4th Annual Bag Toss for the Red Cross

For local readers of this blog I have some news for you. The South Central Minnesota Chapter of the American Red Cross will be holding it's 4th Annual Bag Toss event on Saturday, June 2nd. We are limiting the event to 128 teams and registrations are now being accepted. You can register several ways. You may call the Red Cross office at 507-387-6664...or you can follow this link to find a registration form. Besides great fun and food, we will have hundreds and hundreds of dollars in prizes. The event will be held at Ray Erlandson Park near Victory and Main in Mankato. Here is a link to the Facebook page that gets updated on a regular basis...in fact, almost daily.

The Lake Soon?

I start way to many blog posts with "It has been a long time....". True, very true.
The weather here in Minnesota has been cooperative this Spring. In fact, the weather cooperated all winter. Basically, we did not have one. Our friends to the South, the Iowans, had more snow than we did.
Out here at Coyote Ridge, we had less than 20 inches of snow compared to almost 100 inches last winter.
In the temperature department it was also mild, temps were wayyyyyy above average. I didn't use a fraction of the propane I usually consume.
Our attentions are turning now to the lake.
I am thinking we will venture down there this weekend and enjoy a couple of sunsets like this one we experienced last summer.

The lake opening is always fun. Get the water turned on, electric flowing the the fridge filled. Of course a beer or two as a reward helps get the job done.

The Records Continue to be Smashed

I think that everyone who hates winter can thank me for the mild or almost non existent winter this year.
I bought a new John Deere tractor and blower that apparently scared away winter. You are welcome.
So far this month we have smashed record temperatures almost every day.
We have been beating records by over 20 degrees many days, not the usual degree or two.
The trees and plants are blooming a full six weeks early this year. What this means....I don't know. 80 degrees in Minnesota in March! I am not complaining!

Winter Never Happened

I am happy to report several things.....
Winter never happened in Minnesota this year. Very little snow and not much cold. We are into the 70's for about a week and a half straight.
Also....75 days smoke free and doing VERY well. I think it "took" this time!

Turning Over a New Leaf

The headline sounds rather serious. Well I guess it is.
Sue and I decided that it was time to get healthy and cut out a bad habit that was sure to kill us eventually.
Yup, we quit smoking and have been smoke free now for 38 days. I will say that it has been easier that I thought it would, considering we did it cold turkey.
Part of the "new leaf" thing is to get into better shape as well.
So, I am running. Yes, you read that right, I am running.
Now, I have always HATED running, but for some reason, I am really enjoying it now. Our two fine sons and their beautiful wives are all runners so I think their "habit" has rubbed off on me.
I am going about this in an entirely different way. I am not out to be competitive or break any records. I just plug away and go at my own speed.
I am using an app on my iPhone called Ease into 5k. A voice comes through the phone telling you just what to do and for how long. It starts out with walking and running and increases the amount of running bit by bit until you are running the entire time. GPS is built in so you can see how far you have gone and how much time it took. It works out well. I listen to my favorite tunes and when the app needs to tell me something it mutes the music.
My time per mile is very slow, but I am able to go the distance without resting or falling over.
At the end of eight weeks I should be running the entire time as opposed to the run-walk routine that I know follow.

A Bit Cooler than Planned

OK, we live in Minnesota and should expect these things to happen. It got cooler than forecast last night.

That temp along with the wind brought the feels like temp down to -39.
I am almost embarrassed to say this, but I will. It wasn't that bad. At least it was a dry cold!

Winter is Here

It took it's own sweet time, but it appears that winter is finally here, at least the cold weather part.
We have been blessed with temperatures well above average all season and snowfall amounts well below average.
In the snow department, we have only had 8 inches all season. Last year, we had over 60 inches by now.
Back to the temperatures. Here is what we have in store for us tomorrow morning.

Looks like a couple of extra logs on the fire tonight at Coyote Ridge.

New Tractor Lights on John Deere X360

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted an update on my blog. Between work, play, family and life, writing has sure taken a back seat.
I have been trying to figure out a way to add some lights to my tractor because the stock lights leave something to be desired. They shine right into the front snow blower and are basically worthless.
Here is a youtube link to see what I did to fix the problem.
Now if we would just get some snow. Last December we received 36 inches. This year..maybe two inches.

