Murphy's Flowage, NW Wisconsin

County Road F, in Rusk County, WI

Looks like Virginia, doesn't it!

We were east of Birchwood earlier in the month, when I saw a sign that read, 'Murphy's Flowage.' I had never been to Murphy's Flowage, but I remembered that my grandma used to go fishing there, a lot.

So I asked Kevin if we couldn't follow that road. It's beautiful country, and pretty wild. Eventually, we came upon the following sign:

Below the dam, this pretty river

Behind the dam, the lake

I'm assuming that this is Murphy's Lake

It would seem reasonable, wouldn't it.

We could still see snowmobile tracks on the lake, but no one would have dared be on that lake the day we were there. And just a couple weeks later, all that snow is completely gone.

It's not often we see crocodiles or alligators in lakes around here.

Okay, so you think it's a log, but with a little imagination...

Walking up the hill toward the campsites

Reconnaissance... for a future summer getaway

This one is JUST RIGHT, with a nice view of the lake.

It's first come- first served. I'm hoping that if we go during the middle of the week we may find it unoccupied.

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Any camping trips in your future? Close to home - or in another state?
Tent or RV? 

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

By the way, none of my comments on Blogger blogs are going through this morning. I keep getting an error message bX-cy0oum. I have tried Google to find the fix for this, but so far nothing's working. Hopefully this will be resolved by the weekend and I can get back to your blogs!
 

 

Visit From the City - Part II

Few things are more exciting than a fire truck!

I thought the dead turkey would be fascinating to the grandsons. After all, it was pretty exciting to me, for I'd never seen a wild turkey so up-close and personal before. Grandpa wasn't convinced, but after much coaxing, we went anyway, back to the spot where Grandpa and I had seen the turkey the day before. Sure enough, it was in the same vicinity, although some animal had dragged it from one side of the road to the other and got a little snack out of the deal.

It just so happened that the fire department had just begun setting their fires for the fire training burn nearby. We hit the jackpot. A fire training burn AND a dead turkey, all in one day! Who could ask for more?

It's amazing how different it feels when you see flames coming out the window and KNOW that this has been set by the fire department and no one is trapped inside.

Those yellow things are pools of water to use to put out the fire.
They start a fire, then put it out. Repeat.

Not that this isn't a potentially dangerous exercise

It certainly reminds me to appreciate those who put their lives on the line to protect and/or rescue others.

And now for the dead turkey:  (Sorry. There was no good segue for that)

 Okay, you may think this is a little weird, but I thought this bird was beautiful!

The day before, when Kevin and I had first happened upon this bird, and it must have been very recently hit by a car, but the bird's head was even more beautiful than in this picture. The iridescent colors were so gorgeous. I know. I felt sorry for the turkey. What a beautiful creature. You can see our Creator's handiwork even in the colors used to paint a wild turkey's head and neck, the beautiful spread of feathers, the long thick feet. And who thinks anything of a wild turkey? (except me, maybe) Yet, what an awesome Mind that came up with the spectacular design for this beautiful creature! All the color, all the detail...It is amazing, isn't it. Sometimes is scares me when I really take time to ponder our Savior's power. And then I am reminded of this verse:

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentation 3:22-23).

 'Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.' Psalm 95:6

'Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.' Psalm 145:3

Okay, I'm sure you weren't expecting that little outburst of praise in the middle of this post about a dead turkey. But sometimes it's just impossible not to praise our awesome Creator.

 Look at those beautiful feathers...

 ...and those tough feet!

 On the way home...

We made one stop along the way.
It's amazing what a little DQ can do.

Visit From the City

 Playing Chinese Checkers, more or less

It was fun to have our son and their three boys out over the weekend, although he had wrenched his back the day before, so I'm sure this wasn't his most favorite trip to the country. We were thrilled to see them and enjoyed every minute they were here.

 Chillin' beside the fire

Wait a minute...

 Take a picture of me upside down, Gramma

The Expedition To The Woods: 

 Lots of vertical, some horizontal, a few diagonal

 Riding the Tree Ostrich

 Grandpa and the Boys

 What's this big mound? Is it an Indian burial mound?

Nothing that exciting. It's just an uprooted tree.
(which actually would have been quite exciting if you had been standing nearby when it happened)

 Balancing on a mossy log

 The cut end of a log and fungi
Okay, this picture is an optical illusion for me. Anyone else?
It looks one way the first time I look at it, then my mind changes it to another.
Every Time.

 And this looks like nothing but a fallen birch with its curled bark,
but I thought it was pretty.

