Cedar Summit Farm and Karens Place, Ricotta

June Garden 7th day of 2011

duNord Women's Retreat Spring 2011

 

 

Another women's retreat has come and gone........ 

Back home to the chaos.

Back to the every day reality. 

Oh how I wish I could have stayed longer.

Lingered by the shore longer, walked the woods one more time.

Loon calls, and squirrel chatter......

Deer peering along the tree line seeing if it was safe to come to the lake for a drink.

The smell of pine creeping in all around me......

Sharing real moments full of laughter with wonderful women.

A cup of tea by the fire never tasted as good.......

Waterfalls in full force from the snow melt and recent spring rains,

making for an optimal picture.

As I stand among the tall pines and peeling birch, 

woodpeckers are busy foraging their meals from the trees.

The ice retreats and then pushes back with the winds,

pushing ice into piles on the rocky shore.

Waves lap them up again and swallow them.

Experiencing three seasons in three days

Summer, spring and winter.

in that order.

Each brings a new adventure.......... 

 

Eggs

April

 Spring is being difficult in more ways than one.

 Minnesota transitions are fickle....unpredictable.

But lets look at the Sunny side of life....
  
Farm Fresh Eggs.






Eggs!

Kylie gives them the thumbs up!

September in Ely

A weekend in the north woods is never enough.
It leaves me longing for more.
I was lucky enough to have been up
there at the peak of color this year.
Spoiled by wonderful wholesome food and
the company of many beautiful women.
My senses were heightened by natures gifts.





Drizzling rain creating a gauze like curtain over the lake,
colors of orange, red and yellow. Deep, rich, warm.

Stretch to meet the morning sun.
Start the new day limber.

Smells of Pine, and Birch and Maple.
Draped fallen branches with Moss and Lichen,

Outcroppings of rocks and boulders,
Petri dishes.
Colonies of new life springs.
Tendrils reaching toward the sky.

Red Squirrel never seems afraid,
noisy creature, silly fellow.

Warblers, chickadee dee dee's.......
Hairy woodpecker, ruffed grouse,
hungry flicker nibbling ants.

Young buck turns to me,
nose twitching, senses fear,
bounds off into the woods.

Morning fog dancing on the lake,
Sun rising, warming the air.

Simple boat hitch draws my eye,
Many boats docked nearby.

Loon cries.....

Forest Slugs

Well it's June. Two months since I last posted. I've spent a lot of time procrastinating, hence not posting. Blogging is the least of my problem areas when it comes to getting things done.
This is so not like me.
This past year has lead me in new directions.
Slowing down.
Being 50 gets you thinking......
Like what have I done with my life and what do I want to do with the rest of it.
I've got plenty of ideas, most of which take a considerable amount of money to carry out.
Well I certainly don't have money.
So now what?!
Last week I got impulsive and just decided to throw caution to the wind and booked myself and Lee a room up in Lutsen for the weekend, and took off.
The weather didn't look very promising when we left, in fact it was raining and by the time we got up there Friday night it was pouring. It really didn't look good at all.
Friday Night came and went....and when we awoke Saturday Morning you could hardly see out the window. Fog! Fog like I've never seen before. Thick as pea soup, as the saying goes.
I decided right then and there that I didn't care and we were going to go hiking anyway.
So we got in the car and headed further north to the Canadian Border. Or just short of it anyway. Grand Portage State Park. The fog came and went along the road, at times I was gripping whatever I could get my hands on in fear that we would run into something along the way.
The visibility was next to zero at times. We arrived and geared up. And headed up the path.
By this time the fog had backed off quite a bit. The path to the falls was an easy one. We took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the fact that there were hardly any other tourists around. After we had had enough of the "scenic overlook" we started walking back to the car when we noticed another path that warned us not to take small children with.

Warning! steep inclines and difficult paths 3.6 miles. "Let's do it" so we did.
I'm happy I did. But let me tell you the real warning in all of this.....

"Beware the Forest Slugs"

On just about every tree descending the trail at about just the right height...if you needed to grab hold of a tree...there in lie's a Forest Slug.
Ewwww, what a nasty feeling.
Hikers beware....watch where you grad hold.

Spring Cleanup

Taking a break from the back breaking work in the garden.
I have one wheel barrow full of branches and stalks left from last years perennials.
What to do with all the yard waste?
I've outgrown two compost bins....and have yet to sift the one that's ready for use.

The Rabbits did a number on several bushes and destroyed my raspberry canes that were to produce this summer. I realize it was a tough cold snowy winter for the little guys and I love them.
But the my heart is broken that I won't be able to pick fresh berries from my own garden this year.
Maybe there's a reason.
I'd like to think so.
I'll look at it as....
I've provided for the less fortunate.
It's tough out there, even for the Rabbits.

I hope that the new addition to our cat population will keep the yard in order this summer.
Keep the Critters out of my strawberries and other edible plantings.
GK..... I'm counting on you. Do your god given duty of keeping the Rabbits in check.
And yet that makes me sad too. But again...there's a rhythm to life and every thing has a purpose. After all cats have been controlling the rodent population for a really long time.
And there's not much I can do to stop it.

Spring Cleaning

The urge to clean and organize has left me completely exhausted and I've only just started.
Why is it that when the weather gets warm your mind starts whirling at a frantic pace.
What to do. What to do! Where do you get started?
My poor body can't seem to keep up with all things that need to get done.
Coming out of hibernation is difficult.
So what do you do.......take advantage of the grandchildren wanting to help out.
Put um to work.
It might not be perfect.....but they just get it dirty again in a matter of hours anyway. Or in this case immediately.
Notice Aiden's hand on the window while Kylie is working so hard to get it clean.
Hard little workers they are. Gotta love um.

Impatience

Getting really impatient for Gardening.....seem to be lacking the energy to get out and clean up the gardens....maybe tomorrow. So much needs to get done it just seems so overwhelming to think about it. Today looked really nice when looking out the window. The sun was out, and the tulips are making headway along with the crocus...in fact, I took a picture of a few that were flowering.....will have to add the pic tomorrow when I empty the the few shots I took on the frigid walk around the lake.

This is my grandson Aiden. Peaceful Sleep.......

Spring on Featherstone

Ice on the lake finally disappeared today.
The Gulls that have been flocking on the lake scavenging fish for the past few days have left and the geese are moving in along with the coots.....just waiting for the Osprey and the Great Blue's along with the Egret's to return and start fishing the overgrown goldfish.

The picture above is from last spring.