Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! :)

The lake in the yard

The water is cold..really cold if you wear Crocs outside.  They are washable..it is getting too mucky for my good snow boots.

Chance needed a foot trim..it has been on my list.  The hair around the pads of his feet was really long..and he was tracking sand in from the edges of the lake.  It happens every spring.

There is no place to play ball.  The options are limited..in the muddy driveway, through the lake or in the deep snow banks.  He finally just gave up and wanted to be inside with me..especially after all the snow on the woodshed came down in one fell swoop.  Whilst he spent time with me I attacked his feet.  He was ticklish..but patient as I clipped and trimmed.  He was happy to get an extra treat for being a good boy. 

Far Guy found out that it was a hose that disintegrated that caused the leak in the woodstove system..he attempted a repair but the hose kept falling apart..to be repaired it will have to be dug up and replaced. We feel fortunate that this didn’t happen in the middle of the winter.  Last year the end of March we stopped burning wood because it was so dry outside. 

The lake begins at the end of the walk.  I think spring is trying to come.  It will be a slow process..we have lots of snow to melt.

There is still 24 plus inches of snow at the snow stick:)

Sunset Colors

I needed to see the beautiful pinks and blues of a beautiful sunset…and relax.  What a week.  It seems like all I did all week was squish problems before they got out of hand and go to appointments. AND the week is not over yet.  I had to have one of my three hour stress naps yesterday.  I get stressed and I get so sleepy I cannot function.

I broke a tooth and it was repaired.  I trouble shooted a phone problem at the museum.  I designed a bookmark for the museum, a task that was added in preparation for the big whoopty do in May.  I accompanied Far Guy to visit the grand girls and to an appointment.

The outside wood furnace sprung some kind of leak in the middle of the night.  It required a trip to town in the early AM for an adaptor so that 140 gallons of water could be transported from the kitchen sink by garden hose to the furnace. (Versus a five gallon bucket) I was fine filling the bucket..until I learned that we needed 140 gallons.

Good thing we have a gas fireplace for backup..and one of those fancy quartz room heaters..a Sunheat.  So far so good..the house is warm..and spring is coming..we were looking at replacing our furnace with electric storage heat anyway…just not until summer.

The Trumpeter Swans are here..I saw them fly over just above the treetops.

The Canada Geese were in a nearby field.

The geese are those creatures in the snowy field. I only had my idiot camera along..it does pretty good..I should have gone home for the big girl camera..but once I got back home I just wanted to stay there:)

Spring Break

Some of the area high schools are on spring break.  Some of the grand girls were home from school yesterday.  Grandpa needed to see them..so off we went.

Maddie is resting up during spring break.  She had Mono and it is taking her a long time to recover.  She is really tired.  This week is better at least she can swallow and is not crying.

Maddie and Ziggy

Savannah and Luna

Someone had a video project at school.  They decided to video cats getting baths.

Paige was not real happy that someone bathed her cat without her permission. All the cats looked wonderful after their baths! 

Paige was in school..her school was not having spring break. 

Savannah and Skittles.  Skittles is Paige’s cat.

I would have gotten a photo of Bailey..but as soon as I saw her I made a hissing noise and off she went to hide.  When she lived here with us..I sprayed her with the water bottle every time she tried to jump on the table..as I sprayed the water at her I made a hissing noise.. cats never forget.  I am not on Bailey’s list of favorites.

Chance watches all the cats..sometimes they hiss at him..if they would run he would chase them.  He loves the grand girls and had a fun time visiting them..his tail wags ninety miles an hour:)

Wistful Wednesday: 1958

I found an old Easter photograph.  My Mom must have taken this photo in the old farm house.  We are standing in the kitchen, the door to upstairs is behind us and the door to the living room is off to the left of the photograph.

Me and my baby brother in 1958. 

My Easter basket was marked on the handle with a crayon.  I am not sure what color my brothers was marked with..I think mine was orange.  We usually had some green grass and some hard boiled eggs that we had colored and some chocolate and jelly beans in our basket.  The oval baskets were our first baskets and the round ones got added later.  Can you remember those hard boiled eggs that used to sit in those baskets for days..not refrigerated..and then finally they became a table decoration..until someone ate them. Uffda..it is a wonder that we didn’t get a foodborne illness.

April 6 was Easter Sunday that year when I was 7 and my baby brother was 4.

See those chairs?  The ones with the rubber thingys on their legs so the metal wouldn’t poke through the linoleum?  Those were the “chairs” the ones that we had to sit in after church if we goofed off in church..or giggled..or squirmed too much.  I hated sitting still in those chairs..sometimes we sat side by side but most of the time we sat back to back so we couldn’t agitate each other…and giggle..it was serious business you know.

