Duluth Tall Ship Trip

We rode the motorcycle up to Duluth yesterday to see the Tall Ships on display in the harbor. These were two of the three ships on display. They look big in the picture, but they didn't really look big at all when we stood next to them. Maybe they seemed smaller because their sails weren't out. The one on the left is the Pride of Baltimore II . The one on the right is the US Brig Niagara. They are replicas of 1812-era topsail schooners.

Notice the truly authentic 1812-era radar near the top of the right mast.

I want to know how they keep all those lines from getting tangled up. If only the cords behind my computer desk were this neatly organized!

Here's a close-up of some of that rigging.

Being a port city, Duluth has numerous water-themed flotsam and jetsam strewn around town. This young female creature looks like she is about to get soaked.

We saw these nifty little Whizzer motorbikes while we were there. You can find out more about them at their website: http://www.whizzermotorbike.com/index.html


We also met up with a nice Ventureriders.org couple while we were there and had lunch together. (I should have gotten a picture of them too!) All in all, it was a very enjoyable day away.

Fence Post #3

We finally have the toughest side done! Yippie! This side of the fence was all at the top of a hill.

That's not to say we haven't had problems along the way. June 21st we were going to get a lot of this side done. However, after finishing a section of fence and taking a Gatorade break, I happened to look up at the last remaining mature tree in our back yard...















Maybe it isn't apparent enough in the above picture, so let me show you from another angle...
















WHOA! Our tree was splitting in half!















Not only had a large portion already split, but a crack continued down the trunk another 30 inches past the split! The wind was blowing pretty hard that day and we watched the two halves bounce in the wind. Visions of it splitting to the ground and falling on all the wrong things, danced through our heads. My husband made a beeline to the garage to get his trusty little chain saw. We figured half of it would be easy to get down, but even with a line tied on it, it didn't fall quite where we had hoped...











It fell right on a little maple tree (which you can't even see!) And the chain saw got bound up in the split when the branch fell. Note the circular saw at the base of the tree. He had to use that to get the chain saw out of the tree. Once that limb was finally on the ground, all the branches had to be cut up and stacked in a huge pile. (This is the one advantage I could see to living in the country... We could have lit that pile on fire and be done with it.) By the time we finished all that, we were pooped!

The rest of the tree is trickier since there are so many things in the way, including power lines. We decided to hire a tree service to deal with that. But first, Xcel has to come out and clear the branches away from the power lines. I won't hold my breath waiting for them!

But this weekend, nothing stood in the way of getting that side of the fence done. On July 2nd, I hauled the mountainous pile of branches to the compost site. They fought me all the way! Afterward it looked like a wild pack of gerbils had attacked the insides of my arms. Mean, mean branches! My husband took July 3rd off to work some more on the fence. The 4th we were on hiatus because of a very enjoyable BBQ. And on the 5th, we finally made it around the corner. (Maybe "around the bend" would be more appropriate! We'll be glad when this project is finished.)

It's all down hill from here...thank goodness!

Fence Update

Since I started documenting the fence back in April, I figured it was time for an update. Especially since we have a bona fide section of fence done now!

On May 24th, my wonderful husband and a guy from church that he suckered....I mean commissioned... to help him, moved 2 tons of cement around the yard to anchor the rest of the 4x4 fence posts.

Then we bought the rest of the wood to complete the fence. This gave me great hope that THIS year would be the "year of the fence."

Yesterday was chain-saw fun on some unruly bushes and our very first section of fence hung. Whoo hoo!

Spring Blossoms

I was taking some documentary photos of my plants this afternoon. I really wasn't going for anything artistic, but these Snow Crab blossoms were so pretty and the light was hitting them just right, so I ended up with a pretty photo anyway. The blossoms have already started to drop, so they will probably be gone in a day or two.

Techie Corner
Used my digital zoom lens. There was a breeze blowing, so I tried to get the shot with as little movement as possible.
Shot at 1/500 Sec @ F6.7, ISO 200

Sheared Kitty

Our kitty gets the "lion cut" every spring when her winter fur starts flying everywhere. Unfortunately, the warm weather isn't always as punctual as her molting. It's 46 degrees this evening and Jewel is snuggled in a blanket for warmth.

Techie Corner
Off-camera flash and reflector. A small amount of post production.
Shot at 1/60 Sec @F2.8, ISO 400