Northern Pine Float

Every year Lino Lakes has a parade and for the past couple years Northern Pine Studios has presented a float. Although Xavier is studying anymore at Northern Pine he was invited to play the banjo on the float. They pretty much stick to Bluegrass so there were banjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddle players.
Our friend Laura joined us for the day. We walked behind the float and passed out candy and brochures about the studio. Although Laura is undergoing kemotherapy she was determined to walk with us this year (last year we were rained out.)

The band is ready to go. Rick Taube (owner of northern Pine) set up a loudspeaker so he could sing as well as project the music out to the crowd.Laura Giefer and Selena. On the 18th (Monday) Selena turns 17 years old!!

Andy Troska, Rick and Xavier are warming up.

Five Dogs in the Kitchen

Tonight our city Ham Lake celebrates the end of the summer with fireworks and a party in the local park. We live only a half mile from said park and can sit outside and watch the fireworks and listen to the music. This evening we decided to stay in and watch the Olympics. For some of you that own dogs you know what I am talking about when I say that fireworks instill terror and drooling in our dogs. Xavier took this photo of me trying to prepare shrimp scampi for supper with a kitchen full of scared dogs. Jota, our Great Dane, poor creature, is terrified of the noise and lights! Apparently he feels much better if he can lean against me or at least touch me. A little rum always helps a little!

And kitty makes nine...

It's been a couple years since we had a healthy, family cat. We've had foster cats but never a cat that decided that we were family. Recently I met "Jack" at a pet adoption day and we hit it off right away. I decided to foster him for awhile to make sure that he would get along with the dogs and (except for Jota, the Dane) they have all done well together. We are still working on convincing Jota that the cat is not a play thing but we are very optimistic that we will be able to work things out between them.

"Jack" has been renamed William or "Billy Bob." He is fearless with the dogs (which is exactly what we needed in a cat) and he is cuddly and affectionate. He is also overweight from sitting in a crate since last November. Unfortunately, this is the fate of many unwanted cats and dogs; they sit in a tiny space waiting for a home. Many times a home never appears and they are euthanized. Not for William.

Crazy for Butterfly Weed...

I LOVE bufferfly weed! I look out across the back yard and I can see 4 or 5 splashes of orange. For the butterfly our suburban lawns are like deserts so I feel really happy to offer this little respite in a sea of scarcity. I tried to smell them but couldn't catch even a tiny scent out of them.
Everything is running late this year. I remember that last 4th of July we already had blooms from the butterfly weed.
Milkweed is very common and will come uninvited. I have a huge stand of it in the back of the yard. I saw 4 chunky Monarch caterpillars a couple days ago but they have already left for the next stage. My photos aren't that great, but, here you have it!

*****Utube Homeschooling Video

Whether you homeschool or unschool you'll be able to relate to this short video. On a daily basis we confront these weird attitudes and assumptions that have nothing to do with the reality of our lives. This video turns that around by harpooning conventional beliefs about education. I kind of "stole" this video from Alex, a fellow unschooler's blog (Thanks! Alex.)

A Day at Duskwind Farm

Yesterday I went up to Pine City to spend the day with my friend Jennifer Peterson on her homestead Duskwind Farm. She and her husband, Chuck, and their daughter Ilana have been living on their new homestead since the end of May. They are in a trailer right now but are building a small house due to be built by November.
Everything has been late this year including the lambs. I was hoping that I'd get to seeing a birth while I was there because two of the sheep were in labor.
Jen and Chuck have a Scottish Highlander cow who calved in early summer. She's quite an impressive cow! She kind of pushes the other cows around, no one wants to be at the other end of those horns. When she wants something (from the other cows) she gets it!





Jennifer and I visited with the sheep and enjoyed watching the lambs. Here Jen is giving a massage to one of the mothers in labor. Jen carries Ilana around in a front carrier.
Lulu is a Jersey mix heifer and is the future family milk cow. She is grass fed and her milk will be consumed raw!

This morning in the library...

It's a lazy Sunday morning and we are all half asleep, enjoying our coffee and watching the dogs lounge around. Skippy Lu seems to be aware of the camera when we pull it out. She almost seems to pose as if she knows she needs to keep still. She and our foster puppy, Franklin (Frankie) are quite fond of each other.
Here is "baby Franklin." He's only 4 months old but is an established member of the pack. His paws are big and he has a lot of loose fur; we're guessing that he'll get to be close to 90 pounds.
A baby profile!!
Skippy Lu and Franklin snuggle on the dog bed.

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma!

On Tuesday my mother turned 80 years old. Alice Marie (Rodde) Bishop was born in a farmhouse in Kenyon, Minnesota. We celebrated her birthday by bringing food, dessert and ourselves to the house. I brought a chicken lentil dish and we stopped by the 50's diner and picked up a Key Lime pie.
One candle represented 80 years! We thought about putting 8 candles on the pie but didn't want anything to melt.
After dinner rest with Skippy Lu. Skippy Lu always enjoys a visit at Grandma and Grandpa's house because she is the only dog who gets to go and as a result she gets 100% of the attention. It was a very enjoyable evening!