I would much rather sit still for one hour instead of two.  It was about this time that I learned to play games in church..God knew..I figured I would be struck dead..but wasn’t so my games continued.

What can you do in church to occupy an hour?  What do you see?  I saw THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL…so I would form words in my head every Sunday.  Most of the time it worked..it kept me out of that second hour where there was no THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL to occupy my mind.  Sometimes I just couldn’t control my giggles..and once I started it was really hard to stop.  The second hour became my time to daydream..making up stories in my head..ones where I was always the heroine..and famous..with beautiful sparkly dresses.

My parents were good church goers..they went every Sunday just like clockwork.  No one was ever excused.. I am not sure that was a good thing.  God is everywhere..in the flowers and in the trees and even in the snow covered countryside.  I can talk to him anytime..night or day…not just on Sundays:)

March 26 1954

March 26  1954 was a day that changed my world forever.  Life would never be the same again.  I was no longer the “only child” I wasn’t the baby anymore. My spot had been taken..just like that  things changed. The world did not center around me.  From then on times would be tough, I would have to learn how to share both of my parents..and most difficult of all I would have to learn how to be a big sister.  Of course I would have to find new ways to get attention..holding my breath and then throwing myself on the floor until I turned blue worked for a very long time.

A girl and a boy..perfect.  My brother was always my Mother’s favorite.  I think because he was a colicky sick baby that cried ALL the time.  Anyways that would make me my Dad’s favorite so that wasn’t all bad, my Dad would take me places and the baby and my Mom would stay at home..perfect.

“Be careful of your brother”..I must have heard that a million times..”Be nice to your brother”  “Don’t do that to your brother.”  “Connie Joy!!” I was only 2 1/2 years old..and he was like a big doll. ( I never liked dolls very much…but real live babies were another story.)

Now I am old..and he is getting older.  Happy Birthday to my baby brother!

  Summer of 1954 my baby brother and me.

Snow Stick Contest

Alrighty then!  I am all set for the snow stick contest!

Please leave me a comment stating the date and morning or afternoon of your guess.  Guess whatever date you think the ruler placed next to the snow stick will be free of snow and or ice.  We have about 28 inches of snow at the stick.  We had 31 plus inches but the snow settled some.  I am not trudging out there to get an exact measurement.

Last year the snow was gone from the stick on March 13 and in 2011 it left the stick on April 8.  I could hardly believe that last year at this time we had the start of green grass and I photographed robins through the window.  How depressing.  BUT it could warm up and start raining any day now.
Anyways.  I finished the small carvings for the Snow Stick Contest.

One carving will go to the Area Voices winner ( The local newspaper) and one will go to the Blogspot winner.

Guess away..and I hope no one guesses July.  Guesses will be accepted until Thursday March 28 at 9PM.
The carvings are from Cottonwood Bark that was collected along the shores of the Red Lake River near Fisher Minnesota.  We only collect dead bark.

I like carving with bark..the pieces fit nicely in my hand and are easy to carve.  They are painted with an acrylic paint and have a Bee’s Wax finish.  Each piece of wood has a different house in it ( In my mind)..the house on the right leans a little..as if it was anchored someplace where the wind blows all the time and it has slowly shifted over time..and I gave it a wonky roof.  The one of the left is a Springy little house..possibly on a tropical island someplace where it is above zero ALL the time:)

State the Date and Morning or Afternoon and I will post all the guesses here! 

Lanny April 8
Red April 10
Country Gal April 10 Afternoon
ladyfi  April 11 Noon
Blissed-out Grandma April12 Morning
Muffie April 13 before noon
troutbirder April 13 Afternoon
DJan April 14
West Side of Straight April 14 Afternoon
Pauline Persing April 15 early morning
Two Paws April 15 Noonish
Harriet April 15 Afternoon
Lynne Ft Worth April 15 afternoon
LD April 16 Afternoon
Maple Lane April 17 Morning
Nancy April 17 Afternoon
Dreaming April 17 Afternoon
Grandma Barb's This and That April 18 Afternoon
Blue Ridge Boomer April 19
Angela Cruz-Garcia  April 20 Afternoon
Alan April 21 morning
thecrazysheeplady April 21
Laura April 22 afternoon
Terry and Linda April 26
Kathy April 27 Afternoon
Primative Stars  April 29
Lisa April 30 morning
Iggy April 30 Afternoon
Shirley May 2 Afternoon
Jen May 4
MT Waggin June 1 Midnight
Far Guy July
Guessing has now closed..Thursday night the 28th:)  Thanks! 