Getting Ready For Winter

It is almost a daily task to go out and chop up the leaves with Mr. John Deere. It is a task that I don't mind at all.
I needed some more light for winter snow blowing to I rigged up an extra light for the top of the canvas cab I install for the winter weather.
With the two headlights on the tractor and the spotlight up top, I think the dark country lane will be a bit brighter this winter.



Do I dare say, bring on the snow?

Random Trail Camera Pictures

It has been a while since I checked the trail camera out in the back forty.
I had close to 100 pictures but edited them down to just a few.
There were lots of raccoon and deer pictures, but I tried to pick out the better ones of the deer with a few turkeys thrown in for good measure.





All is well here. You know the drill, work, work and more work. No complaints from me in that respect.
We spent most every weekend down at the lake in our camper and had a blast.

Busy and Busier!

What a busy time it has been this summer. Between work and work, there has been no free time....except for today.
But first, yesterday.
We held our Third annual Bag Toss for the Red Cross. It was a huge success with a great crowd that had a fantastic time.
KEYC TV was there covering the event. Two of their news anchors even competed for the famous Red Cross Golden Bag Media Award. They looked good, but not good enough to beat the team from Hot 96.7 Radio. KEYC news story.
It was great to hang out with Stunt Monkey from Hot 96.7 and Annie, Mallory and Lisa from KEYC.
Ok,fast forward to today.
The airport hosted a fly in breakfast for vintage aircraft as well as experimental aircraft.
There must have been at least 100 planes that flew in for the event and I determined that each one of them turned out to be my favorite.




I saw nearly a dozen vintage planes that I had flown in the past. That was cool, but because of that, am I also vintage?

3rd Annual Bag Toss for the Red Cross

For local readers of this blog I have some news for you.
The South Central Minnesota Chapter of the American Red Cross will be holding it's Third Annual Bag Toss event on Saturday, August 20th.
We are limiting the event to 128 teams and registrations are now being accepted.
You can register several ways. You may call the Red Cross office at 507-387-6664...or you can follow this link to find a registration form.
Besides great fun, food, hundreds and hundreds of dollars in prizes. we will be having a silent auction.
The event will be held at Ray Erlandson Park near Victory and Main in Mankato.
Here is a link to the Facebook page that gets updated on a regular basis...in fact, almost daily.

This and That

Why do I always start my blog entries out with "it has been a while"?
I guess I have been too busy with life to write about it.
All is going well. Sue went back to work last week after having both knees replaced. She is doing great and really enjoyed the 12 weeks off.
My double cataract surgery went very well....no glasses and better than 20-20 vision now.
We have been spending most every weekend out at the lake in our camper.
The sunsets have been amazing...here are a few examples.


We went out in the canoe yesterday. The water was like glass and just perfect! Sorry, no pictures. I don't dare take my camera out in the canoe the way we rock side to side. It is always an adventure!
After being out on the water we worked up an appetite so I fired up the flesh cooker and threw on the beef .

At this point, the weekend had to come to an end, so we came home to get a few chores done.
I was riding around on Mr. Deere mowing the lawn when I discovered that I had an audience.

I am sure Bambi's mom was lurking in the woods keeping track of her little one.
Until next time......

It's About Time

That statement rings true for so many reasons.
It's about time I posted a blog update, the weather has finally turned decent, I have more than one day off,get to eat really good BBQ...and the list goes on and on.
Anyway, I had not checked the trail camera here at Coyote Ridge for some time (another "it's about time"),so I did that this morning. There were 195 pictures on the digital disk.
I slugged through them and have a few to share. I won't bore you with all of them, just some of my favorites.





And for good measure a turkey made it's appearance.

It appears that the wildlife successfully reproduced this Spring. We have seen a good number of baby turkeys and deer exploring the woods out here.
Today we are off to our son Ben and his wife Anna's house for some of his special BBQ ribs. He slow cooks them for five hours on the grill and they are out of this world!
Of course we will have plenty to go with the cooked flesh. How about potato salad, fresh green beans cooked with bacon, calico beans,blueberry-rhubarb upside down cake and of course cold beer!

