Volunteer Firefighters

In our area it would be impossible to have a paid Fire Department.  We rely on Volunteers.  Well trained neighborly volunteers.  I was a Volunteer Firefighter and EMT years ago, I am retired.   Far Guy has retired twice,  because day time is so poorly covered he is on call during weekdays. 

I am not sure that the general public knows that these guys work day jobs and then at night when the pager goes off summoning them to a call, they roll out of bed to go on a rescue call or a fire.  Rescue calls are usually short, in two hours you can be back in bed..can you sleep?  That depends on the call and it’s outcome.  Fires are the pits, I hated Fire Calls..sometimes it takes all night to put out a fire. Then you spend a couple more hours washing hoses and disinfecting SCBA’s.( Self Contained Breathing Apparatus)   In the spring brush fires were the worst..you can have many a day until it greens up.

Sometimes you are just sitting down to supper and the pager goes off.  Sometimes you are in the shower, sometimes you have company.  This area is a fairly busy when it comes to calls..I don’t know the exact numbers but they respond to about 200 calls a year..that would be about four calls each week.

Saturday night we were invited to the annual Fire Department Dinner.  Salad, Cheese and Crackers, Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Green Beans and some kind of desert that Far Guy thought was heaven.

My other baby brother got a Ten Year Pin..time flies..he was a Volunteer Firefighter in Wyoming too, before he moved back here. 

My brother Jody on the left and Ken who was chosen the newest Firefighter of the year! If you ever have occasion to be in a bad situation..these are two guys that you want on your side. They are also wonderful leaders and mentors to the younger up and coming firefighters. 

Volunteer Firefighters and members of Rescue Squads are some of the real unsung heroes in small communities:)

Carvers

We had the occasion to get out and meet some new carvers.  I needed my knives sharpened..and when I bought them they came with Free Sharpening for life at a carving shop over by Lake Ida. Anyone is welcome to the open carving on Thursdays.  It is an hour plus drive for us.  Carvers drive from miles around to get to Larry’s Shop. Years ago we took some classes from Larry.

My knives were a mess, it took Larry quite some time to get a new edge on them.  There is nothing worse than knives that are dull.

I bought a new knife..Dave said I needed it to finish my Duck. ( I found out later that he was a Duck expert.)  Maynard said it was a good idea..he was the carver selling the knives.  It is a push knife and should do the job.

Dave gave me a new cutout (a reindeer) to try, I have found that carvers are generous people..if they have an extra cutout they share readily.  Both Dave and Maynard are former Wood Carving Instructors.  What a pleasure it was to make new acquaintances.

Maynard was a Chef Instructor before he retired, so naturally I was picking his brain getting some ideas for Far Guy to try..we talked about different ways to prepare fish and seafood.  I don’t know if I am adventurous enough to try scallops or tuna..we finagled  ourselves an invitation to his place..he is also an accomplished chain saw carver and he used to do ice sculptures too.

My knives are all sharpened now, Larry said “Don’t be using these for bark carving anymore.”  I won’t and I made the switch last week to Exacto knives that have replaceable blades for bark carving.

Everyone at the open carving sharpens their own knives.  I encouraged Far Guy to get some equipment, well once the word gets out amongst other carvers..soon an opportunity arose.

The other morning we drove to the south side of Shell Lake and Far Guy got all set up with a sharpening system.  Tucked back in the woods was a guy who turns wooden bowls and builds custom cabinets and builds pole buildings. The equipment he had for sale was more suited for sharpening carving knives than the huge gouges he uses for turning wood. 

Anyways…I am saving up my good carving knives for a special class I am taking in May. So what will we practice sharpening?  We ordered some blades so that we can make our own carving knives, that should be an adventure.  These will be bark carving knives for me to dull so Far Guy can practice sharpening..yup it is a team effort.

