Signs of Fall

Chance and I went for a walk after supper last night.

The trees are losing their leaves and the Oaks are dropping their acorns.   It sure looks like Fall to me.  It was only 80 F degrees (26 C) yesterday.  It seemed warmer than that.

Far Guy took off and spent the day at the Minnesota State Fair.  He took a bus with a bunch of other old people..it was Senior Citizens Day at the Fair.

Chance did just fine..he loves his “sitter”!  (Thank you Jo!)

During our walk we were overtaken by the neighborhood bikers.

This biker was all dressed up..it was Open House at the school today..she starts school this Fall.  She had a little surgery last week but is feeling “just fine”..she is a trooper.

It gets dark about 8:15 now..less time to stay out after supper.

Sunset over the corn field.

I have four days off in a row.   One day is a paid vacation day, Far Guy will work for me one day and two days are my regular days off.  I might feel like a new person next week…when I go back I will have 20 work days left:)

Women’s Right to Vote

Last Monday evening the Historical Museum presented five local women who portrayed suffragists.  Women who fought hard and were jailed for their views of women’s rights.
They appeared in character and shared what it was like…

What it was like to be jailed for their opinion (never breaking a law), while jailed they were on a hunger strike and forcibly fed with a tube shoved down their throat. What it was like to have vegetables thrown at them, to be jeered at..to be looked down upon because you were a woman who wanted rights.

Women like Elizabeth Stanton, Susan B Anthony and Alice Paul. On a local level..Clara Uland and Coya Knutsen.  Brave, brave women who never gave up.

Last Sunday August 26 was the 92nd anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

If you are a woman and reading this..I hope you exercise your right to vote in every election.  Forget about being too tired to stand in line to vote, forget about supper..drag yourself off to the polling place…or vote by absentee ballot…just vote!

These women did an excellent job sharing their views through out  history. Far Guy said he was impressed.  I was entertained..it was a great history lesson.  We had a good turn out..not quite as many people as the Sioux Massacre last month..but better than some programs  last year.

This week I am finalizing next years program schedule.  I have the days all chosen and the meeting place reserved.  I am fine tuning the program schedule.  Speakers have been called and asked to commit..luckily no one has refused.  The Chamber of Commerce event calendar goes to the printer soon..I want our full schedule to appear.

I am pleased with the programs I have chosen for next year..God willing and the crick don’t rise.   ( Some of the people in my programs are very elderly..one fellow will be 99 years old young.)  Don’t worry I scheduled him with two other musicians…hopefully they won’t all croak.  IF I am at the museum next year it will all be good, if not the new director will have something to work with.  22 days and counting down:)

Wistful Wednesday:1958/59

This is a photo taken in the old farmhouse where I grew up.  It was taken late in 1958 or very early 1959.  My Mom took the photo.

That is me with my hand on my waist.  My cousin Evelyn is holding her oldest daughter Christine who was born in October of 1958.  My baby brother looks on.

In this photo we get a peek into the pantry that was at the west end of the kitchen.  I can see dishes on the shelves and what appears to be a curtain on the window. ( I do not remember a window in the pantry.)

On the wall is the little bluebird with a hat that held potholders, a “Last Supper” plate..and on the right side of the photo a basket of something.  The white enamelware coffee pot is on the stove.

Evelyn is my oldest cousin on my Dad’s side of the family. She will be 74 in a few months.  This photo was taken when Evelyn was 20 years old.  No doubt she was over to visit one Sunday afternoon to show off her beautiful little girl.

People don’t visit on Sunday afternoons like we used to back in the 1950’s and 1960’s:)

Birch Bark

This is what I made..no not a canoe and not even a Christmas tree ornament.

Any ideas?

Dave was painting on his Pumpkinseed Fish..he is so very talented.

His fish is carved from Basswood.  He will paint on it for hours and hours. 

I taught the birch bark lesson to a number of people. All woodcarvers. Any ideas yet?

