Made it to Arizona

We left home this past Thursday morning around 6:45 and headed to our winter retreat in Arizona.  We had a good trip and only had a little snow and ice to contend with the first 100 miles or so.  We did have some strong winds Thursday and Friday, but Saturday was an easy day and we got to our place here around 2:30 in the afternoon.  We are all moved in and unpacked now and even have the grocery shopping done.  Now it is time to relax and enjoy the warm weather.  It is 61 here today, but a little cloudy.  It is "shorts" weather and I already have mine on.  The following pictures are from the trip and some of our place here.

This is how our front yard at home looked the day before we left.

This is the backyard the day before we left.

The first day and a half was pretty dull and then we saw the mountains for the first time.

Closer shot of the same mountains above.

One shot of our backyard here.

Another shot of the backyard showing the patio area.

Close up shot of the fire pit area.  Nice deep fire pit and a bench to sit on.

Shot of the front of the place..

Patrick

WINTER

I believe that winter has finally arrived here in Cold Spring.  The following pictures show what we have been having this morning.  The ground is white now and it is very winter looking.  It had to come sometime and we can only hope it is not a real hard winter.

There were times during the recent storm that I couldn't see the trees in the background.  Picture was taken from our living room window overlooking the backyard and the river.

The river is in the background and barely visible.

Ground all white now.

Winter ISH

Patrick

EXPERIMENT

This past spring we had our decks rebuilt using Cedar lumber with the idea that we could just let this weather naturally and not have to paint or stain them.   They have gone through a summer of sunshine and rain and have changed more than I thought they would and the color is not what I was really expecting.  Right after the decks were done, I used some scrap lumber from the project and built two small end tables to go on either side of the Glider on the main deck and a bench I could sit on while grilling on the other deck.  They also weathered all summer and look just like the deck boards.  Our good friend Dan recently stained his deck and had some stain left over that he kindly gave to us.  So, I have stained both tables and the bench and will now leave them out to weather and see how they do.  If we like it, we will probably be staining the decks next summer or fall.  The pictures below show the tables and bench after staining.

You can see the deck boards under the tables and see how they looked before I stained them.

The white areas in the top of the one table is some wood filler I used when making it.

One view of the bench.

Another angle view of the bench.

Patrick

DAY TRIP

We took a day trip today to the Jackpot Junction Casino near Morten Minnesota.  After having a nice lunch there with our friends Dan and Carol and making our donations to the casino, we ventured into Redwood Falls and visited a park there that Pat remembered from a past visit.  The pictures are mostly from the park.  It will be worth another visit next summer when it is all green again.

The Redwood Falls water tower.

The park we visited.

This water fall is in the park.

Had to get in the picture.

This is the person that took the picture Pat and I were standing by in the previous two shots.

Because the falls was way down a steep hill, I didn't go down to see it.  Pat went with the camera to take pictures.  This is a suspension bridge she had to cross to get to the falls.  She said it was very creaky and didn't feel very solid. 

This is the wide angle shot of the falls.  Pretty setting.

This is a close up shot of the falls.

Pat took all the above pictures except for the one she was in and the water tower.  Did a great job and got pictures that didn't require any editing.

Patrick

Pontoon Season Over

Another season of touring on our pontoon is over.  We pulled the pontoon out this past Monday.  It is now at the place where we store it inside each winter.  The picture below shows it all buttoned up and ready to be taken to storage.

Patrick

Clouds and Hummingbirds

We had a storm go past us here a couple nights ago and I got a couple pictures of the clouds building up.  Also got some more pictures of the Hummingbirds today as they came to the feeder.

This was the distance view of the building clouds.  Almost looks like an explosion in the middle.

This is a closer view of the cloud bank above.

Three Hummingbirds at the feeder.

Caught this one on the way to the feeder.

Nice picture of a Hummingbird frozen in front of the blurred background.

 
Patrick

HUMMINGBIRDS

We have two Hummingbird feeders hanging in front of the kitchen window.  In the past we have usually had 2 or 3 birds coming around.  However, this past week there must be some migration of the Hummingbirds starting because we have had as many as 6 or more around at the same time.  There is some cooperation among them to use the feeders at the same time and a lot of chasing each other away by some of the birds.  They are fun to watch in all their buzzing around.  The following pictures were taken this morning as I tried to get as many of the birds in the pictures as I could.

This first picture is of a female that was sitting in the cedar tree that is next to the feeders.  They do that often and many times will come out and chase another bird away that tries to use the feeders.

This is a picture of a female on one of the feeders just resting.

This picture has 3 birds in it.  One just landing on the right and the other two thinking about it.

Another single on the feeder eating undisturbed.

 This picture actually has 5 birds in it.  One is out in the distance on the right and is just a little red spot out there.  One is on the back side of the right feeder and you can only see a wing.  The others are the two eating and the one in the air on the right.

 Again there are 5 in this picture.  You can see 4 plainly and there is still the one out to the right edge of the picture that is not real plain.

Only 4 in this picture.  Three on the feeders and one in the lower right just coming in..

Patrick

New Bluebird Feeder

We had an old feeder that had been converted from another use that we were using to keep Meal worms in for the Bluebirds.  It had a solid bottom and filled with water when it rained and that caused the worms to rot.  So, this morning I constructed a new feeder out of Cedar with a metal bottom that is full of holes so the water can drain right through.  The picture below is of the house the Bluebirds are currently using to raise another batch of little ones, the new feeder and a Mister Bluebird sitting up on the limb above the feeder checking it out.  They almost always sit up on this limb and then drop down to the feeder.  Many time they go from the feeder directly to the house and feed the little ones.  Fun to watch.

Patrick

DUCK HERDING

We have lots of ducks that come up and feed below our bird feeders.  They do a quick job of cleaning up the bird seed that is spilled on the ground by the birds.  When there gets to be to many, we step out on the deck and normally they either fly or take off running back to the river.  Tonight, there were 13 hens, 12 young ones and Mom.  Pat went out on the deck to send them on their way and they ignored her and kept eating.  So, she went out the back service door in the garage and that always gets them to take off.  These ducks ignored her again and kept eating.  So, she started herding them toward the river.  The pictures below show this process.  She had to stay with them all the way to the river and then they tried to come back.  She herded them back again and warned them with a couple rocks.  It was only about 15 minutes and they were back up by the feeders.  This time I herded them with a broom all the way to the river and thought they had moved on as they headed for the neighbors shoreline.  Again it was only about 15-20 minutes and they were back.  Guess we will have to put up with them or keep escorting them back to the river.

Patrick

Restaurant

While on a short road trip yesterday, we went by a restaurant that I didn't know existed. It is called Mabel Murphys Restaurant and Irish Pub. It is near Fergus Falls Minnesota. My mother was Mabel Murphy and would have gotten a real kick out of a place with her name. You can access the web sight here for the place: http://www.mabelmurphysmn.com/ Looks like a nice restaurant. May have to make a trip back just to try the place out.

Mabel Murphy's – Restaurant & Irish Pub

Recent Pictures

The following pictures were taken in the last couple weeks around the house.  Mostly bird pictures, but a couple of pretty flowers.

A Blue Heron recently visited our dock amd checked out the pontoon.

Goldfinch

Cardinal

Mr. Bluebird

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird

Mallard hen and three little ones

One of our hanging baskets of flowers.

Lilac tree blooms.  The Butterflies are real.  The tree is right outside our bedroom and really has been providing a lot of nice aroma.

Another hanging basket of flowers.

That's the show.

Patrick