Brrrr

We went from hot to not-hot in a day. S really likes the fireplace. I'm sure he'll figure out that he can curl up to the radiators, too, once they get going.

 

Fall R&R Time

Finally!! It has cooled off to the point that we can work outside on the house. The windows on the south side all need some TLC: sand/scrape, primer, paint, paint again. JP matched the brown trim color perfectly, so we won't have to repaint all the trim.

 

MN Corn

We've been getting sweet corn from the farmer's stand down the street. We cook it in the husk on the grill and it comes out perfect every time. Except for this poor ear

 

Thom the Elf

Across the trail from the dog beach lives Thom the Elf. Every day there are new items added to his collection. We never thought much about him, until we heard the Viking legends of the Huldufólk and álfar and noticed that there are similar elf houses all over the neighborhood.

What's notable about Thom's place is that it's an official place that shows up on Google Maps.

 

One Step Closer

JP got her window blinds for the living room. Now, the only remaining task is to find some artwork for the sofa wall. 

...and a larger mantel mirror.

...and getting the radiators refinished.

...and the light switches and outlets swapped out for white ones.

The mantel clock is in the shop getting a new pendulum suspension spring installed. We can't wait to get it back and have it ticking and ringing.

 

Local Fish Stories

Next year, I'm going to get a fishing license. Between Lake Harriet and Minnehaha Creek, there is way too much good fishing within walking distance.

The video below is from last summer when a kid lassoed a 6-foot sturgeon in the creek.

This week, the kid below pulled a 41-inch northern pike out of Lake Harriet. The same Lake Harriet that is right up the street that S swims in every day.

Beautiful Day

The weather has finally turned the corner past summer. The lake is just as pretty from the north side at the Bread & Pickle. We're used to seeing it from the south side.

 

Minnehaha Falls

S loves all the adventure hikes. This one was around Minnehaha Falls and the surrounding park. He was bummed that we wouldn't let him swim.

 

Smokin

JP picked up some ribs from Costco and we smoked them. It's a nice thing to do when you've got nothing else going on on a Saturday morning. I figured out the flame and vent settings so it's pretty much fire & forget.

 

Totally Tubular

I thought my amp was acting up, so I pulled the chassis out to take a look. I will never tire of seeing all these pretty tubes. I think one of them wasn't seated properly - the amp sounds like a beast again.

 

First Hail

So far, we've been enjoying the mild weather here; we've not had to hunker down in the basement and wait out a storm. That is, until 1:30 AM the other night when we were awakened by torrential rain and then that telltale tick, tick, ticka-tacka patter of hail on the roof. Fortunately, it got no bigger than dime-sized, but it sure woke us up.

A few days later we had another storm and this one set off the tornado sirens. In 2005, when we first moved to Nebraska, it seemed like we were in the basement every night due to tornado wanrings.

 

Chillin

JP got the last piece she's been wanting for the sunroom. Now it's time to relax.

 

Tennis Courts

Yesterday, we had some old crumbling tennis courts here. Now it's a graded lot of recycled tennis court asphalt. New courts? Fingers crossed.

 

Nightlights

We installed some lights in the front yard to match all the other landscape lighting in the back yard. It's only four lights, but it really made a difference.

 

Minneopa Falls

With the boys gone, we've been feeling the need to get out and explore our surroundings.

Minneopa falls is an hour+ southwest of here. S felt right at home wading in the creek.

 

Getting Close

This is one of my favorite views: entering the metro area from the south on 35W. The road pops over a hill as it descends into the Minnesota River valley and you get your first view of downtown and know that home is only 15 minutes away.

 

Wild Dog

We tried out the big dog park in Bloomington. S loved it!  

Squirrels

 We have more than a few squirrels in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people put out poison for the mice, which also takes out owls and birds of prey. The squirrels & chipmunks don't eat the poison, so they have free reign in their niche.

So far, they are all staying out of the house and garage...

Curtains

 This weekend we installed JP's curtains for the living room. It's coming together one piece at a time. She ordered some blinds that should be here this week.

Fish in a Tree

 The other day while letting S swim with the next door dog at the dog beach, we watched an eagle snag a fish. He carried it to a tree right above the walking path. After you've watched an eagle dismember his dinner high up in a tree, it starts to make sense when you run across various small animal parts under the trees.

Back to School

 The boys took off back to school last weekend. JP wanted us to go with them and spend the weekend at the G's, but with the Coronavirus taking off again, it didn't make sense. They have each done some long road trips with their frats, but this was their first road trip together. They made it safe and sound and are now each moved into their new places.

