weekend happenings...

 Friday evening:  a walk to the nearby creek to survey some of the flood damage that occurred here earlier in the week.  It was a lovely summer evening!

 Rainy Saturday afternoon:  lunch at one of our favorite places (we realized that we hadn't been there since New Year's Day!)...walking through the wet garden out front after a delicious lunch.

 Sunday morning:  baking Almond Poppyseed muffins...I love to load the tops with slivered almonds and generously sprinkle with sugar.

Sunday evening:  picking Arugula from my garden to make some mini salads to have with pizza.  Yum!

the greenhouse

A few photos from a recent outing to our local nursery...for me it was like the tiniest snippet of a tropical vacation. Being inside the greenhouse in the warm, moist air, surrounded by so much green and brilliant color was like a breath of fresh air in the midst of a drab February day. I needed that!

Sunday drive...

Sunday's sky was low and gray, ominous...heavy with the promise of snow, mist, freezing rain...something? We decided to get out and go for a drive. In mid-January, on a dreary weekend day, it feels good to get out and just go...wherever. So we packed up the baby, some clementines and string cheese...hats, mittens, boots, and headed north up the shore. First stop: our favorite fish house to get some smoked turkey and beef jerky. (They have the most amazing turkey jerky! We drove there twice when I was pregnant and they were out of it both times!) Then little baby Bub fell peacefully asleep for quite awhile in the back, giving us a chance to talk together and rest a bit and gaze out the window at the wide open expanse of the big lake. I really like the feeling of being able to see a far distance. When I lived in the Cities, I remember sometimes feeling a bit boxed up or trapped in a way because of not being able to see for miles and miles. It feels good on the eyes or something. Later on we stopped for a little fresh air just as some light snowflakes began to fall. We bundled baby in his down snow suit and I carried him against me in the BabyBjorn. We made our way down to the lake to show him Lake Superior, the closest he'd ever been to it. Hub showed him his rock-skipping skills...sending them sailing off into the dark, icy lake...while I clung to the wonderful feeling of my precious little one warming up my front, snuggled in next to me, seeing the lake through his eyes for the first time.

day trip {ely}

On Sunday we took a drive...in search of autumn colors, fresh crisp air, and sunshine on our faces. It was a lovely, sunny day and we hopped in the car for a two hour ride to Ely...

When Hub and I first moved here, north from the Twin Cities, we always talked about taking little trips to nearby cities like Ely or Bayfield...but we've rarely followed through on this...life always seems to get in the way, no matter where you live. But on Sunday we seized the day and enjoyed visiting a somewhat new-to-us city, having a really good lunch at "The Chocolate Moose" outside on their deck, and then getting out for a vigorous hike that I found out about from a guy who worked at an outfitter store in town.

We nicknamed our hike something like "the many mushroom, mossy-covered, laughing bird trail"...which pretty much summed up all the the things we encountered. In reality, the trail was called "Dry Lake Trail" and we did wrap our way by one lake and then all around Dry Lake (which really isn't dry at all).

All in all the hike was great, except for a few moments of confusion when we couldn't really tell for sure what was the actual trail and what was just plain wilderness. The only thing more disconcerting than that was perhaps the couple of shots we heard fired, from a not too distant location. What could they be hunting? At the time, Hub only suggested Grouse...and we did happen to scare up several later on along the way. But on the way home, he told me they could have also been hunting Bear. I was glad he saved that part for the ride home.

whirlwind...

{mara mi}

{mara mi}

{mara mi} {Triathlon, pre-race}

{fuzzy yellow caterpillar}

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Last weekend was a serious whirlwind...and I think I'm still recovering just a bit. A fun whirlwind just the same. Hub and I went down to the Cities for the weekend...and on Saturday morning, I woke up bright & early at 5 AM to participate in a Triathlon...I should qualify that and say it was a relay Triathlon...so I just had to run a little over 5 miles (no swimming or biking for me ~thank goodness!). I always love the race atmosphere where there seems to be so much energy and excitement in the air. Plus it was fun to do a team event with my lovely sister-in-law who provided me with heaps of encouragement and tips all summer long as we were getting ready for this race (she is an experienced Triathlete and this was my first one!)

After I recovered a bit from the race, then I got another much-needed knitting lesson from my aunt (I'm still working on learning how to knit these socks!) and was surprised to see my sweet cousin there too who I hadn't seen in ages. I think I got the hang of it now and may just have A finished sock by this Fall...only a year later!

