Ice and Cooking

 The lakes still have ice.  It will be a late Ice Out this year unless we get really warm.

This is the West side of Shell Lake.  We went to Detroit Lakes on Friday because the Highway will be under construction all summer. Yes All Summer....I feel sorry for anyone living along the road.

Saturday Far Guy and I made Jambalya...it took us half the day...the other half we went to play cards with Steve and Jo and afterwards we came home for our naps. 

Jambalya and flat bread was supper.  Want the recipe for Jambalya?  He follows the Jambalya video for The Cajun Ninja.  I am just the Sous Chef and part time stirring assistant.  It freezes well and will be enjoyed on nights no one wants to cook.

Got your May Baskets ready?  

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Barn

 We have watched this barn for years.

The winter was too much for it.  

Too old, too much snow...and it just gave out.  

As you can see nothing is green yet...no leaves, no grass. 

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Better

 I am feeling better...for an old gal.  My non tooth area/cavern/hole in my head has finally calmed down.  No more pain or throbbing.  Yeah me...

Yesterday I helped Far Guy with his car...scrubbing now that is in my wheelhouse.  He wanted the vinyl on the floor scrubbed before he puts those newly covered seats back in his car.   I must have done okay....then I had a nap. 

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letter

 I sent Hey Mikey a letter...and he liked it! 

Hey Mikey. I heard you were losing your teeth!  Are you pulling them out yourself?

I hope you are being good on the bus and listening to your Mom.

I am still a little crabby because I am old.

Great Grandpa says Hi and thanks for the letter.

Buy some ice cream and share with your sister.

Love you!  Crabby Great Grandma H.

Maddie messaged me to say he loved his letter and he would share with his sister " but only a little bit."

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Blanket

 Here is the little blanket I made for our newest Great Grand due in late June.

This is Bernat yarn that is so soft, cuddly and warm.   I finished it pretty quickly and have one less project!  I still have five crochet projects happening at once.  ( scrubbies, a lace shawl, another shawl, Winter Wonderland and crochet bags)

I was not feeling well enough to go to Far Guy's Doctor appointment yesterday.  I stayed home and slept the entire time he was gone.  He is a big guy and can go to appointments with out me! 

I am chilled and exhausted and hope I feel better soon.  Far Guy is making eggs for supper...soft foods for me, not much chewing or opening my mouth is a good thing.

FYI I made it through the pain with Ibuprofen...not much fun at all. They never did call in the prescription for the pain med that they said they would....the bums.

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Tooth and Dogs

 One of these days I should count my teeth.  I kinda like Nitrous Oxide, it takes the edge off.

Yes I had a messy tooth...it had an abscess that they cleaned up, packed it with something that will dissolve and put in a couple of stitches.  Uffda...

I cannot say that they were a real organized Oral Surgery Office.  My prescription never got to the Pharmacy...and when Far Guy called back to the Surgery center they only sent one prescription in.  We finally left town without the pain reliever. Far Guy was disgusted...we waited in the parking lot of the Pharmacy just about an hour.   I was so ready to just get the prescription and head home...

Little Elvis enjoyed our stay and he had a sleep over in our room. 

Miss Sadie was so happy to see us especially Far Guy.  

The kids painted the living room and Jen got new curtains...and the popcorn ceiling is history. 

 It is a much brighter room!  

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Ouch

I have a Dental Procedure on Monday....not looking forward to it other than putting it behind me.  I have been fighting a tooth abscess since last Fall ...I have had a root canal, many rounds of antibiotics...the last time the Dentist drilled into the crown and put medication down in the tooth...then more antibiotics...so it is time. 

We will get to see Little Elvis and Sadie so that will make me feel better. 

We have appointments nearly everyday this week. 

Thank goodness I cooked last week and the freezer has many meals...because I may not feel like cooking. 

Snow in the trees a few days ago.

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Still not Springy

 We went to recycle and to the local grocery store.  

The fields are filled with snow again and snow was drifting across the road.  The sky had some blue spots. 

Seems like all I have done this last week is cook!  I made some lasagna yesterday...I like it once and Far Guy will warm up the extra frozen servings. 

I finished the baby blanket I was working on...haven't taken a photo yet.  

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More sNOw

 It snowed off and on...maybe some fell out of the trees. 

I made soup, did some laundry and had a nap. 

No chance that I would be sitting out on the patio.

June got a new layer.

It snowed about seven inches give or take.   It was enough.  FYI this is day 165 for our snow.

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Snow

 The snow was almost gone...just snow drifts remaining.

I could almost imagine some green grass.

THEN

and still more

Who knows when it will end. 

I am trying to make the best of the situation and will make some vegetable soup today...and have a nap.

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Swans

The  Trumpeter Swans are finding food and puddles in the fields. 

 

There is still snow in the shade and in the trees.  More snow is forecast for today. 

It might warm up next week.

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Surprises!

 A package in the mail from South Dakota! 

Sara writes a blog called My Sewing Room and sews some lovely things and I admired the cat fabric she chose for this bag!  The bag has three zippered compartments inside. It is the perfect carry along that will hold numerous things!  Thank you Sara!

Another nice surprise was that Spring has arrived momentarily with the Pussy Willows.

We are not holding our breath on Springs arrival as Winter will be back in a few days with snow. 

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Happy Birthday Trica!

 Our oldest daughter Trica is 51 years old today.  

Recently I ran across this photo from the summer of 1972. Much happier times.

The babies were born in the Spring.  Far Guy's Paternal Grandmother Tracie is holding our daughter Trica, my sister Julie is holding Kathy. Kathy is a Granddaughter of Tracies.  Trica and Kathy had matching dresses.  I believe the photo was taken at the summer cottage on Straight Lake that belonged to Kathy's parents Archie and Liz.

