Minus Ish Last night.

Okay so we got lucky and the forcasted 30 MPH winds stayed away so it actually only felt like the -30 that it actually was last night, whew! Nothing like trying to heat a house when its 30 below with 30 MPH winds, so we avoided that anyway.

We have one of those indoor outdoor digital thermometers sitting on the shelf next to the kitchen sink. When I looked at it this morning before work it really sunk in how cold it was, 72 degrees at the kitchen sink (its right above a heat register) and -30 outside, hey its 102 degrees warmer on this side of the kitchen wall than on the other side of the kitchen wall! 102 degrees! "hey everyone get up and get on the swim suits its 102 degrees warmer in the house than outside! Okay all kidding aside imagine this scenario in the summer when its 80 degrees outside, it would be 180 in the house, think of the energy savings potential, "hey honey grab the venison roast from the freezer we can dry some jerky right here in the house, we don't even need the dehydrator"..... okay that is a little silly but even a cool fall day would be say 40 outside and 140 inside, does it even get to 140 anywhere on the earth on a given day? I guess I will have to google that one when I am done posting this.

Oh by the way fish 1 fisherman 0. No fish through the ice yesterday...... but we did fry up some BlueGills from last summer so I guess that's almost as good.

A gal from work just walked in to tell us a good joke. God was telling some angles about this beautiful place he was going to create called Minnesota it will have pristine lakes and rivers, thick pine woods, beautiful ponds and swamps with an abundance of wildlife....... wow the angles said everyone will want to live there...... then God said wait until you see what I have planned for them in winter!

Jon

Deep slush!

Over the Christmas Holiday weekend a couple of fish houses were put up on our side of the lake...... so I figured I would check the lake out. Holy slush batman! In front of our house we have about 6 inches of snow then 6 inches of slush then 3 inches of water on top of the ice. I wanted to bust a trail through it all so we could get the 4 wheeler on the lake to someday hopefully plow the rink back off so we can flood it once the slush freezes..... well it took about a half hour to get the four wheeler through that mess. After 4 times of digging it out of the slush (it kept getting high centered) I was able to get a trail out past all the thick slush to where everything on top of the ice was frozen solid, whew, what a mess. The 4 wheeler was a block of slush after all that. We are going to try some ice fishing tonight now that we can get on the lake with the 4 wheeler (the path I cleared last night froze nice and solid over night), I will give you a fishing update soon.

It should be a cold one tonight the forecast is -18 with 30 mph winds..... we got about 2 inches of snow last night, with another 1 to 3 forecast for today. I don't think the lake is going to be low in the spring with all this snow to melt and fill it up. It is going to be a wet and muddy come spring for sure.

Take care and stay warm.

Jon

Merry Christmas from Lake Gilmore!

It was -15 last night with clear skies. The stars were very bright in the bitterly cold winter air. This Christmas morning is sunny and bright. Almost blindingly bright with all the snow. Hope your Christmas is very merry.

I realised I never posted pictures after the blizzard and we have had another since so the pictures above are of the lake and shore just outside our lake side door on this Christmas morning.

Jon

4 more inches of snow!

Monday night and Tuesday morning gave us at least 4 more inches of snow. The Fargo paper said that Fargo is almost at its record snow fall for December so I am sure we have to be close also. Man am I glad I got a snow plow blade for the 4-wheeler this year, sure does beat using the snow blower and shhhh don't tell anyone but it even makes snow removal kinda fun! It is much better to have too much snow than not have any so I will not complain.

Temps were a little bit warmer the last couple nights but last night it was -14. The cardinals have been signing in the pine trees in the morning. When I load the wood boiler in the morning the cardinal will usually call back if I whistle to it. I have been doing that for several years. I wonder what the life span of a cardinal is? Could it be the same one or many different ones? Who knows. It sure confuses the dog, he gives me a funny look when I whistle and he is right next to me and when the cardinal whistles back he sure looks even more confused.

I had 2 swans fly overhead yesterday morning, trumpeting out their song as they went. I looked for them in the river by Zorbaz but didn't see them. Maybe finally making a press south or they might have a different winter spot.

Merry Christmas and remember Jesus is the reason for the season.

Jon

Enough already!

-25 last night and if that wasn't enough the wind was blowing a zillion miles an hour for a windchill of minus too darn cold! For those of you that are reading this in warmer climes, you lucky dogs you!



We got about another 5 to 6 inches of snow this weekend, the kids are a little disappointed because the weight of the snow has pushed the ice down and we have about 2 inches of slush on the lake and the ice rink that was the best we ever had is destroyed! Maybe with this cold the slush will freeze and we can push the snow off the top of it, we were able to do that last year. We will see.



