Summer Kickoff

This week signifies the beginning of summer. Suddenly there's all kinds of traffic and hubbub around town. All kinds of people head "up north" to enjoy the lakes and spend time at the tourist shops. There are getting to be fewer "tourist shops" in our little town these days. We have a WalMart and a Dollar Tree and the Mom and Pop stores have all but vanished. I don't blame WalMart, it just happens.

We aren't doing anything major on this holiday weekend. We are going to work on finishing up the patio and other odd jobs around the place. Yesterday we took it easy, it had been another long week.

We did go and pick up our first week of veggies from the CSA we joined. They have a high tunnel so they can get things much earlier than a regular garden It was so exciting to see what would be in our box of goodies. It's early but we got lettuces, spinach, asparagus, bok choy, rhubarb (which we have already), and kohlrabi.

I made the asparagus yesterday to go with our pulled pork. It was pretty tasty. I've never really used kohlrabi much so will have to see what it works best in. I could have chopped it up and added it to my coleslaw I suppose.

We had a load of wood delivered yesterday so that will need stacking in our free time too. Summer is a busy time of year.

Picture of the week:

Lilacs are finally blooming here, I was afraid they would get frostbitten again this year.

P.S. They won.

Random blooms

I've been keeping an eye on this Robin's nest from last summer. I'm curious to see if it will be re-used this season. Are Robin's thrifty and into recycling like us?

The apple tree that we've struggled with since it was planted has blooms - There's hope!

Another go-round with a bleeding heart. I've had little success getting more than a couple years out of one. This one is so pretty, red instead of the normal pink, so I have my fingers crossed!

Frank had his sleep study this week. We haven't gotten the "official" report but, unofficially, he doesn't have sleep apnea. That's good news, he has enough to deal with as it is.

Photo of the week: Cooper was instructed to "Watch Mom" while Dad went in to the hospital overnight. He got some R & R :)

P.S. They won (we lost on the tie-breaker)

Home improvement just in time for Mother's Day

We have been planning on adding concrete patios back and front for years. Well, this was the year to finally get it done! We met a man that could handle the job and with his son and 1 helper they have made that dream a reality. It was a treat to watch this man as he taught his son (who is 13) the procedure. It was encouraging to watch the time honored tradition of showing the next generation the skill of creating a masterpiece out of dirt and mud. We will enjoy them for many years to come.

These are the front walk, we decided to make it bigger than a sidewalk. I'm glad we did, I can think of alot of things to fill up that side seasonally :)

We won't have to rake and cut weeds that used to come up under the patio furniture anymore plus it should cut down on the amount of dirt that get's tracked in.

Card from Mike and Angie and picture made by Milo for my fridge

Angie picked out this plant for our new patio, I love climbers!

We had a good visit with Mike, Angie, and boys today and then I had a good visit with Crystal over the phone. It was a good Mother's Day - I am blessed...

P.S. They won again :(

May Flowers

Wandering around the yard today I noticed the May flowers have made their appearance. That's what we call them, there's probably a scientific name. I always enjoy them, they don't last long and once the mowing season starts they disappear. The mowing season has probably started but we haven't gotten that ball rolling just yet.

I was also excited to see that my fern leaf peony that I have been babying for years and transplanted to a different area last year has made an appearance. The flower beds are a mess but there just hasn't been opportunity to get that ball rolling yet either!

This week seems to be shaping up as the previous 2 - busy, busy, busy...

A bittersweet goodbye

Dale was finally released from the hospital today and they let him come home, he was eager to have Elke home with him so we took her over to him. He looks a bit pale yet but he's determined to get up and about as soon as he can. He was so happy to see his girl and we were happy for him but I miss her already. Cooper was talking to us when we came home without her. He misses her too.

Crystal and Dale are here for the weekend from Mitchell, they rented a cabin so they could bring Tucker along since we didn't think 3 dogs in the house was going to work out very well. Cooper and him tend to get on each other's (and everyone else's) nerves pretty quickly. But they spend part of the day with us and then had Ang and family over to the cabin with all the kids for a cookout and games. They stopped by here for a couple hours this evening and will stop over tomorrow before heading back home.

Picture of the week:

P.S. They won