About The River

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Counting Down .. 4, 3 , 2 ... Party Time!


The weekend of the party is here. 
I will be "out of the office" for the rest of the week. 

Please let me know if The River is looking like it should.  
Blogger updated the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR").   
Yet, I am not sure if I did everything I was to do. Please give a shout out or some friendly advice if you notice anything.

Thank You!
And Thank You so much for the well wishes for Sam. I LOVE this blogging community. The friendships I have made in blog land are very special! I had no idea how my little blog would have me meet so many wonderful people all over the world.
Thank You! Thank You!

Carla
 


Monday, May 28, 2018

Thank You



Thank You

Our prayers are with all of those who protect our freedoms.
 

Friday, May 25, 2018

Reach High !! Class of 2018 !!


 Dream Big
Work Hard
Listen to Your Heart
Have Fun
Believe in Yourself
Make a Difference
Be You


 Your graduation is the perfect time to celebrate who you are and who you're becoming.
 

Keep on reaching for your dreams. And remember we'll be wishing you the best in all you do, for we believe in everything you are.

 ♥
Congratulations Sam 
Class of 2018
 

Friday, May 18, 2018

Atticus is 16 .. Honk Honk !!

 Happy Birthday Atticus
He is ready to take his driving test on Monday. 
Honk! Honk!
He is the class clown. Always ready to make you smile or laugh.
He cares and takes time to notice the simple things in life.

He is excited for his brother to join the Wisconsin National Guard at the same time he too is dealing with the change that we all are. We took time to look at photo albums and reminisced  yesterday. It made me smile hearing the boys share what fun times they had during some of our adventures we looked backed at.

Happy Birthday 
Atticus
♥  
 

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Anniversary of the Barron County May 16th Tornado

 Click above to read more about the 2017 Barron County Tornado.


May 16th 2017 will be one we will remember. As an F3 tornado ripped along about 2 miles from our home. Our area was hit with hail. We had hail damage to our roof and gutters. I am happy to report that today, exactly one year ago all of the repairs to our home and insurance claims have been taken care off.

Our area showed care and support for all who lost everything. We have new neighbors who lost everything. They lived in the trailer park that was severely damaged by the tornado. They now live in a lovely home across the street. At first they rented, now they have it has their home.

Of all the stories from May 16th, 2017. The one that I am in awe of is from my  sweet 93 year old that I deliver Meals on Wheels. The path of the tornado was right along my Meals on Wheels route.

I shared her story last summer, I would like to share it again, as we all face challenges each and every day. Her positive attitude makes me smile.

I was back to work the week after the touch down. As I made my deliveries I was in shock. As I drove to my sweet 92 year old, I could not believe it!  A huge pine tree fell on her house and the entire area around her was gone, ripped up, her deck was gone, trees, flowers, garden and even the shoreline down to the lake. 
I gave her a hug! I asked her "you are 92 years old, have you ever been in a tornado?"
"No, I have not! This is my first one."
Her son lives across the street from her, she told me he came over and said "Mom, a tornado is on the way. We need to get you down in the basement." She told him, " I am not going in the basement she said, I am going to the bathroom, I will never make it back up from the basement." 
She was out of power for four days. She told me, "I stayed right here! I was not about to leave my home."  The interesting thing was that after the tornado, our weather was cold and rainy for the rest of the week. With a tarp on the roof and half the house and no power, it got chilly. She said, "Oh I was fine, I went to bed early and got cozy under the blankets."
 
My sweet 92 year old, has just lost half of her home, all of her trees and her shoreline. She takes me to the window that over looks the lake. The tornado also touched down across the lake, and took all the trees and tore up the earth. As she looked across the lake, she looked at me and said "Carla, I never knew all those homes where across the lake, it is so pretty at night to see the lights twinkle." 
 
Another positive thinker in the tornado.
The area the tornado hit was full of trees, the homes were built among towering pines. What is so strange is the tornado took the pine trees, garages, out buildings but left many of the homes. I noticed today when I delivered, one of the homes that survived, they planted a vegetable garden. Something they could not do before because of all the shade. 
I hope they have a great first vegetable garden season.
 
 
This evening there will be an Anniversary of the 2017 Tornado at the Park. Each survivor will receive a cherry tree to plant. My 93 year old plans to share her story and cheer as her neighbors and community worked together as they cleaned up the damage the tornado caused.
She also told me she is excited to plant that cherry tree.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Annual Spring Plant Sale


 This past November I was asked by my Master Gardner friends if I would like to help plan the Annual Plant Sale. They were looking for new ideas for the 2018 sale. 
I was excited to help and joined the committee.

My friend Sheila and I discussed creating a Pollinator Six Pack .. we took our idea to the Plant Sale Committee and they were all on board.