I take a piece of bark four times the length of my knife blade.  Imagine the half way point and fold the two ends toward the center, then fold in half again at the center point.  Then I take one of the thin strips and stick it into the bottom end and then go round and round until the sheath is all bound together..to end it..I cut the last of the thin strip a little short so it tucks into the top part nicely. Wallah..you have a handsome looking knife sheath..so your carving knives edges are protected and so are your fingers when you are searching for just the right knife in your carving bag.

You can custom make the sheaths for all your knives. All my knives have Birch bark sheaths.  Most of Far Guys knives do to..but he has a fancy smancy canvas roll knife holder that my Aunt Anna made for him after he made her a special carving knife.

Yes, to answer your question Far Guy still makes carving knives..but he always wears his gloves since he had that unfortunate accident and severed the tendon in his finger. After the surgery and rehab..his finger still doesn’t move like it should..but it does move..some..which is better than no movement at all.

I am glad to have this project behind me…it was something I said I would do..and now it is done!  I am working on carving a snowman and Far Guy is working on a rose..we have to come up with a Christmas Ornament to carve pretty soon:)

Bees and Bark

I had a wasp chasing me around the yard. I think he was deranged.  I finally stomped on him.  This time of year the stinging creatures are so aggressive..the cold nights must do something to their brains.

I found one wasp dead in the birdbath..there must be a nest someplace nearby.

This big old Bumble Bee is collecting pollen like there is no tomorrow.

I chased a Monarch Butterfly around the yard.  It would not land long enough for a photo.

I had to soak some Birch bark for my project.  Well Chance’s pool was available..boy was he upset with me.  He got in the pool and took out my pieces of Birch bark..one by one and then stared at me…..it was one of those “I cannot believe you had the audacity to put your stuff in MY pool.”  I had to get out a cooler to use for a soaking container.  The bark comes from dead trees, it will kill a live Birch tree if you strip off it’s bark.  I have been known to collect pieces of Birch bark that fell off a logging truck.

Does anyone care to guess what I make with the Birch Bark? :)

One Day Weekend

I could take my shoes off and sit a spell…and relax.

Or perhaps I could take out the canoe.

What better use for an old canoe..fill it with Snow on the Mountain..or Bishop’s Goutweed.

Instead I will most likely clean the bathrooms, do the laundry, vacuum the furniture, scrub a few floors,  plan meals for “someone” to cook and then head for the grocery store.  I suppose I could dust a tad too.  This is really my non weekend..one day…Monday doesn’t count because I have to be at the museum for a program.  I am also helping a friend learn something new on Monday..a class of sorts…and I need to get the materials all ready.  I am sure my one day off will be over before I know it.

25 days and counting:)

Gus the ghost is getting pushy

On Thursday when Far Guy worked for me..he encountered Gus.

Yes, he finally felt the presence.

He was moving boxes into the side storage room in the basement…when all of a sudden he was pushed..and fell to the floor.  PUSHED.  He could hardly believe it..

He is a believer now.  I think he has doubted me..when I have whined about the ghost. He now realizes that I am not “nuts” or if I am he is “nuts” too.

Now he has his own personal “Ghost Story” to report to the children that will listen.

**Gus apparently did not like the clowns that were a former directors collection.  All the boxes of the stupid clowns are now at home in the space where Gus hung himself so long ago.

The Museum is not a storage facility..for “collections” of a personal nature.   I have stressed that over and over to the Board Members.  The clowns do not have accession numbers or records.  They have no historical significance to Hubbard County or to the State of Minnesota.  They were taking up space..space that could be used for many different historical objects that do hold some history of our area.

Now they are in Gus the ghosts space..I expect he will move around a bit and become more mischievous for a little while.  Perhaps I should ask for hazardous duty pay:)

**Gus/Peter the person, was the boiler operator in the courthouse.  He had only one arm.  His son was killed during WWII. Gus/Peter became depressed and hung himself.  Children walking  by saw his body hanging in the basement window and one of the Courthouse employees was alerted.

Flower Fix: Salvia

I needed a flower fix. Fall is coming on strong and soon everything that isn’t dried up will be frozen. Plus I need to practice with the new camera.

