First Egg

I found a brown egg - the first one from this flock of chickens.

Whose egg was it?

Pearl's?

Ivy's?

Glenda's?

Marina's?

Or Nora's?

Spruce

Which branch should I choose?

A little bare in the middle but still cute enough.

This branch sprouted on the east side of the tree but definitely wanted to be a western branch.

I don't think it's gonna fit inside the house.

I decided to go really green this Christmas season and use part of the black spruce tree next to my house.  This spruce is old and diseased and isn't growing normally.  Several branches have grown out and straight up. I walked around and around the tree several times trying to pick the best branch to be my Christmas tree.  This tree has more than one branch growing straight up.  The upright branches are tall and tight together so it was hard to see.  The one I chose was higher than I thought it was.  I had to climb the spruce tree to reach the bottom where I could saw it off.  Muttering to myself that it might have been a better idea to drive to the local boy scout tree stand, I climbed the spruce tree.  I found a branch thick enough to support me.  I knelt on the branch with one leg and brought my other leg up to stand on it.  This is no easy task for an arthritic old lady such as myself and I looked around to see that no one was watching. I haven't climbed a tree for I don't know how many years.  I maneuvered myself closer to the trunk and removed the smaller branches that were in my way.  I made the cut fairly easily and thought I was done but the branch just hung there.  I tugged and it would not come down any more than six inches.  I climbed down the tree to pull the branch down but found even the bottom was way above my head.  I climbed back up the tree and wiggled that tree to the north, south, east and west.  Every time I looked up to see if I made progress snow fell into my eyes. I had sticky sap on my forehead and on my coat.  This spruce was not letting go easily.  The branch wasn't budging.  I climbed down again to get some rope out of the garage.  Again I climbed up the spruce tree to tie the rope around the trunk.  After ten minutes of tugging the branch came down. I spent the next ten minutes tugging it out from under the tree and into the yard so I could cut it down to size.  The tree had a 3 feet bare spot.  Should I cut it above the bare spot and have a table top tree or cut it longer and have a Charlie Brownish tree?  I decided to go for the Charlie Brownish effect.  I estimated the height of my vaulted ceiling and cut the trunk.  I put it in the tree stand and wrestled it up the deck steps and put it by the patio door.  I noticed the tree was 3 feet higher than the peak of the house.  Astonished at how inaccurately I guessed I took it out of the tree stand and cut another three feet off the bottom.  Once inside the house the tree bends to the side against the ceiling for about 5 inches.  My Christmas tree is big and bare in the middle but, by golly, it's unique, fresh, and priced right!

What are those architectural features called?

Painting the farm house last fall led us to pay attention to the architectural features.  We really liked the window frames and those beams (see red arrows?) that supported the roof.  We called them gables but they're really not gables. Gables are the triangle spaces created by a roof.  Those black beams are in the gable but are not the gable.  So what are those black beams called?  I've spent hours looking up architecture vocabulary and I cannot find a word for it. I did learn this is a Queen Ann style of home.  Do any of my readers know the answer?  When driving through Duluth last weekend we saw a house on London Road with the same support beams.  It was on the "non-lake" side of London Road between Glensheen Mansion and where the scenic route splits off from Highway 61.  The sight of those beams made me curious all over again.

Taking The Long Way Home

We decided to take the long way home from Lutsen.  Traveling up the Caribou Trail we cut across on a logging road in the Superior Forest and came back down the Sawbill Trail.  We went past a wall of boulders covered in snow.

The road was plowed at both ends but not in the middle.

The closer we were to the middle the worse the conditions became.

We saw an owl sitting in the road.  The owl flew up before we got a good look at it.  My guess is a great gray owl.  Here is what the owl was snacking on before we came up on it.

Some parts of this road were scary and some were beautiful. We made it through without having to call for help so I'm glad we went on it.  Traveling this road was a great way to start the month of December.

Doh!

While in Lutsen, offspring #2 asks me, "Should I change into different jeans?  These have a spot from Grandma's." 

In a perplexed, quiet, concerned and almost care taking voice I respond (seriously worried about her laundry skills), "You don't have any grandma's anymore and haven't for over a year."

She says with a spark, "Grandma's in Duluth!  Where we had lunch yesterday?"

Doh!

Lodging

After winning a 2 night stay at the Lutsen resort condo lodge, I got the chance to stay there this weekend.  I've been to Lutsen resort, Minnesota's oldest resort, before to go canoeing and to have dinner in their dining room, but this the first time I stayed there.  Oh, it's plush and ever so much easier than camping.  The main lodge was just a covered bridge away from where we stayed.  We played a game of scrabble in the main lodge near the big open fireplace.  We used their pool and hot tub.  We enjoyed a loud and competitive game of air hockey where I won 2 out of 3 games.  Something about air hockey brings out the competitive beast in me.  Hiking was difficult with mist falling on the trails so after one fall we dropped that idea.  We watched a movie, played trivial pursuit and boggle, visited with relatives, and truly enjoyed our stay at Lutsen resort.

Staying in Lutsen

While staying at the Poplar River condo

at the Lutsen resort

its fun to walk down to the shore and watch the waves come in

go out, and come in again.  The sight of the powerful waves restore my soul.