Here we go!

Charlie got his first Pup Cup at Culvers on our way home from the vet where we got his nails trimmed up nicely and his flea and tick meds for the next 3 months.

Yikes. Let's just say $$$$!

However hubby wanted a sandwich from Culvers so I went through the drive up with Charlie, it was too hot to leave him in the car while I ordered.

So the gals at the pay window went nuts when they saw Charlie and asked if he could have a Pup Cup. 

Charlie decided it was awesome and that he'd definitely go to town again with me and get Dad a 'Sammich' at Culvers.

I think it also helped him with the 'trauma' of getting his toenails trimmed. -- He howls when it is done even though he is not being hurt! What a goofy dog!

Below is one of the colorful Lilies I ordered from Edens Garden this spring. I was gobsmacked by how beautiful this was! I have six of them in different colors and I now will make sure to locate them in a place where I can enjoy them more next year.

Another kind of seed - flower I ordered. I don't recall the name, but I love the delicate ferny leaves it has. These are blooming in blue and white. I can imagine planting a huge plot of them! 

Their seed pods are really quite cool too.

Guess who will be collecting these seeds for next year!

I would love it if my things that I had to go get done would fall on days that were more convenient. You know, like a respite day.

But that isn't how life is. 

Just when you think you have things all figured out...  🤯🤯🤯🤯

Things go sideways.

So I brought Rich home his Rueben and discovered that they didn't put the dressing on the sandwich. Hmmm. 

I had to get a cloth to wash up his hands and turned the water on warm...I nearly got scalded. 

WHUT?

Hmmm?

I tried the bathroom faucet, same thing, bathtub, same thing. I assumed then that the water heater [electric] had malfunctioned and the element or whatever that controlled the temperature had failed. 

I went downstairs and shut the power off to the water heater while I was on the phone to the plumbing company we use. 

The gal said she'd have someone out tomorrow between 2 and 4 would that be okay? 
Yes, sure it would.

Then she said if she could get someone out earlier in the morning would that be okay?

Yup.

Oops. Well tomorrow is Tammy's second Respite shift here and it looks like I can't go 'Respiting' [is that even a word?]. However, it would be a good time for the two of us to get to know each other better and I could answer her questions about other things.

AND

I could take time to do some purging in the basement without any interruptions while waiting for the plumber. 

AND I could do some fence fixing down in the woods without worrying about leaving hubby on his own while I was a quarter mile away in the back 40!

AND I could go hunt up fungi and slime mold and ... play Legos and...ohhh the possibilities are endless! 

While I was out doing a bit of weeding, I noticed my neighbor with his monster sized skid steer brush hogging his messy pasture. Ding Ding! 🤯

I had another brain strain. I've been calling around and trying to get someone to come out and cut up my weeds/pasture and a little bell went off in my brain.

Gary and his wife to the west of us have always said, if you need something. Just ask.

So I sent a message to Kim and asked if Gary could mow/hog/whatever ... our front pasture and the meadow. 

I am awaiting the answer. It is okay if he says no, I'll just be back to my square one.

This year, I am doing a lot of asking. I asked Justin for help, he helped. I asked Olive for help, she helped [we trade off to each other all of the time], I asked Steve [fishing buddy] for help. He will bring a crew this fall to cut the trees off the fenceline and help me clean up another area. 

Oh and now I see that my text looks weird on this post. Yeah, I'm not going to fix it. That happened when I copied and pasted the brain exploding . Huh. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Well, I won't do that again. I'll just stop here before more brain explosions go off in my head and call it quits. I refuse to go back and fix everything tonight with the headache I have echoing in my head.

Tomorrow is another adventure.

Maiden Voyage

The fella above is named Steve. There is a little background regarding Steve here: Merry Green Marvel.

This was his first 'tour' or as he called it The Maiden Tour. Last week I was supposed to do this, but communications got fouled up and because of that he invited myself and my friend for a 'no' charge tour as an apology.

Steve gave us a demonstration on how to get in and out of the sit on Kayaks, how to steer, back paddle, make figure eights, and deal with the wakes from speed boots if we encountered them.

He explained Strainers and how not to be a Noodle.

[For the heck of it a few days ago I looked up the Kayak Lingo and terms...]

Strainers are low hanging branches and a kayaker can get hung up like a noodle trying to go through them on a river current.

Dragging over logs or getting Boned is another expression -- he didn't use that though. It wouldn't have been appropriate with all female Kayakers.

We took off and headed first into the what he called the Lotus Garden.

If you have never sat near these flowers and smelled their exotic and beautiful scent...you have not lived!

I paddled along with Steve's son for part of the journey and we talked about different kinds of kayaking. He lives in Alaska and has kayaked on the ocean. Wow. The difference in lakes, rivers, and oceans are pretty big and I enjoyed hearing about them.

We paddled for around 3 hours with a break on a 'beach' along the main channel. After that, we headed down river to find another entry point into the backwaters. Or as Steve called it, the Braided Sloughs of the Mississippi which was an excellent description.

The crazies were out on the main channel with their speed boats racing up and down the river. Personally, I've never seen the fun of that.

Quiet and slow have always been my motto. Silent sports and I get along the best, although I hold nothing against those who like those sports.

How was it?

Well.

Awesome.

Will I do it again?

Steve's shot of me exploring the

Lotus Garden

Oh yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Next time? Maybe an evening paddle? 

It was a well run 'tour' which felt more like a friend taking us to see some amazing sights.

The photos were taken with my little waterproof point and shoot camera. So I didn't get great shots of the eagles or the juvie eagle...or the eagle nest and turtles.