Call of the Wild

Yesterday afternoon I went for a run.  As I came around a corner, a wolf came running out onto the road.  Not  at me, just up ahead of me.  I have been worried about the wolves since we've been here.  All the men laugh at me and say there is no chance a wolf is going to attack a human and there are no such attacks on record.  But as the other Lisa up here put it, there's nothing on record because there is nothing left of the body when the wolf is done!  This may be a silly way to look at it, but it still haunts the back of my mind.  The only thing I worry about more than a wolf is a bear.  So the wolf ran out on the road and we both stopped dead in our tracks and look at each other.  I was tearing out my headphones so I could hear if he was making a noise.  I really didn't know what to do, but I only panicked for a split second, and then I felt fine.  Once he got his bearings, he ran away back in to the woods.  I grabbed a big stick and thought maybe I can poke him in the eye if he comes back.  I know, I know--as if I would be able to do that, but it's the only thing I had.  I never saw him again after that as I made my way down the road past where he was.  I had one of the dogs with me, but he was out frolicking in the woods and came back about 2 minutes after the wolf had run off.  Phew.  I have faced a fear!  Rick has only seen 1 wolf in all the time he has spent here.  So I'm hoping I've met my quota.
Later I was driving to the church for Bible study and a big fuzzy bunny jumped out in front of my car and I swerved to miss it, just like I've been told not to do.  But I was still a little on edge from the wolf sighting!  Once at the church, the ladies and I were chatting and had the doors open for some air.  2 birds came flying in and swooping all around in a panic trying to get out.  OF COURSE not just 1 bird.  It had to be 2. Oh how I hate the birds!  I was hunkered down by a pew as they frantically tried to find an escape.  Then I recovered and started looking for something to shoo them out with.  All the girls were squealing, but no one said "What would Jesus do?", which would have been pretty funny I think.  A couple of the ladies herded them out with a sheet or something.  Phew again.  This gave me heart palpitations.  Dirty creepy little claw foot things.

So I give up.  I SURRENDER TO THE WILD!   I am in their world.  I'm sure this is just the beginning.  I forget that though this place seems civilized, it is still deep woods and the animals out-number the people.  By a lot.

Sorry I have no pictures of any of these instances.  Somehow my camera was the last thing on my mind.

Porch Garden

So this is the most exciting thing I can come up with to blog about.  I've barely left the nest in the last week, except to clean cabins or shower houses. I will have to go out and beg people to take me out on entertaining adventures or tell me good stories.  Till then I'll just be scrubbing toilets and living the dream!

We planted a little garden on our back porch.  We have a family greenhouse that Jenny and I planted a bunch of seeds in.  Once they are ready, we'll plant them in a large garden up at Pat's house.  But being the independent cuss that I am, I still have to possess something of my very own on my own turf.  (Way out there in the distance you can see our white storage compartment.  That's where half of my house and clothes reside.  Sometimes I go there just to spend time with them and reminisce.)

As you can see, we have 6 little plants all squared away in buckets and pots.  Buckets that don't even match each other.  With tomatoes and strawberries in the hanging buckets.  We have to put our stuff up high so the deer and other naughty little creatures can't get into it.  I still don't know if this will be effective.  Time will tell.

It's a nice little set-up even though it isn't much to look at, which was my favorite part of my huge garden at our old house.  I just love a nice tilled garden with the corn all tall and heads of lettuce all lined up.  Something about the look of it is soothing to me. Now I will have to settle for sitting on the porch and staring at buckets.  I told my mother-in-law our garden was a bit ghetto.  She said, "It's not ghetto, it's Angle."  This is a classic line.  Write it down and use it in conversation today.  Only cool people that read this blog will get it.

This is our sweet girl reading her father his bedtime story.  It has nothing to do with gardening or anything.  It's just precious and more fun to look at that my silly porch plants.

Busy

The last week has been the busiest for me since we've moved here.  Lots going on,  no particularly interesting or funny stories.  But lots of good times.  Here are the events of the last week or so for this branch of the McKeever family...........

• 4 trips to Warroad (1 with our whole 4-some, 3 just me)
• A very fun book club in Warroad with some lovely ladies, wine and snacks.  I had a great time and enjoyed meeting them.  I had not read the book, but they let me in anyway.
• More showerhouse cleaning.  
• Jenny and I spring cleaned the largest cabin we have, it took 2+ days.
• We got to see a float plane land on the lake.
• I ran a 1/2 marathon in Fargo, ND
• Mother's Day BBQ
• Some strong pangs of homesickness for my friends and family.  

The Mother's Day BBQ was fun and full of people.  There is a family up here that includes 8 kids, all but one are girls.  Rick is sure Tyson will charm them all at one time or another.  Just what either mother loves to hear.  Tyson was able to flirt up a couple at the BBQ.

I took pictures of the vehicles parked around the BBQ, a lot of cars but also golf carts and 4wheelers.  It's funny to see them parked all around.  Like we live in a large retirement community in Florida and eat supper at 4:00pm.

The spring is here and so lovely!  Yes, still the dreaded wind, but warmer and blue skies.  Leaves on the trees and plants springing up in the greenhouse.  My smile gets bigger as the days get warmer.

Tyson and Ava got to hold on to the float plane so it wouldn't float away while the octogenarian passenger was getting out.

Tyson cleaned up some fish guts in the fish house.

We went on a family hike one evening.  Rick came home with 4 woodticks and Tyson had 1.  I had none but itched for the next 3 hours just thinking about it.

Andie slept through the hike.  She may have only lived in Washington state for 6 weeks, but she can still rock a pair of sandles with socks!