I have many crochet projects in the works. I finished off a bunch of scrubbies for kitchen or bath this week and mailed most of them off.
I created such a long line at the Post Office that they opened a second checkout.
I love my plastic basket it keeps this project all in one spot!
It snowed again. Roads are a bit slippery.
Far Guy finished his latest carving.
He was talking to his cousin Marty one day and she said she would like a carving of some daisies…so he made her some.
I got all the Christmas Ornaments ready to mail…woe is the person who is stuck in line behind me at the Post Office! Usually only one line is open…
Remember to enter the Christmas Ornament give away by telling me how many Christmas Cards you send out! Here is the link….envelopes and a question. Go there and leave me a comment.
It spit snow yesterday and the wind was cold.
17 years ago my Grandsons were little.
I was looking through some old scanned negatives and this one made me smile.
Adam, Noah and their very young looking father…at the house in Mapleton in 2001. I do not recall taking this photo…but how else would I get the negative.
I am messing with the envelopes that will accompany our Christmas cards this year.
As you can see with the blue snowflake I am easily distracted.
The envelopes were stamped with a snowflake on the back flap. They are colored in either silver, gold or that one blue one…it was just a test!
joyful wishes on the front of the envelope will either be plain white, silver or gold…depending on how many I get done.
I have 140 envelopes to do. We send out many Christmas Cards. How many do you send out?
Now we should be thinking about the marvelous woodcarved Christmas ornament giveaway. Please leave a comment telling me how many Christmas Cards you mail every year to be entered into the giveaway… you can also email me your comment. I will close the giveaway on Saturday night and draw some winners!
Last time I was in town I headed to the Thrift Shop. Bought a few shirts for Hey Mikey and some hard covered books for him. Kids books are 25 cents there.
These snowmen also wanted to come home with me. I thought about making a garland…then I decided that they should all go on the wreath outside the door. Far Guy drilled some holes in the snowmen plates and I threaded some copper wire through the holes.
It might look better with some Christmas lights…at any rate the Fall Decorations have been taken down.
The sun was shining yesterday! We walked and afterwards fed all the birds/squirrels. Spent a quiet day at home catching up on odds and ends.
We drove up North to meet Maddie, Brenton and Hey Mikey for a few photos. They are here for a few days from Michigan. Hey Mikey is growing!
He is quite the little man. He makes us smile.
It was a chilly afternoon with a raw wind. Jen took photos also.
Andy was trying his hardest to get Hey Mikey to smile.
As you can see we still have some snow….and it was another dreary November day.
Later we all went out for a late lunch…Trica and Richard, Savannah and Andrayus, and Paige and Cole joined us. It made for a table full. ( Just Adam and Noah were missing.) Hey Mikey was perfect in his high chair…but he kept licking the salt off the chips and then handing them to his mother.
After late lunch we went to Hobby Lobby…I bought a few buttons and some more yarn…imagine that. I made a hat for Hey Mikey and I knew it would be too large…now I know exactly how small to make it.
It was dark when we headed home. We thought we might see some deer…but they must have been hunkered down because of the wind.
The tree on Main Street was put in place last weekend.
As you can see it is a very tall tree. It has lights that were lit last night in a ceremony on Main Street. The lights are lit in honor of Hospice patients. Far Guy’s Mom was a hospice patient and received very compassionate care from Hospice…one of the lights was lit in honor of her memory.
Yes, we have center street parking and diagonal parking on Main Street. In the original townsite the streets were wide enough for a team of horses pulling a load of logs to unload at the lumber company and make a U turn in the street.
It is a very nice tree. It is a Blue Spruce. I will try to get a photo of it at night…but we rarely go into town at night in the winter.
As you can see we have the usual dismal grey November skies. However it was 40 F yesterday or 4 C eh! Much of the snow has melted.
A local church has an annual “thank meal” on Thanksgiving Day. 48 turkeys were cooked. My parents got there before we did so they were seated with a different group, they were with friends. It was a meal of turkey, potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans and a bunch of side salads and of course pie…I had pumpkin and Far Guy had blueberry. The food was good, we sat with a couple from Butler Minnesota…they drove a long way for a meal.
