DADDY HAMMERED A SPORK!

Ahhhh....so opening day of rifle season has come and gone.....
In the last 5 days, I have seen one "body" in the brush and POSSIBLY a tail in the brush...I've not seen a WHOLE DEER yet....WTF!??!  And the Wisconny DNR wants a 16 day season next year?? WTF!??!?! (again, yes.)  So I'm left very disgruntled about the season so far.  I DO realize there is a standing corn field just to the north of my stand...and I DO realize it has been unseasonably warm.  All of which could be halting the movement.  Tomorrow morning we have a chance of snow...it could be THE DAY!   However, it's also Thanksgiving tomorrow and I will have to see if I have the ambition to get out of bed at 3:30 again...that is ONE EARLY DAY!
In other news, The Uncle and Cousin from MS are home for the holiday.  They've not seen much either...a couple of does and fawns.  Neither of which we shoot.  That's OUR definition of "herd management!"  I DID have my eye on a nice 8 pointer which I got some great video footage of...but rumor has it, that opening morning, when Marky and I were waiting anxiously in my stand for the "SHH-SHH-SHH" of little deer hoofies in the leaves....instead we heard the unmistakeable sound of a rifle...followed by "commotion" and a "crash" in the brush....apparently that was the neighbor...shooting MY BUCK!  And to add insult to injury I actually HEARD IT GO DOWN.....augh.
Dad was so funny, Marky and I came out of the woods one night, I THINK Monday, and there dad stood, with Scott nearby and Uncle D in the middle of the field...Daddy had hammered a buck! So me and Marky took the quad to pull it in.  Somehow Dad talked Marky into doing the dirty work and gutting it for him...he played the "I'm an old man" card...touche...
So he got himself a 3 pointer...funny cuz Ry got a spike.  So that night at dinner, Marky, mom, dad and I were talking about the deer and Mom said, "Ry got a spike" and dad said, "Ha I got one more point than Ry!" and I laughed and said, "Ya, dad got a spike AND a fork!" and Dad said, "I GOT A SPORK!" OMG! SOOOO FUNNY!  So the joke of the season is definitely how "daddy hammered a spork!"
On a MUCH lighter note, Friday night (November 20) was stellar! I spent the afternoon with Marky, Felicia, Keith and Mike at the opening day of NEW MOON! OH. MY. GOD!!!! LOVE IT!! Can't wait to see it again!! Any takers???? :o)
That night, I also made the hike to see Gram, as I knew I wouldn't see her much once season opened.  And then made the trip even farther north to meet up with an old classmate and to "trade meat".  YES. I SAID TRADE MEAT!  Excellent! Can't wait to try it...I'm waiting for Pat to get home tonight for that!
Other extra curriculars for the week were, hitting Chili's for lunch, scoring my copy of Twilight back from Marky, a hysterical day in the stand with Marky doing impressions from "Escanaba in Da Moonlight" and the "BOMB" yesterday.  Craziness...thought someone blew the farm up!  Thankfully, that was NOT the case!
Today was filled with pie baking and a trip to see Gram soon.  Sad we cannot spend the holiday together but I guess I have to understand it anyway.
HAHA Deer Camp episode on That 70's Show.  FUNNNNNNNNNY SHIT! :o)
Well I must go now and maybe put together another pie before I leave...perhaps blueberry now and I'm hoping for a blackberry pie to appear tonight as well!
Happy Thanksgiving! GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!

DEER CAMP

So this Saturday, just two short days from now, is the rifle season opener for 2009.  For the first time in nearly a decade, things look a little promising for me!  I don't even like to talk about it, for fear I will jinx it.  But really....the woods is ripped to shit right now!
About a week ago, Pat took me for a ride to see a buck bedded down near the road on the property I will be hunting on.  Here's a pic...

Yes, that big boy right there is the target of my affections.  We'll see how season pans out.  Pat is still going up to BJ with his family.  He'll return in time for Thanksgiving.  And this year, I have a new co-hunter.  Marky is coming with me.  Tina froze last year and doesn't have the proper clothing to wear.  Marky isn't going up north and wasn't even going to hunt at all, so this actually works out well.  Maybe he will bring me some good luck.  I'll have to have him "rub my horns" hanging in my stand.  LOL

But before all that happens, tomorrow, Friday, NOVEMBER 20, 2009, is one of the GREATEST DAYS EVER!!!  Myself, Mark, Felicia, Mike M. and Keith are going to the 12:45 PMS showing of NEW MOON!!! OMG I CANNOT WAIT!!!  It should be a blast! So today is a day of relaxing and "prepping" for all the excitement I will be filled with!

