Next week will be a “bucket lift” weekend so I am getting this post out a bit early. I went to a swap meet and multiple flowers are blooming around the yard. We made a trip to a greenhouse to purchase more annual flowers and Pam planted them in a bit unusual fashion. Here are the details!
One of the “old engine” shows on my 2024 list included a swap meet and auction near the town of Dundas, located a bit north and east of Faribault, MN. I decided to drive up and take a look.
While the main attraction was the auction of old and antique farm implements, the swap meet was fairly extensive as well. More family oriented than the Le Sueur meet, this one had quite a range of stuff spread out among the vendors. I purchased a few small tools and a motorcycle jack. I have already used the later to raise the front of the riding lawn mower to access the blades and spindles of the deck. At $20.00 it was a good buy.
Pictures often convey more than words, so here are a few photos taken at this event.
The Dundas group puts on a full antique power show over Labor day every year, and I may attend that show this fall. It was an interesting outing.
Returning to Elma, a few items to note. Main Street on our block was reopened to traffic. The reduction of noise was appreciated while it lasted but it’s just as well the barriers were removed.
Apparently the town is getting ready to remove a number of dead trees, mostly of the ash variety, from around town. As I drive around I do see quite a number that should be removed, including several in the city park. This will be an ongoing project throughout the summer months.
Our yard looks the best it has since we moved to Elma. Early flowers are done but new blooms are appearing. Irises, in particular, are doing great this year and blooming as they never have. A few photos from around the yard are in order.
We made a trip to a pair of local greenhouses to pick up a few more annual flowering plants. Pam planted them in transportable bags, a first for her. Several bags (not all, a few are in other spots) now decorate the east end of the garage, adding a bit of color to this otherwise fairly blank area of the yard.
As I mentioned in the opening, we have a bucket lift reserved for next weekend. Hopefully we can complete the painting and repairs, to the siding and trim we did not get to last fall, and finally complete the house painting project. That would be a relief! My next post, in a couple weeks, will have more details of the weekend’s work.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
While I do not enjoy being up in a lift, I do look forward to having the exterior paint project completed — after five summers. Hopefully this will be the last “lift experience,” at least in Elma.
I did do a test run on detail paint for the front porch ceiling trim. There has been so much fill-in putty used on that porch, I’m going to have to invent a straight line to paint along. Kinda what I figured.
The portable planting bags were a bust when I tried planting seeds in them. But they do seem to support greenhouse plant starts. Main attraction is being able to move portable bags around the yard, to fill in boring spots.
Happy Trails.
The place looks really good. The portable bags is such a good idea!! Have a great summer.
Hey Deb –
Partly the flower bags were because I didn’t want to weed yet another in-ground flower bed. In point of fact, I like to leave some “ground cover” in the beds around the house for the Maurice Toad family to use as shelter. That’s my excuse for not weeding diligently.
Hope you’re having success with the Grandpa Otts. Ours are thick-thick-thick and sending tendrils up the climbing frame already.