Last night of our spring break weekend

There's still some snow left up here.  High temps remain under 40˚.

The mouth of the Temperance river as it enters Lake Superior is still blocked with ice.

We hiked, following the Temperance River upstream.

I've done some knitting in front of the fire.  

Even managed to crochet a steek, readying to make this into a cardigan.

The full moon is tonight, and it was gorgeous rising into the clouds.

Bluefin Bay for spring break 2010

For the second year in a row, we've headed to the north shore of Lake Superior to Bluefin Bay.  Once again, Girl of the House and Ben have different spring breaks.  However, they overlap on the weekend, so Ben and Bekky have joined us for the final weekend of their college break.

It's drizzly and cold (36˚) but we've got a wood fire in the fireplace, good tunes on the stereo and games, books, jigsaw puzzles and knitting to keep us entertained.  

Well, OK, the knitting only entertains me.

I've got a lovely view and a comfy chair in my knitting spot.

Silent Auction

Every year, we have a silent auction at my hospital to benefit the local food shelf.  Last year I got a really sweet deal on a years worth of free range organic eggs, delivered right to my desk once a week.  Awesome.

I usually contribute a baby sweater.

This year, I've got a couple of different items.

A little pair of tiger baby socks.

A pair of Hippocampus mittens (my third pair - these are so much fun!)

In other news, spring has finally arrived in Northfield!  We still have piles of snow in the yard, but it reached 55 degrees today.

Paul joined me for a run, then we sat on the deck for our cool down.  Yup, he's wearing shorts on the 14th of March!  It's spring, I say, SPRING!

Snowshoeing

While we are really enjoying watching the Olympics, restlessness set in this afternoon, and we headed out for some snowshoeing.  It was sunny and in the 20s, a beautiful February afternoon.

We headed out to our pasture, just to check the borders.  This deer path is in the west pasture directly next to the house. The deer have tromped quite a path.  They like to eat out of the bird feeders on the north side of the house.

Next, out to the southeast corner to check out the bench.  It's a nice place to head in the summer mornings for a cup of coffee.

It was buried to the seat. 

We moved on.  No rest for us there!

The little dog was in charge of checking out all the rodents in the snow.  His snout gets covered.

 

All in all, it was a good day to be a dog out in the sunshine.

Not bad to be a snowshoer, either.

High School season is over, and only the Devo season remains. On the weekends, Girl of the House skis with the Welch Village Junior Devo Team.

Saturday we drove up to Powder Ridge in Kimball, MN for a Devo race.  It was 22 degrees.  Down right tropical in comparison to a month ago when she raced in -25 degree temps.

You just gotta love these small Minnesota ski hills.  

You see such a wide variety of skiers and snowboarders.

When I learned to ski in high school, we wore blue jeans.  It just wasn't cool to even admit to owning snow pants.  Boys wore long underwear beneath their jeans, girls wore pantyhose.  Good to see that still works!

A true Minnesotan ski family.  For lunch, they set up in the parking lot.  It was amazing to see all the equipment come out of the back of this Suburban.  

Burgers, wieners, and a Mich Golden Light - what more do you need?

(Love the cow apron.)