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Sometimes I think  staying home & reading a book and drinking a tall cold beverage would be a more enjoyable and a saner option than going on vacation with the husband and kids

My mother-in-law Ruby has a green thumb - to non-gardening people that means  she can grow anything, even if it’s half dead. They have tons of yummy veggies growing in their garden and lots of different flowers. Her gardens bring her great pleasure & pride as they should. I am trying to learn from her and become a better gardener -  as the years pass I try & try but I sure feel like I’m a slow learner. My biggest pet peeve about gardening is remembering all of the flower names. There are just too many!! Ruby can recite the names of flowers and plants just by glancing at them from miles away. A few of my favorites are Purple Salvia (Russian Sage), Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea), Lilies and Bee Balm. I have a few varieties of Bee Balm, some are pink others are bright red. They are all gorgeous.

I prefer to buy perennials at the end of the season for about 75% off and then the next year they are plentiful and I saved a ton of money. I purchased all of the above flowers about 6 years ago. I bought them on sale and in the fall. They’ve all come back since and in multiples! I end up giving a few of each away every year. I think perennials are a wise investment. What are your favorite perennials?

The sun is out and shining to brighten your day - make sure to brighten someone else’s too!

Americans as a whole love to BBQ. What do we BBQ?? In the summer time almost anything & what can’t be BBQ’d or served as a cold side dish is put off until winter.  The favorites at my house are burgers, hot dogs and potatoes with veggies wrapped in tin foil all grilled to perfection and of course don’t forget the ketchup. If we didn’t have ketchup at my house it would be a disaster, a melt down, and possible worse than loosing a limb.  To say the least I make sure we have stock in Ketchup.

I was curious to find out just how many things are BBQ’d - especially hot dogs. I did a little research and found out from the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (it’s a little funny we have a hot dog council :) ) Americans consume over 7 billion hot dog between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Can you believe it!!! And to top it off the weekend of July 4th we consume over 15 million hot dogs.  CRAZY!! So start eating your fair share and keep the Hot Dog council in business!!!

I hope you had a great Memorial Weekend!!

Be kinder than you need to be.  Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle…..

Each of us is the result of the influence of many people. However some individuals have played a significant role in our development. They are often called “role models,” people who we consciously or unconsciously imitate. Perhaps you know who that person is, or perhaps you don’t. Well here’s a simple way to determine your role model. It is easy and only takes a minute and it may surprise you. 

1) Pick your favorite number between 1-9  
 2) Multiply it by 3 then  
 3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3 (I’ll wait while you get  the Calculator….)  
 4) You’ll get a 2 or 3 digit number….  
5) Add the digits together  

Using that number, check to see who your ROLE MODEL is from the list below:   

1. Einstein 

2. Oprah Winfrey  

3. Mother Teresa 

4. Donald Trump  

5. Bill Gates 

6. Gandhi  

7. Brad Pitt 

8. Babe Ruth

9. Your Mother

10. Barack Obama  

P.S.  Stop picking different numbers. She’ll always be your hero!

Have you thought about what you are going to give your mother this year?? There are so many great things you can get or do for your mom to show her how much you appreciate her.  Park Rapids has so many great shops, greenhouses, and salons to choose from or you could make a cute card or poster for her.  Put a little thought and a lot of love in to it and I’m sure she will love whatever she receives. 

One of my favorite summer hobbies is gardening. My kids & I spend hours outside weeding, planting & watering the gardens. My kids’ favorite thing to do is find and feed the worms in my gardens. So, this year I told my husband Ryan for Mother’s Day I would love him to till my garden and take the kids to pick out a few vegetable plants each. This way it will be more of a family hobby than it already is and the kids will think it is super cool when the plant they got mommy gets big & we can each the vegetables they helped grow. 

Make this Mother’s day special for your special mom because you only have one.

Well, summer is almost here and it’s about time! For those of you who live in Minnesota, like me have had a rough winter. All kidding aside - It was so stinking cold for awhile there It was painful to even go outside to fill the wood stove. Well, that’s what my husband told me Although I did my fair share of filling the stove I am lucky enough to have a nice husband who usually takes care of  it.

Enjoying the winter - there were a few weeks where I did nothing but loathe winter. I like to think I was not the only one who did this. I actually thought twice about moving somewhere warm, but only twice and for a  few seconds each time! Then a warm spell would go through (around 20 below) and I would love Minnesota again! It’s crazy to think that it’s almost 60+ degrees out right now and only a few months ago there was an 80 degree (to the minus) difference! Gotta love MN.  Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the winter - we went snowmobiling, played outside, went sliding and enjoyed plenty of bundled walks I think those cool or to put it more realistically - freezing days make us appreciate summer that much more! So summer come on over, we can’t wait until you are in full swing again!