Copper Country Living

I write letters to my stepchildren. My stepchildren live with their mother, 3.5 hours away from us, during the school year. There's not much we can do about that since they need to attend school, but keeping in touch with their day to day can be hard. Last year I started writing them 'snail mail' letters, complete with self-addressed, stamped envelopes. While I've never gotten a reply from either child, I know they are at least getting my letters and they know that their dad and I are thinking about them. It's my own little way of showering them with love from a distance. Phone calls with kids are awkward. I don't know if you've ever tried to talk to a kid on the phone but they're easily distracted and it's not always possible to follow their train of thought. Talking on the phone with our kids has the added 'fun' of their mother hovering in the background, listening to every word and interjecting into the conversation when she's

It's happening.  I'm 6 months pregnant and my husband found our dream house. Porch at our old house, packed to capacity, waiting to be moved. I had zero intention of uprooting our entire household, packing it in boxes, and trucking it to a new house (which would of course need cleaning). Then we got new neighbors. Don't get me wrong, they are perfectly nice neighbors. But my husband would prefer no neighbors at all. These neighbors have four children under the age of 5. They themselves are from a large family, and the day they moved in, their crew of helpers included more than 10 little blonde boys too young to actually help. Those little boys spent the afternoon hooting and hollering and throwing a ball in the backyard- and frequently into our backyard. My husband spent the afternoon in our back porch watching them, fuming. "We have to move." was all he said when I came home from work. This was back in mid August, and I agreed, thinking it would wai

First Snow Yesterday morning as Hubby and I were drinking coffee, I glanced out the living room window and  could see a flake of snow falling, here and there, very intermittently. "Look honey, it's snowing!" I exclaimed. He turned from the TV to take a look. "Look at that, it sure is." he replied. "I'm going to go hunting tonight." "Ok." And we went back to watching television like it was nothing. Less than a week ago we were on a boat in 70 degree weather, and now it's snowing. That's how weather goes this time of year. This morning we woke to actual snow on the ground and I took some pictures. It's not snow the way we have snow in the real winter, but the contrast of the fresh white with the fall colors lit by the rising sun just made my morning. It's a chilly 34 degrees right now and I could see my breath as my fingers got cold taking pictures. My poor marigolds are done for the season. They

This past week my husband and I took a fall color cruise from downtown Houghton to the north entry of the Portage Canal aboard the Isle Royale Queen IV . It was a fundraiser for the local Lions Club and while we've gone every year since we started dating, this year had the best weather. It was sunny, 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and only a slight breeze so the sailing was smooth. I took tons of pictures on my phone, which doesn't have the highest quality camera, but really the pictures never do the view justice around here anyway. It really is more breath taking in person. Portage Canal-approaching North Entry from the south We set sail with a boat full of locals (and a few tourists) and headed towards the north entry. Hubby and I found a good spot out on the forward starboard side and relaxed as we watched the local lakeside mansions go by. We always joke about what a serious waste of money owning property along the canal is. The road is very close to the water, and m