Yellow

 We saw some Canola fields and a number of Sunflower fields on our travels this week.  I was driving so there are no photos...you will have to imagine the solid intense yellow of the Canola and the pops of yellow color dotting a Sunflower field.  Both made me smile. 

From my archived photos..I have just a few photos of sunflowers! 

Far Guy's Infusion was postponed from morning to afternoon...I picked up the walmart order, fruit from Aldi and went by the Meat Market, bank and pharmacy.  My key fob stopped working at Aldi...yes stuck in the parking lot with no way to get in the car...I took the fob and whacked it against the palm of my hand a couple of times and may have said some kinda not magic words...and it finally worked.  I drove straight to the car dealership and had one of the parts guys replace the battery in the fob.  Usually I get some kind of notice that the fob battery is going bad...not this time.  

We had corn on the cob for supper along with a small burger no bun with cheese on top and a orange to raise Far Guy's potassium.  Far Guy is getting a little bit of an appetite back...progress is slow...but still progress. 

It was a smoky day from the wildfires.  Our high was 75 F or 24C our low was 51F or 11C eh!  We did not sit outdoors. 

Far Side

Travel days

 We will have two travel days this week for medical appointments.  Time in the car with my husband and 50's/60's music isn't all bad.  Maybe we will see deer or bear for excitement. 

Perhaps even a sunflower field!  (Photo from my archives)

Far Side

Warm and Sunny

 It was a warm day on Tuesday.  85 F or 29 C eh.   I slept late...I am still exhausted.  I managed part of a woodcarved Christmas ornament...Far Guy did three.  

We made hotdish for supper...diced potatoes, mixed veggies, hamburger and what makes it a hotdish some kind of soup...we like Cream of Chicken....and melted cheese all over thee top.   Far Guy doesn't really care for it but he indulges me so that I can have some for freezer food.  

I did some laundry and rested.  

The other day we took Tilly to town and took some pictures. 

That is a Dragonfly landing on top of the antenna. 

Far Side

Sunny

 It was a sunny coolish day on Monday.  Perfect Minnesota weather.  76 F or 24 C eh!

I finished watching Purple Hearts which I give a 7 out of 10 and The Age of Adeline which I bestow a 10 out of 10...the best movie I have seen in a long long time.  Makes the Netflix subscription worth it to see a really good movie. 

Far Side 

Just another birthday

 Yes, I am older.  My brothers keep reminding me that I am aging.  Since I am the oldest...I shall always be older than them!

Photo taken last August.

Far Guy asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday...I requested a trip by Dairy Queen and a photo adventure in the country looking for old barns or flowers. 

Far Side

Happy Fields and Closet Cleaning

 We got some rain again as a storm moved through early Tuesday morning.  1/2 inch of rain...at this point it all helps...although the fires in Northern Minnesota are still burning. 

The sunny happy flowers are now heavy with seeds.   When they are in bloom I call them happy fields.

It seems they were happy fields for a very short time this year.

Yesterday I found time to rummage through my half of the closet. 

 Boo hoo I threw two very worn shirts away...the elbows had holes...two of my fav shirts too...well worn. (I have several more that will go soon...threadbare things that are comfy and hard to part with, after all I still need my lawn mowing shirt who cares what I look like on the lawn mower...it is not exactly a fashionista activity)  I am keeping a sweater that  hangs near the front door... it has holes too...but washes like a dream...everyone gives me a bad time about that sweater...I have to keep one eye on it as several people have said it should be thrown away. 

 I made some decisions and will donate a few things that have been hanging in my closet and not worn recently...they have no holes.  I will drop them off today.  Nice to have a bit of room in the closet again. All the hangers are facing the right way...all the shirts are lined up in colors....and face the same way.   Don't laugh ...it was something I could control.

Far Side

Perspective

 Sometimes you have the opportunity to photograph a sunflower field....and they are all facing the wrong way...your only way into the field with permission from the farmerlady...any other way into the field would involve parking on the shoulder of the 60 mph highway and walking through a ditch...no thanks...

Sometimes we just have to make do and look at things differently. 

The back of a sunflower is pretty in its own way.

A side view isn't half bad either. 

Yes I could have walked into the field...but there were probably bees and I did not want to break any of the stalks...I walked along the edge...and then ran into a huge area of Poison Ivy...Sunflowers from a different perspective would have to be enough for the day. 

The Sunflower field still made me smile!

Far Side

More yellow and a little green

On the way into town to pick up my Dad for our Bingo date I stopped by the sunflower field.

What fun to photograph such beautiful blooms.  I like this field ...there is a safe spot to pull off the highway.

I have to bee careful on account of the bees and my epi pen was at home.  The bees were more intent on the blooms than me...good thing.

