Unavoidable Case of the Mondays

Guess who's got a case of the Mondays? Well, I can tell you for certain Coach Austin does. I do. And definitely Mr. Deck Chair.

That's what happens when you go to bed with this view.

And wake up to this one! At least we were outside the belt of snow that dumped 24 inches on Stanley and 19 on Neillsville. As baseball umpires say, we're just a bit outside.

Speaking of baseball... of course all spring sports were called off today. We'll see what the field conditions are for the rest of the week when we're supposed to play at other schools who got more snow than us. The joys of spring sports.

Naturally I had to get a few photos of nature. With the previous snow melt Up North, we got plenty of water in Bloody Run Creek, which often doesn't have moving water. 

And doesn't usually have open water when there's snow.

And one final set of before and after pictures – this time the back yard...

A view yesterday looking towards the creek. You can see our mole mine field.

And today from creek to house. Maybe moles (and snakes) got snowed out for the year. That would be one case of the Mondays I could handle.

Be careful out there!

The Latest Buzz

In case you thought the first sign of summer was Memorial Day or people wearing flip flops or today's gorgeous temperatures. Nope. It's something far more annoying.

Mosquitoes!

We should have known that with all the snow, rain and flooding this spring that there'd be standing water everywhere – I mean I still see it in ditches – which is the ideal breeding ground for skeeters. Trust me. When you live on a creek that may or may not have water, you pay attention to when it does! It's always followed by a bumper crop of blood-suckers!

I guess I do know how to grow something, huh?

Other than not being able to stand outside for long this evening, it was a super nice day.

And no, I wasn't joking about summer-like temperatures! Too bad it won't stay like that all weekend. Chance of some rain here and there. And tonight there's a chance I might not even need to turn on my mattress pad.

Hey, we've got the A/C cranked (just days after running the furnace), so you never know.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

You can learn a lot from looking down at something other than your phone!

Today was my annual "let's pretend we don't have 2 black thumbs" day. In other words, try to distinguish weeds from plants before both are so big, it's an overwhelming project. I typically wait until the hottest day in July to do this, but I had a free Sunday, so why not start like the normal, two green-thumbed people?

My first task was taking the leaf blower to the white rock garden area and blowing out the dead leaves and other stuff I assume was dead. Then I actually pulled a few weeds so the Tiger Lily plants can grow and bloom without any competition.

The next big project will be re-doing the old rock border at the front of the house. Now that we have the snazzy new driveway, we can't make the rest of the yard look abandoned. So in an oxymoron of projects, we've got grass seed to grow grass (duh) next to the concrete, and I had to take Round-Up to the border area where grass is actually growing – and we don't want it to. So with one black thumb, I have dirt and trying to grow grass. With the other, I am the Black Thumb of Death and killing grass. I have way too much power.

Went to Home Depot with 8,000 other weekend warriors and got the Round-Up and a few other things and had a killer of an afternoon in the 70-degree sunshine.

When I had to take a wheelbarrow of branches, leaves and vines to the pile by the creek, I noticed our backyard was in bloom! I looked down and saw purple everywhere. I like that!

There are times in life I think I have strength and determination. But look at this little violet that pushed its way through an old log to bloom where it was planted.

"Bloom where you are planted." I have seen this old saying posted on my mother's bulletin board of inspirational thoughts, painted on garden plaques and heard it preached in sermons. It reminds me of that other saying I was blogging about just a few weeks ago: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Sometimes we just have to make the best of a situation.

Like these violets, covered with dead leaves, maybe mired in negative thoughts. They decided to rise above them. Be positive. And share their beauty.

We all have beauty to share. We do. It might seem like we have to fight through a lot of dead leaves and rotted wood to get there. But we have it. God has blessed each of us with certain abilities so we may invest them in others and bring glory to Him. As we use our God-given talents, we glorify Him and bless others. That is how His garden grows!