I really didn’t need to add another hobby on top of a hobby..but I have never made a carving knife before..you can let your imagination run wild with some of the beautiful handles.  Perhaps winter should come to an end pretty soon, before I end up with more hobbies:) 

Birth

The barn is reasonably quiet, except for an occasional grunt and an odd squeal.  The heater fan turns on and drowns out the sound of the radio.  It is tuned to some Country Station. Perhaps the inhabitants of the barn are soothed by the heartbreak that the latest cowboy with a black or white hat is singing about.

There is a grumpy old inhabitant on the end, she gets the whole place stirred up..what is her problem anyway…she is a troublemaker. She sounds mean.

The mama that I am watching is calm, she makes soft grunty noises to her babies.  A baby escapes off toward her head..I hope she is as good of a mama as she seems..she is and the little one finds it’s way back.

My instructions are clear, use towel number one then towel number two to dry the newborn off..give them a good rub..and then put them in with their littermates.

In the meantime I wait..watching, looking for signs of straining and a baby in a sack.  I watch the other babies..searching for a teat..then searching for one that might be better than the one they had.  One hour old two at the most, they are clumsy and they fall over easily.  They knock each other over and they step on each others umbilical cords.  They are my source of entertainment while waiting. They make me smile.

Finally my wait is rewarded..I think a baby is on the way.  Sure enough, a baby is coming..steaming..forced from it’s growing place in a nice warm womb into the warmth of the barn..but there is still about a 30 degree difference in temperatures.  I grab the appropriate towel, one more push and it will be all the way out..it is delivered..I grab it in the towel and hold it to my chest..I clean around its mouth and nose..what a rude awakening. It is breathing!!  I rub it all over to dry it off and I do the same thing with the next towel.. I say “ I think your name should be Wilbur or Babe.  I would like to hold you for a long time..but you must go in with your Mama.”

I only got to be a pigwife for a little while..this Mama was all done..I helped to deliver her last little pig..she had ten. It was a fun time in the barn at the neighbors..birth..what an absolute miracle:)   

Below Zero

In Minnesota when it stops snowing and the skies clear you know that is is going to get cold.  Last night it was –6 below and than as the morning progressed it got colder instead of warmer at 8 AM it was –10F or –23C.

Once it gets below zero the number is not so important except to the locals..everyone wants to have the coldest temperature in the area.  I don’t know where they buy their thermometers at or where they get their glasses from..but it is not the same place I get mine.

Back in 1957 and 1958 when I was in first and second grade, I  walked to the end of the driveway to catch the school bus.  My Dad would walk with me in the winter.  He would carry what I have always called an Indian Blanket, a warm colorful blanket. I think that some mornings he carried me through the deep snow drifts so that I wouldn’t get all snowy and wet before school.  While we were waiting for the bus, he would wrap me inside the blanket and hold me close to shield me from the wind that came off the prairie.  Dad also shoveled that entire driveway by hand. The driveway was over 600 feet long ( Far Guy measured it on Google Earth.)

I recall some of the dirt roads in our area being just like tunnels when you drove through them in a car, you could only see forwards or backwards. They were one lane tunnels too..if you met another car someone was going to have to back up.

Along the road to Osage the snow drifts would be almost as high as the telephone poles..it was rumored that some of the kids would run up there along the drifts.  I remember scratching the frost off of the window in the bus with my fingernails, or just making fingerprints all in a circle to melt the frost or getting really close and breathing on the glass to unthaw it enough to see out..just to see how high the snow banks were.  I always wore my snow boots to school and I might have been wearing a dress but I still had my snow pants on underneath:) 

S(no)w Fun

Chance seems to be the only one having a good time in the snow.

I bet you are getting tired of snow pictures.. me too.

 

That is what is new around here..new snow..to pile on top of the old snow, and to cover up the ice.  It snowed almost all day yesterday..the idiot weather forecaster said we would get about a half an inch..my eye.  My Nephew Josh came by and plowed us out and Far Guy did some cleaning up in the yard this morning..moving part of the huge snow bank back.  We just might be running out of places to put the freaking snow.

