August Adventures

 

 

Hello Friends, taking some time to share some of our August adventures with you. Hiking, kayaking, waterfalls and sunsets.

Northern Wisconsin 

Ashland County

and 

Bayfield County

 

 

 

Me and Ernie kayaking Chippewa Lake in Bayfield County.

 

Sunset on Day Lake, Ashland County.

 

Red Granite Falls, Copper Falls Wisconsin State Park

 

 

Choose your roads wisely & be sure a few of them are dirt.

John Muir

 

 

 

 

God, and nature, the whole world and the stars too.

 

 

The glad and golden hours...

 

♥

Have a great week my friends.

 

Snakes Alive!!! And it is the Hodgepodge

 

Snakes Alive!! That is a big spider!!

Hello Friends, it is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge. 

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

 Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. What's the last thing you completely overreacted to? 

A large spider... who probably did wonder.. "why all the screaming?"

2. Your top five snacks?  

Celery .. Nuts .. Fig Bar .. Sausage .. Cheese 

3. What smell always brings back some type of memory? Elaborate. 

Wood smoke.. my childhood home was heated with wood. The smell of wood smoke reminds me of the first fire of the season. 

 

4. What's something you learned from the last book you read?  

I just finished reading..

 Hillbilly Elegy A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis 

J.D. Vance

Reading this book helped me understand a young lady I know who is a survivor of a family in crisis. This young lady's mother is also an addict, had/has several men in her life and was awful to her little daughter... who thank goodness got out alive and is doing well at age 23, with an education, job and is currently our oldest son's girlfriend. ♥

 5. What's the next thing on your to-buy list? Will you make that purchase before the end of the year? 

We do not have any big items on our to - buy - list at this time... thank goodness. Hope all appliances, other items and vehicle stay happy. Ha!

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

There is the great lesson of Beauty and the Beast, that a thing must be loved before it is lovable.

G.K. Chesterton

 

 

 

 

Joy List Monday

 

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

 

 ♥ crickets singing at night.. the sounds of late summer

♥ goldenrod is in bloom

♥ the first fresh eggplant from the garden

♥ freshly picked blackberries

♥ holding hands with my husband 

♥

Carla

wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile

 

 

 

Courage and Man's Best Friend

 

Hello Friends, here it is August and I still have not shared my 2024 word of the year. It is not because I did not have one. It was because I was not sure how to share the why I  decided on the word COURAGE.

April of 2023 two police officers were murdered a half mile from my house. It was a terrible day for our village and rural community. 

I shared the story here .. I titled my post .. Courage, Dear Heart

Our Village was down an officer and the neighboring community was down an officer. Because of the situation many officers needed time off after witnessing the death of two officers. It was a very difficult time for our local police departments.  We were shorted staffed.. in fact as I type this we are still short staffed for law enforcement in our village and county.

 

 In May our next door neighbors daughter had her boyfriend move in with her. As I was working out in my front gardens, he started to watch me. He would say comments across the way to me. One morning as I was setting up my flower stand, he approached me from behind, he introduced himself and started to say how lucky my husband was to have me. I finished setting up my stand and went to put my sign up on our main street of our village. As I was walking back, he showed me his genitals. 

I was sick to my stomach by the time I got into the house.

The next day, he did it again. 

The next day he came up to my house and started to tap on my windows and peeping in.

He started to sit at the end of his driveway and stare into our dinning room window. He again showed me his genitals. 

Yes, I went to the police. Yes, they were helpful and would do what they could to help me. They also wanted to be honest with me and shared with me, "we are shorted staffed."  In the meantime the police ask that I start a journal. I should record the dates and times this man bothered me, what he did, said and so on. 

May - June of 2023 

I no longer worked out in my front gardens unless my husband was home. 

I kept all our curtains closed that looked out at that neighbor.

I changed the hours of opening my flower stand, so I had my other neighbor to watch out for me.

My friends and family rallied around me. 

 

July came and he was gone. 

He robbed a convenience store, beat up the cashier, made threats with a gun and took off. Thank goodness he was caught.. he already had a record. As I type this he is in prison. 

