Beautiful Fall Weather

The weather here in Wisconsin has been absolutely beautiful for the past two weeks. October is just a few days away, and we are still wearing shorts. Highs have been in the 70s with lots of sun.

We did get a heavy rain a little over a week ago. The clouds looked just like a wall coming in from the west. Luckily, we didn’t get any of the severe weather associated with this storm, just quite a bit of rain. Since then, it has been fantastic.

Because of this wonderful weather, the fall color has been late in arriving. We leave a week from Monday, and I’m hoping we’ll get some color by next weekend. I love to see the leaves change.

Last week this truck pulled up at the boat launch.

The Beaver Dam Lake Association paid to stock fish in the lake. They released hundreds of northern and walleye.

Because of the beautiful weather, my hanging baskets are still looking great. This hummingbird spent quite a bit of time feeding.

I’ve been busy gathering hickory nuts. In the morning I go for my three mile walk, and then I spend about 30 minutes picking up nuts. So far this year between acorns and hickory nuts, I’ve earned over $360 selling them on eBay. Not bad!

That money will help pay for an expensive day last week. We both had our teeth cleaned on Tuesday. Luckily, no cavities for either of us. But the bill was still a little over $200 for both of us. Then, we took the truck in for routine maintenance before we hit the road. That was another $200 bill. We also both got our hair cut with our favorite stylist, so a $500 day. Yikes!! But, these are things that need to be done.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

An Enjoyable Movie

We watch a lot of movies. During the summer we borrow them from the library. We also frequently rent movies from Redbox and DVR movies from our DirecTV satellite.

I must say we haven’t seen anything really good in quite a while. In fact, lots of movies are clunkers. But, last night we got a movie from Redbox that I really enjoyed. It was called “Now You See Me”. I was entertained throughout the entire movie, and the end was quite a surprise. I highly recommend this one. We also enjoyed the new Star Trek movie which we rented last week.

We really like Redbox. There are kiosks in most all areas of the country. If you sign up for their text alerts, they send you a free code every month. We’ve also gotten free codes from Orville Redenbacher popcorn.

Last weekend the camping club we belong to had their outing at our campground. There were eleven units in attendance including us. We had a great time visiting with everyone. Unfortunately, Sunday brought rain so everyone was out of here quite early. We needed the rain, just wish it would have held off a little longer.

Yesterday Kevin and I went golfing. It was a beautiful fall day. We both had decent games, and we found five balls. There was no one in front of or behind us, so we had a relaxing and very enjoyable round.
Today I’m heading out to spend the day with my mom. She is about an hour drive from us. She and I are going to have some girl time before we head out in less than three weeks.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

One Person’s Junk…

You’ve all heard the saying about how one person’s junk can be another person’s treasure. If you’ve ever looked at items for sale on eBay, you would definitely agree with that saying.

This brings me to tell you about what I’ve been spending some of my time doing the last two weeks. Our park has lots of hardwood trees including hickory and oak trees. Our first year here I noticed some people were coming to the park in fall and picking something up from the ground. I asked one couple what they were doing. They told me they were gathering hickory nuts. I asked what they did with them. They told me they taste good in bakery, and that they sold some of them at flea markets.

That got me thinking. I had done quite a bit of selling on eBay when we were getting rid of the stuff in our house. Would people buy hickory nuts on eBay. Sure enough. I’ve been earning over $100 each fall just by gathering some hickory nuts in the park.

This year I thought I’d see if anyone would buy acorns. Sure enough, people were paying for acorns. We have tons of acorns on the ground in the park every year in late August/early September. In fact, we have a few sites that campers avoid this time of the year because the acorns are constantly hitting the roof of the campers.

I couldn’t believe people were willing to pay for acorns. Growing up in Wisconsin, they are everywhere. You can find them for free with just a little bit of looking. I started listing them last week, and I’ve already sold over $100 worth.

One lady in California told me she wanted them to feed to her “sweet pet squirrel”. Another buyer plants them and then sells the seedlings on eBay. A third person wanted them for a wedding favor craft. I even had a request for how much it would be to ship them to Brazil. That turned out to be $25 just for the shipping. I’ve haven’t heard back from that person.

So, a little time spent gathering acorns has certainly paid off. The hickory nuts have just started falling, so I’m gathering them as well. I hope I don’t turn into a squirrel :)

Last week my friends Sue and Judy came to visit me. The three of us used to work together at Kennedy Middle School in Germantown, Wisconsin. We went to lunch at Culver’s and then sat outside and enjoyed lots of great conversation. It was such a fun day. Sue brought a craft they’ve been doing to show me. What a cute idea for giving someone some wash clothes as a gift.

We also had five couples camp with us over Labor Day weekend. We met all of them in a camping club we have belonged to since 1981. We’ve been friends for over 15 years and always have a great time together. This time was no different. Lots of laughter, golf, card playing, games and eating. The campground was almost full for the Labor Day weekend. The weather was very nice.

This past weekend was hot again. The campground was over 1/2 full. Today and tomorrow is predicted to have temps around 90 degrees with high humidity. It’s also been very dry for several weeks. I’m ready for a fall cool down and even some rain.

We leave Wisconsin four weeks from today. Today we’re going to have our drug screens done for work at Amazon. We’ll start working there in mid-October. Then we’ll take the winter off and have some fun exploring the Gulf Shores area from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. In January we’re going on a cruise with our kids. Lots to look forward to!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!