So the unofficial start to summer – Memorial Day weekend – is nearly over. The sun came out on Friday and tonight, but in between it was cloudy, cool, and rainy in Minnesota. (I give you Exhibit A above – a look at my brother’s shed on the farm from Sunday evening.)
That didn’t stop us from enjoying the weekend, mind you, with a little golfing, gardening, grilling, birthday cake, and family time.
That’s what life is all about, yes? Oh right – and wine, too. 😉
Some photo highlights for you:
Friday night: practice chipping in the backyard with some tunes on the iPad and smiles all around for the long holiday weekend.
Earl the Pug also enjoyed his time outside, which provided him with way more exercise than he would normally be in favor of.
Saturday morning: Say whaaaat? While playing 9 holes at a local golf course, Joe happened to spot this interesting little “creature” along hole #5. Someone at Buffalo Heights Golf Course has a sense of humor!
Sunday: We headed out early to the Farm for my niece’s birthay party later in the day. This gave my Mom and me some time to do a little flower and vegetable shopping at one of my favorite places – Babe’s Blossoms near my hometown of Hector. So fun to shop at such a well-organized nursery with plenty of information available on all the plants and a very knowledgeable staff on hand. I picked up several annuals to fill in some areas in my gardens along with three tomato plants, two different kinds of peppers, and – get this! – celery. I have never grown celery, so I am absurdly excited to try it this year!
Happy 14th Birthday to our niece, Miss A! We loved her golf-themed birthday cake – so cute! – and enjoyed her party, which featured some of her favorites including turkey burgers on the grill and pizza, plus this weirdly cool and delicious popcorn salad that I must get the recipe for.
Meet Louie the English Bulldog – one of three dogs at my brother’s home. Louie looks tough, doesn’t he? Truth is, though, he’s a total softie!
Monday: we arrived back home about noon, and after a nap (yeah for naps!) after lunch, we did some yard work outside. Teacher Man mowed the lawn while I did some planting. These dahlias above look like they will be gorgeous, but I’m covering them up for now to keep the bunnies from munching on them.
Here’s a look at my favorite stepping stone in the small garden in front of the house – a frog that Joe picked out a couple of years ago. After adding some sun-loving impatiens (which you can’t see in this photo), I put down cocoa bean mulch, which I love. I use it in several of my gardens because of it’s lovely brown color, small hulls, and its chocolate-y smell! I also appreciate how quickly and easily it breaks down through the fall and winter, so I can just till it into the soil in the spring and start all over.
Full disclosure: Earl the pug has zero interest in getting into this stuff so we’ve never had to worry about him eating it, which would not be a good thing.
Best way to write a blog post at the end of a long weekend? With a brownie batter Blizzard from Dairy Queen, of course. #SummerNow
I hope you enjoyed Memorial Day weekend, as well! You can view an older post I wrote about some of the veterans in my family here. And don’t forget to check out my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts if you are on any of those social media platforms.