Year End Recap 2022

 Here goes with the notable things that happened this year. 

Trica is living in Duluth Minnesota. 

Jen and Andy are in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.  Still teaching and they purchased another Air B & B so now they have two of them to keep them real busy....along with Sadie and Little Elvis. 

Savannah graduated from College this year and has her own Lash Extension Business and is doing great!

Maddie and her husband Brenton moved from Michigan to Grand Forks ND where Maddie is a Dental Assistant and Brenton works for Bobcat.  Hey Mikey is five years old and will turn six in 2023, he started Kindergarten last fall.  Little Miss Cee Cee is now two and will be three in 2023.   They will be joined by a baby sister due in July...another Great Granddaughter and we are thrilled.

Paige will graduate in the spring of 2023 as a Dental Hygienist..the job market looks good for her. 

Noah moved out of the busy Air B & B into his own place recently,  he is a Chemist at Simplot and enjoys his job.

Adam just graduated from Northland Technical College and moved into his own apartment yesterday. 

We are thankful for all of our  Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren. 

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2022 was also a year when we had to say some very hard goodbyes.

My Cousin Sam's wife Kathy died at the age of 58 on March 18th.

Far Guy's sister Jan died at the age of 76 on April 21st.

Long time friend Tom died at the age of 71 on April 23rd.

Son in Law Andy's father died at the age of 68 on April 25th.

My Father Jake died at the age of 96 on December 19th.

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Not sure what 2023 has in store for us...

Far Side

Many

 So many cards and notes from people who attended my Dad’s funeral.  My sister opened all the cards, my Mom read them out loud and then I recorded them, my sister wrote the thank you notes and addressed envelopes.  I searched for addresses.  A tip for you all out there, please put your address somewhere on the card, we practically cheered when people did that for us.  

The church was full, the Pastor said that it was the most well attended funeral in a long time.  ( I have lots of cousins)

The cards are as complete as they can be,  more are in the mail everyday.

So life goes on.  I will head Up North soon.

My parents yard a few years ago.

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Things

 Taking care of a few things before going back Up North where Far Guy is…Jen and Sadie are keeping one eye on him and will get him to his Infusion today.  I still need a few days here to make sure my Mother has the medications that she needs…the past few weeks before my Dad died she was not sleeping or taking all of her medications.  I have taken her to the Doctor and all of her health complaints have been addressed and new medications ordered.  I figured out a medication system that may work for her.. I hope. My Mother has a blood clot in her left leg, it is getting better slowly.  She is very tired and falls asleep sitting up.  She is missing my Dad. I can do nothing about that because I miss him too. 

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Selfies

 My Dad took a selfie before selfies were an "in" thing. 

He took this with my Mom's old brownie camera.   It makes me smile. 

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Funeral Celebration

 Today is the day we celebrate my Fathers long life.  96 years!  

He survived Korea...

Bladder cancer...

All of his siblings...

Gone from My Sight by Henry Van Dyke

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

 

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."

 

Gone where?

 

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

 

And that is dying...

Little kids

 The little kids had a blast!  They opened a few gifts here... a dollhouse and race cars...imagine that! 

They both have Christmas Stockings made by Auntie Jen. 

They had to inspect the tree! 

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Merry Christmas!

 I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Day! 

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a son is given: And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

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Christmas Eve

 A Christmas tree from a long time ago...sometime in the early 1950's.

I found this photo when I was going through old photos. Look at all the Christmas cards hung above the tree!  

Happy Christmas Eve! 

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Brrrrr

 It is so cold.  I managed to get Far Guy to his Infusion appointment and I ran errands.  It was forty something below zero windchills and getting colder by the hour...it was dangerous out there. 

I went out to take a photo of the newly decorated sled and told Jen that if I didn't come back in right away then come and look for me! 

We could be florists!  It was a fun project! 

The dogs make quick trips outside to do their duties and Sadie is part snow plow. 

We made soup yesterday...everyone pitched in to prepare the vegetables; parsnips, rutabaga, carrots, cabbage, potatoes and tomatoes joined beef that was roasted...it warmed us on a cold day. 

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Short

 Short days and long nights but we will be gaining daylight now... it is the bitterly cold time of year here in Minnesota. 