Also, Mark and I might go to eat somewhere since Pat has abandoned me for a week....I wish he'd change his tradition to include hunting here at home with me.....*sigh*

Last week Friday, Gram was placed in Sharpe Care. It's only temporary (we hope).  She couldn't get out of bed due to extreme pain in her hip, but they say they can rehabilitate her to be able to come back home.  She's very sad (obviously) but I think she appreciates all the help she gets there.  She is disturbed by some of the other people there and understandably so.  Her roommate seems to buzz all night long just to be a pest and it wakes Gram up.  I guess there is also one man across the hall who will just yell the same thing over and over until someone come to sedate him.  There are alarms going off every time I am there, I don't know how she stays sane.  I wish she could go to a nicer place with private rooms and such.  I see commercials for a place in DePere but Gram can't afford that.  So it's probably not an option.  I wish I had money...I'd bring all the physical therapists to HER and she would never have to leave home.  She'd have round the clock care....*sigh*

Well, that's enough for now.  Time to hit the showers.

45 DAYS, 1 HOUR, 52 MINUTES AND 25 SECONDS UNTIL CHRISTMAS...

Yes, Christmas is still very much on my mind.  And since I'm laying in bed both writing this blog and thumbing through my new December issue of Martha Stewart Living...it's REALLY on my mind.  I started working on a couple of the things I said I needed to do in the previous post.  I DID send out the order for my Christmas cards (LOVE the "bill me later" option!) and I did start making a gift list for everyone I WANT to buy for and I did start making my own "wish list"...which consists mostly of clothes (Fox), DVD's and books.  There's not much else I can have someone else buy for me...I'm pretty fussy all around.  I told my mom today I was going to write a letter to "Santa" and hope and pray he really DID exist.  She says "he does"....hm...shouldn't have burst my bubble about that when I was 8 years old then, mom. 
I'm very NOT excited about my trip to my new Neurologist tomorrow morning.  I've got to leave the house by 8:30, which isn't early for most, but when you consider the fact that only thing I've HAD to get up for recently was goose hunting....ya, it's a little stressful.  Plus, it's YET ANOTHER new doctor...so I sit here and ponder what he will be like...will he be young or old? Will he have a warm smile or a terse look plastered on his face? Will he be funny and witty, or dry and dull?  Will he listen to me and my concerns or be a pompus jerk and think he has the answer without even getting to know me or my life for the past 2 1/2 years?  99% of the doctors I have met, fall into the second category.  I've only had one doctor that I truly liked and well....he's not practicing anymore.  (For reasons I DEFINITELY cannot discuss here). 
I've had this horrible stomach pain all day long...well, for the last couple days actually.  The pain that comes from a surgery I had a couple years ago and I was pretty much promised I'd have to have it again.  There's a duct near the pancreas called the "Sphinctor of Oddi".  I don't even know if I spelled it right...but ya know what? I don't even feel bad about it, because, NONE of the medical professionals I've had to explain it to even know what it is!!!  Nice right?  The only one who knows what it is, is the guy who does the surgery.  And with the level of pain I've been having recently, and the frequency of it....I'm thinking another surgery is right around the corner.  NOT COOL.
So....what else?  Well, I'm thinking about my Christmas card list.  I have the list I saved from last year, but I know there are several people I want to add to it this year...for one reason or another.  So I have to get going on that.  I try to start writing my cards out during the "rifle season/Thanksgiving" holiday week...to be sure that I get them all out by December 1.  Last year I was way behind and I didn't even get to send them out to all the people I wanted to.  This year I might be participating in a "Christmas card exchange" program through a local blogger girl.  It sounds exciting! Getting Christmas cards from people you don't even know, from all over the country!  Sounds like maybe it could help infuse me with some of that holiday cheer that is missing this year....
I would really like to go out "shopping" (or in my case, LOOKING) on Black Friday.  No one in my family dares to go out on that day but I get a rush from it!  Great deals, and sometimes alot of great items are gone after that day!  But the only Black Friday shopping I will be doing is from my laptop I think.
I also hope we get some snow soon.  Right now everything is just brown and dead and....depressing.  At least with a new fallen snow, everything looks and smells so fresh and clean!  Like a new start! The white snow being an empty canvas for endless possibilities!  Plus, it really helps with the deer hunting....
