Day 1, Carlo's 2008 vacation.....

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Yes, that's right, start of vacation for me. I'm off now until January 5th, 2009.

Today started well, I took some coals from the boiler and put them in the stove in the lodge, added some wood and had an instant hot fire in there! Then I cleaned ashes out of the boiler and restocked with wood. I shoveled the path to the front of the house and garage.

I decided that I needed to plow the road for the first time, so I got the tractor started, put the blade on and started plowing. While by the mailbox I decided to go over to Johnson's place and do their driveways, got about 2/3 done and ran out of gas.... Doh!!! Walked home and dug out the gas cans and got the van out and ready to go.

I realized that today is the last day to apply for the spring turkey permit drawing, so I decided to go to Extra Innings in Ogema to get that, and have lunch while I was there. I had a California burger and a bevy and struck up a conversation with a guy, turns out to be Duane Barr, older than me and he was in school with uncle Larry!! I needed to get the application postmarked today's date, so I had to wait around the saloon until 1:00, so I talked to Duane and Sandy(bar operator) and had another bevy or two.....

Went to post office, stopped for gas on the way out of town, filled the tractor on the way in and finished plowing. Fired the boiler and lodge stove...... I think this is the point I started goofing off for the rest of the day. Going O.K. so far!!!


This morning started with 27 turkeys flying into the field from the woods just to the east of the house. Some others walked in from the south..... this photo was an attempt to show the startings of the sunrise. Blow it up and it looks a little better.



This is one of the turkeys that I scared out of the yard when I went out. It looks just like one of my decoys!! Go figure.....



This was from the weekend, but it looks much like it did this morning. This is from the Otter1 camera that's about 2 feet off the ground near the lodge.



Those birds have been searching for the little crabs from the tree on the south lawn. It was all snow covered out there, but now it's all scratched up around the tree by the turkeys.



O.K., here is one last example of how this chalk art is made. Here we see a lobster ready to eat a baby. That's what it appears to be, but look at the view below. It's taken from the other side and it shows how the pictures is drawn to give it that wonderful 3D effect when viewed FROM ONE SPECIFIC POINT. Note that those antennae are flat on the sidewalk and actually extend down the sidewalk between the people out there. Pretty amazing.



I gotta go finish my first vacation day....... Carlo


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