Adventures!

While I waited for Jim to finish paying the cashier at Thrifty Outfitter where we had just bought rain jackets for our Alaskan cruise, my eyes were drawn to this poster. Oh, adventure calls me!!

Edmund Viesturs is a high-altitude mountaineer and corporate speaker. He is the only American to have climbed all 14 of the world's eight-thousander mountain peaks, and the fifth person to do so without using supplemental oxygen. Wikipedia

Born: June 22, 1959 (age 57 years), Fort Wayne, IN

Spouse: Paula Viesturs (m. 1996)

Movies: Trio for One

Education: University of Washington(1977–1981), Washington State University

Another Rice Painting!

Because the weather lately has been both chilly and damp, I haven't ventured out with my camera. While checking my archives,  was delighted to find another Amy Rice painting that I hadn't posted yet. A sweet painting that is perfect for Saturday's Critters and Camera Critters. Enjoy the week-end, everyone; I hope that there is a bit of sunshine in your life!

Linking to ABC Wednesday, too!

Spring!!

After spending days watching the enormous and diseased tree next to my house being cut down (see five previous posts),  it was such a pleasure to see these beautiful blossoms adorning the driveway of this charming house.

Tree Felled and Done!!

Grinding the Stump

Tree. . .Be Gone #4

Before "the woodcutter" could start the final stages, the huge trunk which I showed you yesterday had to be felled. They cut a wedge into the side, took one of the big pieces of equipment, and just shoved it over.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Tree. . .Be Gone #3

  Getting closer to the ground!!

 In the photos below you can see some of the rot and also the many holes where the racoon families had their "nursery" and where the squirrels moved in after it was vacated by previous families!

Tree. . .Be Gone #2

Taking down this massive tree (ironically on Earth Day) was of great interest to the neighbours.  After watching for  a short time, most of the adults returned home to go about their business but an eleven-year-old boy and I spent the better part of the last two days watching the procedure. I, because I lived next door and had an invested interest in it since it was diseased and could easily have fallen on our house or garage but the boy just was fascinated with the entire process. Truth be told, I, too, was fascinated with the skill and talents of the men who were doing the work.Tomorrow I will show you more photos as the work came closer to the ground.

Tree. . .Be Gone!!

This diseased, hollow tree has been the bane of my existence since we moved next door to it in 1976. During the entire time it has been the home and incubator for a family of three racoons, a mother and two offspring, on occasion plus several families of squirrels every season. During a rain and thunderstorm in a previous year one of the large limbs broke off, ignited after falling on power lines but was safely extinguished by members of our stalwart fire department before it burned down the house on the other side of the property.

 Despite our pleas as well as the other family's,  three previous owners would not incur the expense of having it removed. Remarkably we all remained civil to one another despite the danger to our homes and property,  in addition to the mess we incurred during the spring and fall,  Finally, we recently got new owners next door, a young couple who wisely are having the tree  professionally removed today. I am giddy and gleeful!!

 

Spring is Here!

This house belongs to one of our close neighbours whose house has a very classic look; in fact, it is often selected by various companies for commercials.  The magnolias add beautifully to the long- awaited spring scene.
AND
A Happy Birthday, darlin daughter!

The years have passed but you are still a beautiful gift!!

Oh! Mon Petit Chérie Bakery and Kitchen

After passing a small bakery/cafe on Franklin Avenue, I finally stopped in yesterday and enjoyed a delicious blueberry scone and latte. The interior has unique decorations and artifacts.

Linking to Signs, Signs and ABC Wednesday

Abby's Gone

On April 4 I told you the story about the relationship between Glenn and Abby, the dog who belongs to one of Glenn's neighbors.  The neighbors have moved and this is a farewell photo of the two of them taken by a guest photographer. It is my hope that the former neighbors will occasionally bring Abby back to unite the two, Abby and Glenn.

El Burrito's Easter Bunny

A Rare Butterfly

This is probably the last photo of Amy Rice's paintings that I have taken. It appeals to my whimsical nature! 

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Muhammad Ali 

Linking to Camera Critters and Saturday's Critters

Veggies?

