Jeff's Stuff

Re-living the Magic!

2010-02-06T14:01:00.002-06:00

So many people I've talked to lately are telling me about their plans to head to Disney World over the next few months....I miss my Disney! So, I am going to re-live our September 2009 trip and pretend we are still there :)

Here's me and my pal Goofy just hanging out near the Main Street entrance:
And after 5 trips, this was the first time we saw the Mayor of Main Street USA! I made a bee-line to get a picture!
Since we were there for my birthday, Joe arranged a special birthday surprise when we got back to our room the first day! Mickey stopped by and left several packages and goodies!!
The Castle looked really haunting - perfect for an early Halloween celebration.
We took in Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween PArty and had a blast - end came back with about 6 pounds of candy!

This little bench right inside the entrance to MK provided a nice picture opportunity as well.
I miss my Disney! Oh well, let the countdown to Disney 2011 begin!

And, since we are moving to Charlotte, perhaps we can drive down for a day or 2 at Christmas!

Minnesota State Fair 2009!

2009-09-07T14:23:00.011-05:00

Scenes from the 2009 Minnesota State Fair! We took it in last Wednesday.

Giant Pumpkin:
Apples! Honey Crisp, our favorite Minnesota-grown variety. Cannot wait until apple-picking 2009 in a few weeks!
It's not the MN State Fair without deep-fried cheese curds!
Joe and I split this - which is enough grease to last us both a year or 2...but total yum!
We were afraid to get too close to this one.....
Another classic MN - Hotdish on a stick! Featuring tater-tots, I am sure....
This is what I come for.....
I don't know how they do it, but the seasoning and cooking is out of this world!

This was a big thick hunk of bacon....on a stick....at least it was not chocolate-covered.
Crop-art is always cool.

I really liked this one:
Mid-way rides! No thanks!!

Joe and I went on this one one year...after eating. I will never be the same.....
It spins round and round and then the floor drops out from beneath you...the force made me notably sick.

This one was new...and again, no thanks!

Princess Kay of the Milky Way! The State's new dairy princess...who gets her head sculpted in butter!
Part of the parade....
SANTA!!
Excuse me, but there seems to be a cow coming out of the back of your car....
And a giant pickle attached to the side of yours!!
Horsies!
Little horsies!!!
A fun time. Can't wait till 2010!

9,997 to go.....

2009-06-13T20:45:00.005-05:00

Today was Gus's 1-year birthday, so we celebrated that and the beautiful weather by taking a walk around Lake Nokomis!

This continues our series of exploring as many of the local lakes as possible. In the past few weeks, we have hit Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet, so today's adventure makes 3. Being the Land of 10,000 lakes, that leaves 9,997 to go! Ha!

It was a really pretty setting and not overly crowded. And lots of little nooks and crannies for getting close to the water:We came across this guy just enjoying the scenery:
But when he saw us, decided 4's a crowd......That's Minneapolis in the background:We also spotted this guy and his sailboat:
I think the doggie had a few reservations about this plan.....

After we got back, we celebrated Gus's day with a special cake that Joe made just for him....
He and Max enjoyed this very much :)

What $1.50 Can Get You....

2009-05-30T20:32:00.003-05:00

....at Garage Sales! All this!
Who can resist a Mickey plate for a quarter? Not me!

And holiday dish towels?! YES!
I gor the 2 towels AND this Halloween candle holder thingie for a dollar!
What a negotiator.....Joe was not impressed and said I should have gone down to 75-cents for all 3. He's probably right, but I am NOT a good haggler.

What fun!

Remembering an old friend

2009-05-27T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe, but it's been one year today since we had to say goodbye to Spike.
What a wonderful, amazing friend and companion he was for his 18 years.
There will never be another one like you, my friend.
We miss you lots, sweetheart puppy-dog.

Minnehaha Falls

2009-05-25T17:20:00.000-05:00

Today we decided to take Gus to Minnehaha Falls - Joe and I have not been there in years, and it was such a nice holiday weekend!

The falls are still spectacular:
And you can still go down to the base.
Years ago, you could actually walk behind the falls, but not any more. Oh well, safety first, I guess.

Guess took s brief moment to pose for a picture going back up the steps:
I liked this covered walkway:
I decided I really did not have to go to the bathroom that bad.....
I am sure it was pretty classy in it's day, though.....

