1st Campfire at Irish Acres

Last night we had our first campfire at Irish Acres.  There will many more to follow.

Spring Cleanup at Gull Lake Corp of Engineers Campground

This past weekend we went to Gull Lake Corp of Engineers campground for their spring cleanup.  Friday night was very nice, Saturday it rained until about noon and then it snowed during the night Saturday into Sunday.

Meet Melvin

Melvin moved in last night.  He was shot by my brother Bob in Montana a few years back.  He's a prize and he's going to be staying with me for awhile.  Oh and please don't address him as Mel.  He prefers Melvin.

Oscar the Owl

Oscar is a frequent visitor to Irish Acres.  He sometimes gives me the creeps.

Easter Egg Hunt for the Kids

Easter day - Collin, Kaylie, Maggie, Kiehra, Payton and Kaleb 

Here's the little buggers just prior to digging into the bunny cake Shirley made them.

Visited Bruce and Pat Odenbach in Sun Valley

While in Arizona earlier this month we swung in and visited with Bruce and Pat Odenbach.  They have a winter place in Sun Valley.  They've done some work on it this winter.  Pat has repainted the entire house and many of the floor coverings have been replaced.  It looks great.

All their fruit trees are done producing for the season but Pat offered us a Tangelo they had harvested earlier.  They are delicious.  We took a few for the road.

They have a big, fairly young, Saguaro cactus in the front of the house.

Caduceus Wine

While in Arizona we visited the small mining town of Jerome, Home of Caduceus wine.  If you want to know all about it (and you do) check out the documentary Blood into Wine. Mike encouraged us to watch it and against my better judgement (Mike and my movie interests are worlds apart) it turned out to be very informative and makes you want to start growing grapes (well drinking wine at the very least).

Learn all about Caduceus.  Buy up lots of their stuff:  https://store.caduceus.org/

Makita purchases a bottle of Caduceus and halls it all the way back to Brainerd.

Mike, Jesse, Makita and myself enjoy that bottle!

Visted Nephew Matt

While in Arizona last week we got to have lunch with my Nephew Matt, who's stationed down there at Luke Air Force Base.  Makita obviously needs some photography classes.  Although his eyes are closed, Matt was actually awake during this visit.

Sedona Arizona

One day while in Arizona last week we visted Sedona.  It's beautiful there.  It's known for it's red rock formations.

From what I can gather, this incredibly big home belongs to Dr. Loan Cosmescu, from Romania, who owns I C Medial Inc.  They manufacture and develop medical surgical equipment and accessories used in electrsurgical, laser and laparoscopic procedures.  I read that he may have been the person that invented the laser used for Lazik eye surgery.

The Holy Cross Church sits high up in Sedona.

Farewell to Maggie

My friend's Dave and Ellie Boeckermann's dog, Maggie, left us this past Wednesday to go to the happy hunting grounds.  She'll be sorely missed.  She was a great mom (even if she did fool me one time and pretend she was going to have pups just so I'd sleep on a cot in the basement all night waiting for something that was never going to happen).  She loved to hunt, go to Thor, go to BWCA, among lots of other great doggie stuff.  She was a good bad dog!

Meet Margaret

I bought a bike while in Arizona.  I've officially named her Margaret after Margaret Colleen Vickery that sold it to me.

Bryan Cox presents me with a Freedom Bell.  The bell, when attached to your bike, will ward off Evil Road Spirits.  Evil Road Spirits are little gremlins that live on your bike. They love to ride, and they’re also responsible for most of your bike’s problems.

Ajo Arizona

Today we drove down to Ajo Arizona to see our friends Lee and Jean.

Sure Sign of Spring

A Visit to Dad's Sugar Bush (no it's not a strip club)

Saturday we swung out to Garrison to give Bill and Shirley Bruers a "tour" of the sugar bush.  Dad was cooking like crazy.  He was filling us in on how/what/why and where of making maple syrup.