Garden Overview

 I had a request to show more of the gardens in their entirety, so the following photos will attempt to do so.

Okay, I still had to show a couple of closeups as well.

This is the entrance from the back side of the garden.  This trellis matches the one on the other side of the lot.

That dark mass in the beginning that is swallowing the stepping stones are black scallop ajuga and let's just say they are spreading really well.

I'm going to be moving a bunch of it to the left between my neighbor and myself as the grass doesn't grow there anyway.

This view shows the trellis and the shed next to it.

I added moss roses in front of the raised bed because...you guessed it...the grass doesn't grow well there.

This is in front of the shed and next to the driveway and was the first part of the garden I'd started.

The hostas here are bigger because they are older. I've also added pulmanaria and ground cover.

There were some coral bells and coleus in there but the baby bunnies seem to have claimed them.

The photo below is the central part of the garden, again with lots of hostas. This is where the trellises begin and will be covered with vines eventually, if the bunnies leave them alone.

This is the entrance from the other side of the lot.  It's still primarily hostas but adding in some ferns, lilies, coral bells and other plants that tolerate a bit more sun.

This is the entrance from the neighbor's lot, where guests are welcomed by the welcome sign and the lady in red.  Lots of hostas and ferns.  The back of the cat cage has clematis planted on it.  They're doing much better this year and I'm hoping there's enough sun for some blooms.

The photo below is kind of a side angle view to show the bulk of the hosta garden. I like doing a mix of hostas with different colors and textures. This area has some dead nettle and brunnera as well because it's much shadier.

Ok, one last close up shot of the clematis on the side of the shed. This is Josephine and she's just starting to bloom.

The blooms are so big and showy and remind me of water lilies.

Long Live the Queen

Spring blooms

The gardens are starting to look good this year as they mature and have filled in. The groundcover (ajuga or bugleweed) is getting thick and I love the color when it blooms.

One of my favorite things are the vines, especially the clematis, which I have everywhere. 

This one isn't fully open yet, but will be soon.  It's called Josephine.

I love the combinations of colors and textures, like this heuchera (coral bells) and the ghost fern.

This is in the back area and gets a fair amount of sun, but the ferns seem to do just fine.

We have a very shady lot with five trees, so mostly I grow hostas and things that enjoy the shade.

It wouldn't be June without columbines.

This one is starting to naturalize so hopefully I'll have a nice clump of them eventually.

Another summer favorite is daisies.  

This is a nice clumping variety, not like the ones I had in Wisconsin that took over the empty lot next door.  It did look stunning, however.

This is a combination of a Japanese painted fern and a heuchera. The gold groundcover is lysimachia nummularia (moneywort) and the silvery one in the back is lamium (dead nettle ).

Well, that's been my tour for the day. My granddaughter has given me the use of her camera which makes it much easier to share these photos with you.

Long Live the Queen of the Garden

Karaoke

 I love karaoke I recently met a man who does it professionally and met with my friend Rick and I to show us his program.  It looks so much better than what we're using and I was overjoyed when I learned that he lived near me in Minnesota and could work with me over the summer months.

So the arrangement was made to come to the bar where he works on a Sunday to see how he operates this program. 

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I don't generally have much of a night life.  I tend to turn into a pumpkin shortly after the 5:00 news and crash early.  So to accomplish this meeting I needed to take a long nap in the afternoon and then go the the bar at 8:00...at night. 

I can't believe I'm really doing this!

I arrived early and had some incredible Rueben rolls while I waited for him to show up.

I met some interesting people there.  First was Vera and her daughter who were the loudest cheerers and made every singer feel like a rock star.

Then there was Steve Chuck-Norris, who apparently dresses all the time like this and had a name change in honor of Chuck Norris.

I met Gallagher, who is actually a good singer and published an album that I listened to on You-Tube on the way home.  It had a Seals & Croft vibe that I enjoyed.  He's talking to Neil in the photo below.

That's Neil, the kind man who is willing to train me on this program. He's so patient and might help me set up a karaoke night in my park when I feel ready so I can practice running it.

We stopped karaoke and all stood outside to watch the eclipse of the moon.

One of the singers naturally sang "the total eclipse of the moon" to honor the occasion.

Loved the sign in the bathroom.  

It was a pretty magical evening.  There might be something to this nightlife after all.

Long Live the Bar Hopping Karaoke Singing Queen

Water Water Everywhere

 

I guess when you live on the Mississippi River you have to expect these things, but it's the first time I've ever seen it like this. Last year the river was so low everyone was wishing for more rain.  Be careful what you wish for.

Our trailer is on the higher side and we're fine, but those in the lower levels had to get moved out.  We're hoping the river will crest soon and not come up any higher.

We just had a 50th wedding celebration in this cabana two weeks ago. There was a trailer there at the time.

This one didn't get out on time and we're hoping the river bank doesn't shift or it may go sideways and float down the river.

You can see people have been trying to stack things up to protect them.

We have a group of hard working men here who haul out the trailers and here they're cutting the power to the affected areas.

As you can see, they are being supervised.  Those supervisors look younger every year.

Good thing.  I wonder if that cord is plugged in to something.

