The Flowers Are Blooming

This has been a real good summer for flowers. Many of our perenials have been blooming for months. When one variety ends, another takes it's place. Right now it is the common wild lilies turn to shine"

As always, you can click the image for a larger view.





Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Wildlife Everywhere!

Those of you who know us are well aware of the fact that we love seeing wildlife in their natural habitat. Living out here in the country enables us to see some form or another of our wild friends every day. Don't get me wrong, it's not everyday we see a coyote or turkey, but we can pretty much guarantee that we will see deer, chipmunks, squirrels and colorful birds every day of the year.

Here are a few pictures of some of those scenes. The hunter with the turkey is a friend of ours from Iowa. Kirk bagged the turkey after only ten minutes in our woods. In fact he had three "toms" to choose from as they all showed up at the same time while he was calling.








The coyote picture shows the mount while we were still working on it in the workshop. It turned out pretty good and is now mounted in our living room. After all, who doesn't have at least one "brush dog" in their home?

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Fun Days Parade

The 2008 annual North Mankato Fun Days Parade is now history. The weather was perfect for a crowd of nearly 10,000 people to watch the 100 floats, bands and occasional politician.
Our churches float turned out real good, thanks to many helping hands.

Here are a few pictures:





As always, I did not take enough pictures to do the event justice. I guess I will just have to say that " you had to be there."

Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

I am finally getting around to updating the site for you.

As promised, I have some updated pictures of two of our many projects...The church float for the Fun Days Parade and the finished remodel project in our mud room.







I will get some final pictures of the float for you this weekend. We are under the gun now as the parade is Saturday morning.

Our youngest son Andy, called last night to check in. All is good with him in Seattle. It is always a bright spot in our day when he calls.

You will notice that I have a few ads on the page. If something is of interest to you, feel free to click on the ad and check it out. The company sends a few cents my way when you click.

Until we get together again...Tune in soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Back to Work

Yesterday, many of us had a rude awakening and had to return to work after at least a three day weekend. It was tough breaking the cycle of BBQ and beer...but the break has been made and life is normal once again.

Sunday was a busy day as we worked on the float for the Fun Day's Parade scheduled for this Saturday.

Sue was very busy sewing the panels for the float.



It is hard to imagine that this trailer will be transformed into a float deserving of the Rose Bowl Parade.



We have a crew from the church coming over Wednesday evening to finish the float. I will post pictures for sure.

I was looking through some recent pictures and found one I had not posted. It is a family picture of those who attended our nephew's graduation party and Harv's birthday party in Owatonna,MN several weeks ago.



Just one more picture today. Ben and Anna finished their walkway and patio project. It turned out great.



That is all for now...tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

The Most Amazing BBQ

Well, Our oldest son Ben has outdone himself...again.

As you may already know, Ben and his most charming wife Anna (she may slug me for that) invited Sue and I over to their home for BBQ and BEER. Being the good parents we are, we gladly accepted the invitation...and who wouldn't since beer was involved?

We arrived at about 4:30 July 4th and saw Ben slaving away over the grill. This recipe for ribs call for them to be cooked for five hours so the various rubs and sauces can be absorbed properly. The homemade baked beans were also made on the grill with some of the juice drippings from the ribs...that, and many different spices. Now I consider homemade baked beans being a combination of the contents of a can and maybe some brown sugar. Not with these guys. They even soaked the beans in water to un-something them. Then the good stuff is added in the proper proportions.

Sue made a wonderful side dish and a rhubarb desert.

OK, now for the punchline. The meal was literally out of this world! I can't even explain the flavor! So I won't even try. Do you know how some BBQ has the strong taste of vinegar? Well, this did not and it was most delicious. Great job Ben!
When can we do it again?






Do we look full?



Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"

Seeing Is Believing

Just when you thought it was safe again to check into this blog, you discover more pictures.







Two More...




That is all for now..thank goodness. Tune in again soon for another edition of "Now What Are They Doing?"