Dog Days of Summer Vacation

The dog days of summer vacation are doggone awesome! If I do say so myself.

Got to spend my morning with Oakley...

His big brother Max and their momma Chris, sipping frothy coffee and catching up!

Then, I got to spend the afternoon with Buddy...

His brother Blue and their momma Cindy, sitting under the shade tree, shootin' the breeze.

Then I got to spend the evening with hubby, toasting 18 years together (tomorrow), stuffing ourselves with the amazing food at Two Lakes Supper Club... and bringing home a DOGGY bag of carrot cake. You knew there was a dog in there somewhere. And I can't call him an old dog... until his birthday Friday. Yup. It's one special week on Blue Jay Drive.

Made more special with girlfriend (and dog) time today, too! Summer vacation is pretty awesome thing when I think about it.

Communing With Nature

Since it's Monday I can now officially say I'm on vacation. And sitting around on my "dairy air" as much as possible! And thinking up new puns, of course. You're welcome!

I have a couple daily vacation goals...

1. Enjoy my morning coffee with Mr. Deck Chair and just BE outside as much as possible. Be one with nature. When it's not raining, that is.

2. Appreciate the weather. Even rejoice in the rain. Good for crops and grass and my flowers... and definitely forced me inside to do the dusting, vacuuming, etc. I didn't get to this weekend. Glad to knock that off my list.

3. Stop and smell the flowers. Even make new friends!

You know I'm a sucker for brown eyes!

4. Eat the most important meal of the day: Ice Cream! Sorry, no photo. It was 80-some degrees today and it was melting fast!

5. Get 10,000 steps per day (so I can enjoy #4 guilt-free). Again, no photos because I was melting fast!

6. Get some yard work done.

This might not be a daily goal. I was going to do some work in the front and got distracted by this cute little bunny.

Much preferred to snakes. So maybe I just stay away from the backyard all together. Well, at least put it off another day.

7. Watch some TV that I want to watch or read or both. Did both today. Hubby gave me the remote at 6:30 p.m. and told me to watch Wheel of Fortune to "boost my self-esteem." 100% accurate statement. It always does. Ha.

Oh wow. Seven items? I better stop there before vacation starts looking like work!

Double the Fun

It's strange, but in adulthood, it's a rare year when my twin and I can celebrate our birthday together. This year, thanks to a Sunday birthday, the stars aligned and we could have some fun together!

We decided to meet halfway between us – her going 2 hours south and me going 2 hours north – for some kayaking fun. We were born under a "water sign" after all! I'd taken her once but it was a brief, windy, wavy effort that didn't leave the greatest impression. Today we rectified that. I basically picked a random boat landing and we took it from there.

We were on the north side of Menomonie, just south of Cedar Falls on Tainter Lake, where it flows into Lake Menomin.

 Had to laugh that both of us showed up driving our hubbies' pickup trucks. See "Redneck Twins" at 10 tonight on the RFD TV channel!

Red Twizzlers are our power food. They're a staple of any Hedberg sister road trip ... even trips on the water!

With temps in the high 80s, it was a great day for sunning... for all creatures. Mostly saw the hard-shell variety today.

Technically this is not only our birthday week, but July 4th week, too!

Raylene's got the hang of this paddling business!!

Got to sneak up on a blue heron. That was pretty cool.

No skeeters, but we did have some winged visitors. I had a dragonfly on my kayak.

Raylene was some sort of moth whisperer. This guy just sat on her hand a bit.

We found out where old sisters go to live – Hen Island. Endless hen parties!

Love Lene's hat!

We ended up grabbing lunch at Applebee's afterward because it was close by and the dining room was open and – duh, they give free ice cream treats for birthday girls! Happy, happy birthday...

Got home by 6 p.m. and Jim took me down to Sand Valley Golf Resort for yummy tacos and an ice cream treat at Craig's Porch there.

Wasn't a fancy sunset but the food was good, view was great, and the company was unbeatable.

Felt pretty special and spectacular for having an ordinary 50+ birthday. Thanks, everyone!

2021 Season Underway

Got my 2021 Senior Portrait Season underway today with my first victim, er smiling customer! Felt great to be behind the lens again, that's for sure.

Was a pretty warm day here in central Wisconsin. But this girl, who I've watched grow up in my church, was a real trooper. And we even had fun!

I already used my allotted computer time – self-imposed during vacation – looking through her pictures, so I'll keep this blog short. Plus there's not much else to report. As it should be on vacation!!

A few pictures from today. Elise is pretty much sunshine from the inside out!

Grotto Shrine in Rudolph is pretty cool.

A "suspension bridge" that I survived and lived to tell about it!

We're all in our happy place! She's happy this was the last photo and I'm happy it's my first batch!

Vacation Eve

Who's ready for vacation? Me! And kitty is showing me how to do it! P.S. She's a very good teacher.

Since I did work today, I guess vacation doesn't technically start until tomorrow.

But I think I'm getting the hang of it already. Little rain coming through forced my golf activity indoors for today, but I'll get out there a time or two during my mostly stay-cation.

Sylvester suggests I take a nap about once an hour, too. That sounds kind of ambitious, doesn't it? Think I'll just sleep in until 8 a.m. and take on the days. Or 8:30... or maybe 9. We'll see what moves me.

Tonight, though, it's possibly time to watch something on TV or dive into a book or just sit in my swing and swap mosquitoes. So many choices! And thankfully, so much time!

We May Now Commence to Birthday-ing

Remind me to set my alarm for work tomorrow because today felt like Friday. Well, felt like Sunday actually, since I've already commenced to celebrating my birthday.

