October-Fest Eve

If you look at the calendar, we still have a few hours before October. Yet, there sure was a lot of October-Festing going on. I guess since most of my day was seasonally related, I was festing, too.

Took a road trip to Waupaca with my friend Marigene. I didn't have any furniture shopping advice to give her, but sometimes it's just fun to have someone along for the ride. After visiting Stange's, where I got some inspiration for next home improvements, we headed north of town to Christiansen's Orchard.

This wasn't a pick-your-own gig.

They had lots of interesting varieties bagged up, along with various jams, jellies, and apple cider.

All I could think was that I don't have a kitchen right now to do any baking. So...

I bought one of their fabulous-looking apple pies. Still gotta get some vanilla ice cream tomorrow. Then I'll dig into it.

Jim had choir up in Rudolph this afternoon, but when we got home we headed to Whiskey Rapids Saloon to meet some friends for their Oktoberfest celebration.

Caught a few tunes from the Ultimate Polka Band from Stevens Point. Then it switched over to a country band.

Blame it on Waylon is an amazing regional band. Could've listened to them all night but my stinkin' allergies are still messing with me. Still don't fell 100% so wisely called it an early night. Maybe instead of fall allergies, these are just September ones.

I guess it's time to welcome October! Everybody's doing it.

WTF (What The Fall?)

Been a little out of the loop as I deal with a new fall favorite. Not pumpkin spice. Allergies! 

Woke up Thursday morning coughing and had a runny nose. That continued through the day and in one of my work meetings, someone mentioned maybe I had fall allergies. Well, I've never had those before!

But according to Dr. World Wide Web, I definitely matched the symptoms: runny nose, coughing, watery eyes and even the "dark circles under the eyes." Who knew that was a symptom? As a precaution, I took a COVID test and that was negative. I just couldn't figure out what triggered it. Until... 

One of the online sites had this to say: Mold is another fall trigger. You may think of mold growing in your basement or bathroom – damp areas in the house – but mold spores also love wet spots outside. Piles of damp leaves are ideal breeding grounds for mold.

So you mean after spending an hour in the light rain in piles of leaves for a photo shoot Wednesday night, that could be a trigger?! Sure was. 

Claritin helped but I took today off anyway. I think I needed to catch up on rest after three solid weeks of gutting the kitchen and dining room plus a wedding in there. My body needed to rest. And the rest of the house needed a little attention.

Didn't get too far with that. I woke up in the middle of the night and ended up watching the Ryder Cup (over in Italy) and tried a few naps today between mopping, washing windows, and of course – golfing!

It's been a few weeks since my golf partner Marigene and I got out. We were a bit rusty, but who cares? Let's get more rounds in since it FINALLY stopped raining. I figured as long as I already had the allergy gig going, I might as well try to enjoy the outdoors.

And keep Kleenex (or Porta Potty toilet paper) on hand! 

Like I said, I am not used to or equipped to handle fall allergies. Bless your heart if you deal with this every year. Now that I've been there, done that, I don't really see the need to experience this again.

Just do your thing, Claritin. Please.

You Need to Move Along, Noah

Figures that after months of drought conditions, we've had non-stop rain for days. Like inches per day at a time. I know we need it, but dang, it's been ill-timed. First, Saturday for the wedding and now today for a senior photo shoot. But I survived both and made the best of it. 

Take that, Noah!

It reminded me to step outside and try to capture some artsy-fartsy rain pictures.

Weird thing. It seems like rain drops only collect on the backside of pretty leaves. 

Maybe that's not always the case, but definitely in my yard anyway. Still, very pretty, if you ask me!

I was glad it lightened up a bit for my photo shoot this afternoon. And since the young man wanted to wear a baseball cap for most of it, he was cool with it. Thank goodness it wasn't a girl with hair issues! 

I guess there's positives in everything. We just have to look for it. Even if they are soggy!

Your Sports Updates

Oh gosh, I've been so busy with weddings and kitchen cabinets that I've neglected to celebrate my sports accomplishments with you!

I was actually in Minnesota Friday night when the Twins officially clinched the AL Central Division. That was sweet! Side note: I love that our new in-laws are Twins fans!

And not to be overlooked... my Swedish Chef Mafia fantasy football team is 3-0 and I've been the high scorer every week!

Now, why can't my REAL football team do that? We were actually IN Minnesota to give our good vibes on Sunday. But no good vibes were to be had. I mean, it was cool to celebrate with fellow Vikings fans when we did good things. But we were all disappointed once again. Gonna have to see what happens with that.

On the local front, our Royals football team got a homecoming victory Saturday while we were out of town – after 3 OTs, no less! I'm going to have to get busy and catch up on our fall sports now that the big stuff is out of the way. That said, I could've gone to volleyball tonight but I had to say goodbye to the kiddos, who are starting their Midwest family tour, and Sylvester and I have plans.

