The end of labor is to gain leisure. ~Aristotle

Monday is Labor Day and I know Phil will be happy to have a day off, actually two days off in a row! Just not having to get up at 4:30 a.m. is cause for celebration!

I worked at the Pitstop all week.

This job is actually a lot of fun because I’m making ice cream for people and everyone smiles at you when you hand them a cone or a shake.

I also got over to the State Park one day.

These flowers just jump out at you!

Some ducks taking a relaxing swim

Two dragonflies

Puff balls

Spider web

As I was walking along the nature trail, I started hearing this chittering, chattering beside me. I looked and there was a highly upset chipmunk giving me what for.

He was quite vocal in letting me know how unhappy he was that I was in his woods. Clearly, this was not a Disney moment!

I also went on a little driving tour to see what I could find. If you know me at all just the fact of me getting into the the van and driving for the sake of driving is pretty amazing, but that is how bad the photography bug has bitten me.

I loved this tree

I love the windbreaks across the wheat fields

The big things up here are wheat and beets.

A wheat field being harvested

A mountain of beets!

Phil and I went to dinner tonight at the Caribou Grill. We had heard that they served delicious prime rib on Friday and Saturday. It may have been good if they hadn’t overcooked it.

I did try something new though, popcorn salad!

It has popcorn, bacon, cheese, green onions and a mayo ,sugar and vinegar dressing.

This was amazing. I had three helpings!

I love my blogs that I read. Last week one of the girls posted about a great deal on a Vado video camera.

I have never owned a video camera but since I’ve started birding I wanted to be able to take video of birds to better help identify them.

This video camera is so light weight and basically idiot proof which is great news for this idiot. I can carry it in my pocket so it is always available. The only video I’ve taken so far though is of the cats.

Books this week:

Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay

I liked this story and found myself rooting for the characters.

Murder One and Primary Justice by William Bernhardt

I tried to get into this series. I read three of his books but I didn’t find the characters all that likeable.

King’s Ransom by Jan Beazely and Thom Lemmons

This was based on a true story about the King of Bulgaria,Tsar Boris III and his efforts to try and save his country’s Jews from Hitler’s concentration camp. I love reading anything about WWII and the Holocaust but this was one story I was unfamiliar with. Basically the King was trying to protect his country from the Third Reich by seemingly cooperating with them but also he was protecting his Jewish citizens by not letting them be deported to the concentration camps.

Movies: Nights in Rodathe Starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane.

A doctor who is traveling to see his estranged son sparks with an unhappily married woman at a North Carolina inn

What can I say? A typical chick flick. The only redeeming factor was the beautiful scenery.The ending made me mad though.

Duplicity Starring Clive Owen, Julia Roberts and Paul GiamattI

A pair of corporate spies who share a steamy past hook up to pull off the ultimate con job on their respective bosses.

I didn’t get this movie at all Nothing is as it seems? Well, nothing made sense. I love Paul Giamatti and was hoping this was going to be a keeper but I could barely watch the entire film.

A Secret A French film, yes I like foreign films, about a young boy who discovers a family secret that happened during WWII This one took awhile to get into but eventually was worth watching.

Bolt Starring John Travolta A Disney film,not one of their better ones.