August 2013 Photo Dump

Just pictures & some brief descriptions… for those who like to see…

Jeff just had to try this...

Friends at our local Home Depot

Anniversary Dinner @ Meritage

A bush I liked, perhaps to add to my garden...

Date Night

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We had a friend visiting from New York, he's a big Mets fan so he came out for the Mets/Twins game… guess who won (hint, it wasn't our local boys)...

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I like my new DL better...

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Our Small Group doing a service project, loading up backpacks...

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Kim & Ben...

Jeff makes a new girlfriend… yes, its a grill… no, he didn't get it...

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Today, August 31st, we went for a walk & to lunch… the rest of these pictures are from our walk… Jeff is a very patient guy when it comes to me taking pictures :)

Jeff put down a quarter for scale & this guy just crawled right over…

Double-click pictures to enlarge & you'll see the waterfowl...

After lunch, Jeff decides to try something new...

It's a dessert Egg Roll (Strawberry Banana) which he said was "fudge-puppy-like",
he decided it was ok for him to have one since we'd skipped the State Fair this year.

What is that in the distance??

Turkeys!!

Back home, my Aster is blooming nicely (despite the bunnies trying to eat it to death)...

And the Band Played On...

Mom left a couple days ago :(  and I just hadn't been up to blogging about the rest of her visit until now… when last I left off it was July 4th, mid day, and Mom & Jeff were putting together…

Jeff & Mom sitting on the table & chair set they put together… you can see the instructions taped to the siding...

Evening of July 4th found us at White Bear Lake, waiting for Jeff's concert to start. Marta was well rested by then...

Tim is relaxing… looking very much at home nestled in a pine tree :)

Our view of the lake...

Our view of the bandshell...

Our favorite band member, Jeff...

Later, when things were getting dark… band had been playing for a while by the time this photo was taken… wonderful as always & finished with Stars & Stripes Forever as the Fireworks started - Yes!!

Mom got a cute pair of Sandals while here, and kitty decided the box was hers...

I think she's a little annoyed that the camera disturbed her nap...

Mom playing some more with her new iPhone… by the time she left she was a pro!!

Saturday, the 6th, we went & played mini-golf… Mom got this close to the flag on her first shot on the last hole (shown getting ready for her 2nd shot)… almost a hole in one!!

We followed up mini-golf with lunch at Q Cumbers (wonderful salad bar) & later took Mom to Glockenspiel (a local German restaurant) for dinner.

Mom left on Monday… Oreo looks as bummed out as I feel… we miss her!!

Life is pretty much back to normal… we had a torrential downpour yesterday (once again I didn't need to water)...

I stopped by Ten Thousand Villages (my old haunt) while in the area yesterday, got to catch up a bit with Kathy (manager)… she gave me this nice selection of CDs to donate to our church's ESL Music Camps that will be taking place in Ukraine this summer - a sweet gift I'm certain the music teachers will really appreciate!!

Well, gotta go, gotta get ready to go for a get-together with our Small Group, we're doing a barbecue… and the band played on!!

Through Sunshine & Storms...

Things have been… ummm… "exciting" here lately :)

Things were nice and sunny for another one of Jeff's concerts… this one in a beautiful outdoor location in Plymouth.

Then we had some nasty storms blow through… resulting in…

Very early Friday morning (4-6am) large Cottonwood tree, 90-100' tall, fell in our woods & between the houses of 2 of our neighbors… No people, pets, buildings damaged… just a bit of damage to some fences and a mess to clean up… Praise God!!

Roots of the tree… and a pit left behind...

Our neighbor Lloyd (in the background) helped cut up the tree & bend the fences back (a temporary fix to the fences for the neighbor dogs), his son & I dragged all the cuttings & wood away except for these big chunks which Lloyd moved - I saved one large chunk to use in my Studio - but it needs to dry first so its sitting in the garage for now.

But did we get a break?  No… that same night some even stronger storms came through… Brooks Pond filed up in only about 15-20 minutes because the rains were so hard…  This time no more trees down - Phew!!

This is Roxanne, a friend of ours that got married on Saturday down in Rochester… why is she standing in a Garage?  That's right, more storms… but these were off & on, so there were breaks in the action… she was in the Garage waiting for one of those breaks so she could get into the car (below) with her new husband (Nolan) to go get some photos taken at a local park.

It was coming down pretty hard… Nolan had to wait a while…

Jeff and I just purchased one of these little sets, I'm going to see if I can get Mom to help me put it together… Mom comes for a visit today!!  This set will sit on our Front Porch, and is heavy enough that it shouldn't get blown off the porch by storms… much better than our plastic Adirondack chairs :)

Finally a sunny day, and Jeff got to use his new toy to make dinner… he's a happy boy!!  But then it's Jeff, he's always a happy boy :)  And dinner was delicious!!  Steak & Sweet Corn cooked on the grill…. Mmmmm….