St. Paul Cathedral

I braved gale force winds today in an attempt to get some nice photos. This was quite a challenge, considering I needed a steady tripod to get nice crisp shots and the wind was threatening to blow me over along with the tripod!

I fought a losing battle in the "crisp shots" department, but I still like this image of the St. Paul Cathedral.

Extreme Makeover

The crew for Extreme Makeover Home Edition have been working all week on a home in West St. Paul. I figured I'd better get over there today since this was the last day. The house was done when I got there around 12:30pm. They were just doing a little bit of clean up inside the house. I and my fellow spectators were crammed in behind barricades along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. This was the best picture I got of the spunky host, Ty Pennington (second from the right.)

The style of the new house fits in so well, that I wouldn't have known it was a new house if I had just been driving through the neighborhood.

Here people are practicing for "Move that bus!" Everything had to be practiced several times. We had to practice cheering and chanting. The bus had to take off and back up several times. The limo for the family had to practice driving up and out several times. Then we had to wait for it to go pick up the family. Ty and the builders had to come out of the house several times. Even the family had to walk up to the door and back down to the street several times before they could go in the house. It all happens so quickly on television, but there is nothing quick about it in person.

Even Santa was there! He works for the Ramsey County Sheriff's Dept in the off season.

I'll end with a shot of the family going up to the door of their new home. The first time, anyway. I stayed long enough to actually see them enter their new home. What an exciting day for the Morris family!

Baby Bunnies Revisited

Over a year ago, I blogged about a nest of baby bunnies I found in the front yard. It didn't happen this spring, even though we have plenty of bunnies roaming the yard. I've been busy lately and haven't gotten a chance to mow the yard for awhile. Rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days, so I thought I'd better get out there and do it. While mowing the front yard, I happened to notice the telltale pile of dried grass and tufts of fur. (Mama bunny pulls out her own fur to cover the nest and keep the babies warm.) Baby Bunnieeeeeeeeeeeeees! I left a wide berth in my mowing so I wouldn't scare them. Then I went and got my camera and carefully pulled back the covering with a dried plant stalk. I couldn't uncover them too much because they were scared and squeaked at me. Looks like there are three again this year and they also look old enough to be leaving the nest soon. (There were three last year too, but one met with an untimely death.) I wasn't expecting them at this time of year, but they sure are cute!

Sunshine on a Stalk

This is a Nyjer flower, an annual herb that originated in Ethiopia. It's grown for it's oil and seed, kinda like a sunflower is. They import it here as bird seed for Goldfinches, and they sure love it!

Only one problem, the seeds aren't supposed to sprout. They are heat sterilized before entering the country to keep it from being introduced as an invasive species. Oh really? Check out the picture below to see how well that works. Maybe they should re-think those sterilization procedures.

Baby Melon Grew Up

A little over a month ago, I blogged about the first ever melon growing in my garden. Today it came of age. Boy, when it started to ripen, it sure went fast! Sometime between Friday and today, the skin under the netting had turned from green to yellow and a bee and an ant were both trying to figure out how to get inside it.
This one is slightly smaller than it's sibling, which should be ripe in a day or two. The vine tried to take over the whole garden, but all I got was two melons. A third one died on the vine as a baby.

Too bad these pictures aren't scratch and sniff! The odor coming from it when I brought it in from the garden was very strong. And once I sliced it open, my whole kitchen smelled like melon. It's the sweetest, juiciest, most fragrant melon I've ever eaten.

Garden Fresh Salsa

The hot, sticky weather this past week has really kicked my tomatoes into gear. I'm crossing my fingers that most of the fruit will ripen on the vine this year. More than once in years past, I've had to pull them in green because they still hadn't turned red by hard freeze time.

That little guy on top is a paprika pepper. That was the first pepper on the plant and it turned red even though it is so small. All the other ones on the plant are bigger, but they are still yellow. I haven't grown paprika before, so I'm learning as I go along.

