No Christmas Star

Yesterday we had snow all day. Nothing serious, but it was too overcast for us to see the Christmas Star. 

Definitely having put less energy and time for holiday preparation this year.... We are not baking cookies, but I baked cheesecake today. I also finished gift wrapping. Two more days of SERIOUS work before Christmas!

Holiday Card Production

Since Joe continued hunting into December, I had to wait for his hunting result before finalizing our holiday greetings. That meant I couldn't print my block print images. Finally last week I spent a half day printing. Hmmmm... the smell of wet ink!

And today I put the final touches, folded, addressed, sealed, stamped... I was like a pre-email secretary in office 9 to 5. Almost.  My job is done!

End of Deer Season

Joe is officially done with his hunting season... without fresh venison in our freezer. Though he hunted a few more weekend days during muzzleloader season, he saw less and less deer signs. Joe really tried this year. 

That didn't stop us from enjoying a tasty consolation prize. 

On an unrelated note we just cooked corned beef and cabbage the other day. In this weird 2020, we thought why not St. Patrick's Day in December? 

Joe's Buck Fever... Continues

The rifle part of deer season is over with.... Joe ended up sitting out in his blind till the very end of the last day (Nov. 30). Yet his scruffy deer hunter's beard says he's not done. He went back out this time with his muzzleloader over the weekend. NOTHING. Absolutely not a track. The reason of his hope is the earlier trail cam pictures like the one below. A very nice 8-point and an even bigger 9-point may still be around.... 

Thanksgiving Dinner

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving no matter how unorthodox it might have been. I enjoyed a quiet day off from work, while Joe went back out hunting all day. He didn't see a buck, but his trail cam had captured a couple of nice bucks during daylight on those days he had to work. So he is hopeful and currently out in the woods. Patiently waiting.... 

I roasted a whole chicken last night for the two of us. A very special occasion. Roasting a big hunk of meat or a whole bird is not my comfort zone in kitchen. Since we both work with general public and beyond, we decided to stay away from the family. A great excuse for Joe to hunt all day and not be late for dinner!

No Deer, Yet

Joe has not seen a buck to shoot yet. It's not always fun being a responsible adult... Joe had to go back to work when his work called. This Sunday when the weather was just about to turn from warm to cold with some snow, which gave Joe a good feeling about seeing more deer, he had to come out of the woods. I was no lucky charm last Thursday either, though I got my annual deer blind nap. Apparently my snore got this little doe curious, and she eventually walked halfway towards the blind. Joe will get to hunt some more... so wish him luck.

My work has already been busy. I have unusual evening shifts here and there, so we have bento dinner sometimes. I'm hoping to survive this Black Friday weekend in this unpredictable Covid year. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

5 Days Till Deer Season

This past week has been unseasonably warm, hitting 70 degrees. After a blizzard, snowflakes blowing sideways at 20 mph all day long, this warm weather we should have had last month was a welcome change. Joe put up his deer blind on such a nice morning. However, the deer gets less active when the temperature gets warmer... so it's a good thing that it already started to get colder. Joe has better than expected deer signs this year. So keep your fingers crossed!

One thing with the warm weather, we enjoyed grilling. Even on the day we wanted to go out and learned that our favorite restaurant was closed due to Covid, we had grilled steaks and asparagus, toasting to the summer-like weather. 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

The sleet changed into actual snow over the weekend. Enough to blanket everything in white. Enough for the road crew to have to plow. Like I said, this year we aren't ready, but it's sure pretty!

Brrrr... Chilly!

Today's high temp 36 degrees was at 8am this morning. Another wet gloomy day. Sleet, mixed with snow on and off. This is nothing unusual up here in late October... but this year I am not ready! Maybe once snow-covered, it will get easier as we can go outside and play. For now Joe is getting ready for deer season. The reason we go out in the woods despite the weather. 

Almost forgotten, we did pick our grapes a few weeks ago. The smallest amount ever, the easiest for sure. I even added some leftover grape juice from last year to make only 2 batches of jelly. Who knew the Covid 2020 would also bring a great grape jelly shortage!!

Birthday Weekend !

We both had a 3-day weekend to enjoy things we love around town. We kicked off Kayo's birthday yesterday with proper southern brunch and bread pudding. We definitely needed a walk afterwards... the breeze was not too bad, as long as you had 10 layers of clothes! The temp was about 45. Tropical!

Saturday morning we woke up to some wet white snow. It's really not easy to face the upcoming winter with so much unknown.... we'd rather go into a hibernation with bears!

But as long as we can walk into our favorite local establishments with masks and feel almost normal again, we'll face this Covid winter. The first time sitting at the bar since just before Joe's birthday in March felt like a combined celebration of both our birthdays. Cheers to all your safety!

Coho Salmon At Last!

Even though our trout stream is closed for season, our fishing fever (specifically for Coho salmon) did not go away. This weekend we spent hours staring into the water and chasing after the salmon. We could see the fish. Every once in a while one of them would surface and roll. There were many fishermen coming and going empty handed. Not mentioning the lures being lost. Sunday late in the afternoon one of my many casts snagged this 21" salmon at last. Fish God's mercy, or pure luck. The only fish we'd seen pulled all weekend. I'm done with my fishing season... though Joe is still hoping to catch a Coho with ikura (salmon roe).

