It’s hot. There, I said it. Not even the baby squirrels are running around. It was the first almost-90-degree day we’ve had since we moved here, and of course it had to fall on the one day I had “all the yard work” penciled into my schedule. But I was really excited to try out the weed eater my dad gave me over the weekend, because our yard was packed full of waist high monsters.

He had an extra one, so that was cool. Slightly less cool was his response to my asking if I could borrow both of them, because if I had a weed eater for each hand it would take half the time. Time management is important, because I haven’t used one since we got here last year. I broke the one we had in Washington, probably due to my “ehh, it’ll cut through that” philosophy. It’s the same way I tend to operate the mower, which for some totally unrelated reason wouldn’t start today.

I drove down to the Twin Cities to hang out with family and friends for the weekend, and I ended up taking my camera to a local park. It had an amazing lily garden, filled with every variety imaginable. So now I have a new dream in life – cultivate a new lily variety. I have no idea how you do it, or if they’ll even grow in Zone 3a, but I really want to have a flower named after me. And now that Gene refuses to let me grow the World’s Hottest Pepper, I need a new calling.

I’ve been taking my camera out for drives around here, too. The wildflowers are gorgeous, especially the lady slippers. They are Minnesota’s state flower, and tend to favor drainage ditches and low lying areas. Which means you’re doing epic battles with horseflies to find them, but it’s totally worth it. They apparently pop up in the same areas over and over again, one of which is right down the road from my friend Jennifer’s house. She gave me detailed directions on how to find them a couple of times, then finally resorted to tying a piece of pink plastic tape to a tree. Once I finally spotted them, I’m… not sure how I missed them. But whatever, the important thing is I got a great pic!