We’re not used to being home during Christmas.  It had been at least 10 years since we were present during the last-minute shopping, gatherings, etc.   I’ve got to be honest with you:  it’s a lot easier to just go away!!!  However, we spent Christmas with our pseudo-family–dear friends with whom we spend nearly all special occasions

We have special love for Rick & Pat!

We did our best to get into the holiday spirit around the Grupe household

Kayla ready for her Christmas party!

Kayla took this photo of Santa

Then even visited with him for a minute or two

I’m not sure if I’m prepared to stay home every year but I have a while to think about it!

Good news on our home front:  Niece Anna became engaged last night to two-year boyfriend Benny!!!!  I guess a 2014 wedding is being planned:

Congratulations!

Other than that, things are pretty quiet around here.  I taught all but two days in December!  We’re gearing up for the sports show season now, which entails updating pictures for our display, making sure we have plenty of printed materials, making hotel reservations, etc.  No rest for the wicked, I hear…

Again, we hope everyone had a great Christmas.  We wish you all good health and happiness for the New Year!

These were quite fun to make!  Rebecca ended up helping me in the end; Mackayla’s attention span ran out:)

We have neighbors who are poultry farmers.  Each year they do quite an attention-grabbing scene in the yard:

Only in Iowa, I say.

Let’s talk newsletters.  If you haven’t received one and you have e-mail, please look in your “spam” or “junk mail” folder.  If you still don’t have one, e-mail me and I’ll reply with the letter.  As you can imagine, we cut the newsletter cost SIGNIFICANTLY this year.  We mailed only about 120 the old-fashioned way!  In past years, we have mailed close to 400.  When you add up printing, envelopes, stamps, labels, etc., it really makes a difference.  I will admit it felt less personal sending them out by e-mail.  As always, we welcome your feedback.

The rest of our fall has been typical.  I left Canada in mid-October.  I taught right away here and there, then went with a girlfriend to Panama City Beach, Florida.  We had a lovely time.  The weather was ideal!  I ate lots of good fish and seafood, spent plenty of time soaking up the sun, and returned rested and brown.  Gruper came home in late October.  The weather had turned nasty up there–very, very cold, windy, rainy–and he wasn’t able to get some of his last-minute stuff done.  Once he could get to it, he headed for Iowa!  Our weather here has been great, so he’s been trying to get the yard up to snuff.  I’ve been teaching a lot–mostly special education, from preschool to high school. 

Our nephew Jake and his girlfriend Jessi were married 11-11-11.  They’re both stationed on Whidbey Island in Washington state (Navy).  Their wedding was out there.  My brother and sister-in-law hosted a reception in their church last weekend so Gruper and I loaded up sister Rebecca and headed to Nebraska.  We had not met Jessi–she’s a peach! 

Congratulations & Best Wishes from Aunt Andy & Uncle Steve!

I can’t think of much more news-worthy news around here.  Oh yeah, many of you have asked about this:

Yes, Gus is hanging around in Iowa!  He still pulls the occasional all-nighter and even disappeared for six days after I returned from Florida (I think he was getting even with me).  He often comes home covered with burrs and stickers.  He is a hunter, through and through.  But he is also My Boy–uber affectionate with the purr of a lion!  Gruper plays with him something fierce!  They make quite a racket in Gus’s room.  Hopefully he’ll continue to stick around and you all can meet him in Canada in 2012!

I’ll try to do another post around Christmas time.  We’re staying home this year…the first time in 13 years!

Well, we are officially Steve and Andrea right now.  Saturday was the first day since April 30 that we were alone in Camp!  Can you believe that?  Our guests from Treaty 3 left Thursday morning, having put on a successful Fall Assembly over at theWabauskang Community.  Darrell and Doris left Friday morning, having gotten all their grouse and enjoying what continues to be unseasonably fantastic weather.  Our buddies Ben and Greg left Saturday morning, having fished, eaten, and drank beers until they’d had their fill.  Now it’s just us, Gus, and the peace that I used to fight so much–now I welcome it and will miss it when I hit the road.

Sure, I can’t wait to see Rebecca, Jayme, Mackayla, and all my other kin and friends.  However, I do not look forward to traffic or the rush-rush of daily life at home. 

