so much to say

August has been a busy month!

MINNESOTA BLOGGERS

I was lucky to be included in an amazing group of women who I had the good fortune to spend the night with on Tuesday in Prior Lake.  Prior Lake?  Yup.  It was a night of shopping at Camille On Rouge, yummy food, interesting conversation, hand massages, and bags of swag.  You can read all about here, http://sellabitmum.com/?p=855  on Miss Tracy's blog.  I will be posting more details, as she did, at a later date.  But if you have time now, be sure to click on all of her links, as there are a lot of things to see and read, including this link to all of the blogs written by these amazing women:  http://lovefeasttable.com/blog/bloglove-european-marketplace-guests/

 The above photo is by SuzanneJean Photography, you can see more photos of the event on Facebook by clicking here:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4785400&fbid=426708455757&id=121407290757#!/photo.php?pid=4785400&fbid=426708455757&id=121407290757

SICK KITTY

When I got up yesterday, Claude was lying by his water bowl, unable to lift his head, and was refusing to eat.  In desperation, I even offered him ice cream, which he looked at and just turned away.  A call to our vet and and they had me bring him right in.  Turns out poor kitty was very dehydrated and had pancreas and kidney issues.  They put him on an iv, and at the end of the day we had to pick him up and bring him to spend the night at the Animal Emergency Clinic.  What an amazing place, I know he is in good hands.  We will pick him up today and bring him back to the vet to continue his treatment, the hope is that he will be off his iv later today and we can bring him home.  We won't discuss health care costs in this forum...


DIRT BIKE BOY

Charlie raced in Akeley during our Bemidji stay, so his cousin Riley got to watch him compete for the first time. 

It was a perfectly beautiful day in the woods, but the course was very demanding, with big hills full of rocks and tree roots, and challenging sections.  But he finished, and survived, and Auntie Heather got to take lots of amazing photos which I will post in more detail on another day.  Mike took these (as he has been doing nearly every single weekend of the summer, and is now even making a little money on!)

The season is nearing it's end, the race this weekend was postponed due to severe flooding in northeastern Minnesota.  I think Charlie was secretly relieved.





BARREN STREET

I will post before and after pictures, so you can get a true sense of the devastation in our neighborhood from the Great Ash Tree Massacre.  PhotoPohl wants to make sure he takes the 'after' picture at the same time of day, with proper lighting and all, so I will post more next week. 

ANIMAL RESCUE

On Wednesday morning, when the saws were buzzing and the thud of tree chunks hitting pavement echoed in our homes, a very indignant squirrel could be heard yelling at the lumberjacks all morning.  Another outcome of losing our trees, many squirrels have lost their homes.  It always amazed me in the fall, when the leaves were gone, to see just how many squirrels built nests in the high branches of our ash trees.  I wonder if the city thought of that outcome?  Charlie and his friend Abe were outside, and noticed some movement in the ivy vines which have nearly covered the lower section of the pine tree in our front yard.  They approached, and found two baby squirrels, clearly displaced and not ready to leave a nest.  They found a shoebox, filled it with wood chips (which were in abundance that day) and gently placed the squirrels inside.  Mike called Animal Control, and someone came right over to pick them up.  Charlie was relieved, thinking they were saved, so I didn't let him know that Animal Control wasn't likely to be putting them up for adoption. 

FAMILY

Spending time with our families when we were in Bemidji was such a joy, all the more so as we know we probably won't see them again now for quite some time.  Fall is busy, and then the holidays hit, and we generally don't make it to Bemidji much.  I will post more on the fun next week, and if my dad would give me his secret recipe for his walleye I would share it on Recipe Box Wednesday, but since it's a family secret I will find some other family yummy to share.

Enjoy this August weekend-how will you spend it?  Farmer's Market?  A day at the pool or beach?  Digging in your garden?  Rummaging?  Buying school supplies?  Too many possibilities...