We have enjoyed unusual November temperatures – in the 70’s – these past few days and they have been stunning. It has been great for working in the yard – raking up the leaves that were covered under eight inches of snow that fell in mid-October.
One pile of leaves in the back yard.
We live on a corner lot, downwind it seems. Along with our own leaves, a lot of our neighbor’s leaves are blown into our yard, and stop there. Most of the snow has melted so it was time to rake them up. It’s a big job.
We used these black buckets as scoops to load the pick-up truck.
We took six loads to the compost site in Northfield. Four times we filled the pickup bed to the max.
Filled to the brim.
We also filled 30 big black bags and two garbage cans full of leaves. That took another two trips to the landfill.
I decided to shovel two small, leftover snow piles to get to the leaves underneath! A comic twist.
Last fall (2019) our grandchildren were visiting and enjoyed jumping in piles of leaves.
But I’m grateful…for the beautiful weather to be working outside, for our health to be able do the work, for trees to enjoy, and a good night’s sleep!
We moved into our house 25 years ago and we were younger then! I have always liked our house. Lately I realized having a hand railing at the front door would be a nice touch for us and for our guests. There are a couple of steps to navigate so having something to hold on to would be helpful.
For 25 years there was no railing by the front door.
So, several days before the 8″ October snowfall, we went off to the big box store to buy a railing and hardware.
The railing before it was painted.
My husband went to work. First, the railing was measured and cut to size. Then some circular extensions were needed to be cut out so the hardware spacing was “up to code” as to how far the railing came out from the wall. Next the oak wood was primed, then painted, then put up with extra long screws.
The finished railing.
It turned out well. It’s a great addition, and improvement, to our house.
We have always enjoyed buckling ourselves into our car seats and taking scenic drives, heading out of town on country roads. It’s fun to see the varied landscapes in our great state.
Photo taken last week, on the outskirts of Northfield.
When the pandemic took hold we started to take more frequent rides to get us out of the house.
Dramatic clouds over the corn field.
Last week we drove a short 20 miles loop around Northfield and were mesmerized by the sky. These dramatic photos were snapped when we quickly pulled over to the side of the road a couple of times.
The colors and lighting of these clouds are beautiful.
This particular evening we were on a road where you could see a whole lot of sky. The sky is always fun to watch. It has so many displays: blue with soft, white, fluffy clouds or clear blue with no clouds, and sometimes stormy skies with dark, angry clouds.
This is what the sky looked like when we left our house.
On our way back to town we saw this gorgeous sunset.
Evening of September 30, 2020.
I’m compelled to include the photo below, taken in July 2018 (pre-pandemic) on a drive west of Northfield. It was eerie. Soon after I took the photo it began to rain. Fortunately it was not a tornado.
The honey locust tree in our front yard, placed purposely outside our kitchen window 25 year ago, quickly became one of our favorite trees.
This is a view of the front of our house in 1994. You can see the honey locust tree, one of the three spruce trees and a maple tree in the back that we planted when we moved in, in 1994.This photo is from the same viewpoint as above in 2020, after the locust was trimmed.
We planted several trees in our yard back then, and we are very happy we did. They were small trees, and now they have grown to be very large trees! A realtor once said the best kind of tree is the one planted 20 years ago.
The honey locust before it’s big trim.
But many branches of our beloved locust tree have been slowing dying in the past few years so we needed to decide if we cut it down… or trim the dead branches off and hope it starts growing again. We had a hard time thinking of cutting it down so we chose the latter.
The dead branches on the honey locust.
It was interesting to see three workers and two huge trucks show up at our house. One truck settled into the driveway. It had a cherry picker bucket that hoisted one guy towards the tops of the trees to start cutting the dead wood.
Trimming the honey locust.
Two guys went at the trees fast and furious and seemed to know what they were doing (we only hope!). Another worker piled up the branches for the other truck to extend an arm with a claw and pick up all the debris then haul it away.
Our newly trimmed honey suckle, looking good in the evening sun.
And since the tree trimmer was coming we decided to have our crabapple tree get a good trim too.
The crabapple tree before it’s major trim.
The crabapple tree after its trim.
I had an errand to run so I left before the workers were done and I came home to a cleaned up yard and two smartly trimmed trees about 45 minutes later.
Our honey locust, trimmed. I think my flower bed is back to a sun garden…
We will hope it isn’t too much of a shock for our honey locust and that it will start thriving again.
I like coffee…and coffee shops. So does my husband. My town, Northfield, supports six coffee shops for 20,000+ people. It seems coffee shops are one business that usually “makes it” in small towns.
An antique creamer filled with milk set next to a coffee cup for perspective.
I remember traveling with my parents when I was younger and going to cafes in small towns, where my mom and dad would get their coffee. At that time there was only one kind of coffee to choose from (well…maybe two…caffeinated and decaffeinated). If you wanted cream it came in little, individual glass bottle sealed with a paper cap. I liked to drink any left over cream my dad didn’t use in his coffee.
