And now it's fall again!

I'm back! Last time I posted was just as the ice had finished melting on Sandy Lake, April 3rd, which was unusually early for ice-out. It's now October 3rd, exactly 6 months later. Summer went just about that fast.

Gary dove into his favoite pasttime -- building -- as soon as the weather warmed in the spring, and came up with this screen porch addition on the back of the house:

It's so big, we can fit 22 people on it (probably more -- haven't tried more yet) on it, plus a smorgasbord table. I love it, love it, love it. I love it every time I walk out the screen door -- which has a good hard slam to it (my request) -- and every time I walk back in. I love it when I'm on the porch itself, and I love it when I'm in the house looking out at it. I even love it when I'm not here.

The turned wooden posts on the front of the porch are from the farmhouse my mother grew up in, near Pelican Rapids, MN. She had saved them when the house was demolished, and Gary found them lying in the chicken coop at her farm when she died. Now they're back in use again, and I think they make the porch look stately and grounded.

With the porch done, Gary decided to add a new year-round room addition as well. Up until now, we haven't been able to have more than a handful of guests in our house, as our rooms are pretty cozy. The new room is going to be beautiful, but it's still unfinished, so I'll wait until a few more things are done before I post a photo, later in October.

We took a year off of animals this year -- no chickens, no cat -- and it was a nice change to be able to travel without worrying about animals at home. When you live on an island it's hard to find a sitter. You need someone who can handle a boat, for one thing, and we can't just hire anyone to housesit, as living out here requires some training. Between the ease of travel and the absence of hairballs and chicken poo, life without animals has been a breeze. But I'm starting to realize that the point of life isn't for it to be a breeze. I miss everyone!

That's all for today. Just wanted to get back into the swing of this blog. I'll be updating regularly as we approach another ice-in, and beyond.