“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost
Showing posts with label end of summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label end of summer. Show all posts

Saturday, September 5, 2020

A New Season

A New Season is almost upon us.  Autumn will be here soon and the last days of summer are being enjoyed and treasured. They'll be locked away in our memories and brought back mid-winter to revel in again. 


Last year many things were left undone as both myself and my husband had health issues. It was very difficult getting the normal summer projects finished so this year we are playing catch up. We've had time at home to work at our own pace. I won't dwell on our health problems but if you weren't aware my husband had two eye surgeries to help with his Grave's disease.  I had a hole in my retina and had laser surgery on one eye.  Needless to say these were set backs for both of us.  We were looking forward to a nicer year that we could get out and enjoy things we'd missed out on last year.  Covid had other plans. So far we have avoided it by being extremely careful when we go out, (which we do rarely).


 One thing I've noticed is the many birds we've had this year. Just last week these little guys were flying all over the place. Not sure what type of bird this is but it's sure cute!  The flowers were let go last year and this year they have co-mingled in a wild and crazy way. The Phlox, wild Boneset (Eupatorium),and the Chelone (Turtlehead), Virginia Creeper and Hosta have all mixed in with the Zigzag Goldenrod. 





I love the gardens though. They are not manicured and maybe a bit wild but I appreciate how nature sometimes just takes control and goes on. Nature finds a path forward no matter what.  It's a good lesson for us to understand during these wild and unpredictable times. 

Autumn, a new season, I'm looking forward to it. 

How about you?


 






Saturday, September 7, 2019

Where Did Summer Go?


We had a long cold winter, a super short spring and summer was spent taking care of our sweet departed Dot and dealing with our own health issues. Not much time for enjoying the summer and now that things are getting more back to normal, it's pretty much over! I really didn't spend much time taking care of our garden so it's an overgrown jungle!

Here are a few images I've captured though. Hope you enjoy them as we move towards Autumn!


One of the last photos of Dot, she had to wear this surgical suit because her wounds never did heal after her cancer biopsies.  She didn't like the suit but tolerated it for the most part.  Her last day in the garden we removed her suit so that she could enjoy the sun on her fur and she loved being able to walk around free for awhile. I still miss her so much!





Guy relaxing after I played "thing on a string and kick the tennis ball" with him. He's adjusting to being the only cat in the house now.  He demands hugs and time on my lap each day!




 Someone left a feather on the hosta leaf!


One of my Instagram friends bought these spools the day I listed them. I haven't spent much time working on my Etsy shop lately.  It's hard to get back in the swing of things.


 These are my current favorite day lilies, they're done 
blooming now but I love the curvy petals!





 The fragrant white hosta and the yellow zig zag golden rod 
are a cheerful end to the summer garden.

I hope you all enjoyed your summer. I'm wishing for a long Autumn 
with crisp mornings 
and warm sunny afternoons! 

🌻🍁🍂~ Diane ~🍂🍁🌻




Friday, September 8, 2017

A Look Back at the MN State Fair

Hey Our Minnesota State Fair has a gopher for a mascot ......
With his striped jacket and his jaunty straw hat, Fairchild the gopher is a bouncy, furry representative of the Minnesota State Fair. He became the Fair's official mascot in 1966, which means he's celebrating his 51st birthday at this year's Great Minnesota Get-Together. I had no idea until this year that he had a name.


Fairchild back in the early years with red stripes. Sometime they changed the stripes to green...? No clue why.

Did you ever see the play or movie "State Fair", maybe the lyrics below will jog your memory....

State Fair
Our State Fair is a great state fair
Don't Miss it don't even be late
(our state fair is great)
It's dollars to doughnuts at our state fair
It's the best state fair in the state
-chants-
OUR STATE FAIR IS A GREAT STATE FAIR IS A GREAT IS A GREAT IS A GREAT STATE FAIR HEY!!
Source 







Seriously though, our state fair IS A GREAT STATE FAIR! We got there bright and early and visited the animal barns. It had been a few years since we'd done that. It was fun but always a bit smelly! I didn't take that many photos as we were in and out pretty quickly.







Had to get a picture of this adorable bunny though!






The  poultry were fabulous and very noisy! We also checked out the sheep and horse barns. Then we needed some refreshment, fresh squeezed lemonade!!




