Another week has passed.  As I approach my 66th birthday, life seems to be going by at warp speed.  Summer has definitely arrived . . . wielding a substantial mallet!  You can cut the air with kindergarten scissors; you can’t see the lake in the morning because all windows are fogged over.  (I wonder if one can get a property tax rebate for that?)  I miss winter.  Cold, crisp air . . . no bugs!  Yeah, I know – it’s never the right season.  😉

The kids were here last week.  Danny has been up working on their harn (house barn) in Clearwater County, north of Itasca, for several weeks now.  Jami came up from Indiana.  The supervisor, ever aware of her motherly duties, stocked enough food for 42 days for their three-day visit – and we usually ate out.  The harn has been an ongoing project that will ultimately be their retirement home property.  This year’s late spring has delayed their home construction – all the contractors were backed up this summer, so they have decided to make part of the harn a living space.  Harn developments have been of interest to some of the blog readers, so we’ll lead off with developments from there . . .

[Danny, which he entitled “old man on a ladder.”]

[Danny has done this interior work in the pole barn over the last couple years, whenever he can get away from Indiana for a few weeks.  The double doors used to be the front doors for our house.]

[If they’re going to live in the pole barn, they’ll need windows!  😉 ]

[And a place to shower . . .]

[And access to news . . .]

[And neighbors . . .]

[And other neighbors, from near . . .]

[And far . . .]

[And close up neighbors . . .]

[And the neighborhood . . .]

[Pretty, if you like that sort of thing.  😉 ]

[I’ll have a double chocolate latte, with cinnamon sprinkles?]

[Back at the harn, let there be light!]

[More windows, please.]

[Back to the BIG one.]

[All done!]

[A new “front” door.]

[With the new BIG window.]

[Home, sweet home.  Even as we speak, Danny advised he has the electricity up and running now.  He dug a trench from the road, laid the wire therein, and just the day before they arrived here, the power and phone companies came in and made all the connections.]

[The out buildings.  And he has a portable solar panel that he has been using for power.]

[“The guys” making the final connections at the top of their power pole.]

[Thursday morning we golfed.  The kids arrived late Wednesday night, so they’d be sacking in.  We thought we’d have a chance to be the first to play the new No. 7 at the Alex Golf Club, but it didn’t “open” until the next day (?) for the member-guest tournament.  Nevertheless, we played phantom shots there just for the photo op.  Can you name this famous Alex ’67 alum?]

[Can you name this famous Alex ’67 alum?]

[Can you name this infamous Alex ’65 alum?  (He was out on parole this day.)]

[The next day we roused everybody from their afternoon naps for our usual weekend music venue.  Josie Nelson was performing from 2 – 6:00, but the clan was have trouble shaking the cobwebs.  Plus, have you ever noticed that once the driver is in the car (that would be moi), all the passengers, without fail, have to make one, or more, trips back into the house for additional whatevers?  We were lucky to catch Josie’s last set.]

[Once we were there, we were obviously tourists having great fun!  🙂 ]

The last three times we have seen Josie at the winery, there were 30 mph winds.  We noted that to her and that we were still waiting for a calm day to get some videos without background whooshes!  She delighted me by knowing I was going to request:

“Don’t Know Why” –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFWxPiLGiQ4

[The kids thought she was terrific . . . and unbelievable for a 13-year old.  I took their picture with her so they could some day say they knew her when.]

“Hallelujah” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqPUGk2lgi8

[Staff at the winery is a family affair.  OK, they’re a hockey family!  But Robyn Kopischke works the wine bar a couple times a month, and Dan works Saturdays as his daughter’s, Alia, assistant making Panini sandwiches and pizzas.]

“You Are My Sunshine” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNCmVk9Z6Fw

Josie’s CD – http://www.youtube.com/user/guitarjosie

[We were then going to do Friday night ribs at the golf club.  We knew the member-guest tournament was going on but thought we’d give it a shot.  Nope.  But it was great to see the club buzzing with thousands of people.  The kids suggested Bug-A-Boo.  Just down the road from the club, both the Zorbaz and Bug-A-Boo parking lots were over flowing.  Commerce was happening big time in Alex!  We did get an outside table – and the supervisor and Jami immediately went over to visit some local celebrities.]

[Dave & Jesse provided the music, we provided the audience.  They were quite good – hadn’t seen them before.  See if you can spot Jeff Berg, Alex ’60 alum?]

[Totally unaware at the time, did I capture identical twins?  And are they going to be hockey players?]

[As we bid adieu to Bug-A-Boo, I stopped for a photo op to show off the Mediterranean cruise outfit the supervisor had acquired for me that very day!  It just shouts, “American tourist!,” don’t you think?  Josie liked the shirt.  😉 ]

[Back at the winery the next afternoon.  We were fortunate to just get there in time for the final set, again . . . after a morning of competitive shopping by the girls and an afternoon of competitive napping by all of us.]

[We were there for Uncle Willie’s Gut Bucket Blues Band . . .]

[Which, as you know, is composed of, in no particular order, Terry Kennedy, Erik Schultz, and Al Lieffort.]

[Terry seldom sings, so enjoy . . .]

[Danny doing his impression of a cub reporter . . .]

[But note his hair length . . .]

[Jami with the guys . . .]

[Note her hair length . . .]

[It’s shorter than it was the day before . . .]

[She had her pony tail cut off that morning.  Every two years or so she cuts her hair to donate it to wig makers for cancer patients.  Danny does too.  🙂 ]

[And the guys created two new fans!  🙂  Terry doesn’t know this yet, but  we drove over to his place to show the kids his guitar making shop.]

Sunday produced another all day rain.  We’re sorry to say we missed the Salty Dogs at the winery that day.  The kids were leaving.  The supervisor had to drive Danny back to the harn, and Jami had to head back to Indiana and her job.  We’ll see them again in a couple of weeks at camp.

When the supervisor returned from dropping Danny at the harn, she had a copy of The Dorset Daily Bugle (Published once a year in Dorset, Minnesota, whether there’s news or not!).  This week’s Top Ten list comes from The Bugle:  Top ten songs heard on Dorset Public Radio (in no particular order):

Eat It by Weird Al Yankovitch;

On Top of Spaghetti by Tom Glazer;

Jambalaya by Hank Williams;

That’s Amore by Frank  Sinatra;

Sugar, Sugar by The Archies;

Tequila by the Champs;

Beer Barrel Polka by Will Glahe;

Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett;

Dixie Chicken by Little Feat;

One More Cup of Coffee by Bob Dylan

I was subsequently advised by an ink-stained Bugle employee that my favorite, You Stomped on My Heart, You Squashed That Sucker Flat, just missed the Top Ten for the 41st consecutive year coming in at No. 65.  Weird Al just missed a first-time Top Ten double when Like A Sturgeon registered a 13 rating!