Life beyond saffron

Although little Saffron is still the center of attention around here, there are a few other "Blogworthy" things going on. Sally, Uncas and puppy Sammy drove down from "The Cities" last Saturday to get a face to face with their new niece. It turned out to be quite a gathering at Saffron's place. Both Grandmas (Jo and Marlene), Grandpa Blume (me), Great Grandma Vi (the Rezabek Viola), Sally, Uncas, Sammy, Great Aunt Margit and Uncle Dale along with cousins Brad and Doug were all in attendance. Saffron performed all of her tricks for the audience. She ate, she slept, she smiled, she cried and pooped. That's pretty much all she has learned so far.
The non-Saffron part of the weekend involved a few other activities. There was the usual "Cubs win big" "Cubs lose one". There was the unusual "Bears Win". (An upset against the Colts no less) And, a little sightseeing adventure. No use talking about the Bears or Cubs, that's all on the sports pages (if you're even interested). The sightseeing part was really enjoyable. It's been a while since we have taken one of our "little" Sunday drives and there are few places in our area that we haven't visited. This weekend we found one new to us, The Kickapoo Valley Reserve. We've traveled along the Kickapoo River both on the road and by canoe (a separate long, but funny, story), we've bought apples from the Kickapoo Orchard and eaten at Kickapoo Corners Restaurant but, had not heard of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. The reserve of over 8,000 acres lies about 40 or so miles north of us just outside of LaFarge, Wisconsin. The Kickapoo River winds through the landscape (When I say winds I mean winds. The Kickapoo is said to be the crookedest river in the state. It travels 60 miles as the crow flies but is 160 miles long as the canoe floats). The area is crisscrossed with numerous trails for horseback and bicycle riding as well as hiking, cross country skiing and snowshoeing. We took a short hike through the woods to one of the numerous covered bridges on the reserve. The hike provided Jo and I with some much needed exercise and a lot of photo opportunities. It's been a while since I've taken many flower pics so it was really enjoyable. I'll post a few of the pictures here and if I ever figure out how to share my PhotoshopExpress albums with you, there will be more than enough to send you to dreamland.

One of the few straight stretches of the "Mighty Kickapoo".

Even the weeds look good on a beautiful summer afternoon.

The bugs seem to enjoy the flowers as well.

Grass going to seed is a lovely sight, as long as it's not in your lawn.

The "Belle of the Bridge".
It never hurts to bring some beauty along on a hike.