Progress on storage garage

With the Not so great October weather behind us, November has been a terrific month to work on our outside projects. Both Ellen and I sided the storage garage and finished the soffiting work as well. All that remains is the peak which will contain shakes, that will be put up sometime at end of month. We still have to stain and paint most of unit.

Progress to garage project

With the help of Tom and Nona last Aug, the outdoor grill had been moved to the neighbor and the grounds have been leveled.



The cement has been poured for the new garage. The plan is to frame up the walls and roof sometime in Dec. I cant wait to place the truck into the garage.

Last visit of the Swans

The Swans returned for one last feeding frenzy before taking off. I am unsure where they go, assuming south with the geese.

very hungry loon

My Aunt Patty captured photos of this loon on Lake George back in Aug 2008. If you can see from the photos the loon has caught a good size bass....unsure if was able to feed on all at one sitting....I guess I wouldn't mess with a loon...haha

click on images to make them larger. (ignore time stamp on photos, was not set up at time)

Trumpeter Swans land on Stocking Lake

Our truely great regular guests, Tom and Nona had this to say, and to share photos with all of you, enjoy.

Always an adventure at Sleeping Fawn Resort...
The group photo of trumpeter swans on the water was taken along the west side of Stocking Lake (North). As you can see in the photo, they were not stressed by our canoe as we slowed and then turned out to the center of the lake to avoid the family. We continued on our canoe ride around Stocking, our favorite activity on this remarkable lake. Some time after we made the far end, down by Hoosier Beach, and turned for home, we again saw the swan family off in the distance ahead of us. They had crossed to the other side, our home leg, and were swimming near the old beaver lodge below what we call Deer Hill. While they were still a quarter mile or so in front of us, we suddenly heard a horrific racket as the six big swans flapped their wings to take off, and loudly encouraged each other to lift, lift. They were flapping straight for our canoe, sort of walking, running along the surface of the water and slapping the water with their wings while trumpeting like mad! We were quite a distance exactly upwind from them, but Nona had the sense that she better prepare to duck as they seemed to take forever to climb off the water. I grabbed my little one-use camera and hoped for a shot, but the swans were hidden behind Nona who was in the canoe bow. I turned the canoe, ever so slightly, so they could see us... and I could see them. Still, closer and closer, flailing and honking... and they were still just above the surface of the water. Coming right toward us! "Pull up, pull up!" I mouthed to the lead, adult swan. They were clearly not gaining altitude. "What should we do?" Nona whispered back at me. They would be upon us in no time! What could we do? We certainly did not want to scare them off. Seemingly about in our laps... but in a flash as if on cue, the family of four immatures and two adults caught good air and up, up they went. Click! Off toward Lower Bottle Lake. Silence. In our now so small and insignificant canoe, we sat stunned in awe. "What happened here?" We quietly chuckled together with joy for our good fortune to have shared moments with this family of trumpeter swans -- each of us migrating, and hoping for a good life. Always an adventure at Sleeping Fawn Resort.

(click on image to view large size)

foggy Sept morning

Here are a few photos taken Sept 18th during a nice cool morning. This fog didn't break till 1pm.

holiday news letter in case you missed it!

December 2006

Happy Holidays to all our friends

It was another enjoyable year at Sleeping Fawn, even though we experienced the heat wave in mid/late July. It was nice have a warm and sunny season so everyone was able to enjoy the lake - lots of people were out fishing, scoping out wildlife along the shoreline, or just reading a good book. Stocking Lake was very active last season, more than we’ve seen it in the past.

Sleeping Fawn had some new amenities this year. There are more Adirondack chairs for everyone to enjoy campfires and the beach; cabin 4's kitchen was completely redone and updated, including new stove and refrigerator, dining table, sliding glass doors, and cabinets; a couple docks have new boards, bumpers and tie downs; the teeter totter got a facelift; the fish cleaning house got a much needed remodel; there has been significant progress on the rock wall along cabin 4. Many friends of the resort helped us make progress on these projects. We want to thank all of you who have helped, Joe couldn’t have gotten this far on his own!

For those of you here last season, you may have noticed that Ellen has been sporting many new hats. The reason for this is because she has been diagnosed with a hair loss condition known as Alopecia Areata. This is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. This disease has no pain nor is it contagious. Although it is awkward for Ellen, she is in good spirits and has been busy shopping for stylish hats. This October, Ellen and her friend Donna went on a bus tour to New York and the surrounding states. They were glad they went, but it was a bit overwhelming. This off season, Ellen continues to drive school bus in the Elk River area, and even claims its her last year of driving. Joe finds that hard to believe. We will see...

Joe took a break from the resort in October, also. He and his friend Chris took a road trip to Colorado. They toured the area around Boulder, the Rocky Mountains, and Estes Park. They both want to go back, its such a beautiful area. In Joe’s off season, he is a recreational employee at Wonewok, the 3M conference center on Mantrap Lake. He also has become a board member for the Park Rapids Chamber of Commerce. This position will help him learn and grow as a business owner. Look for Joe at sportsman and vacation shows as well. He works at the Explore Minnesota and Park Rapids Lakes area tourism booths.

This fall we had a special visit from the original owners of the resort, the Littrell’s. They noticed many changes since they owned the resort in the 1950's. They wrote us a letter with some history of the resort along with a few old pictures. We will have these items for all to view in the office.

Fall has seen the return of some new off season guests - a group of deer have decided it’s a good place to spend the winter. Joe feeds them apples and corn and the deer hang out in the front of the house, near the office. In fact, they are so used to Joe, they stay around when he is outside. They have even taken to looking in the window when its feeding time. There is another spot near cabin 4 where Joe has been trying to get them to eat also. If you stay this winter, you may see them outside the window. We have many pictures of them to share with you next summer!

Our focus for 2007 will include a focus on energy conservation and recycling, and we will continue to enhance the grounds, continue our projects, and expand amenities.

We look forward to another fun filled and relaxing season in 2007. We hope you will have the opportunity to stay or visit.

Thanks again for your continued friendship, we look forward to seeing you soon.

Joe and Ellen


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