Another new veggie for me this year has been onions. I finally have all the veggies to make salsa, and I made my first bowl today. Boy, freshly picked onions sure have a lot more flavor than ones that have been sitting around in the grocery store for awhile! Needless to say, the bowl of salsa didn't last long.

Ahhhhhhhh

That's what my flowers and veggies and trees are saying after the 2 1/4 inches of rain we got last night. Add that to the additional inch we got the night before, and everybody should be happy for awhile.

Don't Follow This Car

We went to Cabelas this past Saturday, and they were having a tent sale. Almost all of it was heavily used and broken junk, but we still saw some people running around gleefully filling up their baskets.

As we were getting ready to leave, my husband pointed out this spectacle. I think these guys need a few more ropes and straps. I'm skeptical that this jerry-rigged load is going to make it all the way back to Wisconsin in one piece. But then, considering the quality of the merchandise in the tent sale, maybe a few bounces off the highway won't make much of a difference.

Petroglyphs

Last Saturday we went on another 9+ hour motorcycle ride. The main attraction on this ride was the Jeffers Petroglyphs historic site. The site is littered with Sioux quartzite stone that was exposed when the glaciers rolled through Minnesota many moons ago. American Indians used the stone as their canvas for carving pictures of sacred images.

Here is one of the carvings. Most of the carvings didn't really jump out at me. This was one of the more distinct ones. (After I enhanced it greatly in Photoshop.) It's a picture of an upside-down hand. The field guide assured me that if the sun would make an appearance through the cloud cover, the shadows would make the images pop. I dunno. With each thing he pointed out, the phrase "cloud art" kept coming to mind.

It was a very nice day. Here is a view from the other side of the site. Hard to tell it's anything but a field from here.


I personally think the rocks are the star of the show. I've always loved rocks. This particular outcropping has been nicknamed "Buffalo Rub." Supposedly when the buffalo roamed here, they used this area as their scratching post and rubbed the stone smooth. We were kinda skeptical at first when the field guide talked about it, but when we finally got to the other side of the site and looked at it, the stone is only smooth in areas and heights where a buffalo would be interested in rubbing. It's extremely pretty, however it got that way.

Baby Melon

I went out to check how my garden was doing today, and I found a 3 inch long cantaloupe! Isn't it cute? I have never tried growing them before, so this is very exciting for me. I'm hoping the numerous bunnies that forage through our yard will leave it alone.

Before and After

It's my 100th blog post!! Way back in January '08, my first blog was about my kitty, so it's only appropriate that my 100th blog is about her too.

The above photo was taken last Friday, when she was blissfully unaware of what was coming. Once a year, we shear her down to what is known as a "lion cut." It looks really goofy, but come summer time, the hair is shooting out of her all over the place no matter how much you brush, along with a host of other problems. Up until now, we've always done the dirty deed ourselves. But this year we found an incredibly cheap groomer only about a mile away from us, so I took her there instead.

It only took 15 minutes!! She barely had time to realize what was happening! Although she did manage to hiss at the dogs in the salon while the groomer was shaving her butt. I guess she blamed them for her troubles. (Better them than me!)

When we got back home, I had the audacity to give her a bath. Her day just kept getting better and better.

She is much more frisky now that she is streamlined, but she does like to snuggle for warmth. (Something she doesn't like doing normally.) Note the fact that she has her paws and tail tightly curled underneath her now to keep them warm. I also think it's interesting that she seems to lose all her orange and black fur when she is sheared.

Maybe I won't tell her that she is going to get her shots tomorrow. I think that would put her over the edge.

Vintage Texaco

Our ride last Saturday also included a stop at a vintage Texaco station in Independence, WI. I couldn't quite figure out what its purpose was. It didn't look like a working gas station. Perhaps a museum of 50's memorabilia, or a classic car shop, or I don't know what.

They were closed, so it wasn't until I started searching on the internet that I found out it was a mechanical repair and auto sales shop. It was built in 1931 and was restored a few years ago. Here is an interesting video that tells about the history of this building.