Oh and the green.
Well we had an uneventful night at Bingo until the last game.   The big one... Blackout for 1,000 dollars.   Yes I Bingoed but so did two other people so we had to spit the loot and I split again with my Dad cause we always play one wins we all win.  So Dad and I  went home 130 dollars ahead and had a free night at bingo. ( Bingo cards are 30 dollars for the evening.  We play double packs and then buy 7 extra cards for Blackout.)  My Dad really enjoys Bingo.  When I called at 4 PM to check on them and make sure Dad was feeling okay and wanted to go to Bingo...Mom said "He already has his shoes on and is waiting for you."

Far Side

Happy Place

I have a happy place. It is a place where I have my camera and some time on my hands.

I was thrilled to see this field in sunflower rotation again.

Getting ready for the big show!

Bees in flight!

Another car drove by and parked.  A lovely young woman asked me to take her photo in the field…she had to show me how to work her camera phone…as you recall I don’t do phones.

She appreciated the sunflower field as much as I did.  We chatted away for a while.  She is a Senior with one semester left at UND.  She has a phone in her camera but she and her Mom are Nikon people…she also takes photos with film.  Her name was Rebecca.  I told her about our Grandson Noah attending UND and moving into an apartment almost on campus.  She said she wished she had lived closer to campus and that she should have attended all the events that are set up the first week of school for students to make friends and get aquainted.  She was excited about finishing her last semester and then going to the UK.  She was in her happy place too!

Some of the heads are beginning to point downward under the weight of the seeds forming.

So I got to be in a happy place for a little while and meet someone who enjoys photography as much as I do.

Never can tell who you will meet out standing in a field.

Sunny Disposition

Nothing better than a trip to a sunflower field to find the sunny disposition that the events of the day took away.

A letter came in the mail.  Tricare doesn’t care if I am allergic to yellow dye and will not cover my Blood Pressure medication that doesn’t have yellow dye…they quote some FDA guidelines… government gobbly goup that you have to be a lawyer to read.  Pissed me off.

Off to town to do errand.  The witch is still there, guess she is going to have a permanent spot near the Wally World door…I must remember to use the other entrance from now on.  She was texting something or playing a game on her phone when I came in.  She has a service dog.  She used to come to wood carving a few years ago…she was mean to her dog then and is still mean to him now.  A few weeks ago Far Guy and I witnessed her hollering at the poor dog outside the Post Office.  Today he was laying in a heap on a dirty old too small dog bed with really sad eyes.  Yes using the other door for a while is a good idea…I don’t think she will last long as she is about as friendly as a starving Grizzly Bear.

Blue hair…all shades of blue on one head.  She was the only checker without a line at the grocery store.  She looked like a big old blueberry puked on her head.  I am certain that the blue hair was off putting to more customers than me…Far Guy is a better person than me…he tried to visit with her…well kinda he was asking about her blue hair.  I just busied myself with packing up my groceries and saving my bread from the hands of those that wanted to squish it in a bag.

Home to have a quick nap and then off to the sunflower field…at least the day ended on a positive note.

Thursday’s Tidbits

Look ma no cavities!  Our Dentist visit was a success…cross something off the list. Nice to have that visit behind us before the snow flies.  Far Guy visited the bakery for some flat bread and a date filled cookie for Chance, most times Chance rides along but it was too warm. Chance knows the way to the bakery and which case his cookie is in.  You should see his nose go into overdrive as soon as we go inside.

We saw this deer down in a swamp along the way.

Pretty little tick hauler.

For now the ticks have slowed way down, it gets too hot for them, they will resurface when it gets cooler.

I found several Sunflower Fields…I am always on the lookout for them, they have just begun to bloom.

We are wood carving every afternoon.  We had so many wood chips on the patio it looked like a beaver lived here.  Far Guy got out the leaf blower and blew them away.

It is still warmish and humid here…highs in the high 80’s but it is supposed to cool off to the 70’s starting today!

I cleaned off my desk so I could give it a good dusting and piece by piece part by part I put stuff away where it really goes.  Far Guy said it was strange to see the top of the desk.  Of course it was all my stuff…our stuff doesn’t count…his stuff is always put away properly!

The skeeters are still bad, but we had a dragonfly hatch that has helped a tiny bit. When I was little I didn’t know what they were called so I just called them helicopters.

The one bat we have should be a fat little thing. Far Guy sees him/her flying through the yard just at dusk. I haven’t seen the bat yet but I used to love watching them fly out at night when we lived at the resort.

What a difference

two months makes…well two months and ten days so technically seventy days if you are counting.

Brown… all shades of brownness…colder weather…seed heads hang heavy…wind rustles through the leaves that used to catch the sun….crispy.

Almost the same spot I stood last August…delighted.

Delighted in cheerful yellow blooms.

Thank you sunflower farmer whoever you are.

Fields of Sunshine

Thank you Mr./Mrs. Farmer for planting sunflowers for me to enjoy… and everyone else that passes by.

