"Saturday's Bike Ride....."

Don and I rode over to the Atwood Street Fair on Saturday. We got to listen to some really good live bands. My favorite was VO5 who did things from the 70's........dressed appropriately, of course! :)

I have no clue as to why this person was dressed as a banana, but she was advertising something.


Next stop was Tenny Park Locks. The wind was so strong that the kite skiers and wind surfers were practically flying across the water....except for this guy who must have been new to the sport as he was taking it pretty easy, not catching the full force of the wind.


You can see by the waves how strong the wind was that day.


Don Pato wore me out that day. I sat down and told him I needed to head home.....by the shortest route. :) The boy was feeling his oats and even took a lone ride on Sunday.

"Benjamin at the Park....."

Andy sent me this photo of Benjamin in the swing at the park. I thought it needed to be seen by more than just me. :)

"Don's Test Bike Ride...."

We went on a bike ride together for the first time last Sunday. As you may remember, Don was having some trouble with being light headed and didn't feel up to riding his bike. His symptoms have been steadily lessening so he wanted to try going for a bike ride to see how he would react. So far, so good.

While riding along the bike path on John Nolan Drive, we came across mounted police....a first for me! As you can see, they were very nice when Don asked them to pose for a photo. :)


Here is Don in front of the Capitol after we made a routine stop at Starbucks. ;)

"Another Highland Woods Condo....."

We drove over to Highland Woods for another open house at one of their condos. This was another free-standing 2 bedroom condo, although with only a 1 car garage. It did have 2 decks/balconies, both in front. It had a nice foot print, although the kitchen was a bit smaller than we've seen.


The lower deck was a nice size, plus it had a storage closet incorporated into the wall right next to the front door, too.


Nice place, perhaps too close to the main road, and there does seem to be quite a bit of traffic in that area. We're not moving anytime soon, my friends. ;)

"Olbrich Botanical Garden Butterflies and More...."

The conservatory at Olbrich Gardens has so many things to look at besides the main event, the "butterfly show". One of the things I like best about it, is that it has so many levels that one can walk along and see the many trees/plants from various heights.


It's a true "Jungle" in there! It's Wonderful! Here is Don seen through one of the arbors, on a bridge that overlooks the waterfall..........


A newly hatched butterfly. I'm not sure that "hatched" is the correct term, but I hope you'll forgive me if it isn't and know what I mean....


A double hibiscus. A shame that they only bloom for one day.......


We were able to get a couple of photos of the resident Koi, too.



And one of the resident Grouse made an appearance.


Another butterfly hanging on the tip of a HUGE, white, bell shaped flower.


Don caught this one just as we were on our way out.

We enjoyed our visit very much.

"The Rest of Dane County Fair....."

I immediately thought Becky, Sean's ex-girlfriend, when we walked by the cake decorating exhibit. I "made" Don take this one so I could send it to Becky. It certainly seems an ambitious effort for someone in high school.


We saw this in the commercial area. Where were they when we had our coop built? I really liked this one!


Talk about total comfort! One little push and I was swinging for a very long time.


Don took his to the max for comfort.......


Ahhhh yes......the food.......as good as the smells were, we resisted and "walked on by" (think Dionne Warwick's tune).....


You can just barely see me on the top section......NOT!!!!!! I would NEVER go on anything like this! The screams were more than enough to reinforce my decision to not partake of any rides.....as if anyway, eh? LOL


I'm sure many a stomach were left at the top of this little wonder......


This one I would go on, but didn't. :)


I wouldn't think of going on this one either....what a baby, eh???? It is too high for me! :)


That is the end of our photos from the 2009 Dane County Fair. Next stop.....Olbrich Botanical Gardens for the butterflies.

"Some Sights From the Dane County Fair....."

Our first stop was in the goat barn. This little Angora Goat was a show stopper. ;)


This little (Alpine?) doe would've let me scratch her head all day.


The Llama's were out and about that day, too. Don went over to Hummmmm with them. :)


The winners of some of the heifer classes. We didn't get to see the judging, but they were all lined up so nice, Don couldn't resist. :)


Don was correct (as always!) when he told these guys that their Chicken Mobile was giving the Wiener Mobile a run for the money. They were from Minnesota.

More Dane County Fair tomorrow......

"Another EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket"

This is the other color pathway that I couldn't decide between, so I bought both. After looking at many, many BSJ's on the Ravelry site, I too, decided to knit a matching cap. I tried taking a close up of the buttons because I think they are perfect for a baby's jacket, but unfortunately, they didn't turn out well....too fuzzy. They are Beatrix Potter buttons which have a Mother Mouse holding her baby mouse (maybe my grand daughters nickname will be Mouse?). How perfect can one get, eh? LOL (If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can "sorta" see the Mice)

"Down to One....."

We're down to one chicken again. Buffy, who we've had the longest, turned aggressive towards Heather and began pecking her unmercifully. Buffy has not been laying any eggs, although Heather has been, so that also was taken into consideration as to what would be done. Buffy was taken home yesterday by Franklin, Rob's employee. Franklin has been kind enough to take chickens from us before, and thankfully, he did again.

Heather will be our last chicken. I've decided that we will not get anymore when she is gone. As Don nears retirement, who knows what we will do? A condo is looking mighty good right about now.......I say this because I need to mow the backyard (one of my FAVORITE things to do!). :)

"La Fete de Marquette......"

Mama Digdowns Brass Band, from Madison, performed at the La Fete de Marquette Festival last Sunday. Don and I had gone down to the Art fair on the Square first, then drove over the festival in time to hear the brass band perform a few numbers. Their final number was performed in the style they are known for.....parade form with people dancing behind them.

No captions for the many following photos of "The March", but you can see that everyone is having an extremely good time. ;)










The day was a beautiful sunny day and that night my forehead reminded me of that fact. I am not used to being out in the sun and between walking the art fair AND the festival, I received way more sun than I have in quite some time. I have got to get a summer straw hat!!!

"A Few Photos from Happy Hour...."

These are not from last weeks gathering, but actually from the week before, July 3rd. I guess I've been too involved with "fiber" stuff to have had these posted in a timely fashion....better late than never, eh? ;)

Maniphone and Jonathan were still in town for this one. That's Jonathan talking to Rob, who's back is to the camera. Andy and Benjamin are seated on the upper deck, while below from left to right are: Michael, Lonny, Jess, and Don. Kim and Ruby are barely seen in the lower right corner. :)


Continuing from left to right are: Lonny, Jess, Don, Anna, Beth, Anna's mother, Kim, Ruby, and Brian (husband/father).

We didn't even taken any photos from last weeks happy hour. Has the thrill gone? Will there be more? Of course, we just were otherwise occupied.

"Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket"

I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket! I tried to take a number of photos of the process from start to finish and think I got a fairly good example of various stages. I have also started on another jacket using the salmon/coral color pathway, which I will post a photo of when it is completed.







Here is "The Blob" of knitted material. By the way......button holes are knitted into both sides of the jacket, so you don't have to worry about which side you want button holes to be on while knitting. Sewing one closed gives you the exact placement of where the button should be.......


Which folds nicely into.......


A little Baby Surprise Jacket!


Here is the completed jacket with "baby chick/duck" buttons. I am rather proud of this little project. ;)