The squirrels were busy in our yard stuffing themselves.
They are fat little buggers. We fill this feeder for them so they leave our other feeders alone. If it gets empty they come up to the window and peer in as if to say…feed us…NOW we are starving! We feed eight squirrels… seven are gray and one is black/brown.
We will have a quiet day reflecting on thoses things we are thankful for; each other, family, friends, a home that is warm and comfortable and food on our table. I wish all those blessings for you as well.
This monsterous Pileated Woodpecker had quite a feast at our feeders…his feast came one day before our Thanksgiving.
A family photo taken in 1988…that was 30 years ago.
I was 37, Far Guy was 38, Trica was 16 and Jennifer was 13. If I look tired it was because of the teenage girls! I think I was cutting my own bangs back then…just hacking them off with the sewing scissors.
I think this photo was taken for the church directory.
It snowed again during the night Sunday night/early Monday then it turned clear and cold.
A Yellow – rumped Warbler made a visit to our yard and came right up by the window…he/she must be on their way through to warmer climates. No photo but it was definitely a Butter-butt.
Had a interesting conversation with a friend about a new neighbor of hers. Seems the new neighbor is a bit of a bully. He wrote a letter to all the adjoining land owners saying he just purchased the property and would be hunting and not to tresspass on his land ever. I am guessing that neighbors with cookies won’t be welcoming him to their neighborhood. We wondered if the local Fire Dept and Rescue Squad would be trespassing as well?
I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go round. What goes around comes around…
Our daughter Jen likes buttons…she collects them.
She lost her black winter hat…so I crocheted her a new one while she was here. The button came from the button jar…not sure where it came from or what piece of clothing it came from. Perhaps it is from an old sweater or winter coat.
Here you can see the yarn and the finished product. The yarn is called coffee beenz it is part wool, part acrylic and very soft. I used a single crochet stitch throughout and a crab stitch to finish off the edge.
Here Jen is modeling her new hat…good thing I finished it as it was a chilly Minnesota morning when she, Andy and the Granddogs headed home.
Our house is very quiet again.
Crocheting some hats…the one on the upper right is done…it is a tad large…but comfy….and colorful! I love the colors!
The one in the lower right is for a child…maybe…we will see how big it ends up.
I felt like crocheting a bit and using up some yarn…I might be a yarn hoarder. Maybe. I have three hats in the works at one time…go figure!
A very long time ago I crocheted some mittens. I found that old mitten pattern on the internet…and may attempt a pair for Hey Mikey. I know when I made them for our girls it was wonderful to have several pairs of mittens.
It rained then it snowed. Fun. I passed up Bingo with my Dad again. Wasn’t looking forward to crappy roads and was not quite feeling up to it….so I had a long nap.
Saw my Primary Doctor on Thursday because I needed a refill on my BP meds, most of the time she just renews my script but I had not seen her in over a year. She wants me to take a course of antibiotics….she thought I was getting a secondary infection and didn’t want me to get sicker. I didn’t want to get sicker either.
Good news is Far Guy has finally rounded the corner…it was a long seige for him…32 days. Now he is working on getting all his steps back up to where he was a month ago.
Turned the Pumpkin Welcome sign over to Give Thanks…I need to change the flags soon. Turkey Day is right around the corner.
We have three inches of snow at the snowstick and I think it is staying for the winter.
The tracks are squirrel and fox. And so our winter begins thirty-five days early…as we are technically still in Fall.
We have had a quiet week. I am crocheting some winter hats…my pattern, yarn and hook have been adjusted several times.
We are trying two new to us recipes this week…one was a keeper and I should have taken a photo of it.
Monte Cristo Pull Apart Loaf
Our recipe serves two people ( adapted from a recipe in the latest Kraft food & family magazine)
3-4 slices of bread we like potato bread…flattened with a rolling pin.
