Dood's Brood

Thundered up our driveway yesterday on their way to Grand Rapids. What a treat to see these guys together with Uncle Dood holding them all together. I was so happy that they took time to stop that tears were shed when they 'thundered away'.

I have blogged about this before but it bears blogging again. Dood is 83 years young and rides a very nice big Harley. Lisa learned to ride and bought herself a bike just to be able to ride with her dad. Scott flies in from San Francisco to ride with the Brood. And John's two boys join in as well. Curt and Kathy pull themselves away from remodeling yet another home for themselves. Jeff where oh where is Jeff? He and Sheila don't ride so they are at home waiting for the Brood to spend a few days camping on the lake at their home.

Pictures, of course there were pictures.

Uncle Dood turning into our drivewayThere's Lisa looking goodDood wears hearing aids and takes them out when he is riding. Here he is puttin em back in. I hear tell that he wraps a rubber band around some damned thing when he has them out and then takes the rubber band off when he has them in so that he can remember when he has them in or out. Sounds pretty complicated to me but I guess it works for him......or does it?And just who is giving who advice here do we think?Scott and Lisa. Scott not only comes from Cali to join his family but he rents a bike as well.Saddled up ready to go. By the way they had to pack everything needed for a week into the bags on the bikes......how did the two ladies do that I want to know! Dood....keep those hands on the bike Doodie!ScottLisaCurt and KathyJohn, who was the organizer of this stop. Thanks John, it meant a lot to me.His boy LukeAnd his other boy Zack and his girlfriendI often said that I would like for the Brood to adopt me on one of their trips. Some day some day.
Love you guys and thanks a ton for stopping.

Thought For Today

When you don't feel the best either physically or emotionally allow yourself some time to wallow but then get off the couch and get those endorphins going. It makes one feel better yes it does.

The past couple of days I have had this whooshing vertigo going on in my head. It was driving me nuts and making me nauseous. I spent yesterday wallowing and today decided to get the endorphins moving. Off to pick strawberries. There is something to be said for picking strawberries in 55 degree windy weather with a steady mist falling. You don't get hit by bugs, you don't sweat and you don't get a sunburn.

I had never picked berries before and had never been to a berry picking farm. This place is beautiful and made me feel a ton better. I intended on picking one ice cream pail full only but ended up with three of them. After I was done picking I took the camera out.

Pickers in their rows. Everyone has their own row or rows to pick.
Someones end of the row picksA couple of young girls walking down with their buckets full
Fresh berries are unbelievably red on the vines. There is no reason to pick anything but the most ripe berries as there are so many.
Not only do they have berries galore but beautiful flower gardens as well.
And a picturesque barn.And a pond below the pines.Yup Lunemann's Luney Berries Farm, a great place to get the endorphins moving. I drove into the place feeling sorry for myself and wanting to cry. I drove out refreshed with a smile that lasted the rest of the day.

There Is a Good Reason

Why we have kids when we are young. David and I were fortunate enough to do grandparent's daycare last weekend. Len and Kel were off to a softball tourney and we had the weekend with their baby girl. A wonderful weekend it was. Julia is going through a 'fear of people' phase and she is even leery of her grandpas. So where does that leave us, grandma playing the part of single parent....again :) It certainly is not as easy physically now as it was then. Oh what am I talking about it was tough then as well but this is just different. We have had fun however and have been busy. My favorite times if I had to pick a few were when Julia wakes up in the morning. She wakes up with a smile on her face happily chatting away. And then there is bedtime. We sit in the rocker with a bottle. She drinks a bit and then snuggles into my arms falling asleep. She has become a smuggler especially in the am and at night. I remember when Lenny was about a year old. He no longer wanted to snuggle and I almost wished that he would get a cold or something as that was the only time that he would snuggle with me....when he wasn't feeling well.
Yesterday we went to a wedding. Julia was quite interested in all of the people as long as they stayed at an arms distance.Grandpa showing her a monarchThe wedding was at Sibley Park so we took advantage and took a tour. This is a great park to take kids. Julia liked the donkeys...small horses...I don't know what they were but she liked them
She wasn't as impressed by this fella but I was
A picnic in the park for supper.And then off to Culver's for Grandpa and Grandma's supper.On Sunday we had a morning snack out on the deck. You cannot see it in this picture but she had that cookie all over her face.
I had just gotten her face cleaned up and in drove mom and dad. The look on her face was precious. You could tell that she was angry at them for having been gone so long oh that frown/angry look was too funny. It didn't last long though soon the big smile broke out.

Even though Julia was in bed at 8pm Saturday night she was awake at 5am Sunday morning! I was tired yes I was. But it sure was fun and I can't wait until we get to do it again.

