Mother's Day

Six kids. Sounds familiar.

This flowering crab is the last one to bloom.
Worth the wait. It honors our late-arriving snowbirds.

Happy 
Mother's Day

Duck du Jour

Which way to the ark? The explorers cruised past the turtles getting their early morning sun today.

Today's waterfowl guests included a heretofore unseen pair of blue-winged teal. These dabbler vegetarians pose no threat to our minnow population and would be welcome to stay and nest. Indeed, they appeared to be casting about for a possible location, which is quite possible because we're told they are late nesters.
These birds are bigger than what you think of as a teal and are probably better classified as a shoveler, with their big beaks and larger body size.
They're more common in North Dakota, but they're welcome here. Just beware the snapper.

It's beautiful day in the neighborhood. Find a quiet place, relax and enjoy. Highs in the 80s today.

Finished and already in use

Photo by Kathleen Rolfsrud

Our contractors whipped out their own camera this morning, taking pictures of the mailbox rebuild, doubtless proud of their handiwork and wanting a sample to show future clients. Well done, John and Eric.

The ultimate test came an hour later when our postal worker breezed through and pronounced our new boxes quite satisfactory.

She liked the larger size mailbox... and we hope our residents do too.

Complete coverage by Sherwin Williams and Kathleen Rolfsrud

John forced stain into hidden cracks that no human will ever see . . . but pride of workmanship made him do it.

The Tom Story Volunteer Neighborhood Improvement Corps went right to work this afternoon after the boys from Casanova Construction wheeled away, having completed the second phase of the mailbox redo.
"We put Americans to work, rebuilding our nation's infrastructure," boasted Tom from his deck chair on a beach near Ft. Myers.

Beefcake shots courtesy Kathleen Ann.
A charity calendar  -- The Men of Abbey Point --
is in the works when the painting is done.

The Flying Casanovas will be back early Thursday to shingle the almost complete project and squeeze the U.S. Postal jumbo mailbox pack into its proper place, exactly 42 inches above the curbline. Excitement in the neighborhood reached a feverish peak this afternoon, as Stan and John deftly stained the green-treated lumber in a stunning Dove White, to the oohs and aahs of passersby -- Stan managing the 4-inch foam roller, John on touch-up.
Kathleen recorded the entire event with multiple digital exposures, (some are shown here) then shared details and insight at tonight's Abbey Point Dinner in the prestigious Stonebrooke Clubrooms just off County Road 79 in Shakopee. Yes, attendance was down, but spirits were up, and more snowbirds are expected back in town soon. . . now that the Tom Story Volunteers have all but closed out the project.

Ready for mailboxes and shingles. More to come. Can you stand to wait?

Here's how, Tom!

Casanova Construction. Posts are set in concrete, boxes and roof today -- painting tonight. Shingles tomorrow.

Day Two, Neighborhood Mailbox Rebuild Project
Association Director Tom Story, whose timing has always been excellent, is in Florida during the mailbox reconstruction project this week. He phoned in from the beach:
"How are the residents getting their mail with the boxes taken down?" he wondered.
Contractors John and Eric had cleverly solved that problem with a temporary arrangement, by sawing off the posts and lashing the old boxes to some sawhorses. The mail lady delivered on time today, maintaining that easy postal smile throughout, only slightly inconvenienced.
Hurry home, Tom and Sandy, we should be shingled and painted by the time you're back... :)
(Tom, as we recall, is the one who negotiated the thrifty deal that includes volunteers doing all the painting.)

While you were away. . .

Eight should be enough for this feathered suburban couple.

She scared the hell out of Stan.

Virg seated near his front door.

His brother Virg has returned from six months in Florida, he's now back here with all the other snowbirds. However, he's not the first one to arrive in Minnesota, he was beaten here by a nice Mallard couple.
Rounding the corner to deliver some papers to Virg's front door Sunday, Stan was startled by a mother hen suddenly flying up at his face, probably even more frightened than the intruder.
Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Mallard had selected a lovely spot, where it is peaceful and out of the way, and the sun shines over a manicured lawn where nobody ever comes. A private place to raise some young ones without disruption.
Then Virg returned to HIS nest. They scared him too.
Fortunately, the garage entrance is around the corner. So if the residents continue to use that door instead of the front door, the ducks by the front should be able to nicely co-exist with the snowbirds.
Isn't it nice when we all get along?

Fishing buddies

Photos by Stan Rolfsrud

Note the yellow iris on the male.

A pair of Hooded Mergansers winged by late today to try their luck in our fishing hole. They dived industriously for about 10 minutes -- one standing post while the other went under  -- and came up with a shiny minnow or two. Then they were off, leaving the pond in peace to our nesting mallards. (We anticipate delivery of those chicks soon, if the red fox doesn't get them first.)

Here's what Ducks Unlimited says about today's visitors:

The hooded merganser is the smallest of the three merganser species occurring in North America. Male hooded mergansers have a large white crest surrounded by black. The top of the head, neck and back are all black, and the chest, breast and belly are white. Wavy black lines can be seen on the tawny sides and flanks. The hindback, rump and tail are dark brown. The long, narrow, serrated bill is black. The iris is bright yellow and the legs and feet are dull yellow. Female hooded mergansers have a gray-brown head and neck with a reddish-brown crest.

Population: Hooded mergansers are most common in the Great Lakes region and current information suggests a stable, possibly increasing population in some areas. However, data on population size and status are tenuous due to the secretive nature of this species. Historically, populations likely suffered from habitat loss.
Feeding Habits: Hooded mergansers dive in fresh water to feed on small fish, crayfish and other crustaceans and aquatic insects.

Now comes the hard part. . .

It isn't that the remaining pieces are all sky blue and roughly the same shape that makes it so hard to finish this 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. That's a problem that time and patience will overcome. April was a great month for jigsaw and crossword puzzles, books, baseball games on tv and so on. But May appears to be an entirely different story, with a grand opening today that rivaled the best. Indoor activities will be sharply curtailed, there's a buzz of lawnmowers already, the duck eggs are hatching, windows need washing, Greg Johnson has emailed his open dates for golf, we're going to build a new mailbox stand, annuals need planting.
It's going to be really hard to get this puzzle finished.

What girls do. . .

Christina, left, with the birthday girl.

She's ten today. . .and still likes to dress up and pretend. After the birthday party for adults at Melissa's today, our granddaughter Emily pulled out some fun costumes and she and her pal Christina dressed up and modeled the outfits. Though she's growing up so fast, we're grateful that she's still young enough to be a playful little girl. Earlier they were climbing trees in the backyard. We try not to worry.