Minnesota State Fair

After an evening meeting in Madison I decided to head north to take in day one of the Minnesota State Fair. I made it as far as Menominee around midnight, and made it to the fair by 8:00 am the next morning. I ate my way around the fairgrounds as well as attending a cooking class, watching part of a horse jumping competition, and visiting all of the buildings. After eight hours of eating, Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies, State Fair Cheese Curds, vanilla fudge, taffy and a chocolate malt from the dairy barn I was ready to drive home and made it there by 11:30 pm. I guess that means I'm getting back to my normal energy level and my ankle is fine. Thank goodness, it's so good to be able to push myself again to do the things I want to do. By the way, I'm including the food pictures so that those of you who weren't with me can salivate over them, and enjoy them vicariously. I haven't eaten the fudge, taffy or the rest of the cookies yet, but I'm afraid I ate the rest all in one day.

More Fair Treats

Lots of Fun

We had lots of fun this summer, but getting up at 5:00 am to go to the Dane County Farmer's Market wasn't one of them for my guests. Coffee helped.

Meals on the porch are a joy second only to fresh vegies from the garden.

Still tie-dying after all these years

Nora talked me into doing another tie-dye project this summer.

Gram Enjoys 4 Generation Visits

My mom really enjoyed having more visitors. She seemed to know they were people that she knew and liked and her eyes twinkled when Michael teased her.

Wisconsin Dells Boat Tour

Daniel and I enjoyed a day on the river on one of the hottest muggiest days of the summer. It brought back lots of memories from trips past. Now a dog jumps to table rock instead of a person, but the river and rocks look the same thanks to preservation efforts. I apologize for some of the pictures in the next few days they were taken with my phone.

Hobby Lobby brings Brett Back to Vikes

No sooner did Michael put on a Viking Santa hat in Hobby Lobby than Brett magically appears in the Minnesota Viking training camp. Now all I have to do is get him back there before Saturday's lottery drawing. It's always a tough sell believe me, especially if I want him to use a coupon for me.

Yard Work

Russ and I spent half a day cleaning up the yard concentrating on trimming shrubs. This looks like a lot of foliage but we have another half day of work left to do. It's amazing how much time it takes just to keep a large yard up to date. I'm in the process of taking things out of my garden. Last week I pulled out half of my cucumber plants. I have enough pickles and just need some to eat fresh. This morning I pulled out all of the small tomato plants. I've eaten enough fresh and I have enough sauce canned and am currently giving tomatoes away as fast as I can. I still have two tomato plants left and both are producing more than enough for me to eat fresh with some to give away. It's hard to believe that summer is winding down.