At least today the sun is shining, I sat outside for awhile.  I got pine pitch on my pants..so I had a sticky butt.  Skin-so- Soft gets rid of pine pitch.

I had to sit down for awhile..and I sat in the snow bank awhile..damn it is slippery out there, just like that I was ass over teakettle in the snow bank.  Chance noticed me first and came over and licked my face and then brought me the ball ( a ball always consoles him and makes him feel better..if it works for him why wouldn’t it work for me) ..all the while Far Guy was talking to me..but not looking at me..then he turned around. 

Why is it that when you fall down ..everyone wants you to get up right away?  When I have fallen, I don’t care who laughs..I am going to stay right there on the ground or in the snow bank until I have moved all the hurting parts and have gone through the mental check list of all of my 206 bones.  Then I might just crawl out of the icy slippery part and then get up.  Who in their right mind wants to fall twice.  I am fine..I managed to sit the bowl of bread crumbs that I was taking out for the birds neatly into the snow bank without spilling them all over and my camera was safely around my neck. It was s(no)w fun but it is February what do I expect:(

Wistful Wednesday :1953

March of 1953, I was still an only child..my baby brother was born the next year in March.  From what my parents tell me, I went everywhere with my Dad.  I was his shadow.

I was good at pitching fits to get my way.  I would stomp my feet and scream at the top of my lungs and then hold my breath until I turned purple. That behavior ended the day my Uncle Adolf witnessed a “fit.”  He was a big guy, he jumped up and down on the kitchen floor so hard it made the kitchen windows rattle.

This was taken in the kitchen at the farm. That window looked into the porch, and that door led out into the porch.  The Kitchen had bead-board that was painted white. Now I have bead-board in the bathroom upstairs…if I were to build a house again, I would have a red and white kitchen with white bead-board.  That door may have had a key..but I don’t think so.  Usually a butter knife was stuck sideways in-between the door and the door trim as a lock.  The linoleum floor was a dark green.

I have something that is in this photo.  Nope not the doll, and I may have that dress or perhaps the shoes..I would have to look at some of my early treasures to know for sure. 

The table off to the left.  Tammy and Trevor bought my parents old fishing resort and hauled that table off to the Osage Mall( Dump) and Far Guy and I rescued it.  It is in my garage. It is a little worse for the wear, but it still has the shiny legs and a pearl grey swirled top and an extra leaf for expansion.  In this photo it has an oil cloth most likely red and white on it’s top.

What is plugged in on the left? ..the refrigerator..and on the middle window ledge is a tin of Velvet tobacco and a little ceramic white swan. I cannot for the life of me remember what color the curtains were..I think yellow but they might have been pink.  Why am I sitting in the chair?  I was probably waiting for a snack, or staying clean until it was time to go someplace:)

Clean Snow

The snow was starting to get that all used up dirty old sock look. It had shades of brown and grey, some spots of black dirt were seen momentarily in the nearby fields. I said “Well that won’t last.”  It didn’t.

It snowed most of yesterday and there are still a few flakes floating around yet this morning.
        

My snow stick shows a gain of a little more than an inch of wintery wonder, that has now covered the icy spots that were left after the melt and made them more slippery than snot on a door knob.      

We are way north of where the multiple inches of snow went through over the weekend. We have enough snow..I wonder when this snow bank will be melted away..I wonder when the snow stick will show only grass? I wonder when spring will come?

Would you like to guess? Should I carve something and then give it to the person that guesses closest to the day?

