Minnesota Daybreak

Afton Heights Fire Tower in Itasca State Park

2011-10-05T10:21:00.001-05:00

October has been phenomenal this year not only with fall color, but also with unusually warm temperatures, so I've been out with my camera clicking away. If you'd like to see more October photos (and some going back through the summer, since I obviously didn't blog here) you can view them in my Flickr photos:
Minnesota Daybreak's Photostream

April 2011

2011-04-22T17:34:00.002-05:00

Another gray day

It's been ages since I've written anything here, partly because of being busy with the other website (http://www.longlakeliving.org) and partly because winter took it's toll and left me feeling there was little to write about.

Warm fire

It is two days before this year's very late Easter and we are hoping the ice on the lake will go out soon. Though it's been cold, the daytime temperatures have made it above the freezing point. Day-to-day ice melt has been almost imperceptible, but it has thinned considerably.
These pictures characterize this month; a gray, chilly day and a bright fireplace for taking the chill off.

Wishing you a happy (and colorful) Easter:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." John 3: 16, 17

Quote:

2011-01-20T20:11:00.001-06:00

"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Time and again...

2010-11-02T07:54:00.002-05:00

Sitting by my morning fire, watching the rising sun and knowing who to thank; His peace to start the day.

Now this is a big mushroom.

2010-09-27T15:55:00.001-05:00

huge puffball mushroom -2
Originally uploaded by Minnesota Daybreak

Can you imagine my surprise when I walked down toward the dock today and saw this huge puffball mushroom growing in the yard? It felt solid, so I picked it and sliced it open, but it was already too water saturated and therefore starting to spoil. If I had only found it sooner!

The Fish House

2010-09-02T19:44:00.003-05:00

When we built a garage, the Petersons adopted the shed.

The neighbors re-sided their shed this year and I just had to take these photos - evidence that (a long time ago) it had been our ice fishing house. It brings back happy memories of winter evenings and weekends out on Prior Lake. If you 'click' on the photos so that they enlarge you can see more clearly Glenn's writing on the outside. When we bought our lake place we brought it up here to use as a shed. It had fishing holes in each corner that we had to seal up and I think we added a small window in the back to let some light in. We then sided it with used lumber to match our old cabin. (A labor intensive enterprise.) It was a good shed, but it had been a deluxe fishing shack.

Our early 1980's ice fishing house.

Inside was a little pot belly stove to keep us warm which we also used to cook super fresh fish fillets. The kids would ice skate or play around outside when bored with fishing. Our faithful springer spaniel, Jessie, found her own entertainment. It took us awhile to realize she was making the rounds to other ice fishing shacks stealing and eating the fish people had tossed out their doors to freeze. Fortunately we stopped her life of crime before she got caught and thereafter kept her tied up, but there were, no doubt, several fishermen wondering what happened to the fish they had planned to take home.

Vacation Time @ Grandma's

2010-07-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

E - Kayaking

M - Swimming

My grandchildren each had their private week of vacation with me this summer in July. There was plenty of "lake time" – mostly swimming, but also kayaking and fishing.
When E. was here we golfed twice and shared one meal out at the Dorset House (great evening buffet) with CC.

CC & E - Dorset House

During M’s week here our meal “out” was at Schwartzwald’s and she managed to eat two of those giant pancakes! Prior to that we had been at Itasca State Park where we hiked to the Old Timer’s Cabin and down on another little path near Peace Pipe Vista. She swam for about an hour at the beach and then we biked the short distance to the headwaters before leaving the park. This visit was also M’s first time ever to try golfing. It was a challenge, but she got the hang of it and hit her best shots on the 9^th(final) hole.

Peace Pipe Vista

E. graduated to bigger clubs this year (thank you, Jeff) and did well with them. Fishing was a prime part of his week’s agenda and we had a delicious meal of fresh sunfish that he cleaned and I cooked. Mmm… couldn't ask for anything better. ☼

Blue Heron - evening silhouette

2010-06-25T23:54:00.001-05:00

Blue Heron - evening silhouette
Originally uploaded by Minnesota Daybreak

This evening after a celebratory dinner in Dorset (in honor of a couple new retirees) we stopped by the rookery to see what we could see. There were quite a few Herons in the nests. We happened to be there when one of the birds came in to feed her huge babies - an occasion that set them squawking loudly. The lighting was poor, but I liked the images it produced - the silhouette effect.