I've been thinking about doing a lot of "homemade" gifts this year...but the problem is that I don't do anything "half-ass" and therefore, would still end up paying through the bum for embellishments, and containers and such.  Can't a girl catch a break here?? I've been trying to win the lottery...it hasn't been working out.  I pick all these really great numbers, but the lottery people don't seem to like them as much as I do. Go figure.
I think maybe the Tamiflu has helped with my overall recovery from whatever it is that I have...but I definitely am still feeling it's wrath.  How many more days must I suffer??  By the time the 20th (New Moon release day) I will be walking on sunshine one way or another! So far, Felicia, myself, Mike and The Godfather plan to go.  If everything works out and The Godfather can get off of work for it, he can easily swing by and pick me up and bring me home!  SCORE! Then no one would have to go REALLY far out of their way to pick me up...otherwise Felicia might hafta swing out and get me.  She said she would...but she lives a long way away and I would feel bad then.  It really sucks not being able to drive! GRRR!
Ya know, Martha Stewart is a freaking genius...she makes billions of dollars off not only her own ideas, but the 100's of people that work for her as well....she had the original thought to make something of a normal "daytime diva" first, but really....when I sit and think that she's making all this money off "sock monkeys" and "cookies"....crap!  It makes me wonder why I couldn't think of something so genius and yet so simple.  Oh well....maybe "next time".
Oh, one other major item before I go...I finally got the coordinates to place the team's first Geocache the other day.  Mark and I went and using both our GPS's, agreed to the coordinates.  I submitted them and it said right on the site it could take 3 days to get the coordinates reviewed/approved and then submitted on the site.  Well, 3 hours later, I got an email saying the site was approved and on the Geocaching.com website....CRAP!  That means people could be looking for this thing and it won't even be there!  So I dragged my butt out of bed the next day (NOT pleasant) and had the hubby take me to Fleet Farm and Gander Mountain to get the container and contents for the cache.  I spent the rest of the afternoon online, feverishly printing out all the necessary documents to go along with the cache, and activating the Geocoin I was going to put inside.  It was down right around 6:00 pm, and I conned Marky and the hubby into placing the cache in its new home! I was soooo excited! In the meantime, I logged on and someone had logged a visit to the cache already, and swore up and down they couldn't find it.  I logged a note apologizing and saying I was new to the "game" and didn't know how quickly things would move along....but that the cache would be placed in the next couple days.  After that I was content...until Marky and the hubby came back...they said the entire cache site area was "demolished".  I couldn't believe what I was hearing...the original location, inside a clump of 4 birch trees, no longer existed.  Someone had actually knocked down 3 of the 4 trees! I was heart broken!  And SO ANGRY!  So I sat silently eating dinner with everyone with this just boiling beneath my skin.  As soon as I was finished I asked Marky to "saddle up" cause we were going to get the cache back.  I disabled it online, with a message stating "why" and we went to retrieve the cache.  It was in its place for a mere half hour.  I felt like a complete failure and worst of all, I felt like because of ME, a piece of really gorgeous land had been destroyed.  When I actually go there, I didn't even recognize the area...whoever was there had knocked down more than the "3" trees and the entire area was trampled.  I was furious.  I wrote a note to the one user who logged a visit, not thinking, it really didn't mean it was "THEM" who did the damage....they were simply the only ones to log a visit.  So after a "heart to heart" with a complete stranger, I have decided that the cache will not go back there....I need to find a whole new spot.  One that will be winter/kid/weather friendly.  And  a place that no one can destroy.  It will be difficult, but perhaps it will come to me soon.
I've most definitely babbled here long enough.
I need to take a hot shower and get ready to watch Dancing With The Stars....it's the FINAL 5 and only 3 weeks left!!  I have no clue who will win it, but I DO have my favorites picked out.  :o)  I want either Derek and Joanna to win or Mya and Demitry.  Who will it be??? No one really knows...anything could happen yet!
PS If anyone reading this could PLEASE tell me where to find the "spellcheck" feature...it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you! :o)

TO DO....BUT "WHAT"?