We must hold firm in our faith in Him and in ourselves. Look at this fire ant trying to intimidate this flower. The pretty violet is like, "Do you know what I have gone through to get to where I am? You don't scare me."

This flower reminds me that in order to bloom, we must have fire (purple fire) in our veins and faith in our souls. It also says we can never be perfectly pure (white). We wear our scars as proof that we have persevered. And that's beautiful.

The surprise bloom of the day was this bouquet of yellow flowers that rose up out of nowhere in the Bloody Run Creek. I've never seen them there any other spring. Ever.

They are beautiful and tell me to keep believing in miracles about myself and others.

God has planted us where we are that we might be a blessing. He wants you to take deep root. He believes that even someone with two black thumbs can make love, laughter and kindness bloom on our corner of Blue Jay Drive.

Thank goodness He believes in me. Because these pretty red flowers blooming in the front yard tell me I need a lot of work.

Noah Way

If you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin, you may be on the waiting list to get on Noah's ark.

Have we had a day without rain lately? How about a night without a "sound and light" show? In our area alone, there have been roads, schools and even lakes closed this week due to flooding. Crazy.

So far, the typically dried-up Bloody Run Creek in our backyard is not kayak ready. And we're OK with that.

What we're not OK with is fall temperatures like highs only in the mid-60s. Yes, I realize autumn is officially here, but I don't want to paddle if it's cold and rainy and the trees are ugly. Fall color is seriously lacking around here. I suspect it will be pretty one day and the leaves will be blown off (or rained off) the next. We do hope we can see some nice leaves from the 'yaks. Just have to make sure we can time it for a weekend excursion. It would be nice to go after work some evening, but guess what? Fall means the sun falls out of the sky faster.

Tonight we were in the living room and I thought it was pretty late. I looked at the clock and said to hubby, "Ohmigosh, it's 7:22 and it's already dark out!" Needless to say, not much daylight for paddling. And needless to say, I was ready to go to bed by 8:30!

Didn't help I got up for 5:40 a.m. kickboxing class today. Had to do it since I wasn't going to go out in the rain and do something silly like walk or run. Hopefully, Mother Nature gives us a little break so we can enjoy some outdoor time tomorrow. Initially this was going to be a golf weekend away but our friends had to postpone that. Now we'll cheer on our Assumption Royals football team in Chippewa Falls under clear blue skies.

Right, Mother Nature? Right, Noah?

Why don't you two just take the weekend off? Thanks.

Up A Creek

The neighborhood finless foursome decided to venture on a new kayaking route this evening. Knowing how quickly the sun sets these days, we got going as quickly as we could after work.

We dropped in on Nepco Lake and decided to go to the northeast corner, where it branches off into a creek that actually goes all the way to Lake Wazeecha. Plenty of geese around tonight. In the photo above, there's a gaggle taking off (straight in front of Mike) while another await on the righthand shoreline.

Tried to catch them all in flight but was too far away to get a good photo with my phone.

Kind of cool where the waterway branches off. Long grass on both sides like we're in the Everglades or something. Thankfully no gators!

This is the bridge we typically drive over several times a week on Griffith Avenue near the golf course.

The old bridge in the distance there is used on the golf course. Been on there many, many times. Looks less sturdy from the water, that's for sure!

Followed Jim up the creek. He just kept going so we just kept following!

Actually paddled right into one of the water hazards at The Ridges. Been over that bridge behind Jim dozens of times. Have hit balls in that water a few times, too!

You can see the flag in the distance behind Cindy and Mike. Thankfully two of the golfers cleared the water and landed on the "green" side of the water.

That was our turnaround point since we knew the sun would likely set by 7:30 p.m. Had a nice current pushing us much of the way back down the creek part. When we got back close to the lake, we had some super shallow water to contend with. A few people got a little stuck and one person tipped his kayak getting back in after moving off a sandbar. Nothing hurt but his pride. So he shall remain anonymous.

Naturally, the setting sun provided some photo ops. Had to paddle behind Cindy at just the right angle to get the sun directly behind her.

Turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself. Always up for new adventures and new scenery.

Our time seems limited, though. Soon we will be up a creek without a paddle or enough daylight to use it anyway.

Back to Nature

The boy is back home today after a 4-day senior class trip/nature outing, which consisted of one day at Noah's Ark, then camping and swimming plus a day trip hiking at Devil's Lake State Park near Baraboo.

His hike reminded me that I never got to share photos of my nature walk in Platteville.

After stuffing ourselves with pizza the night before registration / orientation, I decided I needed walk. After checking out the swan that I previously shared, I followed a path along the Rountree Branch creek or river or something.

I don't know how far the trail went, but it was rustic and pretty...

I probably only went another half mile after the little tunnel. But I think it goes quite aways. Will have to check it out the next time we're down there for more than a few hours.

Meanwhile, here's one shot of Carter in nature from his trip this week.

It sure is great to have that smirk back home!

Rainbow Disconnection

You know we've had too much rain when we have ducks in our backyard! What on earth?

Yes, we technically live on waterfront property, but the Bloody Run Creek isn't ever flowing, so to speak. It might have standing water, but no waves, ripples or rapids. The ducks would have had to swim quite a ways to get to our place with no help from the non-moving water.

Hubby says they have a nest somewhere back there. The backyard is not that big. Lucky no one stepped on or accidentally invaded their privacy during out post-grad party campfire with some 20 people back there on Sunday.

At least the nest is not in the fire ring because that was used. Didn't have time to investigate because there were other things to do.

The rain appeared off and on today, including one partial rainbow to view this evening.

While I couldn't see the full arch of it, I did see and experience some pots of gold today.

One was our church indoor garage sale. Found a few books but more importantly saw a few girlfriends.

Stopped at the bank drive-thru and one of my favorite "daughters" was working and managed to slip two Smarties packets with my cash. M-m-m, sugar! Win-win.

While the baseball games were delayed and rearranged, I did manage to get pictures of three friends' kids in the late morning. Sun was shining and seemed like a perfect day for ball. Another treasure!

Of course, with that 90% chance of rain, you knew it had to hit at some point. And that was when my buddy Aaron was playing in the mid afternoon. So I never did get back to take any more pictures of him. Will have to catch him at another tournament.

This evening, our jackpot was spending time with my BFF and her hubby. They just happened to stop in to drop off a graduation card for Carter when Jim was grilling burgers for supper. We didn't have a whole lot to offer, but they stayed to eat and we enjoyed a leisurely visit. Very nice. Don't see them often enough and definitely not when there is time to just chill. That was great.

Carter had to work this morning, then had two grad parties to go to this afternoon, then worked a short shift this evening. He stopped home long enough to say hello and point out the rainbow. Now he is off with friends again.

Feels like his graduation and party were weeks ago! I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was nice to have an open schedule today where I could let the pots of gold fall where they may.

Nothing to stress over. Now that's a treasure.

Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise

This month marks 15 years we've lived on the shores of Bloody Run Creek. Most years, though, you wouldn't know by looking at it that we had waterfront property or required flood insurance. It's typically a very, very shallow to dry creek bed. But then we have those special occasions where God and Noah step in and we have water!

Got a text from hubby this afternoon alerting me of the news. Not that we have reason to be alarmed, but he knew I'd be all over it with my camera!

First, rest assured that Mr. Deck Chair was not harmed in the making of this blog. You can imagine his confusion. One minute he's in the back yard on Blue Jay Drive and the next he is on the beach! Too bad the temperatures didn't reflect a sunbathing atmosphere.

In fact, it had rained all night and morning and turned to snow before quitting this afternoon. We did not have any measurable white stuff, probably because the wind blew it away.

Yup, you take a flood warning and combine it with a wind advisory and you have waves! If you look closely, that is. Surf's up!

I just hope the water level doesn't get too far up. Don't want any old trees uprooting themselves. And Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we don't want Mr. Deck Chair getting washed away either.

Be careful out there!