Quote:

2010-04-13T11:12:00.002-05:00

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."
- Luciano Pavarotti

Lake Ice, 3/27/2010

2010-03-27T17:58:00.002-05:00

From the look of the lake we could have one of the earliest ice-outs ever. This photo from today shows that the ice has separated from the shoreline and it has that sort of slushy look, along with the tell-tale dark color of an old green Coke bottle. However, no big cracks have opened up across it yet. Still, with today's light rain and the promise of very mild temperatures in the coming week, it's all looking very promising. I wonder if we might actually have a hot summer this year... that would be almost as much of a novelty as the ice going out early.

Red Fox

2010-02-22T13:14:00.011-06:00

This morning I saw a red fox go under a neighbor's deck. I observed this several times two winters back also, but wasn't around enough last year to see him. (or her?) I grabbed my small camera and got one shot before it slipped from view. These pictures are the full shot and an enhanced, cropped portion of the same photo.

I've read that foxes have their kits around the middle of March. This Fox does not look pregnant and so is perhaps a male.

Cross Reference: Remedy For Sadness

2010-02-11T10:56:00.005-06:00

“The remedy for sadness is prayer. But as sadness broods in selfishness and is inclined to rest rather in our own unhappy thoughts than on God, the soul turns to prayer with reluctance. Hence the saddened one must first turn to God by vocal prayer, persevering in which, that reluctance will be overcome; and as the sadness subsides, the spirit will enter anew into the heart of prayer. The second remedy against sadness is generosity. For the malady consists in morbid concentration upon oneself and a brooding within one’s self that repels sympathy and kindness as being adverse to this melancholy mood, a mood that can only be cherished in isolation of the spirit. But let the will make a little effort to be kind and considerate toward another and it is amazing how soon that malignant charm is broken that held the soul spellbound to her saddened thoughts and imaginary grievances. A smile, a kind look, a few gentle words, a considerate action, though begun with effort, will suffice to open the soul and set the spirit free from it’s delusion.”
[WILLIAM BERNARD ULLATHORNE]

Frosted Web

2010-01-26T11:34:00.009-06:00

Frosted web - 3 by
Minnesota Daybreak

After having been told this would be a mild winter by optimistic weather-folk, we are instead having a most wintry winter. This morning I snapped this photo of a frosted web. The temperature -9°F. Just a few days earlier these windows were covered in ice from freezing rain blowing against them. There are photos of that, too, in my Flickr photostream. Winter has it's own unique beauty. I don't brave the weather as often as in the past, but hope to capture more winter scenes with my cameras during the next couple of months.

A Week With Family

2009-10-26T18:24:00.003-05:00

Last week I was in Duluth taking part in the busy lives of B, W, E, and M. We wore raincoats and slopped though the mud when we went out - in mostly cold rain or drizzle - but it didn’t stop us. Miss M’s class (see photo) shot off homemade rockets at school and B & I were there to watch hers (made with pink duct tape) launch. I shopped for a variety of items I can’t get at home and also with B & the kids for everything from groceries and clothing to plumbing supplies.

We sampled a fun variety of foods throughout the week. In the “eating out” category, W. and I tried a spicy pumpkin soup with our sandwiches at the Red Mug coffee shop just over the bridge in Superior, Wisconsin. B. & I tried and liked the China Star restaurant in Hermantown – talk about fast food! (And it was a dine-in place.) We brought home V.I.P. wholewheat crust pizzas (very good). I also had a subpar lunch at the West Duluth Grandma’s, but the company (Bonnie D.) more than made up for the quality of the food. At home our more exotic meals included ruffed grouse with wild rice and a breakfast of venison sausage with waffles and eggs prepared by W & E. The venison sausage, which came from W’s younger brother, was lean and very tasty. Dan F. gave us the fresh grouse and wild rice. I prepared it by stuffing the breasts with apples, then wrapping them with bacon.

No rock hunting, photo shoots, or knitting this trip, but we did get in a game of Bananagrams before W had to leave for the cities Wednesday evening. Both W and B had classes in the cities, which was the main reason I was there. The time flew by. It was a nice change of pace to temporarily be part of a family and their very full schedule.

