Snow – Page 16 – The Potgieters in Minnesota – see a small window to our lives below

July 7, 2007July 7, 2007

Kayak Trip #4

…that is, with my own Kayak. I went to Fish Lake in Eagan for the second time.
Wow, now I appreciate summer with its long evenings! This trip was made between seven thirty and eight thirty in the evening and you can see how much sunshine there still is!

There was not a breeze and the water shows that absolute mirror surface, disturbed only by my wake and a few jumping fish. Oh, and also by a water rat that swam past my kayak.

Fish Lake is slap bang in the middle of Twin Cities suburbia. Within a mile are two major strip malls, a huge apartment complex and many residential houses – you can find a map of the lake HERE.

July 1, 2007

On Elmo Again

At the end of the Daldorff’s camping weekend at Lake Elmo, I joined them for another paddling adventure on the lake.

It was very good, as always. Paddling must send a lot of endorphines or something to my brain!

June 29, 2007June 29, 2007

Two kayaks on Elmo

This evening I visited the Dalldorfs where they were camping at Lake Elmo. Of course the new Kayak went with and Troy had his tandem there as well.

They were four families from their church camping together and while another family looked after the Dalldorf girls, the three of us went paddling on the lake! Well, at last we can take photographs of each other in the kayaks.

My new kayak behaved very well in fairly high waves caused by powerboats – very stable!

June 27, 2007July 7, 2007

My Own Kayak!

At last my big dream has come true – My Own Kayak! I bought the kayak on Sunday.

It is a America Angler 11.0 by Islander. It weighs 45 pounds and can carry up to 450 pounds – only 11 feet long.

It still taxes me to put it on the minivan roof or take it off – but this evening I took her to a lake all by myself. I went to Fish Lake in Eagan and rowed the length of the lake. The kayak performed very well, despite a fairly strong breeze that was blowing! I am also pleased with its stability.
How very nice it was to see the front bow of the kayak (up to now I have always bee in the rear of a tandem kayak with my friend Troy).

April 29, 2007

Barb’s Birds

Gina’s friend Barb farms near Hugo, here in Minnesota and on her farm she has one grumpy old turkey and a whole swarm of Guinea Fowl (Tarrentale), even white ones.

December 13, 2006

Killer Chestnuts!

This recipe from an American friend:

A can of waterchestnuts
Bacon

Wrap the chestnuts each in a strip of bacon and bake for half an hour at 350ºF.

Make a sauce of half a cup of Ketchup, half a cup of brown sugar and a teaspoon of woustershire sauce (good for you, if you know the correct spelling of that one!) – melt these together over low heat and then pour over the chestnuts.

Bake them again for five minutes.