Hello friends…it’s been a while.

We’ve still been having some back of the website issues that are hopefully resolved now. That being said, I didn’t have it in me to waste time on posting when I wasn’t sure things were actually going to work.

With it being Autumn in MN, we either have blistering heat reminiscent of August, crazy winds drying things out or cold and dreary days that make you want to crawl back in bed. Okay, its not actually that dismal…It truly is my favorite season. I guess I’m just cranky about the blistering heat that seemed to linger well past its welcome.

I am happy for the extended growing season though…

I think the bees are as well. We caught a few napping in the blooms.

I did one final harvest before pulling up all my veggie plants from the shed garden. The carrots made me laugh. They weren’t even baby carrots for the most part…they were more like carrot bites.

However, there was this monster cucumber that was hiding between the shed and the lattice fencing. I laughed all the way into the house to show Mr. G who had to snap a picture of the ridiculous size.

After pulling up everything I was left with this…

until yesterday when we expanded the shed garden!

Obviously it’s not done…I pulled up as much grass as I could muster then covered it with cardboard to kill the rest before bring in some soil, compost etc.

I’m super excited about the extra growing space this will provide.  Next spring before planting starts we will enclosing it in fencing to keep out the critters. We have no shortage of wildlife that seem to think I am growing food for them.

Otherwise middle school life continues as usual…water bottle in tow with me class to class.

I do have some good news as well. I met with my oncologist last week and I am officially two years into remission from my lymphoma. Crazy enough, later that same day I gave a presentation to three separate 7th grade Biology classes about radiation treatments for cancer and brought my mask to show them.

Being at the front of the classroom is not my strong suit but I was happy to share and answer questions from the students. The best one was “So were you radioactive after the treatments?” I mean, valid question from a 12 yr old.  Nope, no super powers for me.

I can’t leave you without a picture of Marvin…

No he does not have a broken leg but from the angle I was sitting, it totally looked that way. I’m also sharing this picture in particular because the next time there is a couch photo of Marvin it will be on new furniture! We’ve had this set for over 20 years and finally purchased new ones this morning to be delivered later this week. We are not sure they will be “Marvin approved” because he loves the large arms of the couch…hence the fur covered blankets just for him. However time marches on and he’ll have to get used to something new. We’ll still provide the fur covered blanket for his enjoyment. HA!

Sunday morning was a rough one.

I’ve had a notice on my blog dashboard saying I was running an old version of PHP and it should be updated. I waited until Mr. G was available to help as I was unsure exactly how to do the update. After logging into our webhost and updating PHP, my blog had a critical error. It was literally gone. I couldn’t even log into the backend to change things. Completely locked out. I was just sick. I’ve been blogging since April 2007 and to have the feeling that I potentially lost everything was devastating. Yes I had backed it up before the change but when I was locked out that wasn’t helpful.

Obviously we were able to recover it because you’re reading my tale. However those regular visitors will notice that things look different. My cute background theme like the image below is gone.

Turns out it was not compatible with the updated software. UGH. Now the themed watermark I created is irrelevant. Yes, technically it’s still a watermark but not themed for the page.  😥

I’ve got things functional but not to my liking yet. This will definitely be a work in progress for some time.

I’m trying my best not to mourn what I lost but to change my mindset and look at it as an opportunity to start something new. Renew and refresh.

Ok enough of that…moving forward…

After a bit of rain earlier, I went out to enjoy some of the flowers in my yard. I’ve went a little wild with the flowers this year with no regrets.

I also have no regrets spending time with Marvin. He’s my shadow during the summer.

My best friend, Sandy and I began planning a trip back in the late spring.  Since we live over 800 miles(~1300km) apart, planning is a must. Originally she was going to make the 13hr (one way) drive but I convinced her to just find a flight.  We picked dates then began the search for a getaway place. We were fortunate to find a great place to stay in a town that Mini-me and I fell in love with a coupe years ago.

This cute little town is Ely, MN. It sits on the edge of the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) It’s protected waters. No motorized vehicles allowed including boat motors. I’m not really a “camper” or canoe person but I love that we have this area in the state for those adventure types.  I do love hiking though.

We hiked the same trail Mini-me and I did two years ago. I love how the trees have wrapped their roots around the bedrock.

The reward at the far end of the loop is a beautiful water fall. We did much more climbing around than I did on the previous adventure.

I’m hopeful this video will work for most people.

After our hike we explored in town…a little shopping and a fantastic burger.

I had to take a picture of this store front…and, of course, go in. My first job was at a Ben Franklin store. I thought they had been sold or went bankrupt. The nostalgia has great. I even bought some yarn…just what I need…more craft supplies. HA!

We laughed and talked and hung out until all hours of the night the first night. The moon was lovely across the water.

The mosquitos were fierce though…

Luck for us we had the cutest screen porch that was separate from the cabin which overlooked the lake.

We had some rain and Canadian wildfire smoke but we made the best of it sitting and enjoying the lake and each others company.