Fancy soap as seen through the glass window of a shop on France Avenue in Minneapolis.

The Hungry Crabapple Tree

Trees need sustenance to stay healthy. This crabapple and its backyard brother appeared to need some fertilizer, and who are we to say "No?" Tomorrow they will be sprayed with chemicals claimed to be safe for the environment and animals. The needs of home ownership are many.  .  . and expensive!

Broders: Take your Pick!

For years we have been enjoying many meals at Broder's Pasta Bar in Minneapolis. The Deli, where it all began, the Restaurant, and Terzo, the wine bar, are clustered on three different locations on the corner of 50th and Penn. Now the management is conducted by the second generation of 3 boys (men now) with their mother. Cleverly placed on the corner of the intersection, the signs will point the way! You won't find a better place to eat.

To read more about the history of the restaurants and the beginning of this family owned business, click here.

Linking to Signs, Signs

Good Morning, April 11, 2017

April 11, 2017: Such is life in Minnesota, I guess!

Linking to ABC WEDNESDAY

Lemon Madeleines

Lemon Madeleines

There’s a little cake out there that’s synonymous with a literary giant. It’s light, spongey and not much bigger than a walnut, yet it’s imbued with the potential to evoke powerful memories of things past. It’s the humble madeleine, and it will forever be associated with the French writer Marcel Proust

'No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me.” Proust

I am a chef, not a baker. Most of my attempts to bake have resulted in disaster.  I discovered Madeleines--my attempts to make them have been successful! Easy and fun to eat.

Wooddale Church

When I saw the white spire against the blue sky, I knew that I had to get out of the car and take some photos. It is a large modern structure firmly planted on a large green, well-landscaped lawn. Nowhere did I see any indication of the church's denomination,

The One that Didn't Get Away!

Another of Amy Rice's wonderful paintings!

“I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is.” 
― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Linking to Camera Critters & Saturday Critters

Minnesota Spring Sky

While running errands this morning I noticed this bank of filmy clouds.  The trees still haven't leafed out, yet the scene gives me hope for the arrival of spring weather.

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.”

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Marble Columns

Just one example of the many beautiful marble columns scattered throughout the Minnesota Capitol building in St Paul.

Macalester College-Old Main

Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,978 students in the fall of 2013 from 50 U.S. states and 90 countries

Linking to ABC Wednesday-"M"

Good bye, Dear Abby!

Good bye, Abby--good memories: For several years now a friend and I pick up donated bread, rolls and pastries at one of the Turtle Bakeries on Monday mornings and then drop the food off at a local food shelf. While waiting for the donation, we normally indulge in coffee and rolls, and during this time we have made a friend who often brings his neighbour's dog to the restaurant. Abby is everyone's  favourite and we enjoy both of them enormously.  Much to our displeasure Abby's owners will be moving this week so we had to say good-bye to her. The neighbour, Glenn, who sometimes walks Abby to Turtle is not moving so we will continue to see him, but we all will miss Abby.

A Dog's Life

Years ago Snoopy and his friends were seen all over St. Paul.  After the individual dog houses and the gang were sold to people and businesses, they seemed to fall off the radar as sources of interest and conversation..  Yesterday I saw this one peeking over a neighbourhood fence, and it brought a smile to my face.

“You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (author, Treasure Island)

Mary Poppins- Wet #2

Whizzing down the street

Protected by umbrella

Happy rainmaker!

This is probably my all-time favourite water photo.  On a summer day in 2011, this wet cyclist whizzed by my car  on West River Parkway.  I chased her down the  street and asked for a picture,  to which she cheerily  agreed.  What a sweetheart; wonder what she is doing now?

"When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." "Gilbert K. Chesterton 

April Theme Day, 2017-"Wet"

Repost: I have several favorite previously posted water photos that I especially enjoy.  Since our spring is still very dry,  I knew that I could not find any photos that could top the pictures I have in my archives.  During a past neighborhood-nite-out-block party, St. Paul fireman came to our street and turned on one of the water hydrants, enjoyed by all the kids.

To see more interpretations of the wet theme by other CDP bloggers, visit this link.