The Best

They don't make 'em like this anymore!!













Merry Christmas everybody!

Some Favorites

Oz of course, fishing in Canada, Mount Rushmore, and my very favorite is the last one.

Moving Day

Bethany has graduated! Congratulations Bethany. We are very, very proud of you. 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

Where did summer go?

Seems like summer was so long ago. Here are some pictures of Jan's flowers. She had a great crop this year (a little northern Illinois farmer verbage). Wind chill here in Rockford was zero on Wednesday. We are not ready for this chilly weather so early. Yuck! Look at the bottom 2 pictures and see if you can tell what's different?

The Channel

Just another scenery shot. The weather and the colors provided some great pictures.

2 man operation!

Inlaw1 and Inlaw3 releasing a 27" Northern.

Fall Colors

We were surprised to see that the trees were in full autumn color. It was a little later this year.

October Sunset

For some reason we never tire of the sunsets.

Alligators?

If you think the Muskies are big take a look at this gator.

Eagle

While we were at the cabin we were able to take a couple of shots of this eagle. Jan was the first to see it eating a fish on the shore line. We were able to follow him up and down the bank for about 10 minutes. Cool stuff!

Sometimes the most fun is the little little ones caught off the dock. This was Damon with the smallest catch of the day on Aug. 9, 05.

Recognize this?

Does anybody recognize this spot? It's the "snag hole". I don't know how much tackle we've lost here but I'm sure it's a few dollars worth. I'ts still a good spot for panfish.

Nice

Just glad it didn't land on me.

Grandpa's Muskie

Grandpa Darby caught this muskie in 1984. It's 43" and weighed in at 18 lbs, 8oz. It looks pretty impressive over the fireplace.

To the best of my knowledge the rest of the muskies have been released.

I don't have pictures of all of the fish that have been caught "up nort", but did find this FINE example just laying around and thought I should share it for everyone to enjoy. This was a 40 incher back on July 25, '92. I know Outlaw 4 has some nice catches too and maybe he has some pictures of those he can share. If any of the Inlaws have caught picture-worthy fish; they should post those too.

Lake home or resort.

This is the industrial strength pier we told Grandma and Grandpa about. They didn't build a lake home but a resort. Hope the residents fight this and are successful shutting this operation down.

What are you looking at?

Got to look close to see these guys. This one was a comedian.

Whats the preferred car of frogs?
The Beetle.

Why are frogs so happy?
They eat watever bugs them!

What's green and dangerous?
A frog with a hand-grenade.

What do you say to a hitch-hiking frog?
Hop in!
I know, I know they're bad but you get what you pay for!!

Loon Time

To my surprise a loon surfaced next to the boat. I took several pictures while he ate his fish breakfast. Then he continued to swim near the boat and acted as though he enjoyed having his picture taken. I suspect he may have been waiting for a handout. Sorry, no free fish today!

Sunset

We sat around the fire pit a couple nights and were treated to some spectacular sunsets. Surprisingly, we weren't bothered by insects.

Sunrise

This is the point on the left side of the bay early Thursday morning. The fog was just begining to blow off of the lake and the sun was just starting to hit the tops of the trees.

Mr Eagle

We were lucky enough get some photo's of this eagle last week. Jan saw it sitting on a fallen log eating a fish. We took some photo's and it flew off to this tree where we were able to take a few more shots.

Fire pit

Hey everyone. As you can see, the fire pit is done and it works great. We spent a couple nights under the stars enjoying it. There are more rocks behind the shed if you want to add a larger border. We always had a bucket of water and a shovel just in case. The hose is next to the pier too. Have fun.

PS It was Jack's idea!

Darby Chat