New Homeowner

CP closed on his new home!!

It's a beautiful townhouse in a nice quiet & clean neighborhood.

 

Construction Begins

July 16th kicked off the physical aspect of the Oliver Ave. Storm Sewer Project.

 

Smoke on the Water

We went for a sunset cruise on Lake Minnetonka with some friends and watched a wall of forest fire smoke roll in from the east. It looked almost like a desert dust storm approaching; clear on one side and yucky on the other. The smoldering campfire smell hit almost immediately.

It did make for a beautiful orange-sky sunset.

 

Tree Fences

The city put up a bunch of fencing around the trees. It's good to see that they are intentional about keeping the trees out of harm's way. I was worried that between the parkway and the lake they would remove a couple of the large oak trees. I looks like they should be out of the way.

 

Sunrise Guy

Our sunrise guy has been mostly at the north beach this summer. He came back for a couple of days.

 

Preconstruction - Oliver & Parkway

This is where Oliver Ave. meets the parkway. It's about 25 feet above the lake. This will be where the storm sewer project begins.

Hopefully the project won't disrupt the neighborhood too much. 

 

Wienerfest 2026

We hosted Wienerfest for the first time since the old owners D&S moved out. They came over and we all had a fun time eating hot dogs and brats. AK made up the signs for the event; she is sooo talented!

 

Paddleboard

When there's no wind, there's no better place to be than on the paddleboard. We have wheeled trolleys for them and it's fairly easy to walk them to the lake. I tried taking S along, but he told me that I don't paddle like his mom does, so he got upset and tipped us over to make it more exciting.

It's a challenge to get on the water for a sunrise, but sunsets are easy.

 

Happy Hour

Our main office is only a mile from CP's so when I work there I can stop for a beer with him and wait for rush hour to die down. CP knows all the happy hour specials. This time it was Taco Tuesday at Fat Pants Brewing. 

 

Alley Flood

The 4th of July was quiet due to a massive storm front that moved thru. The alley filled up and floated the trash cans. Hopefully the alley storm sewer project will take care of this. It's not a big deal other than the trash that floats free washes down the drain straight to the lake.

 

Views on the Lake

The kayak is proving to be a lot of fun. It's easy to get around the lake, even when it's windy.

Everything takes on a new perspective when viewed from the water. This duck followed me for an hour. She tried to eat all of my lures. I tried shooing her off, but she wouldn't leave me alone.

 

New Fishing Tackle

I hit Scheel's clearance section and restocked the tackle box with fresh gear. Most of what's in it was from when the boys were little. 

I figured I'd start with baby fish and then work my way up.

 

Bell Tower Reno

The bell tower on Mt. Olivet is undergoing some renovation this summer. There are plans to tear down the chapel across the street and put in a community center / beer hall, but the details are scarce. My guess is that the project will be done at the same time 50th is closed for the alley storm sewer project in 2027.

 

Sunrise Sweet Spot

We're at that time of year where the morning weekday dogwalk coincides with gorgeous sunrises every morning at 5:45 AM.

 

Storm Sewer Project Start

The city is going to "fix" our storm sewer so that our alley won't flood any more. It's going to be done in three phases over the next two years. Phase 1: Lake Harriet to 49th St., Phase 2: 49th to 50th, Phase 3 in 2027: 50th and the alley.

The city held an open house for the residents to learn about the project and interact with the city engineer. We voiced our concerns about street access, parking, traffic congestion, and the fact that the entire neighborhood is built atop a pile of beach sand that collapses when excavated. We were assured that everything has been considered and it will work out well.

The detour for the parkway is routed along 49th St., which is a popular alternate route for bicyclists going east-west and avoiding 50th. We voiced concerns about this, too.

 

Cecil's

DN is a fan of Jewish Delis so we hit Cecil's in St. Paul. It's been on my list of places to visit for years. We were not disappointed. The potato salad was amazing!

 

Keyboard Museum

DN & I took off Saturday morning and explored downtown St. Paul. We hit the Landmark Center and checked out the keyboard instrument museum.

The museum had keyboard instruments going back to the 1600s. Clavichords, harpsichords, pianos, organs and even a Fender Rhodes electric piano. It has a tuning fork and magnetic for each key and a crazy amount of wiring. Not as much complexity as a Hammond organ, but it's impressive to behold.

 

Twins with the Ns

The Ns came up for a few days to get away from the NC heat. As anyone who visits knows - we're going to take you to a Twins game.

 

Kitchen Lights

JP found some cool lights for the kitchen TV wall. Now it is complete!

 

Special Olympics USA

AK got us great tickets to see the Special Olympics USA opening ceremony. 

It was fun watching 51 teams enter the field and take their places. Once they were seated and some speeches were made, the music started and we were treated to a beautiful sunset show.

 

Dogsitting

We (JP) babysat one of the neighborhood dogs. She is terrified of the cat and does not leave JP's side, unless she's tearing around and playing with S's toys.

 

Penn Ave Stairs

I've always wondered what it would be like to ignore the stop sign at the end of Penn Ave and launch into the lake. Turns out you don't make it all the way to the lake. Instead, you will take out one of the railings and hit about 3/4 of the way down. Someone tried it. 

 

Cool Workday

We were blessed with a nice 73° Saturday, so we jumped into action and did all the projects that demand cooler temps. First was straightening the cutter and pulling off all the non-functional gutter guards. Then we re-set all the bricks along the new curb. 

Then we got the paint out and touched up the trim on the front windows. 

 

Fishing

During our morning dog walk, we watched a father take his two boys into the water to fish. At first I felt back for him - it was chilly, and the wind was blowing a steady 15 mph onshore. But then they started reeling them in nonstop. The boys were catching them faster than their dad could unhook and re-bait their hooks.

The wind died down and S went around the lake a couple of times. He did not seem to mind it.