Last night and early this morning we were in severe weather watches. We had a major storm go through about 5:00 a.m.--very heavy rains and a lot of lightning. John checked the rain gauge and found we had gotten 3 inches of rain. There were still some sprinkles and thunder when we got up, so a walk was out of the question.

I ate breakfast and then headed up to Sara's for a haircut. When I got home, I decided it was a good time to tackle the papers and receipts that had piled up on the desk over the past few days. John did a little weeding and just finished cleaning out the pond by the deck when Matt stopped over. He wanted to check on the beans he planted last week and found they are starting to poke through. We sat and visited for quite a while this morning before he headed home.

Wallace Inge also called this morning--he and Becky were planning to stop in Bagley for a few days before heading onto Wisconsin. John had to go into town this afternoon, and found the Inge's already camped in the park, so he stopped for a quick visit and invited them out to our place for supper. They arrived just as I was heading off to Weight Watchers. I told them I would be gone about half an hour--I wouldn't stay for the meeting--just weigh in. While I was gone, John took them on a tour of the house and shop.

After I got home, we sat and visited for a bit and then got the burgers grilled and had a delicious supper--burgers, pasta salad, chips, and fresh fruit. We all had a relaxing evening catching up on Fort Clark news and each others' travels. The plan for tomorrow is to explore Bemidji and some surrounding lakes. It was a very early morning and a busy day--time for bed.

We were up and out bright and early this morning. John had to be at the clinic by 8:45 a.m. for his colonoscopy. He hadn't had any solid food since Sunday evening so he was feeling a little hollow. We arrived about 10 minutes early and found they were running behind schedule. John finally got called in around 9:30 a.m. From there on things moved right along and he went into the procedure a little after 10:30 a.m. The nurse said John should be out of recovery in a little over an hour.

I took that time to run a few errands that needed to be done while in Bemidji. John was just about done in recovery by the time I got back to the clinic so it was only a short time before he was ready to leave. He passed the exam with flying colors. It just so happened that I had a doctor's appointment at 1 p.m. so we just walked from one building into the one right next door. I had the first appointment of the afternoon, so there was no wait, and after a half an hour, we were finally finished with doctors for the day. John wasn't feeling real good, so instead of going out for lunch, we just headed straight home where he laid down for an hour or so. After eating supper, he felt just about back to normal.

We ended the day watching the All Star Game and catching up on emails.

Today was a really low key one for us. We took our morning walk as usual. After getting cleaned up, John went to the garden to pick some more raspberries and then prepared them for jam. We still need a few more to make our first batch. Joanne and the kids came to the shop--while Jo was working, John played some ball with the kids.

John is having a colonoscopy tomorrow, so the rest of the day was spent in preparation. I did some laundry and then worked on labeling my photos for the fair and filling out the entry form. My main job was making sure John did not eat anything solid and drank only clear liquids.

I've had some folks ask if I would post some of the photos I am entering in the fair. They will be entered in the Original Arts Division digital photography class and placed in a specific lot, such as still life, landscape, etc. You can only enter up to three photos in each lot.



The dandelion is being entered in still life and the butterfly in nature. I will post some more in the future.

We had a strong thunderstorm overnight with heavy rains, high winds, and hail. John was up early to walk around the property to see if we had any damage--fortunately, everything was okay. Our neighbor lost most of their greenhouse and there were a few trees down in the woods. The skies still looked threatening this morning, so we decided to skip our walk.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and went to church. Hanna sang a solo this morning and did a real nice job. Our son,John, and his family also came to our church today.

Today was birthday party day. This afternoon we went up to John's to celebrate Julie's 5th birthday along with Matt's family. The cousins had a good time playing together--Sam and Josh played basketball and several other games on the wii.

Julie was anxious to open her gifts, so play time was put on hold for awhile. She got a cute outfit and several different toys she had been asking for. When the last gift was opened, we ate the birthday supper of Pigs in a Blanket, jello salad, chips, and more. We sat around visiting for a bit and then Matt's family had to leave. Sara and the kids were heading to her brother's place where they will be staying overnight. Tomorrow morning she will be at the Fargo airport to pick up her niece and nephews from Alaska. They will be down in the lower 48 for a couple of weeks visiting family.




While the kids were playing with the wii, the adults played some poker. Old John was the big winner for the night. He cleaned everyone out. When we got home we again watched a little TV before heading off to bed. Jenni was the photographer for the poker picture.

It was another beautiful day and one of the warmer ones so far this summer. We actually worked up a sweat walking this morning.

Today was Bagley's annual Art in the Park and Crazy Daze. After breakfast we decided to head into town and check things out before it got too hot. We walked through the park and looked at the different displays and then headed into town to see what bargains could be found. John searched out a couple of good buys. The local grocery store was selling a steak sandwich and can of pop for $2, so we picked up a couple of sandwiches and pop to eat at home.



This afternoon we attended a memorial service for a friend of ours. Even though it was a sad occasion, it was also a time to reconnect with folks we hadn't seen in a very long time.

On our way home from the service, we stopped over at Matt's place. John wanted Hanna's help with a little project he has been working on. Sara and the kids were still at the pool, so we stayed and talked with Matt until they got home. We ended up being invited to supper and spending most of the evening. After we got home, we watched a little TV before calling it a day.

Today was another beautiful one in northern Minnesota with warm temps and bearable humidity. We took our morning walk and then made plans for the day. I needed a couple of more mats for pictures and a birthday gift for Julie. There were also some letters to be mailed and library books to be returned.

After some discussion, we decided to do the Bagley errands and then head over to Grand Forks for the shopping that needed to be done. We reached GF a little after noon, so our first stop was, no surprise, Burger King for our favorite Whopper Jr's. Next stop was Michael's for photo mats, and then on to Target where we picked out a cute outfit and toy. Sam's Club had the cheapest gasoline, so we filled up before heading back across the river where we made another stop at Cabela's. A Cabela's store is like a Dairy Queen to John--he has to stop at everyone he sees. John picked up some 22 shells and I found a lightweight pullover jacket that was on sale. It will be a nice one to take to Texas next winter. We made one more stop--McDonald's for their $1 hot fudge sundae. Then it was back on the road to home.

This evening John picked a bucket of raspberries and another one of strawberries. This might be the last of the strawberries, so I made another shortcake to use them up. Looks like we will be starting raspberry jam sometime this weekend. We had some shortcake with strawberries and watched a little TV before calling if a night.

Today the weather was just beautiful. The morning was cool and clear--no bugs while we were walking. After breakfast, John went down to the shop to assemble the cabinet he is making and to get it ready for staining and lacquering.

Joanne and the kids came to do some work--the kids to shred paper for packing and Jo to help with staining. I went down to say "Hi" to everyone and to ask Jo for some birthday ideas for Julie. She will celebrate her fifth birthday on Sunday. Matt and Sam then arrived on their four wheeler. Matt had left his truck here overnight and had come to pick it up. Sam's job was to drive the four wheeler back home; however, since his cousins were here, he decided to stay and play for a while.

After lunch, John did some more grass cutting and the first picking of broccoli from the garden. We were just getting ready to prepare it for the freezer when we had a visit from a dear friend of ours from Arizona. There was a lot of catching up to do and our visit lasted into the early evening.

We ate a quick supper, and then John got busy chopping up the broccoli. It didn't take too long to get it ready for the freezer. The rest of the evening was spent watching a little TV and reading.