Kids, Lakes, Loons and Pines

Around Here...

Around Here...

I spent some time in our backwoods collecting greens to make some evergreen wreaths. Some of these will adorn our homestead and some, spoiler alert, will soon be sent out to family, as gifts they can enjoy throughout the holiday season.  It was a full afternoon of creating, and I enjoyed getting into the holiday spirit by making these while watching the Thanksgiving Food Network shows. It was a perfect day to complete this creative task.

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Darkness comes early, which is a great opportunity to observe the night sky on clear days.  We recently checked out a high-powered telescope from our local library and we have been enjoying the moon sightings in a magnified way! 

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Winter weather is trying to make its mark. Snow and ice are returning, but at this point, it is still snowing, freezing, and thawing. Soon we will be skiing and on ice, but not quite yet. This morning on a trail run I came across both a frozen pond and open water. 

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This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

First Snow

We were blanketed with our first cumulative snowfall today. It is sticking now, but likely to melt away before it stays for the winter season. This year's first snowfall was a couple of weeks after last year's first snow, which is interesting and fun to compare from year to year. 

I have everything ready. A couple of weeks ago I inventoried and organized hats, mitts, boots, and jackets to make sure that everyone had the sizes they needed. We're all eager and excited for the winter snow sports season. We have fun skiing, snowboarding, skating and fat-tire biking. Those experiences are on our horizon!

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This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

Fall!

Fall colors are in full swing. I have been enjoying opportunities to get out and enjoy the autumn with all of my senses ranging from the sights and smells of the fall leaves to the taste of the first soup of the season indoors. I am enjoying the beauty in each day.

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This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

 

Around Here...

I am enjoying this beautiful time of year by spending time outdoors whenever I can. The gift of flexibility and time during the day is something I appreciate and value. Now in mid-September we have four kids back at school, three kids participating in cross-country, a dad who is home from a successful elk hunting trip, changing leaves, cooler weather, and a blooming garden. Life is good.

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This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

Around Here...

September is here and already the weather has started to shift. Thankfully we have been getting some precipitation that has helped tame the wildfires that have been consuming the attention of our community and keeping hard-working firefighters and all those supporting their efforts in our nearby wilderness areas busy.
August has been a month of wildfire action. There have been clear days with smokey plumes on the horizon from both the wildfires in Canada and a large fire southeast of town.  There have also been a few very smokey days with limited visibility and poor air quality. On my phenology wheel, I was not only was also tracking the expanded acreage of the nearby Greenwood Fire, which forced both road closures and evacuations. Thankfully firefighters are making good progress on containment and it is no longer an imminent threat to homes and cabins. August has also brought garden abundance. And, I must say. I am in a better place with my feelings about my garden space than I was last time I posted. Maybe I just don't enjoy canning pickles as much as I used to. Harvesting and canning garden tomatoes and salsa has been more enjoyable.  I have also been enjoying my flower garden. I am happy to be providing food for pollinators too! 




These last few weeks of August and the start of September felt good. I am where I need and want to be with my family and I am grateful for that with a new beginning to the school year and I look forward to a few more weeks of the season of summer before the fall equinox. 

This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

 

This garden...

This garden...

It is the time of year where I am starting to incorporate canning and preserving into my daily rhythms (along with work, free time, and the activities of my four busy children).

My zone 3 garden is starting to provide much homegrown goodness, which is additional work, but also a gift. Sometimes it can be overwhelming.

It seems like we do nothing in our family in a small way and the size and abundance of our garden seem to be following suit. 

So far I have "put up" salsa, dill and sweet pickles, and grapes (juice). I have also been drying chives (for fall and winter soups) and varieties of calendula flowers (that I will be using in homemade soaps).  I am also enjoying the flowers I have planted and enjoying cut bouquets of zinnias and dahlias indoors.

 

All of these still images reflect the beauty, but if I am totally honest sometimes I just want to throw in the towel. The garden seems too big and all of the work seems like too much. But, then I get in my "groove" and it all works out.  

 

It is all about perspective and timing.

 

So, this is this garden, something that continues both to challenge and ground me this abundant season of the year.

 

Around Here...

Around Here...

Our garden is taking shape. We have zinnias, snapdragons, hollyhocks, marigolds, and dahlia's blooming. In my garden, I am also growing chives, kale, pickling cucumbers, dill, raspberries, grapes, and lavender. 

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We're still raising a flock of hens and enjoying the gifts of eggs that they provide each day. Our girls get time out of their coop each day to free range in our yard and are living a good life here at the end of the road.

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It is time to say farewell to July. This month we've had blueberries, hot and dry weather, wildfires, and lightning storms.  My phenology wheel practice continues to be something that I enjoy that helps me pay attention and track and appreciate the changes and subtle changes in the natural world. It is time to get set up for the month of August!

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This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

Snapshots from Voyageur's National Park

We are just settling back at home after 5 days of camping in Voyageurs National Park.  We have been doing this for several years now and have been making wonderful memories.  

Enjoy these snapshots from our trip and be delighted by the beauty and bounty of this beautiful area of Northern Minnesota:

Around Here...

Around Here...

I found my first ripe blueberries of the season. With early heat and humidity, and just enough rain. These gifts of the woods have started to appear! 

Around Here...

Wildflowers are blooming and the garden is taking shape. This year in my garden I have a flower garden plot along with my canning garden staples. I have some zinnias, johnny jump-ups, and lavender blooming and I am enjoying the progression of the rest of the garden expanding from the soil.

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We're getting some form of lake time almost every single day. In, on, or nearby water we enjoy the experiences we can have with such close access to so many beautiful lakes.

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This act of sharing photographs and ramblings of our daily life is a practice in gratitude that brings me joy.

I encourage you to reflect on the good in your life.

What are you grateful for today?

Snapshots from Cuyuna

It is the season of summer adventure here in Northern Minnesota. Last week I went on a quick escape to Cuyuna to go mountain biking.

Although there are no actual mountains in Minnesota, there are a lot of new single-track mountain bike trails that have been developed as restoration projects at abandoned mine pits.

We had a lot of fun and only had one small setback (a pinch flat that we resolved quickly with some help from a local bike shop)

Our accommodations at True North Base Camp were great! We will definitely be going back.