It seems coffee shops are the new “cafes”. It’s easier to find a coffee shop in small towns, than a cafe.
This coffeehouse had curbside apeal.
On our way home from our recent road trip to Colorado we decided to get off the interstate for the last 400 miles of our drive. Instead of staying on Interstate 80 we took back roads through parts of Nebraska and Iowa into Minnesota. We made fine time with less traffic and less rush.
In the entrance to Milady Coffeehouse is a mural of the May brothers, and three antique bicycles on display, which we always like to see.
On road trips usually our first task when we start out is to find coffee. We have a cup of coffee at the hotel but we always look forward to getting a better cup of coffee at a coffee shop.
The kitchen wall and more tables in the balcony.
We scouted out one coffee shop along the new route, not far from the hotel, but when we got there we discovered it was closed on Sundays. So we went on to the next town searching for the next coffee shop, which happened to be Fremont, Nebraska.
Set up for streaming a church service on the big screen.
We were delighted with our find of Milady Coffeehouse in the historic downtown area, not far off our route. It was housed in an old restored building, the May Brothers Building built in 1881, with eclectic décor and delicious coffee choices.
Brick, crystal chandelier and metal art…a fun combination.
It was not crowded so we enjoyed looking around. There was a small stage with a big screen TV and they were preparing to stream a church service, with social distancing. There were groupings of sofa and chairs, counter with stools, hi-top tables with chairs, all around the large gathering space.
A lone person at the window table.A door to separate the space if needed.
The name Milady comes from a brand of coffee that the May brothers sold within the same walls 130 years ago, when it was the May Brother’s Wholesale Grocery. There was an old “Milady” coffee tin and jar on display.
It was a fun diversion for our coffee break that morning, to find such a great place on the back roads. Too bad this wonderful coffee shop is 330 miles away.
I was invited to a baby shower recently. A baby shower during a pandemic is difficult to plan. Originally it was going to be held using Zoom, the communication app that has become popular these days. However, as the date grew closer and the weather became nicer the event planners figured out a way to bring people together for the shower.
Props for one of the games we played.
The hostesses created a festive atmosphere that adhered to “physical distancing” guidelines…(I heard a commentator say it’s not really social distancing but physical distancing – we still need to continue socializing). They also had Zoom up and running since there were out of town guests participating.
So, I put on a dress for the first time in months and added a touch of make up and headed out the door for an exciting event that almost felt “normal”.
It was a lovely Minnesota morning. The gathering was outdoors. Chairs were set up in a circle, all 6 feet apart, in a beautifully landscaped front yard.
Our individual “champagne” bucket.
Next to each chair was a white paper bucket filled with ice and a small bottle of prosecco and a small bottle of orange juice and a plastic flute glass to make our own mimosas. I thought that was a clever idea.
The individual goodie box placed on each chair.
On each chair was a box with a muffin from Martha’s (a local bakery), a jar of yogurt, a clementine, a cookie, and the paper and pen needed for games. No prizes were awarded however, due to the participants on Zoom…how would they get their prize?
The mom-to-be was able to enjoy opening her gifts with others surrounding her with love and attention.
My cookie decorated as a “onesie”.
People are definitely finding creative ways to make things work in this strange world we are living in right now.
The fragrant smell of lilacs is a delight this time of year. I wish it could last a little longer.
There is such a brief time to enjoy the beauty of the lilac’s purple blossoms, and have their sweet scent fill the air.
I have two lilac bushes. One is a Miss Kim, a fragrant, smaller bush that is more tame and works well for the spot I tucked it into – just outside the side window off the kitchen. It is a late bloomer.
Miss Kim
The other bush is the “old-fashioned” lilac bush that grows huge and spreads and is wildly wonderful. It is in our back yard and is blooming right now.
Our old-fashion lilac bush.
I have cut branches of lilacs off this bush to bring its loveliness indoors.
Wonderfully wild.
This wild and wonderful bush is offshoot of the lilac bush that grew in my parent’s yard at the house I grew up in. Years ago, when Gary and I moved back to Minnesota, after a short stint in Ohio, my mom was still living in that house. I thought it would be fun to dig a sucker from the lilac bush and plant it in the yard of the house we bought in Burnsville when we moved back. It took off and grew into a wild and wonderful bush.
Fourteen years later when we moved from that house in Burnsville to our new home Northfield, I dug up a sucker from that lilac bush to plant in our new yard. It, too, grew into a wild and wonderful bush, and is still growing. We’ve been here 25 years.
So when I place my purple, aromatic lilacs in vases and put it them around the house it not only brings beauty and fragrance into the house, but also brings back some special memories.
Bringing lilacs indoors…in the entryway.
…on the counter.
…on the kitchen table.
…on the dining room table.
On a different note: below is a photo of our crabapple tree in bloom right now, in our front yard.
