Garden Updates

We just noticed our tomato plant actually has some little green tomatoes. Very exciting!!And grapes are coming, too.So are apples.Lastly, but not least, see how tall Joe's sunflowers are getting....

Pink Rose

A huge pink rose bloomed by the shed. We were quite surprised by its size and its fanciness. As you can see there's not much bottom to support the flower. We wonder how it got there.... It's a surprise gift that came with our house.

Rug Shopping Gone Wild

Even though I work right next to Pier 1, I never go in (especially after we bought our house)... and here's the reason. On my day off we went window-shopping (right, just to look). We did very good just looking, except for the zebra striped jute rug. Perfect for our "wild" bathroom!!! And it was on clearance (rationalization).We didn't buy any other cool stuff that would have been perfect for our bathroom. But when we spotted this chilipepper rug in the corner of Yunkers, we had to get it for our kitchen. (Thank goodness it was on clearance too.)

See what happens when I take Kayo shopping. Now I'm really afraid to take her shopping. Taking her fishing is much cheaper.

A Different Kind of Catch

We got "skunked" yesterday. Joe, his dad, and I packed sandwiches and went fishing after work. When we got to the fish hole, fish were jumping all over! We were so excited... but absolutely no fish!! In fact they were eating flying bugs on the surface. What an irony that fish were jumping everywhere but where we casted. Otherwise, it was a picture-perfect evening at the river. So tonight, Joe practiced his fly fishing skills in our back yard after dinner (fly fishing is more effective when flies are hutching and fish are eating flies). No picture of Joe practicing, for it was not quite picture-perfect. It was fun watching, out of his reach. He almost caught a morning dove mama in her nest. Poor thing.Here's a better picture and a different kind of catch. Joe finally finished re-varnishing our 10 dollar dresser. We must say this is now the best piece of furniture in our bedroom! Better yet, it's the most expensive piece other than our bed!!

Fishing without Al

We had planned a fishing trip plus Joe's breakfast with his cousin Al. But Al was a bit under the weather, so we couldn't share this beautiful fishing day with Al. We kept wishing that Al had been with us the whole time we were on the stream. It was that perfect day fishing.
Here's a photo of me in my new hipboots. I don't have to get wet and soggy anymore. Now I just need to catch many fish to pay off!! Kidding. At least Joe caught big enough trout to keep. Below is his first and biggest one today. A very nice brook trout.

Two big brook trout and one German brown. A very nice catch!! Yumm....

Last Weekend

Updating a few photos from last weekend. Those turtles I'm sure are hiding in their own shells to stay warm this weekend. It has gotten a little chilly again. This summer has been very cool. Joe's dad with his proud trout (from last weekend)! He catches fish and gives Joe to take home, so I can enjoy eating them. Thanks, dad!!

Last week was our small town's "Pioneer Days" celebrating its mining history. They put out a very nice firework display over Teal Lake on Saturday night. We had a couple of friends over for Joe's BBQ ribs, and later had Joe's family join us to watch the fireworks from our front porch. It was very nice. Wish we had taken some pictures.....

Joe Still Has All His Fingers!!

How is that for a headline? No photos from our 4th of July weekend...we forgot to take our camera with us. I (Kayo) miraculously had a whole weekend off, so we drove down to Ironwood, partly to pick up a hand-down oriental rug from Phil & Judy, and mostly for Joe to experience small town 4th of July celebration. (Bessemer raised over $15,000 for their fireworks!!) Let me just say it was good enough to satisfy Joe as big a firebug as he is.
Anyway, here's a photo of our living room with the rug. On our way to Ironwood, we stopped at the tail end of an estate sale and picked up a dresser for ten bucks. As I type, Joe is in the garage stripping the varnish.

See how the wood grain is already showing. Once re-varnished, it will look very nice.

At last, a little update on Joe's sunflowers. Survivors of chipmunks and wind. They are going to grow very tough!!

Rug in Japan Room

Just in time for our first official house guest, we found a perfect rug for our Japan room (guest room). We only went to Target last night to buy two boxes of Life cereal with a $3 off coupon that was expiring yesterday. It was me (Kayo) that fell in love with the rug and couldn't say "No."
Now we won't have to blow up our air bed for a guest on such bare (did I mention partly rough) floor. Excuse, excuse, excuse....

Joe's New Friend, or Not

This is the younger one of the two chipmunks. He (or she) is certainly more curious and adventurous than the old one. And how cute it looks!! But Joe doesn't think so. What looks like a home-made feeder that the previous house owner must have built was way too easy for the chipmunks. They could actually crawl INSIDE the feeder! So Joe pounded nails to close up the gap, wide enough for seeds to come out, but not for the chipmunks to squeeze through. Well, the next day we found the feeder completely EMPTY!!! We couldn't quite figure out how they did it, until we saw one nail out of place. Again, chipmunks won.