Not sure who this is, but he/she must have been important enough to warrant a sculpture.
I shall research further....*

All in all, a great day to be outdoors and a great way to enjoy the local scenery for free.

*Research update: Created by contemporary native artest Ed Archie Noisecat in 1994, the mask was made so the viewer can see through the eyes of Chief Little Crow (his real name was Taoyeteduta).

The mask is located just south overlooking the Minnehaha Falls in an area considered sacred to the Sioux.

Today's Project

2009-05-24T20:38:00.003-05:00

Project time! This area has bugged me since the snow melted.
Looked great when we moved in! But it didn't last long - after 2 winters, with all the contracting and expanding, these stone just break apart and are impossible to walk on in your bare feet.

So! Today was Fix It Day! Yesterday, we got a truckload of soil, several rolls of sod, and tackled this disaster.

After taking out most of the stones, we filled it in and raised it a bit (for drainage) with the soil:
After getting that all levels out and sloping the way we wanted it, we got it all filled in with the sod!
Instant Lawn - I love it! Water the daylights out of it for 2 weeks, and we should be good to go.

Next, repair that crappy area right in front of the new sod. Woo!

Gus In Action!

2009-05-10T20:53:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, Joe, Gus and I took part in the annual Humane Society's Walk for Animals. As a team, we raised over $1,000 (and got these cool hooded sweatshirts!):
Turned out to be a nice day by the time we finished the 5 mile walk. We had someone snap this picture of us in front of a giant bone (which Gus Really wanted to bring home):
At the halfway mark, Gus showed some signed of being tired, but after a short break, was raring to go for the 2nd half.After we got home, Gus grabbed bone to head upstairs, but only made it halfway up before deciding nap-time could not wait.....Today, no walk, but we did take some time to play ball. This was one of the action shots I was able to snap:
In an unrelated note, after the walk last Saturday, we turned around on Sunday and planted about 430 strawberry plants! We are nuts. This is one bed:...and this is the other.I hope our freezer has enough room in a few months.....

One More For The Collection

2009-05-02T21:57:00.002-05:00

Since we are heading to Disney later this year, it's fitting to get another pin! Ha! We found this one on eBay for $ and change - bargain city!

Play Time

2009-04-24T20:54:00.005-05:00

DADDY!!! Play with me :)
I fetch!I bring back!I tired......
I like the shade.....All done - thanks!

Spring Workout

2009-04-18T20:43:00.004-05:00

After talking about it for many years, we finally are putting in a few gardens!

We decided to till up the otherwise useless hill area behind the house......Great idea in theory...pain in the ass in reality! Though Joe is doing most of the work.
The 2 beds on the hill are about 18 x 6 each. and we intend to fill these up with strawberry plants! Joe's Mom has them ordered for us and we should have them by the end of the month. I won't even tell you how many we ordered......

We also have this area for more traditional plantings: This area is about 10 x 8 and will be perfect for some lettuce, tomatoes and a few other things.

I also finished the planter box I was working on last weekend. We decided that it was indeed a little too high, so we brought it down a little bit, and got the bottom in.
This should be a great little place for all of Joe's herbs!

We went down to the farm on Easter and introduced Gus to the goats. It was a stand-off....

Project Time!

2009-04-12T20:13:00.003-05:00

Project time! It's been a while. A few weeks ago, we came upon these decorative fence posts on clearance. $5 each!
We had been wanting a patio planter ever since Joe started growing herbs last year, so I knew we could put these to good use.

It's pretty basic, but this is what I came up with:
It's 2 feet by 3 feet, and 8 inches deep. I deliberately left the posts at their 4 foot height, thinking it might be good to not have to kneel down to work on the herbs, but after getting it all done, we think we will trim it down a bit.
I good coat of waterproof stain and she's almost set to go! Now it just needs a bottom, some soil and Joe can move his plants from indoors to outdoors!

Team Gus In Training!

2009-04-10T20:19:00.005-05:00

Joe, Gus and I signed up for the 2009 Animal Humane Society walk in a few weeks, and decided we better get some training in! After all, it is 5 miles and that's alot for those with short little legs-zuz.

