A stroll along Rochester's Riverfront

 A few days ago Rick and I decided to go for a walk downtown. 

Rochester has an elaborate trail system, some of it goes through town 

along Lake Zumbro's South branch. 

We headed for that trail, hoping not to see to many folks along the way, 

since social distancing is still a thing.

 Rochester's Riverfront Mural

This beautiful mural tells a story of Rochester's history through the ages.

 It is adorned with waterfalls...the sound was lovely.

It was a beautiful day to be out.

Rochester has lots of subways and skyways, this one starts at the Government Center 

and extends over the river to a building complex on Broadway.

"Letting Go"

A sculpture by Judd Nelson... a Minnesota born artist.

Known simply as "The Tapered Arch-shaped Sculpture!

It is a 30 foot long, 15 foot stainless steel sculpture outside the Mayo Civic Center.

We cant forget the ongoing endless roadwork and construction that goes on in Rochester.

Along the trail I stopped from time to time to appreciate Nature.

These pine cones reminded me or our home Up North. 

Our cabin sits in the middle of many giant Pine trees. 

It won't be long now and we will be raking them all up as they have laid dormant over the winter. 

You start with a palette of paint...

A Christmas-time gathering with friends. 

Dinner comes first, lot's of good conversation then a special project....

You start with a palette of paint, a few size brushes, some water and a raw sketched print. 

A glass of wine is optional but a nice touch as we begin a watercolor project taught by

 Deb (red sweater) a long time friend, an artist who is gifted in many ways

 

I have a band of friends, there are 11 of us. We support each other and we pray for each other.

We have all gone to church together, raised kids together and some of us even vacationed together. Some have moved away... then moved back. We have stuck by each other through,

 "family stuff", deaths, serious illnesses and joys. 

We've done a lot of "life" together.

Mostly we just have fun.

Deb wanted to do a class on watercoloring with us girls. 

I don't believe any of us have ever water covered except maybe in
junior high art class a bazillion years ago. Regardless of our skill level
we were all very excited to give it a try.

We started out with a scantily "sketched scene" (by Deb) of birch trees among some rushes.

The bottom of this photo is the "before" I started project, the top is my finished piece

I zoomed in on the detail of the birch trees, The little "blobs" on the trees were called "eyes" by Deb.
They were a challenge, but I think I did ok for a first timer.

There was a lot of detail, color and shading that went into this piece.
I'm cautiously proud of my work, but dont intend to make it my hobby....
For some it's relaxing, as for me...too much stress!

I love my friends and cherish the friendship we have had for many years.

Winter Clothesline

A friend of mine recently posted this photo to my Facebook page, she knows me well! 

My love of Winter, hanging out clothes and country.

"Winter Clothesline"

I  LOVE this print by Christine Henehan

Below is and excerpt from a women who dedicated her Facebook page to her Mother

A mother who taught her much. 

The words below are hers but...

I feel like I could have wrote it.

(I underlined the sentences that pertained to my methods)

"My mother taught me there are specific rules for hanging laundry on the clothesline. First, you must make sure the line is clean. Always wipe it with a damp cloth wrapped around the line while walking from one end of the line to the other. Wash and hang your whites first so they will be high up by the pole where the sun can bleach them. Shirts are always hung by the tails, never by the shoulders. Socks are always hung by the toes, never by the tops so as to not stretch the leg band out of shape. This also allows the socks to dry quicker because air can blow up into the socks. Hang pants by the cuffs and not by the waistband. This allows the waistband which is thicker to dry more quickly and, like socks, air can get up into the pants better. Towels and sheets are always hung on the outside lines so you can hide your underwear and such on the middle lines. Also join two items when possible with one pin, like towels, pillow cases, or diapers and continue down the line that way. This saves space and clothespins. Never leave the clothespins on the line after removing the clothes because if you leave them on the line the weather will ruin them; also, it looks tacky. Make sure you take the clothes in before time to start supper so that you will have time to sprinkle them (see below) and get them ready for ironing the next day. Above all, never hang clothes out on Sunday. ~ Beth

The painting is "Winter Clothesline by Christine Henehan". I bet those clothes will be "stiff as a board" when they are brought in." 

