Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin

We got to Sturgeon Bay, Wisc. Fri. evening for John & Mary Jeanne's 50th anniversary celebration.  Fri. night they had everyone come to their house for food and visiting.  They were so lucky to have perfect weather both Fri. and Sat.  They had tents and tables set up in their back yard.  They both come from big families so lots of family were there from Ohio, Seattle, Iowa and all over and several staying at their home.  

Sat. we drove up to Fish Creek to take an hour and a half scenic ride on this boat.

We were surprised that the shoreline was all trees.  You couldn't see any houses.  We did see this lighthouse and the caves.  

lighthouse that is no longer used

caves

It was a perfect day to be on the water.

That evening was the anniversary party at the Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club with dinner and dancing.  Mary Jeanne and John have always danced a lot, and it was fun to watch them.  There was a nice grassy area outside by the water and docks where the kids could run around and people could visit.

 

 

We're Back!

We just got back tonight from a fun weekend in Door County, Wisconsin - actually Sturgeon Bay - for a 50th anniversary celebration.  These are the people we visited in February and went snowmobiling with.  When we were there in Feb., the snow was deep so it was fun to go back when everything is green.  The famous Door County cherries are almost ripe.

I have a bunch of fun pictures to post - hopefully starting tomorrow - of a boat ride, the place we stayed, The Log Den where we ate last night, a Christmas shop, and a lighthouse for starters.  

It got hotter the closer to home we got today.  The high was 92.  It looked like rain was getting close but my flower pots looked so dry that I watered them some in case the rain missed us.  It didn't!  We got at least 8/10".   The grass, our trees and plants needed it. 

We have a busy week ahead of us with our town's Sesquicentennial being celebrated during the annual Greater Rolfe Days this weekend.  Bill is a fireman and will be helping with the water fights on Fri. night, he'll be in a fire truck in the parade and I'll be driving a Gator for our P.E.O. entry, then I help with a salad luncheon and Sun. we'll be working at the firemen's omelet breakfast, and then I'll be a hostess in a home on the home tour in the afternoon.

Tues. I have a P.E.O. luncheon in Okoboji, and then I leave out of the Omaha, NE airport the next morning for the 25th Anniversary Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City.

Almost Done Planting for This Year

Last night Bill got another field of beans planted at about 11:00.  I've gotten to work ground some the past couple of days.  Today, they got the weeds knocked down and the ground worked ready to plant the last 40 acres tomorrow.  At that point they're going to quit even though we have a couple more fields that are not planted.  It's just getting too late for them to have enough growing time before cold weather and these fields are still muddy.  Today we even had a couple of short, light showers - and then sun.  There have been very few days without at least a little rain.

Our 6th anniversary is tomorrow (time flies!) - who would've ever thought we'd still be planting on June 30th!  We had tried to pick a time of year to get married that farming friends and family could come to our wedding and a nice weather time of year that we could get away and do something fun for our anniversary.  Usually the last day of June is a good time of year for that!

Our town has it's Sesquicentennial (150 years) celebration coming up mid July so there have been lots of things going on leading up to that.  I need to get 4 doz. muffins made and frozen for the firemens' omelet breakfast that weekend, make a trip to Hobby Lobby and a couple of other things. 

Here is a beautiful sunset we all loved and took pictures of a couple of nights ago!!  Wow!

 

Farming Update

Yesterday we had the biggest day of planting beans we've had so far - Bill planted 160 acres in three fields starting at 3:00.  According to the radar and the skies, we were going to get a lot of rain - again.  Lots of it went around us but lightening and light rain started at about 8:00.  He kept going until the field was done.  I rode with him in two fields and got to see how muddy it is.  We about got stuck a few times.  He had to lift the planter and skip spots - not good.  Tim and Brian were trying to work ground ahead of us.  We have 500 acres in five fields left to do.   

We ended up getting 6/10" of rain last night so no field work today.

I served refreshments after church with two other couples today.  I made about 9 doz. Jackpot Drops.  Lori K. made about the same amount of cookies and Lori J. brought 5 lbs. of cheese curds and cucumber sandwiches.  We just had a few cookies left and sent them with the kids who were getting to go boating this afternoon. 

After lunch I had to run to Ft. Dodge because I got my cell phone wet last night and it's not working.  They ended up suggesting that I put it in rice for 24 hours to try to dry it out.  Sure hope it works.  On my way to Ft. Dodge,  I saw lots of other unplanted and weedy fields on my drive and lots of drowned out spots.  They say that Illinois and Indiana crops don't look any better than here. 

The Awesome Carmel Farmers' Market

It was nice to be back in Carmel during the summer to be able to go to the Farmers' Market.  This market started out much smaller but is now big with a huge attendance.  The day we went, it was sprinkling, but almost all of the vendors were there.  Lots of good looking stuff.

Lots of fresh radishes.

Nice rhubarb, zucchini and asparagus.

Mom waiting to buy kale.

Mom really likes Kettle Korn.

Dad used to talk to this guy in the hat all the time.  Every year he is selling buttons that the proceeds pay for the July 4th fireworks display.  In this picture, he's telling this kid all kinds of stuff including that anything he wants to buy all day at the market, he gets to go to the front of the line for buying a button.

Farmers' Market from a distance.

So Cute

Monday was Diane's little one's 3rd birthday, and we were invited for supper and cake.  Diane said I could come early and help with the cake as Camry wanted a Barbie cake.  But it was actually going to be a Tinkerbell cake because Tinkerbell was one of her birthday gifts.  Diane had me Google Tinkerbell doll cakes, and I saw the one she wanted to try to make:

Then I Googled fondant icing and told Diane I would try to make some so we could make these leaves.  A recipe I found was melted mini marshmallows (in the microwave), a lot of conf. sugar and some kneading.  So I made the fondant and thought it seemed like it was right and took it over to Diane's where Lacey & I rolled it out and cut the leaves out by hand and made marks for the veins with a knife and she snipped the edges of some with kitchen shears.  Diane matched more icing to the fondant color and frosted the cakes and wrapped Tinkerbell's legs with plastic wrap and stuck her down in the cake she had made in a Pampered Chef batter bowl.  We were quite proud of how ours turned out!

 

 

with her guitar on her back

In other news, we had another dry day today.  Here is Bill and Brian leaving to go try to work a field to plant and then Tim leaving to roll a field so I assume some beans have been planted.  I haven't called to see what's going on since the conditions they're working in are not good.  ** He just got in and said he got 90 acres done - out of 950 that needs to be done and the rest of the fields are too muddy.  Not good.

Bill & Brian with field cultivator

Tim with roller