Finally finished the garage

I cleaned and organized most of the garage about 3 weeks ago in anticipation of Dad's arrival 

and the firing up of Johansen Cabinetry.  

What I had not finished, was the putzy work of clearing and organizing the work bench, but today that job got done.  

My original plan was to work on a woodworking project today, 

but this clean up just had to be done before that could happen.

 Between my many tools and gadgets & Dad's tools, we have a LOT of stuff!

But at least now I can see the work bench and do a project there if I want to.

Now I can start planning my building project.

lll

In the garage mess, I came across a nice sign that the folks used to hang when they were park hosts in 

Charlton, Arkansas

It seemed a shame to have it just gathering (saw)dust. 

Now it is part of the decor on my back deck.

I think they will be tickled when they see it there.

Memorial Day 2012

A quiet day in Rice Lake for me.

I heard the 3 gun rally salute at the cemetery this morning but did not actually attend any programs.

Rice Lake has a traveling memorial that is moved around and I took a quick picture of it on Sunday.

Just in time for summer, my petunias are really blooming now.

Facebook is a fun place to keep up with friends and to catch up on news and to hop on a soapbox if you please.
This Memorial Day weekend the pages were filled with memorials to our soldiers and there families.
As it should be.

A Common or a Question Mark

What the heck does that title even mean?

Now that I am starting to get better acquainted with our birds in Northern Wisconsin, my friend Kathy is encouraging me to look at the butterflys.

I have been noticing quite a few butterflys in my yard this year, are there more? or am I just noticing?  Hard to say.

This beauty was lounging around the front of the house this afternoon.

 I believe he is a Question Mark butterfly, however, it could also be an Easter Common butterfly.

Kathy will have to help me decide which species this guy is.

....

I worked in the yard all afternoon today.

I continue to work on planting around the sewer vent caps in an effort to camouflage those pipes.

These little flower beds will have some small bushes and also perennial flowers.
My lawn mowers will just love these.

My back deck is a bloom with Supertunias that the local greenhouse talked me into.

I guess I am ready for summer now.
And as part of summer, this morning when I went to open the umbrella on the front deck,
this little guy scared me.

I watched him inch down the umbrella towards the edge over the course of an hour.
Finally, I went out with an ice cream bucket to help him make his escape.
Of course, when I got close, he leaped right at me, and once again, my heart got a jolt of adrenaline!
....
One other project that I started today, was to add a railing along my steps to the garden.
I got the post holders driven in, which was pretty easy work after all the rain, now I have to add one more post and some fashion of a railing.

I may need a consult from some of my carpenter relatives on the rest of this project.
....
Summer it is.

This is my favorite time of year

Sitting on the back deck the other day, 

I could not help but notice how pretty the maple tree leaves are right now.  

Once the leaves are fully out, my yard becomes a private hide away, 

and I like it.

*******

I have not posted any photos of the cat roommates for a bit.

Hops struck this nice pose just for you.

Menomonie Fast Pitch

On Tuesday, I went to Casper Park in Chippewa Falls to see Jordyn play softball.

She started the first game as the pitcher.

Winding up

The wind up

The circle

 The release

At the plate

Got caught off base

Got back, but it was close

Smiling...she knew it was close

 It was a sunny, breezy day for softball.

Other fans there were Glenn and Kathy, Krista, Mark, Payton, Breanna, Linsey & Vinny, Andy and Alyxis, & Mark's Uncle Red.

 It isn't easy for a two year old to keep his head in the game.  Especially a double header.

Vinny and Great Uncle Andy 'mixin' it up'

 Vinny decided listening to some tunes would be a good break from the game. 

Vinny's Mom, Linsey, helping him pick out some good music. 

 Fun day, but two losses to Chippewa Falls.

Bears Win

I have taken down my feeders but somehow I did not think about moving the big metal trash cans of bird seed that were sitting on the deck.  Duh.  So, last night at 3am I heard a crash and when I looked out the window to the front deck, there was the bear.  He had tipped the big can over, the lid was off and he was about to have a major buffet.  Fortunately, he strolled off when I turned on the light.  So, now the bird seeds cans are in the house.  Geesh.

I was thinking that Mr. Bear would be on the trail cam this morning, but when I downloaded the pictures, I only saw him just as he came out of the woods, and it was not a clear shot.  