A close-up of those neat old pumps.



They had a delivery vehicle sitting out front. I wish I could have driven a vehicle like this when I was a delivery driver many moons ago!



Techie Corner
I took the main image into Photoshop and gave it a "dreamy" effect to enhance the feeling of stepping back in time.

Clouds

We went on a 9 hour motorcycle ride through the rolling hills of Wisconsin last Saturday. The clouds were ominous all day, but they never dumped on us. The sky was pretty tame in this particular picture. I took it more for the beautiful view of the rolling hills. We pulled into the parking lot of Hansen's Hold-up Bar and Grill so I could get this shot. (We didn't eat there this time, but the view is incredible and they have decent food.)




When I looked the other direction in their parking lot, however, there were much more forbidding skies. We got a tiny bit of mist for about a minute, but that was it. The clouds kept the temp in the low 60's all day....in the middle of July, no less! It felt like a beautiful fall day and the riding was great.




Earlier in the ride, we stopped in Fountain City to stretch our legs. For some reason, the ornately designed vent on top of this building really intrigued me. That, combined with the mean looking sky, just begged for a picture.

Santa Rides a Crotch Rocket?

I've seen a lot of strange things in our neighborhood, but the last thing I expected to see this morning was Santa riding a crotch rocket. Now I know how he gets around in the off-season.





Here he is, making a careful ascent of his Yamaha R6 steed and navigating down the sidewalk to the driveway.


Techie Corner
Yep, they're blurry. I had to run and get my camera, change lenses, eject my memory card from the computer so I would actually get pictures, and hand-hold a telephoto lens while shooting through a dirty, sunlit window. Whew! I'm lucky I got any pictures at all!

Mona Lisa

While we were poking around Menards one day, looking at all the gardening accessories, I saw a display of boxed lily bulbs. They looked so forlorn and pathetic! Most of them had already sprouted in the box and were marked down for quick sale. I had always heard you should plant bulbs in the fall, but the back of the box said March-December, so I decided to give them a try. My philosophy on plants is, either they will live or they will die.

More time passed before I got them into the ground, so I had little hope that much would happen this year. But the ones that were growing in the package, kept right on growing once they were in the ground. This particular one is a Mona Lisa oriental lily. They are supposed to get 40" tall, but since these bulbs got started so late, the plants are barely a foot tall. Each one has one or two flowers that almost hang on the ground since the stalk is so short.

Hopefully they will be even bigger and more beautiful next year. Grow little plants, GROW!

Old Glory

Happy Independence Day!

I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Our grapevine has a mind of its own. It's always reaching, always grabbing, always trying to take over everything in its path. I have to wrestle it into submission every summer or it would engulf the whole neighborhood. Creatures live in it too. The rustling leaves and animal noises make it seem even more alive.

Someday maybe I'll be brave enough to eat some of the grapes. Or not.

Death of a Gummi Bear

We had a birthday BBQ on Saturday and someone brought a bag of Gummi Bears. Today I went out to do some yard work in the 90 degree heat and noticed that one of the bears met a very cruel fate. Poor, poor bear!

By the time I finished, I was starting to feel like the bear. I figured I'd better get inside before I met the same fate!

Lowry Avenue Bridge

I just learned last week that they are going to start taking down the Lowry Avenue Bridge this week. I didn't even know it had closed a year ago! I guess when they were repainting the bridge in 2004, engineers noticed that Pier 3 had rotated 11 inches out of vertical alignment. By 2008, they'd noticed it had rotated even more, and were afraid that normal temperature expansion could put too much stress on the superstructure.

So I wanted to get out and get a few documentary photos before they take it down. This bridge was a significant memory in my early childhood. When mom and dad only had one car, we used to drive dad to work a lot. And this bridge was always part of the drive. To me, this was the "Woo Woo" bridge because of the sound the tires made as you drove over it. It could be the dead of winter, and I would still roll down my window and stick my head out to look through the grates as we drove over. The see-through aspect of the bridge fascinated me as a little kid.

