Lost and Found
It’s a battle of dinosaurs

The Whacko Yard Art Photo Scanvenger Hunt is over and the finalists are Mary and Mark. (Sorry, Barrett, but you missed the deadline. Those rules are there for a reason, mister.)
I said I’d allow comments to sway my decision, so those with a strong opinion on who should win have until … oh, let’s say noon … to make their voices heard. After lunch I’ll return from my chambers with a decision.
Whacko Yard Art: Stickin’ It To The Man Edition.
Now, I don’t know if this counts, because I took these pictures back in September and I don’t know if it’s still standing (it looks like parts of it were made out of papier-mâché, so I’m not sure how it would’ve fared through the winter months), but it was definitely in a yard and it was definitely art.
And yeah, definitely a little whacko, too.
(East Superior Street, near the Northland Country Club, 9/21/08.)
Whacko Yard Art: Here Comes Santa Claus Edition.
I love Christmas trim! The more, the merrier, I always say. Fortunately, that’s not an uncommon sentiment in the Ashland area, so around Christmastime there’s plenty to enjoy.
One shining jewel in the Garland City’s crown? This fabulous yard display on the east end of town:
I love it! There’s so much, it’s hard to find an angle to get it all in the frame at once!
Now, heaps of Christmas trim alone don’t make this whacko yard art. I get that. The devil’s in the details on this one:
1. This picture was taken on Tuesday. This week.
2. The people who own this house are known around town as “The Cowboy and Mrs. Cowboy.” (They run the local Subway franchise, and like all local fast food franchise operators, they are local celebrities.) Also: The Cowboy sidelines as an Abraham Lincoln impersonator every February.
3. While the majority of this display is store-bought and/or inflatable, there are some fabulous homespun touches throughout that really shouldn’t be missed. My favorite: the Santas up front…especially Patriot Santa.
Petus Rockus

Petus Rockus. This rock was found in Keene Creek, left here by the Wisconsin Glacier 23,648 years ago. Placed on this stand May 1985 by Ken Seehus.
Wacko Yard-art Photo Scavenger Hunt

While running errands today I came across this lovely piece of yard art. I’m posting it as a challenge, because I know you can do better. And because a piddly blizzard like today’s is no excuse to stay inside.
Announcing the PDD Wacko Yard-art Photo Scavenger Hunt
You have until 10 p.m. next Thursday, March 19, to post the most awesome yard art photo on this Web site.
Victory Garden-Duluth Style
Life has somewhat hit the skids of late for me and as I contemplate the fact that I am too rich for food stamps but not sure how long I’ll be easily feeding myself and my two kids, I’m planning for the future. Or at least as far into the future as I can see, which will be summer and fall.
I am a home gardener and I’m thinking about looking into a plot at the community gardens for an even bigger harvest. Does anyone know the contact info for the community gardens on Arrowhead Rd?
Also, I ROCK at organizing things. Would there be any interest out there for home gardeners to get together and pool our resources and have our own little “barter” group of home grown veggies/fruit/eggs/honey/wild rice/what have you?
I envision people signing up to say that they would participate and letting me know what kind of produce they could contribute. It would depend on how many people are interested and what kind of things they could contribute as to how the next step would proceed. I have ideas there as well but would welcome anyone with experience in this sort of thing.
I participated in a CSA last year but this year, I just won’t be able to afford it. I’m hoping that this idea could be a local, organic, group idea for folks like me.
Please contact me at charitablecrafters@yahoo.com if you are interested in getting on a list of possible participants! Thanks!
For those not going to the Mitchell…
Beaner’s has been kind enough to let me display roughly 40 new drawings and paintings. Reception is this Thursday @ 6:00. They’ll be up on the wall through February.
The EP will be a free download: “Bone Black: improvisations on amplified harmonica”, but you have to actually go to the reception to get the URL.
My good friends Clint Boylan and Toby Churchill will be playing music throughout the night as well. It’s really worth it just to see them.
Wait… Did I mention all of this is free?
Sammy.
p.s. (pdd 3.0 is nifty)






