Work Day

We began our morning working outside doing yard work for my parents. Was quite a crisp morning, especially with the winds picking up again. Found this pretty Monarch butterfly while raking leaves. Once the butterfly attached itself to my fingers, it didn't want to fly away. Wow, I felt honored! I finally convinced the butterfly to grab on to a rose bush so I could continue to snap photos.


Shortly after parting ways with the butterfly, our son was cleaning out the gutters and found this lovely toad hiding in the moist muck. "Here, catch mom," as the Son throws the toad down from the roof top. Luckily I catch this moist, cool creature. The toad didn't want to move either....must have been the cool temperatures this morning. I found a new resting place for the toad.

While the Son was busy cleaning gutters and power washing grandma & grandpa's house, Bike man and I were busy cleaning up the yard and pulling weeds. I think we were outside from 10 am until 5:30 pm. It really was a beautiful day to be outside.

After dinner I headed out for an evening walk. One of things I love to do while visiting my home town is to walk up to the cemetery. The cemetery is all up hill, so the view is beautiful at sunset. I walked up and down the streets running through the cemetery. I found my grandma and grandpa's headstone and waived hello as I strolled by.

This is the very top of the cemetary hill looking West.

Tomorrow Bike man and I will head for home. I have some exciting news to tell you, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out. I'll give you a hint: Plan C!!!!

The Big Chill

Woke up to a gloomy cool and very windy day. Really felt like fall with temperatures in the low 60's. Spent most of mid morning getting my parents set up with new online accounts that will help them pay their bills with automatic withdrawals. Thanks to Bike man and all his computer experience, he was able to sit down with my parents and get everything set up. It's really hard to get old and not understand all this new technology.....I feel bad for my parents, but I'm confident these new accounts will simplify their lives so they don't have to sit home and worry about their finances.

We decided we will stay here with my parents another day and help them with yard work and house maintenance stuff. The Son also drove here this morning and will help us get things done around the house. Bike man and I will head home on Sunday....still haven't decided what I will do next week, but probably leaning towards just going back to work.

Tomatoes and More

It seriously took us ALL DAY to process and can 16 pints of homemade salsa and 14 quarts of quartered tomatoes. We had some salsa left over so we just added that to the quartered tomatoes and then kept the pressure cooking going all afternoon. I really didn't think it would take soooooo long.

The salsa turned out nice and thick with lots of jalapenos for added heat.

It was Bike man's idea to do the pressure cooking outside in the garage....less fuss in the kitchen. Our camping stove really comes in handy.

We still had lots and lots of tomatoes left over so we decided to just process the tomatoes in quarters. We actually use a large amount of tomatoes for soups and chili, so canning tomatoes just makes sense for us.

My mom was nice enough to help out today in the salsa cooking.....thanks momoo! Dad was able to just rest up while doing his own computer projects. The day started out cloudy and rainy, then cleared up and was sunny until late afternoon. By late in the afternoon the thunderstorms and rain moved back in.

Was able to catch a little of the sunset tonight while taking a walk with my hubby. Of course I didn't have my camera!!!!!

Bad News/Good News

Bad news first. My dad found out today he does have cancer. Good news is, the cancer has not spread. Just hearing that the cancer has not metastasized is glorious news and this will make a big difference in how they treat the cancer and the whole surgery procedure. Surgery is planned for late September, so this gives all of us a change to re-group and take a breather before dad's surgery. The other good news is that he does not have to travel to Madison for his surgery, but will have the procedure done at the local hospital. What a big relief for now.

Bike man and I will probably stay with mom and dad for a few more days and then head back home to Tainter Lake.

Bought lots of beautiful, blemish-free tomatoes last night from the Amish farmer outside of town. Tomorrow will be salsa canning day!!! We hope to put up 3 or 4 batches of salsa, some hot, medium and mild.

