Sunflowers and Seven Sticks

 The Sunflowers are just starting to bloom.

It was easy to stop by this field as it is off the beaten path....and there was an approach with a turn around...meant to be. 

Far Guy's fav Nurse is on vacation so his usual one stick for his IV became seven...uffda he looked like a pincushion when I picked him up. 

I ran the usual errands..Aldi, Walmart for the order pickup, Hugos for stuff Walmart didn't have, Walgreens and the Bank.  I made it in record time and was able to get 20 minutes of reading in the parking lot of the Clinic before Far Guy messaged me to pick him up.

We came home, unloaded the groceries put them away, had lunch and a nap. 

Minnesota weather: Hot  High 87F or 31C   Low 65F or 18C

It has been a very warm July...I wonder what August will bring? 

What's cooking?  Breakfast for supper; eggs, sausages and potatoes.

Far Side

Book Club 2026: July

 We had Book Club yesterday.  It was The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon.

It was a great read...the best so far this year.  I give it a 9.5 out of a 10.  I rated it that way because I wanted the book to continue on and on.  I was sad when I came to the last pages. 

All the gals liked the book. 

Thursday we were back to "normal"  Far Guy went to his weekly Infusion and I went to Aldi for fruit,  to Walmart for my pickup order, then to Hugos for the stuff Aldi and Walmart did not have ( it is Summertime and the tourists are buying lots of groceries)  then to the Post Office.  Far Guy messaged me as I was leaving the Post Office so I picked him up and we went to the Meat Market and to the bank. 

I only like going to town once a week especially in the Summertime.  It was a busy day. 

What's Cooking?  Cheesburgers and corn. 

Minnesota weather:  High 82F or 28C  Low was 62F or 17C

Far Side

Lotza appointments

 Now that the house and yard is mostly taken care of, we can concentrate on the medical appointments this week.   Far Guy has three medical appointments and one misc appointment. I had four appointments but I cancelled two of them...Jen can remove my stitches from the biopsy in my forehead and PT is going well so it can be rescheduled in two weeks.  BTW my biopsy came back with clean edges so that was good news!  So between us we still have six places to be on various days this week.

These Mums were outside the Farm Supply place where we went to get Tilly a new battery.  She refused to start the day before she was supposed to get her transmission checked.  Hopefully she will start now and eventually she can make it to her appointment one day soon.  My baby brother and his bride helped to get the battery loaded in the car so we could take it for an exchange.   My baby bother was also here several afternoons taking care of leaves!  We appreciate all the help!

Supper was homemade pizza.  It was really good!  I think a twice baked crust was the secret!

Minnesota Weather: High 51F or 11C  Low was 34F or 1C eh!

The last outside water hose was disconnected. All the misc "stuff" that was in Ranger Blue was put away.  We went to town for a prescription with stops to recycle and to drop off outgoing mail, and a book to the local little library.

The Ben Franklin store in town is now closed...they moved the store to a different town...not sure where...but as nasty as that guy was I hope the door hit him in the you know what on his way out of town. (he let it be known that he could not survive on the Winter time locals, there would be no going out of business sale and to stop asking because all inventory would be moved to a new location and there would be no warning as to when the store would close)

Far Side

A Tad Cranky

 I am sure Far Guy would agree with me...that I am a tad cranky.  

My visit to the Dermatologist was a failure...biopsies of head, shoulder and chin ( betcha thought I was going to say knees and toes). Uffda.  The chin one was something she called a pearl...and she doubts it is cancer.  For the others we await the pathology report.  Since taking all the biologics for Rheumatoid Arthritis...skin cancer is popping up all over.  

Our town is changing, one of the grocery stores is closing. It was a store I only went into a few times a year...because the produce department smelled rotten all the time and the meat section had a strange odor. 

 One of the restaurants is closing. We went there once in awhile for breakfast.  Since covid they have been closed Tuesdays and Wednesday. 

Walmart did an entire remodel...I have not been inside Walmart since last Fall...I just order groceries to be picked up.  Who knew...new floors...stuff stacked higher than a very tall person can reach...nothing is where it used to be.  I went inside for Aileen's Clear glue...they don't carry it anymore or they moved it so far I never found it...Elmer's tough glue will have to do. It remains to been seen if it works as good as Aileens.  I complained at the self check out when the gal there asked if I found everything...yum...NO.  She said she was sorry but many things have been discontinued.  Oh well...I am a Walmart Plus member so I get free shipping...so if Fed X has to deliver stuff a couple of times a week...

