"Another Trip "Up North".........."

Once again, Sheila and I, drove to outside of Jim Falls, WI, and brought home little Sage, to be known from now as "Eleanor" (unless there was a change in names last night). A little reasoning behind her new name. Penny and Sheila's other little mini dachshund's name is Franklin.....now they have Eleanor, as in Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. ;)

Here are Eleanor (Ellie, Ella, El) in our sun room, being introduced to Don. We arrived back at our house just after he got home from work. Truthfully, Eleanor looks MUCH bigger on Sheila's shoulder than she actually is........I think you'll agree when you see the next photo.

Copper and Eleanor getting acquainted in our backyard. As you can see, she is quite tiny. On our way up to Jim Falls, Sheila and I were talking about how we remembered Eleanor being about as big as Frankie already....not so when we had them together. She has a little growing to do before she catches up to Frankie.

Don getting down a little closer to her level.

She truly is a nice little puppy......very sweet and affectionate. Once down and not being held, she definitely is a puppy with all the little antics puppies display. ;)

"Another Market Bag......"

I will be meeting another of Don's cousins in the next week. Susan, originally from Des Moines, IA, who now lives in Germany, will be visiting family. She comes over for a visit each year, but we've not been able to make it the last couple of years when she is here. We always seem to have made plans that can't be changed, so miss our chance of seeing her.

When we learned she will be in IA while we are there, she and Don made plans for her to come see us in Iowa City. I offered to knit her a market bag and here it is.

Knitted but not yet felted........

The market bag after felting. Not knowing her preference in colors, I went with a Fall color theme. I am happy with it.

"Yesterday's Adventure......."

Early yesterday morning, friend Sheila (makes her sound Quaker, eh?) picked me up and we drove north, 3 1/2 hours, to visit a mini dachshund breeder who has several puppies available.

A little background history here.......our friends Penny and Sheila had to have their oldest mini dachshund, Tika, put to sleep early Saturday morning. I mean early as in 2:30 AM! Poor Tika had several seizures and was not doing well at all, so they made the difficult decision. This left a HUGE hole in their hearts and room for another little one to be a companion and friend for their little guy, Frankie.

So, upon arriving at the breeder's house, we were greeted by several adult mini dachshunds, running to the car as we got out. A little barking, but truly not much, which is a good sign. ;) All were beautiful AND friendly, too, as we found when we were out of the car and bending to pet them all at once. Thank goodness there were 2 of us! ;)

The breeder has 6 puppies available.....3 that are old enough to leave their mothers now, and 3 that will be available July 8th.

This little guy is one of the young ones and can't leave until July 8th. He is a cute little one with a smooth brindle coat.

A brother, who will have a longer coat....sweet as can be, too.

Their sister is a cutey, too! She, too, will have a smooth coat.

Moving outside, we went to a small puppy playpen that held 5 puppies. The 2 smallest ones are already spoken for, which left the larger ones available and ready for adoption.

The reddish brown one is a female named Ginger, and the blonde, a little guy named Lemon. According to Sheila, both are unusual in coloring.

Here is Sheila holding a little female named Sage. She is adorable and as nice as could be, too.

Might she "be the one"? Seems she is definitely putting her best effort into bonding, eh? ;)

I would find it very hard to make a decision about who I would like to bring home. All of them were sweet and friendly, and I'm sure would be wonderful companions......

"June 17th Happy Hour......"

We were joined at happy hour by Joyce, whom I met when I attended the weaving workshop in early May. When I handed Joyce Don's and my card (she and I are hoping to take a double weaving class with Juanita, the owner of the studio which hosted the workshop), she immediately recognized Don from St. Mary's Hospital. She, too, works there and has seen him many times in the cafeteria. Small world, eh? Here is Joyce taking a test ride on Don's recumbent trike........

While her partner, Sandy, takes a test ride on his 2 wheel recumbent. Both took to the recumbents like ducks to water.........

Not to be left out, I brought out my Trek Electric Assist bike, too. Here is Joyce coming back from her ride......riding up Glenwood St.!!!! (Glenwood St., for those of you who do not know it, it EXTREMELY steep) She, of course, did not have any trouble......the "assist" was VERY helpful. ;)

Back up on the deck were Ben, Daria, with daughter, Tala.

Rob, Seth, Angela, holding Becca, Andy, and Benjamin held down the fort, too, while we were in the street. ;)

Joe, who has just retired from UW's Theatre Department, joined us for the 1st time this season. Jessica also joined us for the 1st time "ever". She is a co-worker of Don's.

Another co-worker of Don, Chuck, also joined us for the evening.

Sandy, Keyena, and Joyce settled in for a nice chat, too.

Happy hour was a very nice time last week. Hopefully, we will be joined by another group of cheerful, sociable people this week......weather permitting. ;)

"Claire's Day of Modeling"

I just received this photo from Claire, along with a VHS tape (for Don to record and burn on a DVD) of early life in our family. This has always been a favorite photo of mine. She was a model for Oilily Children's Clothing...."for a day". ;) Her mother, Cindy, along with another friend and her daughter, drove in to Chicago where the girls modeled at some special event.

