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

Friday, September 22, 2017

Autumn Breeze

Well I'm trying to turn over a new leaf by posting more than once in a blue moon! I thought that fall would be a good time to try and get back into a rhythm again. Leaves are on my mind of course, because I'm already starting to see them fall from our trees. The other day it was raining and windy and the leaves were falling like crazy. And then things change. 

Zig-Zag Goldenrod and Phlox

The first day of Autumn and our temperatures are scorching! Almost 90 degrees and humid to boot! We've had an unusually warm September and and unusually cool August! It's like the months are switched around, it seems it's been like that all year. Nothing is dependable anymore, just a sign of our times I guess.

There have been terrible storms and other natural disasters across the nations. What have we done to deserve this? Well nothing, it just happens. If you're reading this on a tablet or your phone, you may not see the little message at the top of my blog, it reads....

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life:
It goes on.” 


I've kept this quote up for several months as it seems to fit and it's a good reminder for me whenever I happen to show up on my own blog!



Wild plums


Other things of note:  plums, husbands and cats. 

The wild plums above were picked from our very own plum shrubs in our wild area of the yard next to the lake. Many had been harvested by the deer. They left us enough for a batch of wild plum jam. After it was cooked down, I ended up with about 2 pints of jam. It's pretty tart even with lots of sugar, but I thought of another way to use it that was delicious. Upside down Plum Cake. 

 Upside-down Plum Cake
It's basically the same recipe as you'd use for Pineapple Upside-down cake. What I did was spread about 1/2 cup of my wild plum jam onto the bottom of the pan. I then used about four store bought plums and arranged (dumped) them onto the top of the jam. I then sprinkled on about 1/2 cup of brown sugar and then dotted with a couple of tablespoons of butter. Then I spooned the batter over that. After it came out of the oven all you need is a bit of whipped cream or ice cream if you prefer!


Husband.... too much yard work and hauling trees branches and just doing too much gardening over the weekend brought on a bout of sciatica. He's already better but has a new understanding of what I've been through several times over the years. The pain can really be unbearable. I was there to help him through it and he's almost back to normal, well his normal, which is non-stop doing things!



Guy actually loves his cat carrier...

Cats... well poor Guy has not been feeling well. After 3 times to the vet, I finally think we have this under control. He has Feline Idiopathic Cystitis, also known as Pandora Syndrome. In short he is prone to urinary tract irritations. Not always bladder infection, but similar in feel and effect. So he has been an unhappy boy for awhile. Seems that diets high in dry food cause it to be worse. Mainly because cats don't drink enough water. I've always fed my cats both dry and wet cat food, so this was a shock to me.

Guy just happens to be more sensitive than our other cats were and therefore more prone to this condition. After a few tests, pain medication and new upgraded wet cat food he seems to be getting a bit better.

Guy trying to take a nap...


So it's been a busy couple of weeks. Let's hope the rest of Autumn is normal and easy breezy!

Thanks for taking a moment to read and comment on my blog. 
I'll try and visit yours soon. 
~~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