Sprinkling??? 

I guess that was a method that was done in the ironing process, I think it was just a bit before my time, but not much as a few of my not-so-much-older-freinds remember 

sprinkling their clothes and wrapping them in plastic before ironing them. 

I love the idea of hanging out my clothes in the winter, 

I've just never done it because I think it would take so much time, 

do they REALLY dry? I suppose eventually.

 I think I will stick with my non-winter months for hanging out clothes but just  for the heck of it,

 I might hang my sheets out next time I wash them, but I won't be sprinkling them... 

I don't mind a wrinkled sheet, they are gonna get wrinkled anyway, right!

A pretty cool sculpture park

 Pappajohn Sculpture Park

 A 4.4 Acre sculpture park located as an entrance to downtown Des Moines. 

Open in 2009 the park features 28 works of art. 

These unique pieces are scattered around the (pedestrian friendly) park.

  

Rick and I wandered around the park enjoying this beautiful 70 degree day

 I've featured a few of my favorties below. 

You can click on the link below the photo to read more on each piece of art.

 Panoramic awareness pavilion

Nomade

Rick and I saw another similar sculpture by this artist in Milwaukee.

Close up,  this sculpture is made of 6 tons on steel.

 Untitled (Three dancing figures)

 Thinker on a rock

White Ghost

 Post Balzac

 Ancient Forest

OUR FAVORITE!

 

 You can visit this website to see all the sculptures

After the sculpture park we drove a short distance to Des Moines Botanical Gardens. 

 Being the time of year it is.... there wasn't much to see in the outside gardens,

 but inside the glass dome was incredible. 

Below I've posted just a few of my favorite photo's

 

 Papaya tree

 It was HOT and sort of HUMID inside the dome.

I hate humidity, just ask my husband who puts up with my complaints often in the summer months

These conditions are the reason I love fall and winter.

 Bamboo trees, 

Rick's first pole vaulting pole was made out of bamboo....just a few years ago  :)

Thanks for following along on our road trip to Des Moines.

 It's a beautiful city with plenty to see and lots to do. 

Something tells be we'll be back.

So much better than a brick wall

I Love Rochester, 

It's all I know. 

It's the city I grew up in.

 My hubby grew up 3 miles north of me. 

We got married here, and have raised our family here. 

We are both employed by the #1 & #2 employers of the city, 

that being Mayo clinic who employes 33,505 workers and 

IBM who employes 4,400 (stats taken form Wikipedia)

 It's a strong ever growing community of 108,000
 Rochester has long been featured in Money Magazines "Best places to live" index!
 In 2009 US News and World Report ranked Rochester in the
 "top ten best places to grow up"...I believe it!

Downtown Rochester is a beautiful area,
Just a walk down and around the "Mayo Metropolis" can leave you awestruck,
that is if you take the time to soak it all in.
 It's easy for those of us that live here to take it all for granted,
but sometimes I just slow down and take it all in....

In this post I thought it would be fun to feature some of the beautiful murals
that are nestled on buildings around the city.
Murals painted by a local Artist by the name of Greg Wimmer
I've never met the man, but I've seen him at work over the years.

I set out one day to photograph many of his amazing murals

A Consignment store on North Broadway
KISMET

The North side of the building (mural along the roofline)

Southside of the building

a mural that surround the door that takes you into Kismet
It just looks so real to me

CJ's Lounge on Broadway

so amazing what this guy can do on the side of a building

East side of the KROC radio station

Mural of an old time radio.

Shades of Green

A business off 2nd street SW that features unique gift ideas

East side of the building

West side

This small produce business is soon going out of business
not sure what will become of its mural?

The Apollo Liquor store is right next door

The Reading Center, on Civic center drive

More to come on the beauty within Rochester MN.....