Imagination

Three of my baby brother's Grands came over to do an art project...goodness knows I have lots of supplies.

They admired the little Fox that I made for May Baskets at their Grandparents house and wanted to know if they could make a batman and wolves.

I got out the die cutting machine for the basic parts and they added their own ideas. 
Note to self if we do this again we need safety scissors for kids!  They did okay with my long sharp scissors but I was uneasy.

They have imaginations!
After the craft project they went upstairs to view the Train Set...that was a big hit! 

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Hey Mikey! and his parents

Hey Mikey was supposed to be a ring bearer.  Well he was a bear all right, he needed a serious nap...and when he finally fell asleep it was time to get him up.

See that look..it just got worse.

He did not walk down the aisle, but he did join his parents for a sand ceremony and to leave the ceremony with them.

He is two years old ...and we all know two year olds have minds of their own and will test everyone and everything.  Getting all dressed up, missing your nap and being told to smile for pictures just tuckered him out.
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The Five

All of our Grandchildren were together for Maddie's Wedding Day.

This is the shortest to tallest photo, the girls had heels on and the boys were standing down the hill.  They are a fine looking bunch and we love them all.

Savannah, Maddie and Paige.  The girls were both Maids of Honor for their sister.

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Cheesecake

Cheesecake was served at Maddie's Wedding.  It was a lovely day on the shores of Lake Bemidji for a wedding.  It was about 80 degrees with a wind from the west.

Cheesecake. 

They are happily married! 
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End of the week

I finally got the application for the Enhanced Drivers Licence accomplished.  We made the application in the nearby County Courthouse with no rules about when you could show up.  A Enhanced License serves as a Driver's License, Identification and border crossing for Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.  My Passport Expires in January...it has only been used once.

I was happy to tie up this loose end and put it behind us. Cross something off the list!

Made a trip up North and got to go to Hobby Lobby and buy more yarn...apparently I am a yarn hoarder and there is no cure.  Far Guy had an errand to run over at the VA Office...he said "I could drop you off at Hobby Lobby for more yarn."  Alrighty then!

We stopped by to see Maddie.

Hannah and Maddie

We helped put chair covers on chairs.  Jen and Andy were there helping also.

We had lunch and headed home for a long nap...it has been a week of early mornings and they are catching up with us.
Today is another busy day.
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Busy Days

When you spent 6 hours a day at various medical appointments and "other" required appointments there is not much "me" time left.

For two days I have been trying to get that Enhanced Driver's License.  What a load of crap, I did not have a CERTIFIED copy of our marriage certificate.  Well that is in a city 40 plus miles away from where the appointments were.  Off we went thinking we would kill two birds with one stone...only to find out they only do Enhanced Drivers Licenses on Tuesday and Thursday mornings...and now it was afternoon.  CRAP.  Oh well there is always tomorrow.
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Dinner with friends

We had a dinner date with friends.
They have a dog...named Buddy.  We brought him a dog toy and treats!  He likes us.

He is a cattle/house dog..we had one of his mistakes for supper...a steer that Buddy spooked fell on the ice last winter and broke his leg. Steaks!

We also had green beans, yellow beans and peas fresh from the garden.

They have a beautiful neat as a pin garden.

It was good to get out and away for an evening, we usually get together once a month but with everything going on we have missed a couple of months.
Good friends, good food and a good dog!
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On The List: Day One

As of 9AM yesterday July 23, 2019 Far Guy is on the UNOS Lung Transplant List.  His donor must be Blood Type A, tall (6 feet tall or taller).

Lungs are fussy organs and the match must be a good one.   Our Transplant Coordinator's name is Chris...she says we should prepare to wait for about 6 months to a year...but a lung could come available at any time.

Are we ready to go?  Yes, I do need to get my Driver's License renewed so I will do that today.

The suitcases are packed and ready to go in the vehicle.  There is a list on the board in the dining area of the last minute stuff that should be grabbed.

Hard to pack absolutely everything we will need for three months.  But you know what... that big old city has just a few stores...and if they don't there is Amazon!