Who am I kidding? I'm still fascinated by see-through bridges.

So long, Woo Woo bridge. I hope the bridge that replaces you is just as interesting.

Hennepin Avenue Bridge at Night

A shot of the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge wraps up a week of images along the Mississippi River. The current incarnation was built in 1990. I love the pretty lights dotting the bridge.

Next to it is the Grain Belt Beer sign, an icon that has stood on Nicollet Island since around 1940. I wish they would light it again. The letters used to light up in sequence, which mesmerized me as a little kid.



Techie Corner
Since I was still working without a tripod, I had to lean up against a light pole for this pic. I also couldn't get the whole bridge in the pic with my 75mm equivalent lens, so I had to settle for one of its two towers.

Electric Lime

While we were checking out the St. Anthony lock, we noticed that they had fixed the LED lights on the new 35W bridge. It was now sporting an intense lime green color. The waves coming out of the lock were moving so fast that they looked dreamy with the long exposure. The whole scene looked surreal with that electric lime in the background!

Here is another view of it. I wonder what color it will be next?



Techie Corner
Yep, still no tripod with these shots. Yep, they are blurry. But I thought the dreamy waves were so cool that I used them in my blog anyway. This scene also would have been a possible candidate for HDR. The bridge is hopelessly overexposed when I'm trying to show the dreamy water. Not sure how it would have worked with water motion though.

Weisman Art Museum at Night

While out and about, we stopped so I could get this shot of the Weisman Art Museum. The evening sky was just the right density and color; and the setting sun highlighted the museum nicely.


Techie Corner
I had to brace myself against a tree for this shot since I didn't have my tripod with me. With a little sharpening in Photoshop, it worked out really well. It's going to look a little grainy online because I don't put high quality images on my blog.

Roar of the Mississippi

After the bike show March 28th, we drove around for awhile. With all the snow melting and all the rainfall we'd gotten in the last few days, the Mississippi was at full roar. Here's a shot by the Ford dam. Anything going over that would be chum in a matter of seconds!


Here's another shot further up. That's the U of M bridge in the background. The river looks peaceful here, but don't let that fool you. The water is moving very very fast!


Here is the lock at St. Anthony Falls. They just opened it up and let it flow. Looks more like the gates of Hell with the orange lighting!

The Mississippi: best to just stay out of her way when she's angry.


Techie Corner
It didn't occur to me that I might be shooting night photography after the bike show, so I didn't bring a tripod along. The camera blur reflects that. Note to self: always bring tripod.

I love when slow shutter speeds slow down the motion of water. In the case of the St. Anthony lock, it makes the water look even more spooky.

Tangerine Dream

I'm wrapping up my bike show week with a nice chopper from the show. I really like the fluidity of this bike and the full back fender.



Techie Corner
Working within my challenge again, I was standing at least 25 feet away to get all of the bike in the shot. I had to be patient and wait for a guy to quit drooling over it so I could get the pic.

Riding Free On Three

Today on my bike show themed week, I want to highlight my favorite class of motorcycle--the trike. I wish I could have gotten a wider-angle shot of this trike, because it's just gorgeous! It's custom made in Moorhead, Minnesota. You can check out their website right here. This is the 2009 HLE model. It has a powerful VW engine. The faux gas tank opens up to store your helmet! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and wished I could take it home with me.



Here's another trike I liked at the show. That's a blue dragon on the gas tank.

Techie Corner
Like I said the other day, I was working with a 75mm equivalent lens. This made it even harder to get a full pic of a trike with all the bikes and people crammed in there. Note to self: don't give myself that kind of challenge again!

The Forerunners

Continuing on with my bike show pics, we can't forget the forerunners of all the cool bikes and trikes we have now. There were a lot of antique bikes at the show too, and this 1949 Indian Arrow was one of them.


Long before "pocket rockets," there was the Doodle Bug. A swarm of 40,000 Doodle Bugs took to the streets between 1946 and 1948.