All the things Missouri

I realize that I totally under reported my lovely time in the gorgeous state of Missouri! And that seems to be totally unfair to my amazing Mad-Missouri friend, Cheri.  She has been wanting to see my pictures and when I got back I was swept into thinking about school, and kayaking, and biking again, and catching up with several of my people who I hadn't seen/talked to for a while.  The last thing I wanted to do was sit at the computer when I was so used to going at break neck speed, or alternatively- snuggling with those grandchildren of mine.

The Silver Tree on Art Hill in St. Louis

SO- as a surprise for her, here is an in-depth review!! I am writing this while waiting to get hungry, so I can eat and then go into school- since I got my weight lifting and a bike ride in already.  And I am not hungry when I get done working out--- especially bike riding.  You know,  I really suck at bike riding.  Lol.  Hills kill me.  KILL ME.  The words that escape my mouth.....  but its easier than a couple months ago.  ha.

First of all, I have to say that as much as I love my Wisconsin (GO PACK GO) and Lake Superior and all, I do very much enjoy being in different parts of the country and I really have to get into more southern states.  The weather up here has turned to it's glorious late summer pattern of highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's- the humidity has diminished (and yes it DOES get humid up here) and the sunsets are stunning.  In fact I am sure the my biker buddies from the south could undoubtedly bike 80 or 90 miles up here with no problem, since it is more like winter temperatures for them.  hehe.  ANY WHO, as much as I am reveling in this, Missouri is SUCH a gorgeous place to visit.  I will say that their rivers are a little sketchy looking, so I will stick to kayaking up here in flowing waters, but wow the scenery. And while it was freaking hot down there, I just didn't care because it was so much fun.  By the time I finished in Janesville, I will say that I was so sick of sweating through a set of clothes and then freezing in the air conditioning 4 or 5 times a day....  I am a northern girl for sure....

Pickle Springs

I don't mind the drive to Cheri's place, but Illinois gets to be a bit much sometimes.  I am always wishing for another windmill thing to show up.  I don't mind corn fields, heaven knows that is quite familiar to me, since I grew up in the middle of one.  But it is pretty cool to get across the Mississippi into the St. Louis area.  The land is different (i.e.: not flat) and I sort of like driving on the big freeways too.  Of course this is all timed to NOT be during rush hours, so I can enjoy the drive.

I arrived at Cheri's the day after the culmination of a very VERY busy month or so, and I know she was glad that I was there to provide distraction and my usual comic relief.  We went and picked up her grandson Charlie almost immediately after I arrived and we got to sit and catch up while he played in the swimming pool at a local establishment.... and we had a little light supper and refreshments and had a wonderful time chit chatting our afternoon away.

Pickle Springs stream

The next day (as were all the days) was an action-packed one, where we of course began our journey of eating out every single meal-  because we are just that awesome!!  HAHA!!  We began with coffee always at her house, because we are amazing and addicted humans and proceeded to have a lovely breakfast at a coffee shop in nearby Farmington.  After tossing around idea for what to do next, we settled on hiking at Pickle Springs.  Pickle springs is a lovely natural area with an almost 2 mile trail that you follow up and down and around...  it was pretty dry when we were there, but apparently is quite lovely after a rain.  It was lovely this day too. But it is indeed a HIKE, not a walk!  :)

Love this mini waterfall, that was probably 8 - 12 inches tall  lol

We ate a late lunch at a really cool restaurant in Farmington called 12 West.  The air-conditioning and nourishment were very much appreciated, and it was very good.  It was easy to find vegetarian options everywhere we went! We had to pick up Mr. Charlie from daycare again that afternoon, which gave us a chance to hang out at her place and just relax.  Our plan was to go to a covered bridge when Amanda got home, but she got stuck in traffic.  We later  got part of the way there when I remembered that the park that it is in closed at sunset..... so we cut our losses and had supper at Lix- an ice cream shop.  Because everyone should have ice cream for supper sometimes. AND we stopped for a few moments at the very cute train depot in Farmington as well.  Night pictures anyone?

Train Depot in Farmington

Friday was a city day for us.  I had very few requests for my trip, but I did want to get to the city at least once and see the art museum.  It was spectacular as I indicated in my previous post.  And I had a friend who was interested in me and my droning on about all things art history.  She's the best.  I just love that place.  They also had a folk art special exhibit which was really fun to see as well.   When we finished there, I had a special request to have vegetarian sushi for lunch, and my dear friend was happy to oblige.  We ate at a place called Mizu, and again I was not disappointed.  I had avocado roll and one that was tempura style that I can't remember the name of.  They subbed the fish in it with sweet potato, and it had some cream cheese as well as veggies and I also split an order of deep fried tofu.  I was in HEAVEN!!!  Following, we walked through the very beautiful Missouri Botanical Gardens and rumor has it we had CHEESECAKE for supper- because that is just how we roll.

