Merry Christmas 2021~

 December embraced our big life-changing move from Nebraska to Minnesota.

My good friends, Becky and Sissy, threw a fabulous going-away party for us.  It was a busy couple of hours saying our goodbyes to about 60 of our friends.

My Just Sayin' Bike friends put a big smile on my face by showing up in their jerseys.

On Thanksgiving Day we had a private concert by granddaughter, Celeste.

On a bright, sunny day our moving van loaded all of our worldly goods from Lincoln and was destined to arrive in Duluth four days later.  Since we purchased our Duluth home sight-unseen, it was a very special surprise to discover that we have a view of Lake Superior from the front porch.

This is one day prior to the moving van arrival.

The first big snowstorm of the year arrived the next day.  The moving van did not.

Same view.  Next day.

Eventually the movers arrived and our many worldly goods (which we believed we had greatly reduced) were squeezed into the nooks and crannies of our small bungalow. 

Rusty and I enjoyed Sunday breakfast at The Boat House located on Lake Superior.

It was a gorgeous sunrise!

 

The next day we and the movers drove to our cabin in Ely to the many tools for Rusty's shop.

Thankfully, Lucky Boy Services plowed our drive before we arrived.

We love the wilderness of our cabin!

We try to hike 4-5 times a week.  The walk to the mailbox is about 1.4 miles round trip.

I invested in some Muck Boots, which seem to be worn by almost everyone.

We find the small town of Ely quite charming.  It is the same size as Auburn, NE, but is geared towards tourists, so it has many restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, T-shirt shops, etc.

The UPS trucks meet daily in a parking lot and swap packages.
Rusty called it the Round-up.

Although Rusty has lived in  several different states throughout his lifetime, this is the first time I have lived outside of Nebraska.  The move was quite taxing on two old people like us.  During the last two months we have spent a lot of energy communicating with realtors, banks, moving companies, etc.  Now that we have landed, we have new tasks: changing insurance, finding a new safe deposit box, locating someone to change the oil in the car, setting up new wi-fi, contacting the many, many agencies regarding our address change.  It's all worth it in our opinion, but again, it's a challenge for two old people like us.

It's not likely I'll get any Christmas cards out this year, so this will have to do.

Big Changes

The brevity of this blog does not reflect the magnitude of changes that have happened for us since the last posting.

On my August 9 birthday, Rusty and I paddled Fine Lee, our canoe, at Holmes Lake.

The following week some of my Lincoln bike riding friends and I rode along the North Shore in Minnesota.

Beautiful boardwalk and adjacent bike trail along Lake Superior.

Beautiful biking weather for us in the Two Harbors area.

Dipping toes in Lake Superior

Enjoying lunch at Fitgers in Duluth

As we began our bike ride on August 15th, a forest fire broke out just north of Two Harbors. It was a rapidly spreading fire about 20 miles south of our cabin.  As of Oct. 1 it was reported to have burned 26,797 acres and be 80% contained.  We never felt our cabin was in imminent danger, but with dominant south winds, it was concerning.

The Greenwood Fire

The Greenwood Fire, the multiple fires in Canada and the extremely dry conditions all contributed to a two-week closing of the Boundary Waters--the first time in its 50-plus years.  Lucky for us it re-opened before our scheduled September trip.

We had another beautiful fall-color trip with our favorite guide, Steve.

Rusty made a lovely white oak table for the kitchen in our cabin.

Celebrating our new addition.

Both the Sauna and the Woodshop/Bunkhouse were completed during our stay.

Our builder, Mark Olson.  What a great guy!

This is the changing room in the front of the sauna.

This is the steam room, completely lined in cedar.

During our fall visit to the cabin, we made multiple trips to Duluth, MN, shopping for a home.  The market there is beyond hot!  After multiple bids well over asking price, we finally secured a home on our 5th attempt.

This is our small cottage, 99 years old.  We have yet to set foot in it.  All of the negotiations and paper-signing have been done on-line.

For the past 6 weeks in Lincoln, we have been busy closing on houses, packing like crazy, and saying good-bye to friends.  Oh, and we also made a trip to Twin Falls to see family.

It's always good to wrap my arms around my beautiful 95.5 year old mom!

