Tis’ the season for strawberries. I used to pick them at a local strawberry farm, but now I purchase pre-picked berries.
I made freezer jam last week. While cleaning the berries I noticed this sweet berry shaped like a heart.
I have been listening to a book entitled Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This is an excellent, non-fiction book. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a gifted story teller and an amazing botanist.
In her book she states, “In Potawatomi, the strawberry is ode min, the heart berry. We recognize them as the leaders of the berries, the first to bear fruit.” She goes on to talk about the legend of strawberries.
I smiled when I saw this berry, thought of the Potawatomi story of the strawberry, gave thanks, and then used it for my jam!
My friend and I spent a couple of days up at her place on Daggett Lake on the Whitefish chain of lakes in northern Minnesota. The weather was hot and humid, so being by a lake was a good place to be. Her husband liked to call their place “the porch with a cabin attached”.
The porch with a cabin attached.
There is a screened-in porch, with a dining table and two double beds in it…so it is large, almost as big as the cabin. We spent a lot of time on the porch, on the dock when the shade covered the dock bench, and under the shade trees.
The view from the porch.
My friend told me of a new “cabin” being built one lake over. She said it’s worth seeing, but only from the lake…so we decided to go take a look. We had two choices…an old-fashioned paddle boat or the jet skis.
The two jet skis.
I have been on her jet skis before… I kind of have a history of mishaps with them so I was a little nervous. Also, because of Covid I was not up at her cabin last summer so it had been a while since I had been on a jet ski. However, that seemed the most reasonable way to see the new cabin from a lake view…it was way too hot to paddle across the lake, through the channel and into another lake. So we decided to take the jet skis.
As I got on a jet ski, and got a refresher course, I asked my friend, “At what age are we too old to be doing this?” And we laughed.
The dock with a bench.
But, we did it! And without a mishap too.
We backed out of the lift, accelerated fast, creating a refreshing breeze as we skimmed across Daggett Lake to the “no wake zone” to get through the channel and to the next lake. Once there, the new house stood out from the shoreline, big and beautiful. It was stunning…not a cabin at all, but a rambling, lovely lake home with amazing features, that you can only see from the lake (unless of course you are invited into this estate.)
We made our way back to my friend’s cute little cabin and I said, “So, really, what do those folks in the new mansion have that you don’t have in your cabin?!”
It was fun to be on the jet skis again. And it was fun to see the new “cabin” from the lake.
I don’t have any pictures documenting our jet ski ride, or the castle cabin. At one point I mentioned I should get my iPhone so I could take a picture, but my friend politely reminded me I should not bring any electronics near water. O yes, I remember…A few years ago I capsized in a kayak and ruined my camera, and then a few years after that, up at this same cabin, I was on the dock, pulled my iPad out of the cloth bag and it slipped right out of my hands into the water.
While in Dubuque I mentioned to my friend that I’d like to place a small fairy garden among my flowers back home. Then, when we were in an antique store, she spotted a miniature porcelain table and chairs set…she wondered if that would work? We continued walking around the shop as I thought about it… and the idea took hold so I purchased the pretty, pink, green and cream porcelain mini-table with matching chairs.
A glass pebble trail leading to the table and three chairs.
The next day I bought a chubby little fairy/angel holding a cup of tea at a thrift store.
The fairies in my fairy garden.
When I arrived home to Minnesota I rescued another lone fairy I had sitting outside (the one a squirrel carried off a few years ago and we found it up in the tree the next summer). I started planning the miniature set design.
Looking in on the fairies.
I found a spot in the corner of my back garden, under my fragrant, white rose bush, and next to the public sidewalk that goes past our house. I set a trail of glass pebbles to the table and chairs and placed my fairies on two of three chairs. This is a start.
My fairy garden is tucked under my rose bush.
I enjoyed forming this miniature world. My hope is that people will spot the fairy garden and find a bit of whimsey for the moment.
Another view.
To my satisfaction, through my upstairs window, I have seen a few people discovering it… and that makes me happy.
Dubuque is Iowa’s oldest city. It was founded in 1833, 13 years before Iowa became a state. The French-Canadian fur trader names Julien Dubuque was instrumental in settling the area, thus its name.
The city has designed a lovely river walk in Port Dubuque, along the Mississippi River. On my recent trip there, my friend and I walked along it several times.
The River Walk along the Mississippi River.
We also sat on benches and watched a lot of river traffic…barges, tugboats, speedboats, etc. I always enjoy watching the “boats go by.”
