Thumper

So, rabbits do an interesting thing in my yard, I've seen this twice now.

The rabbit scrapes away the grass to get to the mud/dirt below and then lays there all stretched out.

Maybe it has something to do with being cool?  Temperature wise I mean.

In the backyard, stretching out

Inside the ropes for the area I don't want mowed where I planted new trees.

Being cool

Time to research bunny behavior I guess.

Thumper is pretty cool.

Music in the park

Luck has a beautiful gazebo in the triangle park on Park Avenue.  

It was built for the 100 Years of Luck celebration some years ago 

and now is used weekly for a community music gathering.

Last week, Ryan & Camilla's youngest, Milena, 

was part of a String Ensemble that played for the evening.

Milena in the pink dress.

It was a very nice night outdoors and the music was well done.

I was glad to get to hear her in the group and she looked lovely, dressed up as a musician would be in a string ensemble.

 Lois brought grandkids Jens and Ruby with her to the music.

Dad Kyle was there working at the grill and concessions, so Grandma was in charge.

The stringed music didn't captivate these little ones who found fun in being screwballs.

By the way, Jens takes great pleasure in picking out his own outfits.

He's a character.

A nice outing and it is always good to see Luck friends 

and family while enjoying a summer evening.

I only saw a few deer on the way home and all stayed clear of my path, yay.

His little sister

I've been looking at yard art and trying to find something that I thought would fit in to spice up a raised area between the house and garage.  Did I want something antique and rusty? Or something kitschy and fun?  Or what?  I've looked and nothing really caught my eye...until today.

I stopped at Weegman's Garden Center Friday afternoon.  

I needed plant supports for my Foxglove plants that are so lovely, tall and leaning over.

On my way into the Garden Center, I saw this beauty.

She is tall and funky.

Her body is a rock and she rocks!

Click here for a short video.

I think she fits perfectly and the extra of her movement, makes her sweet.

Is she big bird's little sister?

Her name is unknown, but I'll update once I settle on something appropriate.

Those amazing colors

I was sitting down to write a bit about the play last night, and realized that writing about a rainbow of colors on this historic day deserves a nod to the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same sex marriage.  Equal rights, slowly, step by step, the country is changing, finally.

But last night, I enjoyed the coat of many colors on stage.  First, Lora and I met for dinner at The Livery in Eau Claire.  A downtown Eau Claire bar and restaurant that was recommended to me and we enjoyed it.

I knew I liked this place as soon as I saw this sign on the wall.

After dinner, we had tickets for the State Theater to see 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 

as performed by the Chippewa Valley Theater Guild.

I had been lucky enough to get the front row box seats, (the best seats in the house in my opinion).

Oh my goodness, the show was awesome, 

from curtain up to curtain down I could feel myself smiling.

The music by Andrew Lloyd Weber is so much fun, 

and the interpretation by this director made for an amusing and delightful show.

Joseph was portrayed by a high school senior and the Narrator role was sung by the choir teacher from one of the local high schools.  Both were just super talents.

Wow man!  I was blown away.

It was fun going with Lora, who loves theater, and the show really was so well done.

The very best thing I have seen since moving to Rice Lake (with the exception of the Broadway cast & WICKED in the Twin Cities).

Very very fun.

Then the SCOTUS came through with the ACA & Gay Marriage rulings.

It feels like life is pretty good.

Sometimes a smile comes at just the right moment

I have felt like I have been in a kind of a funk for a few weeks now.  

There are times that I think the old traditions of mourning for a year or two were a good thing.  

A close friend said that she remembers how the world went on as if nothing happened when she lost a parent and now I understand that feeling.  So, while I continue my day to day stuff, nothing is really bringing me much joy right now.  I spend quite a bit of time thinking about what I should be doing to find joy.  More than anything, I think time will be the key.  I think it is fine to be sad when I feel sad, and to cry when I feel like crying.  It would be nice if this wasn't such a solitary journey, but then grief is different for each of us, so it must be that way.  When a woman was expected to wear black and mourn for a year or two, she wore a visible reminder to the world that she had lost someone she loved.  No one could pass it over or forget because there was always an obvious visible sign present.  In our current busy life, we move along quickly after a loss, those around us can easily forget as they resume their also busy lives, or they don't know what to say or do and so your loss is not mentioned  If we smile and carry on, it is assumed we are doing fine.  Well, that may or may not be the case of course.  Maybe Father's Day added to my sadness or maybe it is just part of the process of recovering from losing a best friend and great Dad.  One friend said, oh I'm worried about you, it has been 6 months.  Well, I think 6 months is a blink, and while I don't doubt I will feel better some day, 

I'm just not sure when exactly that day will be.

And so, when something comes in the mail that just makes me smile, well, that is a gift for sure.

Anders made a card for me to thank me for staying with him last month.

