CARD Foundation Fundraiser Concert

or, Now I know I don't ever want to be a "roadie" initiation!

Sawyer Brown
These three fotos were taken by my friend Mary Tevebaugh.
I was working the beer booth,
so I didn't get to take fotos.
The back drop of the Cabinet Mountains is Amazing!
From the beer booth it was even better.

Then I escaped the beer booth at the end of the night

and got to dance a bit and I took a couple fotos from the field.

(I took one foto for Margeaux as this is her HS classmate,Meghan, in the band "Troubadore".)

Mikes volunteer job was to help disassemble the stage after the show.

We had the camper parked onsite, back in the woods.

So I joined in.

We worked till 4 am!

See what I mean about not wanting to be a "roadie"!

It was really fascinating to take everything apart and load it like a puzzle into the waiting semi trailer.

It is quite the process!

Thankfully, there were many volunteers, as there was a lot of heavy lifting!

I was hoping that there was some button they pushed and it would do that

whole "transformers" thing and with a bit of help and a few loosened bolts,

turn into this neat package that wheeled into the truck!

NOT!

There were miles of heavy cables, speakers of all shapes and sizes, Oh MAN!

They were super appreciative of the help, really nice guys, those stage and lights people!

Garden

Poppies!

I have two kinds in the garden this year.

The broccoli was producing perfectly in the rain,

then a couple hot days

AND BAM!

We have broccoli galore!

It's gorgeous.

Random rows.

The all important cosmos!

Bright chard, broccoli, carrots, weeds.

I dipped garden stakes in chalkboard paint

then I used these awesome chalk ink markers that I have

to mark the plants!

The rain hasn't washed the ink off like it did the chalk.

Sweet Mama Squash....Mmmmm!

Love that stuff!

Badminton Night

Mike and I joined a badminton "league".

A local group that pooled $$ and bought a regulation badminton set.

We play every other Thursday in the summer.

Mike and I haven't made every one.

There is a potluck at each event.

Last session, on Thursday, was at Milnor Lake.

Above is the foto, that long thing is a boardwalk through the wetland out to the Lake.

I rode my bike to work that day.

I rode to the Lake, which is only 4.5 miles from town and then swam across and back before badminton.

It seemed like it was 150° Thursday! The swim saved my life!

It used to be that we just played as couples.

I think that some people then thought that they had a perpetually bad partner!

This was Mikes first time.

This was also the first time that they put names in a hat and drew partners!

It was pretty fun!

So Mike and I played against each other rather than as partners.

Next time it is at our house.

The Lumineers - "Flowers In Your Hair" Tour Video

This song, this video, they embody summer, don't they?
It just made me have fond memories of summers past....

Office Garden

 In 2007, when we moved into this office space,

the Troy Chamber of Commerce graciously

provided us with these two oak barrels.

I excitedly purchased plants and got them growing

only to be disapointed in their performance.

 It turns out that oak barrels set upon asphalt against the front of the building

is just too tough of an environment for most blooming things

that you can find around here to fill your pots with.

I have struggled each year to find something hardy/hearty enough to thrive.

 This year I had this "Eureka" moment and decided to try tomatoes!

Check it out!

They are thriving! I wish I had thought of this way before now!

These are amazing compared to my maters at home!

I already ate a grape tomato off one of these plants!

Now I am thinking of making some kind of raised bed to put along

the shop building that is onsite here and having a big, town tomato garden!

Phooey on even trying to grow them at home!

(that is City Hall down the street on the corner)

Not pictured:

The "compound that this office sits on is mostly fenced with chain link and there are two "pole barns",

one houses our field supplies and is home to our field crew and the other has been converted to a labratory for soil samples. I have brought plants from home and planted them along the front fence and part of the front of the shop and I planted a few trees this spring as well.

The "lab guys" are now catching on and have helped turn the dirt patches into a hardscrabble lawn of sorts.

The place is starting to cheer up a bit.

We don't have much for soil and I haven't ammended it, I have enough of that to do at home.

BUT, one of the lab guys was just elected mayor, and The City of Troy is our landlord, so I am hoping/have put in my order for some assistance as far as fertilizer and stuff like that.....overflow from park maintenance... Crossing my fingers!

Lake Livin'

The weather was hot this weekend.

We puttered about the home and yard most the day and then headed

out to the Lake for the heat of the afternoon and into the evening.

We packed food and growlers of beer,

and shared meals with our gracious host,

who shared delicious wine and cheese and other treats.

You can't tell by the above shot, but the Lake was busy

for the most part. It quieted down tremendously on Sunday.

But in Z's neighborhood alone on Friday and Saturday

there was this herd of girls from 8 to 13 years old

and probably 8 to 13 of them (it seemed like).

I did some hair braiding. A LOT of braiding one evening!

While I was braiding hair,

the guys were busy putting together these

gorgeous pizzas!

I was out past the bouys for a late swim after a particularly long braiding session

when they called me in for a lovely dinner on the deck!

How spoiled is that?!

The yard is teaming with flowers.

Yard & Garden

Mike got a "new-to-him" toy, the "brush hog".

Despite the pretty much constant rain

and fairly cool temps

the garden is coming along ok.

This foto was taken a week and a half ago, so things have really gone nuts with some sunshine!