Dean and Karen Ternus live here and they haven't yet arrived.

You might want to take a few days before you arrive, since the road to your area is closed right now. You have become an island.

People here take it in stride and here's a couple out for a kayak ride and gliding past the bench that normally is on the edge of the water.

Long Live the Water Queen

Now We're Cooking!

 While at Target picking up stuff that we needed for the RV, I came across a sale on all the grilling stuff.  We haven't grilled for years and suddenly I had a desire for grilled food, so I picked up a small gas grill and a bunch of accessories and a storage box to put them in.

When I got home I rearranged the outdoor seating to make space for a table to set it on and went to work assembling the grill.  I have no idea how to do this, but I'm sure Left Brain will be able to adapt from charcoal to gas once it's set up.

I put up the ivy behind the benches and installed the white wooden door and rack to make the entry way a little more attractive.  It's always fun to dig out my pretties and set them around the yard.

Then I decided the new seating area needed a rug, so another visit to Target and voila...it's complete.

I decided I didn't care for the white trellis I had between these two trees so I removed them and installed five black wire trellis in their place. These will hold up much better to the winter snow and wind.

The cat cage got a good cleaning and I added a welcome mat at the
bottom, a rug on the second level and a drying mat on the top so their little paws are more comfortable.  It's all about their comfort. Also the landings are old and disgusting looking, so this is a little upgrade.  I purchased a tarp to put on over it when it rains to keep everything dry and will use it when we are gone over the winter to protect it.

Bit by bit things are coming together and pretty soon I can think about actually playing and finding my pickleball people. 

Long Live the Queen of the Grill

Always Have a Plan B

Left Brain wanted to go for a convertible ride today so I suggested we stop at Linda's Café first for lunch as I was craving a Rueben and fries and they make the best Rueben!  It's usually so busy there so I was pleased to see lots of parking spots. Maybe they're closed?  Nope, the sign was flashing OPEN.  However, the sign on the door said they were closing at noon today.  Bummer.

Off to Plan B.  There's a little hole in the wall bar in Dayton that is said to have excellent burgers that we've wanted to try so we headed out in that direction. It was just a little greasy spoon with a very limited menu and we both got the burger & fries basket.  OMG! These are wonderful burgers!  Half a pound of hamburger hand patted from the Osseo Meat Market, a local market nearby.

It was a perfect day for a drive through the countryside and we were amazed at all the construction. Lots of single family homes at just under a cool million going up. It seems ridiculous to me to have these huge houses for a single family, unless they have a dozen kids but most families have only one or two.  Who can afford these?  Course, this from an old woman who lives in a shoe, er...trailer.  We've gotten so used to having small digs that I wouldn't know what to do with all that space.

Even with a tiny space it's amazing how much stuff a person collects. When the rain hits my plan is to take things out of the closet & cupboards and see what's in there, 'cause I can't remember.

Long Live the Queen of Plan B...and sometimes C

Stormy Weather

 We woke this morning to the gentle sound of rain pattering against the windows. Such a peaceful sound...for a while.

Then the winds came up, the sky turned dark and the tree tops were whipping back and forth.  Did I mention we have five trees on our property?

I was concerned about our awning so Left Brain brought it in for a while and then things started to settle down.  Nope.  Not over yet, now we have rain with a mixture of hail. I was starting to get a bit worried and wondering where does one go for safety in a trailer?

This is the inside view of the damage

Then the wind abated, the rain stopped and the sky got lighter again.  We fared very well, but this home owner didn't do as well.  The tree that fell pushed in their slide.

Here are some shots of the other tree that came down, luckily it landed right between two sheds.

This one landed right between the two sheds with no damage at all

They tied the tree to the truck to pull it off the trailer.
You can see how it pushed in the slide. Ouch.

This shows the back of the tree that landed between the two sheds

Long Live the Queen of Breaking Wind

It's For the Birds

 

The lady in red stands guard near the kitty condo

After a couple days of raking leaves the yard is cleaned up and
plants are starting to poke through the soil. The weather is still cool but perfect for outdoor work.

One of the first things I did was hang up all my bird feeders only to have a neighbor tell me we're not supposed to do that because of the Avian Flu.  Darn it!  I love feeding the birds and it's one of the best parts of coming to Minnesota.

But before I could get them taken down we had a visit from the pileated woodpecker.  I've never had one so close before. They are so big!

So all the bird feeders have been washed, cleaned with a bleach/water solution and stored away. Hopefully we can set them up again in June.  It's embarrassing when the bird feeders are cleaner than my house right now, but I can work on the inside when the rain comes.

There's one bright spot in the garden, one of the heuchera is up. It seems the yellow ones pop up first.  It's not much but sure is good to see a sign of spring.

Someone in the campground snapped a shot of this coyote going through the park. I guess we'll have them where ever we go.

We're enjoying nice weather right now and the rain is coming sometime tonight. Then it should get much warmer, but nothing like

Okay, it's actually a groundcover 
growing between two rocks.
Like I'd show you my bodacious
booty in a thong...get real.

my friends who are still in Arizona. Once the weather gets really warm I can rock my new thong!

Long Live the Queen of Birds