Monday, August 31, 2009

Quick Trip

Eric and I took a quick trip to Bayfield, Wi this weekend. More on that tomorrow. On our way out of town we stopped in the country to visit my mom. I was busy admiring her beautiful flowers...they are called "naked ladies" and had come from my grandma and grandpa's place....when I heard the cows bellaring.

Moooooo....hey girls, what's the problem??

I think the problem was that they were looking for apples and the apple tree is on the other side of the fence.

Mom and Eric to the rescue. My mom tosses the fallen apples to the cows every few days to make it easier to mow, and so they don't rot and draw bees, and because the cows really like them.

Quiet down lady and toss me an apple. Jeepers, demanding old cow.

Hey cow, what is that you are wearing? Eaude to Manure? Whatever it is, it's drawing flies.

Oh dear, I think I've offended her. Sorry momma cow, I didn't mean it.

Here ya go, have an apple.

It will cure what ails you.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

I think it's Pink

Do you have a favorite color? For me, I think it's pink. Color trends come and go, in decorating, in clothing, in design...but some colors seem to strike a chord in a person and stay there. That color for me is pink. The main place I can find pink right now is in my garden. Pink mums.

Pink cosmos. I've never gone crazy over a color...like so many little girls that loved, loved, loved everything purple. I was never the I have to have it no matter what it is if it's purple kinda girl. We've all known one of those haven't we?? But I do like pink.

Another pink cosmos. At one point, most of the interior of our last house was painted a soft pink. Pink living room, hallway, entryway and downstairs hall. Then we got some new carpeting that looked tan in the store...when it was installed it looked pink with those walls! That was a little much. Then we had two little boys. All that pink was repainted a sage green. The green walls made that carpeting look tan again. Whew. Colors are strange that way.

I sort of got a way from the color pink when the boys were smaller. Everything around me seemed to be in blue or green or red. Primary colors. Dinosaur colors. Lego colors. Tractor colors. Ball playing colors. I loved those little boys so much I started loving the colors that came with them.
I'm not sure what these little pink flowers are...they are close to a purple, but still look pink to me.
But even after the boys came along, the one place that I always, always have had pink is in the garden.
It was cool and dark in the late afternoon when I took these yesterday. I'm not sure what this one is called either, and it is mostly closed up with the weather, but I think that the center has a neat pattern.
Bright pink geraniums.

Salmon pink hibiscus.

Pink petunias! This year they are a lighter pink, with a few purples thrown in. Last year they were bright pink.

Next year who knows, maybe I'll go crazy and plant lavender petunias....

...then again, probably not. I like pink.

Our last house had giant oak trees and lots of shade. I mostly planted impatiens. Pink ones. Lots of pink ones. It's all sun here, so now it's petunias.

Good thing we moved, otherwise my blog might have been Pats Impatiens Patch. Hmmm. Maybe that would have been more accurate. But I'm liking the sunshine, and the petunias. And while I'm still loving those boys, and their bright boy colors, pink seems to be making a comeback for me. Even if it is mostly in the flowers. And a few T-shirts.
I really like this pink rose.

For flowers, for me, for sure, it's pink. Well, unless it's a bright white daisy, or a pretty yellow sunflower, or....oh...never mind.


Saturday, August 29, 2009

Football Symmetry

Last spring I blogged about Symmetry on the farm. It was about how the animals on the farm looked alike and acted alike and moved alike. Well, after Billy's football scrimmage I looked at the few pictures that I had taken and laughed when I saw the following. There was some standing around during the scrimmage...the wide receivers took turns when they would run the different plays. Here is Billy, 2nd from the right, watching the action with one of the other wide receivers. Notice their stance.

A few plays later and they are standing next to each other again, standing the same again....

...and here....

...and here. This one was taken when a player from the scrimmage behind them came running through. The practice field was a confusing place with 3 visiting schools and 2 Eden Prairie teams.

