The plants are here! LA front yard update.

Hand-made ironwork. Stools for the courtyard? Randy hasn't found any yet that
would work. Ironman Dave could weld them as well? We'll see.

New pictures arrived this morning from Randy in LA, in the midst of his front yard makeover. The new ironwork looks out on the project. If you look closely in the bottom photo, you'll see Randy consulting with Nicole, wife of contractor Dave, and mother of two. 

Randy continues:

. . . In case you're wondering, the two saplings flanking the walkway up to the house are dwarf peppermint trees (agonis flexuosoa / "Jervis Bay After Dark")...they're only available in that size container, and are hard to find; we got lucky.  While small and skinny now, they'll have a growth burst next spring, and ultimately get 15-20 feet high, forming a canopy over the flagstone walk-up.  The dwarf version is basically grown from a shrub -- then trimmed and pruned to grow as a tree.

Gracia [Randy's sister] and I researched the hell out of this particular tree (after gonging scores of trees that were either too big or too invasive).The bigger tree you see here is a crape myrtle, this particular type called a "Catwaba."  The flowers are a dusty pink.  That tree will probably double in size over the years.

We're still searching for the right-size, right-style birdbath for the circular, raised planting "pod" that will be visible from the big living room window.  (Those few stones you see off the main artery of the walk-up lead to that planting pod.)

Late this afternoon, sipping cocktails on the "veranda" during a design session, we had at least 12 people stop and chat us up.  One elderly lady in a straw hat said she wanted to paint the house (no, not the trim and such, a real oil painting) after we're done.  And a neighbor came by with a bottle of champagne, as a gift for the curb-appeal beauty being supplied by moi.

Great beginnings. Always hard to see at this stage what it will look like
when mature. . . but in LA climate, you'll find out fast.

We make the Garden Tour, and the paper. . . at last

Carol and Duane Cox bought our house, and garden, in 2000. Here she is on the
back deck with the hot tub and plantings. The once-full pond is now
a "natural area" in the background. (Photos: Eden Prairie News)

Stan's brother Virg, who gets a copy of the Eden Prairie News, told us this week that the garden we built at our old Eden Prairie house was featured in the newspaper a few weeks back. He assumed we already knew, but of course we didn't. We're retired now and out of the loop.

Sure enough, a check of the archives revealed that the garden we'd slaved over decades ago is now included in the official Eden Prairie Lioness Garden Tour.
Homeowner Carol Cox, who helped host the fundraiser, was quick to credit the former owners for their work. Here's a link to the story on the EP News website. Click here.

Plates from that Grand Old Ford

1952 and 1954 plates found in shed

Back in the early 1950s, when Stan spent summers with Ruby and Al Korkowski on their Brandon farm, Al would boast constantly that a Ford is better than a Chevy. Those were the days when you could tell the difference between makes and models... a Studebaker looked a lot different from a Buick. . . so there was a lot of identification with your car, much like people identify with pro sports teams today.
Al and Ruby's Ford would take us to the movies on a Saturday night and we could see and readily identify all the different kinds of cars parked on Broadway.

www.fiftiesweb.com
1950 Ford

Dad drove a '49 Dodge with fluid drive back then. Al diplomatically avoided any comments on its virtue. But Fords? Always much better than a Chevy, Al said, and Stan quickly joined his hero in that astute assessment.
Stan and his sister, Solveig, visited the old farmstead last weekend. The new owner showed us around the spread, including a shed where Stan recalls the Ford was parked. Inside was an assortment of license plates. We found these (above), from 1952 and 1954, and Solveig snapped a picture of the plates that must have been bolted to Ruby and Al's memorable Ford.

Al and Ruby's barn today. 

Ironwork hung on Randy's LA front wall

Check out the custom-made gate, table and grille that Randy's Wisconsin-born ironworker has just bolted into place over the freshly-grouted flagstone courtyard. Now to select just the right bistro stools to set under the glassed table. This afternoon Randy heads to the nursery to choose trees for the front yard planting scheme. Cocktail anyone?

No potluck for America's Night Out

Last night, exhausted after a week of managing a major project, Abbey Point residents circled their camp chairs on the tarmac for America's Night Out,  and just sipped beverages and admired their new roofs.

