Goodbye!

Goodbye July.  I am very sad to see you go.

Mainly Plants

The first tomato on the grape plant is turning red...very exciting for me.  Seriously.  I counted about 40 little tomatoes on that plant.  I can't wait to start picking them.  The Roma is coming along too but only about 8 tomatoes.
The rotted stumps with the petunias are blooming nicely.  Better than a couple weeks ago for sure.  Of course I have been fertilizing them and deadheaded more diligently.
Finally, I have a blooming hollyhock!  I have tried to grow them around here with no luck.  I had some in Morris by the garage and I loved them.  This one is a transplant from the school where they grow like weeds.  I had no idea what color it would be but I am very happy with pink.  There is still another to bloom.  It's under the kitchen window at the cabin.
The Morning Glories are beginning to bloom too.  They can't figure out how to crawl up to the top of the pergola.  I may have to assist them.
I picked these old skis up last summer shopping with my mom and aunts in Alex.  They were a boring tan color so I painted them red and white.   I found the little beach sign for $2 recently at Ben Franklin.  Notice the colorful plastic Adirondack chairs?  I've been debating getting a pair of wood but storage and moving them around is an issue.  Today, Dan and I went out for breakfast in Ashby and they had these chairs lined up in front of the hardware store.  The colorful lineup definitely caught my eye and decided it would be perfect with the green on the cabin.  Another nice thing about these is that you can plunk them down in the lake, not to mention stacking them all on top of each other.

More landscaping

This stone came from Dad's rock pile.  I noticed it had a nice indentation and it's a perfect spot for sunflower seeds.  The angel seems right at home there.
Thank you for your suggestions for this corner.  For now, I put smaller hostas and divided my favorite hosta down at the cabin and brought up three nice chunks.  I had an extra chunk for Jan so now if the hosta down at the cabin dies with those nasty north winds in January, I'll have some back up plants.  Kris has one too that I gave her last year and that made it too.
Here's a different angle on the new bed.  You can see that the view is better.  I added some mulch too.  I suppose I'll have lilacs popping up next spring but if I keep cutting them maybe they'll die????  

Cottage #1

Becky, Jan, Gay, Annette and I attended the vintage cottage tour in Alexandria.  It was a very fun tour-not quite as good as last year, for me anyway, but very fun.  This is the only house we toured on LeHommeDeu.  Here's a shot of the beautiful hostas, pond, landscaping in front of the cottage.  This was a 100 year + home.  It originally belonged to a Dr. Granger and he was sponsored on his way to America by his cousin the founder of Annheiser Busch. No idea how you spell that.

They like their hosta's here.  The artwork in this home was was a lot of fun- lots of beautiful florals and neat color combinations.  A fun artist's studio above the garage.  Pictures are not allowed inside so you will just have to be happy with the exterior shots.

Fieldstones, and old bench and hostas, what else could you ask for in a border?

Cottage #2

This cottage had a primitive touch which made Annette and Becky as happy as clams!  It was a very nice place and they had nice hosta beds too.

This is the lake side of the home.

Annette, Jan and Gay admire the lovely flower bed that you see down below.
As soon as you walked into this yard, this flowerbed grabs your attention.  Nancy has these flowers in her backyard too-the dark red variety.  I forgot what they are called.

Lots of hostas to admire!

Cottage #3

Love-love-love this old classic summer cottage!  It was not in the greatest shape, that's for sure, but was like stepping back in time as not a lot has changed in probably 100 years.  Big bedrooms, lots of narrow wainscoat-everything you imagine in an old lakeshore place.

Annette steps into the old wrap-around screen porch.

We're not supposed to take pictures inside but I had to sneak this one inside the front porch.  There were two hanging beds, one just behind Jan in the brown shirt and one further down the porch if you click on the photo you might be able to see it.    Lots of taxidermy in this house and a huge fieldstone fireplace in the living room.
Here's the front.  The big screen window on the second story is a bedroom with an amazing view of Lake Darling.  It's located right behind Bug-a-Boo restaurant and it caught my eye before the tour so I was excited when we drove up and found out it was a cottage on the tour!
This is the back of the cottage-look at those old crank out windows.  There is a little guest house with two bedrooms and a very cute and tiny screen porch-10x10 at the most just to the right of this photo.  The granddaughter of the owner of this place recently bought this and is selling the adjacent lot for only $500,000.00!!  For that price a garage and fire-pit is included.

Cottage #4

All you red lovers will like this charming home.  It's another 100 year old cottage that has undergone many remodels.  This one had a nice open kitchen/living room/dining room.  

A very lovely flowerbed.

A nice spot for some iced tea.

They had a wonderful deck and LOTS of deck furniture...more red for you. The evidently haul in semi loads of sand to maintain this beach.
This is the vinyl coated wicker.  We saw tons of this on the tour.  I have some too and got mine at Fleet Farm and Target.  My Fleet Farm set is down at the cabin and is my favorite.   It's so easy to maintain.
I could enjoy a good magazine in that lounger, a boring one too for that matter.  They are very close to Lake Darling.  Zoning restrictions prevent new homes from being that close but if you remodel an existing you're okay.

I love the three colors used on this entrance.

This is the back of the garage which is a little patio area.  

Cottage #5

This was the last house, a 120 year old farmhouse on Lake Ida.  The owners were going to tear it down and rebuild but had a change of heart and remodeled instead.  An interesting side note...Don Shelby has a summer place near this home.  My favorite part of this house was that they saved the old porches and trim and enclosed them with screens.  The screen porch on the left is off the master bath and to the right is off the kitchen.  If you click on the picture you can probably see the porches in decent detail.

