer was good... got everything unloaded and then I sat in the sun.
Danny showed up around 5.. we sat outside and had a great time visiting... everyone had a late lunch so no one was interested in eating again...
Dan and Steve put out the Canopy ..I helped with technical advise!!
during the night it rained and was really windy...the canopy fared pretty good...looks like a tare was starting though.

Got up at 6..slept well...even with Murphy in the bed..

Beth stopped on her way to work..they hadn't gone to Duluth the night before to see his Dad because his Uncle had to leave early because of a fire that was close to his house in Ely. So they decided to go after work today to see his Dad...Ray was in Duluth to have the scull piece put back from the surgery last September to relieve the pressure from his aneurysm...

we went over to the shed to get the lawn mower... they put the battery on... got a little arking going on... Dan told the story about the time a battery blew up all over him... I stepped back...

they got it started and hooked up the little trailer..put my weed whip into it...and off Dan went mowing a path to the trailer.

Dan loves to mow so it was so nice for Steve... we compromised on how much of the acreage to mow.. I did some weed whipping... not sure what Steve did...

Murphy and took a walk in the woods looking for Chaga Mushroom... none found...I did find out that I was confusing Poplar with Birch. Steve and Dan explained how to tell them apart so got that straight and went out again.. I found there weren't as many Birch trees on our land.  I did find an interesting Birch tree that Woodpeckers had done an interesting design on. 

 It started raining hard so Dan quit mowing  and we sat under the awning.. it protected us perfectly...there is a larger hole in it but not where we sit...Steve knocked water off of it with a pole and I collected it in a bucket to later use to water the Hostas and Iris I had brought from home.

  No one wanted lunch...they were fine with the Jerky and cheese curds..I made a turkey and cheese on my rice cakes for myself.

My cold is much better today...could it be the creeping Charlie tea?  "Go into the woods and heal yourself"...is my plan for when we move up here.

It didn't take long for the grass to be dry enough to start mowing again so when Dan got busy with that ..I decided to go down to the spot in the Ravine that I had picked out for my  "groto".. I was praying the Rosary and was on the "Resurection of the Lord"   ..  I was suddenly struck by the beauty around me.. this Ravine with fallen trees haphazaredly laying there..rotting and decaying...shelters for the wild animals..new growth coming and the tall strong trees that stand so majestically..everything not touched by human hands... such quiet beauty..

When I finished I noticed Dan had left the mower at the culvert on the driveway ..he had run out of gas... Steve was sleeping so we left for the store to get some.. I mentioned the Fishery and he didn't realize it was right in Port Wing..so we drove by.. they were done working and ready to go home but Beth took us for a tour...Dan was so excited to see it all...the freezers, ovens, racks....he is such a cool guy...finds everything so interesting, his enthusiasm is contagious!

we got home and Dan got back on the mower... the awning had ripped and Steve had the Gorilla duct tape out and was fixing it...Dan stopped and gave him a hand.

It is so nice having Dan around.

I started washing windows...and around 5 I started the grill..I had taken out 1/2# of what I thought ground turkey but it turned out to be pork...so  I added that to the and then thought I would add some of the Jalapeno cheese curds in the center of the patties.. a little surprise for the guys!

I put the potatoes on the grill to bake and Patty and Rex the Lab came up on the 4 wheeler..they had been down to the Flagg River and Rex had been swimming...Murphy was his crabby self and went after him...but Rex was tired and totally ignored him...he layed by Patty with is back to us... good dog.  Carl was trucking and was expected home on Saturday.. so we will miss seeing him - that is the day we are leaving.  She only stayed for one beer and took the anxious Rex home.

The potatoes were almost over done...got the burgers on... I opened a can of baked beans I had picked up at the unclaimed freight ... they were some off brand... they looked pretty lame..the sauce was really pale... the hamburgers turned out great and the guys said the beans tasted good... they are not on my diet so I didn't have any... (that i wasn't sorry about).

The wolves and Coyotes were serenading us as we ate our supper...

We were all tuckered from our full day outside so we "hit the hay" at 9... we could hear thunder so a storm was a coming!