Top with swiss cheese, sliced ham or turkey or both. Fold in half and place fold side down in foil lined bread pan or corningware. (Spray foil with a bit of olive oil first.)
Mix together 1 egg, a few tablespoons of milk, 1 Tablespoon Miracle Whip and about 1/4 teaspoon mustard. Mix well…pour over bread. Refrigerate for 4 hours. Then Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
You can add more bread, cheese and meat and use more eggs and milk to make more servings.
We both gave this recipe 5 out of 5 stars and will make it again. Oh yes you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar just before serving and serve it with jam if you want to be fancy smancy.
The other new recipe will be tried later this week.
Not sure what year this photo was taken. Logan was 31 last month and he looks like he may be 2 or 3 in the photo. So that puts it somewhere around…1989-1990.
Captain and Logan
Logan obviously has something in his dish that has Captains full attention. The photo was taken at my parents resort sometime in the summer.
Captain would have been 4 years old. He was the runt of one of my Sheltie litters and lived with my parents on and off for a few years. When they were gone on vacations he stayed with us…one time he just stayed forever…and that was fine with us. He lived until 2001 and was our last dog before we got Chance. He was a undersized Sheltie…just a little bit of a pup when he was born he weighed about 4 ounces…with round the clock care for about ten days nursing everytime he woke up he grew. His name back then was Captain Stubby Grunter…he was short and grunted when he nursed. He was the last born in a litter of four remarkable pups.
Oh yes …Logan he is all growed up too…married and lives in Seattle. He has a PhD in Robotics and Mechanical Engineering, he is working as a Research Scientist. Logan is my nephew…the youngest son of my baby brother.
What is black, sucks and is afraid of sunlight?
Why Dracula of course.
My husband’s robotic vacuum. He is amazed at what it picks up. He sends it out just about every morning to go through the house…somedays he carries it upstairs and lets it work up there…perfect for getting under beds.
Sunlight shining on the kitchen floor confuses it and it retreats. It loves the laundry/furnace room where it always gets caught up on the drain for the furnace. You can direct it with a remote but Far Guy usually lets it go where it pleases….and rescues it when it gets caught. It will try to suck up the bathroom rugs…but not the kitchen rug…go figure.
It is a Robo vac made by eufy. Disclaimer: I have not been compensated in any way for this review…but it the company wants to send me one for a permanent home upstairs that would work for me.
The start of a new week, hopefully better than last week. I am feeling better…my fever has finally broken. I have fever blisters that are really sore…some are even blood blisters….go figure. I am not 100%… but better, I have cheated death once again.
I watched TV …cooking shows and two Netflix movies A Beautiful Mind and A Wrinkle in Time. I enjoyed both movies very much.
It snowed a bunch…not sure how much as I did not venture outside. Must be 3 or4 inches.
Seemed like every time I woke up from “a nap” I announced it was snowing and Far Guy would say “What else is new?”
Flowers in the wild garden last summer
I think Far Guy is finally on the road to recovery too. He did a marvelous job of taking care of me!
There is a park in town called Deane Park.
There is also a plaque at the park.
The placque resides on a large boulder.
Now for the rest of the story.
Deane was born January 10 1896 and he died at the age of 22 on November 10 1918. Exactly 100 years and 1 day ago.
Deane graduated from Park Rapids High School in 1914. He attended college but then joined the service. He was training to be a flying cadet when a influenza epidemic swept through the training camp in Berkley California. The ladies of Berkley assisted with the care of the soldiers. Deane died of influenza and pneumonia. He was in his last 12 weeks of training to be an aviator and scheduled to go to France. His body was returned for burial in Park Rapids. He was survived by his wife, his parents and step mother, a half brother and a half sister.
His father was a banker and very prominant citizen of Park Rapids.
The Flying Cadet program was the prototype for the development of our Air Force.
During World War I the cadet was under the age of 25 and had at least two years of college, was physically fit and morally sound.
Can you imagine in the early years many of the young men had never seen an airplane or been in one.
Hats off to all our Veterans. Thank you for your service.
