Minnefreezeyourbuttoffota

COLD.  It was really cold Wednesday morning.

The wind chill in the nearby village of Ponsford was –66 BELOW. 

We stayed inside all day.  I didn’t even venture out for a photo….our big old outside thermometer is broken…the hand must have freeze dried and fell off.

There was no mail, no school and many businesses were closed including the Clinic.

I heard on the National News that you could freeze your eyeballs.  I laughed…certainly there would be lots of Minnesota people wandering around blind.  Body heat must protect your eyeballs.  Animals that are stuck outside in the weather may get real frosty eyelashes…but their eyeballs seem just fine.  However I have seen dead fish with frozen eyeballs!

If you go outside without the proper clothing you can get mighty cold.  You might even wish you were someplace else.

We have 15 inches of snow at the snow stick.

We will be in the high 20’s above zero on Saturday something to look forward to!  After that we have more winter weather headed our way.

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: Meeting Little Elvis

In mid January 2010 Andy bought a Sheltie puppy.  His name was Elvis…Far Guy and I call him Little Elvis.  Chance met Little Elvis for the first time up in Bemidji at Trica and Dicks house in town…Jen, Andy and the boys were visiting for the day.

He was little.  Chance was a tad worried about his tail.

Miss Miney, Little Elvis and Chance.  That is Adam in the background.

Paige, Adam and Noah Jan 2010.

Miss Miney and Little Elvis January 2019.   Elvis is nine years old now.

They are happy to see us when they come to visit.  I wonder if they miss Chance as much as we do.  I wonder if they distrust us because Chance is not here…do they wonder what we did with him…or do they just know.  Jen says they just know.

Do we plan to get another dog?  Not yet, neither of us are ready.  For now we will love our daughters dogs and the neighbor dogs and that is good enough for now.

Far Side

Deep Freeze and other crap

Most all of the schools in Northern Minnesota have closed today and tomorrow for the unprecedented cold temperatures that are decending upon us.   It will be 30 + BELOW zero, with dangerous windchills.
We have no place to go today or Wednesday…good thing!  I may break out another puzzle.

This was The 1960’s puzzle that we finished in six hours last week when Jen was here.

Now for the other crap…Doctor’s visits.

Somehow I managed to injure my Hamstring Tendon, possibly from a fall…who really knows for sure.  I am miserable enough to go to physical therapy…it is a real pain in the butt.  I have no pain when I am standing or laying down…my time at the computer is limited…no matter what I sit upon I can only take the pain for a short time.   I have had x-rays and nothing is broken or cracked….yeah for small favors.

Since one thing wouldn’t be enough I have a growth/several growths on the palm of my hand that may require surgery or not…we will see… I have seen the surgeons assistant and had an ultrasound and have a nerve study scheduled. The growths have affected my grip strength and my hand goes to sleep well before I do. We do not have a definitive diagnosis yet...just possibilities.

Far Guy still has a cold and a cough…he is on antibiotics and steroids again…hopefully he can shake it this time.
Far Side

Snow

It began to snow Sunday afternoon.

Ain’t it purdy?  We are supposed to get 3 – 6 inches of the beautiful white stuff.

I watercolored on some stamped images for cards.  Did some laundry and cleaned the bathroom.

Far Guy got out the steam mop and mopped the tile floors and then he paced back and forth getting in all his steps in the house.  Far Guy made supper; chicken breasts marinated in pineapple juice and soy sauce, french fries in the air fryer and cooked carrots.

Late in the afternoon I filled bird feeders in anticipation of the snowfall…the birds need extra energy when it snows and the wind blows.

We made a grocery list and menus for the week.  Such is life in the fast lane.

Far Side

Brrr

It remains cold here and they say we are supposed to have some nasty winter weather later today.  Uffda.

Art in the snow.

We have 12 inches of snow at the snowstick.

We stay busy and out of trouble.

Far Side

Turdy ate below

In Minnesota speak that is really cold.

Friday morning -38 F or -38 C  eh it is an equal temperature with our Canadian friends. 

Jen said she could see the little birds breath. 

However I did not see their breath ...but they were all fluffed up and scarfing down seed as fast as they could.   This one rested on the whirley/twirley-gig.   

