Green Belt

 McBe has tested and advanced from yellow belt to green belt in Taekwondo. We and his aunt were present for the belt ceremony.

receiving the green belt

photo op

bowing to all instructors

tossing the yellow belts in the air

dressed in his sparing attire

learning commands

kick and retreat

block and retreat

there was a lot of equipment to put on before 

any actual lesson could proceed

The Falls after 12+ Inches of Rain

 Today (Sunday) like many other Sioux Falls residents and visitors, we stopped at The Falls to see the rush of water cascading down the Sioux River that usually meanders through the city of Sioux Falls. From Saturday to Saturday we have emptied about 12 inches of rain, 8 of which fell Thursday through Saturday.

The first two photos were posted on Facebook by the Tea Area Storm Chasers with photo credit to Erik Burns.

the Falls two weeks ago 

photo taken from the Tower Observation Deck

photo taken on Saturday (06/22/24)

also taken from the Tower 

Observation Deck

Now some of my photos taken today, Sunday June 23, 2024

notice the woman picking up trash on the river hillside

so much visible debris as the water recedes

a lower level observation platform still under water and closed

this photo is for comparison to a previous photo from May 5, 2020

the blue lego caught my eye as I walked to the pedestrian bridge

notice all the branches along the side of the 

observation platform

The following photos are from May 5, 2020 when friends (Jon & Sherry) stopped in Sioux Falls on their way to northern MN. 

a much lower water level in May 2020

definitive waterfalls at The Falls

notice the water level below the old power house

compared to the photo from today

compared this photo to the first of my photos on Sunday

flowers from Sunday's visit to The Falls

Curt took this video from the Tower Observation Deck. Click on The Falls to watch his video.

The Falls

While We Were Gone...

 This is an update on the garden plants and flower bed.

the tomato plants grew!

every plant has blossoms

two of the four plants have tomatoes

The tomato plants have never looked so good and healthy. I watched several videos this year about planting tomatoes and the two tips I used seem to have made a difference. I am impressed...so far. The plants got another shot of fertilizer and hopefully some more rain this weekend.

the cucumbers have also grown

I got them 'tied' so they will climb the trellis. There are lots of blossoms and numerous itty bitty cucumbers. A huge improvement over last summer when the blossoms did not produce a single cucumber!

 

I don't know if the marigolds helped or if I just got lucky with the starter plants I bought. Whatever the reason, the first cucumber will go to the neighbor for watering while we were playing in the Black Hills. He will get it before July 4th! It was about 2 inches long on Friday when I took the photo.

the mint and basil 

This is how everything looked on the June 2nd post: The Garden, the Flowers & the Perennial Flower Bed

I have tried for many years to grow poppies. I planted two last year and one survived the winter (and lack of snow cover). I was trilled to see a bud when I checked it on Tuesday.

The wild roses between my flower bed and the neighbors potato patch are doing very well. Even if I did not get photos while in the Black Hills, there's wild roses here at home.

bugs were busy on this flower

The daisies did not reemerge in the perennial bed, but this lovely bunch is growing in the ditch behind our townhouses. It wasn't there last year.

The poppy bud one day later. It should open this weekend! Yippee!

the poppy on Friday afternoon

the tag from this perennial is long gone

but it came back

pretty flowers

I threw of box of bird and butterfly flower seeds along the edge of the perennial bed. Some of those flowers and numerous milk weed plants are growing. That bed needs some serious attention as the grass and thistles are also growing, but high 80ºs and 90º is just too warm to be pulling weeds. I will get it cleaned up as it appears the city mowers are leaving the area alone. Woo Hoo!

Date Night

 I had a date night with my grandson on Wednesday this week. We attended a production of Stomp at the Washington Pavilion. We started the evening with dinner at the restaurant of his choice. 

Stomp is a percussion group, originating in Brighton, England, that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance using rhythms, acrobatics and pantomime. ~ Wikipedia

In the performance we saw, the 8 musician used brooms, suitcases, shopping carts, plastic pails, newspapers, floating tubes, hub caps, metal garbage cans and other items I can't remember. Photos during the performance were not allowed.

McBe, almost 12 years old,  is a percussionist and I thought he would enjoy seeing a percussion performance. We enjoyed the 1 hour 45 minute show and especially enjoyed the comedic performer. We ended the evening with a stop for ice cream. He was home by 10:00 PM.

Wild Flowers in the Black Hills

 As we come to the end of this stay in the Black Hills, I am posting photos of the wild flowers I noticed as we geocached in the area. I don't know the name of most of them. Enjoy the colors.

a delicate violet looking flower

pine cone used as reference to its size

white with protruding yellow stamen

wild iris

lilacs in Custer

more yellow flowers

single blue flower on a single delicate stem

the glove in reference to size of ground flower

up close

more of the yellow flowers

wild phlox (I think)

we called them purple rockets 

delicate petals

I also saw some flowering wild roses, but did not get to them. Maybe next trip...