Then...get this...I noticed on Facebook that one of the small Mom and Pop restaurants in a really small town nearby was bought by a honest to goodness Chef.  I saw their ad...it said half price dinners $60.00  I thought wow then half price would be $30.00 alrighty then.  I went to the website...the regular price is $120.00 per person, they have two seatings a night and you should make a reservation with a deposit of $20 per person.  The menu...lots of fancy stuff that I would not eat anyway...well maybe the brownie for dessert!  This restaurant is located just off a highway that is going to be under construction all Summer.   So much for fancy...then again maybe people will show up in limo's from Fargo and Minneapolis/St. Paul.   I can just see ladies in heels walking through a road construction zone. 

Needless to say I rarely spend $120 a week for groceries...so those prices are out of my comfort zone. 

Other small town rumors: The old bowling alley was demolished last Fall and a new building is being built in it's place...it may or may not have event rooms and pizza.  That makes four pizza shops in town. The Furniture Store in town that has been having a moving sale for a couple of years is moving into a different building...and the event rooms there may or may not be used.  A new Ice Cream shop may open...that makes four ice cream shops in town not counting Dairy Queen.  One eatery downtown may or may not have caused a whole family to have food poisoning.  As far as I know there are no new auto parts stores slated to open...perhaps the max has been reached with four.  So if you need auto parts, pizza or ice cream you should be able to find some in town....oh yes and candy...but there are only three candy shops to choose from. 

Not much green here yet...this is Shell River at what we call the dead beaver area. 

Far Side

Town

 We ran an errand into town, Far Guy needed to go to Fed X  to get a box.  I have been trying to get a parking spot outside of Ben Franklin for weeks.  ( Cause I needed some yarn...yes I really did!)  So anyways Far Guy dropped me off and picked me up...stopping traffic both times..oh well we could have been tourists.  (There is center parking and street parking, so traffic often stops for people crossing the street. )

Now I have a question for all my readers.  ???

If you were driving 5 miles over the speed limit 60 in a 55 zone and a car was following you close and wanting to pass so bad that they passed you in a no passing zone...double yellow lines because it was a hill you could not see over the other side to see if anything was coming...what would you do except hold your breath and say a quick prayer that nothing was coming???  AND say you just happened to speed up enough to see the License Plate number...because you see during the Detour we have had all Summer traffic is heavy and there were many cars in front of me.  Then perhaps I followed the car part way home because they just happened to be going past our driveway...but headed further on down to the lake..and I am very curious to go and look at all the license plate numbers.   

What would you do?  Would you go look..out of curiosity...out of delayed road rage...you so want to write a note and leave it with the date and time just incase it was a teen driver...maybe it would save a life someday??? 

Far Side

Tomato Plants

 So far the Deer and the Bear have no cravings for green tomatoes. 

The sheep tank is working well! All the plants have multiple flowers...I won't count our tomatoes before they ripen but we should have enough to share.

Three plants have filled the tank.   The warmth of the steel on the south side of my garage must be a great growing place!  So far the old dog kennel is working well to protect the plants...but who knows. 

I had a kerfuffle with the new hose I bought...it leaked and was spraying water all over me....I returned it to the store and got a refund...thank goodness I did not order it online.  That was our big outing yesterday...town is getting busy...the 4th of July tourists must be here. 

The Pipeline is going under the highway now...no protesters in sight.  Everytime we go to town we wonder if they will be laying down on the highway stopping traffic.  

Far Side

Town Errands

 We had many errands in town yesterday.  Things just seem to pile up.  Far Guy had his infusion while I picked up the online orders.   He is back to normal...well as close to normal as he gets.   It was a one needle stick day...he is what the Nurses call valvey.  One day he had six needle sticks...so one is great!  I was disinfecting groceries in the parking lot when he called for his ride.   We went to the mail drop off, the bank,  hardware store, greenhouse and we picked up lupper (lunch and supper).

Far Guy got his Strawberry hanging basket.  

No one wearing masks except us.   We wasted no time looking around.  It is too early to look for bedding plants yet...and boy they could sure use someone who knows how to water and someone to level out their walkways...some had huge holes where water made puddles...some one will be seriously hurt someday. 

The grocery situation is getting worse here.  Seems like paper products are in short supply at least the ones we use.  And those darn Pretzel Buns and Outshine Fruit Bars...if you get some you better stock up! Not sure how Wally World does it...I wanted a six roll pack of Bounty Paper Towels...they were out so they substituted a twelve roll pack for the same price as a six roll pack...a good deal for sure! 

 I have not been inside a grocery store for over a year.  it sounds like the goofy governor of Minnesota will lift the mask mandate in July.  After that every business will have to decide for themselves. 

It will freeze again tonight. 

Far Side