“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Spooky


Hello! I'd like you to meet my favorite Scarecrow, Miss Gertrude the Garden Goddess!  She is my favorite creation that I found at our Arboretum.  The place was all decked out with all sorts of spooky things and pumpkins every where!








The pumpkin house was really cute and the kids (big and little) loved it!










These Wizard of Oz scarecrows were just downright weird and alien looking!







The day couldn't have been more perfect!  Gorgeous blue skies, with no clouds in sight. It was really a gift!







I loved this scarecrow too! A Crow Scarecrow!! Amazing!















This had to be the spookiest scarecrow of all!  Wouldn't want to meet him in the dark!






There were Gardener scarecrows........






And there were scarecrows that were just unusual!























Goofy scarecrows......






Ethereal scarecrows......






Even the sculptures got into the act with some pumpkins... sorry I can't remember the name of these gals... Now I'm going to shut up and let you enjoy the photos and the spooky music.  If you don't like a particular selection, just go up to the Soundcloud widget and click on down the selections for something else.


















































































Hope you enjoyed your virtual visit almost as much as I enjoyed my real one!

Happy Halloween to be!!

~~~ Diane ~~~


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Black Cat Awareness Month

 I couldn't let October pass without talking about ...

 
The Black Cat

Humane association workers say black cats still encounter a certain amount of discrimination in the world, and many arrive every year at pet adoption centers because someone didn't want a black cat around the house. Luckily this perception is changing and black cats are now regularly finding good loving homes across America.



 My very own adopted black cat, Guy Noir.











 Guy posing as a black lion, perhaps?






 Stalking...... and that's why he wears a harness, collar and leash!






Black cats have been stereotyped for centuries. The "Halloween" hissing black cat with the familiar arched-back was the standard for those images. However, times are changing and most of the superstitions have fallen away.  Many black cats enjoy their time with a loving family and are no longer considered scarey.









Black cats and dogs are still some of the last animals adopted.  If you find that you are going to be adding a cat or dog to your family in the future, please consider a black one.  Please share any stories you have about your own black cat! 
~~ Diane and Guy ~~

Next time I'll be sharing more photos of autumn leaves and some scarecrows that I saw at my recent visit to our arboretum!



Friday, October 17, 2014

Up North

It was just a month ago that my husband and I decided to take a trip to what is fondly called "Up North" around here.  We drove away on a sunny morning from the Twin Cities and headed towards the city of Duluth.

As we progressed north, the clouds started to build and by the time we entered the overlook and tourist information center just before you head down the hills to Duluth, it was as if the Apocalypse was near. The lady behind the information both was explaining to some other travels that it had been beautiful up to about an hour before our arrival. Well of course it was!!

Looking down at the almost obscured city of Duluth, I was ready to get into the car and turn around! Even my husband, a seasoned traveler and frequent visitor to the area was taken aback! But we persevered!



We arrived in late afternoon and checked into the hotel. Afterward we went out to check out the marina so that my dear one can gaze at the boats and dream of his retirement! The wind was gusting and we were freezing despite wearing gloves and fleece hats and scarves... and after a few minutes we abandoned that little outing. We headed over to a local restaurant and had a wonderful relaxing meal. And planned the next days adventures. 

Duluth is really a lovely little town and I just wish I had some good photos, but it was so dark and gloomy that most didn't turn out well! The photo above shows how choppy the water was, those are hard core sailors in their foul weather gear.





The next day the weather was much calmer and we headed north on what is commonly known as North Shore Drive. Duluth sits on Lake Superior and we took that path north all the way to Grand Marais. One of the first areas we stopped was at Two Harbors, it was pretty chilly so I cheated and took photos out of the car window. We saw a wood figure holding what I think looks like a giant spoon.  I took that as a sign that he had been at Betty's Pies
and was ready for a return trip.


Mountain Ash Tree



Just outside of Two Harbors is Betty's Pies which is famous around here and has an enormous selection of delicious pies. We tried the Lemon Angel pie and the Berry pies. The photo further below is of a slice of raisin sour cream that we ordered and picked up on our way home. Yes, we ordered an entire pie to go. Having pie for breakfast is really nice by the way!