This recreational boat looks so small next to a long barge and tugboat, on the Mississippi River.
The Shot Tower.
The Shot Tower is located one end of the river walk. It is a national landmark, being one of only a few remaining historic shot towers in the United States.
A visual of how the shot tower made lead shots.
I recently learned what a shot tower is, and found it interesting. According to the plaque, “The Shot Tower was constructed in 1854 to manufacture lead shot ammunition. Molten lead was poured from the top of the tower and passed through a series of sieves to form the shot into its proper size. The shot then landed in a tank of cold water at the bottom of the tower.” Thus, making the ammunition.
“Solidarity” mural.
There are 30 murals around town, resulting from an event called “Taking it to the Streets”. We noticed several of the murals. I assume there would be a map at the chamber of commerce so one could locate all of them and learn about them. We did not look into this, but there was one mural directly across from our hotel. It was titled Solidarity. It was painted by 75 volunteers, painting side-by-side in one- hour shifts, on this paint-by-number style public art piece; 105’ long X 25” tall.
The Town Clock.
We walked by the Town Clock. This Town Clock was originally erected in 1873 on top of a building on Main Street, then the clock was moved to the Town Clock Plaza in 1971, where it is today. The clock supposedly maintains accurate time within half second. It stands 110’ tall.
The Grand Opera House, still offering live performances (pre and post Covid of course.)
We also walked by the Grand Opera House which was built in 1890. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Closer look at the Grand Opera House stone design.
A super moon was scheduled to rise on our last night in Dubuque, so we purposely went to find a bench on the river walk to sit and watch the full moon rise over the Mississippi River. It did not disappoint!
The full, super moon rising over the river.
We had a wonderful time in this historic river town…There is so much more this city has to offer. We’ll be back.
My friend and I met in Dubuque, Iowa for our annual get together. Dubuque is a lovely river town. It has a scenic river walk along the Mississippi River, a wonderful botanical garden and thrift stores.
Peony
Dubuque met our criteria for a meeting place: water, gardens and thrift & antique stores.
Lupine
Lupine
The day we went to the botanical garden was dreamy. An ideal temperature, bright blue skies with no clouds in sight.
One of the garden sculptures: Germination.
Dubuque is five hours farther south than Northfield, and there were many plants blooming in Iowa that were not blooming in Minnesota yet. There were peonies and lupines and iris’ in their full array.
Iris
Iris
Iris
Iris
In the botanical garden there was an herb garden, a shade garden, an English garden, a Japanese garden, a prairie garden, a rose garden (not in bloom yet), annuals, perennials, peonies, iris’ and lupines, a children’s area, sculptures, trees, lots of benches and green, green, grass.
The Japanese Garden
So much packed into those 52 acres.
The shade garden.
Striking sun pattern on the gazebo.
The arb is convenient and close to town. And has free admission.
Peony
Bleeding Heart
They also boast the arboretum & garden is run entirely by volunteers. It’s a young arboretum…established in 1980.
Peony
Peony
We spent our morning meandering, and sitting on the benches, and smelling the flowers, enjoying ourselves in this beautiful setting, marveling at God’s creation.
Lupine
The Tin Man in an annual garden, with more displays in other annual beds featuring characters from The Wizard of Oz.
My picnic basket fell apart. I had it for many years, and used it a lot. It was a durable, wicker basket; deep, with a strong handle and flaps over each topside opening. Eventually the top flaps broke off but it was still a sturdy, useable basket. During the pandemic this past year I kept the basket stocked, and in the car, ready for any opportunity we might have for eating a meal outdoors. It was stocked with hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, flatware, drinking cups, paper plates, napkins, and a tablecloth.
My beloved picnic basket – it served us well for many years.
I took it along on a recent trip to Iowa to meet up with a friend for a few days. As I put it in the car I felt the handle (which had already been fixed once with wire) was loosening up. But I still put it in the car. Then while there, I took it out of the car and the handle broke completely. The picnic basket was no longer functional.
But the timing was good. My friend and I like to frequent thrift stores so it was the perfect time to look for a new-to-me picnic basket, and we were successful in finding one.
My new picnic basket.
When I got it home I cleaned it off and set it in the sun to disinfect, and now it’s ready to “carry on” the task of holding our picnic goods for many more years, I hope.
Dubuque: A very long barge traveling down the Mississippi River.
We had a great time on our walk the other evening. I had downloaded a new app on my iPhone called “Picture This” and we were having fun experimenting with it.