This was the view on Monday morning, the road was pretty good compared to our return trip. 

I thought it would be too cold to snow this morning...but the flakes still fell out of the air at -17 F.  The windchill was horrible.

It can stop snowing anytime now.  

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96 years

 Monday morning my Dad died.  He was 96 years old.  He finally got his wish to go to heaven.   He has been wanting to go for such a long time.  I am so happy for him but a bit sad for myself...I will miss seeing his familiar face even when he couldn't remember who I was.  Having a family member with Dementia is hard. 

A few years ago Dad got a glimpse into heaven when he had an episode with an irregular heartbeat and was in the emergency room.  He said   "My body just floated up and I was above the bed and there was the most beautiful light, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  Then the light went away and I was back in the bed."  That was the night that they shocked him numerous times to get his heart back in rhythm.  Since that time he has welcomed death...but it took its sweet time coming. 

My Mother is doing as well as can be expected.  She is very tired as she has spent so much time caring for Dad the past couple of weeks...he was somewhat calmer when she was around.  Mom needs a few days of rest. 

I am getting old photos together for the funeral next week.  Music and Bible verses, obituaries and so many details to take care of.  My siblings are doing an awesome job maneuvering Mom through the details. 

Far Guy, Jen and I made a trip to the funeral home for a final goodbye to my Dads body before cremation.  We will all go back a few days before the funeral. 

I am thankful for the 71 years I got to spend with my Dad and I am thankful that his heavenly journey has begun.  He was the remnant...all of his brothers and sisters have preceded him in death. 

Christmas 1953...that was 69 years ago.  I loved seeing the Shiny Brite tree as I recall it when I was little.  I was an only child at that time in my life...looks like I had a new doll and a teddy bear and didn't have to share my Dad with anyone. 

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How many years?

 53!  Happy Anniversary to us! 

No we were not digging each others graves.  We were putting up forms for level cement pads in the campground and a bit of shoveling was required.  Teamwork. 

We were younger then...I think this photo was taken about 1991. 

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Puzzling

 We have been puzzling.

It was a fun puzzle and we finished it in just a few days!  It was a Christmas gift from my best friend Susie.

It is very cold here...bitterly cold the high yesterday was 4 F or -15 C.  With the wind chill it was thirty something below zero. Brrrrr

Roads are still icy and snow covered. 

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At least it's windy

 There is a saying here Up North.  It's really cold, but at least it's windy.  In the summer it's really hot but at least it's windy.  It seems to be windy just about every day. 

There is a huge snow drift in the driveway.  I am not going anyplace anyway.  People are starting to shovel out even though it will just drift in again.   The sound of snow blowers and plow trucks is almost constant. 

Andy has returned safely.  A five hour drive back home was an eleven hour icy road trip.

Jen and I ventured out to the Air B&B that they have in Grand Forks...the roads are either ice covered or snow covered.  You have to watch out for yourself and everyone else. 

Noah is settling into his new apartment, and Adam is working on the application for his third floor walk up apartment.  Soon both grandboys will be living on their own.  Adulting is an adventure. 

I finally put the fence up around the tree as someone kept stealing ornaments.  Someone that wags her tail and growls softly when she has something in her mouth. 

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Still snowy

 We now have about 16 inches of snow total from this storm and it is blowing around and still snowing.   Good day to stay in and start a puzzle...so we did.

Noah had a cold day to move into his new apartment.  We hear that his dog Aurora is whining about the whole situation. 

Adam is at work, Andy is at a Vex Tournament in Mankato, MN and Jen is keeping one eye on the old folks, she is on break between semesters.  It is a busy household. 

 I thought the reflection of the outside lights was way cool on the window. 

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Snow Dec 15

 Yessiree it snowed again.  Noah was on snow removal duty yesterday.  

We got a couple more inches of snow and it got windy. 

 I managed to get Far Guy over to the Hospital for his Infusion.  There wasn't much traffic, we went out for Breakfast after his appointment...Perkins is kitty corner from the hospital.  Far Guy had lab work and had to fast...so he was very hungry by 12:30 when his infusion was over.  Usually I run errands ( go to Hobby Lobby) while he is getting his infusion...but the roads were iffy so I sat with him and then we went to Wally World before heading back home.  We are now staying put for the duration of the storm. 