What day will my florescent green Smokey Bear ruler be free of snow and ice when it is placed on the ground next to the snow stick?    Leave me a comment with your guess…only one guess per person..so make it a good one.  A warm rain could wipe out that snow stick in no time at all.. a snowstorm could add to it’s days.
Now what shall I carve..you will just have to wait and see:)   


Guesses so far :
rockygrace  March 10
Rae  March 10
Gail March 13
LynneFtWorth  March 15
Karen  March 16
Nezzy March 18
DayPhoto Linda March 20
Country Gal March 21
Jan in Alex (Area Voices) March 21
Pamela March 21
Jennifer March 22
Lynda March 23
Linda P March 26
Kathy March 29
Lanny April 01
Ann (Area Voices) April 01
LD Burgus April 02
Connie Peterson April 07
Liz in Pa  April 07
Changes in the Wind April 09
TechnoBabe April 10
ladyfi April 11
dennisranch  April 13
Nancy April 15
Anonymous April 17
laurie April 18
Cathy M April 20
Patty April 21
GramMary ( Area Voices) April 24
I'm Crayon April 27
Patsy May 24
Muffys Marks  June

Monday February 21, 2011

It started snowing here sometime early this morning.  Chance and I went out and took some photographs of the beautiful event early this morning..then we went back to sleep.

Chance must be sticking his tongue out at the snow.  

I never get Cardinals in the yard, so got a new garden flag with Cardinals. I had to shovel snow so the flag would have some place to hang. And yes I use a cloths pin to keep the flag on the holder..I got tired of chasing flags around the yard..and when I lost one for good..out came the clothes pin.

The little birds were here scarfing down the thistle seed.  They are used to Chance being in the yard, he ignores them.

I should have stayed awake early this morning. I will be unsettled all day today..I had a nightmare.  I was a finalist on Top Chef.  In order to pass to the next level Tom Colicchio said we had to eat some raw snake that was a delicacy..I woke up gagging:) 

The Cooking Agreement

Far Guy and I came to a cooking agreement about 7 years ago.  I had cooked for us for 35 years.  I am not a good cook, I didn’t enjoy it..the only part of cooking I like is the eating part.

The agreement was Far Guy would take over for the next 35 years..I figured that would get us well into the nursing home years where meals are provided.

Far Guy does really good, we keep the list on the fridge of menu choices that he can pick and choose from.  Approximately two days a week I cook, because he used to cook on his days off during the first 35 years of our life together. The girls made it through his experiments with French Meatballs, Gumbo that even our dog Snuffer wouldn’t eat and Bean Hotdish that had some kind of hot sauce in it that made the girls cry.

Last night was my night, it started off on the wrong foot..as my half hour nap turned into a three and an half hour sleep.  So that is exactly how long it took me to cook supper three and a half hours..what was I cooking..well it was a cheap steak that was baked in the oven, it was to be all tender and smothered in brown gravy to be plunked on a bed of spaetzle, accompanied by mixed peas and carrots. Spaetzle is a German Noodle or Dumpling if you prefer to call it that..I call it a noodle.

The last two times I attempted Spaetzle from scratch it was a dish washing nightmare.  Trica said “ Mom anyone can do spaetzle, you just mix it up and push it through a strainer into the boiling water.”  Easy for her to say..I tried it..two gunked up strainers later I just threw clumps of dough into the water..it was edible.  Obviously I am not just “anyone.”

Then I read that you could use a ricer to make the noodles.  Now I had a ricer upstairs someplace..I located it and gave it a whirl…noodle dough just gunked up those little holes.  I then stood above the water and with a spoon dropped strings of noodle dough into the water. They were edible ..but not pretty.

I went back to purchased spaetzle imported from Germany.  One box was 5 dollars.  It really irked me that I could not conquer those noodles.  Both of my daughters make them for their families..why am I a noodle failure? What am I not getting?

A Christmas Jen brought over her spaetzle maker to make spaetzle for her Dad.  It looked easy to me, she whipped those noodles up and had them in the pot in no time. They were great! “Easy peasy..even you can do it Mom.”

Far Guy and I looked for our very own spaetzle maker, we finally found one in Grand Forks at the Home of Economy…that is where Jen got hers.  10 dollars..well after two bunches of noodles I will be saving money…and dreams of being a perfect spaetzle maker are dancing in my head.  I can do this..I CAN make spaetzle for Far Guy.

