FRESH PRODUCE AND GIANT BABIES

I haven't been doing much walking or picture taking this month.  We've been having some work done on the house, and that's been taking up most of my spare time.  I have a lovely new bathroom floor (thanks to my friend Andy), and a new toilet (no thanks to the incompetent guys the plumber sent out).  The tub will be reglazed next week and a new shower door installed,  and it will be lovely!

Andy laid the tile on Monday but had to break apart the toilet to get it out because of the way it was installed, bolted and bonded to the floor in some weird way. There was no flange.  He knew we were planning on a new toilet, so that wasn't any big deal, except, we only have one bathroom.  I had misunderstood him about not being able to use the toilet - I thought just for the day while he was working on the floor, but I was wrong, and we spent the night in a motel.  I had told the plumber on Monday about the missing flange and he was to call Andy and see what was up with that, but he didn't call.  Talked to Andy Tuesday morning while he was grouting the floor, and still no word from plumber.  I called Plumber and he said he'd be out at 1:00 to see what was needed for the job (which he did)  and then would have the guys out between 3:00 and 4:00 to install.  Great, perfect!   "I need a new shut-off valve too".   "No problem".    I got home from work at 3:00.  Floor looked lovely.  4:00 came and went, no plumbers, and by 5:15  I called find out where the heck they were.  "They're not there yet?  We dropped off the toilet with them hours ago."  Um, NO!  I wouldn't be calling you if they were here!!!  When they finally showed up about 20 minutes later,  Bob noticed that the shut-off valve wasn't on the work order.  No problem, they would ran over to Home Depot to get one (less than a mile away).  An hour later they were back (must have stopped for supper) and installed the shut-off.  Then they started installing the new flange.   Broke their only drill bit.  It wasn't a masonry bit, just a plain old everyday bit that doesn't want to drill through a ceramic floor with a cement under layer.  "Why yes, we did tell your boss that the floor is ceramic".  Back to Home Depot for a drill bit.  By about 7:15 they had the base of the toilet installed.  Looking good, in the home stretch......... and then I heard some very loud swearing coming from the bathroom.   They broke the tank while trying to install it!  They'd have to come back in the morning, but, we could still use the toilet, we just needed to "flush" by using a bucket of water.   Better than another night in a motel.  After they left I noticed that when they replaced the shut-off valve, they left the old, rusty disk-thingy that snugs up to and covers the hole in the wall where the pipe comes out of.  They were only an hour late when they came back the next morning with the new tank.  They did replace the old, rusty disk-thingy with a new, shiny disk-thingy,  installed the tank with no further mishaps, and gave us a small discount.  It's done and it works, and I don't have to run over to my neighbor's bathroom anymore, at least not until Friday when the next guy comes to reglaze the tub and I can't use the bathroom for 6 hours or so. 

I've already posted this next picture on Facebook and Ravelery, but I just have to do it again.  GIANT CYCLOPS BABY.   It's on a garage a block from where I work, and we have absolutely no idea what it means.  There are giant molecules all over the sides of the garage as well.   People are strange.

It's pretty creepy.  The outside arms on both look fairly proportionate, but the inside arms are tiny, with tiny hands that look more like pincher's.  And then there's the bubbles.  I am so glad I don't have to look at this everyday from my yard!

I went to the Midtown Farmer's Market this morning.  Bought some lovely vegetables and other things........

                                                            

All the veggies look great, but I also bought a  loaf of homemade honey wheat bread, along with some

fresh butter, some homemade chokecherry jelly, and some Colby-jack cheese.

I couldn't resist and had to have a treat when I got home - it was worth every single calorie!

Carpe Diem

I'm still here!   I've been walking, and taking pictures, but I just haven't felt like writing.  It's the time of year.  Summer's almost over and soon it will be Fall.  And we all know what comes next!   I know I should just enjoy the present, but it's so hard for me.  I'm a warm weather, sunshine kind of girl.  I think it would be great to be a kid again.  We were able to just  live in the moment back then.  We were oblivious to time/day/date. One day ran into the next. Weekday, weekend, it was all the same.   I've noticed recently that the days are getting shorter.  I'm up early and out of the house before 6:00.  It's still dark now when I leave the house.  As a kid I probably didn't get up before 8:00, and I'm sure I wasn't even aware that this happened.   It was just another summer day that lasted forever.  We'd get up, have a quick breakfast and then head to the park, come home for lunch, back to the park, or maybe to the beach, home for supper, and out to play some more.  We didn't mind if the sun started setting a little sooner.  It was more fun to play ditch or other games with all the neighborhood kids if it was a little dark out.   We knew that school would be starting again at some point,  but I don't think it really sank in until State Fair Week.  Even then, it still seemed like we had plenty of time to just have fun.  Sure, we had gone shopping for a couple of new outfits, maybe a few notebooks and pencils, and yes we looked at the Wards/Sears/Penney's fall catalogs, but those clothes were for when it got cold!  It was still 80 or 90 degrees out.   Summer was going to last forever.