I’ve alluded to a huge adventure while berry picking with Jenny K. in August.  Her man Kraig was doing his annual bear hunt, and Jenny and I were doing our annual berry picking.  I decided to try a spot where Karna, Ann and I had gone a couple of years back.  Karna had really gotten into some nice berries there and since this year was bad for berries I figured we’d give it a go.  Well, the initial berry plants were disappointing to say the least, so we kept going more into the bush–plant hopping if you will–being optimistic whenever we saw a patch of plants up ahead.  After quite a while, we turned and headed in another direction–again, not paying attention to where we were but simply looking to another patch, then another, etc.  After some time we decided we should head back toward my vehicle and realized that we really weren’t sure where it was parked.  I chose the direction that felt right–trying to use the sun as Steve does.  We walked a long, long time in the muggy bush, all the while knowing that the sun was going down.  I was honestly beginning to worry–looking for trees where we could sleep if we had to.  Jenny was sure a trooper!  She trusted my gut more than I did!  Long story short, we finally spotted some trail tape and–next to that–a bear hunter!  He indicated we were going in the right direction.  Mind you, he was in a tree stand all painted and camouflaged (I didn’t even see him!).  I’m sure we ruined his hunt for the evening AND gave him quite the story for his buddies.  “Then, out of the blue these two broads come through the bush looking pretty rough, with maybe a cup of blueberries between them!”  Anyway, Jenny and I probably walked another two miles before we reached my Envoy (which, of course, had our waters and my keys still in it).  Hands down the most scared I’ve been up here in eight years.  I’ve been lost before (Sandra, the car, etc.), but not like this…not on foot, in the bush, nightfall, no one knew were we were (sorry, Jenny, I just found that out).  Eek.

That adventure leads me to this week’s adventure.  Gus wanted to ride to Dutchie’s with me the other morning.  I grabbed some eggs and came out to find that he had locked me out of the car.  I borrowed another car and ran home to get Steve’s spare set of keys.  I think a lesson from both stories is that I should at least take my keys out of the ignition from now on.  At one point lost in the bush, Jenny suggested I press my “alarm” button to see if we could hear the horn.  I had to explain that I didn’t have the keys with me…

OK.  Now for some photos.  Here’s a nice one from Dan who stayed in the Bear’s Den in September.  Eldon has been hanging around mostly in the tree above our cabin.  Dan was able to get a very nice photo of him:

The canoodling mooses (many of you liked the term) have still been around.  I hope Greg and Ben got a good photo.  You’ll see it if I do.

I continued taking foliage photos last week.  Good thing, too, as we finally had some wind a couple of days ago and a lot of the color was blown away:(  Here are some that seemed blog-worthy, though it’s difficult to do this autumn justice:

I took these from the deck of my outside office/fish cleaning facility:

Gruper and I went fishing with the boys last week.  Gruper caught first–a 14″ walleye.  That left me the challenges of biggest and most.  I quickly caught two 20″ers.  We each caught a few others of varying sizes.  I was feeling pretty darned good about biggest and most.  It was not to be; Gruper went on a string of fish, ultimately catching this nice 23″er:

I could not believe it.  He even took variety for a perch he caught.  We kept Mr. Perch so I could have an omelet for breakfast the next morning.  All of our walleye went right back into the Lake to grow during the winter!

Stranger Danger

Mary and Ron were here mid-September, accompanied by Ron’s brother and his brother-in-law (figure all that out).  Mary always takes nice photos while she’s here.  Let’s see what she’s got for us:

She got Max while he was roofing barefoot and Eldon while he was giving advice:

She got their group enjoying a much-needed vacation:

Nice 'eye, Monty!

She got wildlife:

She got sunsets:

AND, she’s got Gus:

Thanks, Mary!  You always do a good job with the photos.  Rumor has it you’ll be here twice next year!!  Twice the blog fodder for me and our readers will be greatly appreciated:)  I’ll close with my favorite Mary photo:

Things have slowed down considerably around here and we’re having a great time just enjoying fall!  The weather has been outstanding!  We’ve been fishing quite a bit.  Gruper’s been grouse hunting as well.  The colors are as good as I can remember in our eight years.  I’ve grown to love cedar trees (as long as they keep their stuff):

The photo doesn’t do them justice right now.  The orange needles that they drop later make them really pretty now.  There’s like an orange aura around them.  Here are some other good foliage shots:

Wild life has been at a premium.  Darrell and Doris saw a bull moose, a couple of buck deer and some grouse on their drive to Ear Falls earlier this week.  We had a bull moose trying to canoodle with a cow across the Lake two mornings in a row this week.  There was also a calf hanging around the cow.  We think the bull was “ready” and the cow not so much.