A Spaetzle Maker

Spaetzle is a simple recipe, three eggs whipped till they are frothy,  then add a cup of milk and then slowly add three cups of flour and a dash of salt..(Nutmeg is optional) we don’t like nutmeggy noodles.  I opened the cupboard and said a “bad word”..I was out of flour.. but I did have some special blend flour half white/ half wheat for the bread maker.  Wheat flour should be ok..it will just make those noodles healthier.

At 7PM Chance is beside himself..he is hungry and I am not moving supper along fast enough for him.  He is underfoot and obnoxious..finally Far Guy feeds him..he refuses to eat until I say “ You better eat while you can, because I am not sure when supper will be done.”  Looking guilty he wolfs down his food.

Supper was fashionably late way after  8PM, but only after I created a floury mess and was asked “Honey, what is burning?”  It was spaetzle that had escaped the maker and ended up on the cook top.  About that time Far Guy broke a bowl, Chance and I both in our bare feet were relegated to a small portion of the kitchen right in front of the stove that was safe from slivers of glass.  After Far Guy cleaned up that mess I asked for help using the spaetzle maker.. when he got the last of the noodles pushed through.  He said “Perhaps we should just go back to the old ways, I will cook and you can just tell me how to do it.”

The spaetzle was a hit, Far Guy loved it..I thought it was really good too.  However I did close my eyes while eating it as it kind of looks like oatmeal..possible the whole wheat flour effect..but I can make noodles! :)

Chance : My Drawer

When Far Side designed the kitchen cupboards, she said. “I hate those cabinets that you can not reach the back of..those ones where you have to get on your hands and knees to get anything out of. Lets build drawers.” So Far Guy built lots of drawers.

One day when she was doling out drawers, she decided that one of the seventeen should be mine..so I have my very own drawer called ..you guessed it Chances Drawer!

I have “stuff”..besides that duck that lives on top of the fridge.

  I have two coffee cans of dry kibble in here..a special blend of lamb and chicken and rice.  My treats..those are very important and tasty too.  I get a Beggin Strip when I have finished my supper..I wait next to the drawer until they get the dishes all done and the kitchen is cleaned up.

There are other various treats in there, a few rawhide ones..those I take and hide someplace in the house or I sneak them outside and bury them in a snow bank.  Mostly they end up under pillows where no one will find them..or stuffed beside a cushion in the couch.

There are extra balls in there..lots of them.  Soft rubber ones and tennis ones and ones with bells inside.  We wouldn’t want to run out of balls..ever.

The tools that Far Side uses to clean my teeth are in there, and all my brushes. I get extra treats after I get brushed..and I hate the teeth cleaning that usually leads to an ear cleaning too…but I tolerate it because Far Side says she likes my pearly whites, and I have no idea why my ears scoop up dirt.  Did you know that Far Side smells my ears?  Well she does..I had an infection one time..she smelled that ear every day for a long time.  It kind of tickles..

I haven’t figured out how to open my drawer by myself yet..but I have been known to lead total strangers to my drawer so they could get me a treat:) 

Warm Spell

We had a little warm spell.  It got to 40 degrees above zero for a few days.  The snow began to melt, the walk and patio were entirely cleared of snow and ice.

The sparrows visited to eat the thistle seed.  They made a pooping mess..

Since it was warm, I took out a bucket of water and cleaned out the bird bath and scrubbed down the bird poop on the feeders and moved this thistle bag to a different area.

It took the stupid Chickadees days to find this peanut butter feeder.  They grab a bite and them fly over to the roof and peck at the snow to wash it down.  It is just a jar of peanut butter with a little board that is attached with a screw to the top part of the bird feeder pole.

The Oaks began to make their skirts in the snow.

The snow stick made its own skirt..it is now at the 14 inch mark.  That is still a bunch of snow.