CP is in the same apartment building, but in a new apartment with three new roommates. One of them was his roommate freshman year. GP has a room to himself in his frat house. 

We are missing them, but it's really nice to have food in the fridge. They were going through three large pizzas a day!

Root Canal

 We had a root from the maple tree push up a half-dozen bricks next to the birdbath. We dug it out and surgically removed a 4" diameter root. It took 15 minutes and two blades with the Sawzall! We can't believe how much better the walk looks now - we didn't realize how bad it had looked before. Now if we could just get the maple to stop raining down helicopters and the robins from digging in the mulch...

Once we got this done, we put in some outdoor lighting that came out very nice. We need to take some photos.

Naptime

 Nothing better than catching a nap in the afternoon sun.

Morning Dog Walks

 Every morning I take the dog for his morning walk. Usually he wants to go along the creek, which is nice - there are no people. If we hit the sidewalk before 6:15, the trail on the lake is usually pretty empty, so we go that way. I will never tire of sunrises on the lake.

A Place to Sweat

Finally got around to setting up a place to play. The ceiling in the basement is not insulated, so playing there isn't really an option. With the dehumidifier in the garage, it's reasonably dry and the walls and ceiling are all concrete and the door faces the alley. A perfect place to rock out and play Rocksmith. Just need to look into insulating the door.

Fresh Paint

The boys helped paint CP's room last weekend. It went from a poopy brown to a bright sky blue. Both boys thought that the original color was green. They are both color blind.

So far, we have painted the living room, sunroom, dining room, our bathroom, and now one of the bedrooms.

Comet NEOWISE

We heard that the comet was visible after sundown, so we took a camera and tripod down to the lake for the 9:30 dog walk. The sky was still way to light to see anything, and the mosquitoes were really going to town (this is the first time we've had issues with them on our walks).

We cruised home and juiced up with the deep woods bug spray and waited a bit for darkness to fall. When we got back to the lake at 10:30, we finally got to see the comet. It was so faint, it took our eyes a while to acclimate enough to be able to pick it up. Not bad for being in the middle of a metro area.

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River Rat

S has fully embraced swimming. He floats almost as well as an iceberg, but with only about 1/2% of him above water. He's not a water dog, but he thinks he is. 

His new favorite activity is wading in the creek on his walk to chase dragon flies and cool off.

Minnehaha Creek is two blocks from the house, and the creek that drains Lake Harriet into Minnehaha isn't much further. JP likes it, too.

This weekend we explored the St. Croix River from Taylors Falls down to Stillwater. Our intent was to check out Interstate State Park, but it was overfull; we'll come back another day.

We stopped at William O'Brien State Park and hiked down to the river. There was a small creek flowing into the river there - it was crystal clear and maybe 50°. So refreshing! S did not mind at all. JP wants to book a canoe trip on the St. Croix before the boys head back to school.

Coming Together

JP ordered a new rug for the dining right after we moved in. It finally arrived!

Same with her loveseat for the music room sunroom.

We ventured out to the mall and found the perfect table for between the living room chairs. It's starting to come together. Just need to get some artwork on the walls.

ASU Lillies

Our lillies fianally bloomed! We thought that they might never open up - they are in the shade of the maple in front.

We have some really cool ASU-colored ones that are maroon and gold.

Smoking

A few weeks ago, I snagged a propane smoker that our neighbor across the alley was pitching out. We found a natural gas hose on Amazon and THD had the necessary brass fittings to convert it to natural gas. I also opened up the orifice from .038" to .062" to compensate for the difference in fuel heat capacity.

JP scored some pork ribs at Target. We tried our hand at trimming them up and doing a basic rub: pepper, salt, garlic, and chili powder. 

It took a while of playing around with the vents and burner control. Close the vents too much, and the flame will go out. 

It was a perfect day to sit on the patio and chat with our neighbor while keeping an eye on the temperature. Our efforts paid off, and we had some tasty ribs for dinner. 

Paddling

Last Sunday was another beautiful summer day. We walked S to the north side of the lake and rented a canoe. It was windy, but we had fun paddling amongst the sailboats. S really enjoyed himself in the boat. After paddling, we hit the Bread & Pickle for some sandwiches. On the way home, S was hot, so we let him for a swim. He jumped right in and chased some ducks! The water cooled him off, and he was full of crazy energy the whole walk home.