Seen in Minnesnowda

Perhaps some of the white stuff will melt now..the worm has turned and it got up to nearly 30 degrees yesterday.  Uffda..shirt sleeve weather.

If you need a job and are not afraid of heights practically everyone needs their roof shoveled off.

There is nothing happening at the Cemetery ..if you croak you are most likely going into cold storage. Most of the headstones are covered.

The fence has disappeared in some spots. Only the top of the posts are visible.

 

Our mail box.

It was half shoveled out one day after the repair and then the wind blew and the snow plow never showed up to clear the snow or knock over the mail box again.

Friday Far Guy decided we had to shovel it clear.  The mail was not being delivered.

It was a monstrous snow bank.  Our west driveway is in that snow bank someplace..good thing we have another driveway to use during the winter.  This is not the first time we have abandoned that drive during the winter.  The wind blows the snow off the fields and sucks it right down our lane. 

That packed snow was heavy. Far Guy and I were both tired of shoveling when Josh and Missy stopped to help the elderly. Now the mail man can deliver.

Yesterday Far Guy and Chance were happy.  They had a whole sack full of mail:)

Busy week

One more week left in this miserable month of snow and cold.  It seems like the weather forecasters completely miss how cold it is every morning.  They predict –7F  (-21C)and it goes to –24F (-31C).  We are supposed to be done with that bitter cold now..we will see.

It was a busy week.  I made some headway with my “Winter Cleaning.”  I wanted to be all done by Easter but that probably won’t happen.  I finished up the downstairs bathroom, bedroom and living room…all had been in various stages of cleaning and are now done.  Onto the laundry/furnace room and the kitchen/dining room.  Sometimes I start with one project and get way laid for days in some other more fun direction.

I spent a day in my photo backup system deleting copies of photos.  I should spend another day in there deleting some photos..with my new big girl camera more space is need per photo.  Who needs six different views of Chance in the same snow bank anyway..keep the best one and delete the rest.  (You know how hard that is?)  I am not so good at editing.

Whilst cleaning out the bathroom..I took inventory of my makeup.  I only wear make up on special days and to work.  What a bunch of  junk I had..so I made a list and purchased what I needed..one small bag and $50  later I still need some lip gloss and hypoallergenic mascara.  As I was tossing things in my shopping cart..I thought..self you should really replace some of this crap every few months and then you wouldn’t have to spend so much time in the make up aisle.  Far Guy came to check on me twice to make sure I was okay, one time he pretended he needed me to answer a highly technical toilet bowl cleaner question…bleach or not..clinging gel or regular? ( I gave him the other shopping list that didn’t include makeup.)  It was good for him to have the other list..it was a learning experience.  He knows I am fussy about some things..toilet bowl cleaner not so much.

I ordered some new shoes for work.  Two new pairs of Crocs..one pair black with a sling back which might be real sexy if I didn’t have winter dry heels that feel like sandpaper.  The other pair is a red Mary Jane type..oh I love a red shoe they are one of my weaknesses.

I need to think about some new work clothes soon..a red sweater is on my list..and most likely a couple of red tops..to go with all the red shoes:) 

Snow Removal

Yesterday the snow plow guys were on the road.

You cannot see over the snow banks..so you have to be real careful and pull out slowly to peek around the snow bank.

Someone let the three musketeers out.

The grader pulls the snow onto the road.

He makes a big mess..and then the blower guy blows it off the road.

This guy is the clean up crew.

Just so you know, Far Guy was driving and I was taking photos!

Seems to me to be lots of equipment..three machines and three men.  A few years ago they had a huge rotary snow plow..one machine and one man..perhaps it is broke down someplace.  Most likely our governments way of employing more people to do the same job.

Even with this snow being moved..the snow banks are huge.  From now until it melts every time you leave home you are taking your chances on getting back home again.

Far Guy and Chance removed some snow off of my garage..Far Guy could just walk along and remove the snow.  This is the first time that has happened since we moved here and built my garage in 1998 :)

Spring is lost

Spring must have gotten lost.  It is lollygagging around down south or out west and forgot about us here in Minnesnowda.

Chance looked for Spring.  I told him it was here.

He looked really hard out into the woods..he couldn’t spot Spring either..maybe it is stuck in a snow bank someplace.

Perhaps the little hungry birds have found Spring?  Nope nothing but bird seed in that feeder.