Yesterday high winds brought in a cold front..and now we have about an inch of new snow  to cover up the crappy looking old melty snow. 

We have had our February thaw..it did not last nearly long enough for me:)

** We cut a square hole with an exacto knife in both sides of the peanut butter jar.  So far the peanut butter is staying in there!

***The tree skirts are caused by the heat that the tree trunk absorbs and releases to melt the nearby snow.

Whoa..What was that?

Sometimes when we are out and about..I say WHOA..what was that?  Far Guy will usually find some place to turn around and go back so that I can get a photo. 

Such was the case last August.  It looks like a big vase for that huge tree that grew inside.  It is a silo made from wood. I have never seen a silo made from wood?  Have you?  This one was on the other side of Lake Belle Taine.

We were following one of those great “Rummage Sale” signs..the ones that seem to go on forever..with lots of twists and turns and yellow balloons hung in the trees before we eventually got there..where they had nothing we wanted..but I got a great photo on the way:)

Wistful Wednesday: 1964/1965

Back in 1964/1965 I was in Junior High, eighth grade to be exact.  I joined band when I was in seventh grade.  I wanted to play drums. Every kid in the country wanted to play the drums, you just had to buy your own wooden sticks, no major investment.

I really didn’t want to learn to play an instrument. I just wanted to be in the Marching Band and be a majorette.  I wanted to wear some cute little outfit and twirl my baton. 

I never learned how to read music, I just kind of guessed what notes were in the ballpark.  I was tone deaf..I could not tell a sharp from a flat.

I got stuck playing the coronet.  My parents rented an instrument. I went to lessons, I even went to lessons during the summer at the Osage School.

I was in the Junior High marching band.  We practiced twice a week in the evenings, I learned how to march. I could even play a few notes while marching..not all of them..but a few. We had to memorize the entire song, no sheets of music were allowed.  Our Junior High Band Leaders were both  kind men. ( We had both Mr. Evju and Mr. Wood during those years.)   We marched in two parades a year..the Memorial Day Parade and the Homecoming Parade.

I tried out for majorette for three years..it was just not in the cards..I would only be a majorette in my mind.

The summer before tenth grade, the Senior High Band Leader gave me summer lessons.  I made him so angry that he would holler and get all red in the face.  He hollered at most of the kids, except for his favorites.  I had enough hollering in my life and when it came time to pick my classes for tenth grade..Band was not one of my choices. I was a band drop out.

Here is a photo of the Junior High Band in the1964/1965 school year.

Back then kids were placed according to their skill..there are 12 coronet players..I am eleventh out of twelve..My good friend Trudy wasn’t so hot either. ( I am in the fourth row second from the left.)  My very first date was with the young man in the last row 5th from the right..his name was Bobby he was a drummer, he used to come with his Mom to buy eggs at our place. See that gal in the second row on the left with the saxophone..she was in a band with her parents..she had natural talent.

We had uniforms..cantcha tell..dark skirts and white blouses/shirts. We had to have white tennis shoes for marching band..and dark colored pants..preferably black.

I often think back and wonder what made the Senior High Band Instructor so angry?  Did he get some weird perverted satisfaction from making young girls cry?  Well not me..I might have bawled afterwards but I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me bawl during a music lesson:)

February 15

This is a special day.  It was on this day a long time ago that my husband entered this world.  He was born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota at a tiny hospital in the south east part of town.

Far Guy..nine months old in November of 1950.

 

Here he is with his Mother sixty years ago on his first birthday.

Happy Birthday Far Guy! :)

15,695 Valentines and Counting

Valentines Day..I am not sure why it is a big deal..are you supposed to love more today than other days?  Perhaps you are just supposed to show it today..with cards, flowers and chocolates. Another of those shopping commercial holidays..I say Bah Humbug..wrong holiday you say..maybe not.