Memories......thank goodness for photos and videos to document them!

"June 10th, Happy Hour......"

With "former neighbor", Andy, up in the Porcupine Mountains hiking with "current neighbor", Rob, Angela brought herself, Becca, and Benjamin, over to happy hour. They are settling into their new house, but as we all know, it does take some time to have everything the way you want it, plus they are in the midst of doing some remodeling, too.

Here is Angela, holding Benjamin, with Becca (sitting by herself), Daria, and her daughter, Tala.

What an expression, eh?

Friends Sheila and Penny made an appearance, too. Sheila is looking over some knitting patterns and I'm giving my 2 cents worth of advice about each one. ;)

Tala and Griffin got along well. Tala is a little more mobile than Griffin right now, due to her being a bit older, but he'll be catching up soon.

The giggling was loud! Griffin was having a great time with Daddy Lonny, while Mom Charlie looks on. You could tell she is used to them "horsing around".

It was a very nice, low key happy hour. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate with a nice day tomorrow and we'll have another gathering on the deck.

"Pipe and Drum Parade/ Pub Night....."

Unfortunately for the parade participants, the temperature of the day was HOT!

All of the instructors, who will be in lead positions marching, tune their bagpipes.

Line up begins and they are ready to march. As you can see in these photos, the ages of the "campers" varied quite a bit.

The band marching and playing.....

This photo gives a better view of just how many people were involved.

The academy's cafeteria was turned into a "pub". The room reminds us (much smaller in scale) of the dining hall at Hogwarts, in the Harry Potter movies.

And what's a pub without some entertainment? :)

Don had a great week at camp. He has mentioned that perhaps we could tie a vacation around a bagpiping camp next summer and has suggested a few places. That could be exciting, eh? ;)

"Bagpipe Camp......"

Don had decided not to stay in the "barracks" at camp as he did last year. Lucky for him, he didn't. This years weather temperatures were on the extreme high side, making life in the barracks very warm. He did say that the classrooms where his lessons were held were air conditioned though, so that made it much more bearable.

Here is a view of his room at the Delafield Inn, which is only a few blocks from St. John's Northwestern Military Academy.

His room was very comfortable......

Somewhat luxurious, in fact........

He also had lessons in the chapel. His instructor is tuning the bagpipe......

2 more classmates.......

A view from the alter......

Tomorrow.....the parade and "pub night".

"Pipe and Drum Concert....."

Don was at "Bagpipe Camp" all of last week. The camp is held at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy, in Delafield, WI. On Thursday night of the week long camp, the instructors (the professionals), traditionally give a concert, which is open to the public. Our friend, Penny, drove over with me to attend it. Sheila, poor girl, was not feeling well (too much "end of school" pressure, etc.), so did not come with us.

Here are Penny and Don outside of the chapel where the concert was to be held. An interesting little fact, to Don and me at least, is that Penny had worked at the academy as a teenager when her mother was Alumni Hostess. Her mother lived and worked there for ten years, and after passing, her ashes were interred in a beautiful little courtyard next to the chapel.

Inside the chapel......

The large stained glass window above where we were seated.

Don explaining something about bagpipes to Penny. My thanks to Don for altering this photo, which was originally VERY dark (taken without a flash).

This too, was a very dark photo (thanks again to Don for the great alteration). The piper is one of the instructors and is very well known in the bagpiping world, having competed, and won, in several important competitions.

Penny and I had a very pleasant time that evening. Having the time to chat while driving to and from the concert was a very pleasant bonus....in addition to the wonderful concert.

"3 Photos of the Backyard...."

I took 3 photos of the backyard, wanting to record how the yard developed from "Winter mode", into "Spring mode"...........

This 1st photo was taken in early April.....

This 2nd photo was taken in early May........

And this 3rd photo, was taken this month. It is so amazing to look back and see how bare everything was, and now see the life and lushness that has evolved in such a short time.

I've put it on my calendar to take a photo the same day each month......now, I'll not have any excuse for forgetting. ;)

"Last Friday's Happy Hour....."

Jamie and Zack joined us for happy hour last week, bringing along their month old daughter, Maddie, who as you see, I was allowed to hold.

A close up of Maddie...........with open eyes no less!

I felt sorry for Zack.....he was pretty quiet, due to be very tired I'm sure. Geoff and Barb attended, too. They made an important announcement......they plan on getting married this Fall! Congrats and best wishes to them both!

Charlie and Griffin, alongside Elspeth, also made an appearance.

I was gracious and gave Geoff the opportunity to hold Maddie as well. ;)

Ex co-worker of Don, Sarah (red top) stopped by as well, bringing along a friend of hers, Eve.

Krista and Jacob, with twins, Zoe and Kai, also stopped by for a bit. Here are Krista and Zoe with Lonnie and Griffin.

Zoe made her usual trip back to check out the chickens, taking Ruby along with her.

A very nice happy hour.......not sure if the weather will cooperate for one tomorrow.