Camping in June

 

Hello Friends, it is time to get an update from Ernie our rescue dog. 

Ernie went on his first camp trip in the month of June.

We enjoyed the shores of Lake Superior. 

One week before our camp trip a large storm blew in the area we had our camping reservations. 

I will share the photos of the destruction along the shores.

Thankfully we had lovely weather during our camp trip.

 

 

Our campsite.

 

 

A little paper wasp nest under the site number sign.

 

 Looking up from inside our tent.

 

A week before our trip a heavy rain and wind storm caused  a lot of damage.

 

If you look up, you will see a grill at a picnic site, the grill is just about to collapse off the edge after the washout.

 

 

Lake Superior... my favorite.

 

 

Completely, and perfectly, and incandescently, happy.

Jane Austen

 

It is a Peachy Hodgepodge

 

Summer Time Fun

 

It is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join in! 

 

 1. What is an adult problem nobody prepared you for? 

Aging Gracefully.. it takes more work then I was prepared for.. Ha Ha! Currently I am struggling with my eyesight... it is a current problem!!  I use to wear contacts and used readers to work on the computer, read, sew and other up close activities. I recently switched to wearing glasses with  progressive lenses. I still cannot do up close work wearing my progressive lenses. This includes creating my fresh flower bouquets, reading, sewing, and more.

 

 2. Without mentioning any tech, what's your most prized possession? 

1. My family

 

 Sam's return last July from his deployment to Africa.

 

 3. It's National Peach Ice Cream Day (July 17th). Will you be celebrating? Do you like peaches? Given a choice would you prefer peach ice cream, peach pie, peach cobbler, or just hand me a peach? Do you own anything that is peach in color?

I do like peaches. I love peach cobbler. Yes, I have a peach colored T-shirt.

 4. What makes a friendship successful? 

I think it is taking time to listen to your friend. And your friend taking time to listen to you. To be the LIGHT for that friend on a dark day. 

 This can be in person, phone call or even texts messages. I do think if you can take the time to listen you can learn so much about a person.

Friends - they are kind to each other's hopes & cherish each other's dreams.

Henry David Thoreau

 5. Let's give our brains a rest and do a little summertime this or that...beach or pool? ice cream or snowcone? amusement park or camping? burger or hot dog? watermelon or strawberries? get up early or sleep in late? sunrise or sunset? 

Beach

Ice Cream

Camping

Burger

Strawberries

Get up early

Sunset

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

Friendship is born at the moment one person says to another,

"What? You too? I thought I was the only one." 

C.S. Lewis 

 

 

 

Joy List Monday

 

While cleaning our fresh garden lettuce, I found this heart. 

 ♥

Joy List Monday

 ♥ a weekly ritual ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day

♥ fresh garden produce

♥ heat and humidity... everything in the garden is growing

♥ helping move our boys... spending time with them

♥ lighting bugs dancing in the garden at dusk

♥ sun tea with lemon

♥

Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile.

 

Let There Be Peace On Earth

 

Hello Friends, today I am taking us back to Memorial Day.

Each Memorial Day our family attends the Rice Lake, Wisconsin service. It is held at Veterans Memorial Park in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. 

Bill Appleyard had the vision and dedication of having this park constructed.

His song each and every Memorial Day was ... Let There Be Peace On Earth. This year his granddaughter sang it, it was beautiful and brought tears to our eyes.

 

 " The nation which forgets its defenders, will itself be forgotten."

President Calvin Coolidge, 27 July 1920

 

 

 "Retreat. Hell. We just got here."

Anonymous Marines Officer, France 1918

 

 

 After the service we take a walk along Veterans Drive. Each year new flags go up honoring local heroes. The flags fly Memorial - Labor Day and after are given to the family. This is the third year that Rice Lake has done this, I think it is a fantastic way to honor our heroes.

 

 

 A trip to the cemetery to take time to be with a dear friends son who lost his life serving in Bosnia during the Bosnian War. 

 

 

Young and brave .... fighting for another countries people to be free.

RIP

 

 We will remember... 

 ♥

Carla

 

 

Happy Birthday America and it is the Hodgepodge

 

Hello Everyone... it is Wednesday, time for the Hodgepodge!

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. It's a big week in the US of A as we celebrate Independence Day. Do you have any special plans? How will you mark the day? BBQ? pool-lake-beach time? fireworks? homemade ice cream? If you're not an American you can tell us what's happening in your corner of the world on Thursday. 

Independence Day is one of my favorite days to celebrate. I like to make a fruit flag, strawberries, blueberries and dipped white chocolate  pretzels. I also dip pretzel rods with white chocolate and use red,white and blue sprinkles to decorate them.

My husband created an Independence Day playlist, with all our favorite songs playing in the background as we play ladder ball, bean bag and more.