Usual snow fall amounts for the entire winter are right around 40 inches of snow...in the last few days we have over 1/4 of that snow total. 

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Snow December 14

 We got quite a dump of snow. 

Looks to be about 12 inches. 

I took a photo through the window yesterday morning.

Far Guy had a Doctors appointment...so Andy took him since he has a four wheel drive pickup. 

Jen and Andy both worked at snow removal for quite some time...Andy snow blowed paths for Sadie and Elvis in the back yard.   Phoebe ( Adam's cat) went out in the snow...Sadie pounced on her and buried her in the snow...the kitty was kinda wet.

We are expecting round two of this winter storm today...the wind is supposed to come up and we are supposed to get more snow.

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Gifts

 Yesterday the boxes started arriving. 

From Linda in Colorado a beautiful fabric bowl.

From Sam in Arkansas a cute little Christmas Pumpkin. 

Earlier we got Ginger Cookies and Stroopwafels from Kay in Kansas.  

I am blessed with thoughtful friends!  Thank you all! 

We are in a Winter Storm...as I write this it is snowing.  Hard to tell if it is blowing or not in town.  We had freezing drizzle before it snowed.  

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Ornament 2022

Far Guy did an awesome job on this years ornament. 

 They begin as a block of wood with somewhat of a shape. 

Here they look like cats...but they are not done yet! 

They are reindeer...some of the noses are more sparkly than others. 

I only woodcarved two or three of them, but I did the wood burning and together we painted them.  I tied all the bows and Far Guy attached all the chenille stem antlers. 

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Aurora

 Noah's dog is named Aurora.  She is a Shiba Inu a Japanese hunting dog.  She is a little stubborn and stand offish sometimes.  She does not like to be petted as much as Sadie.   She and Sadie get along okay until Aurora gets crabby. 

She has a foxy face. 

Noah is moving to a new place next week.  It is not fenced so he and Aurora will get some one on one time on the leash outdoors. 

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Cooks

 There are five cooks sometimes six cooks in this house.  Noah is here off and on and is getting his own place in a few days.  Adam is mostly at work...although he does make lots of dishes to wash. That leaves four cooks...one who hates to cook and likes to eat cereal ... that leaves three cooks.  Me, Andy and Far Guy. 

Andy cooked last night... Prime Rib, potatoes and carrots.  What a treat to have someone else cook!

Far Guy says he wants to try something called Sticky Chicken this week.   

I just say ...go for it! 

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Out for Lunch

We went out for lunch one day this week...well drive thru is considered out.

We always like to look at License Plates.  It is usually a summer time activity.  Coming from a touristy town where one of the fun things to do was to see how many out of state vehicles were parked on Main Street.  The passenger has to call out the states as the driver has to watch out for tourists walking across the street as people hardly ever use the crosswalks. 

Arbys has a great lunch! AND this vehicle was in line in front of us. 

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Family time

 The cold weather makes for dry skin.  

Little kids and lotion...they got their hands full of lotion and helped out Uncle Andy. 

Maddie and Brenton and the kids brought over pizza and we had some good family time last evening. 

We also met Adam's girlfriend...since I just met her I didn't get out my camera ...didn't want to scare her off!  She is cute and blonde and the same age as Adam...they have quite a few things in common. 

Far Guys new infusion nurses did a number on his arm...one stick but afterward he bled just under his skin.  He already misses his infusion nurses back home. 

It looks awful.

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Nordic Mosaic

 I am making progress on my Nordic Mosaic project. 

There are nine parts to the blanket;  Hygge Cross, Guardian Angel, Nordic Snowflake and at the very top I am working on Wintergreen Trees.  So I am not half way done yet! Each section has a different pattern. 

I love the red and cream colors.  I am very pleased with how it is turning out.

If you can do a single crochet, a double anchored crochet and you can count then you could do a Mosaic project too! 

It turned cold here it was -17 F or -27 C so I did not venture out. 

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A dog waits

 Poor Sadie waits for her people.  She is a tad depressed when they leave. 

