It's a wild life

Another doggy day...of sorts. I am still watching the neighbor's dogs and taking them for morning and evening walks. I took all of these shots with my cell phone. It is a Google Pixel and while it isn't too bad of a camera, I just decided to use it instead of my other one.

When walking the dogs mornings and evenings, it is easier to stuff a tiny phone into my pocket. I asked the camera to enhance the two shots. It added brilliance and colors. I think the shots are more brilliant and colorful than I saw it with my eyes. 
But I'm not going to change it. It is prettier than it was to the naked eye.

 I had a meeting at the bank with one of their financial people, got help from a teller for doing an auto deposit, got a few items from the store. Interestingly enough, I have not been shopping except for milk and cereal since the week before Rich passed away.

He was the ferocious eater in our house. Steaks and potatoes were the meals he requested for the last 6 months of his life along with many special requests. I honored all of them. Now I have frozen meat packages that I can't imagine cooking -- unless my grandkids come up and want steak with their supper.

I probably have a couple of years' worth of food stored in the freezer for myself.  My neighbor gets a CSA box throughout the growing season. CSA= Community Supported Agriculture. The box contains fresh produce each week from local home grown farms. I've had zucchini, squash, onions, peppers, tomatoes, fennel, kale, broccoli, and more stuffed in the boxes from the past two Thursdays from doing my dog sitting.

So my meals come about like this. I cut a bunch of stuff up that is fresh, toss it in a pan with some Olive Oil and sauté it. I eat it like that or make some rice to put it on. In a pinch for some protein, I grab some fresh farm eggs from Olive and mix it in with the rice and veggies.

Viola! I eat!

Anyway.......................

When I got done with my errands, I loaded my bicycle up along with Charlie's pet carrier and decided to try out the trail I'd done two weeks ago. 

Charlie did not seem excited or even happy about being stuffed in the trailer at the trail head, but he didn't whine or cry while I cycled. 

We stopped once in a while so he could get out and look around.

About 3 miles in some ladies were walking and asked if they could see my little dog. Charlie got out and charmed the heck out of them. I learned that one lady had just lost her husband a few weeks ago too. The other lady was also named Valerie, she'd just lost her doggy buddy of 14 years. We chatted on the trial about all the good things in life. 

It really lifted me up to meet them.

By the end of 7 miles, Charlie was feeling quite comfortable in his chauffeured carrier.  I did feel the extra 15 lbs of Charlie and the 15 lbs of the carrier by the time I finished the ride. Not so I'd be sore, but it was a nice workout. We'll do it again as long as I can find good flat trails. Charlie didn't even seem to mind the bumpy trail.

Views along the Pine River Bike Trail.

I will definitely come back in the spring during migration and walk this trail with my camera. I saw Kingfisher birds along with so many cool insects and dragonflies. I'll be heading to LaCrosse to get some things at a craft store and start to explore all of the nature trails that that city has to offer on Wednesday.

We ended the day with another dog walk along with packing up all the old stuff from Rich's sock/undie drawer. It made me sad to see that drawer so empty. So I filled it with my workout clothes. 

Huge Score at the Farmer's Market !

I went last Saturday to go pick up veggies for the week. I was able to pick up Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Leaf Lettuce, summer squash, zucchini, and radishes. My total cost? $15 for a week's worth of great veggies.

I filled my bag up and decided to walk around the Market and found out is was Kid Vendor Day which they do once a month. Kids bring items they have made or would like to sell and set up a table. Last year, one girl was selling rocks. I could have looked for a very similar one on my own land, but she knew all the names of the types of rocks she had. In fact she could ID them better than I could.

So I purchased two from her to put in my garden.

This time around I spotted a youngster with a table full of Legos and Lego characters. I stopped by to look at what he had and made a purchase of a few items.

His mom was there and from the looks of what was on the table, the Legos were a mix of old [vintage] Legos and new Legos.

I purchased a few of the ones I'd never seen before.

When I got home I looked up this one. The camel is from an old set. Of course without the original numbers and packing, I can't prove a thing. But when I looked it up I found Rare Retired Legos: Camel 

The average price on a few sites was $48. Of course that was for ones that had never been played with.

I was pretty tickled that I got this minifigure and the camel along with some miscellaneous pieces for $3.

The Yoda figure has always been out of a sensible price range. Some of the prices for Yoda range from $33 to $80 something depending on the model. I got Yoda, Hans Solo [20 year edition] and the droid soldiers for $3.

The whole haul for $12: 

The little sun catcher was made by one of my other neighbor's children and I purchased that along with a little succulent they were selling. I got storm troopers, Darth Vader, a couple of firefighters, and a little stand that looked like a sales booth at the Farmer's Market.

I reworked the Legos and made a MOC of my friend's stand at the Farmer's Market.

He would be the person with the cowboy hat on and the Garlic Man sign behind him. He is known locally as the garlic man.

I then did a mock up of my friend Randall and his wife working at their place in this dry, hot, dusty, drought we are having.

Deb has been really stressed because of the heat, bad air quality, and the drought. She suffers from asthma. She really puts a lot of her heart and soul into her gardens and the Market. I sent these to her and she used them [with permission] on her FB page.

She and Randall have acres and acres of produce that they raise. She also makes incredible jellies and jams for sale at the market. I never miss a chance to get some of her wild grape jelly when I am not able to make my own.

During those hot hot days last weekend I sat in the A/C and created some more market scenarios just for fun. It was fun to do.

The one below is close to my friend's set up for their booth. She has shelves with all of her delicious salsas, jellies, and other goodies on shelves. Too bad Lego didn't have jars!

Eat your vegetables!

Anyway, that is what I was doing last week with all the heat and humidity along with the terrible Air.

This Saturday, it will be in the 70's and overcast. So we have a break from the awful heat we had for the first few days of July.

Pesky Rabbits!

Have a great weekend.

Sunday Stills ~ Fresh #30

 Sunday Stills~Fresh #30

Pony Mule Fred in 

Fresh Snowfall

November 18th

[age 37]

Charlie on ice 

Fresh blue ice in

the dry run

Fresh Laundry

Hung on the

Line

 

Well, except when a pregnant 

donkey is loose in the

yard and chooses to

use your laundry as shade.

Summer 2006

And there are 

Fresh Vegetables 

from the Garden!

A version of

Attack of the 

Killer Tomatoes.