Weekend at Tiffy's Place

 

Yesterday I had a blessedly uneventful drive to see Tiffy. We debated about going to Irish Fest, but neither of us was in the mood to deal with crowds, and the weather was iffy. Instead, we went to Sooshi Bay, the sushi restaurant where the food comes out on a conveyer belt and you can choose which one you want as they pass by, then we decided to have a relaxed day in Racine. We compared and contrasted Big and Little Milaeger's, which is a local garden center. The smaller one is near her house, and the bigger one (which is HUGE) is on the north end of town. Here are some photos. The first one is actually from Sooshi Bay - I loved the multicolored fire!

Look at these cute little mushrooms growing in a potted plant! My phone apparently can't identify fungi - it will only tell me what the plant is.

Of course they already have a Christmas display up, but Tiffy tells me it will become much larger in a couple of months.

We both liked these multicolored glasses.

They had a Halloween display, complete with a Halloween tree.

These little succulents had such pretty flowers.

I just love this flower drawing done by some kid.

We were right by the lake, and the water was beautiful yesterday.

We went to the zoo, and I didn't take any photos there. The emu was posing so beautifully, but as soon as I pulled out my phone, it ran away. A kangaroo bounded in front of us too quickly for a photo. The lynx had a transfixing stare, but it was behind bars so the photo wouldn't have turned out, and the same for the mellow lionesses who also exchanged gazes with us. We saw a parrot named Buster who wouldn't talk to us until we addressed him by name - when we said, "Hello, Buster!" then he responded, "Hello, Buster!" Then it started to rain, so we ducked into a tiki hut with picnic tables beneath it, and a whole bunch of other people joined us when it really started to pour. When it let up, the zoo was about to close. We decided to skip the beach and head back to Tiffy's place to use her pool, but then it began to rain really hard once again. Eventually we went to a new Thai restaurant for dinner, and we could see the sunset from there. We still saw a trace of it when we left.

This morning was cool and overcast. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get to the church near Tiffy's house, and I wildly overestimated and left myself enough time for a rosary walk in the neighborhood beforehand. The weather was not so great for swimming, but it was perfect for hanging out on Tiffy's balcony and then eating outside in a little cabana at the Blue Bear Cafe. They have a flight of coffees, so we both got a flight with the pistachio latte, the vanilla rose latte, and the lavender cold brew. That was so cool - I've never had a flight of coffee before! I always enjoy getting flights of craft beers.

Back at Tiffy's house, I saw this baby maple tree growing from a crack in her driveway.

It makes me think of a meme that made me laugh so hard: "Plant outside: 'I can grow in cracks in the pavement without any dirt, and I'll survive on whatever rain I get.' Plant in my house: 'You watered me on Sunday instead of Saturday this week, so now I must die.'" So true!!

We took a walk in the neighborhood and then got an acai bowl at a place near her house. This is a bowl of fruit, granola, and something that looked like soft serve ice cream but it was as purple as that baby maple tree, and it was supposedly full of acai berries. They are supposed to have lots of antioxidants. You could get different bowls, and I got one that had a tropical theme, with pineapple, coconut, and blueberries. I should have taken a photo of it but didn't think of it until just now.

My ride back to Madison was more eventful, with road construction and several incidents causing slowdowns, like cops pulling people over or people have vehicular issues. It looked like some people towing a van behind their moving truck had it fall off, so they were struggling to get it back on. I did get home in plenty of time to get to band practice, where we only practiced klezmer music today. That made me so happy! Our gig time has changed to 3:30 this coming Saturday, and we are opening for that really good klezmer band we saw a few weeks ago, which kind of freaks me out. I just keep listening to their CD over and over. It really is the best CD I ever had - I haven't gotten sick of it yet, and there isn't a single song I skip over. Klezmer is my love language.

Travalon is having a good time with his buddy who is visiting from Japan. They are an hour north of Duluth, and he sent a couple of photos. You can see Canada in this photo - it's just north of the river.

This is a rocky beach, maybe on the shores of Lake Superior? 

When I showed Tiffy, she said, "That beach would not be fun to walk on!" At least not barefoot. This would definitely be an Aqua Socks situation.

Famous Hat