Here are a loon and a gull we photoed while fishing this week:

We added a fish to the Conservation Awards Program page.  Gruper released a FAT 19″ smallie!  He also had this incredible northern on line for about 15 minutes.  I messed up with the net which was all he needed to make a break for it!  The girth on this fish was awesome:

The weather was cool enough one day for me to wear perhaps the coolest footwear I’ve ever owned:

They're like insulated tennies!

A couple of days later I was fishing in a tank top and shorts!  Darrell and Doris took advantage of some of the nice days:

We’re expecting good friends in tomorrow!  That will make for a fun week of more fishing and just hanging.  I’m putting together quite the menu of good food! 

Some of you have asked about Gus.  Yes, he’s still here:

He eats like a horse!  He’s still pulling all-nighters but not as often since getting fixed.  He mouses all the time while he’s outside!  Gruper saw him with four during the course of one day!  They are kindred souls–both hunters.  This seems to give him increased value as a pet.  Just in case we keep him, I’ve been telling him about Iowa.  It’s too bad he doesn’t fit in better around here:

I still need to tell you about my scariest day in Canada.  However, for now I must head to Dryden.  There’s an art fair this weekend!  Culture!!!!  Here’s a sunset I caught this week:

The last couple of weeks saw pretty good fishing.  Week before last we had two groups from home here:  Chad’s new group of four and Frank’s group of three.  Chad added a 25″ walleye to our Conservation Awards Program (www.tallpinescamp.com).  His group did OK for their first time fishing here.  The weather was AWFUL for walleye fishing:  hot, windless, cloudless, etc.  We were glad they found some at all!  Frank, Bender and Sully had their usual good time.  We sure missed Gilky and hope to see him next year;)  Frank continued our annual tradition of shore lunch!  It’s a rare treat for us and we certainly enjoy the time with the guys. 

Stay out of his way...it's his kitchen:)

Curt’s bunch was new to us as well.  They kicked butt and took names in the walleye dept.  Nibs said it was the best walleye fishing of his life!  Bob Hansen was here during their stay.  He reported one of his best days fishing on Wabaskang as well.  We love hearing that!

Last week’s weather was all over the board!  We went from high 80′s to frost within a few days’ time.  We had fierce winds for a couple of days that–accompanied by the very cool air–made it downright cold up here! 

Ron, Karna, Bob and Ann were still hanging out last week.  Ron and Bob continued their unbelievable fishing.  We gals picked the last of the blueberries.  Ann and I collaborated on a baby shower gift for a friend of mine up here:

Hanging out with Ann is like hanging out with Martha Stewart!  I get a lot of good food, etc., ideas from her.

The guys have been VERY busy when the wind isn’t blowing.  Cabin 6 got its new roof last week.  Cabin 5 should get one this week.

The plan is to do 3 & 7′s roofs in the spring. 

Eldon and Sandra were here last week.  Sandra brought me a great gift (as usual):

Hawkeye flip-flop socks!

She also brought a beautiful quilt to memorialize My Girl, Stinky LaRue:

The quilt features pictures of many of the creatures Stinky experienced in her Canadian life.  It refers to the Rainbow Bridge poem as well:)  Thank you.

Eldon had asked if he could make a marker for Shasta’s site behind the campground.  We conducted a brief commitment Friday evening:

When next I write, I’ll tell you about getting lost in the bush with Jenny:)  Take care.

