Getting Stuff Done

14 bushel lawn debris collection system.

Wow, got too busy to finish!!!   Oh well, here's what I wrote last week.  With the ice forming well but still not good enough I decided to get some use out of the 14 bushel leaf/grass collection system I bought earlier in October to help clean up the yard.  The last 2 weeks haven't been ideal however on Sunday it was almost warm enough to get the job done, It would probably be my last chance before the snow comes to get the leaves picked up off the lawn, and there were a lot of them.  The system itself is pretty slick.  It attaches to the mower via a quick hitch system and it has a blower that gets mounted to the output of the mower deck and is powered by a pulley that is attached to one of the spindles.  A belt goes on the pulley then it has a tightening mechanism to put tension on the belt.  When you engage the mower deck the blower pretty much sucks anything under the deck and forces it up a chute and into the bags hanging off the back.  It is surprising how fast it will fill up, I just take the bags and dump them into my trailer then haul it to the back of my property and dump it.  The ground was froze and I had a number of problems with moles this fall, so it was a pretty bumpy ride yet I was able to get all the leaves picked up and the grass looks ready for the snow.  My next project is to get the snowblower attachment on as I think within a couple of weeks we will have blowable snow unfortunately. 

Keith's first walleye on the ice!

Red Lake continues it's freeze up as well as most of of the lakes north of Brainerd are frozen over.  Although it's only walkable ice, if one is careful it's not too bad and guys are getting out.  My friend Russ is planning on heading to Red on Thanksgiving, leaving his house on shore and using an ATV to get out.  So far the reports are stating up to 8 inches of ice however they did have some breakup from the wind last week, it's healing up good and some resorts have safe routes staked out to over a mile.  In the mean time my friend Keith Holtan, who lives near North Long Lake by Brainerd got out and sent me this picture of his first walleye of the year, not bad if you ask me!  So as I stated in my first sentence, I am getting caught up and quie honestly am getting ready to fly to Savannah, Georgia on Wednesday, November 18th to attend our fall TTA meeting and what usually comes out of these get togethers is a fishing trip and this year is no exception.  We are going to be fishing out of Tybee Island with Miss Judy's Charters, a recommendation we got from Phil Gordon.  Phil has a time share on Tybee Island as it is just south of Hilton Head, South Carolina, a popular golf destination.  Although our conference is Thursday and half a day Friday, Phil has got us a rental condo on the beach for Friday and Saturday night as we have booked Saturday, December 1st as our fishing day.  Our fishing day looks good as I checked the weather for the weekend and it looks like we'll be in the 70's which will be a nice change from the 15 degree weather we've been experiencing here in Minnesota.  I arrive in Savannah late Wednesday afternoon and the low is supposed to be 32, a warm spell!  Anyway we have 7 guys signed up for fishing including Bruce Thackwray, Glen Collins, Matt Davis, Gary and Steve Hicks, Phil Gordon, and myself as we will target inshore saltwater species such as Redfish, Sheepshead, and Seatrout.  I have fished with these guys before and it's always a great time!  The plan is to find a local restaurant close to our condo that will cook our fish, maybe we will even have enough to bring some home.  Either way it will be good to get out before heading up to Red to fish the hard water.  I may post something later this week or wait till I get back from fishing with some nice pictures of our quarry!