Lake Michigan Road

A Good Sturdy Fence

Linking to Good Fences

John Purves Tugboat

I think this qualifies as a sign.  This large tug is moored behind the Maritime Museum and is a living museum itself.  Daily tours of the Tug are offered for curious landlubbers.

Linked to Signs, Signs

ABC Wednesday-"G"

You GOT Mail!!

Unusual rural mailboxes always interest me.  The one is one of the more interesting.  The one below needs a little touch-up but certainly appropriate for one located in the port of Sturgeon Bay, Wi.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

September Theme Day is fast approaching for CDP.  Keep an eye out and camera ready to photograph "Curiosities."

Sea Dogs

Not exactly a mural; probably should save it for a signs meme, but this exhibit, which will be at the Maritime Museum for two months is captivating.  It's a history of the presence of dogs on ships and in lighthouses on Lake Michigan.

Linking to Monday murals and signs, signs

Sunflowers

I saw this interesting contraption (greenhouse-of-sorts?) on the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus.  I assume that the sunflowers must thrive and grow better in it—don't really know.

A real beauty!

Saw this beauty while walking my dog.  Hard to take a photo when Maggi was tugging at the leash as I was trying to steady my iphone.  Not too bad, tho.

Linking to Camera Critters and Saturday Critters

Another bench

The color of this bench makes it very special. Just as I coveted the bench I showed you the other day,  I'd like to have this one, too.

Bang!

Our road trip home yesterday started with a bang. After missing our exit I did not yield at an unfamiliar interstate off-ramp from a highway that ended in a very confusing roundabout. A sizable ticket fine with future  car repair. Door difficult to open but driveable so soldiered on and  got home four hours later. The black car belongs to a sweet old lady who hit me broadside. The two very good-looking FEMALE Green Bay police officers handled the situation beautifully! 

Wordless Wednesday

Good Friends

Spent a lovely day last Sunday with friends from grade school and high school in our lovely rental cottage on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, WI.  What a lot of laughs we had and what stories these two sisters and still good friends revealed to my husband about our childhood! We lived in a neighborhood with a family of 10 children, 7 boys and 3 girls.  And, that's another story!!

Shirl is on the left and Joan on the right. I miss them and our good times.  Sweet, innocent fun!

Linking to ABC WEDNESDAY

Four Sisters

This wee Irish lass is one of four sisters who bill themselves as "Screaming Orphans"—they entertained at the recent Irish Fair in St. Paul.  When they spoke, their brogue was obvious but not while they sang and played their drums and guitars.  They began performing originally with their mother, but then branched out on their own.  The crowds and I loved them but DH felt they were accurately billed!

Bench

I want this wonderful bench for my front yard!  I wonder if my neighbor would miss it if I moved it to my lawn?

Going to the dogs!

The 36th Irish Fair in St. Paul, an annual celebration of Irish heritage and culture, was held from Friday, August 7-Sunday, August 9 on Harriet Island. With approximately 100,000 attendees each year, this event is the largest free celebration of its kind in the nation. Despite the light rain, DH and I took a shuttle bus from Union Depot in downtown and spent several hours among many Irish (?) onlookers who were doing what Jim and I were doing: eating, listening to Irish musicians, examining all the Irish items for sale, watching Irish dance and movies.  Our favorite spot was the tent that held several breeds of Irish dogs who were patiently accepting the admiration and pets from young and old alike. The two here are, on the left, an Irish terrier and the big fella is an Irish Wolfhound.

DH and I are going to Door County for a few days.  No wifi, whatever will I do?!
Speaking of dogs, son Karl will live at our house with our dogs.  No animals, whatever will I do?!

Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters

More Twins

When driving down Summit Avenue, sometimes I see double.

Meet Maria and Uncle Paddy

Maria, originally from Ireland, now lives in St. Paul and operates Celtic Journeys, an agency that organizes tours to the green Isle plus many other international places.  Last June Jim and I were going to go on a literary tour to Ireland but had to cancel because of illness.  Another time I hope! Last week-end we went to the 36th Annual Irish Fair on Harriet Island in St. Paul and saw Maria and her Uncle Paddy, visiting from Ireland,  both of whom were in the Celtic Journeys Vendor booth. Great people!

Welcome!

Gate on our neighbor's fence, a way to enter her beautifully landscaped yard.

Linked to Signs, Signs

Meet Linda

"Hey, Camera Lady! Camera Lady!"  A  voice belonging to Linda called to me after she saw me taking photos of art work in a Mayo Clinic building.  Linda is a retired language arts teacher who has been coming to this medical facility in Rochester every six months for 20 years from her home, which now is in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  Her silver necklace is inscribed with one word-LOVE- which I believe describes Linda's approach to life.  She and I had a great chat, and she told me about the art tour of Mayo. It has a fantastic collection of art that is probably one of the best kept secrets in Minnesota.

