the barn dance, silent auction, and local foods dinner was held last night and on all accounts can be counted as a huge success!
the turn out was amazing and the silent auction received a lot of compliments and more importantly, a lot of bids!
there was such an amazing feeling of community and joy, with children running around, people laughing and chatting, and fabulous music filling the night air...
-melissa
it's finished!
and with 10 days to spare! the barn dance ripple is so named because it is destine for a spot in a silent auction at a barn dance party.
the center for earth spirituality and rural ministry, where i am a volunteer and board member, runs a large community garden in mankato. at the center of the gardens is the big red barn. it is over 100 years old and a community landmark.
a year ago april there was a fire and the barn was severely damaged. we were able to save the foundation and the finial, but the rest of the barn was rebuilt.
we decided a celebration was in order! september 19th we will be having a plated local foods dinner, silent auction, and a boot stompin' old fashioned barn dance with live blue grass music! i'm so excited! everything is coming together (i'm the chair of the silent auction committee), there's a buzz in the community, and everyone is going to have a blast!
that said, this ripple afghan (from, of course, lucy of attic24's neat ripple pattern) is my donation to the silent auction.
as was also said, i'm the silent auction chair, and we're gathering up some pretty amazing items! the focus was handmade and local businesses and i've been blown away by all the talent and generosity in my community!
if you happen to find yourself in mankato next friday stop on by the big red barn for a knee slappin' good time!
- melissa
ps - i also designed the above poster, i'd never done anything like that before and am pretty excited about it!
every tuesday night i volunteer at the elks nature center in rasmussen woods in mankato. back when lily was in preschool the center was staffed full time and ran all different sorts of educational programs (we were very fond of "nature power preschool hour.") but due to city budget cutbacks the staff was let go and the center was closed.
in the past 9 months there has been a grassroots initiative to get the center back open and staffed by volunteers. i scored a sweet deal where my girls scout troop can meet in the center if i volunteer. as the troop doesn't meet in the summer, i've been finding my past few months at the center to be a quiet, calming, enjoyable way to spend an evening.
outside the center it looks like this:
the inside looks like this:
isn't it fabulous?!? it's such a fun place! we even have a cougar!
my personal favorite is the moose head!
my job is mainly to sit at the desk, be nice to the people, answer any questions, and make sure the birds have seed to eat. it's not very taxing. i get to put on music, get out my knitting, and wait for anyone to show up.
music + yarn (because renaissance choral polyphony and game show hostess endorsed acrylic yarn go together like peas and carrots.)
it's a pretty sweet gig, and as much as i love my girl scouts they're seriously going to cut into my knitting time once meetings start up again!
-melissa
the minnesota river, which runs right though mankato, is really low right now.
i mean really low right now...
all that uncovered riverbed is the perfect place to hunt for agates! my friend eva got me hooked on hunting for agates a couple years ago and while i'm mostly good at finding quartz and interesting looking non-agate rocks, i can spot an agate every now and again.
this is a pretty typical haul for me, a few tiny agates, lots of quartz and lots of randomly awesome rocks. lily, who inherited her love of rocks from her mother, also enjoys pouring over piles of riverbed looking for treasures.
she and i happily spent well over an hour after school today down by the river, enjoying the weather and each others company, sifting through rocks sharing all our cool finds with each other.
i did actually manage to find one pretty impressive agate:
although lily's favorite find of the day does a better job of summing up our sentiments:
love indeed!
-melissa
What a wonderful weekend!
Not only did I get to take Sabrina to Minnesota but we also got a virtual sandwich meet up with Claire and Georg!
It was such a delight to hang out with Melissa and her adorable family. And a double delight to watch Lily and Sabrina reading together
Playing together
Contemplating the big issue of life (while eating lollipops) together
Thank you Melissa!
-Lindsey
so we had more than our fair share of rain in my fair state last week. some areas got almost 12" during a freak three-day rainstorm. the rivers all rose, some towns flooded and many roads were closed. mankato has flood walls so even though the river crested at 27.9' our town was kept dry.
there are a few parks near the river though that always seem to flood.
i was curious to see what all this water was doing to my local state park's waterfall, so yesterday i ventured out to have a peep.
the creek that feeds the waterfall was rushing and roiling like crazy!
the water was churning every which way and the sound was thunderous.
a truly amazing sight, especially considering that at times the falls can slow to just a trickle.
-melissa
ps - i couldn't resist throwing in one more picture, although not related to the water levels, it certainly showcases the beauty of early fall in minnesota.
So sorry about my delays in expressing my utmost grattitude and wonder at the lovely weekend I spent with Melissa & Co in Mankato. One of the drawbacks of film, I guess. But, with no further ado- I present the Marvelous Mankato Meetup!
As per usual, my cross-midwestern drive started off a bit rocky...
and there were some obligatory stops while I waited for tornadoes to pass by (I never thought an Elivs themed McDonalds could be such a life saver!). But luckily the sun evenutally came out and I was back on track to the lovely Mankato.
I was so thrilled to be there on the same weekend as the Nicollet County fair!
Can you spot all the Martensens?
We were lucky enough that the weather was gorgeous and cool so we even got to hang out on the lawn
... and of course we wouldn't be us if there wasn't a lot of knitting to be had by all.
I'll bet you're drooling over the yarns in that photo. They are drool-worthy indeed! Both Melissa and I cast on new projects using the most scrumptious yarn, handmade by the ridiculously talented Maya from Springtree Road.
It was such a fabulous weekend! Melissa it is beyond delightful to spend time with you and your lovely family! I love you all more than I can ever say. A HUGE thank you! THANK YOU!
-cmv
have i mentioned before that i love love love me a county fair?
well i do!
mostly i love the animals.
but there are other joys as well...
-melissa
ps - clairey, don't even think that my last two posts excuse you from writing your own minnesota post (or two, or three...). i want to see mn through cmv's eyes!!
thanks clairey for coming to visit. it was wonderful to get to spend a couple days just relaxing and hanging out with you. let's do it again soon!
alas, the only thing we were missing that would have made the weekend perfect was lindsey...
-melissa
saturday was the day of the big north mankato fun days parade!
i love love love parades - and this one's my favorite, since it's my town's big day to shine!
where else (in the u.s.) but in minnesota would the local curling club have a float?
did i mention i love parades? so much fun!! (not to mention so much candy!!) and if you look closely you might just catch a glimpse of someone you know!
-melissa
Recent Comments