Smiles

Last week we had a quick visit from these sweet grandchildren.

Just thought you might want to see some smiles today.

Canal Park

One of our favorite weekend getaway is to Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota. It is a small trendy area right on the shores of Lake Superior. Lots of things to see and do. Here is a view of our motel taken from the end of the lighthouse pier. We had a nice large 3rd floor room with a balcony facing the lake.

One of the landmarks in Canal Park is this interesting aerial lift bridge. The roadway lifts straight up allowing room for boats and ships to pass underneath. Duluth is a very active shipping harbor.
These are some sailboats that have just passed under the lift bridge and are heading out for a day of sailing on Lake Superior. It was a great day for sailing.
It was a busy day in Canal Park; a good number of people enjoying the sunshine, the seagulls, the sailboats and the view.

This was the view from our balcony. All along the shore of Lake Superior here in Duluth is a wonderful walkway for pedestrians and also a paved surface for joggers, rollerbladers, bicyclists, etc. And then, alongside that is an earthen path for the horsedrawn carriages for tourists to enjoy. We took a long morning walk on the walking path. Nice fresh air!

When we arrived on Friday it was a rainy, gloomy day and we heard from some shopkeepers that the entire weekend was supposed to be rainy. However the weekend surprised everyone with the skies clearing and the sunshine. There was brilliant sunshine waking us up, glistening off the lake.

Wally enjoys a morning view off the end of the pier.

I was happy to have nice weather for picture taking. I don't think I would have brought my new camera out in the rain. Too risky for me. ha ha. I am so NOT a risk taker.

One of the great features of this new SLR camera is the quick response allowing me to capture movement right when it happens. Here is a seagull taking off from his perch on the lamp post.

Another favorite thing I enjoy in Canal Park is rollerblading. I am not known for being real athletic thought I like to think I am coordinated and not clumsy; mostly I like to walk, walk, walk. Nothing too strenous or hard. Or risky. ha ha. But I love rollerblading where there is a lot of nice smooth, flat surfaces and Canal Park provides just that. I didn't realize Wally brought along his camera while we were rollerblading, but here is proof of my athletic venture. Not sure this is my best side. Perhaps this side is better? Not sure.

The size of the cargo ships entering the port were vast. This ship was over 1000 feet in length and about 100 feet in width.

It would appear that the living quarters for the crew is this area to the rear of the ship. I imagine the rest of the ship would be for cargo; in this case, we believe this ship was coming in for coal.

In the evening, about 8:30 pm, this large ship was coming into the harbor. It was quite dark and I was experimenting with taking some night time pictures with my camera while on the balcony watching this huge vessel arrive. Isn't this picture interesting? It was taken with a very high ISO and the quality is not actually clear for enlarging the photograph, but none-the-less, the colors are amazing. It was actually quite dark outside. It was a nice getaway, just too brief!

Happy Birthday Girls!

Happy Birthday today to my dear twin nieces!

How I wish I were celebrating with you today!

Aren't they sweet? YES, they are!
Have a wonderful birthday girls!!

The girls

This granddaughter has a stunning smile.

And this granddaughter is all motion these days. Hello stairs.

And this grandpuppy is too cute for words!

Huggy morning

It was a huggy morning at Grandpa and Grandma's! Five sleeping children arrived late last night and we had to wait until this morning to hug them!

Brothers.

Baby Girl.

Big boy.

Concentrating.

Exploring.

On the move.

We still have to capture big sister in a picture. She was "sleeping beauty" while the others were "up and at 'em"

Blossoms and bird...

Today I finished planting my last major flower bed.

This one is one that gets shade until the late afternoon and I've always been disappointed with the flowers I have chosen. I added a few hostas the last few years and since they have done well, I added more this year.
Along with the hosta I planted some coleus, some white impatiens and some dusty miller and a few sweet potato vine plants. Now we'll see how they do in this spot. This is the "before" picture - you will have to wait until August for the "after" one!

This long flower bed lines one side of our driveway. It is sort of "blue and yellow" (well, actually the petunias are close to purple but they will have to do) and I chose these colors to honor my Swedish heritage! I look forward to seeing them fill out. If I remember to water and fertilize and dead-head them, that is....

This sweet picture is actually quite sad. That little chickadee somehow settled into the little cup that had some grape jelly in it. And he must have gotten stuck because he couldn't move. We have no idea how long he was there but sadly, when we tried to remove him, he was a goner.

I guess he thought if the orioles liked the jelly, he should to... opps.

That time of year

Well, it's that time of year.... actually a nice time of year... warm spring air and blossoms abound

In fact, this beautiful crab-apple tree looks and smells wonderful!


It's that time of year when I spend hours going from garden center to garden center.



Mostly because I would rather be looking at the flowers then planting them...

I appreciate gardening, I just don't actually like to DO it.

But I bucked up and planted some pots on the deck (which this little chickadee seemed to enjoy)

And I even planted some flowers in a rotted out log which I thought was quite clever.

A bit of wimsy never hurt.

And then I decided to play around with my camera and try to learn more of the settings.

I think I like the results.

Here is the same subject with two different settings. Can you tell the difference? Which one appeals to you more? I have a favorite; the one on the left. I like the blurred background (shallow depth of field) - I'm learning, I'm learning.
So that's why I haven't blogged much lately. I have been outside GARDENING.

When I'm done with the flower beds of annuals and the garden, I'll take some pictures and show you. But I'd rather be baking. Or reading. Or researching genealogy...

Growing up...

When did our sweet oldest grandchild get this big?

She was so poised and confident at her piano recital this past weekend and we were all so proud of her!
I love the smile; you can tell she felt very good about the experience. She didn't seem a bit nervous. It was so special to be able to be there.

17th of May

This was where my hubby celebrated the 17th of May in 1947.

(Norwegian independence day)

He was living in Norway with his family that year.

I wasn't yet born...

Happy 17th of May to all my dear Norwegian family and friends!

Berge Banquet Hall

Tonight we had 24 for a sit-down dinner.

We had to do a little rearranging .. and our family room furniture was removed and a banquet style table was constructed. (It's good to marry a carpenter.)
We dressed the part.

We fussed over the table and

and lit the candles just before the guests arrived!

Then we welcomed our guests and said a prayer of thanksgiving together. (We, as a group, have met together for a number of years each Sunday evening during the fall, winter and early spring for a Bible study and time of fellowship.)

One quick picture and then...

time to EAT!

.

A good time was had by all.