The snowplow wiped out our mailbox.  Chance and Far Guy were very nervous..mail is their “thing.”  They were really worried.  They finally came up with a plan to use the same post as our neighbor..somehow their mail box survived.  It was unbelievable..we have had our mailbox on one of those swing away arms that swivels..when it was sheared off of it’s base 3 feet away from the road.  That snow plow driver should be fired.  He pushed snow way off the road..he practically had to drive in the ditch.  Forget about using the snow banks as visual markers for where the road is..you will end up in the ditch..he is an idiot. 

I know Spring saw the stop sign and stopped.

I wonder what Spring will do when the sign gets covered up.  Maybe then she will arrive:)

Wistful Wednesday :1952

This is an old photograph from April of 1952.  We were probably gathered for Hilda’s first birthday.

My Mom, me, my cousins Hilda and Geraldine and My Grandma Y holding Gloria.  Gloria was a cousin of Hilda and Geraldines.  I think this was taken at Hilda and Geraldine's home place, their parents were my Uncle Ervin and Aunt Violet.  Geraldine is trying really hard to hold onto her little sister.

Aunt Violet probably took the photo..or maybe my Dad.  I can see the flash of the flash attachment of the little Brownie camera that was my Mothers.

Hilda, Gloria and I are about the same age give or take a few months.  I was always scared of Hilda because she would bite me and leave those terrible teeth marks on my arms.  I am sure I never bit back.

Sometimes on Saturday nights we would go for sauna at Uncle Ervin and Aunt Violets.  They had a sauna in their basement.  It was under the basement stairs.  I cannot remember what else was down there..but I can sure see the stairs and the sauna.  Having a sauna indoors was a real treat.  Most saunas are outdoors..in the winter it can be an invigorating walk back to the house:) 

Spring is postponed

Winter Snow has postponed Spring.  Way below zero weather and sub zero wind chills have postponed spring.  Who would want to show up anyway?  What a greeting.

My feeble attempt at Spring decorating was covered in snow.

It began snowing on Sunday.  It snowed all night..then the wind came up. It wasn’t fit for man or beast.  Monday afternoon the sun tried to shine through the blizzard.  Chance and I went out and wandered around.

Only the tops of the fence posts are visible toward the center of the photo..the railings have disappeared.

Here is the snow stick.  Good thing I have a zoom on my camera.

I have to stand on my tippy toes to peek over the snow bank to get the photo.  We have 31 1/2 inches at the snow stick.  More in other places..where the wind blows the snow and where it slides off the roof.

I wonder if that steel wagon wheel will be covered up before it is over.  I wonder if the snow stick will completely disappear.

I got my computer back.  It was wiped clean, I still don’t have all of my programs loaded yet.  Luckily I have simple saves for my photo backups.  I do a double back up and had it on my list..I usually save to disk. So I need to catch up with that..it is still on the list.  I also use Drop Box..it works great between me and the museum…I can access info when ever I need it.

I am still working on “Winter House Cleaning”  I would call it Spring House Cleaning ..but I am being realistic:)

A Sled Dog Team

I know nothing of sled dogs teams.  I can only relate what I observed.

There were two different sled dog teams at the Football Field in Menahga on Saturday. I photographed both teams.  This is the first team that took off.

The dogs were excited.  They were ready to work.  They looked healthy and lean, their coats were shiny.

The sled.

The empty harnesses.

Waiting their turn.

The  “Musher” hooks up the lead dog.  He took much care with him/her with a special padded neckpiece before the harness went on.  I am sure this is an older dog, I could tell that they had a special bond.

Once he/she was hooked up he/she waited patiently..I am certain she is used to the wait.

The dogs are tethered to a line attached to the sled and the sled is tethered with a line to the pickup where the waiting dogs are kept.  This was an important observation. 

As the dogs are added one by one to the sled.  The dogs become more excited.  I think the young ones are in the middle of the team.  They were the most excited.  That black one with the red collar in the photo was so excited..and a pill.  The musher told him/her to quiet down several times.  I finally asked him if that one was a troublemaker..he said “Yes, I have a few that are just 1 1/2 years old, they are learning the ropes.”

The dogs get more excited as every dog is hooked up..the anticipation is almost unbearable for some of them..they bark and bark..one left back in the truck howls because he/she wants to run too.  The pickup rocks back and forth as the dogs strain against their harnesses. These are strong dogs.

The musher pulls the slip knot..and they are off..everyone is silent..the barking has ceased.. the pickup has stopped rocking back and forth..they have a job to do and are excited and happy to work.

The first round in the fresh snow.

This happy team gave rides to waiting children.

When I finished taking photos I walked back to where Far Guy and Chance were.  I showed them where to park so Chance could see the action.  He was mesmerized by the sled dogs going round and round..we both wondered what he must have been thinking as he watched quietly:)