A Tough Weekend For Birds

2009-07-27T17:44:00.006-05:00

Rescued
Originally uploaded by Minnesota Daybreak

It was an unfortunate weekend for birds around here. On Friday morning as I sat in the sun room I noticed a dead bird laying on the walk. When I finally went out with a ziplock bag to pick up that bird (a fledgling blue jay), I continued to hear a bird cry that I'd been hearing all morning and realized that it was quite near. I looked around and there in the landscape rocks behind me was a baby blue jay (fluffy, wobbly, and very weak) less than half the size of the fledgling that I had just picked up. I quickly got an eye-dropper and water to try to re-hydrated the little one. Soon, with the help of C.C., (and having done some research on the internet) I made him a nest out of a cottage cheese container and started feeding him canned cat food. We attached the "nest" to a nearby tree where we'd seen several blue jays, but after looking him over they ignored the poor little guy. All this started before noon. I made many calls trying to find help for him, but nobody was interested in a baby blue jay. Fortunately, a lake neighbor (from the Florida Keys) with good experience in rescuing birds was interested and volunteered to try to keep him going and growing. She was an answer to prayer. Last report he was doing great. That same afternoon we noticed a loon not too far out from the docks and acting strangely. I took several photos of it and the following day, when we noticed him out there again, my son took more photos capturing some of it's odd behavior. He seemed to have an injured leg or perhaps have fishing line or something tangled around his back end. He looked more distressed the second day and didn't seem to be able to dive. I made a series of phone calls and finally got a wildlife officer. He came out, but by the time he arrived over an hour had passed and after much searching we couldn't find the loon that evening.

Addendum:
Sadly, I have just learned that the baby blue jay died sometime last night.

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

2009-05-25T20:37:00.006-05:00

This morning LuAnne brought me some rhubarb and I decided to make my Grandma Tolstead's Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake. I used her original recipe, assisted by a revised version that my uncle, Bob Tolstead, had given me. I was having trouble figuring out what to do with the lists of ingredients until consulting his version. By the third and final phase of ingredients, I realized I was short a quarter cup of sugar and was thankful for my neighbors coming to the rescue, thereby saving me a trip to town. It turned out tasting just as I remembered it... Dee-licious! Anne & Carolyn Carter, LuAnne & Ev White, and Carol & Dave Peterson joined me for tea shortly after it came out of the oven. As might be expected, having friends here to share it with made it taste even better. It has only dawned on me in the last hour that this is "Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake" and so I had served it wrong-side up. If any of them noticed the upside-down cake wasn't upside-down they didn't mention it to me. It was a very nice way to spend an otherwise rather gloomy Memorial Day.

The Rookery

2009-05-09T11:41:00.014-05:00

There is Great Blue Heron rookery on Long Lake that has been in the same area for many, many years. I stopped by yesterday to try to get some photos. The herons were not exactly thrilled to see me. When I got out of the car with my camera in hand they all ducked down in their nests and refused to peek out. I could hear an occasional bit of muttering from them. (If you have ever listened to herons you know what I mean.) After awhile I gave up, got back in my car and drove slowly around a loop and back to the rookery area. This time I parked beyond it a bit, then got out and walked back toward them. That's when I got several photos of them... a few ignoring me, some glaring at me from their nests (well, at least keeping a sharp eye on my movements) and one that was afraid to land in it's nest on it's first few approaches because of my presence. If you would like to see the full set of photos just click on the title to this entry.

Rudi's Stone-Ground Wheat Bread

2009-05-07T18:19:00.006-05:00

Rudi's Stone-Ground Wheat Bread

Today I made Rudi’s Stone-Ground Wheat Bread from Bernard Clayton’s “New Complete Book of Breads.” With cracked wheat, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds in it, along with whole-wheat flour, bread flour, molasses, and honey, it is nutritious, rich, and tasty. If you bake this I suggest you use greased, non-stick loaf pans. The egg wash can drip down and make it stick in spite of greasing glass loaf pans. (Yes, this is why I only photographed one of the two loaves I baked.) The not-photographed loaf had one unsightly end, but it still tasted great!

First Rising

2009-05-07T17:07:00.004-05:00

First Rising
Originally uploaded by Minnesota Daybreak

This is bread dough rising in my favorite bowl. :)
I love the aroma in my house on days when I bake bread.

Repeating what I said in a note on Facebook last month...
In the past I baked bread in a bread machine. It tasted good, but the shape of the loaf wasn't very appealing or useful. I've switched to making bread with a Kitchenaid mixer doing the harder work of kneading the dough. Other than that, the process is much like my great aunt, Elsie, used when I was growing up. She always let me 'help' with her baking. Good memories and good eating.

Cross Reference

2009-05-01T16:44:00.003-05:00

"Christianity is not a religion of rules. It is the religion of divine example." -George Hodges

Lake Ice Report - April 17,2009

2009-04-17T16:57:00.006-05:00

The lake ice has that dark look it gets before it goes out, but no big cracks across it yet.

This is a pile of burned logs that were left on the ice in front of Glattley's place.

Kasper was groomed this week

2009-04-16T19:55:00.006-05:00

I thought I would start posting here again with this very short entry.

