Happenings in Town

I have not been to the movie theater in town since the fire 11 months ago.  The fire was contained to the sign…no one was hurt.

Late July in 2017

A repair is finally happening.  I wonder who they were insured with?   It sure took long enough. I heard that you can rent the old crying room for private parties…the bathrooms in the movie theater were something else…you enter the bathroom and then had to go up two or three steps to go potty…Far Guy says that the basement of the movie theater was actually deeper than the sewer pipes so the stools had to be raised so you know what would flow down….flowing up wouldn’t work. (Insert smily face. )

Main Street has been fairly busy with tourists…we hardly ever go downtown…I heard that one of the cafes bought out the paint and glass place and they will expand.  I also heard that there is a new venue for large gatherings happening at the old John Deere place…and a old cafe on Main Street has some good Walleye Gumbo.  I have never tasted Walleye Gumbo.  It is rumored to be $9 a cup…tourist pricing. The Ben Franklin Dime Store is still for sale.  There are brand new public bathrooms on Main Street…whatever will the businesses do with their signs that said bathrooms for customers only or “No public restrooms” the new bathrooms are only open until 10 pm after that you will have to find some place else to potty. The Burger King got a whole new facelift..we don’t go there either. There is yet another auto parts store going up in town…that makes three auto parts places on the same block…there is a rumor that there was a really ugly divorce and everytime the former husband puts up a new store his wife puts one across the street…There is also a new dog park in town…just on the outskirts…so much for the big city update.

Wild Roses

The wild roses bloom…

They are over again for another year…doing their best in late spring/early summer.

If you look closely you can see the whole progression of growth…barely a bud, a bud, an opened rose and the spent rose.  Spent sounds better than the dying rose.

Wild roses have a wonderful fragrance that is best enjoyed out of doors.  At the Funeral Home last night the parlor was filled with the scent of roses and other flowers mixed in with lots of perfume. We said Goodbye to my Aunt Delores.  She had her purse and looked like she was well on her way.  My Aunt Judy is very sad, she will miss her older sister, Delores was 82 and Aunt Judy just turned 80. Aunt Judy says “I will see her again someday in heaven, at least we have something to look forward to.” 

Town and Art

Went to town, my eye infection is back again…nope I have not been using eye makeup… I have more antibiotic drops for a number of days. If it isn’t one thing it is another.

Far Guy and Chance went along, Chance had not been for a ride in a few days…he almost refused to go.  I said “Lets go to town Chance!”  He went to the door of the house.  Silly dog.

The Pharmacy had my prescription somplace, they filled it but couldn’t find it… it was filed under C for Connie.  Go figure.  I think they might be confused since their best pharmacist retired.

The park in town got five new sculptures.  I had been wanting to see them in person.  They are works of Northern Minnesota Artists.  They will be sold next May and new ones will take their places.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Sculpture #1

 

I wonder what was supposed to be in the pipe?  No doubt something VERY relaxing. Is this creature male or female?…it has long hair covering up its feet.  I think it is marble…I did not touch it.

Far Guy asked me…What was that green one…a toad?

As far as I can tell this is an unnamed sculpture.  What would you call it?

Wistful Wednesday : Another Goodbye

One by one my Maternal Grandparents immediate family is dwindling.

There are only three children left…my Mother and two of her brothers Al and Kenny.

This is a photo taken in 1961 at the farm where I grew up.  Those sections of boards going horizontal used to mark the walls of the old pantry. When my parents remodeled the house in 1959-1960 the pantry walls were removed and a picture window was added. The drapes were off white with shades of green tropical plants and small pink flowers…wall to wall drapes.  My Mother sewed the drapes.

This is a photo of my grandparents and their children with their spouses in 1961.

from the left the stars ** are living persons

**Madeline and **Jake (my parents)

Marion and Marvin both deceased in 2004

Vivian “Skip” (2007) and Theron (1978) both deceased

Delbert in back (2009) and Delores (2018)  both deceased.  Aunt Delores died last Friday night/Saturday morning in her sleep.

Dennis in back and **Judy  Uncle Dennis is deceased (2015). My Aunt Judy is Delores sister…brothers married sisters.

Esther “Toots” (1996) and Ray (2004) both deceased

Clarence “Butch” in back (1993) and Kay (2017) both deceased

Elsie and Albert my Grandparents both deceased in 1995

**Al (standing behind my Grandparents)  He wasn’t married in 1961.  He did marry **Pat, divorced and now is married to **Donna.

In front is the Twins

Karen she was married to and divorced from **Al Dean  She is deceased (2017).

**Kenneth “Kenny”  married to **Linda.

Two children died before this photo was taken Alfred 1947 in and James in 1948.

I saw my Aunt Delores a few weeks ago.  She asked “Do I know you?” I said “Yes I am Connie” she replied “Of course you are” and gave me a hug. She had been more confused since moving into assisted living this spring. The funeral is later this week. What a blessing to sleep away during the night. No long drawn out hospital stay or convalescing in “the home.”

Patience

Eighteen or nineteen years ago we planted a Japanese Tree Lilac. It was just a twig.  Every year we have waited for blooms.

This year it finally bloomed…I was shocked.  I think it finally got tall enough to get more sun!

These are the tallest blooms.

The trees in town are covered in blooms, of course they get more sun than ours does. We have five blooms….and I am thankful for them.

We have woodcarved and have 63/100 Christmas Ornaments ready to paint. That project takes patience too.  Most days Far Guy sits outside with his music on and carves…the birds really like Bob Dylan songs. One day we turned the music off and then on again to see if the birds stopped singing and started again and yes they like his music.