He was gone. But I was not alright.

I was unsettled. I did not feel comfortable being alone anymore. I did not like to talk to anyone I did not know. I was tired of all the evil in the world. And asked over and over... WHY?

And so when 2024 came along... I decided courage would be my word for the year.

Past word's of the year...

2022 Sunshine

2023 Truth

2024 Courage

 

Courage n.   fearlessness   valor   brave    fearless

And that brings me to Ernie. If you are a regular reader of The River, you know we adopted a rescue dog in October of 2023. After the situation of what happened May - June, I started to want another dog. Our dog Molly passed in 2018, she was 13 years old. We were not sure if we wanted another dog. After all this happened, I wanted a buddy to be with me at home, in the garden, on my walks ( I no longer wanted to walk alone) ... to be my best friend.

 

 

This world is ugly. It is mean and cruel. I still ask the "WHY"? 

I am thankful for family. 

I am thankful for friends.

I am thankful for the beauty of my garden, nature and the good I do see. 

♥

Carla

 

It Is A Jungle Out There

 

 

It is a jungle out there... I am sharing photos of the garden during afternoon sun and morning humidity. Enjoy!

 

 

"Creativity is really the structuring of magic." 

Anne Kent Rush

 

 

 

"If you did with heart that is art!"

SB

 

 

"Just living is not enough." said the butterfly "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." 

Hans Christian Anderson 

 

 

 

"The only thing better than singing is more singing."

Ella Fitzgerald

 

"One gift the fairies game me: (three, they commonly bestowed of yore:) the love of books, the golden key, that opens the enchanted door."

Andrew Lang

 

Ahoy Matey it is the Hodgepodge

 

Superior, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Point Lighthouse

 

Hello Friends,  it is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions. 

We answer the questions.

 Click here to join the fun!

 1. What's a task you do on a regular (or semi-regular basis) that feels like it should be an Olympic event? 

 

Doing dishes... 

 

 2. What's in the trunk of your car right now? 

 

A picnic blanket, a regular blanket, a dish to put water in for our dog, a towel to wipe our dog off and reusable grocery bags. Ope... jut remembered a packable cooler.

 

 3. Summer foods vs. fall foods...which do you prefer? 

 

We do not grill all year around. I love grilled food, so I will go with summer. I also have all the fresh vegetables and fruits  from  our garden to create delicious salads and more. 

 

 Would you rather-watermelon or caramel apple? watermelon  iced coffee or pumpkin spiced latte?  iced coffee potato salad or sweet potato casserole? sweet potato casserole barbecued ribs or roast turkey? barbecued ribs ice cream sandwich or apple pie? apple pie corn on the cob or candy corn? corn on the cob

 4. August 7th is National Lighthouse Day. Have you visited any lighthouses? Yes, we have visited several lighthouses along the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan Do you have a favorite? Copper Harbor Lighthouse, Michigan Is a lighthouse something you seek out if you're visiting an area known for theirs? Yes

5. Light at the end of the tunnel, out like a light, give the green light, a lightbulb moment, in a new light, in the limelight...of the 'light' idioms listed which applies in some way to your life lately? Explain. 

 Out like a light... we have a large garden and we harvest and process our fruit and veggies. A few of our goodies that we have processed.. dill pickles, froze raspberries and blueberries. We will be making jelly from our Ariona berries that should be ready for harvest in a day or two. 

Other goodness to process..

salsa

relish  

can our green beans and carrots

and dig our potatoes.

Yum!

 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

 

 I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way.

Voltaire

 

Fishing, Kayaking and Sunsets

 

 

Hello August, the first weekend of August was spent with family. It was prime summer weather, with heat, humidity and sunshine.

My fishing buddy is in the photo above. I caught two fish with the little copper dog sitting on my lap.  

I caught a big bass, while he was asleep, curled up in the bottom of the canoe. He did not wake until an owl gave a big hoot off in the distance. 

August sunset as we were heading off the water.

 

"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."

Iris Murdoch