Sunrise on the Lake... again!

Well, mixed in with the bad stuff happening in our world comes sunrise over the Lake.  It is so nice for us to look forward to what Mr. Sun will bring every day.

Today was nice and Life is Good.

Every day there's a new story with the same theme

Most if not all of my posts on this blog have been about happy times... following my little byline about "Life is Good"!

I've been thinking about this for a while now and it's due to an alarming trend that is in the news on a daily basis. The photo above is a 10 year old child named Jade Morris who was killed by a woman in Las Vegas.  Jade Morris didn't do anything - other that be in the wrong place with the wrong person at the wrong time.

I'm going to try attach the story below these comments.  This is not a rant but just an expression of how sad I feel when I read these stories. I know that there are much worse things happening in this world where kids are starving in the thousands due to drought or civil war or whatever but there is virtually nothing that can be done other than getting our "have" countries involved.

But... in almost every case I read about kids being killed in North America.. in our back yards in some cases, the children are just innocent victims of fucked up people that can't deal with their issues or illnesses, and eventually are ignored long enough that they take out their frustrations and feelings on the helpless people around them - the children who did not ask to be there in the care of such dangerous sick people. In most cases, the adults that kill have sought help but either can't find it or get lost in the system.

It's just so very sad and it makes me wonder if there is anything that can possibly be done to stop it.

Yeah... life is good, but not for everyone.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/29/jade-morris-las-vegas-girl-suspect/1797783/

T'is been a nice Christmas...

We've enjoyed a nice Christmas Holiday this season.  We hosted a gang on Xmas Eve and then had Christmas day at Scott's cabin on Island Lake.

Nothing like a cold beer and a rousing game of bocce ball on the ice.  We had fires roaring outdoors on both days and of course kept warm in the hot tub - as required.

A couple of days ago, (Boxing Day is not a common name here in the states) we drove down to Minneapolis and spent the day with Julie's grand kids. It was nice and also reminded me of how much I miss my family this time of year.

Anyways, I want to wish my friends who visit this page a wonderful holiday and all the best for a healthy happy New Year.

Life is Good!

Winter Wonderland in Courtenay!

I nabbed some photos that Jill took and posted onto Facebook.

Looks like Courtenay got a beautiful dump of the white stuff just in time for Christmas.  I'm so very happy that Jill's mom Diane and her sister Rebecca could be with the family for the Christmas Holiday.

My grandkids look so grown up and happy.  I love you all and Merry Christmas to you!

Life is great!

WoooHoooo... exciting!

Excitement at the bird feeders today.  I recently put out a suet feeder to try attract some small downy woodpeckers that hang around a bit.  Unfortunately the feeders also attract pigeons and grackles so I'm constantly shoooo-ing the varments away.

This morning I saw a big black bird latched onto the suet and thought it was a crow - until it swung around and  I saw it's head.  I just love the look of this majestic looking bird.  Tried to get a good pic through the DR window and managed to get a few.

Yes, live is Good!

Just a "crafty" guy

Or is it a "Loony" guy???

Yesterday was day four of my 4 day stained glass classes.  It's something that I have always kinda wondered about and voila - the loon appeared.  It's hanging in the dining room window for now. Looks rather nice if I do say so myself.  Saw the same piece in a craft store today in Canal Park with a $80 price tag on it.

I'll probably go onto a new prOject in the new year but for now, I'm quite satisfied.

Life is Good.

Happy Birthday!

I am so very happy that you are the major part of my life.

Happy Birthday Jewels!  I Love You.


Life is Good - for the Queen of the Lake!

Visiting the Museum of Russian Art in St Paul..

Jewels was attending a seminar in Minneapolis this week so I tagged along and we made a nice weekend out of it visiting Annie as well as Cam and Cassie and the girls.

We finally got to visit the Museum of Russian Art this trip and just loved it.  The main feature of the Museum was the works of Nicolai Fechin and the pics above are a cross section of his works. Almost eerie how realistic his paintings are.

The top floor of the museum was dedicated to some of the more popular works of art over the past few years.  One of them was called "The Milkmaids" and it was a painting of three women taking a break from milking the cows and obviously were sharing a private joke.  The features on their faces was so real.... just sitting there looking at this painting made me laugh aloud, and I sat and enjoyed this painting for a few minutes.  Good for the soul.

Life is Good.

Best sunrise over Superior.... EVER!

 Yeah... I know!

I've been very quiet for a while but in a way that is good because it's been quiet and life has been rather normal for the past few weeks. The most exciting happenings has been curling Mondays and Tuesdays (we won our games both nites this week) and I've started a stained glass course which I'm finding quite interesting.

This morning the sunrise over the Lake was stunning. Jewels and I were just in awe of what was happening outside of our window.

Life is Good!

Hunting season in Minnesota...

Julie's Mom and Dad are visiting Duluth this week and will be spending Thanksgiving with the whole family at our house next week.

Bob had an opportunity to get out hunting the past couple of days with Scott, Kim and her brother Tom and was rewarded today when a nice fat doe wandered into his sights.  It was a beautiful day and a great day for our hunters.  Congratulations Bob on your prize.  Looking forward to a taste.

Life is Good.

Lake almost looked like it had some ice this AM

Lovely view from our window this AM.

Life is Good.

Gotta love those Wisconsiners....

They give a whole new meaning to "Happy Hour".. all you can drink Bloody Marys for $8

indeed... Life is Good.