Far Guy is both excited and a bit scared...the thought of all the tubes he will have scares him shitless...I told him at least he will have good drugs...me not so much...at which point he told me "Stay home then and I will call you when I get all my tubes out."  (Funny Guy)

We must wait for the call, it could come anytime day or night.  Once we get the call it is a 3 plus hour drive, Far Guy must be examined and declared okay for the transplant, then they retrieve the lung from the donor and put it in a box where it has oxygen and a blood supply until it is transplanted.  If the surgeons declare it a good lung then the surgery will take 8 or 9 hours.  If it is not a good lung then that is called a dry run and we come back home.

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Monday stuff on Tuesday

We thought we had an early appointment yesterday...and then it was cancelled.  So we are tired.  Far Guy was up at 5AM...me about 6AM...I am so not a morning person.

Then for my afternoon appointment we had to wait over an hour.  As I was going up to the desk to find out if there was a death in the Ultrasound Dept I was ever going to get called, the gal finally showed up.  The diagnosis...I have a cyst in my right boob that the Radiologist saw on my Mammogram and he was concerned.  Now he can sleep better as he was a real pest about it all.  He wanted another mammogram and I refused since I am black and blue from the one last week...so he settled for an ultrasound.

We did the weekly grocery shopping and came home and had a nap.

I worked on some cards and started painting some Christmas Ornaments....I think this first part will look just fine.  Part two is still in development stages ( still in my brain.)

Far Guy is back on steroids for his shortness of breath.

The Clematis has spread over to the wagon wheel!
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Tiny Daisies

We have a pretty tall flower in the wild gardens.

It is called Prairie Fleabane and it is an Erigeron of some kind. It is lovely but I suppose when it rains it will knock the plant down. 

We carved most of the day on Christmas Ornaments.  I made potato salad and we went to my baby brothers for supper...salmon and salad and sherbet for dessert. 

Far Guy has some terrible coughing spells.  He just cannot seem to catch a break.
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Date Night

We had our usual once a year date night at the County Fair.
We had French Fries at the 4 -H booth and a Pork Burger at the pork producers stand, we walked through the exhibit buildings and onto the Midway.

It was a very warm day.  We sat and rested a few times.

Far Guy has been struggling in the heat and the humidity.  We bought a dehumidifier and since then he can breathe a bit easier inside the house.

We should have a definite spot on the Transplant List this week, they had to submit everything to our Insurance Company...they may want some additional tests.  He has been discussed at the transplant group and received the all clear for either a right or left lung.  The Medical/Insurance World is all about hurry up and wait. When they call for many phone numbers we will know he is on the list.

I took many notes while on the phone with the Transplant Coordinator....we have a book and we write everything down.

We have to go back to the Cities soon for a consult with an Endocrinologist and he needs to have a scan done of his esophagus.  Hopefully they can schedule them the same day.

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Chickens

My Nieces children raise chickens, I get eggs from them.  Needless to say the eggs are awesome..the kids are awesome too!

The girls took their brown egg laying hens to the fair.  The little boy is not in 4 H yet.
Olivia was very eggcited...her chickens are Grand Champions.

Yeah Olivia! 

Lynn and Alice... Rhode Island Reds

Sweetie and Sparkles Ava's chickens...Silver Laced Wyandotte

Hazel and Fluffy Brooke's chickens...Silver Laced Wyandotte

Rose and Freckles  Hailey's chickens...Silver Laced Wyandotte.  Hailey got a blue ribbon in Showmanship! 

What fun to see these kids in 4-H. 

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Visitors with hugs

Our Great Nephews (the twins) and our Great Niece have been visiting their Grandparents.  They used to live next door a long time ago...when they were little.

The worked on bikes one day taking the best parts of bikes and putting them together.  The boys are helping shingle their grandpas (my other baby brothers) house.  They stop by on their bikes and give the best hugs.  We wish they still lived next door instead of in North Dakota because we miss them.

They are all getting so tall.  Aubrey needs to get her braces back on and several teeth pulled before she has yet another bone graft surgery this Fall.  This will be her 8th surgery since she was born. She is a trooper.
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Savannah

Our oldest Grand is 23 years old today.
Seems like only yesterday she was just a little girl.

Here she is with me in 1996.

A photo of Savannah and Chance the year we went on a family house boat trip way up in Northern Minnesota.  (2006 I think) She was splashing water for Chance to catch.

Happy Birthday Vannah!
Love Grandma

Wistful Wednesday: 1992

In 1992 our oldest daughter became engaged.  She was a Student at the time attending Moorhead State University.  They would be engaged for two years or thereabouts when they got married in June of 1994.