She has multiple bored waiting positions.  She makes us smile everyday. 

She walks on the treadmill...I will take a photo someday soon. 

We had a very quiet day yesterday, I crocheted and watched The Masked Singer and Far Guy rolled some yarn into balls for me and he had a nap. 

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4 legged friends

Little Elvis moved right into our room.  He is mostly deaf now so he and I get along just fine. 

 Little Elvis is 13 years old.   He is getting grey around the muzzle but was so happy to see us! 

Sadie is just Sadie...a tail wagging spoiled monster sometimes.   She was happy to see us too!

She likes the day time company...but looks out the window for her people to return.  She lays on the window seat and rests her snout on the window ledge....and looks pathetic. 

We are mostly settled in, we did some grocery and odd and ends shopping yesterday.   I ordered a cube storage thing that holds baskets, so we put that together. 

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Headed out

 We are off to our  Northern Winter home where there are people we love and dogs that love us and someone to shovel all the snow.  Far Guy is just across town from all his Doctors and close to the hospital for the worst part of the Winter.

  

A gift from friends in Wyoming!  We hung it above the dining room window.

 We are lucky to have Lisette to watch over everything while we are gone, my brothers and nephew will be checking on our place too.  I will be back once in awhile to see my parents and my brothers.

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Too Cold To Snow

 When we dip below zero it rarely snows.   The high yesterday was 9 F or -12 C eh.  It seemed much colder and last evening the temperature hovered right around  0 F  or -17 C.  It was COLD. 

My baby brother and his bride cooked  supper...chicken, baked potatoes and chili...it was great!  We don't often go out after dark...and the car didn't have time to warm up between his place and ours. 

Here is the Christmas tree on Main Street...it is leaning a bit.  Hope it doesn't fall over. 

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Snowing sideways

 Yesterday I went to town to see my Dad ( he was sound asleep) and my Mom.  I got to see my sister and my niece and her children. Mom and I went to lunch.  While doing errands it got colder and colder and began to snow.   By the time I was headed home it was snowing sideways.  

No falling gently out of the sky snowflakes...you know the picturesque ones...just the brutal freeze your face off kind. 

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For Good

 I bought myself a pair of warm knitted mittens last summer.  I could not resist them.  I found them in a small craft shop off the beaten path. 

They are beautiful.  I put them away for the summer...who needs mittens in the summer anyways...who buys mittens in the summer.  Well...apparently I do, these are lined with angora yarn.  Just slipping your hands inside is almost orgasmic. 

I looked at them this week...as it happens they had joined two other pairs of mittens that I have been saving "for good."  How many pair of "for good" mittens did I need?  

I am going to wear them this winter, I thought about putting idiot strings on them so they are not lost. 

Why is it that letting go is so difficult.  I might lose one...I might get them dirty...I might...I might...I might enjoy wearing them...

Do you have anything that you are saving "for good" ?

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Bees

 The book this month is The Secret Life of Bees, I give it a 8 out of 10.  It was a good read. 

It probably would have rated a tad bit higher if I did not have a bee sting allergy. 

It took me a long time to control the terror I feel when there is a bee in the vicinity.  Fight or flee is a very strong reaction.

A very long time ago ...I believe it was the summer before my third birthday we were visiting at Great Uncle Mike's and Great Aunt Ellen's house.   They kept bees.  A series of white cabinets under the shade tree in the front yard.

Great Uncle Mike and Great Aunt Ellen

I opened a hive and began to scream as the bees began to sting me.  My Dad and Great Uncle Mike grabbed a blanket and ran out to cover me with the blanket....they brought me and many bees back into the house.  They picked out stingers and lost count at 200 stings.  I was very ill for a number of days.  

Since then bees seem to know what I did...and they want revenge....do you suppose I am marked in some way...or just titched in the head? 

One time we were coming home from Iowa in 1959 with the windows down ...two adults in the car and three kids ( Me, my baby brother and my cousin Mark) a bee flew in and stung me and flew out the window...just like that.  My baby brother was not scared of bees...he used to say just hold still and they will not sting you...WRONG...if they landed on me they stung me. 

I have Epi Pens to keep on hand. 

