Trip to Minnesota for Mom's 80^th Birthday

June 18-26, 2008   •    p. 4

Minnesota Trip Photos    p. 1  •  p. 2  •  p. 3  •  p. 4

Paul's spoons -- about 10 days' worth, says Paul.  That's a lot of spoons!

Back of the house, which faces south, with Tristin in the tree for scale; a magnificent structure built with a crane system that set into place massive wood beams & timbers scavenged from old buildings in the metro area.  Smartly designed to capture maximum solar energy in the winter -- buried into the earth, with a south-facing floor of textured concrete to absorb winter sunlight in daytime & release it at night through the open structure.  Much of the rest of the heat is by wood-burning stove, with electric & propane backup -- a highly redundant & efficient system.

Uncle Mike swinging.

WooHoo!!!

Having a great time!

Another angle.

In love with swinging!

   Frog Tristin caught at Uncle Paul's.

   May you be Resting in Peace Mom! 

   In the Days after Mom's Birthday . . .

Paul Lampland at his place in St Paul Park.   Paul  ! ! !

Ellen, Paul, Mike.

Very sweet!

Dr. Mike & Dr. Scott Anderson at Champ's on West 7th.   Scott ! ! !

Scott not being so goofy.

Scott in his He-Man pose.  Note the absolutely fantastic platysma.

Just in case you missed it the first time.

Nancy Bumgardner at her loft in Minneapolis.   Nancy ! ! !   Bum ! ! !  

Still in her loft.

Nancy & Mike.  

After dragging Nancy to Tom's.

Nancy getting sloshed.

With the neighbor Pat Larson, who knows a lot about metalworking & wheels of various sorts . . .  so of course we go onto inspect . . .

The Detail of "Nellie's Wheel" !

The tell-tale joint that busted when the wheel did.

More detail.  What year was this thing?  What was it on?  What year?  1880s?  1910s?  1930s?  Later?  Mike's guess is the 1910s-20s but an expert would know.

The gears.

The threads (photos didn't come out very well).

Width of the rim (Pat's finger).  Gotta find out when this thing was made, and for what!

Nancy, Tom, Kelly.

Yahoo ! ! !

The Lexington Ave. nursing home where Grandma spent the last couple years of her life, now shuttered.

Grandma's was the fourth window from the left on the first floor.

Another angle.  Very sad.

Mark working on Angela's house on Curfew St just off 280 & University Ave.

Mark opining about the current state of the housing market.

Mark & Mike inside Angela's new house.

Our Lady of Lourdes Church, where the French Canadians worshipped in the late 19th century, with Nancy descending the steps.  A lovely church, with magnificent stonework -- smaller than it appears; it is not a large structure, and therein lies much of its charm & grace.

Historical plaque in front of Our Lady of Lourdes Church.

Another plaque.

And yet another.

Side of the church.  And that's all Folks!