FURNITURE I PAINTED THIS SUMMER

Little blurry- a stool to be able to reach the sink, to brush teeth and learn the letters in his name. 

Doing homework at a pink desk!  What more could a first grader girl ask for?  So easy now, it won't seem like homework.  

A new baby joined the family about a week ago.
The baby shower this summer called for a painted rocking chair.  The book Goodnight Moon, and the little dog peeking at the rocker were wrapped up for the baby gift. Welcome to Baby Emil!

GREAT RIVER ROAD TRIP ~ PICTURES TAKEN ALONG THE WAY

 SUMMER TRIP UP THE     GREAT RIVER ROAD IN    WISCONSIN


My sister, Geri, and I visited several shrines and grottos on our trip.  
This blue "tree" of candles was at one of them.  They raise and lower it mechanically to light the candles.  Amazing!

 We stopped and read every single historical marker along the way.  They are very interesting and bring to "light" the history many nuns had us read about in elementary and middle school.  Visiting the places made it all real.

One priest built an entire grotto with stones, glass pieces, odds and ends from all over the world.  Cement must've been his "friend" for several years!

The Beatitudes in cement. The tree of life made of glass, stones and knick knacks.

A few glass balls were perched on pillars at the entrance.  I'm in this one! 

Each small shrine holds a saint, with The Blessed Virgin watching over the entire area.

Remember Little House on the Prairie?

Inside of Laura Ingalls Wilder childhood home.

THE  Little House on the Prairie.

 In Alma, WI Geri and I stayed at this Bed and Breakfast.  We entered the house and had a sign greet us that said:  Go upstairs, choose a room. Charge for the room is on the back of the door.  Leave money and key on the dresser when you leave.  Enjoy the parlor downstairs and breakfast in the morning.

We choose the Red Room.  This was my bed.  Geri's was a full size antique bed. The room was cozy and full of antiques.  The bathroom was shared by all the rooms.  We were the only guests, so we had it to ourselves.  In the morning we were treated to coffee, toast and homemade marmalade.
An interesting way to run a bed and breakfast.  

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

GREAT RIVER ROAD TRIP
Last week my sister and I headed to the Southwestern corner of Wisconsin. Starting in Kieler, WI we traveled up the Great River Road. Stopping at every small town and many places along the Mississippi River. The weather cooperated and we had a great time.  

This tugboat was pushing several large barges down the Mississippi River, heading for St. Louis.  We stopped to watch as it went through the locks. Talking to the young man in charge of the ropes and yelling out numbers we learned that WI is the only state along the Mississippi with locks to maneuver through.  It would take this barge about 1 1/2 hours to clear the locks. Must take days to get to Missouri.

Fortunately, there is still transportation movement along the Great Mississippi.  We saw barges, boats, semis and a multitude of trains running up and down on and near the mighty river.   

Double decker trains.  The river ~ the train tracks ~ the Great River Road ~ all next to each other and we were meandering up the road, at our own pace.

Necedah Visitor Center ~ totally operating by solar power and recycled rain water.  I will return to this center in the spring, seeing a small part of it makes me want to return. 

Wisconsin is a beautiful state!
Wandering Wisconsin is fun, informative, friendly, eye-opening and amazing.
Try it ~ live like you mean it!

GO PACK GO!

The shoot that the Green Bay Packers come out of.

Stealth Bomber flies over after singing
The Star Spangled Banner.

The Pack coming out of the shoot, flanked by cheerleaders and flag bearers.

67,000 plus people attended this game.
It was the last pre-season game for the Packers.
Thanks to my God-child, Brenda, we had the opportunity to go to it. Gives a different impression when up close!

A pretty picture!  

Aaron Rodgers - #12 - watching and hanging out. He played, but not the entire game.  We were so close, I watched the guys that were not playing walk around, talking and joking with each other.
Very different view than on TV!

Security was everywhere.

So were cheese heads!
Over 67,000 of them!
The season begins! 

SUMMERTIME

Home for 42 days and not one day on my blog.
What can I say/it rained, it was dreary, we had storms; it was cold. So goes June. 
July still has wind, rain and storms/but warmer weather to help cope with all of it. 
Our yard has been blooming. I've been planting perennials, so the garden is up and ready to bloom upon our return from Florida. It's working...

Some of my yard art, featured in the front of the daisy garden. 

The new garden I started this year.

Stepping stone garden with strawberries in back of it. 

Daisy "fence" with crooked willow tree planted in the rock circle. 

 We have been trying to out think the squirrels for years.  We usually end up applauding them, for their crazy antics and persistence in feasting on the bird seed that we put out in "squirrel proof" feeders. 
This year we have a new resident in our yard~a black squirrel.  It is very brave and agile. Climbing into the sunflower feeder hanging in the middle of the yard and also coming up  on the deck     to say, "Good Morning" to me. 




If he/she only knew the seed is in the metal cans!  So far, even the raccoons that scrounge around at night haven't cracked into the cans yet.  
Maybe I am outsmarting them? 

Pretty flowers in the yard.                                        

VISITOR FROM PUERTO RICO

Josh's day in Florida was spent with his Aunt and Grandmother. We met at Downtown Disney, eating at the House of Blues, a boat ride across the lake and ice cream while chatting.  Grandma Ortiz is visiting Daisy, her daughter, for a month.  Luckily, at the same time Josh was coming down to Florida.  
We had a fun afternoon, catching up and commenting on how wonderful Grandma in looking and doing for almost 80!  Josh was all smiles, all day, as almost every turn is a Kodak moment for Daisy! 

Daisy and Josh at House of Blues.

Josh and Grandma Ortiz amongst the flowers at Downtown Disney. (Grandma loves flowers!)

The ceiling, in the entrance, at the House of Blues.
Shoes, artistically painted, in a circle overhead. 

LONG TIME SINCE I'VE SEEN YOU, MY BLOG

WHOA! What a busy month it has been.  Joe left Florida several days before I did.  Josh flew into Orlando, barely breathing the air of Florida, we took off early heading for Michelle's. After 19 hrs. we arrived at Michelle's!  Whew...long drive, but fun and safe. 
We helped Michelle and Ryan move the rest of their belongings, to the country.  Great place Ryan and Michelle!  Two days of moving and unloading.  The next day was a shopping trip to enhance Haden's room. We ended up in a basement, watching the 'shelf' clouds over us and listening to the tornado warnings.  

In an underground garage/basement
avoiding the rain, wind, hail and trying
to stay safe. Listening to the radio
weather announcements. 

Cracks of lightening made Michelle and I jump, later finding out a tree across the street was down in front a house.  






Bless the people of Joplin and Sedalia, where the tornadoes really took a toll on those towns. We were thankful to have a place to go to stay safe.

The back patio at Ryan and Michelle's new country home, in Missouri.  Relaxing and no music needed/the birds are so plentiful!  Having coffee out there in the morning was delightful!