SO READY FOR SPRING

I'M READY ... for spring ...

I liken the winter at this stage to an old
person ... getting more feeble ... the snow banks shrinking &
looking not so firm ... not so white & pretty. Winter,
at its prime, is vigorous, pretty, & impressive.

I had forgotten that our road(s) really are black in color ... my road
is about half black ... the latest snowfall morhped into a lot of ice
cover, tho. And, with the temps last nite going below zero again
... we are looking forward to the promised 40 degree temps this
week-end.

There is snowcover, but, remembering that the picnic table was
practically concealed with snow, I can see we're making progress.

Isn't this such a cute deer ... last year's fawn ... I call them my "Fuzzies".

Recently, I drove some friends to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a visit to a
clinic. While waiting, I drove around town a bit ... happened to
go past Packerland Packing Meats ... I had hauled for them a while when
I was a trucker. The place still looks the same.



Hopefully, some good news for the papermill at
Niagara (on the border of Wisconsin/Michigan) that was subject to one
of those old business schemes of "buy up a competitor- so that you can
shut them down-then you can declare a tax break loss" . So sad
for the village of Niagara. A local businessman offered to buy
the mill so that the employees/community could continue to run
it. NO DEAL. The machinery was stripped & shipped
overseas to make sure that the aggressor company would never have to
worry about competition for it's specialty papers.

A RECENT NEWSPAPER ARTICLE IN THE IRON RIVER DAILY NEWS HAS MORE DETAILS ON THE IDEA FOR THE MILL TO NOW PRODUCE A NEW KIND OF BIO-FUEL THAT WILL UTILIZE THE AREA'S WOOD PRODUCTION INDUSTRY. (The logging industry is about all that is left up here & even that has
been torpedoed by the slowing economy.)

Click here:
IronMountainDailyNews.com news, sports, business, jobs - The Daily News

( I THEN DID A NEWSPAPER SEARCH ON "Niagara mill")

"IRON MOUNTAIN - Wisconsin State Representative Jeff Mursau told The Daily News that a Wisconsin company has expressed interest in purchasing at least part of the NewPage Niagara mill to construct a biomass ethanol plant."

"NIAGARA, Wis. - New North Inc. has commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of producing cellulosic ethanol at NewPage's Niagara paper mill facility, New North Executive Director Jerry Murphy announced on Tuesday."

On TELEPHONE TIME ... someone called in to say that the maple sap
season is imminent. With the week-end temps in the 40's .... I
should be ready to rock & roll on this project ... but, I've had so
many crucial projects occurring that I haven't given this much thought.

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NEIGHBORS & FRIENDS

My grandson, Bill, just had a birthday ... here he is with my daughter, Maggie.



Her dress is an heirloom christening dress. His suit is a
corduroy suit that I had made for my older son when he was little.


As you can see from this ... we have to stay alert when driving ... especially on my road .... STOP FOR THE TURKEY CROSSING!



They were just going to visit these neighbors.











These neighbors have their own visitors.


L o i S



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My Mom's going to visit!

BIG PROJECT: EMPTY ALL BUT THE UPPER THREE BOOKSHELVES. Most of the books need to be put into boxes ... I'm trying to sort them so that one can find any certain one later. The remaining books are mostly going to be referrence/how-to ... special collections ... &
lots of picture books covering travel, history, etc ... coffee-table" type books that we can look thru.

This sorting project is something that,
really, only I can do. Then, I have to figure out where to store
my stuff; this is a small house ... no attic.


My Mom is coming up here next summer; half of my frontroom will be her
"room". Here's Mom on a previous visit, several years ago.

Until we can decide what to to about a ramp, or whatever ... I can
drive up to the deck ... then, there's only a few steps.

L o i S


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MY VALENTINE FOR YOU

This is for you for Valentine's Day ... I made up this & printed it out for friends & family ... also ... for my online friends.

L o i S

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FEBRUARY ... still winter

MEET "Aino Chukinen"

... our local YOOPER Groundhog ... they interviewed him again (from west of Iron River, Kimpinnen's Rock-pile) on Telephone Time, Ground-Hogs Day.




Upper Peninsula has lots of snow ... especially on the Keweenaw Peninsula (lake-effect snow).

Click here: The Keweenaw Snow Thermometer


Are you aware that Jeff Foxworthy is now picking on Michigan? Read his view of Michiganders:
Click here: Outside My Window: Michigan My Michigan



SOME WINTER READING:

Michigan has an e-Library;
Click here: MeL: The Michigan eLibrary
History Resources at the site:

Click here: Michigan County Histories and Atlases
It looks as tho one might be able to look up old plat maps, too.

My winter project is to read all the books in the Crystal Falls Library on history of the Upper Peninsula.

I am almost done with the two huge volumes of history : "Superior Heartland, a Backwoods History" . It is Library of Congress number 89-90710, in case you want to obtain a copy thru your local library. The two volumes total 1559 pages!

There are many illustrations, including maps & old photos. Since he is from the Marquette area .... many of the items are from the "Heartland" area of Lake Superior shoreline .... lots from Marquette local.



L o i S

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