How about those things you cannot buy that are shared everyday?   A hand to hold, a laugh to share, an inside joke that only two of you understand, a comfortable silence, a knowing glance that speaks more than words. 15,695 Valentines Days, one right after the other.  Everyday for 43 years can be Valentines Days, some are just more memorable than others. Have you ever noticed that Chance sports three fourths of a heart shape?   He is quite a dog!  You have heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve..Chance wears his on his shoulder:)

Main Street America

You know what they say about small towns..they need our business.  They cannot survive without our business.  We live in a touristy area..many of the restaurants close down for the winter.  We have lots of tourist shops you know the kind..candy shops, book stores and shops with all that crap from China..some are closed for the winter and some try to keep their business afloat all year round.

August 02, 2010

Now our small town did the unthinkable to it’s downtown businesses last summer.. construction..what a mess.  Two years ago they closed main street off because of construction to the main highway..so for the last three years they have had only one year of decent business.

August 15, 2010

Every business was assessed for the sewer and water work that was done.

This is the sidewalk from the south part of Main Street on August 30, 2010.  The city fathers thought it was important to have a walk way for all the shoppers that were showing up on Main Street.

Next summer they will be doing all the side streets.

September 24, 2010

In all of these photos only the first one shows construction workers actually working. The photos were taken on various days, at various times when we just happened to be driving by on our way to the grocery store. The construction company in charge of this project was slower than molasses in the wintertime.  They could have put up lights and worked 24 hours a day on this project. The City Fathers and Mothers should have insisted upon it.

Main Street opened again in late November..the small cafe that we used to frequent raised their prices..the Hallmark Store where I used to shop has been sold and a women’s clothing store will take it’s place. Just what we need a store where you cannot buy anything under 50 dollars.  

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but the Movie Theatre  did a face lift of the outside of their building during the construction..then they closed for major renovations, what used to be one huge theatre is now three small ones. Their 3D theatre is not open yet..but the others are..on Tuesdays you can go to the movies for 4.50 each..on Mondays it costs you 6.50 but you get free popcorn.  Some things are still a bargain on Main Street.  The last time were were at the movies we took the grandboys to see “Kung Fu Panda”..I think that was back in 2008:)

Internet Shopping

There are some things I cannot get in town.  St Ives Exfoliating Apricot Body wash for one..I let my local grocery store know, no it has not been discontinued it is just not available from the distributor.  I order it Online.  Recently Secret Flawless Clear Gel Unscented Antiperspirant went off the shelves in our local stores. I ordered it Online. The P and G website says it is an available product at my local Wal-Mart..I sent them an email giving them the real scoop.

I don’t mind ordering online, because more often than not I end up saving money even with the shipping.

How much do you suppose the Internet is effecting local business? I have not been on Main Street for months.

Not that I am any where near the pulse of the shopping world. If I had a cow and a few chickens and could garden year round..and grow Apples and Bananas up here in the frozen tundra I would be all set. I would only go to town twice a year..with my horse and buggy..because with the price of gas going up nearly everyday pretty soon that may be our only option:)     

Centaurea montana or Mountain bluet

It is warming up here..it is above zero!  In celebration of the warm weather which is now 14 F (-10C) ..after a low last night of  –18 F (-28C)..spring must be coming..32 degrees difference overnight!!

This is Centaurea montana which is commonly known as Mountain Bluet or Perennial Bachelors Button. It is a very pretty blue color, one of the few plants that is blue.

This is the bud.. a beautiful quilt like bud…I was really curious about this bud..it looked much deeper in color than usual.

It was purple.. a seedling variation. These are in an area west of the old Jack Pine, I wonder what color they will be this year?    Centaurea montana self seeds itself all over.  I have enough space in my wild gardens that I just let it go wherever it wants..however for you gals with more formal gardens you may find this plant invasive.

Centaurea montana grows 12 to 18 inches tall for me and it grows in full sun or part shade…I rarely water the “wilds” so it must not be fussy about water..and the deer don’t eat it, and Minnesota’s harsh winters don’t kill it:)