Far Guy worked for me yesterday.   I put the chicken to cook, and the wash to wash and played ball with Chance before I left.  It was too warm to take him along.

Mary has great gardens, she wasn’t home but her son was.  She is very critical of her gardens...but it was all good..and Lordy be..no weeds.

Mary was one of my customers, I custom grew many things for her..she had her requests.  One was always Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue’  she would buy three or four flats (60 plants per flat).  I tried it myself around the grain bin one year..you plant it and then see that it gets a little water and it blooms it’s heart out from late June until frost. The thing is IF you don’t know about the plant..you would never buy it in the pack..because it has non descript foliage.

 

Here it is in a blue, yellow and white garden.

It makes a lovely medium sized border.  In back is a Heliopsis of some kind, then the row of Salvia ‘Victoria blue’, Marigold most likely Sweet Cream,  Alyssum ‘New Carpet of Snow’ in the front and Lobelia ‘Marine’ (The lobelia must have had too hot of a summer.)

Here is Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria White’ in a different garden..this one had Pennisetum and that Japanese looking plant on the right that I cannot remember the name of.  She also had some Martha Washington Geraniums or Regal Geraniums in this bed.  I bet this is a beautiful garden on a moonlit night.

Before the flowers I stopped by to wish my Aunt Anna well, she is having major surgery tomorrow.  After the flowers I stopped by cousin Geraldines..she has new garden art.  I left I note that I took some photos:)

Trees and Things

The first tree to turn color in our area greets me every morning.  It stands sentinel along the road blushing with early fall color.  It will have turned color and shed its leaves and stand there naked under a carpet of dried up leaves when the rest of the trees in the area turn color.

According to my Cousin Chuckie it is a Buckeye.  We don’t have too many Buckeyes in this area.  I would like to collect some seed..but it is just off the right of way..and I do not know the people that live there.

The light is too harsh in the morning for a photo so I waited until after work..I turned around at the Bean Plant and doubled back to grab a parking spot at a approach.  The traffic was too heavy and fast to venture across the road.

This is a sure sign that Fall is on it’s way.  I think I have 27 more days of work..I am counting. I am tired. I have many projects to finish up before I close the doors for the winter.  One of these days I will have to make a list.  Some things will not get done..I am only one person.. and I can only do so much.  I refuse to bring work home with me during the summer, I put in an average of ten volunteer hours a month on top of the hours I work.

I have been working on scheduling the programs for next year, I have a pretty good line up of interesting programs.  I don’t like to think a year ahead but meeting rooms must be reserved and some of the advertising for the Summer of 2013 goes to the printer mid September.

I met a gentleman last week..who is an expert on the Early Minnesota Fur Trade..well he got added to my Fur Trade with Trapper Mark program that will end up being a permanent display at the museum.  Sometimes just the right person stops by and strikes up a conversation..I need a Grant Writer to do that real soon:)

Wistful Wednesday: 1954

This photo was taken in the summer of 1954.  I was a good big sister.

I am sure I did not let go and let my baby brother topple over..did I?

This photo sat in amongst a bunch of film to be developed for a long time.  In January of 1956 the film was finally developed.  Those were tough times financially for my parents..crop failures..grasshoppers..army worms..farming was a real challenge back then.

My much younger brother and sister don’t remember the hard times.  By the time they were born in 1960 and 1966 my Dad had been working out on the road (construction) for many years to help make ends meet at the farm.

We didn’t have dry cereal out of a box.. only porridge either Oatmeal or Malt O Meal..or Cream of Wheat.  I hated and still hate hot cereal.  When we had chickens I learned to eat eggs for breakfast…over hard. 

There was no syrup for pancakes or French toast.  I learned to eat mine plain with butter.  My Mom would boil up a syrupy concoction on the stove sometimes..but I found it too sweet.  I still like my pancakes plain with butter.

We rarely had a candy bar and if we did it was shared. We would enjoy a whole candy bar all by ourselves every Halloween from Ray and Bev’s grocery store in Ponsford.  

