Mountain Lake,MN

We had the day off on Wednesday and decided that a road trip was in order. We piled into the truck and off we went. As usual, we had no idea where we were going. We got to the end of our country lane here at Coyote Ridge and literally had to stop and decide....turn right or left. Left it was and we we were off to who knows where.
We took all back roads, mostly gravel, and saw lots of new areas, or new to us anyway.
For years we have passed by a town called Mountain Lake, MN and never pulled off the highway to check it out. To say the least, we were impressed.
Mountain Lake website
We discovered a very nice city campground that has water, sewer and electric hookups for only $20 per night. It was very clean, well maintained and priced right. Looks like we will be adding that campground to next season's must do list.
We stopped and had a late lunch at the Parkside Depot Restaurant in Mountain Lake. The owner, Ron is a swell guy and a real train nut.

Do yourself a favor, next time you are anywhere near Mountain Lake, stop in. The train atmosphere is great and the service and food outstanding.

It Is Soup Time Again

I do love the Fall for many reasons. Soup, the homemade variety, is one of those reasons.
Sunday we made yet another variety....this time it was clam chowder.

Sue's "secret" recipe includes clams,butter,corn,potatoes,carrots, condensed milk, bacon and a few spices.
The finished product is out of this world!

Son Ben and his wife Anna came out Sunday to help convert the tractor from a monster mowing machine to a monster snow blowing machine. Ben and I (mostly Ben) made the conversion in no time at all until it was time to install the chains on the rear wheels. After struggling for over an hour Sue and Anna came out to the shop and asked what was taking so long. We explained the issue and they looked down and said "well there is your problem". The chains were on within minutes. Thanks ladies!
Several beers were in order after the ordeal, and well deserved.
Once we went through our "attitude adjustment" we dug into the clam chowder. Another soup success for sure!

Last Leaf Removal Of The Fall

This past Saturday we spent about five hours doing one last leaf pick up here at Coyote Ridge. The only leaves left on the trees are the Oaks that will drop right after we change over the tractor from the mow mode to the snow blower mode.
We had to wear our blaze orange vests and hats while working because the firearm deer hunting season started Saturday and it sounded like a war zone out here.

For a larger image, click on the pictures.




The next order of business is converting the tractor over to winter mode with the attachment of the three stage snow blower and chains. Our son Ben helps with that every year. It is nice to spend the time together with him.

Saturday night we had supper at Sue's folks home. Once again Harv and Molly outdid themselves with a fantastic meal that was topped off with fresh dutch apple pie.

On the way home we saw the deer I am sure many hunters were looking for. It was pitch black and all of a sudden Sue exclaimed "DEER!" Standing in the middle of the dark country road was a beautiful ten point buck. I brought the truck to a stop about 20 feet from the trophy and he just stood there staring at us. After a few seconds he ran off into the ditch and out across a field where he disappeared into the darkness.

I was out on our back deck Sunday morning shortly before 7:00 watching the sunrise and the early morning calm was shattered by gunshots. Before the flurry was over, I counted 32 shots. Now, there must have been a huge herd of deer or hunters who were terrible shots. I have never heard so many shots in such a short period of time. I hope the big buck we saw wasn't involved.
Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Well Done!

The above headline is true on several different fronts. Please allow me to explain.
We crawled out of bed Saturday morning at about 6:30 trying to muster up enough courage to face the day.
Sue turned on the bathroom faucet and exclaimed "we have no water." Still in a fog I tried the same faucet apparently thinking I had magical powers. Well, I didn't have the power and yes, we had no water. Thank goodness I filled up the coffee maker the night before!
I ventured down stairs to look at the well equipment with great confidence actually thinking I could solve the dilemma. Once again, I didn't.
My next plan was sure to work. I called the good folks at Jadd Seppman and Sons Well Drilling and Septic Systems. Their after hours service took my name and number and promised someone would call back.
Within two minutes I received a cheery call from Peggy Seppmann offering assistance. I apologized for such an early call on the weekend but in typical Peggy style she said she was up already with coffee in hand and had the sheets in the washing machine. I was OK with the coffee part, but she really got to me with the laundry statement. I have no water Peggy...please don't mention again you are blessed with plenty of it.
She promised someone would be out soon and they were.
These guys were great. They dug right in and started pulling up pipe.




To make a long story short, The pipe going down to the well pump 200 feet below ground was broken in several places causing pump to run constantly. These fine men replaced the well pump and the 200 feet of pipe. Within three hours they were finished and we had water again.
My hat is off to these great people. They are real pros and excellent at customer service.

Coyotes Attack and Kill....A Human

This is a very unulual story. We hold the coyote as an almost sacred animal and go out of our way not to harm them.
It sounds like these coyotes are too familiar with humans.
Coyotes Kill Canadian Folk Singer

This isolated attack incident will not change our mind about these beautiful animals who have adapted themselves over thousands of years, even as we continue to move into their habitat.

Kind of Makes You Wonder!

Spread the Stupidity



Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.






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Only in America.....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke..


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Only in America.....do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.


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Only in America.....do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.


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Only in America.........do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight..


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Only in America....do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.


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EVER WONDER ....
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?


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Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?


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Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?


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Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?


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Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?


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Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?


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Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?


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Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?


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Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?


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Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?


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Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?


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You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!


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Why don't sheep





shrink when it rains?






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Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?




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I like this one!!!
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?




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If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?




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It is Time For Chili!

Yup....It is November in Minnesota and all but the Oak leaves have fallen to the ground. The cooler temperatures signaled my body to beg for homemade chili.

I can't give you the exact recipe, but I can show you a few pictures.

It all starts with browning five pounds of lean ground beef.


After the hamburger is cooked, the "secret" spices get added. What I can tell you is that next we add six different kinds of beans, tomatoes and homemade tomato juice.


Before you know it, the finished product...The best chili around.


Before we could transfer the goods from the soup pot to the freezer containers, we stuffed ourselves with the body warming nourishment.

Looks like we will have plenty for the freezer and the cold winter days ahead.

Please stop in again soon for another riveting edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"