Oh look- columns!  :)

SUSHI BABY!!!

Crazy big lily pads at the Botanical gardens

Saturday was a little different day, as Cheri was involved in a crossfit event.  We squeezed breakfast in between events and when that was all done, we went a bit of a drive north to the Katy trail.  The Katy trail is an old railroad right of way that has a really nice packed gravel surface for biking.  It also has places to stop along the way, including a really yummy brewery that gave us some nice rehydration!  YES we drank a dark beer and it was fabulous.  We biked 18 miles when we ran out of daylight and energy-  A late night stop at "Crackle Barrel" was our food for the night (I think we only ate twice that day??) and it was a pretty yummy blueberry french toast.

Biking and beer- perfect companions and perfect company

Part of the Katy Trail 

Getting darker- on the  Katy Trail 

Sunday, my last day with her and her family, we stayed in our jammies until at least 10, which is something I never do, and it was the nicest morning.  We decided to go up to St. Louis so we could eventually have Italian food on the Hill, but first we walked through the zoo, and around the beautiful lake/pond on Art Hill called the Basin.  Wow it was so beautiful.  There was exactly 2 Italian restaurants open that Sunday night and we were appropriately dressed for only one of them, and it was just fine with us.  It was really nice to sit down and have something sort of similar to my Italy experience, including raspberry gelato, but there is something about being IN actual Italy you just can't beat.  THIS was good though- very good.

Fancy bird at the zoo!

This enclosure was really cool! Ibis, egrets, ducks, etc.

The tiger was hot!

Part of the basin (many of these pix are taken with the phone)- you can see the museum in the background

Dining with a really good wine

A very dark photo of the covered bridge

I had just the best time running all over the area with my sweet friend, we could have stayed in her house all day and had just as good of a time.  I am so lucky to be able to visit her though---

part of the Chihuli installation

Ribbit

Giraffe and friend 

The corpse flower almost ready to bloom- apparently a smelly thing.

Summer has been good to me again, but this one seemed to go faster.  I am not at all ready to give in to it, but there isn't much I can do to stop it....  I am however ready to see what the next journey, adventure or encounter might be- no matter what it will have some joy.

** Btw, as usual I always underestimate the amount of time it takes me to write, post pictures, rearrange, review and rewrite....  lunch has long since been eaten, boxes unpacked at school, groceries bought, and a few people have been talked to....  So here we are at almost 10 pm and I will be publishing- I should know by now, don't you think?

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Is it bedtime, yet??

I am definitely paying for my weekend this morning.

Staying up late for prom two nights in a row was the start of it.  That just is self explanatory.  It was a really good night for us and the kids.  

The nice weather is the other factor.  I went for a couple of really long walks.  Sunday found me cutting down brown, dead stuff in the garden, digging out a few plants, filling the wheelbarrow, checking the bees, directing the MA as he used the tractor to fix the massive chunks of lawn the snowplow took out this past fall, raking, and a bunch of other things I can't remember.  I have some photos but I frankly can't be bothered to post them right now....  Lol.

My legs are really tired from the shoveling, my elbow is tired from all sorts of stuff and my eyes are tired from yet again not falling asleep in a timely manner.

On a positive note, we got to talk to the Mad-second son last night for a long time and we get to FaceTime with miss Ella and her parents tonight.  And plans are underway for visits from both of them, so that definitely made my night.

There is a week of wonderful weather evenings coming up and a plan for a day trip on Saturday!  So this is looking good.  Daffodils continue to open and there should be a massive bloom happening later in the week!!!

In spite of exhaustion, I am feeling ever optimistic and summer is ON ITS WAY!!  So many YESES to that!!!!

Planning to find all the joy that I can until then!  :)

Gloomy days and purple flowers

It was a grey day here in Northern WI, but I got some sunny shots yesterday!  And there were some that I was really pleased with.

Siberian Iris

It was a bit of a down day for me.  I packed a LOT of living into these last several days- from finishing up school, to traveling north to Lake Superior, to cleaning and working out and walking and biking and gardening.  And today, I was a bit uninspired.  And the weather didn't help any.  I was actually expecting it to be a bit brighter in the morning and was a little let down when it was rainy.  I did manage to get in a bike ride though!  So, I expect to regroup for tomorrow and push on with it all.  In the meantime, I decided that, instead of zoning out in front of the tv, I would post these pix.

First up, one of my bees happened to be visiting the daylily (first one open) that I was photographing.  It was a real happy accident to get that flying bee, and then I snapped several as he was happily gathering pollen.  You will notice how lovely yesterday was in these photos. 

Honey bee in flight

Pollination 

As I went through looking for some of the new blossoms in the flower gardens, I noticed that most of them are mostly purple/blue tones- very pretty!  I knew that it wasn't the best to be shooting pix in this harsh lighting but I love the brightness, and that seems to be how I roll.  