But, these two pictures taken at about 7:30am were much more interesting.

In 4 years of living in this house, I have only seen 3 deer.

One in person and one other on the trail cam.

It has been surprising to me that I have not had more deer in my yard.

Slipper

Today I went to Luck to drop off a gift for Ivan, he was busy at the doctor's office, but I got to have a visit with Lois.  Then I headed to Siren to drop off 3 very old Rosenow wooden dining room chairs at the repair/refinisher.

From there I headed to Gordon to check on the cabin.
Everything was fine at the Sandcastle and I was happy to see that the Lady Slipper was in bloom.

Last year there was only one bloom so I am hopeful that two blooms means that the plant is spreading.

While I Was At Work

This week I worked for 3 days at Licks Music & Sundries on Main Street in Rice Lake, WI.  I take my piano lessons there and made a barter with the owners to mind the store for them for a few days in exchange for some lessons.  It was a fun job.  Scooping ice cream and selling guitar strings and other supplies but mostly visiting with the customers.  When there were not customers, I was able to practice piano, and since the shop is not too busy, I got several hours of practice.  

It gets pretty quiet on main street Rice Lake on Saturday afternoon.

Now I am retired again, and I like that better.

Today I thought I would check the back yard trail cam and see who had been around.

Much to my surprise, I see that I had visitors during the day on Friday, and again during the night last night.

Really? In the middle of the day?

I am not pleased to see this daytime activity.

He doesn't look like a real big bear, but seriously, a bear is a bear.

These guys come every night.  He is pretty good at climbing I guess

Little criminal activity in the backyard.

 So, for now I am taking the bird feeders in at night.

I suppose I should consider stopping all feeding until this bear finds a new buffet.

Wisconsin Fury

I think I mentioned that Jack was invited to join a traveling basketball team this summer.  The Wisconsin Fury website had posted the following photos.

http://www.wisconsinfury.com/home.html

Happy Bearthday

Today is the birthday of my nephew (and godson).  

Kris is 35 today, he was born just one week after I started working at Coors. 

Happy Birthday Kris!

In honor of his birthday, it looks like there was a party in the backyard last night.

I woke up to feeders tipped over.

Dad and I built these heavy duty stands last summer.

As we planned, the stands were undamaged and I just had to set them upright to fix the problem.

Out design was good.

And I found these pictures on the trail cam.

Busy bears

People who think these black bears are like big teddy bears should check out  how gnarly there coats are.
This guy stood right in front of the camera to do his work of tipping the feeder.
Ewww.

It is always something...

Menomonie Fast Pitch Girl's Softball Rocks

Tonight I went to Wakanda Park in Menomonie to watch Jordyn play fastpitch softball.  I am impressed with the skill of this team and they are having so much fun, which is always important to me.

 I try not to be the totally annoying aunt with a camera (although I sure I am), 

but here are a couple of shots of Jordyn during the game.

Once again, the bleachers were full of Jordyn's fans.

I didn't get photos of everyone, but the list was long.  

Jordyn's Dad, Mark, Mark's Uncle Red.

Jordyn's sisters Breanna, Payton and Linsey and Jordyn's nephew Vincent.

Jordyn's grandparents on both sides.

Jordyn's Aunt Kaija and her kiddoes...Charli, Milli, Wynni and Bryce

Jordyn's Great Aunt Wanda (the annoying one with the camera)

Mommy Lins and Vincent

The Vanasse girls and Bryce

Linsey and Milli

Breanna and Wynii

Kaija and Bryce

Very thirsty Vincent

Vinny and Great Grandma Sharon

Great Grandma Sharon with Vinny

Vinny was really happy to see Great Grandma Sharon

Vinny

Grandma Kathy and Bryce

During the game, Milli was busy doing something on Kaija's cellphone.

She showed me what she was doing and I said, "Oh, you are drawing a picture".

In true Milli form, she corrected me and told me it was a painting.

Here is Milli's original painting.

So, I said to Milli.  "Maybe someday you will be an artist."

Her reply, "Yeah, I am".

She's right of course, as usual, hard to argue with Milli.

This is the same girl who, when she got a new bike with training wheels and her sister got a new bike without training wheels, asked if they aren't really stabilizers?

What can I say, she's right.

BTW, she's 4.