Brrr! And happy Friday...

Brrrr on this Thursday morning! We have a heavy frost in the low lying areas. I'm happy that I didn't plant everything early and have all those poor little seedlings get frosted. 

But that is weather in Wisconsin!

It is the big summer kickoff weekend. People are putting out flowers at cemeteries. Campers are filling the highways. Detours are everywhere.

Generally we stay home for this weekend. In years past, we had Rich's mom and his daughter's family out for a cookout that was super simple. Roasted hotdogs and beans with chips on the side. 

We put out the old picnic table and I put a fitted sheet on it as a table cloth. I used to fill it with bowls of peonies and mason jars of iris flowers for decorations. The kids would roast wieners over a tiny fire and we'd all eat at the table.
Afterward the kids and Grandpa would do S'mores or Marshmallows. 

Since Rich's folks are no longer with us, that no longer happens. Time moves on doesn't it?

Speaking of campers and such...

It looks like Mickey and Minnie are setting off on a camping trip!

It sure doesn't look like a good road Mickey!

Uh Oh! Turn around, don't try it!

Well, they found a spot finally.

and...it looks like they have some friends that joined them to roast marshmallows.

We shall see what the weekend brings!

I know it will include climbing a bluff in the predawn and coffee overlooking a valley 100 feet below.

AND...

because I was feeling somewhat like a super hero all week, I had some fun with the gal who trims my hair....

All I need is a cape. But my Mickey Mouse jacket will do for the time being.

Time for silliness

 

Bear on right: These hats are silly!

Bear on left: Don't worry, they look just fine. Almost like jester stocking hats.

Bear on right: They are human knit gloves.

Bear on left: Um, yeah but they keep my ears warm!

Well, what do you think about crossing here?

Um. No, the ice looks mushy to me.

Speaking of mushy, you are a bean bag bear.

Yeah, so what?

Seems to me you'd have a harder time hiking....

Um, yup, you are absolutely right! I think I'll just lay here for a bit.

The End

The Life of Toys

Percy to Chance.
*Who do you suppose tossed Guardy down the hill during that last rain storm?*

*Easy, Percy...look to my left. The dolls, it is always the dolls that cause trouble. You know, if a crime is committed, look to the dolls.*

*Hmmm, I thought we got rid of that really creepy one during the last flood. It was tricky and hard to make her let go of me when I got hung up on those saplings. She was just plain mean!*

*I know Percy, when we were in the Thrift Store she kept pushing me to the bottom of the pile so no one would buy me.*

*Despicable.*

*Indeed.*

The Doll stays silent but closes one eye in a wink.

*Hey guys?* Guardy sits up slowly. *Some help here?*

Percy and Chance:
*Shhhh! We hear footsteps! It is her and that dog! She'll pick you up!*

.......


*She did indeed! That's much better! I can watch over the creek again. But keep that Doll away from me!*

*We're going to hang out in the creek for a bit and wash off some mud. You keep an eye on her.*

The Doll remains silent but keeps one eye on the Bears.

Gone Shopping

Well, the whole idea of picking up some goofy stuff was to entertain ourselves by dressing up oddly and enjoying some time on the porch.
The last shot is my pal Daryl moving around in a 5 second exposure. I had hit the remote and told Amanda to hold still. Everyone else got blurred.
Not a perfect shot at all, but all of them still fun.

I got the leopard print shirt at the Thrift Store for .75 cents. The hat was a thrift store find from a year ago. The Teddy Bear? I think I paid .50 cents for it. One of the girls was wearing an old evening gown of mine from the 1990's.
Remember the Bumblebee Transformer Mask in the last post? Daryl is wearing that. We found it all hilarious and good fun.
Who the heck needs cable?

The rifle in the corner is a .BB gun.

I dug out some odd chairs that Rich had picked up years ago at an auction. We took those to the creek and set the beach chair at the edge of the creek. My Thrift Store teddy bears [and rabbit] looked great sitting on the 'beach'.

One of the kids put the kid's blue chair right in the middle of the creek and set a Baby Doll on it.

Saturday was another Thrift Store experience. I guess it could actually be called an Indoor Flea Market. I purchased a set of mini chickens. A Hen and Rooster.
The store is in Westby and it used to be an old Tobacco Warehouse.

On our way back through Viroqua, we stopped at Driftless Books and Music.

This was probably our best stop of the whole week. Books, books, and books. Oh yes, lots of music also.

I spent $11 dollars and bought two mysteries, a philosophical book and a book on backpacking.

I think finding odd stores and thrift stores are fun. I know I'll go back for some more books soon. 

Story Telling

Let's admit it, I am a kid at heart.  I like toys and telling stories with photography and toys.

One of my most favorite photos of toys is this one of Morris's toys riding in the Tonka Truck.  I took this in 2010.

I don't know where my silliness comes from, but it keeps occurring.

A year or so ago I started a photo/toy challenge with my Grand daughter Ariel.  We had fun thinking up photos with captions with different toys.  I started with a collection of My Little Ponies and eventually graduated to a collection of 'Wild Animals'.

Doe became my main subject.  Doe is always looking for a home.  Along the way she finds various friends to help her along.  

Stinky became Doe's guide in a way, helping her to stay out of dangerous areas.  He tells Doe that living in a parking lot is not a safe place.

New friends always appear on the scene.   There is a buck that Doe meets during Rut Season.  His name is Bo.  Is there romance involved? We can only guess.

Then a dinosaur gets into the act. Very strange that Doe would befriend a Velociraptor, but in the Toy World, anything goes.

My new neighbors enjoyed my idea and the children got involved, on a hike they brought some toys and we even made things up as we hiked.

Suddenly the story got a bit more fun.
I began to look for adventures for the toys.

My neighbor's son decided that we needed a Val Barbie. So into their collection of dolls they went and viola, the Val Barbie was created.

She comes complete with short dark hair, glasses, skunk hat, coveralls, and a lego camera and Tommy Gun.
Now how fun is that?
Of course I need to find a way to put 'Val Barbie' into the ongoing Doe Saga.

Another family got involved in the story telling and this past weekend, the kids helped me set the toys up for a few shots.

They made some suggestions, and the Doe Saga took a strange turn.

At an ice formation, the kids set up Dino, Doe, and Bo.

Suddenly Doe is asked to make a choice between her two suitors, or she thinks she does.

Doe being Doe, decides to run off and think things through.  This causes an emergency in the 'Toy World'.

Val Barbie calls an emergency meeting at the Dynamite Box.

The toys gather and launch a search party for Doe.

So I can be found with toys in my camera back nearly on every hike or walk I take.

And the search for Doe has begun.

I must admit, I am having great fun.