Aries is feeling much better, as seen by the stretching in the sun above. We were proactive in the diagnosis and initial treatment of his kidneys. It looks like we’ll have him around for a while longer.

You wouldn’t be able to tell from the photo, but our Aries (the cat) isn’t feeling very well. He is having trouble with his kidneys, just like Little Guy. We ruled out cancer with an ultrasound on Monday. I’ve got my fingers crossed for “infection” as opposed to CRF (Chronic Renal Failure). He’s on special kidney food, Pepcid and sub-cutaneous fluids to help his kidneys recover. He really likes the special food and it makes Friday and Randy incredibly jealous. Which Aries enjoys!

This was our first Halloween in our new place. Finally, we had our own stoop and pumpkin display area.

I bought some pumpkins, carved away in my garage (less mess than in the kitchen, plus it was a nice day) and lit them.

I figured that in a big, well-lit development like ours we’d have tons of trick-or-treaters. I agonized about which candy to buy and how much.

Can you guess how many kids came by?

2

Everyone at work ate candy for two weeks. Plus, we fixed the doorbell and outside lights in preparation for Halloween. So it wasn’t a total loss.

The posts have been very infrequent lately, that’s not just because of the end of the trout season. I’ve been busy actually being creative. Pictured above are screenprint cards drying in my “office”.

In college, I discovered printmaking. I used to scan my sketches and make silkscreen prints from them. Years later, I’ve come back to it. My company asked to employees to participate in a “Craft Fair” and I decided that I needed a deadline to get myself working on artistic endeavors. So I signed up.

Boy, did I ever underestimate the time I needed! Plus, I planned on using my Print Gocco, but the bulbs were nowhere to be found for sale. So I decided to use the StencilPro system. Works well and is almost exactly what I did in college!

I made four different designs and sold half of what I made at the sale. It was really fun and I was pleased with the results.

Two “everyday” bug designs and two Halloween design are now available in my brand-new Esty store. Which gave me my first ever listing on a blog (thank you Jennifer)! So overall, it was a good start. I’m working on holiday designs now, hopefully they’ll be in production soon.

A nice Wisconsin brown, caught on a dry fly.

Chef lands a beautiful brookie.

See you in the spring, Wisconsin!

Flies: Para Wulff, Copper John, Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear

On Sunday morning Chef wasn’t feeling well and, after discussion with the medical professionals in our family, decided to take him to the hospital. Luckily, we were familiar with the area and knew the closest town with hospital potential.

As you may be able to guess, Chef was sick and had his appendix removed that morning. Which meant no fishing! And unfortunately, no fishing for several weeks.

And yes, he’s fine and recovering well. And yes, I got a bit of knitting done while he recuperated.

Those are amethyst beads.

Lovely yarn from Miss Babs that I picked up at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival.

Once the gifts have been received, I’ll post more photos.

Prepare for more fishing trip posts! We’re about on embark on our fall fishing tour, so I’ll be back to my regular fish updates. The Wisconsin fishing season closes on October 1st, so we have to get our fishing fix now! Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can camp all the way through September.

In the summer, I usually get to have some fishing time with my friend Jim. THis year Chef was there and our friend Brad was able to come too. Here are my three favorite fishing buddies after fishing but before the rainstorm: Brad, Jim and Chef…

Due to a succession nasty thunderstorms, the rivers were high and less friendly than usual. Last year there was almost no water, so it’s never perfect!

Besides fishing, we watched the Olympics and just goofed off. I wish we could’ve stayed longer.

Flies: Elk Hair Caddis, Prince John nymph

Now that we knew what to expect, Chef and I headed back up to Sauk City to float the Wisconsin River again. It was less hot, we didn’t fish every spot, we caught fish.

Chef found a pocket of feeding smallmouth and caught one after another. It was quite a sight.

Chef has also been making his own bass poppers, based on Bob Clouser’s design. They worked like a charm.

Flies: Shenck’s White Streamer, Clouser Minnow, Clouser Popper

It was hot, it was far, I caught no fish. I did see some pike, however, which scared me enough to take my feet out of the water for a while! I couldn’t get one to take my fly… although I have no idea what I’d have done if I caught one

Flies: Clouser Minnow, Shenck’s White Streamer, Muddler Minnow, Poppers