If you can see through all the blowing snow and the bitter cold, it is very beautiful outside. Is that why we live here even in winter? Maybe, or maybe we are just weather extremists? I am not sure but what I do know is that if the weather keeps up like this I will have to cut down my entire woods to keep the house warm! December isn't over yet and my wood pile is almost half gone! Gotta love it.



Take care and stay warm.



Merry Christmas to you in case I don't get back on here until after the Holiday.

The view from the snowy ditch.

Well this isn't really Gilmore Lake related other than the fact that the same snow and ice that fell on Gilmore fell on county road 40.

I plowed the car into the ditch yesterday morning on the way to Nevis. The intersection of co rd 40 and co rd 2 north of Nevis was glare ice and as soon as I touched the brakes the rear end of my car shot out to the side. I almost got it corrected when the front tires hit bare pavement and jerked us the other way and at that point there was no getting it back straight. I told Connel to hold on tight as we plowed into the ditch sideways on the passenger side. Fortunately we were only going about 25 MPH when we started to spin out so we didn't flip or go too far into the ditch. A guy we know came by a few minutes later and had a shovel and tow strap and pulled us out with ease! I was glad it happened yesterday and not the day before when the temp was -32 with a steady NW wind. I noticed last night when I drove by that intersection again that many people had slid through the stop sign and into the shoulder on the other side, hopefully the county will at least get it sanded.

Connel commented how wonderful it was that we live in an area that almost every car stopped and asked if we were okay and if we needed help or to use a cell phone. Only 1 car out of 10 didn't stop and they were on co rd 2 so they would have had to turn onto 40 to check on us (3 cars did do this). Despite the snow and cold I do love living here.


Take care and stay warm

Jon

Does -32 degrees actually feel any colder than -10?

The deep Freeze is on! When outside your door is a better freezer than the one plugged into the wall its way to cold....... How does anything survive living in -32 with deep and drifted snow? I think that after it hits -10 forget about telling us how cold it is, just say its negative too cold outside to do anything... okay? got that weather man?

You can always tell when its -10 or less when you are cranking your car up. The sound is distinctly different, no high pitched starter noise just a deep and low ruurer ruurer ruurer, all the while your saying a little prayer for your battery "come on you can do it!"

Stay warm and don't lick any steel poles okay?

Jon

Before the blizzard!

Pictures of the lake on Saturday before the big snow storm. I should have a pic of it after the storm sometime later today. In the second pic you can see most of this years ice rink.

It has been snowing a little almost everyday! Forecast is for a bunch on Saturday. Over 3 inches on the ground now. Hope you are staying warm wherever you are!

Jon

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Snow! Around 3 inches of snow fell over the weekend. I always cringe at the thought of the first snowfall with some accumulation, after it falls though it always seems to brighten up my mood. The trees lake and ground are covered in a fluffy white snow that fell off and on since Friday. The temps over the weekend hovered between zero and 10 degrees.

Driving around this weekend I have seen many people on the lakes, one with a couple of trucks and many with 4-wheelers. The winter cities are starting to dot the lakes......

I will try and get some pictures of the snow covered lake up tomorrow.

Have a good week!

Jon

December weather.

Tuesday was a real nice day highs close to 40. Yesterday and today have been a bit windy and colder with just a dusting of snow off and on. The lake has been making ice and noise every night. I am seeing more and more people on not only Gilmore but other lakes. I heard a report of a 4-wheeler on Fish Hook, and since I didn't also here about a 4-wheeler going into Fish Hook I assume there is over 4 inches on the lakes now. The ice fishing shacks will be hitting the lakes with full force soon.

Jon

Fish Bowl

I was on the ice for the first time today. Kevin Lund skated over across the lake yesterday so I figured the lake must be safe!



The lake froze over on a calm and snow less night so the ice is beautiful and clear. I figure we have at least a solid 4 inches everywhere and more towards the shore. It is like a sheet of glass! Imagine a glass bottom boat. Our ice rink is officially open for the 2008-2009 season! The ice is so clear in most spots that you can see the bottom in water up to about 15 feet deep. I saw some fish and many submerged logs and the weeds look interesting through the ice. If you have never experienced clear ice like that it is a beautiful site. While on the ice I just stopped for a while and listened to the ice tones, ah peace and relaxation, what a stress reliever. Glad I got to enjoy the clear ice before any snow and very soon the kids and I will have the surface all carved up with skate tracks.



I also spotted an eagle that landed on the ice and appeared to enjoy a meal it had captured and carried onto the ice......... I tried to get a picture but as soon as I went outside it flew off.



Hope your holiday was wonderful.



