Adios to the day lily

The last of the day lilies are blooming today.  

I'lm sad to see them go, so much color and beauty every day of summer so far.  

But they are done as the tomatoes are ripening, I guess it's a trade off.

***

Mom was born on August 15, 1926.

She would have been 89 today.

Mom passed away in 1990, 25 years ago now, but I still think of her often.

We didn't have the greatest relationship in the last years of her life, and for that I have regret.

But, she was a fun loving woman, who did the best she could.

Driving Miss Emily

Emily, Alyxis, Wanda, Michelle

My great niece, Alyxis, invited her second cousin, Emily, to join her family in Wisconsin Dells for the week.  I offered to help get Emily from Luck to Spring Valley.  Today I went to Luck for lunch & and to help a friend set up his new 'smartphone', and then I drove Emily to Baldwin for the meet-up.

Emily will be a freshman this fall.  She plays volleyball on JV and will suit up (and practices with) the Varsity team.  She played on a traveling team over the summer to build her skills.  Her best friend Hanna is on the same team.  Hanna's parents are close friends with Em's parents and they all are members of the same church.  Emily is a good student, all A's except for a B+ in Math.

It was fun to chat with Em on our drive. She told me she hopes to be an OB nurse someday. She would like to attend Northwestern University in the twin cities.  She has a friend who goes there now, but Emily realizes it is a private school and that makes it pricey tuition.

Emily said she hopes to finish school and then she wants to have a lot of kids, and wants to work nights so she can spend time with her babies.

(I thought it would be good to write in my blog about her plans and then we will check back in a few years.)

We met Michelle and Alyxis in Baldwin and off to the Dells they went, after a quick selfie.

I loved driving Miss Em!

--
Wanda from my iPad

Yes I love sushi

A few months ago a sign went up in a strip mall on the South end of RL announcing Tokyo Japanese Cuisine would be opening soon. I knew this meant sushi and I was delighted. 

Since then, I've been driving by to check on the remodeling progress.  I was impatient.  The closest sushi was in Eau Claire and that's an hour drive.
On Wednesday, I saw on Facebook that the RL Chamber of Commerce had been at a ribbon cutting ceremony.  So,  after piano lessons,  I went to Tokyo for supper. 

☆☆☆☆☆ is my rating!
The decor is classy, the food delicious &fresh, and the presentation rocked! Coors Light was icy cold too.
I will be a regular at this place, my budget for eating out must be adjusted.

Aspargus roll on the left.
Sushi & Sashimi Plate for 1.
Yum!

My life is good.

Bridge

The card game of Bridge has proven to be the catalyst I needed to make many good friends here in Rice Lake.  I think this must be my 3rd or 4th year playing with this group and I enjoy every minute.

Some of the players are only here for part of the year, like Doug and Sherry, who live full time in Arizona, but have roots here in Wisconsin.  They spend a month or two here in the summer and they dropped into the bridge game one Thursday a couple of years ago.  

Since then we have become good buddies, and have managed to stay in touch through the winter by playing on line bridge once a week.  

Now Doug's sister plays with the group all year long too.  

While Doug and Sherry have been here this summer, we started meeting at the coffee shop, $4.06 lattes, but worth every penny.  

We play an on line tournament, and the loser was to buy ice cream at the newly reopened Milk Pail.

Today, was the finale, I was the top score, Doug was next, 

so Sherry & Cheryl had to buy our ice cream.

Free ice cream is the best, and especially with good friends!

Bridge, friends and ice cream...life is good.

Chippewa Falls

The little town of Chippewa Falls is famous to most Wisconsinites because the Leinenkugel's Brewery is located there.  Last weekend, I was in the Chippewa area to watch Gage play baseball.  I'm working on a post about his games.  On Saturday, after his morning game, we had the rest of the day off, I started out trying to drive around Lake Wissota and along my way, I came across what used to be called Northern Colony.

It's pretty hard to understand how humans reacted to mental illness in the past.

This marker lays it on the line.

The grounds are very well maintained and I believe this facility is still in use.

This old bridge, no longer in use, was interesting.

Two butterflies were engaged in play or warfare, not sure which, I tried my best to get a few photos.

Since then, I have discussed with my photo club pals how to get a better picture next time.

This photo let me see it was a Viceroy butterfly vs ?

I couldn't find my way around the lake, so instead I took a stroll around downtown Chippewa.

Chippewa Falls has a series of Historical Markers and I am guessing there is a guide available from the Visitor's Bureau, so I'll have to go back and see more of the history of this town.

So much of Wisconsin's early development was a result of logging, and Chippewa Falls is no exception.

This US Post Office is a remarkable building.

The railing around the roof reminded me of the railing on old bridge from a few postings ago.

Since both were built in the same era, I'm wondering if it was the same designer.

It was hot and humid, so this fountain in the center of town was a welcome sight.

I noticed that Chippewa is part of the Main Street Wisconsin program.

The Main Street Program helps preserve, revitalize and restore Wisconsin's downtowns and historic commercial districts with traditional development strategies.

 Another old building talked about the Philanthropic work by one of these men who made their fortune from logging the north woods of Wisconsin.

It was an interesting visit to Chippewa Falls 

and I'll have to go back to learn more about the history of this town.

Thank you Mother Nature

My car wanted to have its oil changed today,  so I put on my walking shoes, spotted my car off and started my trek.  The first 15 minutes was walking along the street to the entrance to the trail.  

I came across this mailbox, dontcha think this should be my mailbox?

I am working on a 30 day challenge to increase my steps up 10,000 by the end of the 30 days.   Today I was supposed to walk 5,000 steps.

The Red Cedar River runs along the trail, much of the trail had river view.  

It's been a couple of years since I was able to walk on this trail 

and some improvements have been made. 

These white pines are giants and so pretty.

Now there is a nice sitting area with stone benches, and a view of the river. 

The bricks lining the cement pad have names engraved in them, this must have been done by volunteers and fundraising.

  

Further along, a new cedar building, over hanging the river, 

is a very wonderful spot to rest and admire Mother Nature's work.

I'm not sure who funded this addition to the trail, but it is really nice.

I have an app built into my phone that counts my steps whenever it is on,  and another app that will map my path.  I turned on the My Tracks app at the turn around point of my walk today, here is the map it drew for me.

 I could see a few ducks on the river.

I was only carrying my cellphone camera, but you get the idea.

A nice pavilion on the trail, the taggers have been busy, but it's a nice building.

I noticed something interesting alongside the trail, it turned out to be an art installation.

 Common Tansy are in full bloom right now, so much yellow everywhere.

I think I walked about 4 miles from the car place and back.

I got my 10,000 steps today, more than I planned but makes up for not very many on Monday and Tuesday and now I'm back on track on my challenge.

The trail is well used, I met several folks walking, some with dogs, and one young man, riding very fast on a bike, nearly knocked me over...he needs to learn some trail etiquette.

Thank you Mother Nature for a good walk today.

My phone sent me this award as a text message.

How to take a photograph

Nowhere, in anything I have read or learned about photography, is it suggested that you line up your subjects up with the sun squarely on their faces and in their eyes, yet that is just what I did for Kyle and family. 

I'm spending the weekend in Lake Hallie, near Chippewa Falls, WI to watch Gage play baseball and to spend time with Kyle's family.

It's perfect summer weather, and we found a nice place for lunch called The View right on Laker Wissota.

After lunch,  the family went off to find a beach.  I poked around and took a few photos and walked up and down the main street.  And then went back to the motel to cool off.   Fun / crazy to stay in a motel just 30 minutes from home. 

Looking forward to a little happy hour later on. 

Even with the sun, we got one really nice shot.