May

I'm noticing changes around the lake now too.  The spring ducklings are the same size as the momma ducks. Can't tell one from the other.   The water is green.  South High was having soccer practice on the ball fields today.  All the trees and plants are looking different.  They look tired.  That's how I always seem them.  Sure, the hot, dry summer hasn't helped, but no matter what the weather is like, come August they start their change.   The leaves are a much darker green now, not that lovely bright green from May.  It looks like it's hard for them to hold their limbs up. All the leaves have just gotten too heavy.   It's still very beautiful, just different.

August

I'm still digging all the boats out on the lake though. 

Friday afternoon I noticed this pretty yellow boat anchored just a few feet from the south shore, but I didn't seen anyone around.  Thought maybe they lived nearby and ran home for awhile, or, maybe they were spending some time below decks? 

I was surprised when it was still here on Saturday morning, when I went for an early walk with Jody.   We were almost back to our starting point when we noticed it was being towed back to the boat harbor.  

Now it was obvious that this was a run-away.  It really had grounded itself good, because it hadn't moved at all from Friday afternoon until Saturday morning. I don't think there was any damage because it was moored and afloat today.

 I saw these Double Crested Cormorants Friday afternoon.  I don't think I've ever noticed any around here before. 

We can see you!   I'm thinking this used to be the Partridge Family Bus. 

BUNNY! 

Cleocatra enjoying a morning "catnap" in a sunny window.  She always does that with her foot - hooks one toenail into the screen.

I'm going to try and enjoy the rest of our summer, and hopefully a very, very long fall, and not think about what comes after that!  I will seize the day.

Birds Do It, Bees Do It..........

Even Butterflies do it..............

I went to check out the butterfly garden in front of the beach house where I had smudgy pictures of the Monarchs on my last walk.  I only saw two there today, and they were a bit, ummm, busy.   I got a little too close at first, and she took off  flying while her mate kept doing his business.  She landed again moments later and I was able to get quite a few good shots. 

Was it wrong of me to intrude? 

This isn't the first time I've caught insects doing the dirty deed.  A couple of summers ago I was weeding my garden,  looked up at my dahlias and saw these two.....

They didn't seen thrilled with me.  Bet they never thought they'd end up on the Internet.  Of course, I never thought I'd be posting insect porn.

I love the large butterfly garden by Little Beach.  It's a busy place with all the bees buzzing and Goldfinches chirping, and a lot of other bugs flying around.  There's a bit of a path through it, but I really didn't feel like getting in with all those bees, so I walked around the edges. 

It wasn't all flora and fauna though. 

I saw this ball caught up in some branches.  I really don't need a new ball, so I didn't bother to try and retrieve it.

I'm a little distracted tonight with the Olympic opening ceremonies, and they're getting ready to light the torch, so I'm closing up shop for now.

For Jenny, Because She Misses My Posts

My friend Jenny got after me last night at our weekly Knit Night, because I haven't posted anything since the first of the month.  I haven't been out for a walk since then because it's been way too hot and humid for me.  My asthma flares when I exert myself in this kind of weather.  It's better if I just stay in the air conditioning and do yoga or knit.  I have very shapely wrists from all the knitting I do.  It's great exercise for the hands and forearms. 

Temps were back down to the low 80's today, though still pretty humid, but I grabbed my inhaler and headed to the lake. 

I don't know what to call this crater in a tree root.  There's probably a name for it.  I thought it was pretty with the water that collected in it from the rain we had yesterday.

I've been meaning to to take a picture of this for a long time.   WPA 1939.  There are many, many slabs of sidewalk that are stamped with this date, and many more that aren't stamped, but were obviously poured at the same time.  Hard to believe they've held up for 73 years.

 These coneflowers are in a butterfly garden by the Little Beach.

Here's another type of coneflower.  These are some wild growing highway cones.  Most of you probably thought these were made in a factory somewhere, but actually we grow them here in Minnesota.  Up North you'll see field after field of the cultivated variety, but it's rare to see them growing wild in the city like this. 

Motivational graffiti.

 Obviously, another favorite spot of mine.  Water level is down quite a bit.

I spent 15 minutes watching three Monarch butterflies fluttering around a garden in front of the beach house at the Big Beach, and shot about 30 pictures, only to discover when I got home that I had smudged my lens, so none of them turned out well.  I'm posting one anyway.  They were really fun to watch, chasing each other, coming together as a group and then separating, one flying off here, another landing there.  Hopefully, my luck with second chances will continue, and I'll get some better butterfly pictures.

Jenny, I hope you enjoyed today's post, and I'll try to post more often, just for you!

Reflections

Wow, I've been writing this blog for six months now.  When I first started, I really didn't know if I'd last for six months, let alone a full year, but here I am at the halfway point.  Will I continue?  Yes, I will.  I have gained so much from this experience, and am so glad that I started it. 

I am overcoming my shyness, though it's still a work in progress.  This writing part is still hard, but not as bad as it was in January.  I'm a little bolder now,  more apt to start a conversation with a stranger.

I'm getting outside and walking more.  Some days I'll walk with a friend, other days by myself.  It's lovely either way. 