Gotta watch The Voice. Not quite the same type of competition, but we enjoy it!

Wedding Album :: Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

Most of you have heard about the tradition that brides should wear (or carry) "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" on their wedding day for good luck. 

What does that mean? The Old English rhyme is all about good luck charms, "Something Old (symbolizes continuity), Something New (offers optimism for the future), Something Borrowed (represents borrowed happiness), and Something Blue (purity, love and fidelity)."

This isn't all the pictures I snapped, but here's a little bit of the Old, New, Borrowed, Blue from our wedding weekend...

OLD

God bless these kids for including so much history in their celebration. And, of course, God bless Pinterest for this amazing Family Tree (literally) idea!

During setup on Friday we strung some thin wire around the tree and hung "replica" photos of the generations of couples that came before Casey and Emily.

What a seriously cool idea. It turned out great. Unfortunately, since it rained as soon as the ceremony was done, I don't know if a lot of people got to check it out. Still, so cool.

Jim and I provided this old table cloth. And when I say old, I mean old.

Jim's Grandma Austin gave him this table cloth before she died. She shared a birthday with Casey so it was a special reason to get it drycleaned and use it. Embroidered on the edge is the May 25, 1910 wedding date of Jim's great-grandparents. It was also used at his grandparents' wedding. Now we'll have to get all three dates (and names) sewn on there. (Side note: anyone do this as a hobby??)

Another old thing was the drink glasses. Emily and her mom collected all this vintage glassware (I only contributed a few) they found at Goodwill or estate sales over the past 2 years.

Each guest just picked their glass for the evening and kept it. Again... what a cool idea!

Emily also had an antique from her side of the family.

A nearly century-old cake topper used in many family weddings!

NEW

Let's start with my wedding date's NEW look! I'll admit it took about a half hour Friday morning to realize it, but it must have been because I wasn't looking at his face. When I did see his clean-shaven look, I was surprised. And pleased. Sorry, not sorry.

Sure, Emily has a new dress, but the important NEW thing is that we have a new member of our family!

An official new daughter and sister! That's damn cool. We love her. She's just so awesome!

Guess who else has a Cricut? Yup, Em created all kinds of cool stuff for the day!

An old tradition but new to us was the 'ring warming ceremony." A pouch holding the rings was passed through the entire crowd during the ceremony so we could all touch the rings while wishing good intentions for the couple. Neat!

And here's the new couple with their first new couple kiss!

And Casey with his new bride!

BORROWED

Naturally when you have a wedding, you are borrowing (aka renting) a lot of things – including the place we got for the wedding party to stay. This is just one of the gathering areas inside the former Maiden Rock Creamery now Maiden Rock Retreat.

I think 7 or 8 couples stayed here. Not us. We were in a hotel down in Lake City. We didn't want to cramp their young people's vibes.

When I returned to the Creamery on Saturday morning for "hair and makeup," the groom was taking care of his rental, too!

When we got to Liberty Tree Farm for pictures before the ceremony, the decoration elves had visited!

Their decorating vendor did an amazing job!

The head bride and groom table up on the stage.

A vintage vibe for relaxing while "signing" the guest book.

And by signing, I mean, leaving a voice message for their audio guestbook. Old, New, and Borrowed!

BLUE

Whether part of the tradition or not, navy blue was the color the mother of the bride and I wore!

Our baby cleans up nice, too!

And he and his girlfriend Mamie are always cute, of course!

That's it for the brief photo synopsis. It was a gorgeous wedding. The rain and thunderstorms held off until after the ceremony was done, thankfully. Then we had a quick pivot of plans and had to move the outdoor bar and dancing area inside the greenhouse reception hall. In the end, it all worked out! 

Feeling blessed beyond measure!

One and Done

We were thrilled today that our rock star painting squad got the kitchen and dining room walls painted in a single day. Hurray!

Sheds and his worthy assistant were busy before I even got up this morning. Hey, it was a vacation day so I slept in until a whoppin' 8 a.m.

The person buying our old cupboards had a family emergency so wasn't coming today. So I postponed cleaning them up for now. So while the dynamic duo slaved away I got some photo work done and errands, too. 

Enjoying a celebratory beer for a productive one-and-done day! Hey, some people tip with money. Some people with Budweiser!

I had to run to cross country. Then hubby and I met at El Mezcal for dinner – gotta start using up some of our gift cards when we don't have a kitchen! Took pictures when we got home. Anything not painted white is where cupboards are going.

And at that wall where we had wainscoting panels (that's a new word I learned today), we'll have something special that I'll share a photo of once it's installed. 

Whew! First stage complete! Now we can pack tonight and enjoy a wedding weekend!