The Ulitmate Compliment

David and I were at a wake yesterday and afterward I ran into a friend of my mom's who was also at the wake. She was sitting when I walked up to talk with the family. She said that she had to take a second look when I walked up because she thought it was mom....said that I look so much like her that it startled her and brought back wonderful memories.
As I said, the ultimate compliment. To not only look like my momma but to be like her as well would be the best.
Love you mom and miss you

I Wasn't Kidding

About the gun. that would be the dark thing strapped around my waist. Luckily I didn't have to use it. I couldn't decide if I should avoid looking into the woods for fear of seeing the bear or if I SHOULD look so that I didn't run right into him. Oh it was a tough decision. I did a little of both.
It's a danged good thing that he got into the garbage and not my strawberry plants as they are very good picked fresh on my cereal in the morning.

The Bear

Mary, you left a day too soon. Missed the action. I wonder what Yoni would have done?
We were awakened a 4am to our dogs barking. They were both in the porch looking out at the new hosta garden. I saw something move by the hostas and out strolled our bear. As we quieted the dogs our bear slowly strolled along the edge of the woods where we park our camper and then into the ditch presumably to cross the road and go where ever it is that he lives.....that is what I am hoping anyway...that he doesn't live in our woods.
When we woke up this morning David found that our bear had been in the garbage. The garbage can is right outside of our bedroom window. The old boy was on the other side of our bedroom wall, close enough for us to reach out and touch him, and we didn't know it. However David did say that he heard something and just thought it was Tackla's toenails walking into our bedroom but no no it was the bear's claws as he was tearing apart our garbage.
Needless to say, the gun goes with me today on our walk through the woods. Oh for petes sake if I do have to shoot the damned thing it will probably knock me on my ass, I will have missed the bear and lots of good the damned gun will do me!
Bugs, sorry no picture of our boy. I sure wish though that I had been set up on that side of the house with my tripod as with the full moon it really was light out and he was way closer than the first time. I might have gotten an OK picture.

The Weekend In Retrospect

My friend Mary and her dog Yoni spent the weekend with us. We had a wonderful time walking in our woods, hitting a flea market, browsing in the largest trading post/junk yard ever, a greenhouse and a farmer's market. We had three dogs (two very large dogs) in this small house but they were all so well behaved that we didn't know that we had even one dog in the house!
Yoni is a gorgeous dog and is not used to being 'off leash' as she lives in town so needs to be on her leash when outdoors. She loved being free and able to run in the woods with us.
Is she not beautiful?The three on one of our walksIt is not easy to get three dogs to 'pose' for a picture. Yoni does well, Tack wonders why and Peeko would rather see what is in the tree.
Yesterday morning a doe and her twin fawns entertained us. I shot numerous photos and yes Lenny I deleted all but a few!
The twins frolicking. They had a regular race track going around the trees and back into the open.I caught him in a 'leap'Mom seeming to say "Settle down"A hungry twin taking a second to get a drinkAnd Peeko watching the race, his image reflected in the window
On our wood walks Mary wanted to find the perfect garden art to take home. And Bugs, it really did not take all that long for your indecisive Mother to find something! She found the perfect stump that of course needed David and his bob to dig it out. Here he seems to be scratching his head in wonder...why oh why does she want thisMary looking her garden art over. It did split in half when David was digging it out.There it is. Wonderful isn't it? I am betting most of you are scratching your heads as well. I happen to like it.We hated to see Mary leave but she has her very own garden to tend to.
Hope you all had a very nice 4th.

The Check Is In The Mail

We have all heard that one a time or two and in fact some of us may have used the term a time or two but in this case the check is really in the mail.

We have finally sold one of our houses. Because we live four hours away we did our signing a few weeks ago. Our realtor is representing us to day at the official signing. One down and one to go. This is the one that we really wanted to go however as the other is much less expensive to have to hold on to. Taxes and insurance are next to nothing as compared to the StPeter property that just sold.

I really have to give our Realtor a plug. KC works out of the StPeter ReMax office and does a fabulous job especially given our rotten real estate market. He uses every selling tool available to him, explains the selling process so that you understand why he is recommending what ever it is that he may recommend in regards to how best to market your home. He does a boat load of leg work making the process of selling (and I suspect buying) a house pretty stress free. I have known KC for a long time and totally trust him and recommend him to others without hesitation. If your selling or buying consider giving KC a call. below is their website:

http://www.judyconroy.com/

My friend and gardening mentor Mary and her dog Yoni are coming up to spend the 4th of July weekend with us. Mary has done Tackla daycare for us a couple of times. So in preparation for her visit I have been busy cleaning up my gardens! Most give their houses a good cleaning prior to visitors. I on the other hand, especially with this particular visitor, give my gardens a good cleaning. Well I may have cleaned the house a little but mostly the garden. Pretty pathetic huh?