Next we checked out the Creative Arts building for all the prize winning entries. The food was gorgeous! Arranged by type and even color. Cakes and more cakes, and muffins, cookies, breads, pies, jam, and oils.. wow!

























I love how the preserves and oils and vinegars were back-lit so they shown like jewels!


After all this marching around I needed a pick-me-up.  The maple creme nitro coffee did the trick.  You notice it was half gone before I thought of taking a picture!!




Then we had lunch, Tipsy Pies! We ordered two and my husband and I split them. We loved the Boozy Blueberry Lemon and the Onion Gouda! No pictures, we tore into those and well it just wasn't pretty, but it was delicious!!

After we listened to free music in one of the many park/stage venues we were ready to venture back into the Creative Arts building for more cool stuff!!





The button dress amazed me.  I can't imagine sewing all those on, and oh my I bet that it's heavy!



This is adorable, a hand crocheted tea set! It folds up into a tote bag! Maybe for your picnic tea party!



There were many beautiful quilts and of course lots of cute stuff like the crocheted animals below!




Well that's it folks! Thanks for joining me at our state fair!



The pretty dahlia above is in my garden right now. We still have a beautiful month of flowers ahead before the leaves all fall. Hope you have had a wonderful summer.

I'll be around to visit soon! ~~ Diane

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Once More Round the Lake

We had family visiting from another state over the Labor Day holiday and we had to get them out to the premier lake in the Twin-Cities area. Luckily the rain and high humidity departed and we were blessed with a fantastic Labor Day tour of beautiful Lake Minnetonka.




Lake Minnetonka is the 10th largest lake in Minnesota; it has over 14,000 acres of water (approximately 22 square miles) with more than 100 miles of shoreline.  The maximum depth of the lake is 113 feet. Lake Minnetonka is also the most heavily-used lake in Minnesota. (source)





Since my relatives are land-lubbers, we decided on the safe and smooth ride aboard the lovely and very vintage Steamboat Minnehaha. In the early 1900's the Steamboat Minnehaha was created as an extension of the Twin Cities' streetcar system.


 The Steamboat Minnehaha on Lake Minnetonka, MN.:
 source

It all came to an end with the rise in popularity of automobiles and the steamboat was scuttled in 1926.  For five decades, the Minnehaha lay at the bottom of lake Minnetonka.

That changed, however, in 1980, when a salvage team discovered her and raised her back to the surface.  Finally, after a complete restoration, the Minnehaha returned to passenger service in 1996 and has operated on Lake Minnetonka every season since.


Watching the Minnehaha come into dock from a previous tour. 







 Waiting to board....




 I have the window seat and can't wait to get going!






 We are just leaving the dock and heading out of the bay into the main lake.



The lake was not nearly as crowded as in the warmer days of summer, but there were still many people out enjoying the beautiful day.  We saw several groups of sailboats and kayaks like the ones in the photos above.



This dad had his daughter out on the paddleboard and was keeping
 a close eye on us!






 An actual steam engine still runs in the belly of the Steamboat Minnehaha.









Here are just a few of the more modest homes on Lake Minnetonka. These are the ones I would choose to live in if I had a full-time housekeeper, gardener and maintenance crew!

Some historic mansions remain on the lake, but are more secluded and mostly hidden from the prying eyes of tourists.  A few include prominent estates once owned by the first families of Minnesota, such as the Pillsburys (as in the Pillsbury Doughboy), the Daytons (Daytons Department Stores and founder of Target stores) and the Bells (General Mills). Most of the larger homes now are owned by professional athletes and insurance company CEO's.

The former Pillsbury house may still be for sale, I found this info on a real-estate site. It's been reduced to $24 million. Here's a photo from the site.....

Former Pillsbury House – $24,000,000 | Pricey Pads:


 source




I much prefer these "smaller" homes!









Our tour took us around the "Big Island" and then back into the bay.  It was a pleasurable hour-long cruise around the lake.









The Steamboat Minnehaha is a floating museum and a real treasure to the city of Excelsior on the bay of Lake Minnetonka. 

I hope you enjoyed this little trip with me. We still have a few more weeks of this glorious weather so maybe we'll make it back out to the lake before winter sets in.  I hope you're enjoying this 
beautiful time of year too!

See you soon!
~~ Diane ~~