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.