From time to time I have asked that you think of Becky H who is a gal from my hometown (Nicollet) and is battling cancer for the second time around. Becky has fought her fight with the strength and faith that most of us would hope that we have when the time comes. I contacted my friend Jan to ask that her and Mikey send some prayers Becky's way and this was Jan's response:
She has been through more than most of us could ever stand. Through her struggles she has touched thousands of lives; not all of us get that opportunity. I pray that God is merciful to her and her loved ones.
Very well said Jan and thank you.
Becky was admitted to the hospital yesterday as she was just not feeling well after a round of chemo. It is hoped that she will be able to go home today and continue her fight. I hope so as well. However her journey does provoke thought...when do you know that it is just time to let life take it's course? I am certainly not a religious/church going person but I do believe in a higher being or power. I hate the thought of 'giving up' and perhaps it would not be 'giving up' but allowing life to take it's course? I don't know but I just have been thinking about it since reading Becky's Caring Bridge Post and felt the need to type it out.

It also brings my Mom's last days right out there again for me. We knew it was her time (although I still to this day wonder what in the hell I could have/should have done differently to keep her with us longer...). As most know she was with us for her last days and passed at our home. I would not trade that for anything as it was a peaceful experience. At one point we all gave mom permission to go if that is what she needed to do. Lenny, David and I were with her. She apologized for leaving us and we assured her that we would be OK that she would always be with us. I guess I would hope that my loved ones would give me that same 'permission' to let go if I needed to let go and assure me that they would be OK. (Perhaps it is what Becky needs???) My mom passed during the night while I was by her side. I had dozed off in her bed with her woke up and just knew that I needed to move to the chair that sat beside her bed. I dozed in that chair and a short time later, while asleep, I dreamt, or saw, two angle like beings float down joining hands with a third angle that was waiting and they floated into the light. I immediately woke up and mom was gone...I am thinking that this will be a melancholy day for me. Perhaps I need to get in the garden and get my hands and feet dirty.

It Is So Hot

Too hot to even work in the garden for long. My gardening friend and mentor Mary wondered if she had heat stroke today but ended up with only a burnt nose...sorry Mary I just had to share!

We took a ride on the lake the other day to cool off a bit. No fish caught, we didn't try very hard, but I did catch this guy sitting on the rocks staying cool.David has been playing on his bobcat planting 'crop' on the walking trail and readying this spot for a deer feeding plot.
Peeko and I took the camera and walked around our lower field. Peeko immediately found something he treed.
And I took pictures of blooming wildflowers.Fodder for the bear. The wild raspberries aren't ripe yet but there are a lot of them.
My strawberries are almost ready to pick. Dear bear stay away from my strawberries.And soon we will have potatoes from a barrel. This is an interesting process. We attempted it last year ending up doing it incorrectly hence no potatoes from the barrel. It seems as if we used the right process this year. You put 4 seed potatoes in each barrel and cover them with dirt. When the plants are about three inches high you mound compost around them leaving the top most part of the plants uncovered. You continue this process until the plant reaches the top of the barrel. After the plants bloom and the flowers begin to die they turn into a berry looking thing. We will then turn the barrel over and walla potatoes. I could (and think I will) dig in the compost now to see if I can grab any new potatoes....once it cools off outside!

Father's Day

A special day to be sure for two very special fellas, Ry and Lenny, who are celebrating their very first Father's Day. Our granddaughters are certainly lucky little girls to have these dad's for their very own. We are so proud of the men, husbands and dads that they have become.
Ry and his little lady Abigail
Len and his little lady JuliaWe spent this past weekend helping Lenny and Kelly shingle their house. Thank goodness he had lots of 'young' help. In fact he had enough help to keep me off of the roof. ...phew.
The young
These are Len's half brothers Issac and Caleb the two fellas that did the job I would have had to do.And the 'old'.
David( bending down) and Len's dad (in the hat carrying shingles) worked hard and both felt it at the end of the day.It seems that there is a technique to shingling and that would be
Asses in the air
Since I wasn't on the roof I did get time to be with Julia and Kelly. Julia spent most of the days outside and does love it.
I am proud to say that she ended up with 'grandma feet'. They were not as dirty as mine always are but we did work on it. We 'walked' through the grass, on the rocks and in the dirt. Yup her feet got dirtier than they have ever been. I didn't get a picture of those feet but wish I would had!
Here she is fascinated with a long blade of grass.And she has her first two teeth. Not easy to get a picture of but you can just see them in this close up.We are now back home to some much needed rain.
Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there.