 One time when I was stung on my tongue I had to have six injections in the ER...my tongue swelled so fast it filled my mouth and I could not breathe ...so I had to stick my tongue out of my mouth....and talking was impossible. Never eat anything with a sneaky bee on it.  I had grabbed a cinnamon roll and took it outside with me...took a bite and a bee was on that part of the cinnamon roll.  OUCH.

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In the kitchen

 It was time to finish up those open shelves in the kitchen.  They get dusty.  They are clean now! 

The ruffly blue vase on the top shelf is from Norway.  It was a gift to my parents from Florence and Russ neighbors and friends for years.   These shelves are kinda a pain in the butt sometimes...however putting dishes away is easy. 

I am not sure where the cobwebs come from but they sure show up after the furnace has been on! 

Far Guy and I ran errands in the morning, we stopped to see my Dad in the home and then picked up some jelly making supplies.  We dropped off a few woodcarved ornaments in town and came home and made the last three batches of Chokecherry Jelly.  ( The chokecherry juice was frozen last summer when it was too hot to make jelly)

That makes seven batches of jelly so the pantry has jelly again and we can share with friends!  We got 21 jars from three batches...one did not seal so that one is in the fridge. 

Cross a couple more things off my list.  

We had a few snowflakes in the air in the afternoon. 

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Some progress

 I mailed the Christmas cards yesterday.    Cross something off my list!   The rest of the woodcarved Christmas ornaments will be dropped off this week.  Just local deliveries are left. 

Our weather has been wonderful, some of the snow has melted but I heard that the weather is going to change later this week.  Our high yesterday was 35 F or 2 C eh!

We have to stop feeding the birds, we have three of this years fawns coming in and raiding the bird feeders at night.  They are hungry little buggers.  Our yard is like a super highway for deer. 

I made a couple of lists...not checking anything twice...yet. 

We watched Australia on HBO Max...Far Guy hated it and I enjoyed it.  I give it a 8 out of 10....probably because of Hugh Jackman :)  I watched The Shack yesterday on Netflix I give that a  9 out of 10. 

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Cards

 We got our first Christmas card in the mail.  Someone is more on the ball than me!   Ours will go out in the mail today.  I wrote the Christmas letter so it is not nearly as entertaining as my husbands versions. 

Card from Nebraska!

We had another quiet day, I did a few small projects. Nothing earth shattering. 

I did some laundry, washed some decorative glassware in the kitchen, crocheted until I fell asleep sitting up and then had a nap until my other baby brother and she who sees robins first stopped by to check on us.  

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T

 We are tuckered out and had our fill of turkey for quite a long time.  

We had a quiet day Saturday we went to recycle and then dropped by the neighbors for coffee.   Older folks talk about their health ...they have cataract surgery and a possible back surgery happening in the next month or so.   Thankfully Far Guy and I have no surgery coming up.  I am tired...and Far Guy is short of breath...same old same old health complaints.   They filled us in on a mutual friend struggling with dementia...so sad.   So it could be worse. 

My baby brothers bride shared her photo of the Thursday turkey.

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Thanksgiving Part Two

 We gathered at Gather in Laporte. 

There were fourteen of us.  Jen and Andy hosted and guests were Paige and Cole, Savannah and Ty, Maddie and Brenton and the Great Grands and my sister and her husband.  

Food was great again today...turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, rolls, pickles and a Snickers salad.  A variety of bars and pies for dessert. 

Before and after supper we played some games. 

Fun times with our Grandgirls

AND Great Grands

 Cee Cee and Hey Mikey!

These two kept us entertained!  They are growing up so fast! 

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Thanksgiving Part One

 We had lots of food at my baby brothers.  Turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, cabbage slaw, yams, fruit salad, pickles and a dessert bar with many gluten free options, pumpkin pie without the crust, pumpkin bread, a pumpkin roll, almond cake, cherry filled cookies and date and cherry bars.   The food was all awesome!   People present were both of my brothers and their wives, my sister and her husband,  my Mom, Niece Stacey and her husband, daughter Jen her husband Andy, and our Grands Noah and Adam.

Sadie is here. 

She is making us smile.

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