It was a new adventure. We had to research starting some of the plants. Milkweed seed needed to go in the freezer. New England Aster seed needed to spend time in the refrigerator.

 


 With the help of our Master Gardner friend Sue, we created a brochure to be included with each six pack. We reached out to our North Country Master Gardner group for photos of the plants we are featuring. It was great how so many in our group shared photos.

We will have information on the importance of  saving our pollinators. I found it fun that our Wisconsin Governor announced this week ..
 
Gov. Scott Walker signed a declaration celebrating Pollinator Week June 18-24, 2018.



 It was important to me to include a time line. May times we think our garden is going to be full of blooms that first year. We have to be patient and that patience will be rewarding to us.


A peek at our pollinators in my friend Cindy's greenhouse. I will be doing a post sharing Cindy's greenhouse soon. It is a little getaway on its own. 

If you live near by, please come out to the sale on Saturday!
 

Monday, May 14, 2018

Happenings

Hello Friends!
I am back! I will have lots to share with you in up coming posts.

If you are a regular reader here at The River, you know my month of May is a busy one.
Prep work for a graduation party, Mother's Day celebrating, a May birthday, end of the school year and the garden season all in the month of May!
And Jeremy and I will celebrate our 21st Anniversary, May 31st. We have decided to celebrate in June.  ~wink~

 Me and my boy!
Sam will graduate May 31st, 2018 from High School.


 The perfect stamps for Graduation Announcements.


~ News Flash ~
Sam had been accepted to attend Chippewa Valley Technical College in August of 2018, he is planning to go into Computer Programming.
At the end of March, Sam came to me asking to talk. He had been thinking and praying about something regarding his future.
He decided to join the Wisconsin National Guard. It came as a bit of a surprise to us, at the same time it did not. Our son is very patriotic and has a serving heart. Things switched gears real fast. The Monday after Easter we met with Sam's  recruiter, from that point Sam did his MEPS and his deployment dates were shared.

We are blessed that we will have the summer to spend with Sam. He will deploy for his Basic training early September. He will be heading to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. After he graduates from Basic he will head to Fort Gordon, Georgia for is AIT, he is going into surveillance, communications and computer programming. He will be back home late April 2019!! He will be able to come home for Christmas. 
We spoke with Chippewa Valley Technical College, they understood and were very supportive about Sam's decision. He his enrolled for August 2019.

WOW!
Yes, this mom's heartstrings have been playing all kinds of tunes. I am proud, I am anxious, I am excited, I am in awe of my boy. My boy, in all honesty the time went so fast. I have had a few days of melancholy, "hey, we did not get to do all we wanted to do" he can not grow up this fast!

Our graduation party is June 3rd. Everything is in order ..
Announcements mailed  √
Menu √
Decorations √
Cake √ my mom is making Sam's cake 
Friends helping make the day special √

 


We are very proud of his decision. 

 
 

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

May and December my two busy months of the year! And it is the Hodgepodge!

Hello Friends!
Happy May!
My title says it all about the month of May!
May has always been a busy month for our family. School is coming to an end. And this year it is really coming to an end for one of my fellas! We are busy planning a graduation. The garden season is upon us, yard clean up and planning for the farm market.


 Spring has Sprung!
Joyce asks the questions.
We answer the questions.
 


 1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Is there a flower you associate with a particular memory? Explain.
Daffodils! My grandpa loved daffodils and he planted his entire hillside in daffodils. It was the most beautiful sight in the spring. He also liked peony. He had many peony and the scent of peony take me to memories of mowing lawn with him.

2. Last time you helped someone? Tell us how.
I helped my son Sam with his bank account. I like to go over things with him every few months. Checking to see that he is on top of balancing and bank statements.

3. It's National Salsa Month (the food, not the dance) so tell us, do you like salsa? Hot, medium, or mild? Homemade, store bought, or from your favorite restaurant only?
Mr.C from Cranberry Morning makes the best homemade salsa I have ever had. Yes, I love salsa and can do some major damage to a bowl of salsa and chips.

 4. When I was twelve years old...
My best friend was a girl named Dana. We had so much fun together. She moved a few years later. It is always hard when a best buddy moves away.

5. It's the first of May so let's run with it-first things first, don't know the first thing about it, first dibs on something, first impression, first rate, first cousin, first string, first come first served, at first light-which phrase can best be applied to something in your life currently or even recently?
 At first light. After a long winter it is so wonderful to hear birds signing at first light. The robins are the first to come back North to Wisconsin. I love hearing their song at first light. Spring has Sprung!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 
I will be "out of the office" often this month. We have several fun events on the calendar and prep work for some of those events.

Enjoy May my friends!
Talk to you soon.
 ♥
Carla