Dar and Tom are fabulous hosts.  They fed us great meals, took us on nice hikes, and I especially enjoyed our quiet time in the hot tub.

Dar and I make really good sour cherry pie!

I took my bike in for its last tune-up with Eric.  He's been my main man mechanic for nearly 30 years.

Thanks, Eric, for such great service!

My teacher-friend Cathy and I did several joint projects while at Irving Middle School.  I gave Cathy one of Betty Wallace's saga pots, which was an inspiration for our best collaboration.

This picture is of four of our favorites.  We've enjoyed many dinners and tons of good stories with them over the years.  We had a nice evening saying our goodbyes.

Dave, Sue, Lou, Karl

Next week my good friends  Becky and Sissy are throwing a going-away party for us.  It will be good to see everyone, but sad to leave them.  The moving van will arrive at our Lincoln home on Dec. 1, pick up our worldly goods, and arrive in MN sometime between Dec. 4-11.

We expect to live at our cabin, 105 Sunset Road, Ely, MN 55731.  When we require relief from the wilderness, special physical assistance, or a dose of culture from the city, we will travel two hours to our home in Duluth.  It's also where we expect to land when we have "aged out" of the cabin.

June/July 2021

 

We were in Lincoln throughout June and had some fun connecting with friends and enjoying our Casa Blanca home.

My garden provided several lovely bouquets this month.

Rusty and I are each working on thinning out some of the items we own and no longer use.  I decided to join the neighborhood garage sale and was very successful.  It was a fun way to meet people from the hood; I was not surprised to see the diversity: Hispanic, Vietnamese, Muslim, African American, African, and of course White.

By day 2, most of my big items were already sold.

Rusty shows off his hillbilly attire.

I don't know if it will last, but at least now our church is having in-person services with live music.

Rusty performed at a First Plymouth Church service.

First Plymouth recently hired a new minister who's main focus will be helping our church be instrumental in striving for social justice in Lincoln, a cause near to my heart.

Reverend Juan Carlos Huertas gives his first sermon at a nearby coffee shop.

Even though my garden was planted very late this year, it has already been productive.

I've frozen bags of beans and given many away to neighbors and friends.

I've made lots of pickles and given many cucumbers away.

These came off a plant that mostly froze to death in May!

I harvested twice this many potatoes a couple days ago.  It made a nice donation to Catholic Social Services.

Nearly all of July was spent at Hus OLAF.  Rusty took on a project that was more challenging than he imagined and so it's not progressing as fast as he would like.  But, no surprise, he's persevering.

New countertops:

The ugly 1/4" plywood covered in contact paper was removed.

Pretty crappy stuff, huh?

New cabinet to the right of the sink; 3/4" plywood installed, sink hole cut.

splash-prevention paper installed

Red Guard sealant applied

Backer Board being installed

Backer Board with sink installed

Tile installation begins

Another batch of Thinset for next row of tile

We do have many jobs at our cabin, but we love to sit and relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the place, maybe a paddle or two, and a little fishing.

We have some fun neighbors!

We attended a pre-4th party with neighbors.

Nearly everyone brought their dog to the party.  One guest arrived by Float plane.

The 4th of July Parade was a big event for the small town of Ely.  We couldn't resist joining the parade.  Amy Klobuchar was there too!

We walked with the Save the Boundary Waters float--our favorite cause.

The local granola company, Crapola, was there.

...and cute girls on a classic car

Illustrative of our country.

Lumberjacks: a common occupation when you live in the Superior National Forest.

(no comment)

Rusty's 73rd birthday was fun, but perhaps not as remarkable as last year's (the day we purchased our cabin).

Rusty found this at the lumber store.  Hung on the wall like a trophy, the 8 foot level was used (along with shovels) to fight off a surprise attack by an angry bear in December.

We hung a new addition to our outhouse.

Artist: Picasso   Media: D'Apres Lithograph

Work on our two outbuildings continues.

Footings for sauna

Framing sauna

Exterior and window placement on sauna

Footings on woodshop

Framing on woodshop

Exterior and window placement on woodshop

Roof and shingles on woodshop

The woodshop is on hold for the electrician and the wood stove installation.  While waiting for that, Mark will resume work on the sauna.

Contractual deadline is Nov.1, but we'd love to see them completed earlier!