Rainy Days

It is a rainy day today. We even have a little thunder and lightening. Some fishermen stopped in this morning to buy Canadian licenses. I asked if they had good rain gear since they were going out on Saganaga for the day. Not only did they have their rain gear but they had forgotten their sunglasses. Sounded like they were subconsciously prepared for today.

Last weekend was fun. We had a wedding for 80 people here. I took a quick picture of the beginning of the ceremony.

The bride was paddled into the dock. In this picture she is just about ready to be helped out of the canoe. I held my breath but there were lots of people to help her. Getting out of a canoe against a dock can be a little tricky especially if you are wearing a wedding dress. The ceremony only had a little rain on it and then everyone went up to the conference center for the reception and dinner with dancing after.

Now that there is not quite a much activity around the dock area, we are starting to get the mallards hanging around all the time. It is quite a large flock and they are hungry! They are not the only hungry birds around. The flock has caught the attention of a bald eagle. He likes to sit on top of one of the cedar trees just to the east of the sand beach. The mallards are diving into the water and plainly uncomfortable while the eagle is around. We haven’t seen him take a duck yet. I am trying to keep my camera in my pocket to get a picture. The other day I ran down to the house to get my camera but the eagle was gone when I got back.

Other animals are starting to make their presence known. Don has seen both bears and a wolf walking down from his apartment (on the back hills) in the morning. He said that the wolf was very large and healthy looking. We won’t be seeing any deer around until after the hunting season and after the lake freezes. I saw a fox the other day but it wasn’t Gimpy. I keep watching for him. The hummingbirds are going wild drinking all my sugar water. They must be storing up for the long flight south. All the flowers in the yard and the feeders really attract these little beauties.

Speaking for flowers, now is the time when we plan and order next summer’s flowers. Ronnie Smith (our head gardener) and I met today to review the order.

It always takes a long time because we both love to talk about what we are going to do in the various beds around the lodge. In addition to ordering flowers for us, we also order flowers for any of the neighbors who are interested. One of my favorite days is just before Memorial Day when the truck brings in our order. Several neighbors help sort it out and everyone picks their stuff up that day. It is just beautiful to see the order come in.

Don, Bruce and I also entertained a visitor from our major food supplier, Upper Lakes Foods. Jay likes to keep us current with all the new offerings. As usual he had some interesting items. I ate too much especially since we went out to dinner afterward!

This weekend will be busy. We have a group of 90 women here. They are participating in a program called BOW or Becoming an Outdoor Woman. It is put on the state DNR. The women take classes on various subjects such as fishing, cooking fish, orienteering, etc. They are usually a great bunch of instructors and students. At any rate we will be busy housing and feeding everyone. I will try to remember to take a picture or two.

Have a good weekend yourself.