River Fishing

Brrr, Halloween was a chilly, snowy, blowy kind of day.  Do ya'all see that sleet coming down? 

The light snow cover didn't stay around long.

It was just enough to remind everyone that it's on the way.

I took the kiddies trick or treating; the weather was participating with intermittent howling winds.

Most mornings, the ground has had a cover of frost here lately.

By the afternoon, the sun has things thawed out a bit.  I donned my neoprene's and fished Salt Creek.

The steelhead were not interested in biting while I was there.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave.  A bit later that same day, I fished a southeast stretch of the Kankakee River-- without getting shot!

Regardless of the fact I didn't get a single bite, it was nice being out on the water.

Sometimes the smaller channels have a few surprises in store; not this time though.

 

I got off the water as the sun was coming down.

Both fishing sessions were fairly brief.  Although, it most often seems I run out of time before I run out of the will to fish.  

Back at the house, I was greeted by 2 Indian Geese. A Momma:

And a Baby:

Yes, it's true.  I've resorted to raising cement fowl.  I will say that they don't eat much and the coons aren't interested in em.  ;)

El Hombre DustBall & Dunes Hike

Hola!  Te gusta mi sombrero  Opps, I mean-- Hello!  Do you like my hat?

I rocked this sombrero for Halloween.  Bettcha didn't even recognize me!   ( Hint-- it's me, DustBall.) ;) 

 

I'm in the mood for a little PURRRITO! 

 

She may look like a dulce little Mexican treat, but in reality she's a real tail biter.

At least having her around takes some heat off of me.  After all, I'm a guy that likes to lay low-- especially on Halloween! 

Sophie was Elsa (from Frozen ) for Halloween.  Better the dog than me.  Meeowwww!

Well, me and the puritto, er kitten, are busy trying to nap around here.  TTYL, Senor DustBall

Hey there Folks; it's me, Kristina!  That goofy cat of mine just had to try his paw at blogging.  :) 

The kiddos, Sophie, and I went hiking at the Dunes the other day.  This trail is known as Cowles Bog, but we refer to it as the little snake trail.

 

Gladys spotted a ringed neck snake, which are real little ones, about the size of a night crawler.  (I wasn't fast enough with the camera and it got away before I got it's pic.)

  

Back in May, a few years ago, Jean, Jamie and I were hiking and the girls decided to go barefoot until they realized these little guys were every couple of steps:

 

We found a bunch of them, fresh out of the egg, and with attitudes!  The girls put shoes back on quick!

  

This hiking trial has a fishing intermission (for me anyways) at the warm water discharge.  The kids like rolling down the dunes a zillion times.  I'm all for a good dune roll, but once or twice tends to give me all the fix I need.

 

Fish like hanging out there, but it's not the easiest place to get to via land.

Makes for some good exercise though.

The weather was cool, sunny and nice.

The scenery is awesome, both in the woods and on the beach.

On the way back to the truck, we took a lunch break.

I'm not really sure how far of a hike it is, but I'd say a few miles both to and from.

 

Happy Hiking!  :)

Purdue Halloween Party

BOO!  :)

This year, Troy carved his pumpkin ALL by Himself!  

 

 Our baby, SnowBall, has developed a fondness for hiding out in the tissue box.

 

Not sure how much longer she will be able to pull this off, as she is thriving!

 
 Gladys and her friend, Jacob, posed for a pic outside the Purdue Halloween party.  It cracked me up that they would not stand near each other.

My little NINJA boy, Troy, thought the ghost ship was cool.

For several years now Purdue North Central has thrown a Halloween party for the kiddies.

It was rather bare this year, compared to previous years.

Still, the kids had a good time playing games and I got to visit with several long lost colleagues.

The kids decorated little pumpkins too!

And made some spooky crafts.

I was trying to get a shot of Troy playing bozo buckets, but some cheerleader girl walked right in front of the camera.  :/ 

The nice thing about bare Halloween parties is that there are plenty of treats to go around.

Another recent event of the season was a Halloween dance.

I dressed up as a vampire, and as you can plainly see, was converting to a bat in these pics.  Yeah, seriously, I could not take a decent pic, but you get the idea.

Let this be a lesson: choosing the wrong color palette can make for a very dramatic look.  Spooooooky!  :)

 

I kinda like changing my hair color.  When I start getting grey hairs, I can see myself changing the colors often.  Or maybe turning it all white.  Recently, I went to visit my aunt Pauline and she has very pretty SnowBall white hair.

   

Speaking of Snowball, she's a laugh a minute.  She acts all fierce and runs around the house attacking things.  Did Ya'All know that white cats are feared in Sweden, like black cats are here?  

 

 
I used to have a white kitty costume from when I was maybe three or four years old.  Meow. 

Troy's poor pumpkin did not hold out very long even though I treated it with bleach.  The weather has been nice and mild here for the most part.  That is about to change though, as tomorrow, Halloween, their is snow and high winds in the forecast.  Yikes!!!