My mind is reeling...
I have the flu. I'm laying in bed. All I can do is lay here and think about all the things I need and/or want to do and how either I cannot do them, or how I cannot do them now...

* Make a Christmas Gift List
* Make a Christmas Card List
* Make a space for my Christmas tree in my room
* Order Christmas cards
* Fix/Winter-ize the kennel
* Dig out my Christmas tree
* Take Harm to vet
* Get new tires on the car
* Get heater fixed on the car
* Make a Scrapbook for various occasions
* Go to dr. Appt at Mercy in Oshkosh
* Go to psych appt.
* Go goose hunting
* do laundry
* Get shampoo/conditioner/soap/toothbrush/toothpaste
* Get new clothes
* Plant bulbs on Grampa's grave
* Relax...

These are just a few of the thoughts that have been churning through my head all day. Of course Christmas is at the forefront right now. The weather, the calendar, the tv, the mail...it all screams Christmas is near...it's 48 days away. That's not a very long time for someone with literally NO MONEY to her name to prepare for such an event. It makes me want to climb into a hole from now until May, and "skip" it this year. It's always been my favorite time of year! Baking, visiting with friends, riding around looking at lights, playing in the new fallen snow, mistletoe, Christmas stockings, the tree, decorating the tree (s), buying the perfect gift that you KNOW will light up the recipients face and they say "oh my gosh! How did you know? This is something I've always wanted!!". I pay attention. I pay close attention. I wrap all my gifts with an amazing amount of care, so much so that everyone jokes and says I should be a pro gift wrapper...if only there was such a thing! Or that I should professionally decorate trees. Again, if only there was such a thing. But there's not, at least not in the small town in Wisconny that I live in. It's so hard to be 33 and married for over 5 years and not even to be able to live with your spouse. He lives with his parents and I live with mine. Separately. He "spends the night" here but nothing of his is here. No clothes, no personal effects, nothing. It kills me. I just don't know how we got so far off course. Without even a hint at a return of our dreams coming true. My dreams are not extravagant. All I want is a nice house (NOT a mansion) and to be on our land and to be able to watch the sun rise and set from the porch of our house! To be able to have breakfast, lunch and dinner together everyday, to be able to do "our laundry", to be able to mow "our lawn"...such stupid things that everyone takes for granted that I feel I'll never have. Must go. Still not feeling well at all.

FALLING BACK, MOVING FORWARD...PART II

And we're back...
So I last left you with Tina and I standing on the beaches of Lake Superior...and that is where I will begin again!

If you look closely, you can see the stones catching a ride on the waves.  They were definitely stirred up that day!

Ryan vs. the waves...

Yes, he's barefoot, and yes he's crazy.  And I warned him he would get sick.  And for the record, he got sick.  He's been complaining for 2 weeks he's had the Swine Flu.  Yuh.

After Lake Superior, we went to Superior Falls.  It's a quck walk through the woods, with some slightly challenging terrain (don't wear heels, ladies). 

Beautiful shot of the falls...

This is my "artsy" shot...

After the falls, it was a short walk across the street to a scenic overlook at the Montreal River.

One of the views from the lookout.  This picture doesn't do it justice though.

Me at the Montreal River Overlook....my face looks so chubby!  Pat said, "I KNOW! BUT YOU DON'T REALLY LOOK LIKE THAT!"   (Score: brownie points for the hubby.)

The leafy trail that led the way to to the overlook...

Tina.  Work'n the fence.

And so ended our day in the U.P.  But not before stopping in Mercer at a unique little gift shop called "Whimsies" and eating at the "Around the Corner Pub" with Ryan's fam.  His Aunt happened to find my engagement ring in her bathroom, and thankfully returned it to me at the bar.  Thank goodness she found it!! Otherwise I'd still be sitting here without it!

So then it was back to the lodge.  We decided to go out looking for the "spirit deer" again and this time we got some satisfaction.  We caught one as it raced across the road in front of us. 

The next day we woke and went to breakfast at the Outdoorsman again.  This time I had a kick-ass omelette and once again, the greatest Cherry Coke ever! After breakfast we went to look for the spirit deer yet again.  This time we saw a couple of them.  So it made me happier just knowing I saw these elusive creatures.

Then it was time to depart for home.   Once again, Clifford's heated leather seats kept me warm and cozy all the way home.  I snoozed off and on for the 3 hour drive home and was sad to be leaving but knew that my very own marshmallow bed would feel great when I got home!

