Thirty Five Years Ago This Week...

...weather was a LOT warmer and we were preparing for a wedding! 
Al's bachelor life at Grandma's Cottage was coming to a close.  

Of course Al had reinforcement as the big day drew near.  

Pictured above are our nephew John and Rev Thomas Zurcher CSC.  

Fr Tom was one of three clergy for our wedding.  

Guess we wanted the "glue to stick" or something.  

June 26, 1976

Ebb and Flow

Arbutus Lake has known high and low water levels.  During one rainy year our children remember minnows playing between the beach retaining wall rocks.  (This picture was not from that year, but it is our family and Bobo was our dog.)

Point?  It's good to enjoy change.  Savor each year!

Taking Care of Business

Always a good feeling...I just paid the second half of Grandma's Cottage property taxes to our Oneida County Treasurer.  Along with a monthly electric bill, Grandma's budget includes Chamber dues, insurance premium, maintenance, compliance fees and an annual health inspection.

Only a Few More Months...

and no more mosquitos!  It's hard to believe, but even now a group much like Escanaba in da Moonlight  prepares for Hunting Camp 2011.   Some of these hunters have been together for a very long time.  They generate "man-smells", mountain-man lunches, not always a lot of deer. 

Of course they all have "Camp" names, among them Sleepy, Doc & Cutter to name a few.  Give Cutter a chainsaw and he just goes crazy.

Half of their year is spent anticipating Deer Season. The other half of the year relives it.

Here's one of several vintage shots (no pun intended).  The boy-with-rifle is now chief editor or the Goodrich Hunting Gang Annual Newsletter.  His annual online newsletter includes several important bullet-points:
menu, arrival times at camp, deer stand strategies, packing lists and such.  This year the grown up boy-editor became a daddy.

Do they make baby-size blaze orange?

Rest assured the other hunting gang  (usually based in Canada,only slightly more holy) offer blessings for the little guy and his dad..

Sugar Camp!

Though Grandma's Cottage has an Eagle River address, it is located in Sugar Camp, Oneida County.

For more information on Sugar Camp have fun exploring our community webpage!

http://www.sugarcampwi.com/

Aunt Margaret

Aunt Margaret was a nurse, adding charm & unique dimensions to Grandma's Cottage!

...surgical needles & scissors, tweezers, forceps, surgery bowls...
and lovable Uncle Carl, her first / only husband.  They were "seniors" when they married.

Wake Up the Echoes

Someone said Grandmas are antique little girls.  

What dreams did Sarah Durland have before she became Grandma Goodrich? 

Here's another picture of Sarah Goodrich, (or Sadie as she was known in LaCrosse).  The  little boy was a neighbor.  This is the Grandma for whom Grandma's Cottage was originally built.

Here's one of the first pictures of Grandma's Cottage from the 1950's. 

Sarah had two children.  They were Al's dad and Aunt Margaret.  Looking around Grandma's Cottage you'd know reading is important tradition in our family!