 Another 'Widowmaker'

The great sandstone souvenir to take home from the woods

Game's Over

There was also the trip to see the Chetek Fire Department fire training burn, not to mention the beautiful (albeit dead) wild turkey along the way, but that's for another blog post. I don't want y'all to be overwhelmed.  :-)

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Vintage Food Processor and Laundry Soap Recipe

My new 'food processor' and shredded soap

Naturally, making homemade soap gives me little odds and ends of soap bars that I can use for laundry detergent. Then, with just a little Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, I can make a great laundry detergent, for a much lower price than my favorite, Gain. We cut where we can, folks. I canceled Netflix...but still have to get my hair low-lighted now and then. Priorities, remember?

But, I needed something a little more aggressive than a hand-held grater for my soap ends. So after I picked up an inter-library loan book from the library, I stopped in at the local thrift store to see what they had on hand. I must say that these days, because of our sagging economy, the thrift stores are becoming mighty slim pickin's. Obviously, people are trying to stretch that dollar!

I asked the man at the checkout if I could open the box and see if the parts were there. I mean, after all, we're talkin' five whole dollars here. Not only were all the parts included, but I don't think the machine had ever been used. The parts were still wrapped in the original packing material. It obviously came from the late '60s or so (That would be the nineteen sixties.) :-), because the color on the base was 'Harvest Gold.' My mother-in-law had a Harvest Gold washer and dryer...a long time ago.

I was thrilled! That machine was one tough cookie! The metal cones were thick. Everything was so heavy and solidly built - you know, the kind of quality we could count on B.C. (Before China) when things used to be  manufactured in this country. The Rival Manufacturing Company, Kansas City, MO is where this clever and useful appliance was made.

It came with five interchangeable cones. And look at the original price! Do you think you could find something heavy duty like that now - for that price? Of course not...because our dollar has been so devalued over the years, through inflation. And now, I hear, they're talking about taking the nickel out of nickels and changing the composition of quarters and dimes, removing the copper.

They'll probably start punching circles out of pop cans and use those as currency.
Shhhh. I suppose we shouldn't give them any ideas!

Clover Blossom

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

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Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe (just in case you haven't yet seen this one)

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda (not baking soda)

2 c. shredded bar soap

Divide this and pulse in food processor until all mixed and granular. I keep mine in a sealed container on top of the dryer - so it's handy.

Use 2T. per load of clothes.

I add about 2 T. Gain to our nicer things, in addition to this soap.

To our whites and to towels, I add 1/2 c. bleach, in addition to this soap.

So far, so good. No one has complained.

P.S. Confession time:  I reinstated my Netflix account since I first wrote this post. (They make it SO easy, you know.) After all, how could my visiting grandsons watch Kipper the Dog, Shaun the Sheep, and Sponge Bob if I didn't have Netflix???

This post is linked to some or all of the following:  Mop it Up Monday and Skip to My Lou and Bedazzle Me Monday and  What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Made By You Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and Tip Me Tuesday and  Made from Scratch Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Two Maids a Baking and Overflowing With Creativity and What's New Wednesday and Exodus 35 Creativity and  What's Cookin' Wednesday and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Link it Up Thursday and Crafty Friday (Thursday) and Threading Your Way and Lisa's Gluten-Free Blog and Favorite Things Friday and I'm Lovin' it Friday and It's a Hodgepodge Friday  and Creative Bloggers and  Serenity Saturday and  Home and Family Friday  


 

March in NW Wisconsin

Typical March in NW Wisconsin

The photo above could represent just about every year other than this one. That's March. But this March is spectacular! Along with most of the country east of the Mississippi, we've had unseasonably warm temps due to the jet stream that has favored us this year. Several days in a row of temperatures in the 70s and 80s have brought smiles to all our typically dour winter faces.

What you see below is a sampling of the March 2012 scenes in my neighborhood:

Happy Horses on D

Hmmm. Can't be a flat tire.

One of my favorite farms on Fifth Avenue

Jerry's Tor

Shakespeare Hill

This photo was taken a few days ago.

Now, even that bit of snow is gone. :-)

 I keep expecting skinny cows to peek out from behind those trees!

The forecast for all next week is much the same as for this week. Great weather!! And yet, we aren't fooled. We know that any time, even the first part of April, we could see another snowstorm. I advised Kevin not to take down the snow fence just yet.

But this weather is making me itch to get that garden going again! My pepper and tomato seeds are planted indoors, waiting...

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Have a great weekend, everyone!