Landscaping Before/After

The lilacs have always been on this corner and rarely bloom since I'm always cutting them back.  Dan and I decided to take them out yesterday kind of on a whim and now we're wondering why it took us so long to do that.  It's much cleaner looking and gives a nicer view of the yard from the porch too.
I'll just stick a few hostas in there and that will make a nice easy border connecting the two that are already well established.  Since it looks like today won't be rainy after all,  I plan to do that this afternoon.  Dan is off to his double header in Wahpeton.

Can I go too?

Whenever we set a bag down in the kitchen before departure or on arrival home, Big Kitty is there in less than a mn making herself at home.  Dan often travels with a clothes basket between home and Shakopee and she jumps right into that too.   It's just a funny thing that she always does.  

Dan had the day off today and we planned to take the jet-ski to another lake but the weather didn't cooperate-it was very gray and a little windy here.  It feels like a storm could be brewing tonight as it's very muggy.  Friday sounds like it will be a nice day-hope so!  Have a good weekend!

Slugs Killed

The board method has killed about 60 slugs thus far.  I think I'm winning.

More yard photo's

This side of the garage used to be a huge eyesore.  I do not remember adding that day lily but it looks happy there.
This is the first new bed that I added in June.  There are about 10 hostas and 3 sedum plants clustered around this old wheelbarrow that I found in the woods behind the cabin.  It's located to the left of the driveway as you come into our place.  There are some wild daisies and a charming blue wildflower that blooms like crazy all over the point this time of year.  You can see it in the fake arrangement further down.  It makes a nice cut flower and lasts for quite awhile.
Just a little window box on the east side of the garage that never gets noticed.  That's a tiny hosta growing in the middle.
The hostas along this sidewalk to our house have been here as long as the sidewalk, 7-8 years?  I know I posted this already but they got so huge this year...yes I know...that's what she said.  I'll save you the trouble Warren. :)
I'll end with my favorite place to read.  This is our second Sky chair after the first finally wore out.  This one is to weather the elements so we'll see how long it lasts.  They're made in Boulder Colorado and they're the most comfortable chair to have outside.  Much better than my hammock which is still sitting sadly down in our basement.  

Yard pictures 2008

It looks like the laundry is hanging from our pergola but it's just the panels I hung for privacy and a cozy feeling blowing in the strong winds we have today.
The hostas are in full bloom.  I think they look pretty right now but in a couple of weeks they will look all scraggley and I will have to cut off all the old blooms.  
Here's a brand new hosta bed that I put in 2 weeks ago.  The grass won't grow here behind the house but I know the hostas will.  In a couple of years the dozen hostas here will be full and lovely.
The big hostas that you see here are about 7 years old.  They make a nice border.  I wish I had used more varigated but I used what I had on hand-plain old green.
This bed is three years old.  It's another spot where the grass wouldn't grow and it's starting to look pretty decent.  Every year I try to add two or three more hosta beds.  I've done two this year and hope to get another in.  Less to mow you know!

Sneaky little buckthorn!

I told you that buckthorn was evil!  See how it's sneaking up on the left side of this oak?  Just hoping that I won't notice?  I see you all right and your days are numbered.

Fakin' It

50% of this arrangement is fake.  Can you tell which part?  I didn't think so.  I read an article in a country living magazine a few months ago about adding real flowers to artificial and how it's a very common practice.  I've been doing this with some of my fakes for a few years so I was glad to hear it's "okay." Not that it really would have mattered.
Here's another arrangement that's about 50% real.  The artificial flowers give you a nice base and hold the real flowers in place.  It lasts much longer because half of the arrangement NEVER dies!  Anyone else using this little trick?  If not, you should try it.

Demotivators

The early worm is for the birds!

I love these.  Go to DESPAIR to check out some others.

Tuesday stuff

Today is going to be one of those summer days where I don't go anywhere, not even into Elbow.  It's a beautiful day just like yesterday.  I started mowing yesterday and I'm working at it today too.  I like to do chunks.  If I did the entire yard at once it would take at least 3 hours.  So I do a bit, go in the house, read, clean, surf the web, eat, then head out and do another chunk.  It's tolerable that way and it works for me.  

Yesterday I finished Sex Wars and I highly recommend it.  It's a fascinating look at women's lives post civil war period and their struggle for rights.  This historical piece of fiction takes place in Manhattan and it's an interesting glimpse into what the city was like then.  

So, I returned that book and checked out the new book for August-The Book Thief.  I have to admit I'm having a hard time getting into it but I know it's going to get better.  While in town, I spent an hour in my classroom sorting and organizing.  That project seems to be getting better too!  This post picture should really say,  I dreamed my classroom was clean!!!

Pretzel Dip

Mom brought this pretzel dip on the 4th of July and we brought the leftovers to Nancy's.  Everyone seemed to like it quite a bit!  I loved it.

Pretzel Dip

1 cup sugar

2 tsp veg oil

2 cups mayonnaise-not Miracle Whip

1 T. garlic powder

1/4th cup honey mustard

Mix together and serve with pretzels.  Easy!   

This makes a lot, I would probably cut it in half.

Fun photo's

I used the night setting on my camera to try to capture the beautiful moonlight reflections we had last week.  This came somewhat close.  
This came from Shari's blog.  Carly models the new aprons her mom has been sewing and the highly coveted Rachel Ray Pyrex bowl.  Carly loves to cook and help Shari in the kitchen!  She looks so grown up in this photo-I can't stand it.
Here's that barn I love at the Mn Arboretum.  Did I post this already...oh well.
At the museum in Madison, they had a schoolhouse and I had to pose in my favorite role.  I only wish my desk was always this neat!

Looks like Gracie loved her birthday cake!