Then, Mum and I bopped down to Stillwater to squeeze in a little shopping and we came upon a hip new shop called Mara Mi that combines paper goods, ribbon, etc with a cafe full of cupcakes, croissants, smoothies, etc... Really, what could be better than that? (Meanwhile, Hub was off golfing in the heat with his brothers.) We met up for dinner again at Mum & Dad's and of course it was fabulous as usual. Even my Grandma was there...a real treat to see her.

Sunday was church with Hub's family, followed by brunch at Tria, and then I took a jaunt across town with my sister-in-law & mother-in-law to Anthropologie. Coming back to my parents' afterward, my sister and her whole family were all over too so I was able to visit with them briefly before we headed back for home! Whew! I can't believe how much we were able to pack into one short weekend but it doesn't get much better than that!

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P.S. I just love a table full of pretty ribbons and trims! Wish I had a craft room big enough to have all my ribbon sprawled out like that (not that I personally have that much ribbon)!

scenes from a summer visit...

I had some sweet visitors here last week and their visit just so happened to coincide with all the Tall Ships arriving in Duluth (a very big, overly-hyped deal here). They didn't come up to visit in order to see the Tall Ships...but it just so happened that as we were driving up along the North Shore for lunch (here), some of the ships were coming in. So we pulled over and snapped a few photos.

And although I'm always a bit of a skeptic or avoider of big, publicized, crowded events....the ships did actually look pretty neat to me from our vantage point as they were still out aways on Lake Superior, making their way towards the harbor. Something about all those big sails and tall masts on a sea of blue that does sort of take your breath away, just a bit...

That was about all we needed to see though, and then, instead of standing among throngs of people, paying to see old ships (or replicas of old ships) close-up, we spent our time together on a quiet beach looking for agates or seaglass...taking a couple walks/hike in the woods...and eating some great food together!

So now, a few food photos! Above is the blueberry tart I made for our dessert one night. I drizzled some of blueberry jam on top...the jam, by the way, turned out very good! (And this should be the end of my blueberry mentions until next summer...I promise!)

Breakfast, the next morning...homemade strawberry muffins, vanilla yogurt with fresh berries and granola (oops...there are more blueberries!).

And a first-time visit to a sweet country restaurant in a red barn called "Swamp Sisters" where most everything is made from scratch and bison meat is their specialty...it's in almost every dish on the menu. They have a vegetable garden next to the farm (where the lettuce for the salad I ordered came from) and chickens roaming free on the other side. And it really is sisters who run the place...too cute!

Of course I passed on the bison, but they did have some phenomenal caramel pecan rolls!

And I even wore my red clogs for the occasion too. Oh how love these shoes! And my sweet visitors! :)
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Eek! ~ Can you believe its August already?

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P.S. Speaking of ships, isn't this necklace I just happened to stumble upon quite sweet?

xo ~ L

Lutsen

Hub and I headed up the north shore of Lake Superior to spend a restful, woodsy weekend in Lutsen. While the weather was dismally gray and misty, accompanied by the kind of damp cold that seems to seep deep into your bones, it still couldn't detract from the beauty of this place. The tumultuous weather also made for some of the biggest, most amazing waves I've seen on the lake in a long time. Yet what we lacked for in good weather, we more than made up for in gastronomical delights!

We indulged in a fair amount of fish...Hub often orders it and we always end up sharing our meals. He had a very good Swordfish for dinner one evening, deep fried Herring the next, and we also made a stop to the smoked fish house on our way up where he purchased a chunk of smoked Salmon. As he was purchasing the salmon, I, rather out of character, impulsively grabbed a couple homemade caramels that were sitting in a big bowl on the counter. And they turned out to be the best caramels we've ever had. I wish I had purchased the whole bowl of them! Funny how something so small was a little highlight of the "foodie" part of this trip for me. Another highlight was the White Truffle Gnocchi we shared at Nokomis one day. I hope there are truffles in heaven! ;)

While most of our time was spent hiking around Lutsen, the Cascade River, and the gorgeous hike to Carlton Peak, we also squeezed in a massage (for me) and a little misty golf (for Hub). It's not too surprising that we spent time soaking in the hot tub, but what was surprising for us was our closing out the evenings rather competitively at the lodge's Ping Pong table...which Hub was victorious at every single time... But it made for a pretty good weekend all in all!