Need to rethink what our plans will be next week. Do we take a short bicycle trip somewhere, or just do day rides during the week? Should I go back to work and not take another week of vacation? Or should I take all next week off like originally planned? All I know is that we need to put some bike miles in somewhere, somehow! What do you think?

Headed South

We are back on the road again after spending a day and a half up-north monitoring land for Wisconsin Land Trust. We were able to monitor all four properties by mountain bike Sunday and Monday. Now, we rejuvenated and headed south to my parents house.....by car! Darn. I can't help but think we are suppose to be biking down along the Mississippi River to Dubuque this week, but like I posted several days ago, by dad is in the middle of a serious medical condition. My dad comes first. As you can see above, Bike man and I headed south via the Amish countryside.

I love how the Amish hang their colorful clothing......wow, so high!

Right in the middle of Amish country was a local cheese factory. Of course we had to stop. We actually bought a chunk of 10 yr. old cheddar cheese. I'll be sure to save you a piece Aunt Krissy!!! We also bought some aged Swiss and some squeaky cheese curds.


Across from the cheese factory was another Amish buggy just waiting.....waiting for something.

The countryside today was just beautiful. So many valleys and so many ridges. Someday when it works out, we hope to cycle these roads.

I was very excited to finally see the headquarters for Organic Valley in LaFarge, WI. I love their products and I love their vision for good healthy food. Bike man and I quickly drove over to see their building and was surprised to see a couple solar panels out front. Chances are our son helped make those solar panels from his part-time job (Bubbling Springs Solar).

We are now with my parents in Southwest Wisconsin. Tomorrow will be dad's biopsy appointment. We'll learn a lot more tomorrow. Until then, we will be staying here to help my mom and dad.

PS. Brought our bikes along and hope to get out riding when time allows.

Plan B

Enjoyed a wonderful full night of sleep......gosh we really need it after my outdoor party.

Since it is such a beautiful morning, it motivated Bike man and me to come up with Plan B since our bicycle trip to Dubuque had to be cancelled. Never fail, just leave it to a couple of bicyclists to figure out a way to ride in the saddle and still enjoy some much needed vacation time.

We decided we will take off for a few days and head north......bikes along as well as camping gear. Bike man has 3-4 properties that he monitors for the West Wisconsin Land Trust, so we will drive north and then at one point hop on our bicycles and ride from property to property. This sites needed to be checked on anyway. So, going to Plan B just makes a lot of sense. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the blood sucking mosquitoes from eating us alive while in the great northwoods!!!!!!!

I'll be back later this week to post updates.

Plans Have Changed

Before I tell you about our change in plans, I wanted to highlight my little birthday party today. I asked my daughter last week if she would look for a "special" cake for my party, and this is what she brought. A beautiful Genoise cake from Wuollet's bakery in the Twin Cities. I absolutely loved this cake, which was wrapped in marzipan with whipped cream filling and raspberry filling too. Thank you Becca....how special for my 50th.

I'm guessing we had around 20 people for my party. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and southern winds.

Not only was it my birthday, but my twin sister's birthday too.

The Son and I got a little goofy in our small kitchen. He was cutting the meat and I was busy pouring the red wine!

What the heck? Artena was showing her "don't mess with me" side!

Of course Jerney Girl came along today as well. Jerney had fun experiencing the real country-side....lots of room to run around and have fun.

Ok, now to the change in plans. Late yesterday, I received news that my dad has a serious medical condition that need immediate attention. On Wednesday, he will undergo a biopsy to determine if he has cancer. What a blow to our whole family.....my dad has always been fairly healthy. Because of this, Bike man and I have cancelled our bicycle trip since my dad will be having surgery within the next week or so, most likely in Madison. There is no possible way we can take our bike trip. My emotions were running high last night and I just decided to go to bed at 8:30 am and deal with life in the morning. Life is not always fair, but I'm reminded that we have to make the best of it. I love my dad and my mom, so their life comes first in my own life.

Hang in there dad.....we'll get through this ok? Sorry you couldn't be here today. We missed you dearly.