Update on the Eyeballs

Just a short update on my peepers.
As many of you know I had cataract surgery on both eyes recently. I could not believe that a person of my youth would need such a procedure. :)
Anyway, I had the left eye done first. The afternoon of surgery I had 20-70 vision in that eye. At the follow up exam the next morning at 8:00 I had 20-30 vision. At my one week post-op exam I had 20-20 vision...How great is that!
Last Tuesday I had my other eye done. 20-40 the day of surgery and the next day I had 20-20 vision. I have a follow up exam this Friday and am expecting the numbers to improve even more.
I have worn glasses for distance since the 5th grade and now I don't need them at all except for reading.
The reading glasses routine is getting old so I am going to see about getting bifocal contacts so I will not have to be groping for my readers every five minutes.
To make a long story short, I never knew how bad my eyesight was until I had the peepers fixed!

Catching Up

It has been a while since I updated the blog. Life just seems to get in the way sometimes.
Sue is doing so well with her two new knees. She had both of them replaced five weeks ago and has been driving for three weeks already.
Not to be outdone, I had minor surgery last Tuesday. I had a cataract removed off my left eye. It was a total success with a a HUGE difference in my eyesight. I went from 20/70 to 20/20. I fully expect the same miracle when they do my right eye next Tuesday.
No more glasses, except for reading....maybe.
We have been enjoying the last several weekends out at the lake camping. More of that action is scheduled for this weekend. Is it Friday yet?
We have been having a real heatwave here. Last Friday it was 95 degrees. Yesterday it was 99 degrees. Today at 2:30 PM it was 102 degrees. We may just get to 105 before the day is done.

Bravery and Birds

First the brave part. As you probably know, Sue had both knees replaced two and a half weeks ago. You read correctly, both knees at the same time.
She is doing amazing! The walker is history, the cane is history and she is walking on her own...that is incredible!
Her secret is good old fashioned hard work. Go to physical therapy, do all the exercises at home and put in some extra time over and above the "normal".
The physical therapist told her today that she can start driving anytime. I can't say it enough...AMAZING!
Now for the birds....
The hummingbirds are returning in numbers here at Coyote Ridge. They are warming up to us and are even sitting still for pictures. Feel free to click on the pictures for larger images.




So far the little birds have been pretty peaceful with one another. That will end soon when 20-30 of the hyper birds all compete for space at the six feeders. Let the action begin!

This is for the Birds

Many of our birds are returning to their summer home here at Coyote Ridge.
We have welcomed them back with my secret sweet recipe that fills the six hummingbird feeders on the back deck.
Sue was able to catch a couple of our feathered friends feeding this morning.



The feeders have been semi-active with our little Hummers as well. In a few weeks the hyper little winged wonders will be challenging each other for a place at the hanging sugar bars.

This and That

Because of Sue's double knee replacement surgery a week ago, we are staying close to home here at Coyote Ridge.
Her surgery was very successful and her recovery is going great!
I think she looks real good...don't you?

She goes to physical therapy three days a week and works the knees at home with special exercises at least three times per day.
Saturday was a beautiful day to work outside so I decided to strip the old stain off the front and back decks. What a mess!

I blasted about 80% of the stain off with my power washer. The rest will be taken off with a chemical stain remover. I will then re-stain and if done right, should last several more years.
Yesterday we had several hummingbirds and two Baltimore Orioles at the feeders. No pictures of the birds as they are so skittish early in the season.

I fixed the tires on my tractor dump cart this weekend so I can drive around and "haul stuff". It is a real guy thing, but absolutely necessary if I want to get all my projects finished in a reasonable amount of time.
I was hoping to haul some dirt today and do some seeding, but the rain has delayed that for a while.

A Hummer and a Bummer

First the bummer. I had an eye appointment today with an Opthamologist because my eyesight has been deteriorating rather rapidly the past two years.
During those two years the optometrists I had been going to said it was just the aging process. I know I am getting older, but not that fast!
So after about two hours of testing, the diagnosis ....cataracts.
The good news is that the procedure is easy and I will have 20-20 vision and will not need glasses except for reading.
So I guess it really isn't a bummer after all.
The timing is a bit off as Sue still has a long road to recovery after having both knees replaced last Thursday. She is getting along great...considering the almost barbaric process to replace the knees.
My surgery is scheduled for May 31st and June 14th. Since Sue had both knees done at once, I thought maybe the Dr. might be able to do both eyes at the same time. No way he said. Sue wins this round. :)
Now the hummer part of the story.
I saw my first hummingbird of the season this evening on the back deck.
About two weeks ago I put a couple of feeders out so they would have a treat after their long flight "home" for the summer season.
We sure love watching the little birds and at times we are able to see as many as 20 birds feed at the same time.
I will have to stand guard and get some pictures.