Laboring Days

Did you have a restful weekend? As much as Joe tried (or I tried to coax him) to relax, he found ways to work. We snuck away to my grandparents’ cabin in Wisconsin for a couple days and soaked up the summer/fall goodness.

Activities included the mandatory games of Phase 10, walking around the lake, boating, giant garage sale in the city of Siren, Shell Lake Days, and plenty of stories and laughs. But by Sunday afternoon, we were right back to fixing up the yard and boat.

Apple Orchard

My favorite. I need to visit at least one orchard each year. It’s safe to say I already got my fix in. This one on the lake is a really cute little family-owned orchard called Smiths.

This place was ripped apart by tornados about ten years ago, but is back in action.

They do all the baking right in the shop.

And have several homemade treats: Caramels, apple cider doughnuts, jams (rootbeer flavored!), butters and pastries. Mmm Mmm. We might’ve missed the State Fair, but this was better.

As you can tell, they are a dedicated crew!

Cabin Crashing

Walking back from the orchard, we noticed a few For Sale signs.

There were about three properties for sale along the lake, so we had to check them out. Naturally.

The house is nothing to brag about.

But the patio is really visually interesting.

Shell Lake Days

The next day in town, we got a little history lesson.

We stepped into this one room school house.

Check out these old tools.

We found this neat old “record” player too.

We ended up staying Saturday night for a boat ride. Joe and my grandpa ended up working on the pontoon motor until dark. And then there was this:

Found the coffee pot hanging from the garage ceiling completely dismembered. Joe and my grandpa just couldn’t resist fixing something that was broken…