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Ice Fishing in Minnesota

Ice Fishing in Minnesota

Hello! Let me start today by saying I am so sorry that my photos are sometimes sideways on different devices. I blog from my lap top and do not hit “Schedule” until everything looks good.

Then in the morning I grab my Mt. Dew and granola bar, plop down on the couch and start to read my favorite blogs. I also re-read my own blog at this point to quadruple check it. This is when I can see that some of the photos are the wrong way. I cannot figure out why some photos do that and some do not.

Ugh.

As one reader recently commented to me, it makes her dizzy to read my blog because of this issue. Believe me when I say that it makes me dizzy too! Dizzy and frustrated but still trying to get it all figured out. Please be patient with me as we work on this. I hope you will keep coming back as we strive to make things better!

So at the risk of some of these photos making you dizzy, I want to share with you a pastime we embrace here in Minnesota over the long winters.

Ice fishing.

Disclaimer: I enjoy fishing when is hot outside with a good book to read and an ice-cold beverage to sip on if/when the fish are not biting.

I am not an ice fishing enthusiast. Too cold, bad lighting, not a fan of hot drinks and it is difficult to turn the pages of a good book when I have big fat mittens on. 🙂

If it’s any consolation, I love the workout that walking a mile on a frozen lake offers when preparing to ice fish.

Nikki and I followed our daily walking route on Sunday but added an additional 2 miles to that walk as we ventured out on to the lake to see if “the boys”, our husbands had caught anything.

Early in the season, most people use an ATV to pull out their ice houses and equipment onto the frozen lake.

 

We do not have an ATV. We are starting a Go Fund Me account. So please donate often and generously. 🙂

Just kidding. Hopefully at the end of the season we can grab a good 4 wheeler off of Craigslist.

Our neighbor Paul had offered to let Wade use one that he owns. Wade thanked him but declined the offer because the ice wasn’t quite thick enough to hold the weight of a four wheeler. (The ice was about 5 inches thick.)

Our ice house is an older yet adequate house that collapses and sits on a large sleigh so you can put all of your equipment on it.

I think most non-permanent ice houses are designed like this, but since I don’t work for ICE HOUSES R US, I am just guessing. 🙂

Wade has a harness he puts on to pull everything out onto the lake. Jimmy is only strong enough to carry the minnows. bahahaha. They actually traded off getting that baby out there.

They walked about a mile then set up the house, drilled a hole with the auger and waited.

When Nikki and I arrived about an hour and a half later, they were still waiting.

 

I think the boys were fishing for about 4 hours before they came in.

Their patience paid off. And they measured their success with a sink full of crappies.

Spencer is coming up on Thursday not to ice fish but hopefully with just as much patience as he gives me a photography lesson.

I’ll show you on Friday how that goes,

Wendy

Spending the afternoon shopping Estate Sales

Helping Build A Whole New Old Lake George

Helping Build A Whole New Old Lake George

Hey… It’s Spencer again. Wendy asked if I would chime in and do a bit of a 2015 wrap up from my point-of-view.

Hey! Who would have thought that it has been seven months since Wendy wrote the first post on the Old Lake George blog?!? After 91 posts, we have all read so many fun stories, seen some DIY fails/wins and had fun reading about corndogs and Christmas trees. I can only wonder about what she will write about next.

I help Wendy run the technical side of Old Lake George and both of us have learned so much in the last few months as we try and make it a better blog for YOU! Here are a few things that have changed (for the better) in the last few months and where we are headed!

  • The look and feel saw a dramatic overhaul at the beginning of December… it was long overdue. We worked for weeks to ensure that the blog’s new design felt custom and unique, just like every pillow and project Wendy works on. (It also loads faster!)
  • The email newsletter was launched with the new site design. We wanted to ensure you knew right away when a new post was live. (We have also updated the popup to not be so pesky. If you don’t sign-up, you will see it far less often now.)
  • Photos, Photos, Photos… Have you noticed Old Lake George has a lot of photos? We have worked hard to make sure every post and project has great photos. Wendy is becoming a better photographer every day and you now see a lot more of her photos on the blog and Instagram all the time. We have lots more to come!