The Front -   Not sure if this is a chicken or a cardinal.

The Inside - Maybe it is a pig?

It was fun and easy to 'take kar uv' him.

Y

The back - No question here, this is the puke from when Anders upchucked while we were in the milking parlor at the farm..  

This really made me smile.

Thanks Anders!

Early morning snack

I was up at about 6am this morning and decided to open the windows.  As I was walking around the house, I was lucky to see a doe strolling through the backyard.

She was snacking as she strolled.

I saw her nibble on hosta and then nip off the lupine flower spike.  Naughty girl.

At least I was able to snap a photo from the laundry room window.

I suppose she will be back when the day lily buds are a little further along.

I hate to lose my flowers, but I love to see the deer.

So, we share our snacks.

Fishing

Glenn invited me to Big Moon Lake for a day of fishing on the Pontoon boat today.  We haven't spent a day fishing for several years now.  

The weather was iffy but was nice enough to go anyway.

We did lots of fishing, but there was no biting.

This eagle vocalized a couple of times 

otherwise we would never have noticed him keeping watch over the lake.

Later he flew across the lake and then was joined by at least one juvenile.

The juvie was soaring and looked like he was having fun.  

The adult vocalized several times, offering concern or advice?  Who knows.

We have several of these little beauties following us around the lake today.  Landing on our toes, our worms and our coolers.  Such delicate wings.

 A storm started rolling in, so we moved closer to shore, in case we needed a fast get a way.

This is the Lake Cottage from the water.

It's a sweet spot.

 While we were anchored right out in front of the cabin, Glenn had the first, and only, bite of the day.

A little bass that needed a little dental work before it could be released.

 I told Glenn to hold up the fish and stretch it.

Not big enough to be a keeper.

We heard rolling thunder and headed for shore.

A storm rolled across the lake just as we had secured all our items and were safely indoors.

It got nice again, and I sat by the shore for a bit while Glenn cast a few more times, 

he caught a tiny perch.

Then there was bolt of lightening and we bolted for the indoors.

Fishing trip was over and out.

The rain didn't amount to much but the news says there was a tornado like event near Amery.

I guess I'm glad we got off the lake when we did.

The loop

We are refinancing our cabin, so on Tuesday, I took advantage of a baseball game in Baldwin and toted the required paperwork around for signatures.  I started in Luck to visit my newest Great Nephew, August before my appointment at the bank.

Holding baby August was a treat.
I think he will be baby Gussie to me.

Then, on to the bank and a meeting with my private banker, Kyle.  

He had everything ready for me and I headed off on my trek.

I stopped briefly to see all the work Lois has been doing on her landscaping at the new house.

Then I was off to Baldwin.

Jackson waits on the pitch.

No hits in this game, but he had a couple good swings.

Jackson wasn't smiling at me, but I'm glad I caught this.
He has camera avoidance most of the time.

 Little brother Jake had a game too, but at a different field and in a nearby town.

I didn't get to see Jake play this time, but he had his look nailed down.

A spittin' image of his Dad at this age, Jake is super cool.

Once the game was over and I had all the signatures I needed, I continued on my way.

My last stop was at Big Moon Lake to see Glenn.

We watch two loons right in front of his cabin.

One caught a big fish and paddled well out into the lake to keep it away from the other.

But, the camera was in the car.

Home by 9pm and my mission accomplished

 plus I held the newest baby and captured a few baseball moments.

163 miles on the car & Life is pretty dang good most days.

Flyovers

My house is about 5 miles from the Rice Lake Airport, 

so off and on, 

I'm in the flight pattern of their customers.

Today, the Aquafest Parade was scheduled to have a flyover of Airforce planes.  

I heard them going North and then grabbed my camera and got ready for them to come over.  

I was not disappointed.

How sweet!

Inquiring minds

Anders, who is 6, is curious about things going on in his world.

On Sunday night, I was visiting with his Mom and he came in from outdoors carrying a geranium bloom.  He handed it to his Mom.  She thanked him but then told him that it smelled so strong that she wanted him to take it back outside.  She asked me if I could smell it, of course, I couldn't.  But, I took the flower and held it up to my face with my nose buried in the blooms and took a deep smell.  And, I could not smell it.  I vaguely remember what geraniums smell like though.  It's weird to have a memory of a smell but not be able to actually smell the live flower.

It's called Anosmia.   Anosmia (/ænˈɒzmiə/) is the inability to perceive odor or a lack of functioning olfaction.

I've had it for about 30 years now.  It's fairly rare, most of the time it is a trauma related problem, but mine is genetic.  I remember my Mom having the same thing.

So, back to Anders.  I forget that he is a sponge and hears everything we say.

A few minutes after the geranium conversation, 

Anders went in the bedroom and wrote a note to his Mom.

Making it an official note asking Mom to sign it.

Well, I tried to explain it to him, but mostly his take away was that my smeller doesn't work.