I took this engagement photo of them in 1992 at the resort on Straight Lake.  They went to the same High School and didn't particularly care for each other...then they met up again in College.

They would have celebrated 25 years of marriage last month, instead they are getting a divorce. 

It takes two to make a marriage work.  I will venture to say that there are two sides to every story and they are both at fault.

We are sad for our granddaughters...but we are thankful that they are young adults and not small children.

In the "olden days" we would say that the children come from a broken home.
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Monday Happenings

We went to check out the construction on our road and came back on the trail next to the bean field.

We had a busy day, Far Guy overdid it at Pulmonary Therapy yesterday morning so he is feeling crappy.  He has been brewing something in his chest and was started on Antibiotics last Friday.  Our weather has been very hot and humid so that doesn't help breathing either.   His Pulmonary Dr is on top of things...and so am I.

We did errands in town and went to woodcarving for a little while, we had to leave when a person started wood burning.

Our corner is getting gravel...so it may be paved sometime soon...maybe. It is pretty dusty.  Hope we get rain to settle the dust.

We still have a bottomless pit of money at the Credit Union to pay bills with.  Six weeks I have been at this Bill Pay with no real solution. The bills are paid but the money never leaves the account...I told them yesterday that it is a great arrangement for us!

July is half over with ...seems like summer is going real fast now.

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Yellow

The Rudbeckia is blooming.  This plant had interesting petals.

I like yellow flowers the best, they are so cheerful...everyone needs a bit of cheerfulness in their life.
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Water Hemlock

Water Hemlock is one of the most poisonous plants in Minnesota.

My baby brother has a whole bunch at his lake place.  When I saw them blooming last week I figured I had to make sure and properly identify the plant.

It was not blooming last year because of the construction.

The big identifier on this plant is that the veins in the leaves end at the notches in between the teeth.
It is the root that is poisonous...it is long like a carrot and if eaten will kill you.
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After some more research all parts of the plant are poisonous, some people have died after game birds ingested the seeds from Water Hemlock...and they ate the game birds and died.

Evening Ride

Far Guy and I went for a ride after supper.
The new road is coming along.  The 2nd mile is one lane with sand on the edges...many people will get stuck over the weekend.

We had my baby brothers Gator...we would not go in the car.  Stopped and talked to my cousin a bit at quitting time.  They work long hours.

We took a trail along the bean field to get to where the work was being done.  The moon was out.

It was a nice ride and the perfect evening for an outing.  It was quite warm yesterday 84 F but cooled off toward evening.

We had carving company yesterday our friend Sheila  joined us on the patio to wood carve and talk about projects.
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Why?

I wonder why...

Why do hospitals and clinics use the metered water system in their bathrooms...wet ...soap up...rinse rinse rinse...that water does not stay on for the full Happy Birthday song that is playing in my head.

Why doesn't someone design a backpack purse with closures /zippers toward your back instead of out there where who knows who can unzip something.

Why are some "computer things" so complicated that it takes weeks or forever and ever to resolve problems..  Case in point...I set up Online Banking a month ago, as a test I paid two bills from it...electricity and the phone bill...Yes the bill was paid...but the money remains in our account.  "The Third Party" that takes care of this computer crap stuff says oh yes those bills were paid...and so do the payees...but the money has never left the account...so is it a bottomless pit of money?  The Credit Union knows there is a glitch someplace..a mystery glitch now over a month old.

Why is the Infusion Center located in between the hospital and the clinic where all germy people go...some idiot must have thought putting immune suppressed people in the germy area would make them more money.  Yes, since Far Guy has had four ports now...and each one has failed, he goes to the Infusion Center where he gets an IV every week for his Alpha-One Antitrypsin Deficiency.  We were both sick and tired of doing infusions at home when his port was not working properly...let the gals in the Infusion Center worry about it...after all they can start IV's.   It is still the pits exposing him to germs... but he likes the gals up there..one is the daughter of my cousin and another nurse is the sister in law of my nephew.  The gals take very good care of him and make him coffee. It takes real special Nurses to work in the Infusion Center...I just wish they were off in a building all their own or had a separate entrance.

We are finally done with appointments this week...we had five appointments this week. It is what we do.

The last of the Lupines.

