i was so excited to find these blooming branches in the woods 

up at the lodge two weeks ago. having flowers inside is one

of my greatest pleasures and it seems like once

the first thing starts blooming up north, there is always 

something or other to bring in.

the birds were nuts! the hummingbirds are hilarious and almost

frightful- zinging at you if you're anywhere near their feeders.

i always thought that hummers never sat completely still but

that's not true. we'll see them fly over to a tree and sit there, quiet

for a bit before they come darting back in for more nectar.

my garden in the county is in! lars tilled it for me and i got busy and

planted. i always map out a garden of this size before i start, or i 

can't seem to decide where to put everything, and then after it's all

planted i've got a quick reference to what's what as it's coming up.

i mixed it up a bit this year and put more of the vegies in the front where

i discovered the sun shines the brightest. we're trying potatoes

this year and i can't wait to see how they produce.

there are a lot of large, factory producing potato farmers in this

region who sell to old dutch.

(did someone say potato chips? one of my favorite foods- ever- great invention).

because i wasn't sure there would be anything blooming yet at

le'cabin, i brought up the bouquet of sunflowers from home.

i had this idea in my head, that when it got nice enough to open up 

the big garage door and use our sunroom area, i wanted to

carry this drop leaf table over and enjoy a couple meals  there.

it was as great as i'd imagined it. 

the bugs line up on the screen outside and i just look at them and say

"i don't think so".

screen rooms=another great invention!

our grandboy seth was with for the weekend and i decided it was way past

time that the boy saw the headwaters of the mighty mississippi, north of park rapids.

eric and i reminisced on the drive up there and figured out it had been

around 20 years since we'd been there ourselves.

*the drive up became a memory i'll never forget when i saw what i thought 

were two black cows in a field and eric yelled

"bear, bear, BEAR"!!!

yes, sure enough it was a mama bear and her boo boo cub

-middle of the day and i got to see them.

thrill of a lifetime.

:  )

we got in the long line and waited to pay our gate fee and enter itasca state park.

have you seen seth lately? this boy i used to hold on my lap and read books to

is now almost as tall as his dad, and he's surpassed me.

he's such a love~ my good helper whenever he's around.  my pal.

father and son took the plank across instead of forging the slippery rocks.

(wooses)

since it'd been 20 some years since i'd maneuvered the rocks i knew i wanted to do it 

the hard (fun) way. seth went with.

 and then i couldn't resist buying a couple things at the state park gift shop that will 

remind me of the bear sighting -in the wild- that day.

seth and i think maybe we should throw our camping stuff in the back of the 

jeep and head back up to itasca for a night in the woods there

fighting off the mosquitoes and lions and tigers and bears

ah ha~

slather on the bug spray and have a great day!

xo, beth