Summer 2025

 So far,  another really nice summer.  Enough rain and enough sun,  for me at least.  

I'm on my 2nd bucket of strawberries,  feeling the pressure to get this second one eaten up before they go bad.  💪🏼😃🍓

The berries are not as mighty as in other years.  But,  damn, they taste like heaven. 

My gardening has definitely gone full blown jungle  style.  Of course my poorly knee keeps me from spending much time maintaining, or weeding, or any of the other conventional growth control techniques. 

So,  here is a bit of what's growing in Rice Lake yard.

I don't look behind the garage as often as I should.  This Hydrangea is back there showing off like crazy! 

The little Hydrangea by the front door is looking pretty.

I think these purple, Creeping Bellflower, are considered invasive by the DNR.  To remove,  a person has to dig down at least 6 inches and several inches out to get the roots.  They have found a safe haven here.  💜💜💜

The grape vine has made its way too the edge of the roof.  It's that good or bad? TBD

🌱🌱🌱

The Hops are heading for the front door, just like an octupus 🐙 trying to escape an aquarium tank.  I'll have to snip off some of these tendrils, they like to grab me as I walk by. 

As always,  I am pleased with the splash of color provided by the Verbena.

In my opinion,  the perfect plant is Verbena. Blooms all summer,  drought tolerant and the deer do not bother. 

🏠🏘🏡

In other news,  I'll be selling this house as soon as Kyle has an opening in one of his duplexes in Luck.  SIL Lois will be moving into one of the units in August and I am on the list for the next time there is a vacancy.  

I'm looking forward to making this leap.

I'm not expecting that to happen before next year,  but one never knows. so I am slowly purging & planning.  

Mail Woman Change

 I need to post a few photos from Laila's visit a couple of weeks ago,  but first breaking news in my neighborhood. 

Michelle has been my regular mail woman for about 7 years.  She's a hard worker,  always keeps a predictable schedule and keeps an eye out for me.

  One time, when I put a small tote bag on top of my car while packing up, and then I drove off, Michelle noticed it on the street at the end of my driveway.   It was a mind boggling moment when I arrived back home and the bag was propped up against my front door.

Michelle has delivered 1000s of packages to me as I order most of my staples online.  She is always friendly.  

A few years ago I repurposed an old cooler to be used as a parcel locker in an attempt to save Michelle the trouble of climbing the steps.  I'll have to train the new person on that convenience that sits near the garage door.

Best of luck to you Michelle, thanks for your service through rain, snow, heat, fog, sleet, wind, and gloom of night. 

Colorado Blue Spruce

 Last year, about this time, I was concerned as to whether my Colorado Blue Spruce, a tree I had planted in the backyard, was going to survive. I considered offering it up as a large Christmas tree to one of the churches or anyone wanting a very tall tree, thinking the bottom third was dead.

In the fall, I had a tree company come and take down two very large ash trees that were growing between the house and the garage and shading most of the backyard.  At that time, my nephew Kris said that he thought that the other trees in my backyard might enjoy having more sunlight and do better.

Kris was right.The blue spruce that I was so worried about, now is showing new growth on all branches, even the lower ones that I thought were dead.

I hope you can see the new, light green growth.

The biome of my backyard is responding well to the 🌞.

None power

 Power Outage, 

so that means 🚫🚽,🚫🚿, & 🚫📺.  

Yay for 📚 📖 📙 📘!

The power company said that 265 electric meters are affected in this outage.  Probably some of those folks are at work or school, but will soon be returning home to wondering...

hey, why doesn't the garage door opener work?  

What no Wifi? 

How long will the freezer keep the ice cream frozen?  Or should we just eat it now?  

Should I go to Kwiktrip to 💩? 

Why is it soooo quiet in the house? 

 What's for supper?  

Will the power be back in time for Jeopardy?

How many jugs of water do I have and how many do I need for flushing 🚽?

The quiet is remarkable. 

I had a new book sitting here just waiting to be read.  So,  I'm fine; I can wait; but I do ❤️ Jeopardy.

💡⚡️💡⚡️💡

The outage only lasted an hour,  I got to see Final Jeopardy ❤️.  

The house coming alive again was interesting and I got started on my new book. 

An outage does make a person appreciate the convenience of electricity,  it's not all bad. 

The cat didn't really care. 

Easter Sunday

 Kyle and Heather hosted brunch on Easter Sunday and I was included.   The food was yummy and we had a nice visit.  It was a smaller group this year, as Emily was also hosting which meant that The Chivers gang and Lois were at Michael and Emily's.  I enjoyed the smaller group,  we adults sat around the big round table and had a fun visit.  

We took one photo with a few of the kids before they left to play ⛳️  golf or take naps 😴. 

Jack, Uncle Larry, Aunt Lois, Stella
Uncle Harry, Aunt Wanda, Jude

I sat there all afternoon. It was nice. 

From there,  I stopped at a little kiosk on 4th Street and bought a beautiful loaf of carrot cake sour dough bread. I love the opportunity to buy home baked goods like this. 

Then I stopped at Bruce's.  We chatted and had a beer.  I dropped off a bag of books for him to read. 

My ride home was uneventful. A small herd of deer crossed Hwy 48 just out of Cumberland.  I had plenty of time to slow down.  It did make me chuckle a bit that they came out of the woods right next to a sign that was posting for No 🚫 Hunting. 

Several bunnies have been enjoying my back yard. 

Happy Spring.

Handyman Joy

 I have some good luck finding tradesmen, but today, took the cake.   

I needed to have a hole (plumber) in the bathroom wall repaired and found the contact information for The Plaid Handyman, Jim Johnson, on Facebook.  I sent him a photo and asked him if he would take the job. 

We made an appointment for this morning for him to look at what was needed and he showed up with the tools and supplies needed to do the work. 

In short order,  he had fixed the hole and started the process of taping and mudding.  

About supper time,  he came back for a second mudding. 

What a difference.  He will come back next week to texture that area and then I will paint.  I could not be more pleased.  $250 and it is off my list of things to fix. 

I also talked to him about putting a new storm door on my house. He was up for that job too. I'll do that next month. I'm starting a list now.  

I am feeling very lucky. 

And it is done

 We had another good quilt retreat, with old friends and new.  

The lake was very still this morning,  loons & swans were communicating. 

Today, I finished a little runner for Wanda.  Several camps ago,  Sharon had given me a zipper bag of 5 inch squares, with a pattern, Mini Brick Road.  I ran across it when I was packing up to go North, and I tossed it in. The squares didn't look like much until they assembled.  Now,  it's one of my favorite projects ever. 

I finished the quilting and the binding.  I guess I forgot to take a photo.  I still have not mastered the corners on binding.  But, I keep practicing. 

It was a beautiful morning.  The view of the lake from my room is nice and a small herd of deer walked by this morning

Packing up to leave is not the fun part,  but I'm home now and have hauled all my gear into the house. 

The cat is telling me a lot of stories. 

Life is good.