Fishing

Last I talked with you, I had added April and Tim’s big perch to our Conservation Awards page.  April and her dad Steve fished a few weeks back.  April estimated that they had caught about 100 northerns one day!  They were using red spinner baits.  They also caught some nice perch using crawlers.  Here’s a photo of Steve with a nice slot northern, followed by a photo of Karna (Ron’s wife) with a nice one as well:

I don’t remember where I got this photo but I LOVE it:

Mike’s group was here a few weeks back.  They were first-timers and had a BLAST!  Tim released a big perch and here’s a look at some that weren’t so lucky:

Speaking of not-so-lucky, here’s a photo of Randy’s bear shortly before he was hunted:

OK, back to fishing!  Walleye fishing’s been quite good for a couple of weeks now.  The fall bite is on–so soft I’ve missed a few–as are the fall spots.  Gruper and I have hit 2nd Lake twice in two weeks (!).  We’ve done well both times.  I released a 20.5″ walleye last Friday:)  He caught first and most, but I caught biggest.  His best was 17″, and we had several in the 14-16″ range.  19′ continues to be our magic depth.  We’re still using 1/4 oz. jigs and will probably stay with that through the season.  Minnows and leeches worked for us.

3rd Lake is “on” like crazy right now!  We’re hearing everything from 19-30′.  Bob who just arrived Saturday said he released a ton of walleye yesterday.  He said he fished around 19′ in the a.m., then found them around 30′ in the p.m.  Ron’s been here about a month.  He and his Bob have been releasing biguns regularly.  They use minnows.  I added Bob’s 24″ and Ron’s 26″ to the Conservation Awards Program page (www.tallpinescamp.com).  They released four over 24″ yesterday!  Those two guys sure have a blast fishing together. 

Speaking of having a blast fishing together, our Red Hat Guys were back last week.  It’s always a pleasure to have them in Camp.  They fish hard, play hard, and have a very good time.  Can you pick me out in this photo:

I’ll help you out a bit:

Dawn and I asked to see the backs of their shirts:

Dawn's a pervert...

Their tight little fishing club bears the name of a good friend:

I wonder what they’ll do if he ever joins them?  Change their name?  Anyway, I added Jim big bass and Rich’s big northern to our Conservation Awards Program page as well:)  Good job, guys!

Neal, Marji, Dick, and Linda returned as a foursome this year.  These folks also have a better-than-good time together.  They fish pretty darned hard, then come in and just have fun.  They initiated more than one “social hour” down by the fish-cleaning house last week.  Here’s a nice photo of a mixed bag they brought in from the Doe Island area:

Love

We are now a honeymoon destination!  Bob and Barb have been visiting us for several years.  This year they decided to get married in the middle of their two-week stay!  They headed to Kenora last Friday and tied the knot!  It was very exciting around here.  At Wednesday’s potluck, everyone had a swig of sparkling wine and we toasted the couple-t0-be. 

Ergo, the heart shoes…

These make me smile for a lot of reasons.

Many in Camp discussed trashing the newlywed cabin while they were in Kenora.  I then realized that I’d be the one cleaning up our mess in another week!  Scratch that idea.  I went for a classier, less messy look:

The happy couple returned Friday afternoon all smiles and looking extremely dapper:

Congratulations!

Gus

This boy of ours is a mouser!  He’s caught at least one outside and one inside that I didn’t even know lived here!  Marji saw him with one last week and gave me the heads up.  Stinky LaRue never was one for having to chase her food.  I still haven’t decided if he can stay but had him fixed today just in case.  Here’s a photo from last week, happier times for my all-night party boy:

I’ll close with a rainbow shot from a couple of days ago.  The photo doesn’t do it justice, though.  The colors were vivid.

Steve continued bear baiting through this week.  He came up with the title for this series:

The Good

The Bad

and The Ugly

I call this one X-ray Bear

and this one Possessed Bear

We’ll call this one Randy’s bear:)  He got it Saturday evening.  It was my birthday so for kicks I accompanied the guys on a recovery–my first ever.

Randy's son Blake was impressed!

Check out his paw:

and his smile

I was decked out in the finest bear recovery footwear available

I know I owe you a bigger blog but I must go for now.  I have lots of fishing and fun stuff to share and will make an honest effort to blog again no later than Sunday.  I did add two new perch photos to our Conservation Awards Program this week and have heard rumor of a northern, a smallie and a walleye to be added yet! 

Max decorated my golf cart for my bday.  It made me smile…

First, though, a fishing report.  Fall fishing is ON!  Everyone in Camp is finding fish:)  2nd and 3rd Lakes are both producing well.  We have several newcomers and they’re doing great.  Leon and Mary came for perch and by gosh they’re finding jumbos!  Mike’s group in Cabin 3 brought in a bunch of nice eater walleye their first day on the Lake!  They were going northern hunting today–no report yet.  All of our oldtimers are doing fine.  They seem to know where to find what they’re looking for.  Ron said he tossed back about 20 walleye yesterday afternoon but brought in a couple of nice eater northerns for Karna to pickle.  Walleye have moved out a bit:  16-23′ seems to be their latest hangout.

