To Blog, or not to Blog - that is the question.

Can't believe it has been over a month since we have been home - and can't believe I haven't blogged about something. I guess we have been busy.  I actually started this blog on October 8th and here it is the 20th and I have still not posted it.

  Got home on the 7th of September after arranging for covered storage at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake, VA.  Of, course we had to do the car shuffle thing before driving home.  We had left our car in Garrison, New York at Rick's sisters while boating in  New England. So we got a rental car and drove the 8 hours north timing our arrival to coincide with the closing of our nephew Brian's photography show and after party.

The show was a huge success - check out Brians' work and his blog - linked on our site.

Then it was  time to get back to Broulee and get her ready for our impending departure.  

Broulee tucked away in covered storage at AYB.  Just a heads up - Atlantic Yacht Basin now has a referral program.  If you refer someone who becomes a new storage customer for at least 3 months, both you and your friend will get up to the next two months of storage absolutely free.  Offer applies to new storage customers only and you need to mention our name when signing up.  

Packed up and ready to go.  We decided to bring the pilothouse cushions (strapped to the roof rack) home with us - hoping to get them recovered.  We will keep you posted on that project.

So now we have been home for over a month and you might question what have we been up to?  Well leaving the yard work for two months this summer has proven to be a problem.  Lots of garden cleanup was waiting for us.  No significant rain since July 15th an even bigger problem - lots of dead or dying things.    Boats needed hauling out and put to bed, along with docks and hoists.  Also needed to do a a trip up to the cabin to blow out water lines and close it up for the season.      

The beginning of the haul out process.    

Weekend trip up to the cabin on one of the last warm weekends in September. 

Sunset on Platte Lake.

Fall is my favorite time of year here - it just doesn't get any better.  All the baked goods are made with apples, pumpkins and cinnamon. Also, Chili and Booyah (a hardy midwestern stew made in huge booyah kettles - often requiring two days and multiple cooks to prepare) are a staple of the many fall festivals held this time of year.  Bonfires have become a must for neighborhood happy hours.  

We are now in the process of moving tropical  plants into our greenhouse and  buttoning up things at the homestead.  This year we are entertaining the idea of letting the big orange, lime and lemon trees freeze out.  It has become a huge hassle to drag them in and out of the greenhouse every year.  We are still on the fence on that one - will see what happens. 

     

The rainbow hibiscus survived the dry hot summer.  All of our potted plants are on a drip system so they all looked pretty good.

The lawn looked pretty good (it and the gardens are irrigated) but, trees and shrubs suffered the most because of the drought. The poor hydranga shrubs are toast!  

Thankfully,  the hardy mums and grasses don't take much to flourish.

September is one of our busiest birthday months - Grandson Cooper turned 9 on the 13th.  Granddaughter Meg turned 15 on the 23rd.  Deb's sister, Joni celebrated her birthday on the 26th and Izzy and her sister Kelly turned 4 on the 28th.

Kelly and Izzy at eight weeks old.  Happy Birthday Girls! Wow, can't believe it's been four years.

School days are the best days for Izzy - Cooper comes over before we head to the bus stop and Izzy gets a daily belly rub.

and, yes, it is still all about me, and my ball!  

It is great to be home - enjoying morning walks in the cool temps. The weather has been great, but we know it will be turning shortly.   Busy cleaning out closets, garages and tool sheds (why do we have so much crap?).  We will probably hang around here until mid December - or maybe not - we have learned not to make plans, we just have intentions.  It is nice to get a break from the boat - it makes us enjoy our time spent on her that much better.

 We are enjoying catching up with friends and family and will try to blog more (or not).

Beautiful Minnesota fall color photos for your enjoyment.

Beautiful fall color - looking out at Lake Superior.

A Walk In the Woods

Hiking the trails

  Love this time of year!