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