Meanwhile, at the LA front yard project. . .

Randy's front yard makeover continues in Los Angeles, but news came this morning that he is way over budget. It's the flagstones. His contractor apparently misunderestimated the cost of all those beauties being laid out in the front. But it's been resolved. Here, let Randy explain.
He writes:

". . . Anyway, after the bad news, I repaired to my office. And an hour later emerged with a 'budget deal,' which included raising the debt ceiling, but not without some spending cuts, and riders, etc. Both sides, I told Dave, had to give on this one. The key element was me coming up with a list of 'extras,' which Dave has to do for half price to reduce the deficit over the upcoming weeks. When he completes a batch of 'extras,' that triggers a payment on the deficit.

"He looked at the Grand Bargain.

"And it passed, both sides of the aisle agreeing within five minutes."

Birthplace of America slowly sinking

John Herdan writes: Here's a picture of Obert's dock and pontoon this morning. (below)  The boat is floating up into the cover.  Here is also a picture of my neighbor's dock on Latoka. (above)  It was taken BEFORE 4 more inches of rain this morning.


Stan writes:

We awoke to an amazing cacophony of thunder boomers shaking the old red farmhouse on Lake Chippewa near Brandon yesterday morning. Lightning bolts flashed again and again as waves of rain belted the vintage attic roof over my bed. Then a brief power outage.
The best part of a power outage in an old-fashioned house in the middle of a cornfield with no tv or microwave is. . . there is nothing to reset.
As reported weeks ago on this newsy weather blog, the water level in the famous Alexandria Chain 'o Lakes is at record height. On Saturday afternoon we were unable to float a pontoon boat under the bridge connecting Lakes Carlos and Darling. Not sure why we needed to go over to Carlos in the first place. Swimming was great where we were, but, you know, you've got a motor and gas, so.
Well, yesterday's mega-storm brought even more buckets of rain as we sat later with mother, watching the downpour from her Clearwater Suite. A breathless aide reported that thunder reverberations had tilted all the pictures hanging on a neighbor's wall, adding to the day's excitement in the snug rest home.
The storm also brought a couple of emails from frustrated Alexandria lakeshore property owners, notifying blog hosts of the havoc created by these historic water levels. We present them here as evidence that Alexandria, the Nation's Birthplace, may one day be the site of the The Next Great Lake.
Submitted photos show the inundated Obert and Herdan dockage, along with comments that seem to border on whining.

Tom Obert writes from the Lake Darling Shoreline. Readers should note that the Moby is Tom's name for his boat which has risen tight under its canopy. 
Thunderstorms started early this morning - one after another ripped through here. Thunder was rattling the house. We are not done yet. But I was able to dash out during an interlude and get a picture of the dock now under water and the Moby floating loose under the canopy - and discovered another3 3/4 inches in the rain gauge. I believe we have received 14 inches of rain since July 1 - the Resorters golf tournament was suppose to start today, but I assume the course is under water. Even before this last deluge, they had to rebuild the cart path from the 8th tee to the fairway because it was under water. We have called in the troops requesting that whenever they are available to come and take out a section of dock and move the Moby lift to much shallower water (if possible).

New family portrait

Dinner was great as usual this afternoon at Steve and Nancy's in Mankato as the Rolfsruds gathered for a family get-to-gether. Here the siblings lined up for a portrait on the new nook on Steve's endless deck project while the spouses commented on what a nice-looking group we are.

Breakfast with Marlow

We had breakfast this morning with the man who taught Stan and his brothers to smoke. 

Marlow Kluver was a boyhood friend and classmate of Stan's and among the many hijinks was surreptitious smoking at a tender elementary school age. We had a great chat over breakfast at Grandma Patti's Cafe in Brandon, because the Garfield Diner is closed on Mondays. Marlow gave Sosie and Stan a complete rundown of his fourteen brothers and sisters. The eldest, Grace, is 91 and doing fine. The rest have their histories jotted on Sosie's placemat. We'll share the info with sibling this afternoon at Steve and Nancy's, where news of the Country School reunion should take center stage. . . along with Steve and Nancy's barbeque, of course.

By the way, we've all kicked the nasty habit. . . including Marlow. When he got married in 1975, Marlow told us this morning, his bride would have none of it and he went "cold turkey."