We have many Pine Siskins in the yard now.  They are fearless little creatures and will  move only as you make your way to the feeders and some will hang on for one last bite before you take the feeders away to be filled.  When you bring the feeders back they are landing before you get the feeder hung back up.

We didn't even get the mail yesterday.  We stayed in, worked on various projects and had an afternoon nap.  Remember my word for this year is relax and we are getting quite good at it! 

Far Side

Dogs

It was so cold we had sundogs.  We are NOT  expected to climb out of the deep freeze any time soon.

We sure enjoyed our grand dog company.

Miss Miney and Little Elvis were at the groomers.  They wake us up early and boss us around...after their visit to the groomers they were real tired.  They kept Far Guy company whilst Jen and I went to Bingo with my Dad...good thing we took him along as he hollered bingo twice!

Nice to have sleeping dogs to walk around again if only for a few days!

Far Side

Two new ornaments

Christmas is finally put away.  Far Guy and Jen just finished putting the tree away under one of the twin beds upstairs.

New ornaments this year.

Jen made this snowflake ornament. It is made from three different glitter papers: blue, silver and light blue.  Three on each side coordinating designs and then glued together and a jewel added to the center.  These were cut out on the new die cut machine.

Far Guy picked out an ornament for me in Hawaii.  We packed it inside an ice cream container and then wrapped it in a couple of shirts inside the suitcase.  It made the trip home just fine and spent a few days on the tree.

We have lots of snow and it has been bitterly cold.

 We finally ventured out to the grocery store, we have been staying "put" since Far Guy is still taking it easy after his surgery.  His new port works, no blood return but that was not a surprise for us.   The surgeon said it was sluggish in the OR...so it goes. 

Jen is here with Miss Miney and Little Elvis, they are going to the groomers. They were happy to see us and we are happy to see them!
Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: Mate on the Roof

G'Day Mate was Far Guy's dog, I gave her to him so he wouldn't be tempted to sell her.  She was from a litter of four from our Misty and Moses, both Registered Shetland Sheepdogs or Shelties.

She was stubborn as the day is long.  She spent most of her life as a juvenile delinquent.
Who else would be on the roof.

Far Guy was continually fixing the valley on this roof at the house at the resort.  Mate was born in 1986 so this must have been 1988 -1990 or so.
Far Side

Hawaii: Day Eleven

Our last day in Hawaii began with a breakfast of various meat, eggs and fruit...oh and a bit of Passionfruit Jam!   The lanai was a perfect place to eat.

Goodbye Ocean View Condo

We headed out to visit some different beaches.  Our flight did not leave until 9:30 in the evening so we had all day. 

Kukio Beach

We watched turtles in the water and sunning themselves on the rocks. 

We headed out to The Lava Lava Beach Club for a late lunch.

We played Giant Jenga whist we waited...well Andy, Logan and I played.  I lost, I had my board removed but as I was placing it on top the whole thing toppled.

The table next to ours was vacated and the birds moved in...birds must eat too!

Me, Jen and Far Guy (Photo by Andy)

Jen loves Hawaii, the sun and the warm weather. 

We headed to the old Kona Airport Beach to watch the sunset before we headed to the airport.  Just as we got there a whale was sighted just off shore...we watched and watched but we didn't see it again. 

Andy, Adam and Jen

Goodbye Ocean, Goodbye Sun, Goodbye Hawaii

Off to the airport to get checked in with just one tiny glitch that was quickly corrected.  I think Far Guy had visions of another paperwork/oxygen nightmare.  

We got to Los Angeles in the middle of the night and then from there to Minneapolis in the afternoon and home in the evening of day number twelve ( or day number 15 if you count blizzard days in Fargo in the motel.) 

The change in weather was drastic.. but it was good to be home safe and mostly sound...Far Guy had a bad cold that he is still recovering from. 

We cannot thank our daughter, son in law, grandson and grandson's friend enough for putting up with us old folks.  It was a wonderful multi generational vacation!

It was a trip we had always planned to do after we completed our pet responsibilities.

Far Side  

Hawaii: Day Ten

We got up early and headed north for a Whale Watching Tour. Since we were up early I thought perhaps everyone would see The Southern Cross but it was cloudy.