Trail Cam Report

We have not looked at the trail cam in a number of days.

We had many visitors.

A Fox on June 18

A Racoon on June 22…his name is Ricky.

Chance

June 20 Deer

June 23 Two Fawns… see the other one way to the left next to the Mama deer you can see her tail and legs.

From the camera the Coon visits nightly after 11:30 PM. The Fox was an early morning just before daylight visitor and the Deer are early mornings. The Deer didn’t eat my flowers…yet.  We think they drank the water in the bird bath.

This is only one area of our yard I wonder what is happening in the rest of the yard? 

Grass flowers

Have you ever noticed that grass gets a flower? 

The flowers hang down like tiny ornaments.

Of course you have to count on roadside “ditch grass” to tell this story.  I mowed again on Friday…then yesterday it rained again…so the grass will grow again….it seems that is the story for June…rain..mow..repeat.

Angry Birds

I was on the dock minding my own business.  My other baby brother and she who sees Robins first went fishing.

I walked slowly off the dock.  Two Blackbirds swooped down and scolded me.   I took a few photos as they squawked. They must have a nest close to the dock. They did not like me being on the dock and flew at me several more times…good thing I am not afraid of birds!

What a racket they made.

The female Red Winged Blackbird is quite dowdy next to her pitch black red winged mate.

They didn’t quiet down until I was off the dock.

Lady’s Slippers

The Lady’s Slippers are blooming right on time.  Father’s Day to July 1st is their time.

Along our driveway the Yellow Lady’s Slipper ( Cypripedium parviflorum) is blooming.  There are five blooms this year, most are in the heavy brush/poison ivy.  This one is near the road.  Sadly another plant in that area succumbed to my Poison Ivy Spray.  Sometimes I am a bit agressive with that spray in my attempts to rid of the woods of Poison Ivy…thirty lashes with a wet noodle for me.

This is the second year that our Yellow Slippers over in the wildflower gardens have not bloomed…lots of foliage but no blooms.

The Minnesota State Flower is also in bloom.  Showy Lady’s Slipper or Cypripedium reginae.

These are over on Ashley’s Road.  The clumps there seem to get larger every year.

We are fortunate to live in an area where the Native Wildflowers are found along many of the roads and highways.

Summer

Summer is finally here! 

The Wild Blue Phlox is blooming Phlox divaricata

The first cutting of hay made the air smell sweet.

The corn still has two weeks to be knee high by the 4th of July.

I trimmed around some trees here in the yard…I need to mow again…I almost started mowing but figured a ride around the neighborhood sounded better!   Chance stayed home and guarded the house.  Saw a really nice Doe at Kate’s old place when I went there to take care of some thistle.  Far Guy was at a meeting.

Wistful Wednesday : The Girls

This photo makes me smile.

One sister was holding the other in place.  This was taken in 1979.  Trica would have been seven years old and Jen four years old.  It must have been taken in the Fall, their hair would bleach out in the summer sun.

Peony

My Peony is in bloom.  It resides in the middle of a wild raspberry patch.

I have one dark pink plant and the one next to it is white which is still in bud. The white flower heads are usually so heavy that they bloom and face downward.

I know some people may have peony bushes covered in blooms…me not so much…I am happy with one bloom.

These plants came from Jo a long time ago…I think she got them from Vern.

Iris

The Blue Flag Iris are blooming down at the lake.

Far Guy wants to carve one, it will be his next project.

I took photos of it from all angles for future reference….carving for him and painting for me.

 

This last photo is good to show him the stem and how it escapes from the bud.

We are still working on the Christmas ornaments for this year…31 are awaiting painting now.  Progress is slow but sure. 100 is the goal.

Far Guy wood carves outside every day that he can. 

Happy Father’s Day!

My Dad is 91 going on 92.  He still tends his tomato plants and mows his own lawn.  He works in his garage and likes to do woodworking projects.  He does dishes and helps my mother with house work. We go to Bingo together once a week.  In the winter my other baby brother goes along, it is nice to have company for the drive back home when it is cold and snowy.  When my baby brother is around he often joins us.  If other relatives are around on Bingo night then we will have a full table.

I always call to make sure Dad feels up to going and the answer is almost always “Yes.”  So I pick him up in plenty of time to get us settled at a table, get our cards bought and the special games marked.  He is the oldest Bingo player there.  He likes to sit at a table where he can easily see the monitors and the big board.  We have Bingo friends that will often save our table for us!

Dad and I play one wins we all win. We share all winnings if there are any.

Dad has played Bingo since he was about 14 years old and took cattle to the County Fair and stayed with them on the fairgrounds. Bingo was a nickel to play and you marked the card with corn kernels.  He would win Kewpie Dolls and give them away.

My Dad when he was younger

Far Guy’s Dad has been gone a long time…24 years now.  He died in 1994 when he was 80 years old.

Far Guy’s Dad with the Willys Knight

He liked to play cards and put puzzles together in the winter.  Some of his favorite were Automobiles, Flannel Shirts, Cross Pens, Fried Potatoes, Angie Dickenson in Police Woman, All in the Family and Johnny Carson.  He liked to read the daily paper and always had a road atlas in the magazine rack next to his chair.   He was a fisherman and a hunter.  He adored his three granddaughters.  His favorite color in cars and couches was red.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there!

The lake

Jen our youngest daughter is here for Father’s Day.  We went out for an early supper and to Wally World to get water for the elderly (us)  those water packages are heavy…now we are stocked up again.

We went down to the lake.

Jen took some photos with my camera…she stalked this turtle for a long time.

Chance is happy she is here and keeps leading her to the treat drawer…he knows she is an easy mark. We are happy she is here too!