Once home, I unpacked and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning my room.  It's a bigger challenge than it sounds.  Being married and trying to "live" out of a 10x10 bedroom is very difficult.  Pat and I have stuff scattered between several different places. But I digress.

The following week was spent hunting for the "100 goose".  We got up to 98 during the week.  Friday night was spent with one of my "besties" Jeanne and we watched "The Proposal", ate ice cream and pizza and had a blast.  Cute flick.  We also watched "Ghost Adventures" which I am now addicted to! I want season 1 on dvd for Christmas!! :) I'm gonna try to work it and get it a little sooner though. LOL

Saturday morning.  Halloween. My 33rd birthday.  Awake at 5 a.m.  Goose Mafia rides again.  We were in the "Puddle Set" and Pat, Keith and I were on a mission.  We had to only get 2 geese to hit our goal and there were a TON of geese in there in days prior.  Pat put me on the best of all the "puddles" and set me up for the 100 goose to be my birthday present.  Alas, daylight and the unmistakeable "HONK" breaks the wind and rain and snow, and the flock was up, off the pond and they were heading straight for our set.  I took a deep breath, waited til they were right on me, and burst out of my blind and raised my gun and squeezed the trigger and "CLICK"...the gun didn't fire...I checked the safety, it was on "fire", I looked at the trigger...it was stuck backwards...panic insued...the geese flared away and I cursed and yelled and noticed the geese banking back toward us.  I had time to reload and get back down in my blind just in time for the geese to return.  This time they were lower yet and right on top of me again...I burst out of my blind, raised my gun, fired and "CLICK"...WTF!?!?  I checked the safety AGAIN, it's on "fire", I checked the trigger and it was stuck backwards.  Thankfully this time Pat and Keith fired and Pat got our 99th and Keith knocked our 100th out of the air but could not retrieve it.  He and Chance found the place of impact, feathers and all, and then Chanced sniffed his way to the pond where the trail went cold.  Either the goose paddled VERY quickly across the pond, or he did what they call a "death dive".  Keith said they will dive down, clamp on to a weed and their jaw locks and they drown themselves.  Which I find very sad, and I never knew ducks and geese did this.  But in any case, we rejoiced we now only have ONE LEFT TIL THE 100TH GOOSE!!!!

So after we came home from the hunt, it was time for my birthday "lunch."  At noon Tina and Ryan and Alice and Clarence came over to help me celebrate.  I received money, and flowers, and a marshmallow roaster rotisserie and a Chili's gift card (YUM) and a necklace.  My sister made my cake, in the shape of a cat.  Very cute.  Then Mom, Alice, Clarence and I got emersed in two games of Scrabble.  First time we broke out the board since last winter!  I'm so anal I've kept all the score cards since I got that board for Christmas in 2006.  That way there will never be a discrepancy about mom and my "win/lose ratio".  HAHA. I'm an EVIL GENIUS!

Let's see, then later Pat and I went to visit Gram.  She gave me an old "bean crock" that I once said I liked.  It looks like a mini cookie jar.  Right now it's housing all my Halloween candy I robbed from people's trick-or-treat bowls.  LOL

After Gram's, we picked up Tina and Ryan and Mark and went to Green Bay to check out a friend's Halloween display. He's got some of the most wicked cool things...(and I'm not just saying that because I know that at some point he will read this...) Among my fave's are the remote control witch with the crystal ball, the "black-lit" ghost in the garage, and the most awesome-est werewolf birthday cupcake he and his family gave to me, complete with candle.  Looking back, I wish I would have gotten pics of me and that ghost in the garage. It RAWKED!!  There's always next year!

On our way home from Green Bay, Mark, Pat and I were weaving through the outskirts of Howard when, the biggest buck we have seen in a looooooooong time, trotted casually across the road...I was in hysterics, even having the presence of mind to open my window and beg him to "coooome baaaack!"  Funny.

Then finally it was home again to my marshmallow bed which felt really good after such a long day!  I really have to give a shout out to all my friends for making my 33rd birthday so great.  Especially all the wishes sent via Facebook! AMAZING! :)  Definitely a high point of the day!

