This and That

 

Hello Friends,

Happy July and Happy Birthday to America!

Here is a little bit of This and That from me.

The above photo is The Little Garden That Could one week ago. We have our paths of straw freshly laid.  The garden will be in full bloom very soon. We are lacking rain in my neck of the woods, we have the sprinkler going in the above photo.

 We did receive rain a few days later.. along with hail. Thankfully we did not receive much damage. A few broken blooms and leaves.

Keeping the Flower Shack full of flowers.

 
Our sweet peas have just started to bloom.

 

We went strawberry picking, we froze some, we made jam and we saved a big bowl for fresh eating. Wisconsin strawberries are sweet and juicy.

 

Strawberry Jam

"Kindness begins where necessity leaves off. If your job is to provide supper, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with store - bought components has necessity covered." 

Amor Towles

 We have enjoyed several evening kayaking adventures. The above photo was taken by our friend Bonita during the first sunset of summer.

♥ 

Carla

Before I go.. the following link is for the Rhubarb Ginger Coffee Cake I mentioned in a past blog post. The new recipe was given a thumbs up.

Rhubarb Ginger Coffee Cake  

On the Road Friday ~ A Canoe Trip for Two

 

Hello Friends,

Thank you for joining me today for an,  On the Road Friday. My sister and husband won a trip for two through the Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area. They are in a middle of a house build and would not be able to use the prize. My sister gave it to us and we enjoyed a lovely 14 mile canoe down the Red Cedar River during the morning of June 5th.

 

We enjoyed a shore lunch.

Beautiful scenery, bird song and Wisconsin green.

We saw a doe with triplets, this was the first time in my life that I saw a doe with triplets. Mama deer was a good mom to those three little ones. As we canoed passed she had them hide.

We saw eagles, herons, swallows, kingfisher and orioles. 

 The Mole never heard a word he was saying. Absorbed in the new life he was entering upon, intoxicated with the sparkle, the ripple, the scents and the sounds and the sunlight, he trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams. Mole said " You must think me very rude; but all this is so new to me. So -this - is - a River!" "The River, " corrected the Rat. "And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!" "By it and with it and on it and in it," said the Rat.

The Wind in the Willows
By Kenneth Grahame

 

Confluence 

We explored the confluence of the Red Cedar River and the Chippewa River.
 

con·flu·ence

/ˈkänˌflo͞oəns/

noun

noun: confluence; plural noun: confluences

the junction of two rivers, especially rivers of approximately equal width.

 

 We enjoyed our Canoe Trip for Two.

Thank you for coming along with me today, On the Road Friday!

♥

Carla

On the Road Friday ~ Patriotic Rice Lake ~ Freedom Walk

 

Hello Friends,

Welcome to On the Road Friday. Today we are going to take a trip to a small city that is just about 5 miles from my little village of Cameron. 

The Main Street Association of Rice Lake, Wisconsin will be helping to recognize our service members on Veterans Lakeshore Drive with Honorary banners.

Patriotic ~ Rice Lake ~ Freedom Walk

Banners will be displayed from:

Memorial Day to Patriots Day.

Banners will then be removed, cleaned and presented to the service member or their family/friends on Veterans' Day 2022.

Each year we will feature new service members.

My husband and I attended the Memorial Day service in Rice Lake. After the service we walked along the Freedom Walk. We took time to look up at each banner. We read each story that was provided in the brochure and we said "Thank You!"

 A few quotes from the brochure..

"The true solider fights not because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

G.K. Chesterton

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13 

 God fearing patriot and soldier for life! "If we knew the end from the beginning, we would not question the direction in which God takes our lives."

At the start of the walk a banner reads the following..

To all Current Military and Veterans:

We honor you and your families for your service. You are loved and never alone or forgotten. We were there for each other as brothers then and we are there for each other as brothers now.

Anonymous Veteran

Thank you for coming along with me on the Patriotic Rice Lake ~ Freedom Walk.