I'm much more aware of my surroundings, and know that I am very lucky to live here with all the wonderful lakes and parks we have.  This beautiful lake has been in my backyard my whole life, and I have never really appreciated it like I should have.  

I'm making progress with the camera.  I can't wait to get home and plug my card into the computer and see what I've captured.  I have a few favorites that bring a smile to my face whenever I look at them, and sometimes I'm pretty amazed to realize that I was the one who took the picture!

Six more months of discovery awaits me.

It was so peaceful at 7:00 this morning, though it was already very humid.

 I think sailboats have replaced trees for now as my favorite things to photograph.

Yup, definitely the boats.

These ducks aren't afraid at all when someone stops to take a peek at them.

 

These make me smile.

I forgot to post this last week.  There was a run sponsored by Delta last Saturday morning.  It made our walk pretty difficult, but the car was interesting.  

Just When You Thought You'd Seen It All

Saturday was International Knit in Public Day (IKIPD).  No, I did not make that up.  It really exists.  So, being the good little knitters that we are,  my knitting group decided we should knit in public.  But wait, don't we do that already?  Of course we do, but apparently some people are closet knitters and keep it a deep dark secret, like it's some kind of  weird affliction.  So, somewhere along the line someone decided it was time to get the knitters of the World out of the closet, and show the planet that this isn't a dirty little secret.  KNITTING IS NOT FOR GRANDMOTHERS ANYMORE.   Okay, yes, a lot of knitters are grandmothers, but a lot of knitters are also teenagers, or twenty-somethings.  Oh, and a lot of knitters are men!  You heard me - MEN.  And, believe it or not, a lot of those men are straight male knitters.  And a lot of the female knitters are lesbians, or lawyers, or both.  Knitters do not fit any category.  We are young and old.  We are of all ethnic groups.  We are of many religions, or no religion at all.   We are on every continent.  Beware the knitter - we are everywhere!

A couple of months ago my knitting group, decided we should get together for IKIPD.  We haven't done this in the past and thought it was time, even though we all knit in public on a regular basis.  We're kind of rebels that way.   We knit in coffee shops and restaurants.  We knit in hospitals and office buildings and in courthouses.   I spent  two hours knitting in a cemetery when I was visiting my Mom right before Memorial Day.  We knit in airplanes and on buses and trains.  We knit in parks.  We knit everywhere.  I don't think anyone in my group goes anywhere without taking a project or two with them, because you just never know.  I've been sitting in my car waiting for help with a flat tire, or an overheated radiator, and was glad to have my knitting with me.   Friday night I spent almost seven hours in the ER with my father-in-law (he's doing well, thank you) and was happy I had my knitting along.    

Okay, so how does this tie in with The Lake?  Well, an on-line yarn shop was having a sale recently, and as I was checking it out I ran across something interesting.   A couple of years ago our LYS (local yarn shop) owner had a brand of sock yarn called Wisdom Yarns, who had a line of sock yarn called Marathon Socks.  They had yarns named after several of the big marathons around the country, like New York and Boston.   Apparently they did a series based on the Twin Cities Marathon, and when I looked at the colorways,  I noticed one was, are you ready, LAKE NOKOMIS.   I ordered it right then and there, along with Hennepin and Minnehaha, then I sent a call out to all the other members of the group and let them know about the yarn, and that we should all knit with the Lake Nokomis yarn at Lake Nokomis on IKIPD.   And we did.

Here's the ball band showing the name and the colorway of the yarn.

See, I kid you not - Lake Nokomis!

 This is Kate, JoAn, Tamara & Cara.  See the blue stripy yarn?  Lake Nokomis! 

And, this is an embarrassed Kimberly being carried by her loving husband, Aeton.  Kimberly was in the hospital for a couple of days, and not being one to miss a knitting event, made Aeton bring her down to the lake on their way home from the hospital!  We all have our priorities.  Kimberly couldn't bear weight on her foot, so Aeton gallantly carried her down to where we were sitting. 

 We also got Aeton to take a group picture with the Lake Nokomis sign in the background. 

Wish the rest of the group could have joined us - we missed you all!

You just never know what you'll see at The Lake!

And Your Little Dog Too

It's such a beautiful day today that I decided to bike around the lake instead of walking.  I really haven't been on the bike since I last posted about it, and thought it was about time.  I was almost at the end of our block when I saw Princess Kitty with Catboy driving down the street, and I knew in an instant that they were going to mock me.  Yes, my children MOCKED ME!   And how were they mocking me?  They were humming that tune from the Wizard of Oz.  You know the one I'm talking about.  The one they play when Miss Gulch is biking down the road with Toto in the wicker basket. 

Here's  my basket, the one Catboy gave me for Mother's Day.   It has a quick release and a handle, so I can take the whole works with me if I stop somewhere.  Mock me if you must, but I reallly like it.

It was nice not to have the gale force winds of the last several days, just enough of a breeze to fill the sails, but no whitecaps. 

Oh, I almost forgot.........

I ran into Toto (not his real name).  Unfortunately, he wouldn't sit in the basket for me.  His owner and I  tried.   I think he's seen the movie.