Amsonia

Iris-one of my "fancier" ones.  Naturally the colorful ones are pathetic growers.  Lol- next to it is nepata: catmint

Lupines

Perennial bachelor button- centauria  montana

Perennial geranium sanguineum

chive blossom with bumblebee

Another purple iris opening- not my favorite one, but of course this one gives me tons of blooms.

Another color of perennial geranium-might be Geranium sanguineum “Max Frei” 

So after a busy day of gardening and other stuff, we went for an impromptu ride to escape the mosquitos and ended up down at the park in Fifield.

Flambeau River via Movrich Park

It was such a pretty moment in time!  A beautiful end to the day.  I am hoping to regain my mojo tomorrow and feel like getting things accomplished, as it did not happen today.  I need to have my occasional days to regroup and re-energize.  There are a lot of things coming up in the few short months of summer.  

Until next time, be a joy giver and get yourself a good night's sleep!  

Gardening part 3- Ready, set, swat, GO

You can just about hear the commentary-


ANDTHEY'REOFF-

AND they took off from the gate fast, the peas and onions are in the ground- but look- here comes the rain and the gardeners are falling a few lengths behind.  Rounding the curve towards summertime, gardeners are starting to catch up by putting out their beets, potatoes, carrots and greens, but wait, here comes the flock of mosquitos that will drive them into the house early.  But the gardeners won't be defeated, armed with OFF and heavy clothing, they are out there in the back stretch putting in their beans and tomatoes. Rounding the final turn, the cukes and squash are being put in before the rains stop and the deer flys begin!!  It is a race to the finish- the crowd is going wild!!!  It is the gardeners winning by a glove!!

Can you tell I watched the Belmont yesterday??  HAHA

Anyway, it is a race to get the garden in right now, as it seems - finger crossed- that perhaps it won't get so cold as to kill off the plant-life.  We shall see.  Every night, the MA gets out to the garden and plants a little more stuff- tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, greens, beets, carrots, etc etc.  I will be joining the party to do a little volunteering when it comes to weeding, but I am trying to get a handle on the flower gardens.

 

Things have grown like crazy with the  warm temps and the water that has fallen.  The flower beds have gotten so big, and so have the weeds.  But that is the way it goes!

So for the garden update, ready set GO and plant it all!!   The only limitations is the weather, your available time and your tolerance to mosquitos**.  The weather looks like nice and warm (not hot!) for the days and coolish evenings, which is really awesome for us here and relatively nice for the garden plants.  Occasional rain rounds out a fairly nice outlook for the next 10 days.

Enjoy your summer!!  I know I will!!

**Side note - I read today that because it got warm all of a sudden, ALL OF THE MOSQUITOS hatched at once.  With all the standing water, this was quite a crop. This same article also stated that this should be an average year for mosquitos.  I'll believe it when I see it!

Late season garden pictures

Zinnia "Zowie"

I have a gardening friend who recently had a traumatic injury and is now forced to be confined to a few rooms in a house that is not hers.  I won't go into any particulars, not that I really know them, other than the fact that this vigorous, healthy,  active woman is now forced into life of stillness, and relative solitude.

Rudbeckia (Goldsturm)

Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis 

Solidago Rugosa "Fireworks"

I've been thinking about this a LOT.  What would I do, what would I feel like, what would happen, if I had a similar outcome to a probably quite ordinary accident?  Would I handle it with grace as she seems to be- I know I could detect in her writing a bit of shock and disbelief at the beginning.

Helianthus

Ornamental Grass (I don't remember which it is!)

End of the flower garden with Karl Foerester grass, Prairie Dropseed, a Miscanthus,  and a Panicum.

I am pretty sure I would have put a blog post up the first day whining and crying and carrying on- maybe not, though.  You just never know.  Being forced into relative silence- probably painful immobility- and being removed from the place that you are comfortable and familiar, not being able to come and go as you wish, and just the general looking at life-as-you-no-longer-know-it in the face, must be something that is a daily, indeed hourly, struggle.

Frosty cherry tomato

A daisy that was given to me by a friend- species unknown

Sambucus nigra "Eva" (Black Lace)

 So to give her a possible boost and to know that I am thinking about her, as well I am sure as are many many people, I want to post some seasonal garden pix for her.

Aster species unknown

Echinacea in October

Echinacea in September

Prairie Dropseed, Miscanthus "Zebra grass", Ladies Mantle (Alchemilla)

She will be happy that she doesn't live in northern Wisconsin, at least.  :)  This is called counting my blessings, in spite of the snow.  Life needs to be celebrated, not bemoaned.

Lola standing stoically through all the things mother nature throws at her

Sunflowers in the snow- beautiful contrasts of seasons.

And a little joy should be shared with those who need it.

I want to do a little shout out to my buddies (and hers) at the Sprout-off forum where we first met.  It is a great, quirky bunch that are always ready to talk all things gardening, and then some!  :) Please visit if you are a gardening person- this is a fabulous group!!