Kasper, "the shaggy dog", had a bath and a haircut at Angie's Groom & Board. He looks, smells, and feels SO much better!

This is a "before" photo:

This is an "after" photo:

There are more photos of him on my Flickr pages.

(Lake of the Woods) Walleye

2006-03-08T09:07:00.000-06:00

Recently while Brian & Wendy were rearranging some of their furniture they found a lost ‘memory stick’ from a camera that Glenn had accidently dropped down a hole while ice fishing one weekend in 2004. The camera didn’t survive, but the memory stick did and it held some great photos. I thought I’d post one of a walleye he caught and released. When I see photos of Glenn it helps me smile, even when I’m missing him most.

February Sunrise

2006-02-18T13:54:00.000-06:00

The rest of the story...

2005-10-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am reprinting the following from our son's website and invite you to write your own thoughts or comments if you would like to.

QUOTE:

"... I wanted to share something very important:

The media recently covered the story of my Dad’s accident. They tried to tell it from the typical ‘unbiased’ perspective that they are charged with. However, ratings are always a factor in such reports and I wanted to clarify some things for my close friends as I know all of you have been reading as much as you can to find out.

Yesterday, Channel 3 in Duluth, gave a news report and showed pictures of the boat that had been crippled and crushed against the shores of Superior. They prefaced the newscast by saying “Both the Kooyer Family and the Coast Guard want to inform more people of boat safety” or something very close to that. In the articles and on the broadcast the Coast Guard blames the fact that they were unable to rescue my Dad on the fact that “they had no location” and he could have been anywhere in from Bayfield to some other end of Superior. Here are some additional details that the media left out:
1. When my Dad called he originally called on channel 16. This is the standard procedure when calling in a Mayday.

2. He informed them he had about 5 minutes before his boat hit the rocks. Before he could get more out, they asked him to switch to a different channel. We think “22″. The Coast Guard then “lost contact”.

3. When they recovered the boat and investigated they found it on channel 24. Now realize that these were four foot waves.

4. The radio is located below the steering wheel and in the short time he had to react any number of things could have occurred while the boat was pitching left to right. He knew he was in trouble.

5. He grabbed all of his belongings including his wallet, keys and even his iPod and attempted to get on shore.

6. He made it to shore and was alive and well and OFF of the boat. No thanks to the Coast Guard.

7. He tried to save the damn boat. This is what ultimately caused his death.

The thing that has bothered all of us though is this: The Coast Guard gracefully dodged addressing their policy on camera or in print. They didn’t even mention that they asked him to change channels and lost contact. If they had spent 15 seconds with him on channel 16 and simply asked his location before telling him to switch over he would STILL BE ALIVE.

I know this may read as a very frustrated and saddened young man mourning for his Dad. All of that is true. We’re not blaming the Coast Guard for their mistakes. We simply believe their policy is flawed.

I needed to do that for me, my brother, my mom and all of my family who believe that in order to invoke change you have to speak out. Brian and I called the television station today. We spoke to Maureen the head of the Newsroom there and she offered to interview us and give us the chance to tell it from our perspective and to tell them of the communication flaw in the Coast Guard’s current procedure. We were to go at 2pm. We decided that my Dad would just tell us to “let it go”–and that the media might make it worse.

Thanks again to everyone for sending us your love and support.

Love,
Adam K."

END OF QUOTE.

October Begins - 1, 2, 3.

2005-10-05T13:53:00.000-05:00

The very first day of October had us in the cities for a rehearsal gathering at Adam and Heather's place. The practice was moved to the basement from the back yard because as the sun went down a bunch of mosquitoes moved in. It was fun to get together and meet the people in the wedding party. We are all looking forward to the big event next Saturday evening.

The second day in October marked our 34th wedding anniversary. It was a day for taking it easy... we went to church, took an afternoon drive to view the fall colors, and had a nice dinner out.

On the third day of October B,W,E,&M brought home their new Cocker Spaniel puppy, Max, (Turbo Max?). That means we have a"grandpuppy," right? We went to their house to meet him last night and shared a delicious meal at the same time. Kasper hasn't met him, yet, but we hope they will be friends.

Isn't he cute?

Such a sweet baby... he's got those 'Huntley' eyes.

September Has Gone

2005-10-05T12:16:00.001-05:00

We started September at the cabin...

Brian, Wendy, Evan, and Maya came for Labor Day Weekend.
Fishing, building sandcastles, and an afternoon at Itasca State Park were the highlights. The weekend ended with all of us packing up and taking the long way back to Duluth, stopping for lunch at Poncho & Lefty's in Brainerd.

