A Day in the City

Stopped at the Farmer's Market this morning to pick up flowers, then we headed to Minneapolis for Artena's bridal shower.  The special event was held at a friends house, so Bike man dropped me off and then he headed off to St. Paul and hooked up with our son.

So I don't usually like bridal or baby showers, but this event was totally different.....we didn't play any games, nice!  We ate a delicious brunch organized by our daughter, and her other roommate Elaine.  The egg bake was yummy, as the homemade pop tarts, muffins, fruit salad and bread (from my local Co-op). 

What made this bridal shower different, was that all the guest were asked to help the bride-to-be make her invitations and special prayer cards.

I helped with the invitations, along with about eight other women.  It was really fun and I had a great time chit chatting as we assembled the wedding invitations.

After the clean up, the girls took me over to the bride & groom's new duplex, which they just purchased one week ago.  Ironically, our daughter will be moving to a different house, but it's only seven houses down the street from Artena and Dana's new duplex.  After four years, we'll have to learn a new route to visit Becca.  It won't be too difficult and luckily it's still not far from the Baker's Wife bakery.  Of course I had to stop by the bakery this afternoon and pick up a big fat tea cake.  The city is great, but I'm always glad to arrive back home where there's no traffic and is very quiet.

My favorite.....Tea Cake

Love Is In the Air

Artena & Dana

 

 

A fall wedding is approaching fast in about five week.  I love fall weddings.  Our daughter's roommate will be marrying her best friend, Dana, at the end of October.  Tomorrow we head to Minneapolis so I can attend the bridal shower for Artena.  Bike man will more than likely hang-out with the Son in St. Paul.  After a busy week at work, I'm looking forward to a little girl time with my special girls.  

Bountiful Fall Harvest

We're still house and cat sitting for our friend Caryn.  Remember Black kitty?  Well,  Black kitty is doing just fine all by herself.  Since Caryn won't be around to pick her Concord grapes, she gave us permission to pick as many as we wanted.  This is the first batch of grapes, and Bike man will go back in a couple days and pick the remaining.  I think it's time to begin some winemaking! 

 

Hey look my friends.....I had to put on my lightweight tights this morning.  I'm working late tonight because of a Library Board meeting, so I had the luxury of staying home this morning and going out for a run with my girlfriend, Jill.  It certainly is a perfect fall day.  The crisp, clear, sunny morning was beautiful.  I can't even imagine staying indoors in beautiful weather like this.....well, unless you got to work!  I'm lucky my schedule allows me to be flexible, even if it does mean working late into the evening. 

Chequamegon Fat Tire Race

Sorry for my absence blogger friends, but I'm finally back.  Bike man, our daughter Becca, and I left on Friday to head up to Drummond so we could get our campsite for the weekend.  The annual Chequamegon Fat Tire mountain bike race was this weekend at Cable, Wisconsin.  Look who had the  perfect tent site next to Perch Lake north of Drummond.

Perch Lake is so peaceful and so quiet.  The Loons woke us up each morning.

The Chequamegon Fat Tire mountain bike race has been going on since 1983.  Bike man use to race the Fat Tire, and I rode the race back in 2000, but now we just attend as spectators and participate in the Seeley Fire Tower hill support....like mechanical bicycle support and food & water support.  The front riders, or competitive riders just whiz past us on the rocky hill, but later on the recreational riders greatly accept our handouts of water, Gatorade and snacks.  I love watching for riders I might recognize, and this year I spotted Eric Thoerener (Birchwood Cafe) of Minneapolis and Randy Eide, Menomonie, WI.  This year, I handed out gummy bears, mini Snickers bars and Twizzler.

We had the Hollywood crew on the hill this time handing out small cups of Coke, which went over really well with the riders.  Seeley Fire Tower hill marks the 29 mile point in the race, so many riders are looking for caffeine or energy snacks to take them to the the end of the race (40 miles). 

Yup, we had a nice crew of supporters on the hill this year.  It's such a good time and many, many thank you's from the riders who appreciate our support.  70 degrees, plenty of sunshine, and lots of mud puddles.

Bike man, Becca and I headed back to our campsite Saturday afternoon and by early nightfall, we encountered rain.  It rained all night....wow!  Woke up to a soggy start and then packed up and head home early.  Great weekend......