Walk, Chowder, Mangoes, Geese!

I was extra tired on Friday and I knew I would be leaving the next day (early!), so I had a very slow morning and a relaxing day watching HGTV with my Mom and making sure she was drinking enough by constantly refilling her glass with iced tea!

In the afternoon, I went for a walk.

The sun sets very early at this time of year in Minnesota!

Look at my parents' beautiful home:

Here is what I wore for my adventures:

sweater: Target
blouse: Calvin Klein

jeans: Style & Co from Macy's
socks: Target
moccasins: Minnetonka

I decided to check out the park that I heard was down the street and over the freeway.

Here's the freeway wall; even that is pretty, covered with vines.

I saw a Bald Eagle!

There are lots of fir trees along the path.

There's the ramp to cross the freeway!

But, look!  There's a park on my parents' side of the freeway, too!!!

I decided to go over the bridge anyway, just to explore and find out what's on the other side.

The path meandered through a lovely marsh.

While I was taking a photo of this pod, a duck flew out of the nearby bushes, quacking up a storm.

I was headed directly towards the Brooklyn Park water tower!

Here's the beautiful autumn colors of the marsh (golden brown and green and some red):

Walking a bit more, I found another park, with similar play equipment and fields.

I love the flattened fallen leaves this time of year.

The fire hydrants have to have these tall sticks attached to them so that the fire people can FIND the hydrant even if there is a lot of snow piled up.

Here is the sun setting over the marsh on my way back again.

I saw a woolly brown caterpillar:

They're tiny!

And then I crossed over the freeway again.

It's very loud.

On the way home, I noticed quite a few of these adorable little pinecones.

I arrived home to find my Dad cleaning windows.

I decided it was time to make dinner.

I planned to make chowder.

The "cream" sauce was made with cauliflower and I was impressed with it.

It had lots of chopped veggies:

I forgot to take a picture of the final result, but it was tasty and satisfying, especially on a chilly evening.

I also made baked sweet potatoes to munch on.

Later that night, I made mango-banana-chocolate frozen dessert

for us while we were watching a Hallmark Christmas movie.

YUM!

I will definitely be making this one again!

2 bananas, frozen for 2-3 hours

10 ounces frozen mangoes

milk or nondairy milk as needed for texture

mini chocolate chips for topping

Put fruit in the food processor and process until desired texture, adding milk as necessary.

Put in a pretty bowl and sprinkle chocolate chips on top!

Then I packed up because I needed to head out in the morning.

Sad to leave, but always glad to get home.

Bonus gift from me to you:

Enjoy these Canadian Geese, flying over and honking!