Friday, November 24, 2017

So Much to be Thankful For!


Like almost everybody, this time of year evokes so many great memories from our past. Living in rural Wisconsin I am guessing our Thanksgiving traditions were much different than most. The schools closed for the week, they were closed by necessity as the attendance dropped in ½ during this holiday week. It wasn’t because everyone was going out of town for the holiday, it was because everyone is out of school for deer hunting. So many of our Thanksgiving memories are around deer hunting.
I remember Barb’s first deer, Forrest’s first deer and even Barb delivering us coco and pizza to one of our deer stands. But the real memories for us this time of year are around family and friends. All of whom we dearly miss this time of year. Hosting and attending family Thanksgivings, visiting friends in the Spring Valley, Somerset, Milltown and Gordon areas.

We are thankful for these friends and family, our health, our happiness and our ability to live out our dreams. Here’s to hoping everyone out there had a happy thanksgiving.
Our memories for this year will include a flock of turkeys running to our rig to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving. I guess they knew we already had a bird and didn’t need another one.

We spent the day with Jim and Brenda at the Rubeck’s house in Custer. Rudee and Phil were nice enough to invite us over for the day. We watched football, talked smart and ate a great meal!

Last week we posted our first ever reader poll asking the level of our craziness for staying here. As I write this we are experiencing sustained winds of between 30 and 40 mph, making me question our own craziness. But the results don't lie with 57% of the respondents saying we are not crazy at all. This was of course followed 20% saying we were "Bat Sh#t Crazy" I guess there is not much middle ground on peoples opinion on this.

Two weeks ago we posted Jim and Barb's Favorite Things. (Contains Affiliate Links) This was by far our most popular post in the past few months with over 2,000 views in a little over a week. Do doubt it was more curiosity than people really wondering what our favorite things are! 
With the prairie dogs under control, it was time to get back to fencing and putting up the bird houses my brother Bob and I built this past spring. Barb put the final touches on the steel wheels she installed at the end of the driveway and another set at the gate near the rig.
The main gate off the road

The gate up by the rig with the wheels and birdhouse
The deer continue to be active with this guy showing up at the rig the other day to wish us a good morning.  
This little mule deer buck stopped by to visit

This is another new guy we have not seen before
We see this guy quite often
The weather has continued to cooperate this past week with temps in the 40’s, 50’s and even 2 days in the 60’s! The next 10 days look good so it appears as though we will be here at least until December 3rd....... Stay tuned!

20 comments:

  1. Glad you had an Enjoyable Thanksgiving with Friends.
    Don't wait too long to get those wheels rolling or they could be frozen to the ground.
    Be Safe!

    It's about time.

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    1. Here's maintaining your Thanksgiving tradition! Do you have a Christmas tradition as well?

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  3. That is a fantastic piece of property you have there. The deer pictures on this and the last post are so good! the one with the big buck broadside.... awesome!
    If the weather to your far north is an indication you're good for a while, we are above freezing daytime temps in northern Alberta also for at least next 7 days.

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  4. Phil and Rudee are great folks. Their's was one of first bligs we ever read! And Sue worked for/with Phil directly at Crazy Horse. So sounds like you had great day and terrific company for your first Thanksgiving in SD!

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  5. Glad you guys are enjoying your new digs and the weather has improved for you. You must be licking your lips every time you see those deer and turkeys! Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. We are still hoping Barb will get a deer, we have to wait until spring for turkey hunting.

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  6. How sweet of the turkeys to stop by personally to say Happy Thanksgiving! I do believe the deer are wondering what exactly you are doing on THEIR land and wondering when you are leaving. Great entrances! Love the wheels and the birdhouse. Yes, we do have so much to be thankful for having our health and being able to live this most exciting lifestyle. Hopefully you will be spending the summer on your property so we can stop on our west in July from our east coast visit:) We will head across to Atlanta first then move up to PA and then on to NY before heading back west. Hope you weather continues to hold for you.

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    1. Lots of great hiking in this area! We are 15 minutes from Wind Cave, 30 from Custer State Park and Crazy Horse.

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  7. So sad that you had to suffer through that football game. Oh, wait...that was me suffering!

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    1. What a great game! I should have brought my iPad to the Rubeck's so I could message you!

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  8. Isn't it the best when you can do whatever you want, even being bat s__t crazy?!

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  9. Beautiful piece of property ,and the wild life ! Some very nice bucks,we have made 6 trips to the Blackhills motorcycle rallies ,and have toured all the favorite sights,never get tired of cruising those back Roads!I am enjoying watching your progress ,but looks like winter is coming!On our travels from Vancouver Island to the Blackhills , I have noticed snow fencing on range land in areas of Wyoming and Montana,and have always thought ,that when winter does arrive , it might be nasty!! Great blog

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    1. Thanks Bill. Even when we drive through the hills just going to town it is still beautiful as ever. We went to Vancouver Island on our way to Alaska a couple of years ago to visit friends Steve and Dianne, it too is a beautiful place!

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  10. Sure looks wonderful! Great hunting there. Holidays on the road are different but still wonderful. We may have to pop in and say hello if we come by to get our drivers licenses. If you'll be anywhere near Oregon you should join us for a week in mid-may when the fish are running! My brother has a boat.

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    1. You guys are welcome anytime! Fishing would be a blast! As of right now we are planning on being in Oregon for the month of March, I think we will be in the Dakotas in May.

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