Book Club 2026: May

 The read for May was There's Something about Mira by Sonali Dev

I give it a 4 on my scale of 1 to 10.  The plot was easy to figure out...I wrote the ending in my head half way through the book.  Not impressed.  Most everyone at bookclub was not impressed.

Thursday is Infusion Day so I ran errands to Wally World, Aldi, another grocery store, the Meat Market and the bank all within an hour.   Yeah me! 

Late in the afternoon we went to the visitation for a 94 year old neighbor who died.  Maurice was a very kind man, we served on the Fire Department with him and when we were building out home he did all the cement work for us.  He was a perfectionist when it came to cement!  94 years is an accomplishment!

Minnesota weather: High 55F or 13C  Low was 33F or 1C.   The wind was chilly. 

What's cooking?  Ham, turkey and cheese on a pretzel bun with peaches and raspberries:)

Far SIde

Tilly on Main Street

 We ran all kind of errands in town...Post Office, recycling etc...then we picked up Tilly and went to lupper.

He has his blinker on here as he was leaving the parking spot.

Not many tourists here yet so we could park in the center of Main Street.  Yes Park Rapids is one of the few towns where you can park in the center of the street or diagonal.  The Main Street is extra wide because when they laid out the town they wanted enough room for horses pulling a sled of lumber to turn around in the street. 

A number of buildings on Main Street are empty.  There is no longer a dime store or a fabric/quilting/yarn store.

Gasoline was $4.04 in town. (Tilly uses lots of gas)

Anyways.  Tilly endured a few snowflakes in the air....I think Far Guy was about ready to catch them all. Tilly is home and safely in her garage.  Goodness knows what he would have done if it started to rain!!

Minnesota Weather:  High 42F or 6C  Low was 27F or -3C. Cloudy all day. 

Far Side

A decision

 I finally made a decision about my next crochet project!! 

I have always admired the blankets that use lots of colors of yarn...starting in the round and morphing into a square.   So...I found a free pattern.   It is called Bernat Study of Reality

Here are my mostly final colors nestled in my work basket. 

I call it a bucket of color.   That light pink in the far left has not been used yet....but I think it will make the cut.

Here is what I have so far.  If it all works out I can see me making more blankets of this pattern.  I am using Stylecraft DK yarn and a 3.5mm crochet hook. The pattern calls for different yarn and a different hook size...I must be a rebel crocheter.

So far the written pattern has one mistake but I figured it out.   There are also You Tube instructions. 

I like doing the different stitches...it keeps my brain engaged. 

We took Tilly to town for an oil change and a gasket replacement...Far Guy is getting nervous as it is late in the afternoon(Tuesday) and they have not called him to pick her up yet!  If they don't call pretty soon I will have to cook something for supper....we wanted to go out for a late lunch/early supper...lupper:)

We had a good visit with my cousin Chuckie, he was 86 a few week ago.   The visit was on my list of things that I wanted to do!

Minnesota weather:  There was snow in the air Tuesday morning. (It was not in my imagination either as cousin Chuckie saw it too) High was 39F or 4C  Low was 28 or -2C.  Seems we are in a cold spell.

Far Side

Dryer screen

 Who knew? Or remembered?  We were having a problem with our cloths dryer...the clothing was so hot I could barely touch it to fold clothing even during the cool down cycle.  Ouch!!  Something was a muck.

Far Guy tore apart the front panel to locate a temperature sensor...then we called the appliance shop in town and talked to Bert because he might have the part we needed.   It is a stacked Maytag and we have had it a really long time...over twenty years. 

Bert said "The soaps and fabric softners today that are used sometimes build up on the dryer screen, clean the screen with soap and water and it may fix your problem."

Low and behold it did the trick.  It had been a year maybe two since I last washed the lint screen.  I know I have heard this little fix before but did not recall it.

We are especially vigilant and never leave the house when the dryer is on.  Years ago I saw a house fire that was caused by a dryer and our oldest daughter lost her first home to a dryer fire when Savannah was a baby. 

Smoky Hills were really smoky one day last week. No fires just humidity.

Supper was Far Guy's amazing dip and tacos.

Minnesota weather: High 49F or 9C  low 27F or -3C.   It was supposed to rain...but it did not.

Far Side

Golden

 Some days are more Golden than others.

Isn't she a beauty?  We love her lots!  It was good to see her last week on Thursday night and Friday.  She was so excited she went between Far Guy and I for attention....yes she might be a tad spoiled...but we helped spoil her when she was a pup. 

Then back at home what popped up...well the Dandys of course.  I didn't think it was warm enough for them yet. 

On our travels Up North last week we saw a bear near Zerkle.  I was not fast enough with my camera to get a photo. 

Minnesota Weather: High 67F  or 19C  Low was 43F or 6C...it is supposed to turn cold and rain on Monday. 

Far Side