Jon



Partly sunny and 30+ degrees today.

Ice Skaters

Watched a group of people out on the lake ice skating. I haven't been on the ice yet to know how thick it is but they were skating all over. The entire lake is a perfect sheet of ice for skating.

I wonder if it is one of those years that you can see through the ice and see weeds and fish? I guess I will have to check out how thick the ice is tomorrow. The kids really want to skate now.

Made it home from Minneapolis this afternoon. From North of Little Falls to North of Motley 2 inches of snow...... Glad we didn't have to drive through snow the entire way!

Take care and enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.

Jon

Ice walkers...

Sunny and a beautiful 30+ degrees today.

I saw the first ice walkers yesterday evening. I couldn't tell exactly who it was but I think it was someone from the Saunders. They actually were aced out by some brave deer the other morning, the deer came out next to the Netten's walked out about 75 yards got smart and turned around.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jon

Ice Tunes?

Some people have iTunes and those of us lucky enough to live on Gilmore year round had IceTunes last night. If you don't know what iTunes are see this link and I will let Wikipedia explain, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes but IceTunes I will explain. IceTunes is the wonderful music the lake makes as the ice forms and thickens. Sometimes its just cracks and pops other times it can be deep thunderous booms in many different tones. I love the sound of it. It reminds me of nights spent in sleeper fish houses as a kid. When the ice gets thick and the weather is very sub zero some of the big cracks actually shake our home... no surprise there since it is built into the ice ridge.

The IceTunes are not as melodious as the Loon Calls of spring and summer but still are something to enjoy to help pass the winter along.

Cloudy and 26 degrees here today with slight flurries off and on.

Jon

Coyotes?

First look at this years ice sheet. Winter does get long for me but I do enjoy the look of the lake after it has frozen over. Each year it freezes over differently. More on that some other time.....

Coyotes are today's topic. In the 12 plus years we have lived on Gilmore I have noticed that most nights of the week if you go outside about one to two hours after sunset you can hear the Coyotes yelping. I think its what gets some of the dogs around here (including mine) barking. Sometime in late August I realised that I had not herd the Coyotes lately. I started going outside in the evening intentionally to listen for them and not a single yelp...... Weird huh? I started to do a little research on Coyotes and I found out that if you have Timber Wolves in the area they will either kill the Coyotes off or the Coyotes will move off! Was this the answer? I haven't seen a Timber Wolf or heard any in the evenings so I could not be sure... Fast Forward to the morning of the second Sunday in October, we were on our way to church when we saw what I thought was a coyote crossing CO RD 40 just on the west side of CO RD 7, but was it a Coyote? Looked a little big to be. We hurried to the power line that crosses 7 just south of 40 and sure enough a Timber Wolf staring at us! To my amazement that night I herd two Wolves howling that night and the next 3 nights. I have heard them about 9 times since then. I also was lucky enough to see one coming out of the swamp between 40 and Get Around Road.

Mystery solved the Coyotes have been replaced by Wolves..... how many I wonder? I know at least 3 by hearing 3 howl from different directions. It would be interesting to take a walk through woods and swamps around here after some snow fall to find some tracks.

How will this affect the deer population around here I wonder. I wont mind if we don't have to fight to keep the deer out of the garden next summer.

Enough for today.

Jon

2008 Swimming Season ends!

Last nights low of 7 degrees and no wind put an official end to the 2008 swimming season.....(Gilmore Froze over completely).... well for me it ended sometime in August. The last time I know the kids were in the lake was the middle of October but I am sure they snuck in a quick splash when I wasn't looking after that. I guess if your one of them thar polar plunge types you could still get out a chainsaw and make your own swimin' hole. You should wait for the ice to get some thickness first.

Well I wonder who will be the first one on the ice this year? How about the first one to drill a ice fishing hole? By the looks of it this morning the cats have already tested the ice, I am sure they are wondering what happened to their favorite drinking hole.

I am sure I will hear this question this weekend, "Dad when can we start skating on the lake." My answer will be the same as always, as soon as the ice is thick enough. Hopefully it will get thick enough to walk on before we get too much snow so the ice rink will have a smooth surface.

The picture above is of last years rink, Hopefully I will get a post in for a light for this years rink.

Jon

Gilly in cyberspace.... the begining!

Welcome to my Lake Gilmore blog.... I have no specific intentions for this blog other than sharing what is happening on our beautiful lake! My goal is to share what the weather is like, pictures and other random bits of nonsense...er I mean information. If you get tired of seeing pictures from my families side of the lake feel free to share a picture with me and I shall post if for you! If you have something specific to share let me know and I can post it for you.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Jon