He's my little buddy.

Welcome August

This morning, my niece Angela, gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  

It is exciting to hear that she and baby August Kirk Chivers are all doing fine.

I won't see the baby for a few days at least, 

but thanks to social media I have a few photos to share.

Posted by sister Megan on Instagram

Posted by sister Emily on Facebook

Posted by Mom Angela on Facebook

Now you tell me that social media is not an excellent tool for families to keep in touch.

Life is good, another Gussie in the family.

Or Auggie, but my money is on Gussie.

A future blogger?

Maybe Anders will be a blogger when he is older.

He seemed to enjoy keeping this list of what we were doing each day.

1.  Slept in.  Yes, he slept in again, but not quite as long.
2.  Watched Daniel Tiger.  These PBS cartoons have a message and are not bad, but this morning the exact same episodes were shown as the day before.  Those little tunes can start to grate in your brain.
3.  Breakfast.  Another morning of cold cereal, that is normally what I eat every morning too.
4.  Finished car.  Anders painted the car on Monday and then let it dry overnight.  On Tuesday morning, he put all the stickers on the car.  It turned out pretty good.

Anders with his finished race car.

5.  Ate pizza.  Yes, we did go to Godfather's Pizza in Winona for lunch.  First, we picked up Dale Rothering, I call him Uncle Dale as he is the uncle of my Rosenow friends.  Dale is going to be 91 and is a very nice man.  He lives at the Watkins Manor Senior Living Center in Winona.  We had a nice lunch and Anders really liked the cinnamon roll pizza for dessert.
6.  We went to the farm.  The three of us took a drive to Waumandee to visit John and Nettie at Roseholm Farms.

One of the baby horses and her mom and Nettie

Getting some bug spray

Walking with Mom

Anders really liked this glider.  It's an old one & John replaced the wood.
The frame is steel from an old windmill.

Pepin, John & Dale talking it over.

Uncle Dale and nephew John

Another baby horse.  

This baby had some trouble standing at first, but how it kicks up its heels just fine.

Pepin, John, Anders, Dale and Nettie and the horses

This is the hay bunker.  Interesting how farming has changed.

In the maternity shed we saw a calf that had been born that morning.  Pepin was interested.

Uncle Dale and Anders in the milking parlor.
Anders was still feeling okay here.

 7.  I puked.  The smell in the milking parlor is a combination of chemicals and manure and cows.  We stood in here a little too long.  Anders got fidgety and then puked 3 times.  It was an easy clean up with the hose, but it was upsetting for Anders.  We quickly went outside and got some fresh air, and in no time, he was feeling much better.

This one was done milking and waiting for the release.

This big girl was giving us the eye.

One of Anders favorites at the farm, the calves.

But he kept his eye on the calf, just to be sure.

Dale enjoyed getting a look at the farm and hearing about changes John has made.

Cell phones are part of farming of course.
Pepin doesn't want to be too far from his Dad.

Anders walked all around the calf pens and counted them.
52 plus the one in the maternity shed, for a total of 53.

 Dale and John took a drive to see some more of the farm.  Anders and I relaxed while enjoying Nettie's pretty flower beds.  Nettie showed Anders the inside of a bleeding heart, how complex it is and is still shaped like a heart.

Examining the bleeding heart.

There were kittens everywhere.  Some were very young, and some a little older with open eyes.

There were kittens under that bush and Anders was keeping and eye on them.

 Nettie dug me up a clump of oriental poppies, I hope I can get them to grow in my yard.
7.  We went for ice cream - On the way to take Dale back to Winona, we stopped at the Waumandee IGA store and had an ice cream cone.  We sat on the bench out front and ate our ice cream.

8.  Went to T-ball- This time T-ball practice was at the field near the marina.  It was a pretty spot to sit and watch the kids.  I had a nice visit with Claire, we read a couple of books.  Claire is the younger sister of Anders' best friend Will.

Anders in the blaze orange shorts, he is a fast runner.

I could see the bluff from my lawn chair.

Getting ready to field the ball.

9.  Went home - At home, Dad was mowing the grass.  Anders and I hung out watching him while supper was cooking.  It was breezy and I said, "next time I'll bring a baseball cap", Anders went and found me a cap to wear, so we took a selfie.

Sitting on the front steps

It was a great visit.  On Wednesday, Anders and I drove to Grantsburg so he can spend a few days with his Grandpa Larry and Grandma Lulu.  We stopped for lunch in Baldwin on the way.

Anders is a quiet car rider.  He likes to have the radio on and I could hear him singing or humming, but he didn't have too much to say.  At lunch, he liked seeing the toy in his Happy Meal, but didn't really have too much to talk about.

I delivered him to Grandpa Larry and I headed for home.  

It was a full day of driving and I was happy to be back to Home Sweet Home.

Life is Good.