Oh, Gruper and I went fishing Friday morning for a short bit.  We wanted to try a few fall spots ourselves.  We did quite well in little time.  My hubby caught first, biggest, and most; however, we both did quite well.  I won variety ’cause I did catch one small bass.  Everything else we saw was walleye.  I used minnows; Steve used leeches.  We switched up to 1/4 oz. jigs due to depth and wind.  Our magic depth of the day was 19′.  I used a yellow/orangish combo.  Steve stuck with his grape/yellow.

This came out of someone’s live well (aka dead well).  We’ll call it The Last Supper.

Steve’s bear baits continued to see action throughout last week.  We were excited for our hunters.  Here’s a woodpecker and some other “little” pests:

Not all the visitors were so small:

Wow.  Those are some bears!  Our first hunters arrived on Friday.  Another arrived on Saturday.  Kraig began hunting Saturday afternoon and wheeled in just a few hours later with his trophy!  He was super excited because this year he took it with a bow:)  We were ALL very pumped!  Here are a few photos.

WARNING:  Some of these photos contain graphic content and are not suitable for all audiences!!!

They’d no sooner finished skinning Kraig’s bear Saturday morning when Bob pulled in with his trophy!  Here are some photos of his bear.  Again, these photos are a bit graphic.

The guy helping them with the bears is Wooge.  He looks harmless enough:

Take a closer look.  Stranger danger…

that's a saw...and he knows how to use it

Special note to Mr. Horak:  I LOVED your essay.  Now you understand why I didn’t reply in more length.  Between berries and bears…and besides, we’ll see you very shortly:)

Oops!  Yes, I’ve been picking a bit more during this past week.  It really is part of the Customer Service Representative part of my title:)  What started out to be a bleak year for the berries has changed into an average year.  We’ve had a bit more rain in the area overall, so maybe that’s helped them grow up a bit. 

We had a ton of rain yesterday!  It was needed so we’re not complaining.  It poured off and on all day.  Gruper was out fishing during one deluge.  I was out picking–at least we could hop into the car until it let up a bit.  The Lake had been dropping visibly so we’re glad for every drop we get.

Last week’s fishing was good overall.  I believe everyone went home with their desired limits.  Jim and Amanda’s crew had their usual good time.  I’ve added Amanda’s 37.5″ northern to the Conservation Awards page of our website (www.tallpinescamp.com).  As usual, this group did not disappoint with the photos!  The saw a total of 9 meese (plural of moose) this year!  Here are some great moose shots from Amanda’s camera:

Unbelievable footage of that mama and baby!  Good job, you guys:)  They enjoyed fishing together as well.  There’s more trash-talking going on between their three boats than at an NBA game!

Jim’s report is that they had luck on 3rd Lake, in North Bay and in 2nd Lake.  They were finding walleye starting at 14′.  Other guests reported the same depths:  14-17′. 

Amanda didn’t disappoint with the sunset photos this year, either.  I’ll say, though, that it was easy pickin’s last week.  We’ve had a string of phenomenal skies for a few weeks now.

I wonder if Josh and Steph are talking about their move to California?

Wayne and Shirley’s 2nd trip of the season (thank you) was very good.  They always do pretty well on fish.  This trip they caught a little moose action on the Lake:

They also caught a good sunset:

Gruper’s been a bear-baiting fool!  Things are going well at all bait sites except for trail cam malfunctions!  He’s been really frustrated but I’ve asked him to persevere so we can get some good photos.  Here are a couple:

That baby scampered up the tree…wonder why?

Ohhhhh, that’s why.  Hopefully I’ll have some more photos on the next post.  We could even have bear hunter photos by then. 

This Friday, Aug. 19, will mark the one-year anniversary of the loss of our niece Mackenzie.  I know it won’t bring closure but I hope it brings the ability for our family–especially Rebecca, Jayme, Mackayla and myself–to move forward, focus on the present and future, and embrace the memories.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, please.

I’ll close with a super shot I took one morning last week:

and a question for contemplation

Why did the grouse cross the road?