Far Guy wanted to run an errand in town, it was partly sunny…could we stop by the sunflower field?  The answer was yes…what fun!  Chance and I waited together in the car whilst Far Guy ordered the cake for his Class Reunion and talked with Jackie about the posters that they will put up on Main Street. ( They are the class babysitters.) After a quick stop at the Post Office we were on our way home and stopped at the Sunflower Field.

If I were a farmer I would only plant Sunflowers and Flax…that’s it..only the real pretty crops.  The crops that make you smile!

The bees were busy.

Some of the heads  are starting to turn downward already.   One sunflower head can have between 1,000 and 2,000 seeds.  They turn downward naturally to avoid raindrops damaging the seeds with moisture and it also makes it more difficult for birds to eat the seeds.

There are many flowers yet to open..some are still following the sun…heliotropism…that is when sunflower buds (before the yellow ray flowers appear) follow the sun and return to the east before dawn to await the morning sun.  Following the sun makes them grow faster and keeps them cozy warm.  When the ray flowers appear(the bright yellow ones)they stop moving and  get down to the business of making seeds….and they all face east.

I hope the photos made you smile, I know I will enjoy them next winter when it is whatever below zero.

Get Together

We headed up north.

We passed a beautiful sunflower field on the way.

Crop report; the fields all look pretty good, the grain is almost ready to harvest.  The beans and sugar beets all look great and the corn is making cobs and kernels.

I gave all of Jen’s new plantings the once over…they look pretty good.  She is not pleased with one of her gardens…the one I suggested that she plant Coleus in.  She is right…they are not doing well.  Coleus do not like that spot it must be too warm in the late afternoon. 

Only a couple of the plants are doing reasonably well.    She likes her gardens full and lush and the Coleus garden is not meeting her expectations.  She says she is just going to plant Hydrangeas there next year.  They are replacing all the windows and getting new siding..so I imagine all her flowers near the house will suffer a bit.

Jen hosted a birthday party for her husband Andy, he turns 40 this week.  Supper was a BBQ beef brisket, some of the best potato salad this side of the Rockies, Texas caviar, vegetables, dips, chips and birthday cupcakes.  We left before the singin’ and dancin’ part of the party started and we were back home before dark…yes, we are getting old.  I remember when my Grandparents said “We like to be home before dark”  I wondered did they think they would turn into pumpkins at dark or what?? …now I understand.

Sunflowers

Jen was here for a couple of days, all her boys are busy…working or off at robotics camps.  She brought Miney and Little Elvis over to be groomed at Chance’s groomer. 

We went out for breakfast and then shopping at Ben Franklin in Wadena Minnesota.  After that we went for a long drive.

This is the first sunflower field I have seen this summer in Minnesota.

This is an unopened sunflower and a little friend.

One in every crowd.  Jen pointed out that one sunflower was really sad.  When your head gets too full of seeds and your petals droop you might look a tad sad…or tired.

These sunflowers were planted in rows.  Not something you see very often.

Like soldiers facing east.

Nothing better than a little time spent photographing sunflowers!

Lists

I could have lists of my lists if I let my OCD take over.

So I only have one work list…the fall list of things that should be done…before it snows the snow stays on the ground.  It is cold enough here to snow..tonight we have freeze warnings.

Yesterday we tackled the sauna and gave it a good fall cleaning.  Getting rid of cobwebs and dead ants.  I washed the rugs, windows and the light fixtures.  I tossed some of the wind chimes…they were not worth repairing.  I did repair one…it may make the winter. Next year the white trim will need to be painted and the buckboard seat will need to be sealed again.

I washed the windows in Far Guys vehicle.  Chance helped by sitting in the back seat waiting patiently for the vehicle to move.  He is a real pain in the butt when you are cleaning vehicles…he doesn’t quite understand the concept.

It was too cool to finish painting the garage entry doors and trim. 

We worked on some new signs for the neighborhood.  I wood burned the house numbers… Far Guy is in charge of sealing them and putting them up.

On my photo list was a field of sunflowers.  We found one near Crookston Minnesota last weekend.

  It was not the most perfect field…it had suffered some wind damage.

I was still happy to have found it.

We made a list of everyone we contacted with our address change….good thing too,  we have referred to it several times.  What a pain in the butt..we still have to update our Drivers Licenses.  Just moving the mailbox around the corner created lots of time spent on the computer and on the phone.  I was on hold with one magazine company for 25 minutes before my call was answered in the order it was received…they must have had only one person working.  Let’s just say I abhor classical music and that phone call wait almost pushed me over the edge.

Sunflowers

There were no sunflower fields in our area this year..at least none that we knew of.

We were in Detroit Lakes one day.  I spied a few sunflowers.  Far Guy said “You are going to take a photo aren’t you?”

Of course their cheerful little faces cannot be denied.

Have you ever felt like this..so tired it was hard to hold up your heavy head.  I know I have.

How can one plant evoke two completely separate emotions?

Next year I hope someone grows an entire field full.  No better way to waste an afternoon…photographing a sunny field:)

Sunflower Field August 2011