Did someone say Roadtrip?!?

So my neighbor calls me Saturday morning and asks me to go on an adventure. She also had invited another neighbor on her adventure west. Shockingly, both of us said yes with 45 minutes notice…grabbed our kids and left.

Here’s the back of the van after our travels…. back country gravel roads are very dry and dusty right now.

We drove about 2 hours west of here to her sisters farm. They were having an anniversary party and it’s always “the more, the merrier” for their huge family.

Shortly after we got there it was decided that a few of us should go visit a brand new winery about 5 miles away….more gravel roads…

I sampled this wine and decide to buy a bottle so Mr. G could enjoy it as well since he was off on his own adventure for the day in another direction.  It’s called Rockin’ Coyote after all the coyote in the area that come out to serinade each night.

All the kids had a blast running and jumping across round bails of hay that were neatly set in rows. There were a few mis-steps but no injuries…only laughs.

After the eating and running off the calories we went on a hayride.

A whole gaggle of kids and a handful of adults hopped on a hayrack behind this tractor driven by the eldest son of our hosts.

It honestly was the longest hayride I’ve ever been on…..

We travelled around a “section”….

Later we found out a “section” is about a 5 mile fun but dusty trip….

We saw lots of crops…some horses…and the MN River Valley just below this farm.

My 90-some yr old uncle lives about 12 miles upriver of here. Such a beautiful area….

First English Lutheran Church

On the way home I wanted to drive through the town my dad spent his early years in. I thought I’d be able to pick out my Grandpa’s church without a doubt.
Time has really aged it. It was kind of sad.
I didn’t even stop to take a picture myself because I was so sure I must be mistaken.
I was the last baby my Grandpa ever baptized…and also his last grandchild. I have the baptizmal bowl from the fount that we all were baptized from. It’s one of my treasures.

Here’s a photo I found on Flickr from 2009.

All in all it was a fun spur of the moment 250 mile roundtrip adventure!!! I wish we had time to do more since we were in that “neck of the woods”…or prairie as the case may have been but there is always next time….

 

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Bottle cap wind chime

I’ve been working on this project for longer than I care to admit. I found that I couldn’t work on it in the morning because I was too shaky from numerous cups of coffee to bead and bend jumprings. By afternoon, I just wasn’t interested in working on it.

As you can see I put my own spin on it. I used an old CD for the top of the wind chime. I also included beads with the bottle caps for interest. I’m so happy to have actually used a bunch of the caps I’ve collected over the years as well as all the ones friends save for me.

Now I just need to find the perfect spot for it. Mr. G and I were talking this morning about making a tiki bar on the deck or the patio. I think it would fit in quite nicely!

Here’s the original “pin” that
inspired my above creation:

Source: flickr.com via Halle on Pinterest

 

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Don’t look now…
Mom’s organizing. 
I’m quickly learning that she does this from time to time and it gets pretty crazy. 
Stuff here, there and everywhere. 
She doesn’t like it when I get to nosey but what else is a kitty to do. So many new things, new smells, things to bat around….a plethora of exciting things to get into.
The kids are staying clear for fear they’ll be put to work as well.
I guess mom will be back for tea and other stuff later. She’s been playing with bottle caps and then yesterday pulled an old book apart. Not sure what is going on but hey, I’m still new here.
Time for another nap…all this typing has me worn out.
~Gracie

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A week in review

Since Independence Day fell smack in the middle of the week this year, Mr. G took a week’s vacation. We’ve been busy…mostly with 4th of July festivities and trying desperately to stay cool during them.
To that end, my neighbor brought over some fabric and we started making neck coolers.  I was reminded of them while browsing Pinterest.
I think I stitched up about 20 of these…at least 4 being “little kid size”. We kept them in a cooler of ice water during the parade so that everyone at our gathering could pull one out whenever they needed it.

I even sold the one off my neck to a carnival worker when the kids were playing games. I could have made a fortune …and then promptly get a big fat fine from the city, I’d suppose.





By the way…your eyes aren’t deceiving you in the above picture….it does look a little foggy. 
It’s so humid today that my lens fogged. 
See…

Ah…that’s better.

The garden is producing…snow peas, green beans and kohlrabi so far.

Ah crud… my ADD is showing again….
I got off track…
I was talking about the 4th of July.

While Mr. G was helping set up a canopy and such, I walked the kids to the carnival. I had them sit for a caricature. You can see one of those cooling neck wraps around Big J’s neck.

The parade is always a great time….

Friends, food and fun right along the parade route closely followed by a water fight and more food. 

This little cork covered car had to be my favorite of the day.
That’s a lot of wine!!

We’re still trying to stay cool…current temp is …..

Yuck!!

The cool down is coming “they” say…I hope “they” are right.

See you next week…working on a project with bottle caps.

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Spreading some joy

Isn’t it fun to get an actual card in the mail? 
With email, FB, texting, and numerous other electronic media blasting at us 
from here and there….
a simple hand written note can bring 
a bit of peace and serenity 
to an otherwise hectic day. 
At least that is the hope. 

 

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Mint chocolate and pink…

Love this color combo. Makes me think of yummy treats.

See…I have been working a on few things. Just slower to finish any of them during the summer. Too many other fun things to do like go to the beach with the kids.

 

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Juice anyone?

I’m raising my glass to Kimmie and my Tea Tuesday friends. My glass happens to have juice instead of tea today.

I’ve come up with my own flavor combo that is pleasing to my taste buds. It did take some trial and error with some pretty nasty glasses of juice to choke down.

I have so much more energy and less cravings for “naughty foods” on days that I juice first thing in the morning…well, second thing.  I have to have a cup of coffee first thing.

Halle’s morning power juice:

1 beet
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 inch chunk fresh ginger

Organic veggies taste the best but I have made my juices without when I couldn’t find what I wanted.

I currently have a Jack LaLanne power juicer but what I really want is a Champion Juicer.  My parents had one when I was a kid. It was avocado green. Yup…it was the 70’s.  I drank carrot juice with bee pollen sprinkled on top most mornings.  Hated it then.  I would hold my nose and slam it down.
Funny how our taste buds change over time.


Happy Tuesday everyone!

 

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