Leah and Joe: Home DIY Projects & Crafts

You know it’s been a great summer when it’s still summer weather in October. It was in the 60’s this week and it’s almost Halloween! I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been to have this. But, we know it won’t last, so we’ve started winterizing. Yes, the W word. Last weekend we had a farewell to summer sendoff and started cleaning up the yard.

You know you’re a Minnesota home owner when… Most of these hit too close to home. Especially 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 12.

 

Winterizing the Lake

First thing, time to take out the dock and boat lift while it’s still warm-ish. A sad day indeed.

We got a crew of about 9 guys over to help with operation dock and lift extraction. We are so lucky to have the good friends we do who will take time out of their day (football Sunday even!) to come give us a hand. Joe loves his friends like family, and he’d do anything for them at the drop of a hat. It’s clearly mutual 🙂

You know that whole thing about how it takes a village to raise a barn? Or is that a baby… Either way, in my head there’s an Amish community coming together to build a house. It was just like that! Kind of.

It’s really nice to know that we have people to count on in any situation. I don’t think we have as many excuses to gather and work together and help one another in society today, and it’s a shame because we miss out on opportunities to help each other. We are blessed to have exceptional friends and family in our lives.

IN

It seems like just yesterday we put the toys in the water.

New dock!

Let’s decide how to go about this. No instruction manual included.

Using the neighbor’s yard to trailer the boat lift around back.

How many Minnesotans does it take to move a boat lift?

Heavy, Doc

Getting our “Pier Pleasure” in.

Joe is the original Tom Sawyer, but a totally not sneaky version. People are always curious what he’s up to and seem to hop on the bandwagon, whatever he’s working on. I think it goes back to my last point: He just loves his people, and his people love him back. There always seems to be someone to help us whitewash when we need it 🙂

OUT

I think they’d all agree:  Easier in than out.

It was not warm. Not warm at all. There was one guy working the winch attached to the tree, while the others pushed from the water. Most of them started out wearing waders, but they all eventually got flooded with lake water. I was mostly sweeping leaves and making hot chocolate for them. I was trying to be helpful in my own way.

Good thing for this winch! I’m not sure where Joe picked it up, but it was a lifesaver. The other alternative was to rip a truck through the yard and pull it out that way.

One person would crank the winch while the rest pushed.

It was definitely a nice day. The water temperature didn’t reflect that, but that’s what happens when summer gives us extended nice weekends and we delay taking out the dock and lift.

After an hour, finally laying them to rest on shore for the season.

This was from our first month at the house. We had a house regular: This giant tiger muskie. They are supposedly very territorial and like to come up near shore to sun bathe. Our neighbors just moved in and one of the kids caught this big guy! It’s taller than some of them! At least 4′.

Looking forward to seeing some again next spring.