My birthday gift from B,W,E,&M is a class that Wendy and I are taking together at Yarn Harbor where we are learning to make a Christmas sock. By making this sock we are learning how to knit in color patterns or Fair Isle knitting. This photo shows my start. That is a row of snowmen in the section I'm currently working on. There are only three sessions, but they are quite spread out, so we will finish this project at the end of October. Knitting with more than one color is fun and interesting to do.

While in Duluth we were able to see soccer games for both Evan and Maya and we attended 'Breakfast and a Book' with Maya at her school. I went through piles of old photos and slides in order to separate a bunch for Adam.
We've spent more time away from the cabin than we expected to, but have thereby been able to get ready for the wedding. After Labor Day the weather was wonderful -- an especially nice September.

Glenn has enjoyed showing his car and won a couple of nice awards. Ask him about them when you see him. You may want to get a tee-shirt from Gordy's in Cloquet next summer because his car will be featured on them.

Where Did August Go??

2005-08-26T14:18:00.000-05:00

I nearly missed August completely for making a blog entry. It was a busy month with all sorts of fun which included golf. After one afternoon of eighteen holes at Blueberry Pines, however, I have been happy to stick to the nine hole par 3 courses. At Blueberry, Ann Tague and I rented a cart and the new GPS system proved nervewracking. There's nothing like a computer screen yelling at you while you're trying to relax during your golf game.... "Move back to the cart path", "You are 31 minutes behind pace", Etc. By the last couple of holes - flashing hamburgers appeared with, "Press any button now to have your order ready for you at the clubhouse." I think I'll be walking that course from now on.
I took this photo on the 6th hole at Evergreen golf course. Glenn and I golfed with Dave and Carol P. that day and a doe and fawn at this hole weren't the least bit frightened by us. They moved a short distance into the woods and munched away, watching as we hit our tee shots.

We (CC, Glenn, and I) rode our bikes to Dorset (exactly 10 miles from the cabin) to eat at Companero's. It was hard work getting there against a strong NNW wind, but the ride home was pretty easy and the food was worth the effort. There is a new restaurant over that way at the old Chateau Paulette location called Zorba'z. We've enjoyed pizza there a couple of times this season. Those Dorset restaurants are all good. My aunt, Shirley, and I enjoyed eating at the Dorset House on our way from Duluth to Park Rapids. Later in her stay with us when my uncle, Bob, was also visiting we had excellent Italian fare at La Pasta. The photo below is of Shirley, our waitress, and Bob.

This month the Kooyer brothers & sisters had a little family gathering in Bemidji. Some of them camped and some stayed in hotel rooms, but Glenn and I just made a day trip over there for a Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed Dave's Pizzas with all of them before we drove home. Betty and Jim spent Sunday afternoon at our place. We fished from the dock, but the fish weren't biting that day. Later that week, however, I caught a pound and a half bass and two half pound sunnies off the dock. Those are the biggest sunfish I've ever caught! Shirley, Bob, Glenn, and I had fish & eggs for breakfast the next morning. Mmmm.

These next photos are of the Bemidji gathering.
The women's table,

the men's table, and...

a cute one of Dorothy and Jim.

Another August highlight was the side trip that Shirley and I made on our way from Duluth to the cabin. We traveled the "Iron Trail" stopping in Virginia, Hibbing, and at Hill Annex Mine State Park by Calumet.

August also was nice for cookouts, campfires, stargazing, and seeing the full moon rise over the lake. There were games of cribbage and yahtzee, crossword puzzles, books to read, old movies on DVD (with Barry Fitzgerald in them) and my sweater knitting has come along nicely. There was a big (and happy) surprise earlier in the month when I attended a fancy "tea" given by LuAnne. It turned out to be more than a tea party; it was a birthday party! - for me! - a month early! It's good to celebrate often and over extended periods of time. We have two (actual) August birthdays to celebrate as the month comes to an end - Anne's (the 24th) and Adam's (the 28th).

Our most recent guests, Bill and Linda, just left a couple of hours ago. Bill and Glenn framed up the garage on one side. They did a great job.

Wednesday

2005-07-27T20:38:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd try another post to checkout how uploading photos works. My new winter wool clogs came today and as you can see I finished knitting my colorful socks this week, too. I'm content to wait a long time to wear these, because I sure don't want summer to end yet.

First Ever

2005-07-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my website? - weblog - blog.

The weather is gloomy at the lake today and so I'm taking time to try to figure out blogging. (Thanks to Heather for mentioning this site.)
Not being very well prepared, this first entry is very short and uninformative. I'll be back.