August 3-2-1

3 things that made me happy in August

I enjoyed seeing the flowers blooming in our yard and at places we visited. One place that we went to was Noerenberg Memorial Gardens. There were flowers and grasses that I had not seen before, so it was fun to see these different plants.

I liked seeing a variety of bees on the flowers.

The second thing I enjoyed during August was going to several county fairs. We missed the one that the girls have competed in for 4-H. However, Olivia and I competed in the Washington County Fair and earned some ribbons and cash for our entries. I was happy to see some of my photos earn blue ribbons.

I entered ten colored pictures. This one is my favorite one - a forest scene in autumn.

I also colored an abstract one in colored pencils.

My triple-ginger cookies earned first place too. Having fresh-, crystallized-, and dried ginger adds a lot of flavor to these cookies.

The girls and I enjoyed seeing the chickens and roosters at the fair.

We had lunch in the 4-H building together.

Another fair we went to was the Carver County Fair. This sheep was asleep as we passed by.

We were able to feed parakeets.

There was also an area with exotic wildlife that you could feed or look at. 

Olivia sat in a Tesla. She is intrigued by this car.

I liked this succulent horse sculpture. 

The third thing I enjoyed during August was spending a day with my sister. She was traveling on my birthday, so she wanted to know if I wanted to do something in August. We ended up going to the Steele County Fair - about 2 hours away from where we live - and explored that area.

We started the day with Tom Thumb mini donuts.

While in Owatonna, we went to the Owatonna Art Center and the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children. The building below was once the third-largest institution of its kind in the nation. There were probably 16+ buildings in addition to this one where the children and teens lived, ate, played, worked, and learned.

The art center had a beautiful ceiling and upper-wall mural. It was based on books and was so rich in colors and details.

Heading home, we made a lot of stops including in Faribault. This beautiful mural was in the downtown area. I like the various skin colors of the hands, the ASL signs for the word Love, and the Braille letters that are under the black letters. 

The Tilt-a-Whirl was invented in Faribault. There are a couple of stationary units on the main street. I had my sister move from side-to-side as if she were on the ride. She was a good sport about it and humored me with doing that.

2 things I'm looking forward to in September

One thing I'm looking forward to in September is seeing the flyover at Taco Daze. I have been working with someone who is coordinating a flyover of a Huey helicopter that was flown in Vietnam as well as four military aircraft. 

The aircraft will have the smoke coming out of them and will do a couple passes. 

On the final one, it will be the missing man formation. 

I'm excited to see how this as well as the vendor area (which I've been coordinating) comes together after 4 1/2 months of preparation and planning. 

  

The second thing I'm looking forward to in September is cooler weather and rain. The summer was brutally hot and humid. Parts of our lawn still have not recovered from the scorching temperatures. The gardens had to be watered a lot and still suffered. Having rain and the cooler weather hopefully will help the flowers, shrubs, grasses, and trees as we move into autumn and winter. 

1 thing from August that I'd rather forget

The one thing from August that I'd rather forget is a colonoscopy. My dad had one-third of his colon removed due to colon cancer, so I'm on an every-five-year check because of that. Thankfully, the prep process and time have been condensed which makes it easier. The good news is that I had no polyps this time (the first time - when I was in my 40s - I did). 

The feedback I got was that it was clear that I was eating healthy and taking care of myself. So, that made me feel good. 

The changes that I've made over the past couple of years, especially this year with doing the 75Hard Challenge in for 75 days starting on January 1st and maintaining many of those habits since mid-March, have paid off!