In 2016 Old Lake George is only going to continue to get better thanks to you! We hope to do more collaborations with other bloggers, we might include a little video here-or-there and of course we are working on even more projects and DIYs.

Is there anything you would like to see more of? Do you have any favorite posts? Are you having trouble with the site anywhere?? Please leave a comment or send us a note 

 

Home Tour 2015 Part I: Outside

Home Tour 2015 Part I: Outside

Spencer came to the house last weekend to shoot my home tour pictures. As always Spencer did an over the top shoot. What seemed like him “just” pointing and shooting his camera is the reason he is my photographer of choice. There is no “just” about it. He sees things differently through his lens.

Before he leaves for the day, we quickly review the photos he has taken and then he asks the question if he missed anything.

Ummm….no.  Never.  In fact I don’t even see about half of those things in the pictures.

I see this house 24/7. I love my house but now I love my house after seeing it thru someone else’s eyes.

Let’s begin our tour. We will start outside.

These pictures are self-explanatory so I will let you view them with limited interruption. 🙂

THE FRONT OF OUR HOUSE

THE LAKE SIDE OF THE HOUSE

THE LAKE/BACKYARD

Next week we will look at the kitchen and family room.

Maybe I will be more descriptive.

Maybe I will add music to the post.

Maybe I will just let you look around. 🙂

Have a great weekend.  See you Monday!

Ducks in a row

Ducks in a row

We’ve all heard the phrases, “Get your ducks in a row”, “Get your poop and a group” and for those that need to hear it a little stronger, “Get your shit together”.

I for one use the phrase, “Get your poop in a group” quite often when organizing my office and for that matter when I am talking to myself. I find it easier to create and really buckle down and actually get something done when everything is in it’s place.

However don’t be thinkin’ that my office is always organized. After a long day of sewing it is a mess. A joyful pile of scraps, thread, strings and unrolled fabric. And to be honest, I usually don’t clean up after a long day. I will wait until the next morning to get my poop in a group and attack another great day of creating.

So here are pictures of my office when is ready for a new day.

Have a great week everyone!

Silver lining

Silver lining

I try to find a silver lining in everything.

Last week was no different. We were headed down to Iowa for my Grandmother’s funeral. Not an easy day, but she was blessed to live a nice 94 years.

I thought the silver lining for the day was that I would be able to write for the 6 hour long car ride. What I soon realized was that the greatest silver lining was my nephew Spencer who rode along with us. Let me tell you, the kid is awesome. He is a full grown man, but in my simpleton mind I refer to him as a kid, it makes me feel younger.

Spencer is not only my nephew, he is the tech savvy and marketing brains behind this blog and photographer for all of the great photos. Believe me you will know when I have taken the picture. Spencer does have a life and refuses to live with me and photograph my every whim. Some peoples kids. 🙂

Let me give you some examples of his amazing photographer skills. The photos on the left are my sad attempts at taking a photo and the photos on the right are Spencer’s brillance.

Exhibit A:  Personally I would play with the digger on the right.  The one on the left is so….non inviting.

Exhibit B: These snowman are actually for sale in my shop.  Bless my little heart for even trying to make it look like Christmas.

Exhibit C:  These pictures are taken by Spencer.  No need to show my attempts.  I think you get the idea.

So, after picking up Spencer at his house we had the usual catching up conversations. It had been a whole week since we saw him. There was a lot to cover.

I hesitated to bring up “work” with him because this was a family day. However, he eventually asked how the blog was going.

I vented that I was not good at the technology side of adding pictures to my blog. I find the inspiration for my posts in my pictures and in my mind the writing flows and the pictures are perfectly and appropriately placed. Not so much in real life. So I went on and on about how it was so frustrating developing this part of  a post. And typical me after spending an hour trying to figure out how to attach a picture in the appropriate spot, and failing miserably, I throw my laptop into the lake. Figuratively speaking of course.

Spencer listens through for my entire tirade, nodding and taking it all in.  He lets me finish and responds in the most understanding tone, “Take a breath.”

Told you he was awesome and a beautiful silver lining on a not so happy day.

If you need to take a breath, this is where you can find Spencer.

SpencerAlbers.com