Had massage therapy at lunch, golfed 9 holes with my friend Marigene after work, then she treated me to birthday ice cream at King Cone! Who's luckier than this girl? Nobody! And it's almost Friday.

We definitely had some fun on the golf course. Did not keep score and implemented the Birthday Unlimited Mulligans Rule. My gift to myself. And my serenity when I've only golfed twice this summer.

Gonna have to rectify that when I've off next week. Why not call it a birthday week? No plans other than spending as much time outside and away from my computer as possible. Forecast looks good for that.

May even get around to sampling more than one flavor at King Cone, too. Who knows? Getting older and wilder! Join me for the ride!

Flying Miss Daisy

Well would you look at that? This is what happens when you just take a picture on the side of the road and leave electric fences out of the equation. I can get a photo in focus AND an extra visitor driving, er flying, Miss Daisy.

Of course you know after I blogged last night, I had to go out and challenge myself. Obviously, I go pretty easy on myself. No major challenge other than to not break any laws. Whew. I got this!

So that was my excitement. How was your day?

Did you know that it's only 6 months until Christmas Eve? I mean really. What a waste of the first half of 2020. I think we can do better. Don't you?

Camera or no camera, I definitely need to focus on some positives. Some joy! Think I'll log off and get started now.

Out of F-f-f-focus

As someone who prides herself in photos that are in focus – or selective focus – I give you my latest failure. Nope, I was not trying to blur out the daisy and have the grass in crisp focus. And nope, I didn't make a mistake with my camera.

My mistake was that I was holding it through a fence to get a closer focus when my wrist rested briefly on the fence and..... ZZAAAPPPP!

Well I'll be damned. It's an electric fence!

How did I not know that? Because my brain was focused on one thing. And it wasn't the wire between me and the flowers.

Don't worry, I'm OK. It brought back memories of childhood, though, when we'd go for walks and want to cut through a farmer's field. We'd have to check to see if the fence was "hot" by placing a thick blade of grass on it. If it fried, we turned around. If nothing happened, we got brave, and grabbed to create space to crawl through. I guess our technique worked because this was my first zapping in my lifetime.

I'll have to keep that old trick in mind the next time my hand needs to trespass somewhere. And no, I was so agitated, I never did get a decent picture of the daisies. I think there's plenty around. I'll try again. Maybe just in a ditch, where my only concern is fat snakes, not hot wires.

Wish me luck!

Play Ball, Please

The latest news ticker says this: Players vote down MLB's latest offer to play 60 games, sources say

Ugh. I just really want to see my Twins play this summer. I want road trip in my new vehicle over the Twin Cities and take in a game with my family. Like last summer.

Instead, I'm stuck watching Classic MLB TV. And even if watching the exciting Game 7 of our World Series Championship never gets old. It's getting close.

I think Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer summed up my feelings best in his tweet: It’s absolute death for this industry to keep acting as it has been. Both sides. We’re driving the bus straight off a cliff. How is this good for anyone involved? Covid 19 already presented a lose lose lose situation and we’ve somehow found a way to make it worse. Incredible. 

I completely comprehend health concerns. But at this rate, when I finally get back to the office in person, it'll be football season already. (fingers crossed) Guess I should order a Vikings mask and skip a Twins one altogether. Not that fashion has anything to do with my desire to see a game. But if you see me walking around the neighborhood with my Homer Hanky wrapped around my head, you'll know I'm desperate for anything resembling baseball.

Find the middle ground, boys. Your fans everywhere are waiting to say, "Play ball!"

This Is My Father's World

This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world,
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,
His hand the wonders wrought. 

Started off Father's Day enjoying "my Father's world" with a hike around Lake Wazeecha. My neighbor Marigene and I had to trek around a lot of standing (and moving) water on the usual paths thanks to all the recent rains. Still we got our 4 miles in!

What a gorgeous day! Hubby enjoyed golfing with a buddy at Bull's Eye Country Club while I was walking. Then I figured I'd do the nice Father's Day gift and mow the front lawn. That got a little hot, but it needed it! Again, thanks to all the recent rain.

Later in the afternoon, we headed over to Jim's parents to celebrate with his dad and mom. See we're social distancing from them! We had takeout pizza so no one had to work on this Father's Day – though my sister-in-law made a pie for Dad and I baked cookies for him, too.

Feel blessed to have my father-in-law still here and healthy when I miss my dad on days on like these.

If you're still lucky enough to have your dad around, tell him you love him and certainly hug him as often as you can. Do not take the present for granted. I have great memories, but I'd give anything for one of his solid hugs!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads, step-dads, foster dads, "furry" dads, and father figures out there! Our lives are better because of your love and commitment!

Frosting Forecast

Woke up to this. Raining so hard we actually had standing water in the front yard while it tried to soak it up as fast as it was falling. So ix-nay on the morning walk.

Didn't take long for Sylvester to roll her eyes. "Rain? You've got to be kidding me. Get these humans out of my house!" Poor girl never catches a break from us when we're working from home. She did this afternoon, though.

Forecast called for 80 percent chance of rain... but 100% chance of cake. Had a few graduation parties to stop into, drop off cards, and say hello a bit. I had an opportunity for cake at each one. For me, a self-proclaimed frosting snob, it had to be worth it. So I only had cake at the middle one where the mom insisted it was the good, sweet kind of frosting. And it was sooooo good. Day made.

Well, seeing some Assumption folks I haven't seen since hoops season also made my day. A well-run party with hand-sanitizing stations and other safety measures in place. And the rain held off all evening so we could be outside a lot, too.

And when we got home after 10 p.m., it turns out our grumpy cat missed us. Or she at least pretended to. For all we know, her forecast was for 100% naps today. Not to be confused with any other day.