My Mom would can what she could..green and yellow beans ( I love yellow beans) and she made a sauce out of rhubarb that was wonderful.  This time of year the jars would all be lined up on the shelves in the basement waiting for winter.  Quart jars full of Peaches, pears, cherries and rhubarb sauce.  Green and Yellow beans, old hens cooked and canned, and pickles..sweet and dill and my favorite Russian dills.  Pickled beets and  spiced crab apples in half pints. A working crock of sauerkraut..yummy! Sometimes I still get hungry for mashed potatoes covered in sauerkraut.

The only thing I disliked was the stewed tomatoes..I like tomatoes but only fresh ones..not cooked and not chunky.  Sometimes supper was some macaroni with some of the horrid stewed tomatoes on top..I would eat the macaroni and slide the chunky tomatoes to the side of my plate..in fact I still do that whenever I encounter chunky tomatoes:)

Chance: Summertime Treats

Hiya!  It is me Chance, possibly the smartest most handsome blogging Border Collie in all of Minnesota.

I have had a good summer…full of all kinds of treats.  I get to lick all of the ice cream off the bottom of a Sundae cup at Dairy Queen…only Far Side’s Cherry Sundae..not Far Guys Hot Chocolate one…it is a rule.  I get to go to the lake and play in the water sometimes in the evening.  I chase squirrels and crows and chipmunks, if they come in my yard I chase them away.

I have my own private pool.

That’s it in the background..it sits on a concrete slab so it doesn’t kill the grass.

Far Guy keeps it full of clean water.  Far Side says that next year I need a new pool cause this one has seen better days. That blue Maxwell House Coffee container is my drinking water.  I share with birds that think it is their private water supply.

I love my pool.

Last night at supper I could barely contain myself.  I knew what was on the menu ..I watched Far Side shuck some corn… I heard them talking about how good it was..then I heard them gnawing on those cobs and I could smell that fresh cooked corn..and I did it..I yipped…to remind them that “Hey I like corn too!” 

I have watched them eat corn on the cob for years.  I know how to eat it too..Far Guy holds the cob and I bite the corn off with my front teeth. I am a corn eating machine, sometimes Far Guy cannot turn the cob fast enough for me!  I love corn on the cob almost as much as spaghetti squash.  I would eat the whole cob if they would let me.

What kind of summertime treats do your dogs like? :)

Pileated Woodpecker

There was quite a ruckus out on the lawn yesterday.  One of those huge Pileated Woodpeckers flew through announcing he was hungry.

Chance barked and ran at him.

Far Guy told Chance to sit and be quiet.

That gave me enough time to get the camera ready and try for some photos.  I have attempted to catch this fellow before ..he has always been too skittish.

He tolerated me for a short time..he likes suet.  He flew off when I got too close for his comfort and Chance was happy that he left the yard.

We have a suet feeder hanging in the tree and we have another one out in the open.  Most all of the woodpeckers like the one near the tree.  We had it in another tree further from the house but the crows kept knocking it out of the tree and quickly devoured the suet…leaving nothing for the woodpeckers.  Chance was on crow patrol for a long time this summer.  He did a real good job of chasing them out of the yard.

This is a male Pileated Woodpecker.  See his red moustache..that is a sure sign of a male. He also has an all red head.  Females do not have the red moustache and they usually have a patch of black feathers that accentuate the red on their foreheads:)

Reading

I have discovered another way to hoard books.  How many books can a Kindle Fire hold?

I have 51 books on the Fire.  Should I delete them after I read them?  I have four that I could delete.

I have enough books hidden in this house to start a small library.  I was always afraid I would run out of things to read during the winter.  Fat chance that will happen.

At one time in my life I fantasized about having a library room full of books from floor to ceiling with one of those ladders on rails..I could whip around the room finding the book I wanted and then stretch out in a window seat and read the day away. The room would not have a phone and the fireplace would always be lit..

I bought a book for $2 at a garage sale yesterday. Nebraska Pioneer Cookbook.

