Fish time

July 21, 2007 (5:57am)
38º F, Clear, No wind.

Good morning,

Finally moved the truck and went for a ride to a "fish-fry" last night. Margriet found in the phone book an ad for one of the little restaurants in Alpha had one. Decided to give it a try, only to find it was closed. So .... we took a new to us back road to Crystal Falls and Fob’s for their fish-fry. We at too much, but it was good! Had to help my Woman finish her portion too - again. Afterwards we headed for the dime store to pick up some quilt backing. It too was closed. Oh well!

One business in Crystal Falls, called Da’ Bear, we want to stop in at someday. It is in an old, large house which had a big tree (about 30-36" in diameter) die in the front yard. A chainsaw carver carved the standing trunk into ha huge bear, about 10' or so tall. Well done too. The interesting part of the store is that they sell Chicago hotdogs, ice cream, and like that, along with guns, knives, goat milk soap, candles, and other assorted items. Somehow guns and ice cream don’t go together in my head. Will have to stop and "scope" it out. Sounds like it is a Mom and Pop store with part of it her stuff and the other part his stuff. Will report later on our findings.

The back road was a very picturesque one winding through the hills, with some wonderful views of the valleys and forests. One thing that cant be said about this area isn’t pretty. Coming into the southwest corner of Crystal Falls, reminded me of some of the areas in the south, especially when I was much younger as a kid. That part of Crystal Falls has many older, smaller homes "stuck" into the trees. It looks much like streets were put into a forest and none of the trees cut down, then houses built under the trees. Some of the houses are in some disrepair, as were those I saw as a kid, but far fewer. The major difference is that the area is much cleaner than in the south and sand has replaced the red clay. It was a nice detour to take.

Margriet is getting her "corner" in order. Even had the sewing machine up and running yesterday. That was after several tries to find just the right spot and direction. Guess for now, or at least until a different idea comes along, it will stay were it is. She has been repairing an old quilt my Mom made many years ago. I think she finished the repair and has hand washed it. It probably will end up on our bed soon. It has been a long time since I have seen it on a bed anywhere. Margriet is also working on some other things Mom hadn’t finished. Occasionally she will come to a place where she needs something, but doesn’t know which box it is in, so the project gets shelved for a bit. In our travels, she also bought some needlework projects, reflecting the place of purchase. She found some of them while moving and has taken a couple of them out to work one. She has gotten to be a busy lady. Keeps her out of the pubs too! ;-)

I found a couple of pin cherry trees nest to the Hobbit Hus the other day. I am sure there are more around, but have not looked for them yet. The cherries are not ripe yet, but they do make good jelly. Maybe next year when we are set up better, there will be some jelly in jars on the shelving in the basement. I did pick a handful of wild raspberries yesterday and shared them with Margriet. They were very good and maybe they will have some place on our table too. I have to go out into the woods and see how the blackberries are doing too. Suspect there are some tasty things lurking around here.

The realtor has been after me for some time to write a testimonial of our experiences during the purchase of Guds Nordtre for their advertising propaganda. I said I would, the have put it off, not really knowing how to write it. Yesterday I finally got to it and wrote it. It really is strange to sit in front of a blank sheet of paper (alright, a blank computer screen) and not know what to put on it. Normally I have things figured out before attempting to write something. Eventually the words did come and the task was completed. Emailed it to Karla and I guess it fit the bill, at least from the response I got back. They were very satisfied. Lord knows, I pestered them a lot during the process. We really did have a very good experience with Yooperland and consider the folks there very good friends. Not only that, but their business is a Christian business, following Christian principles. Like that a big bunch.

I really have to get working on getting the shop in order. Too much make do situations going on at the moment. That is one project of many for me to do. Seems every time one project is finished, three more pop up to take its place. I know ho my Dad felt when he retired. He had a 2-Do list of things he wanted/needed to do. When he died the list was longer! My 2-DO seems to be taking the same path. Sure don’t get bored around here.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris ><>