I was off from work, so we took Gus on a training walk around Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis:
He's done this walk a few times now, so he's pretty confident he can handle another 2 miles.

He and Joe kept up a steady pace. Here Gus is saying "C'mon, pokey! Keep up with us!!"
I was busy taking pictures, that's my story for why I fell behind. I offer this up as proof:
Not very often you see a giant Lucy in someone's front yard!

April Is Stupid!

2009-04-05T20:24:00.002-05:00

April 5th and we woke up to 2 inches of snow....
Is that really necessary? I mean...really?

Pretty, yes....
But come on already! Sheesh....

Surprise!!

2009-03-26T22:40:00.001-05:00

Oh, yes....
We are going back to Disney! In the Fall! Woo! :) This makes me very happy.

Planning has begun.

My two favorites things, Take Two!

2009-03-21T13:22:00.003-05:00

Things have been so busy over the last month or so, I have not had time to post anything. But today, I was inspired!!

Last week I had mentioned to Joe that I wanted to add to my Disney pin collection and get pins for each year that we have been there. I noted I was missing 2003, and 2001.

Well, guess what I got today! This!

Joe found it on e-Bay and bought it for me, and it arrived today. Yay! I can ad it to my collection:And I'm not sayin' nothin', but the collection may well expand again this fall. That's all I'm saying...

And if that wasn't good enough, I found this while we were out today, for less than $2. for our Christmas collection:
Joe won't let me leave it out though...I have to wait until we're a little closer to the holidays.

Meantime, the boys were able to celebrate the arrival of Spring a few days ago by taking in the sun. Gus's hair has gotten so long too:
We are off to take him for a walk today around the lakes downtown, it is such a nice day.

How did this get in the cart....?

2009-02-01T13:54:00.003-06:00

I have no idea. That's my story. But when we got home from grocery shopping today, this was magically in our bag!So, Joe has to come up with something to use it in! It has these 3 characters:Yes, I know.....I have a small obsession.

Submission

2009-01-25T20:42:00.004-06:00

This cracks me up. We had guests a few weeks ago, and since we got snowed in, it made for a great excuse for an afternoon siesta. And the only thing better than a siesta is a siesta with a puppy on top!

Gus was a little unsure of this at first:

...halp!...

But seemed to catch on quite quickly.....

...zzzz...

The Graduate

2009-01-24T13:43:00.002-06:00

No, not the movie...our boy!
After 6 weeks of training, Gus has graduated from Puppy Kindergarten! And he has a certificate to prove it:
We decided to try and do this right and get him started early on training. But it was really more about training US. And the socialization part was really good for him too. There were about a dozen dogs, ages 4-6 months mostly, and from small to large.

Here Gus demonstrates the basic Sit!
And his other favorite, Down!For our final test, he had to complete an obstacle course (no problem!), find me after I hid from him and called his name, and then do the Sit and Down poses with only 1 command, in front of the trainer. And he did it all!

We have one smart puppy dog!

Happy 2009!

2008-12-31T22:43:00.003-06:00

Gus will be welcoming in his very first new year tomorrow!
And Max will wonder why we had to get Gus in the first place....
Maybe because he is so darn cute!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T13:33:00.004-06:00

Joe, Gus Max and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree 2008

2008-12-19T13:37:00.004-06:00

Our Christmas tree for this year: Mickey makes a nice tree topper.

We've since had to remove all the ornaments from the bottom 1/2 of the tree. Someone decided he really liked ornaments and tried to eat a Mickey one! You can guess who.....
I certainly hope that is not Prancer's leg bone he has in his mouth....

2008-12-14T16:01:00.000-06:00

Santa? Prezintz?

Ho Ho Ho!

2008-12-06T17:32:00.003-06:00

The boys got in on the Christmas action today. Gus is experiencing his first Christmas tree and Dad's attempts to get him to wear a funny hat.
Max is darn near impossible to convince to sit still with the hat on his head, so this is the best we could do. I think we will try reindeer antlers next year for Gus....He will be like the little dog in The Grinch.....

And don't think I forgot about this......

2008-11-22T17:17:00.003-06:00

Joe's brother got me this for Christmas last year.....
...and I;ve been waiting all year to get it out! And yes, I have it inside the house.
Is that odd??