The reunion. (and a nice sunset.)

At the Ellis reunion, Sam, being reclusive at dinnertime. ^^
The lovely ladies, Jenna and Dinah. I like how their eyes pop with the green background.
Some neat eyecandies laid out in inspired fashion.
Steve's British car and the shed. Quite a lovely shed at that.
The outhouse (where I saw said eyecandies, and left flycandies)
This was the general assembly area. Mind the hostas.
Uncle John sporting his bird-watching binoculars, His mother, bored.
Nation, bored sitting on the bricks.
they asked me if I wanted to play badminton.. While they were waiting for an answer I took a picture and said "no, not really" and they walked off. John laughed at the situation.
Here we are on the eve of the second day enjoying our last supper with the Ellises.
on the way home, we stopped to look out at the sunset on the Mississippi. Very grand stuff, its a really nice drive down and back on 35. We stopped in at an ice-cream store in Bay City which I would suggest to anyone heading out that way. Also, The art gallery in Stockholm was really nice.
Jenna took a picture of the last rays of light climbing over the silhouetted trees... Very pretty columns of light and she managed to get a crucifix in there :p

Fin.

:)

etc

Mother's Day

My brother Philip and sister Dinah kidnapped me from my room around 10 -11 am to include me on a special "surpise" edition of mother's day. Phil and Dinah live out of town and didn't tell anyone they were coming in.. Even I, their favorite brother, was left in the dark until the mission was go. Well fortunately I had already finished my mom's gift, a collaged card the day previous with Jenna at her parents' house.

as you can see, she loved her gift :) (she did.. she's faking her disappointment here)

And later that day Phil suggested that I move up to live with him in St Cloud which I've seriously considered and have agreed to do. I will be leaving within the month I believe.. SO. Big news, there you have it.

I'll leave you with a link (flash required) good ol' Dan'o sent me from up thar in Canada country: http://www.theoddmanout.net/games/beforeTheLaw.html

Have a wonderful day ;)

As many in the Mankato area already know, being as news gets around pretty durned well 'round here, Melissa adopted and saved a runt of a pig doomed for slaughter in the near past. I've only had the pleasure of meeting him once, but he's a charming little fellow if he is a little pigheaded.

Good ol' Pig Windom takes a break from all the rooting he's been doing since he moved in to greet new and peculiar smelling animals. Pictured below: Local vegan activist, "Dave", censors self for the camera.. Before this, he was yanking on the leash shouting for Pig Windom to "OBEY!" Pig Windom is stubborn and goes where he pleases.
Frankie finds a beautiful place to stop and take a doggerdoo on the lawn while Trooper points like a good ol' poo hunting dog.
Below: Trooper, inspired by Pig Windom, rolling around in filth.
Pig Windom making eyes at Frankie's behind.
I will always remember how he tried to mount Frankie and how Frankie responded to that advance... I have never seen a dog so angry.

Cheers all.

THE TEA HOUSE

Its another day at the Covey homestead. Buddha greets the day in two rung fence pose. Not for beginner yoga students. After the supply grab made in town, we waste no time starting with the designing process... There were a couple arguments concerning aesthetics but in the end, everyone agreed: Jenna is right.
It was mid to late afternoon by the time I realized I had my camera and started to photodocument the process of dream-weavery. Above, Jenna hones the edges of her elegant yet simple "wingtip" design.
:) I just like this one ^_^
This is how the Coveys do business. Drunk.
Master Commander, Jerry Covey calling the shots.
Jenna's favorite part of the day: sanding / filing.
Jerry and Jenna hard at work while Jeremiah putzes around with his camera.
Oops. How did this get in here? I thought I deleted this one... ;)
Buddha Bernie the enlightened dust bathing cat.
Kim showed me some of her prizier stones.. This has to be the creepiest stone I've ever seen. :O Dinosaur? Elephant man? Alien? Nobody knows...
The next morning (Oh yes, Tea house building is a multi-day ordeal) Kioko being adorable as per usual... Sporting a nice J tail.
Everyone had their 2-5 cups of coffee and got cracking at the job.. Above, Jenna looking 12.
Jerry contemplates with squaring tool.
Meanwhile- Jenna and Kim were wasting no time devastating their backs on some heavy stone removal... And I helped.
The lovely Covey ladies working as a formidable team
After a most delicious lunch (no pictures, was too hungry) we got back to the work... see that sand? I hauled that :O. Here Jenna works to smooth out a nice foundation to replace the stones.
I managed to climb the tree nearby to get some artsier shots of Jenna as she smoothed and compacted the foundation further.
Not bad...
Daaayyuummnnn... That's a nice flat foundation! (we were very pleased with ourselves) Kim applying finishing touches here.
Kim and Jerry upholding the little tea house skeleton.
The cedar looking mighty pretty in the afternoon sunlight.
:)
Jerry measured things occasionally.
I like the lighting here..
There was already a general feeling of success as pictures flashed-- Smiles in the audience, Jerry with a steely look of determination.
"Good enough" was our motto on the day.
I had to leave before we finished screening the whole thing, but I'm sure it all came together nicely.. A wonderful weekend comes to an end at the Coveys.. I dare say, the days were more productive than most.

I drove home and enjoyed the clouds, played my music loud.