Whales are active early in the morning.

A fin

Water spout 

Whale breaching

Big splash

Tail flip

Why they are called Humpback Whales

Spinner Dolphins near the harbor.

Adam and his Grandpa

Andy, Jen and Adam

We went out on a boat called the Lady Ann

It was a fun outing we all enjoyed spending the morning out on the water. 

Later that day, we went by the Farmer's Market and enjoyed some shaved ice (grape) and walked around.  Far Guy purchased a Christmas ornament for our collection.  We bought some ribs for supper from a vendor.  All the kids went on a Manta Ray adventure that evening.

I spent some time repacking suitcases ...the next day would be our last day in Hawaii.

Far Side

Hawaii: Day Nine

Far Guy finished his book and gave it to me so I read it until I got so sleepy I had to take a nap. The book was called The 50-year Secret.  It was about a gal that was adopted and later in life discovered she had Alpha One Antitripsin Deficiency.

The kids were jumping off some cliffs or something that older folks wouldn't want to witness.

After they got back we went to the shopping district in Kona and I bought a small summer purse at a small shop owned by a fellow named Tony from Minnesota originally.  We met a fair amount of people that were originally from Minnesota or Iowa.  Some came, burned their return tickets and stayed.  Most said their family moved over also after a visit or two.

In the evening we played Cards against Humanity.  Much funnier than the sedate card game of golf that we had played the previous evening.

View from the lanai

One time during the afternoon Far Guy was trying to get his steps in for the day...he walked out on the south walkway...came back saying there was no way anyone could walk barefoot on that side of the building...even though the tile was a beige color it absorbed the heat.  We could see people barefoot down at the beach hot footing it to the shade.

The same little lady walked two dogs everyday...their feet must be really tough...although she let them walk in the grass part of the time.

You need sunscreen, hats and sunglasses on a Hawaiian vacation.  No need to pack many clothes either just go to the thrift shops or The Markets and buy muumuus!  Target had a huge selection of swimsuits and beachwear.

Eggs were $3.50 a dozen (no wonder we saw chickens in the country.) Bread was $9 something in smaller stores $5 at Walmart.  Milk was $5 for 64 ounces.  2  cups of shredded Cojack cheese was $3.99.  Fruit;  Apples $1.79 a pound, Oranges $1.99 a pound, Pineapple 94 cents a pound, Red Grapes $2.99 a pound, Cantaloupe $1.39 a pound, and Potatoes were $1.29 a pound. Bacon was $10 at smaller stores and $5.99 at larger grocery stores.  You get 5 cents credit per bag for bringing your own bags, not sure what they charge per bag if you don't have your own.  Hawaii does not use plastic bags.

Far Side

Hawaii: Day Eight

I was up very early in the morning (before dawn), the sky was clear and I was able to see the Southern Cross just above the southern horizon….that was a real treat for me.

Flowers

I caught up on blog reading while doing laundry, had several naps after a cool off in the pool.  The kids went Parasailing.

Far Guy rested, read and just enjoyed the breeze on the lanai.

We watched people down at the beach. The palm trees swayed in the breeze.

  It was a lovely sunset. We enjoyed a day of relaxing!
Far Side

Hawaii : Day Seven

We spent the morning at a nearby bay watching the teenagers on kayaks and the parents on paddleboards.

Far Guy took this photo with his phone.

We checked out of the Sheraton and went to lunch at Longboards Pizza, possibly the best pizza I have ever tasted...Adam agreed with me.

We headed out to the old Kona Airport to a public beach.

Most of the beaches have lava rock which is hard to walk on and sharp on your feet.

We headed over to the Kona Joe Coffee Company.

They give away samples of coffee, it was excellent.  We bought some Kona Joe Coffee Jammers and some coffee dry rub. Coffee jammers are a chocolate covered roasted coffee bean...worth about a cup of coffee.

 Far Guy and me.

Coffee Beans

It was a beautiful place sitting high on a hill above the ocean.

It was check in time at our condo so we headed over there and then went to the grocery store to stock up for a few days.  Far Guy rested on the lanai and I went to the pool...everyone else went to the beach.

Sunset and beach view view from the pool.  Time to RELAX!
Far Side