Crop Art

Last year, the line for the crop art exhibit at the fair was too long. This year, we were determined to get in and check it out. The main line was out the door and down the hall, but we found an alternative entrance and made our way in. All of the art is made from seeds. Kinda like the rose parade, but with seeds instead of flowers.

Most of the art was based on current themes. Here we have "Make America Minnesota, Tim", the laser-eyed loon that was a top contender for the new MN state flag, and "Minnesota, Bring Ya A**" which was from this year's Timberwolves' NBA playoff.

Laser-eyed loon, "Seedless Watermelon", "Minnesota Meat Raffle" (ice age times), and "Kamala is Brat"

Suni Lee is our hometown (St. Paul) hero of the women's olympics.

Frog & Toad on their bike is timeless.

The hall was packed to capacity, and it was 95° in there, but it was well worth it.

 

MN State Fair

We, and 170,000 others took advantage of a perfect late summer 75° day and skipped work in favor of the Minnesota State Fair.

The Harris/Walz tent was packed with long lines for merchandise. JP managed to score a yard sign. We will have to order our shirts online.

 

DDD Tequila

Our neighborhood liquor store has all sorts of fun events. We could not pass this one up: Guy Fieri was there signing bottles of his new tequila. It was a grand event - we, and hundreds of others, stood in line for a couple hours. The store has an amazing deli and wine bar, so we ate while waiting. The store mascot is a gentle Saint Bernard that greeted everyone in line.

 

Storm Photo from Target Field

All the hot steamy air broke loose in a torrential storm that took out more trees across town. The neighbor's trash can across the street floated away down the alley.

 Brace Hammelgarm, the Twins photography manager, posted this incredible photo from Target Field. As the storm was dissipating, the sun crept in and lit everything with an unnatural red glow. We saw a similar rainbow at home, but it was nothing like this.

 

Old Fashioned

Grampa had never had an Old Fashioned, so we broke him in with style at Brick & Bourbon. He got the whole experience of a smoked cocktail with bacon and a fresh warm waffle. Mmmmm, Tasty!

 

Landscape Arboretum

The heat & humidity (and State Fair) kept the crowds away from the Landscape Arboretum. We enjoyed having the place to ourselves.

 

Strange Symbols

Around the neighborhood, there were weird symbols on the sidewalks. At first, I thought they must be for some sort of run/scramble, but after some consideration, I think the only plausible explanation is that they were drawn by aliens.

The creek has ben full and running all summer. What a difference from last year!

 

Rose Garden

After Sea Salt, we hit the Lake Harriet Rose Garden on the north side of the lake.

 

Sea Salt

No visit of the falls is complete without a stop at Sea Salt, one of our favorite restaurants in the perfect location. This was my second visit there in the same week; Yum!

 

G&G Visit

Gramma & Grampa came up for a fast weekend of seeing the boys and the sights.

1st stop was the falls, which are still running strong.

 

Mudonna - Diva of the Diamond

We had a work event at the St. Paul Saints. We had some great seats and enjoyed a nice cool evening ballgame.

The Saints' mascot is Mudonna, the Devine Swine.

 

Signs

We are seeing some red maples here and there. It won't be long until we get back to reasonable sweater weather.

 

Beach Time

Our neighborhood beach finally opened, and everyone is taking advantage of it.

 

Lush & Green

This summer is certainly different from the last two. We are way ahead of average for rain. All of the things that should be green are healthy and growing like weeds.

The boxwood up front were looking very tired and sickly last year. This year they are back to their normal color.

 

Dentist Office Construction

Our neighborhood dentist's office has been under construction for the past year as they expand. The waiting room has moved to your car; stay there and they will text you when it's your turn. I came out after my visit and found that I was blocked in by a car that was blocked in by a delivery truck that was also blocked in by the cement truck. I walked home and worked from home for the morning until the parking lot cleared out.

 

Lake Harriet Yacht Club

The sailboats run races three times a week. We can hear the start & warning horns from the house. Yesterday was a great day, with a nice steady breeze. The boats had their spinnakers out for the downwind leg.

The LHYC has a nice website with a webcam and weather page. Check it out here.

 

New Kitchen Floor

JP is looking to replace our worn out oak veneer flooring with some nice solid vinyl tiles. We went to THD and got some samples for the cat to evaluate. She seems to be agreeable with the new color.

 

Soul Trustees @ Driftwood

Friday night, I went with the neighbors to The Driftwood, a live music dive bar over on Nicollet to see/hear our other neighbor's band, The Soul Trustees, play. DP plays all the latin percussion instruments: bongos, congas, tambourine, triangle, windchimes, bells, and maracas. They sounded great, and we found another place for wings & live music.

 

Dark Dog Walks

The seasons are a changing. It's now dark for our morning dog walk. The other morning it was dark enough that we caught a fading glimpse of the northern lights.

The lake is serene except for the ducks, fish, and an occasional loon.

 

Vikings vs. Raiders

CP & I hit the Vikings preseason game against the Raiders. It was a beautiful cool fall-feeling day for football. We got there a couple hours early and took in the tailgating scene and did a couple laps around the stadium.

CP's first task was to get himself a Vikings jersey. He's on a mission to get one for each of our pro teams: Vikings, Twins, and Wild are done. Still need to collect Timberwolves, Lynx, Aurora, Loons, and whatever the new women's professional hockey team ends up calling themselves.

Our seats were in the third row of the upper deck. After going to so many twins games with good seats down by first base, it was difficult to get used to being so far from the action. It felt like we were in the goodyear blimp.

As expected, the Vikings beat the Raiders. SKOL!