Busy Sunday of visiting. My aunt is here from Arizona and this 84-year-young gal is amazing. We spent the time today at Lakefield, Minnesota, where she is visiting her daughter. Catch ya all later.
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Noreen
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
Last year at this time Megan and Nicholas were with us for the Railroad Days Parade. We had an up close and personal location, and periodically Nicholas would get pulled back by his shirt by Megan. He was so close that his reflection could be seen in the French horn of the marching band. Priceless.
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Noreen
Spit and polish was the order of the day. Dennis’ 1966 Ford Galaxy convertible is ready for the car show tomorrow in the downtown area. Railroad Days Celebration is in full swing in St. James. Cleaning and polishing would have been fun and enjoyable if the mosquitoes had not bombarded every minute of every hour. The inch of rain last night surely didn’t do anything to hamper the next batch that no undoubtedly be hatching out. I am sending Deep Woods Off with Dennis tomorrow.
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Noreen
When Dennis admits to being barraged by mosquitoes I know they are bad as they generally don’t like how he tastes, or perhaps the blood type hat he has does not appeal to them. Mosquitoes love my “type O.” I filled all the bird and kitty dishes with fresh water this morning singled handed as the other hand was busy brushing off stinging mosquitoes. I don’t think using both hands would have done the trick. I use the full coating of bug spray for those times when I am going to be outside for several hours. Short trips for outdoor necessities . . . result in welts.
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Noreen
Priceless!
A great friendship that grew out of
a career of working with taxes.A trip for an hour to the northeast today for a lunch date with a dear friend. Doreen and I were first acquainted when she worked in the Nicollet County Assessor’s Office and I worked in the Watonwan County Assessor’s Office. As years went on, ironically we both were appointed to the post of County Assessor within months of each other in 1988.
Getting together for business meetings could have been very dry and dull if it were not for the point that we shared a love of gardening. We would sit among the group and when the meetings were adjourned the majority of those attending would head for the bar for Happy Hour. Doreen and I would seek out a nursery or green house and poke our fingers into pots of soil that were growing flowers.
As decades went by we also got together when we could have the entire day to chat, try different places for lunch, pull out photos of families and fill our trunks with new plants for each of us to take home and add to our gardens. We didn’t always collect plants. This pictured concrete goose that graces one of my flower gardens came from one of those road trips. Every fall when Dennis grunts as he tucks the goose into the potting shed he can’t believe that Doreen and her van were able to trundle this heavy item to St. James.I have been retired for five years and Doreen has a date set in late 2015 for her retirement. Though she has that date in mind she also knows if push comes to shove she has the option of leaving sooner. I have to catch myself as to not embellish retirement too much as I know when her time is on the schedule it can seem like a lifetime away.
Ironically, we both have young grandchildren and there is nothing to keep us from sharing their antics or adventures. Our lunch visits will continue as we squeak them in with busy schedules. Friendships either grow or they die, Doreen and I will nurture our friendship for continued growth, but that is not to say that all the plants that we purchased over the years have been quite so lucky. But . . . we know where we can always find more.
P.S. Doreen had sent me materials and instructions for knitting so I could teach Megan. I did take my knitting along to allow Doreen to know I am working on even tension and stitches. I may frame this first project and call it abstract art as so far each row takes on its own look.
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
I realize that the huge amount of rain has caused displacement. I cannot believe that ants have no other option other than coming into my home.
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Noreen
It was a good workout. The French Lilacs that are on the north side of our front door are enjoyed in the early spring. They usually bloom before we need to have the air conditioning on, and their fragrance floats through the home via open windows.
Over the last ten years the bushes had become a bit willy from trimming them back. One branch gets cut off and three branches sprout from the trim. By the time Dennis got home from morning rounds, the two French Lilacs were trimmed down to two six-inch mounds of “wannabes.”
With all the rains that we have had I was not worried about taking them down that far. That’s what gardening is all about . . . wait and see.
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Noreen
The Beast Turns into the Beauty
A while back I was enjoying one of the first spring flowers and that being tulips. Tulips appear as if of wax with the delicate shapes, but just as the shapes are delicate, so is their lasting power when they come up against the wild spring winds. At that time the cactus was getting the short end of the stick in the compliment department. In time the tulip’s greenery near the cactus dies back until the next year.
In time the beast becomes a beauty.
Beating all odds the Prickly Pear Cactus that looks as if it is dead when the snow melts does rebound and flourish. It is the only cactus that can survive the freezing winters of Minnesota. I have had several stems that have broken off of the parent plant due to the weight of it hanging at odd angles. After having stuck them in some soil near by they root themselves and take off as if they have been there from the start. The joy of the Prickly Pear is when they become the beauty of their domain. The yellow blooms are intricate and I am here to tell you my photo is not giving them due diligence. Just as other blooms, the staying power is never long enough for my liking. There have been as many as eight buds showing, but unfortunately they don’t open in unison. Having them open here and there does prolong the enjoyment of the color.
This would be a great plant to protect against home invasion under house windows. You may not realize that your hand has brushed too closely, but immediately a tweezers is sought for relief. I can not imagine coming in contact with an entire stem. As the photo reveals, a few little weeds are allowed to live another day until some heavy canvas gloves are donned. It all makes for the wonders of gardening and the enjoyment of having dirty fingernails and weary backs. I love it.
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Noreen
It was a road trip day several hours to the north for a bridal shower. As I had spent my quarter getting to the event I could not pass up making as many stops as possible on the way home for brief visits here and there.
As I drove It was heartbreaking to see the hundreds of acres of cropland under water after a week of torrential rains. I now know why farmers do not feel the need to visit casinos. Each day from the the time the seed goes into the soil to the day it is harvested the gamble for a successful year is in the hands of God and Mother Nature.
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Noreen
Today the sun shone and it was a welcomed site. We still have one weather system brewing to the southwest of us for tonight but hopefully it will just evaporate. It is a good thing that Dennis has rocks jutting over the rim of the Koi pond. The rocks kept the Koi from floating out of their pond as yesterday it ran over big time. Being wet and muddy is still a darn site better than being beaten and bruised by high winds. Life on Stauffer is still the most sought after place in St. James.