And the next day was Marky's birthday so I gave him his present on Halloween...since he had to work on his actual birthday.  I gave him a ton of Powerball tickets. I also bought some hoping that it being my birthday would bring me luck...but it didn't happen.  Even though I got 31 as the Powerball and I felt it was a "sign".  Marky ended up winning 8 dollars which was better than nothing I guess.  I am going to have to haul all these guys down to "The Miracle Mile" soon to buy another ticket.  That's where the winning happens. :)

November 1....ahhh...daylight savings begins.  We all "fell back" in our sleep and woke up to shorter days.  I hate that.  I don't like the darkness.  But besides that, it was the NFL game of the year, Packers vs. Vikings at Lambeau.  The first half was a pitiful display by the Packers.  The 2nd half, specifically the 3rd quarter held hope and some of the best ball the Packers have played all season.  But alas, it was not meant to be, and despite the crowd boo'ing Favre  upon every snap he took, he still prevailed.  The better team DID win.

And now here I am, on November 2, chillaxin for the entire day and watching the first of what will be a very long streak of holiday movies I own on DVD and finally can feel I am officially caught up on my blog!!!

FALLING BACK, MOVING FORWARD...PART I

It's been quite some time since I've posted a blog here...I've been busy. Between goose hunting, birthdays, weddings and trips to the north woods, October has been nothing more than a blur...thank goodness I at least have my "tweets" and Facebook statuses to refer to....I'll try my best to catch everyone up.
The last post was from October 17 and  Kraig and Kendall's wedding.  Since then, The Goose Mafia has continued to struggle for the elusive "100 goose".  And we are STILL after him!  We've made it to 99....it's right around the corner!!
October 23-25 was spent in the glorious north woods of Boulder Junction.  Small town, big surprises.  Pat and I drove up in Clifford in the pouring rain.  The heated leather seat was uuber comfy all the way there!  We made it all the way to our lodge without the snow falling.  But it wasn't far behind!  I think we were at the lodge for about 2 hours when it started to snow! Good thing I scored the jacuzzi suite when we arrived! We went to eat at Headwaters, where I had a good steak.  It warmed me and filled my belly. :)  After that we went to look for the "spirit deer" without any luck.  Disappointing to say the least.  Then we came back to the lodge to relax and watch the snow fall.

This is the little spike-horn buck that was bedded down outside the back of the lodge.  They are almost like pets, as they stay in town and are safe there. At first we thought this and a doe that was bedded down as well, were going to be the only deer we were going to see on the trip at all.

That is the scene as it was when we woke up on Saturday the 24th.  We planned to take a drive to Pine Lake, where my brother-in-law's relation lives, and then to Little Girl's Point on Lake Superior.  Nice drive and the beach at Lake Superior is great. First we went to breakfast and The Outdoorsman, which is in downtown Boulder Junction.  A rustic place with antiques scattered thoughout, and the absolute GREATEST Stuffed French Toast ever!!!  Layers of cinnamon toast and bananas and strawberries, with bacon on the side, extra crispy and the best cherry coke (secret ingredient is Grenadine) in the Midwest!  After we were all stuffed we headed out on the exact road shown above!  We first hit Pine Lake.

This is a gorgeous lake.  I love when I get the opportunity to visit...which isn't very often.  Here are a couple more pics of the Pine Lake area...

This is a shot of the ATV trail....

A view through Ryan's Aunt's arbor...

Not something we see here in NE Wisconny too often...Halloween lawn decor buried in snow! LOL

Poor Tina...a catastrophe in the making....

One last view of Pine lake through the treetops...

Then it was off to Spirit Lake.  It's a small lake but offers a small park and pavilion.  Perfect during the picnic season.

This is me on the dock at Spirit Lake.

It was a short stay.  But was great to take in the scenery.

Then finally we went to Little Girl's Point, Lake Superior.  I love this beach! It's all stones, and if you're lucky, you can find a semi-precious stone called "Agate".  I was the only one to find an agate that day! WOOT!  It was FREEZING cold, the wind was INSANE!  But we got some good pics!

This is Pat and I on the beach.  The waves were so huge and the winds so strong that all the stones were piled up along the shore.  Right behind where we are standing, is actually like a "cliff". But it stirred up the stones so we had a good chance of finding our little "gems".

And that is my sister, Tina, and I.  We stayed about 30 minutes here, but the wind was fierce and cold and I couldn't feel my fingers or toes by the time we left! Well I think I'm going to have a Part II to this entry...my picture uploads keep failing...maybe I've used up too much space?  To be continued....