Winter's coming...

This photo was posted on twitter by a guy from up in Grand Marais.  Lovely photo but ...brrrr it looks so cold.

By the way, we won second prize in event C at the Superior 'spiel.  Nice fleece jackets for a prize!

Life is Good.

Curling season is upon us...

Well, curling season is officially started and it looks like I'll be curling 2 nites a week over at the Superior Curling Club.

Just need to go out and find myself a kilt and I'm set to go. Hoping it's a fun season.  I'm looking forward to it.

Life is Good.

Gol-darn kid made Grandpa cry again today.

OK... I do cry too easily..   Shaya's first school pic!

Life is good!

It feels good... to feel good!

A few months ago ... after our holiday out east where we enjoyed the scenery along with the fantastic FOOD, Jewels and I talked about the state of our health. We were both stretching our non stretch clothes to the limit and in general, we were feeling kind of "blah" about ourselves. I specifically was having a lot of discomfort and issues with my body's reactions to food that I knew was bothersome to my system, and had been since my operation a couple of years past.

It was around that time that Julie stumbled onto "clean eating" which seems have become quite the buzz word when it comes to dietary planning.  It isn't exactly a diet which you undertake specifically to lose weight. It's an entire eating process that cuts out a lot of sugar, fats, carbs and processed foods and gets you eating more veggies, fruit, and generally wholesome foods.. You actually get to read the ingredients on food packaging to decide if the food meets the guidelines for your diet.  You just have to google clean eating to get the whole story.

Bottom line.. we have been eating clean for a few months now and in addition to feeling much better, much to our surprise the pounds are falling off.  The nice part is it isn't a diet where we have a weight goal but merely a method of eating great meals, enjoying our food like never before, and the bonus is we feel better and are losing weight.  Although it's not recommended, we can even have a drink or two with dinner and it doesn't seem to aversely affect the weight lost. This is important coz Jimmy likes his beer as we all know!

Mornings have become a fun time when the first thing we do is weigh-in and check our "morning pounds".  The weight fluctuates a bit but to date Jewels has dropped over 20 pounds and I hit the magic Two Zero this morning.

We don't feel deprived (OK - at times we do miss eating ice-cream) but the fact that this is a lifestyle makes us believe that we can continue with our eating plan and reap the healthful benefits along the way..

Stay tuned - Life is Good..

I shudda known better....

So, here's a little hint for those of you that are driving into mountains on a nice day and you start meeting vehicles that have snow piled up on their roofs ....  TURN AROUND!

I was heading south from Bozeman with a plan to visit Yellowstone Park and drive on thru to Cody Wyoming and take in the Buffalo Bill Museum.  This was part of the plan to drive home this route as I have never been into that area before.

The roads started to turn wet and a bit slushy with snow as I  drove on.  When I got to the National Park sign, I was thinking that it looked rather cloudy in the distance... about 30 miles from West Yellowstone village the roads got snow packed and very slick.  I made it OK into the village although it took almost an hour longer than planned.

So, I looked around a bit and the village itself is best described as a large tourist trap.  Bot a few groceries and headed for the main park gates only to find out that the road thru to Cody was closed due to the snow!!!!  I asked what the alternative route would be and was told to drive back to Bozeman and head east...blah.. blah...blah...

Bottom line.. I drove back to Bozeman and added about 5 hours of extra Montana driving time to my trip... damn this is a  huge state.. it just goes on and on and on...

But, I'm in no hurry, I'm safe, and I'll be home soon...

Life is Good.

Scenic Route Indeed!

These photos were taken a couple of days ago as I drove from Lewiston ID to Missoula.  There is something about driving alongside a river that makes its way through the mountain valleys.  There was very little traffic, road conditions were great.... so peaceful.

Life is Good.

Scenic route home....

Well, I left Courtenay yesterday morning... got a pic taken with my favorite kids in the world... I dropped Shaya at her bus for school and there were lots of tears.. she cried a bit as well!

I decided on a different route home this time.. crossed into the states at Abbotsford and crossed the Cascades mountain range this morning.  Lots of beautiful colors which brightened a dull rainy day.  Jewels and I travelled most of todays route a couple of years ago.. I remembered parts of it but we both have a lot of miles on us... teeheehee...  and it's hard to remember all the places we have been to.

Arrived into Lewiston ID tonite and was quite dramatic driving into the city with rugged hills as far as you could see.  I think I got the last available room in the city.. big volleyball state tournament here this weekend... the Rancho Motel looked very nice when I arrived to get their last room...

Life is Good.

On the island...

Well, I'm out west again.  I've been kind of lazy about posting stuff here but in addition to being good, life has been kind of quiet as well.

I stopped in Edmonton and got in visits with Chris and Jan as well as Jesse and Nikki.  The kids have moved to a house in Spruce Grove and it's quite a lovely spot.  They seem to be really enjoying things outside of the city and it was great to see them.

Hit the road again a few days ago and now I'm settled in at Jill's house.  I'll probably spend a week here and then head home.  It's so nice to see my grand children.. they are growing so fast and they change so much every time is see them.  Rylie is a real card and always going in one way or another.  Shaya is in kindergarten now and loving it.  She and I are going out to the movies tonight (Hotel Frankenstein), so that shud be fun...

Wayne and I got in a game of golf yesterday.  Had big plans for today but it's been raining all day .. ah well there is always tomorrow... I get to watch something called Jersey Shores on TV instead...

Life is Good!