Between our shifts on the river this weekend, we also enjoyed much autumn beauty. On the forest floors are as many colored leaves as on the trees now. 

We went to pick deer apples at Joe's boss's house, too. A bit of work bending down to pick apples from the ground to fill buckets, but it was very nice to enjoy such beautiful fall weather outdoors. Happy Fall, everyone!

Last Day of Trout Season

We both took a day off today, the last day of trout season.... It's been cool and rainy for several days. The water level was so high, Joe couldn't fish Apple Creek on Sunday. Our biggest hope was to be able to cross the stream to get to the Big Hole one last time. The morning started out dry and very magical. The water was still a bit high, but fishable. We were most certain that the salmon were up. We just couldn't prove it. 

The highlight was our early lunch on the bank: pasties and beer. Almost tasted like victory, almost. We did catch a few trout, ranging 4-12". It's just that our disappointment is greater when fishing for 20-25" Coho salmon! The unstable weather had to be the reason. A couple of rain showers soaked us both. The second one with HAIL! It was time for us to say good-bye to Apple Creek for the season. Brrrrrr. Chilly.

Our chase for fall salmon is not over yet. We can still fish the river mouths. So, to be continued...

Happy Fall!

We've been dreaming of fall salmon for a while... We've had our first frost, leaves are turning colors, and today is officially the first day of autumn. We are more than ready for our first salmon of the season! 

Meanwhile, our grapes need to be picked, although this year there aren't too many.  

Happy Fall, everyone!

End of Summer BBQ Party

For the last few weeks already, we started to feel autumn in the air. The sun goes down earlier and earlier every day. Swamp maples are turning red... As we hope to catch a few fall salmon again, we also try extra hard to enjoy all things summer... like sitting outdoor in sandals to enjoy our favorite brews.

Or fresh Wisconsin sweet corn and BBQ ribs.

I finally managed to have a 3-day weekend this Labor Day weekend. We didn't want to end this Covid summer without a BBQ party, so we invited a few good friends over to have Japanese style BBQ in the garage. It was just so nice to get together with friends to catch up. 

Weekend Fun

We were both off from work this weekend, so we tried to have as much fun as we could. Also we were supposed to have thunder showers on and off. What better way to start a rainy gloomy Saturday than to enjoy Southern style brunch. 

Sunday was warmer with more sun. We opted for a quick fishing trip in the morning. The river was full of mist. 

 

I was completely surprised by this 19" brown on my first cast, just as I was saying that I had never caught a keeper with this particular lure! The fish took some line, jumped, and fought some more. 

Since Joe was off call and could be out of reach for cell service, we decided to go for a drive in the afternoon... just to check out another part of Lake Superior shores, 2 hours away. A change of scenery... in hope to get our batteries recharged for another work week.   

Bento Lunch

Our usual lunch at work is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... easy enough. Joe makes it and I wrap in the morning. Day after day... we were just tired of the same ol' PBJ. So I prepared lunch boxes for today. I had an unusual Monday off and spent some time to put them together. I could NEVER do this every morning like many people in Japan. But it was certainly a nice change.

Happy Summer!

It's perfect UP summer weather outside, sunny and warm, but low humidity... this is my work weekend. But we did have fun last week when it was 90 degrees and muggy. A rare combination for up here. Went fishing early. Joe caught this big brown quite unexpectedly!

Then we spent the afternoon at the beach. The sand flies were pretty bad, so we were forced to stand in the water most of the time, including lunch. The water of Lake Superior was still chilly!

Next day was stormy all day. Perfect for a lazy Sunday. We tried the new pizza place, owned by our favorite French bakery. Totally worth an hour round trip! 

A Keeper At Last!

It's going to be in the 90s this weekend, and yesterday  (my day off) was the last cool day of the upper 60s. So we went fishing after 5. The water was slightly high from the rain we had with thunderstorms. I actually took Joe's suggestions on the lures for the water condition. I finally caught a keeper trout that didn't get away!  It was a 15 1/4" brown (in the photo the fish is very much alive, as my awkward smile can tell). 

It was a very good evening fishing. We caught quite a few fish of all sizes and trout types. Better yet, I outfished Joe!! Maybe he was being nice to me.
We are planning to have plenty of beach time this weekend. TGIF to everyone!

P.S. Probably less beach time... thunder showers are now predicted all weekend :(

Happy Lake Superior Day

August is just around the corner... and yet we still have lots of unknowns. We are fortunate to have enough normalcy in our daily lives to stay sane. Last week we celebrated the limited but safe reopening of our favorite restaurant with tropical drinks. Takeout just isn't the same.
And last Sunday was the Lake Superior Day... though I had to work all weekend, we picked up a sub sandwich to eat by the lake after work. We enjoyed a dramatic sky between storm systems.

4th of July

The 4th of July has come and gone without a usual proper firework display at the harbor.  I had to work anyway, but we had the 3rd off together. And it's been hot... upper 80s. So we went fishing early. Joe was rewarded with a very nice 21" brown trout! 
We had a bit of beach time later in the day, too. 

A few of our neighbors hosted a garage/ driveway party on the 4th. By the time we joined after work and the outdoor temperature to cool a little, most of them were quite well-marinated. But we stayed to watch their impressive firework display, and it was fun. 
And on Monday I made sushi rolls with the fish Joe caught the other day. Hope everyone is having some summer fun.