Sour Cream Raisin Pie Oh My!



We also saw the Red Two Harbors Lighthouse! It looked rather spooky with the lighting and the fence surrounding it. As I said it was cold and we had a lot of other stops to make, so this was an out the window photo!









Next we went through the Silver Creek Tunnel. They had to blast through the cliff to make the road. It was quite the sight.  After that we stopped at Gooseberry Falls State park and checked out the trails and waterfalls. No sign of goose berries, but I did find some wild viburnum cranberries. The falls were partially created from a lava flow.  The rock has a high amount of iron, thus the reddish color in the rocks and water.  Northern Minnesota is still a large iron mining area.


























American Viburnum Cranberries




They say the twisted bark and roots are from the 
rushing high water and the winds.













One of the tugboats used to maneuver the large ships that haul iron ore.








We then visited Split Rock Lighthouse State Park and got a few nice photos. It is a retired lighthouse and is no longer in use. It is probably one of the most photographed lighthouses in Minnesota if not in the world.










These are the homes that were built for the three lighthouse keepers and their families.








We passed a home built in the traditional Scandinavian style.
It is called a Stave house.








Still on our mission to visit yet one more stop before arriving at Grand Marais, we drove through the area of Lutsen and stopped in to get some photos of the Lutsen mountains and the ski lifts.  The weather conditions were closing in and the fog was settling on the tops of the mountains.

We headed north again and of course ran into road construction with only one lane part of the time.  It took us twice as long to get to Grand Marais as we thought it would.






I can see Canada from my car.
Well maybe. 
On the horizon we thought we could see Canada only about forty miles away. 
So close but yet so far, maybe some day I will get to visit Canada.



By the time we got through all the road construction is was too late to do much sight seeing. Our first night in Grand Marais we decided to treat ourselves to a gourmet meal.



This was my meal that evening in Grand Marais at the Angry Trout Cafe. The top half of the plate was a locally Smoked Lake Trout and Spinach Fettuccine and the lower half was an incredible salad!  I don't have any photos of the exterior, because it looked like a fishing shack.  I was asking my husband why we were going into this crummy building and he explained that it was the restaurant.  I was shocked when we went inside and it was fabulous! The food top notch!







The sailboat belongs to the North House Folk School.



Lovely flowers in front of the North House Folk School main building. The school teaches courses in traditional northern crafts such as timber framing, wood carving, boat building, outdoor skills, music, painting, photography, fiber arts, clothing, foods, jewelry, story telling, and much more.













We stopped when the clouds thinned a bit to check out this view across Lake Superior.  It's not hard to understand why it is called an inland sea.












The cutest house in Grand Marais! I love everything about this cute little house. The color the simple style, the white picket fence with the lovely flowers all around! They had a huge yard and off to the left you can just make out their little Barn painted in the same colors!









This was on our drive back down towards Duluth. The Temperance River State Park was just starting to show some fall color. We walked through the trails and headed up the steep rock walkway to check out the scene.








The water has driven deep gorges into the rock. We climbed up some fairly steep hills to get to this spot.










The round areas are pot holes that the water has worn through the rock, they are often called 'Devil Pits or Devil Holes'.  I was kind of freaking out a bit because I do not like heights and I even though there was a large rock wall, that is as long as my arms would reach. There was no way I was leaning over the edge!


The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful other than we had to stop back at Betty's pie for our lunch and of course had to pick up our pie to go!

Now that I have had a taste of the Up North experience, I know I would love to go back, maybe in summer when it's not so cold. There will be a return trip someday. 

Here are a few more facts about Lake Superior.   Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes in surface area and volume. Lake Superior could contain all the other Great Lakes plus three more lakes the size of Lake Erie. The lake is 350 miles in length and 160 miles across, average depth is 483 ft, but some areas are as deep as 1,322 ft. 

Next time I'll be sharing some more photos of autumn leaves and some scarecrows that I saw at my recent visit to our arboretum!

See you all soon! ~~ Diane