Thursday, June 14, 2018

June 11 - 17, 2018, MN, WI

Wednesday, June 13.  I misread the clock this morning and got up at 5:45 instead of 6:45, so I'm sitting here having coffee and enjoying the morning sounds of squirrels chattering, cardinals whistling, and the hum of traffic as people hustle off to work.


The family finished loading the van and headed off on their road trip to Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon and I have had the house to myself.  I've been busy doing a few chores that they weren't able to get done before they left, like cleaning out the refrigerator, giving the lawn and garden a good soaking, and writing up instructions for the neighbor girls to keep up with the watering while they are gone.


I was planning to take my bike in to have the locked brake checked but ran out of time, so I took it back to my storage unit in hopes that it might be a project that Tom and I can do together.  I'm sure there is a You Tube video out that that can guide us through the process.


Charlotte and I visited the rose garden, rock gardens, and bird sanctuary yesterday and had a fun time.  I turned the camera over to her and this is what she did.


Saturday, June 16.  After washing my bedding and doing some cleanup at the house this morning, I got on the road, heading south to Montello where I spent the night at Pat and Roger's house.  As always, it was wonderful to see them again.  We took a couple of nice walks with the dogs, had Old Fashions on the front porch, a nice dinner and lots of good conversation. They took me to Frannie's Cafe (formerly Maggie Mae's) in Oxford for a tasty breakfast on Friday morning. And then I headed south again.


Next stop was to see Sharon in Portage.  I didn't call ahead but when I drove by and saw her garage door open, I knew she was home. We had a nice chat and I hung out for an hour or so before taking familiar back roads to Stoughton.  I drove past the nursing home in Wyocena where Mom spent her last 8 years, then past Covance, where I spent the last 25 of my working years, then on to Pat's house in Stoughton.  


Tracey and I had a great visit and then when Pat got home from work, the 3 of us had pizza and lots of good conversation.


Pat and I worked in his flower beds for a while this morning but it started getting hot, so we took a break.  90 degrees and 71% humidity was feeling pretty hot.  We dug up some huge hosta plants, divided them, and put them along the fence.  We also transplanted a Bleeding Heart and Stella d'Oro lilies from the front garden to the back where the hosta was removed.


When Pat took a nap, I went for a ride out to see my old home on Starr School Rd, then past the house where I grew up on Hamilton Street, and then to see my cousin, Fran.  Lucky for me, my cousin Ken and his wife, Gerda were there too, so we all had a good chat and caught up on the last year's events.  When I left there, I went to the cemetery to visit Mom, Dad, and Rocco's grave.  The hosta plants had gotten so big that they were covering Mom and Dad's headstone, so I got a gardening tool out of my car and cut them back.


Tonight, after dinner, we watched a couple of episodes of the latest season of "The Ranch"