Bandshell Paint Job

The bandshell restoration is nearly complete, and The Bread & Pickle is open again. With our first 80 degree day, the path around the lake was like a New York City sidewalk. 

 

Bench Leveling

We had our first hot day of the year - it officially hit 85°. It has been 190 days since we were in the 80s. JP had a full day planned for yard cleanup. We leveled both of the stone benches and trimmed up some trees. 

It's amazing how heavy rock is. We rigged up some rails for the bench to slide on and it worked fairly well. The vertical supports were leaning at 20° downslope. We were afriad that the whole thing was going to tip over, but once we dug down 8" we realized that the supports were still solidly stuck in the ground.

 

Tornado Sirens

We had a lovely rain, complete with dark skies, a rainbow, and tornado sirens. Having lived in Nebraska for 15 years, we appreciate what it means when the sirens start going off during a storm. However, it was a false alarm - the city was testing them as part of "Severe Weather Awareness Week".

 

Catnap

The cat is loving being outside. She is usually pretty good about staying on the patio, but now and then we catch her out of bounds.

 

Nico's

We are still sad that Tinto Kitchen left us, but we are learning to cope with the new Nico's Tacos. They are packed every day of the week. It was a perfect afternoon to enjoy their patio for $5 nachos happy hour.

 

Lake Views

We still have not grown weary of the lake. The morning dog walk is peacful and quiet.

The afternoon walk home from the bus stop is bustling.

 

Ducks Are Back

Our ducks have returned to roost in the backyard. We put in some baby duck steps so that they will stick around once the little ones hatch.

 

Destroy All Monsters

Our local theater is AMAZING. They show some really good movies. We hit the Saturday matinee for a showing of the 1968 classic, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters

They have a full bar and the best buttered popcorn in the Twin Cities.

It wasn't a sell out, but every single person there was a hardcore Godzilla fan. 

 

Play Ball!

DK & I hit Target Field for the Twins home opener. It's blacked out for our ticket package, so we had to get some cheap seats in the upper deck. It was chilly in the shade, but it was a lot warmer than last year. There was barely any snow remaining.

Even the cheap seats have a great view of the action.

 

Dog Babysitting

We babysat C for a few days. He & S are the same size and temperment and they get along well.

C takes toy destruction to a whole new level. He picked up where S left off and showed all the toys who is the boss.

He feels relaxed enough that he's OK taking naps in the sun, even with the cat nearby watching him.

 

Snow!!

Finally!! We got some snow!! After record heat all winter, we finally got a nice dumping of white stuff.

The forecast was all over; no one knew how much we would get other than it was certain we would get something. We got 8" the first day and then another 4" two days later with the back end of the storm. It was wet & heavy and we went thru a full tank of gas in the snowblower.

We have really missed our walks in our winter wonderland this year. The dog was VERY excited to be out and about.

 

Adam Ant

CP took my ticket to go with JP to see Adam Ant and the English Beat at Uptown Theatre. Adam Ant is one of JP's favorite bands from the 80s. CP likes them a lot more than I, and he really enjoyed the show.

Both of them came home with Adam Ant t-shirts with the design that JP always wanted to have as a tattoo when she 13.

 

Vegas 2024 #2

I spent a couple days in Las Vegas for an electric vehicle charging summit. The nice thing about going to Vegas is all the side-show extras that you don't get if you go to somewhere like Fargo.

There was an 80s tribute band that played good songs, including one from Iron Maiden.

The conference was held at the Mirage. It was a spectacular hotel compared to the place I stayed. Maybe next time I can stay there...

No trip to Vegas would be complete without hanging with the Gs. We wandered thru the Casino Roalye; it has to be the oldest casino on the main strip. Low ceilings & smoky.

 

Old Oak

The oak tree in front of this house was a neighborhood spectacle. It had wide low branches that extended way out and were supported by cables. It defined the house. Not sure why it had to come down, but the house is not the same now.

 

Turkeys in the Hood

The Richfield turkeys are well known, but these are new to our neighborhood. These were at 52nd and Penn, above the creek.

 

Early Ice Out

This winter has been exceptionally warm. Normally, we get a few warm days that quickly go back to winter. This year, it warmed up and stayed warm. The last day for the ice was March 11. 

 

Big 10 Women's Husker B-Ball

The Big 10 basketball tournaments are being held here in Minneapolis. Every night on the news has been chatter about how it's sold out due to Caitlin Clark (Iowa Hawkeyes all-time NCAA scoring recordholder) and tickets are $200+. What they weren't saying is that the other games are not sold out, and tickets are cheap.

I scored two second-row courtside seats for the Nebraska game against Purdue. $8 each! DK picked me up from work and we had a fun time. It was a double-header with the Illinois-Maryland game up first.

We were sitting close enough that we could hear the girls' and ref's chatter. We were also close to thje Husker band and had fun with all their antics. By the end of the game, DK was chanting "GO BIG RED!" with the rest of us.

The Huskers won this game as well as the next one against Michigan State.

 

Nine Mile Creek

With the warm temps, we should be in knee-deep mud season, but the lack of moisture is keeping the mud at bay. We tried out a new place: Nine Mile Creek in Bloomington (10 minutes south of us). It starts off in a canyon in a residential neighborhood and winds down to the Minnesota River. Along the river is a bird santuary. We watched four bald eagles soaring above their nest and a bazillion geese, ducks, and coots in the water. We even saw an old beaver lodge.

S lost all of his winter coat last month and he's ready for snowless walks (until it gets above 50°). He is smart enough to know that when he's hot, all he has to do is go for a swim.

 

Warm Spring Fireside

The weather has been absolutely balmy. We are taking advantage of it by being outside as much as possible. CP came over and we had a nice firepit family night.

 

Spring Training

After the Up North show, we wandered around downtown. I had a 40% off coupon for the Twins store, so we hit Target Field where CP got a new Twins shirt. Only one month to go until baseball is back!

 

Up North Show

CP joined us for the Up North Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We had fun checking out the cabins and backyard saunas. It would be nice to have a cabin, but all the ones we like are $600k+.

With cabins scratched off the list, JP is talking more and more about a hard-sided camper. This one is made in St. Paul and it's top notch. I think I could get into something like this. It would probably fit into the front stall of the garage (if somehow you could back it in for 35 feet with zero clearance).

 

Ducks

The creek coming out of the lake is always packed with ducks. It's nice ice-free clean moving water. 

 

Pike Island

With temps in the 40s and zero snow, we (and at least 11 boats) got out on the river. 

The three-mile hike around Pike Island is pretty, and at this time of year, bug-free. It's where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers converge. Even though its surrounded by city, it is peaceful and uncrowded.

Mud season is upon us. 

 

Hamster Maze

On our list of things to do is to walk the entire skyway system downtown. We took it to the Home & Garden show, but on the weekend most of the shops are closed. Need to take off a weekday and go exploring.