2. What's your favorite 'All-American' dessert? 

Chocolate Chip Cookie

 3. Does that patriotic feeling come easily to you, or are you having to work for it more these days? What's something that makes you proud to be a citizen of your country? 

 We are a patriotic family. We currently have a son serving in the Wisconsin National Guard. He was deployed to Africa 2022-2023. During his deployment he was part of the Sudan Evacuation. This is something that makes me proud to be a citizen of the United States of America... when trouble comes.. we come to help. 

 

 

4. Your favorite 'patriotic' movie? Favorite patriotic song? 

My boys loved to watch The Longest Day ... we watched it so many times together. When ever they were ill from school, we would sit on the couch and watch The Longest Day... we could act some of the scenes. 

 

Favorite song..

 Star Spangled-Banner

 Whitney Houston will always be a favorite of mine, she had an amazing performance.

 

 5. One simple pleasure on your July 'bucket list'? 

 

Reading!! 

 

 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone on many...

 William Bradford

 

Hi Mom

 Hi Mom

 Our National Guard son just returned from Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk) Louisiana. He and his team were there for five weeks. They were taking part in a training exercise with 5,000 other soldiers from across the United States and Canada.

I received the above photo with a simple text ... Hi Mom.

The next time I heard from him ... Hi Mom.. out of the box... 16 days without a shower.. that shower felt great... a lot of bug bites.

I am happy to report Sam and team are back home and all went well. 

As always, thank you for praying for our troops.

God shed His grace on thee. K. Bates

This and That

 

 

Hello Friends, a little of this and that to share with you today. 

We will start with flowers.

 

"Never live faster than your guardian angels can fly"

Susan Branch

 

I harvested our first batch of fresh lettuce.

 

 

 "I seek quiet joys."

John Clare 

 

Shug asked me to take a photo of the Osprey nest that I shared in my post from last week... in case you missed the post click here to read about our local Ospreys.

Look up at the stadium lights.  

 

"Blessed are the happiness makers!"

Henry Ward Beecher

 

Meet us in Narrows Park

We enjoyed a picnic with some of my past coworkers and volunteers from DAYBREAK. 

 

"Fun is Good."

Susan Branch 

 

 

Each morning a load of culverts have been unloaded for a big project that will be happening in our village. 

 

" Life is either a great adventure or nothing."

Helen Keller

 

 I started this begonia from seed...  I cannot believe the size of it.

 

Have a great week my friends. 

I will be on an adventure... be back soon.

♥

 Carla

 

On The Road Friday ~ Necedah, Wisconsin

 

 

Hello Friends,

Our latest adventure was to Necedah, Wisconsin. We visited the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge... and it was a fantastic time. We saw so much wildlife and beauty. A sampling of what we saw, deer, including a fawn, porcupine, turtles, swans, herons, butterfly, and so much more.

Click here for more information Necedah National Wildlife Refuge 

And one more place to click for more information 

 

 

2023 we had a drought, 2024 we are receiving rain, rain and more rain. The boardwalk was flooded, but Ernie and I decided to brave the waters.. it was not that deep, just a wee bit over my shoe.

 

A few photos from the day... one of the butterfly that we saw was a Karner Blue Butterfly. I did not get a good photo of it because it was flying up and down and all around. 

Click here to learn more about the Karner Blue Butterfly

We subscribe to Our Wisconsin Magazine. It is a fun magazine all about Wisconsin. The Spring issue featured the JB Polish and American Deli. We decided to eat our lunch here.

 

 

After reading about Zofia and her deli.. we decided to eat lunch here.

90 percent of the items in her store are from Poland. 

Zofia displays Polish treasures in her deli, including a traditional dress featuring intricate beadwork. Red and white are the country's national colors.

 

A few more photos from the day of exploring the area.

 

 Thank you for coming along with me on our adventure to Necedah, Wisconsin.

 ♥

Carla

 

Ernie and his Dolly

 

Hello Friends, if you are new here to The River, I will fill you in quick. We adopted a rescue dog October 2023... my sister gifted me a fun 2024 calendar featuring a rescue dog... each flip of the calendar page I share a little update about our rescue dog, Ernie.

 

 

 Ernie and his Dolly. Dolly is a Kong Bear. He carries it everywhere and sleeps with it. He also likes to play with Dolly.

 

 

The rope inside of Dolly has come out  with most of the stuffing... Dolly is looking... well LOVED!

 

Ernie is doing really well... what we are working on...

♥ liking the UPS and Fed Ex delivery drivers ... not sure about those fellas walking up the drive

♥ he will be heading out for his first boating trip next week

♥ has done really well with learning not to jump up on people... continuing to work on this

 ♥ likes to chase rabbits and squirrel out of our garden

♥