And the final pose. The funny thing was that I didn't notice it at the time. I was focused on Billy, I didn't even notice that there was another boy standing next to him.

If there posture is any indication, these two are in sync. It just might be a good season. :-)


Friday, August 28, 2009

The Catch

Billy started football practice the day after we got back from our trip. He'll be playing on one of the 9th grade B teams for his High School. He had almost two weeks of "two a day" practices that finished up yestereday. That meant at least 4 trips a day to the High School for us to drop him off and pick him up. Then there was that day with the missing physical forms and forgotten gear that took 6 trips to get it all done. It gets sort of busy around here sometimes. Today was the first day that the team got to put some of that practice to use. They had a 2 hour scrimmage against 3 other schools and against the other 9th grade B team. Here is Billy, the 2nd from the right, waiting and watching in between plays.

Billy is playing wide receiver on offense this year. Things seem to change when the dad's that had been coaching become only fans and the High School coaches take over. It's not just the coaches kids in the ball handling positions anymore. It's nice to see others getting a chance. Billy is the player in the middle. The practice jerseys made it hard to tell who was who.

The quarterback was one of the kids on Billy's baseball team. Here's the pass....

...and the catch....and Billy turning it up field.

Go Billy! Look out for that guy Billy! Go Billy! Football is exciting.

Oh dear, hang on to that ball a little better kid....

...guess I caught him in mid transfer....whew. And then a big guy in front of me blocked my view and I didn't get a shot of the end of the play when Billy got tackled. Darned big guy.

And here's Billy in the middle...I think that he's talking about his catch to his teammates.

I'm beginning to think that football might be a lot like fishing...telling the tall tales about the big catch afterwards is half of the fun.


Thursday, August 27, 2009

Skies of Blue

I see skies of blue and clouds of white,
Bright sunny days, dark sacred nights...

...and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Sung by Louis Armstrong in 1968. Still beautiful now, on this bright summer day. I don't have anything specific to blog about, so I'll just share a few of my photos of the day from this week.

This is our little buddy Jake from softball. He's getting so big! And so busy!!

It's always fun when Jake is at softball and I happen to have my camera with. And no, it's not a bump on his forehead, it's a birthmark. I wonder how many times a day his mom and dad are asked about it. He is a little boy with a quick smile and a whole lot of energy.
There was another Buddy at the game. This is Buddy the dog...my friend Sherry's dog. He likes to howl when the home team wins.

Sunflowers in a vase outside. Don't sunflowers make you think of fall? I'm trying to think of it as late summer, it sounds better.

I think I know why they call them sunflowers.

Here's Brian on his way to "late summer" soccer. He was the same size as little Jake just a few late summers ago. His mom thinks he's really handsome. He's nice too...even better.

And since this is Pat's Patunia Patch, here's a petunia for you....

They're looking a little scraggly about now....

....but that's ok, I can relate....and I like 'em anyway.



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hay Buddies

We took a quick trip to the country last weekend. One of the first things I do is go out and say hi to my buddies. Hay Buddy! This is Czar. He likes to hang out at the barn door. He used to be so red...now he's more of a mahogany color...shiney and brown.

Czar...where's your buddy? Hay Buddy...there's Skylar....sticking his head out of the barn window to say hi. Or to see if someone is bringing him food.

Eye spy with my little eye....FOOD! Skylar is all about eating.

We didn't quite have enough time to ride, but wanted to get some time in with the boys...so we took them out into the yard to graze. Grass everywhere, but they both wanted the same morsel. The grass is always greener when it's going into your buddies mouth.

I could lean on my buddy in the sun while he's grazing all day long....just thinking about it makes me write run on sentences. It's either that or a really bad English teacher in High School. Shudder.

OK buddy...time to go back to the pasture....

...but first a picture.....say "cheese". Or grass, or hay, or oats.....say "food".

My hay buddies. I sure do wish that they lived right outside of my back door...

....because on these busy days I could use a daily dose of lovin' in the sunshine. But it will have to wait....

...'til next time.