The home page of the Picture This app.
It’s an app that identifies flowers and trees and bushes by taking a picture. It quickly identifies the plant and tells the name and characteristics of the plant, and how to care for it. It’s amazing and it’s very helpful, especially for someone like me who likes to know the names of all the plants I see.
I wondered if this was vinca and the app confirmed it was. Picture This calls it common periwinkle.
Hummingbird sage, found in a backyard garden.
We tried it on tree leaves too, and it was able to identify the trees we picked out. I love trees but I never took the time to learn their names, except for the obvious…oak, maple, birch etc… so this app will be helpful for me in this area too.
We tested the app knowing this was an oak tree, and indeed it told us it was a Bur oak.
A Tatarian honeysuckle.
This majestic, yet gnarly, old tree in a nearby cemetery was identified as a Norway spruce by the app.
I tried the app last summer, for thirty free pictures, but never pursued it further – until this spring – when there were several times I wished I had the app. So I finally downloaded it and this time I got a 7-day free trial period, and then will be charged $30 for one year. That’s a good deal for some good education.
Brazilian jasmine from Mandevilla genus.
If only I had had it installed when I went on my wild flower walk a few weeks ago!
We attended church yesterday… for the first time since March 0f 2020 when Covid-19 shut everything down. We wore our masks and social-distanced ourselves inside the sanctuary, but the energy was there…the Spirit of God was there… building us up, and it was good to be together again.
The welcome entrance to our church.
Since we’ve been gone some updates took place…the sanctuary was painted, the podium platform was raised 10″ for better viewing, we got new, more comfortable chairs and brand new carpet…it looks great! And seeing it filled with people was even greater.
Outside Emmaus Church in Northfield, Minnesota.
It will probably one of those first times, always remembered, as to what it was like – attending church for the first time after a pandemic.
Over the past few days our activities, unintentionally, took us to three major rivers.
Our first hike was at Ft. Snelling State Park. Gary and I have a long, but brief, history with this park. When we first met in 1976, Gary was in the habit of hiking in this park. At that time, he had taken an awesome photo of the Mendota Bridge from a unique perspective and had it printed and framed in a 8X10 format. He gave me a copy when we first met. And, then he took me to this unique park in the heart of the city.
Current view of the Mendota Bridge from Ft. Snelling State Park.
I don’t remember the trail but I remember the hike because we walked to the confluence of the mighty Mississippi River and the Minnesota River. This was years ago. There were a few times we stopped at the park since then, after we had children, to visit the beach area. And we’ve been to the historic Ft. Snelling itself, which is interesting, but we didn’t hike on Pike Island again until this day, 45 years later. (It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around that).
The confluence of the Mississippi (on left) and Minnesota rivers.
On Pike Island, one side of the trail leads you along the Mississippi River. You approach a point, with a sandy beach, which is the confluence of two major rivers: Mississippi and Minnesota. Then you turn and walk back on the other side of the island, along the Minnesota River. It’s a 3.7-mile loop.
The wildflower: Trillium, found at Ft. Snelling State Park.
It was interesting to be at Ft. Snelling state park a few days after my jaunt in Nerstrand Big Woods where I saw multitude of wildflowers. There were very few wildflowers on Pike island, although I did see a trillium, which I hadn’t seen at Nerstrand.
There were, however, many huge trees on the island, and many of them had hollow spots. It was an interesting trail.
Just a couple days later we were at Interstate State Park, near Taylors Falls. Again, drastically different from both Fort Snelling and Nerstrand Big Woods state parks. This park offered many glacier formations and a scenic view of the St. Croix River. We hiked along the St. Croix River for a couple of miles. The sandstone cliffs tend to make this area of the river very scenic.
The St. Croix River.
Another view of the beautiful St. Croix River from Interstate State Park.
As we entered Interstate state park there was an information sign that read, “Looking for Taylors Falls? There is none.” Although Taylor Falls is the name of the town, there are no falls there. However, the sign told of the nearest falls 10 miles away in Osceola Wisconsin, so we ventured there to explore. We had been to Interstate many times over the years and knew there were no falls in Taylors Falls, but we did not know about the Cascade Falls in Osceola.
Cascade Falls in Osceola, Wisconsin.
They were very pretty…full, wide and cascading. We walked down flights of stairs provided by the city of Osceola, to the falls and then proceeded to hike a quarter mile away to the St. Croix river to see the river from another perspective other than Interstate park. The falls and surrounding area was a fun discovery.