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Rain

We have had rain for two days.  The first day I caught up on laundry and packed some suitcases just in case we get on that Transplant List and get a call.  I have one suitcase full of  misc stuff medications, bath stuff etc.  One for clothing and one for craft stuff to keep me occupied.  I also have a list on the bulletin board that tells me what we need to grab quickly before leaving.  (We should know soon if he is on the list, unless they want some other medical tests.)

I resurrected my sock knitting project, I need to visit that project more often.

The rain has beat down my daisies.

Yesterday Far Guy had surgery to remove his defective port.  It went well, but he is very sore.  For a quiet activity I spent some time online shopping .  I finalized this years Christmas Card design and I needed a few die cuts and ordered the paper with matching envelopes....Blueprint Blue.  Then I cut a bunch of watercolor paper and stamped my design 119 times.

Then my train of thought derailed and I stamped a few of my newest stamps...first time I have had a chance to try them.

 It will be fun to see how they color up!
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Wistful Wednesday: Road work

In 1967 my cousin Dwight was just a little shaver.

He is the oldest son of my Uncle Dennis ( my Mom's brother) and Aunt Judy.  He now runs his Dad and Mothers construction company.   He got the contract to build our new road.

One day we stopped to say Hi and  Dwight came over for a hug.  That is his Cat to the left...no one touches his Cat.

The road is coming along, the old highway was built on black dirt...so there has been quite a bit of excavation to renew the base .
We have a new corner now.

Our old corner on the left the new corner on the right.

We add a few extra minutes onto our drive to town and our vehicle is dusty most of the time.   But progress is being made on the road.  The ditches are deeper than they were before and the highway up higher so the snow should blow off the road instead of collect in drifts.
Hopefully the road will be paved before winter.  After all the dirt work is done a paving company will come in and blacktop the road.
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Bad Berries and Plants

The poisonous berries are out.  The Red-berried Elder is full of beautiful bright red upright berries.  Let the birds eat them!

Here is the entire tree/shrub.

As you can see it is a real pretty plant.  My baby brother has an abundance of these plants down at the lake.  Birds probably ate the berries and deposited seeds in the area.

He has another bunch of plants down there that are questionable...I think it may be very poisonous...but I have to do some more research.  Last year with the construction the plant was not there. Now it is blooming like crazy.  Very pretty too but then most poisonous plants are good looking. 

Be aware of what is on your property that may be harmful to children.  Poison Ivy, Stinging Nettles...are just the beginning of a long list.

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Quiet Time

I needed a bit of quiet time one evening.  I headed down to the lake to sit on the dock for awhile.

There is a very bossy Red Winged Blackbird there, he squawked and had a real fuss cause I was on his dock.

The air was heavy with smoke from the Canadian forest fires.  Not many people out on the lake...the big weekend is over....many are just weekend people.

There were still a few Blue Flag Iris in bloom.  

There is also a good amount of Jewelweed next to the dock, it will bloom with either an orange flower of a yellow flower...the stalk of the plant has a gooey sap that is a natural remedy for Poison Ivy rash.  We have a continual supply on hand in the fridge and Jewelweed soap.

Yesterday I mowed until my gas supply dwindled...I will mow some more soon.  The stupid freaking squirrels ate my old gas can and hopefully drowned in the gas that was trapped in the wheelbarrow...maybe they had a gas party.  Bought a new gas can and they proceeded to chew through that one too...so I bought two new gas cans from a garage sale.  I might need a metal gas can. Blasted squirrels anyways.

We woodcarved in the afternoon and visited with my parents.
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A few wildflowers

There are a number of wildflowers blooming now.
Here are a few.

Northern Snow Bedstraw..yes the early settlers collected this and used it in their beds.  You can also roast the seeds and brew it like coffee.

The fragile Harebells amongst the bedstraw.  Did you know that Harebells are found all over the world?  Me neither.

I believe this is Oval Leaf Milkweed.

I sprayed Poison Ivy again yesterday and noticed a number of Monarch Butterflies on these Milkweed.

I made the rounds and had a volunteer driver for part of the day...Jordan,,,he said "I don't think I have my license on me" ...I said "Well I am the closest thing to a cop in this part of the woods...so you are safe."  He is a good driver and is getting better at identifying Poison Ivy.   He drives and I spray...

Saturday was a catch up day for me...cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, played 52 pickup and put away and did a bit of dusting before I rewarded myself with outside time and the Poison Ivy.  FYI the woodticks are still out.
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