Excellence

I just had occasion to have 4 medical visits to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, a first class medical facility.  Happy to note that the outcome was positive: quiet, serene surroundings, cordial staff, professional medical personnel, and empathetic and talented physicians with a clear diagnosis and hopeful prognosis.  No surgery. Yea!!

In addition,  the complex medical area has a first class art collection scattered among many buildings.  I was awed by the 13 Dale Chihuly chandeliers hanging from a ceiling in one of the buildings. The lights made photography a bit difficult, but what a sight! I intend to return just to go on the Art Tour.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Meet Masha

Last Saturday while strolling at the Farmers Market I met a young woman whom I hadn't seen since 2003 when I retired from teaching. Masha was a great student: sweet, friendly and personable.  She took pride in her schoolwork and was a terrific writer. She's done a fair amount of travelling and is currently doing graduate work at the University of Minnesota. So good to see these young people as young adults; it would be great to have a reunion with all those I had taught!

Hungry?-Camera Critters

When I visit Bachman's garden center in the summer, I always visit the outdoor pool that contains Koi.  This one in particular was either trying to give me a message or it was very hungry.

Koi are a group of fish that are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens.

Linked to Camera Critters and Saturday's Critters

Twins

 Brothers with Twin Faces

One of our creative and talented neighbors brings her paint supplies to our annual block party and has many young faces to paint throughout the evening's festivities.

Neighborhood Night Out

Part of the fun was watching the children eating and playing while the adults were socializing. We older residents remarked how we enjoyed the turnover of younger families with more young children in the neighborhood now. I didn't have to bribe or pay them to cooperate for the photo. . . took all of 10 seconds.

Garden Buddha

I have always wanted a Buddha for my backyard and am frequently drawn to statues of them when I am at a garden center.  As much as I like this one I decided that the price tag was a little out of my league.

Linking to signs, signs

Dancers Together-ABC Wednesday "D"

 Visions in purple
All very light on their feet
Dancers in a park

Linking to ABC Wednesday & Our World Tuesday & Tuesday Afternoon

Teardowns to Supersize

There seems to be a growing trend in the Twin Cities of tearing down smaller homes and replacing them with supersize structures.  On Sunday the Minneapolis Tribune published an article about it with examples of newly built houses in Minnetonka, a coveted  lake area.  Although the houses that are being built in our Highland Park neighborhood are decidedly smaller than the ones mentioned in the article, these four under construction a few blocks from our home have changed the landscape of that street. . . and not for the better in my opinion.  Although  our city lots in this area are not enormous the spaces between the buildings here are decidedly narrower because the houses are much too large for the lot.  This teardown trend with supersize replacements is causing a stir in some quarters.  Is this happening in your town, too?

Meet Greg (and Karl)

When our children were small, we lived in a neighborhood alive with children; a perfect place to be if you were a child.  One family of ten children supplied baby sitters for us, one of whom was Greg. Aside from seeing him briefly three years ago at his father's funeral, I hadn't seen Greg since 1976 because we left the old neighborhood.  Last Friday he unexpectedly came roaring up to our house on his motorcycle while visiting from his home in Arizona.  We had a great time reminiscing:  just exactly what were those kids doing in the fort down in the swamp? who started the grass fires every spring? why did some neighbors complain when the 3-year-old boys were peeing in the middle of the street? why did I always refer to Greg as "a callow youth?"

Greg's siblings are scattered throughout the country and his mother is now living in Florida. Good to get an update plus getting a photo of him and one of his charges, my son Karl,  before Greg left.

Added later:  I don't know why this post occurred on July 31 instead of the above date, but here it is!  What did I do, I wonder?

Mystery Bike: Theme Day- bicycle #2

I am not sure how to decipher this old and interesting registration tag on the rear fender of a very old bike I spotted at the Highland Park branch library.  The bike itself had seen better days; I hung around for awhile to wait for the owner who never emerged while I was there.  I wanted to get a bit of history about both the bike and the rider. Sometimes you're just not successful.

August Theme Day, 2015, Bicycle #1

This seemed too pedestrian to use as my theme day photo but they have become very popular.  For the past few years, these green rental bikes have been appearing everywhere, especially around college campuses which abound in my neighborhood: St. Kate's, St. Thomas University, Macalester, and Hamline that are fairly close by.

Grocery stores and business also have racks of these bikes.

To see a gallery of bikes posted by CDP bloggers from around the world,  go here.