6 Weeks of Summer

Friday I shared that this weekend was the town festival.  I haven't partaken in a lot of activities, but did get DD#2 and friends down to the carnival, and I heard some good music.  DD won a goldfish, so she is now the proud parent of Fernando. We still had a bowl and other assorted fish items from our last attempt at goldfish, so a quick clean and his home was ready. I wandered the craft fair, located this year on the grounds of the one historic old "mansion" in town. I didn't buy any crafts, but did walk out with a jar of dry rub for pork and chicken, two Bloody Mary seasoning mixes, and two bottles of unique sauce/marinade. One was garlic and herb and the other rhubarb and barbecue. My family loves to use interesting sauces and it was a local family owned company so despite the $32 for all, I didn't feel bad about paying so much. No kettle corn this year-the vendor was no longer the former Amish vendors with their big open fire kettle, but a much more modern looking regular popcorn maker. They also were only selling in huge bags, and I like to just get a small bag.

 Both Friday and Saturday night were live band tent dances at a bar and grill less than 1/2 mile from us if you cut through the ponds. This means we can sit on our deck and actually hear the concert in full.  Several neighbors were out listening last night.  I decided I was not in the mood to be eaten by mosquito's, so we didn't head to the river for Fireworks. Friday were natural fireworks with lightning and severe thunderstorms throughout our whole region.  Not much sleep was had Friday night, so it was early to bed anyway last night. We haven't decided if we are driving to the Lake this morning yet. Rivertown Days marks the halfway point of the 12 week school summer vacation. 

I've read in multiple places it takes 21 days for something to become embedded into a person's routine.  That could be exercising, eating better, cooking breakfast, decluttering, or any other new discipline or bad habit  a person tries to break. With six weeks left of the unofficial Minnesota summer, that gives me two 21 day cycles to draw upon.  I have many posts noodling in my head and will slowly subject them all to you, but to give you a preview, I've been reading The Minimalists 21 Day Journey as my launching spot. I've never been great at following such disciplined practices as outlined here, but I think the general concepts, if even followed partly, should be a good addition to my aim for more simplicity in my life. Today's tackle will be my Must List.; more tomorrow on that.

Here are a few pictures of the old mansion which housed the craft fair. It was very sunny and I was wearing sun glasses, so apologies for the less than stellar shots. The mansion is built in a Gothic style.  I've been inside, and for all it's size, it is not very ornate, and actually a bit depressing. It was almost like once the house was done, no one took anytime to put any heart or personality into the interior. It is true to how the family lived there, which was not many years because the story is the woman of the house, from the hustle and bustle of the eastern United States, never liked Minnesota and considered it temporary. The grounds though, are lovely, with a preview of fall bounty to come.
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