Christmas Dog

What do you do when your daughter-in-law, Beth, sends you a Christmas outfit for your dog?  You put it on the dog and ask your wife to take a picture!

Cocoa was a good sport about it.  She wasn't nearly as humiliated as Beth's cat was when we put reindeer antlers on her in August.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

White Friday on Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!  It was 57° in the Keweenaw yesterday.  The smell of turkey was wafting out the open window above the kitchen sink.  Here's the view out the same window today.

It's a white Friday in the Keweenaw:  25° and snowing and blowing.  Yep, we're having a good old-fashioned winter storm!  Let it snow.  The house is nice and toasty, the refrigerator is fully stocked with Thanksgiving leftovers and Cocoa has nestled herself into the cedar chips in her doghouse.

All is well in the snowy Keweenaw!

Peaceful

Just one more thing tonight.  Here's the view of downtown Calumet on the local webcam this evening.

All is well (and peaceful) in the Keweenaw.

3 to 5 Inches

This was the view out the kitchen window about 1-1/2 hours ago:

The forecast says we may end up with 3-5 inches by tomorrow morning.  Wouldn't you know it?  We have to travel to Marquette for an appointment tomorrow morning.  Oh well, the Traverse is good on snowy roads.  We're supposed to have temps in the 40's for most of this week, so this snow won't last either. 

I must apologize again for not posting very often these last two months.  I've been having a spell of bad headaches, and I haven't felt like writing much.  No need to worry; migraines are just part of my life.  Firearm deer season opens on Thursday, so I'll try to do some writing while Steve is out in the woods waiting for Bambi's father to wander by.

Hmmm, looks like the bird feeder needs to be filled.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S.  My mom's birthday is tomorrow.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Thinking Back

We're thinking back to 5 years ago.  Today was the day we lost Allen.  We'll never stop missing him, but we're so thankful for the knowledge that we'll see him again in heaven one day.

We're also thinking back to 9 days ago.  Here was the view out the kitchen window on October 22.

Here's the view today.

We may have a little snow here in the Keweenaw Peninsula, but it's nothing compared to parts of West Virginia today.  We don't have to worry about hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or earthquakes here either.  So. . . all is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S. Did you notice the Chickadee on the bird feeder?

One Year Ago

October 7, 2011 - Our move to the U.P. was less than 2 weeks away.  Steve was going to make one last trip to the U.P. with Butch's trailer full of stuff that the moving company wasn't going to haul for us.  Randy Yackel helped us load the freezer onto the back of the truck.

Steve apparently wanted some company on the long drive.  The rest of his buddies were in the trailer.

October 18, 2011 - Everything was packed, and the movers arrived to load our belongings.

October 19, 2011 - We made the trip to the U.P. with Cocoa and her doghouse in the back of our pickup.  We arrived in Calumet after dark, ate Whoppers from Burger King and slept on the floor in the living room.

October 20, 2011 - The moving truck arrived, and the furniture was unloaded without a hitch.  We took the moving men to dinner at The Hut and got a good night's sleep in our own bed.

Today - One Year Later - The wonderful smell of homemade bread is wafting from the kitchen.  Although we're not yet living on our property near Eagle Harbor. . .

we still get to enjoy the beauty of this area.

We absolutely love it here, and Cocoa loves it, too.

Thank you, Lord.  All is well in the Keweenaw.

Highlights

I don't have time today to write a long post, but I wanted to share some highlights of the last 5 days.

Tuesday - Cocoa's Color Tour on Cliff Drive.

Wednesday - Cocoa lounging on our property.  She loves the truck.

Steve wants you to know that his tail light cover will be fixed on the next trip to Saginaw - apparently just some broken clips.  The light still works.  Another use for duct tape!

Friday - First Snow!  Don't worry; it didn't last long.

Today - More SNOW this morning!  Again, gone a short time later - sunny now.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

7th Anniversary

It was a bit hazy and about 10 degrees cooler today than it was 7 years ago, but it was still a beautiful day in the Keweenaw.  We took the Vette out of the nursery and drove further up into the peninsula for our annual Keweenaw Color Tour.  The tip of the peninsula and the areas closer to Lake Superior don't change as quickly, so the colors are actually more vibrant south of us right now.  We always like to document the view on Brockway Mountain on October 1st, so here it is.

The card Steve gave me today said,

"I love looking back to where we began, seeing us as we were at the beginning, then thinking about all the memories we've made to bring us to where we are today. . .
I love anticipating the days ahead of us, wondering what we'll find in each other and in ourselves before another year has slipped away. . .
But, best of all, I love being with you where we are today - together writing the pages we'll remember tomorrow."

Didn't know he was so romantic, did you?  Thanks, honey, for 7 wonderful years!

All is well in the Keweenaw!