It has some great recipes.  I like to read cookbooks..I have already gotten $2 worth of smiles from reading it.

Popcorn Pudding

Soak two quarts of freshly popped corn in three pints of sweet milk overnight.  When ready to bake, add three well beaten eggs, a pinch of salt and sugar to taste. Bake like a custard pudding.

Sweet Milk is just regular milk..and custards are sometimes put in a pan and baked in a slow oven 325 degrees or in a warmer oven (350 degrees) in custard cups that are in a pan that is partially filled with water.

I have never made a custard…but I think I have eaten them when I was in grade school.

Right now I am trying to read my camera manual, it is real dry reading..that cookbook was just a distraction.

Chance and I went out and watched the sunset last night:)

August Flowers

I have four days off in a row.  Chance and I have already wasted one day..I slept late and then we went visiting and took a few photos.  Got to get in some camera time!

One of Far Guy’s cousins has some beautiful flowers.  She was watering when we got there..but we still managed a few photos of some of the plants that we used to grow.

This is Tithonia Fiesta Del Sol.  Often times it is called Mexican sunflower.  The Monarch butterflies love this plant. 

I smiled when I found this Tobacco behind the Cleome at the far edge of one garden. We used to grow Tobacco every year..it was one of those plants you could almost watch grow when the weather turns hot and humid.  

Here is a pretty plant that grows in the form of a small tree.

I had no idea what it was..it is a tropical plant called Duranta erecta or Golden Dewdrops or Skyflower.  Beautiful..but all parts are toxic to children and pets.  Not something I would want in my yard.

I can feel in the air that the flowers will be gone soon..it was 39 degrees F last night ( 3 degrees C).  That is a tad chilly for this time of year:(

Fall is in the air

It has turned cold here.  Especially at night, by morning I am awakened by a chill in the house and have to get up to close the windows.

The Oaks in our yard have dropped their first few leaves..the early giver uppers..the leaves towards the end of the branches that had a tenuous hold all summer have given up the fight. They litter the yard..the first of a million or two leaves that will fall in our yard.

The bean fields have turned color.

 

The grain harvest is almost over.

Large hay bales wait in the fields.

Mothers are off school shopping with their children.  The out of state tourists with children have returned to their homes where school will begin soon.  Minnesota children do not go back to school until after Labor Day.  Years ago the State Legislature passed a law that prohibited public schools from starting before Labor Day because they felt it hurt the tourist industry.  Besides that many summer business's rely on high school and college students for their summer workforce. 

Summer is almost over..and Fall is coming on strong:(

Joe and his horses

The man loved his horses.  When I was young and in love with all horses..he would let me ride his.  He taught me how to ride bareback..he taught me that some of his horses could be ridden with just a halter..they were trained good..why?..he trained them himself.  I loved my afternoons spent at his farm.  He had a passel of kids..but few of them rode.

I would call and ask if it was okay to come over..the answer was always..yes!  I would take off on my bike.

There was this one last hill..I would ride as fast as my bike would allow..and watch for sand at the bottom of the hill.  The farm and the horses were just beyond the crest of this hill.

I have photographed this hill on many occasions.. it is just down the road from where we live now.

The memories of good times gone by..of the wind in your hair and the horse under you at a full gallop.

Even after I got my own horse (who was a terrible biter)  I preferred to go over to Joes to ride his horses.  His horses never bit me..they may have tried to brush me off on some of the low hanging branches in the pasture..but they never bit me.

Now I just photograph the horses..I always asked Joe “How many horses do you have now?”  He would answer in a ever so soft voice..and ask me to keep it to myself..because his wife Vi thought he only had a few.

He was always ready to share a story or two or three.  He died last Monday so the stories will end but the good memories will remain.  Joe was 85.  When he was 65 years old he rode with the Itasca State Park Centennial Wagon Train from St. Paul Minnesota to Itasca State Park.  Now let me tell ya that is a fur piece to ride on horseback..he always said that it was a ride of a lifetime:)