Our oldest daughter Trica is not in good health.  She has been in and out of the hospital most of the winter with ovarian cysts, bowel blockages, dehydration, kidney stones and kidney/liver issues. 

 If I could wish or pray her healthy and happy I would. 

Today I can only wish her a happy birthday!

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Happy Birthday Maddie!

 Our middle granddaughter and number two Grand is older today.  How can it be that she is 25 years old?

It seems like only yesterday that I watched her take her first breath and cut the umbilical cord.  She was beautiful then and still is!

Now she is all grown up: has a husband, two children with the third due in July, she works full time and takes care of her busy family.

Happy Birthday Maddie! 

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Paper Project: May Baskets

 I have been playing with paper.   The weather has been cloudy/rainy and cool...so time is best spent doing something inside.  I made good use of my die cutter to cut out everything!

Pink parts of May Baskets

They are pretty little pig May baskets.  I finished them last night...they just need some candy and they will be all set to go on May Day! 

Perhaps this is the reminder you need to make a basket or two.  I made 25.  I will take some into my Mom at Assisted Living and she can share some with the residents there. They should certainly make someone smile!

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Crochet Projects

 I finished one crochet project.  A shawl.  It was my The Bachelor/Survivor Shawl that I worked on last winter while watching TV.

Then I started another.

The yarn on the left will make a fine shawl. 

Then I finished another shawl that had been in progress a long long time....it has to be blocked before I do a photo shoot of that one.  I picked yarn to replace that project and will begin soon. 

Then I started on the baby blanket and it is coming along.  Slowly... but the baby is due in July so I have time.

My Mosaic project Winter Wonderland is coming right along also with my normal take along projects.  I have a small bag with crochet projects that goes with me to appointments. 

Such is my crochet life.  Last week I enjoyed a parking spot near a bunch of happy Spring birds and  sunshine while I crocheted and watched people come and go.

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Out and about

We went for a Ranger Blue ride.  Looks like a beaver has moved in down at the Dead Beaver Area...unless he has been trapped.  The river is up a bit. 

The snow is melting slowly.   It was a great evening for a ride.  We could smell smoke as soon as we left our house...we confirmed that it was stumps burning a mile west of us.

They had all winter to burn the darn things...I suppose they will smolder for days. 

We are happy to put this week of appointments behind us and look forward to staying out of Clinics for a few days. 

Far Guy is still struggling with shortness of breath and some congestion...I have one eye on him. He had lung function tests this week and is at 20% lung function.  He has been worse and he has been better.  One day at a time. 

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Critters

 We got this photo in a message...

"Miss this?  Come get her."

We do miss her.  She wouldn't like it here, we would have to keep her on leash! 

Just a few minutes after Far Guy filled the bird feeders the local wildlife showed up to feast.  Far Guy says there were four deer all together.   My baby brother and his bride said they watched seven deer run down the center of the lake on the ice.

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Easter Gathering Report

 Far Guy and I went to my other baby brothers for Easter dinner.  There were 21 of us.  My Dad would have made it 22....but he is in heaven for Easter this year.  I thought about him many times over the weekend.  Good Friday was the day he always planted his potatoes and at sunrise on Easter morning he would predict how the weather would be for the summer by the way the wind was blowing and how warm it was.  It was a different Easter not discussing those things with him and arguing a bit! ( The snow it too deep to plant potatoes or those spuds will just rot in the ground).   I miss irritating my Dad...

My Mother fell on Saturday in her apartment and although she is okay she is very sore, black and blue and green.   She still has a blood clot in her leg and some water retention problems.

We had a lovely dinner...I took a pineapple pretzel salad and a pan of corn bread.  Andy and Jen brought a couple of double smoked hams.  Mom brought some of her pickles and she who sees robins first and my other baby brother bought taco salad, fruit salad, cheezy potatoes, green beans, buns and rice crispies and cherry cheesecake.   

We took food over for my baby brother and his bride.  He is recovering from back surgery and his bride has  a respiratory infection of some kind...possibly pneumonia.  So they were in no shape to attend. 

If we were hiding Easter Eggs they would have showed up in the snow. 

The patio is free of snow but we have lots of snow to melt! 

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Male Mail

 Far Guy got a letter from Hey Mikey.  It made him smile. 

It is a keeper.  Hey Mikey and CeeCee had a snow day at Uncle Andy and Auntie Jen's house one day last week as they had a snow day when their parental units had to still go to work. 

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Book Club

 Book Club was last week.  We read The Lake House by Kate Morton.  I finished this book when we were still Up North.

I give it a 9 out of 10 stars.  It was a good book...the author wove and interwove the story line...she tied up all the lose ends but some of them were very convenient!  She also did a fair share of red herrings.   It followed two time lines 1933 and 2004 and bounced back and forth....which irritated some of the book club gals.  

I ordered the books for the next few months...I order books from Thrift Books online.  I still like to hold a real book when I read.

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Happy Easter!

 

Happy Birthday Paige!

 Miss Paige our youngest Granddaughter and the number three grand is older today! 

She graduates next month and has a job!  As soon as her License comes through she will start her new job as a Dental Hygienist.  We are very proud of her! 

A photo of Paige and her beau Cole. 

Happy Birthday Miss Paige! 

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Digging out

 The roads were plowed by the time we went to town for Far Guy's weekly infusion.   He was happy to see his favorite nurses and from the sounds of it they were happy to see him too! 

I ran some errands in town.  Lots of people were in town the day after snowy days. 

The roads were a combo of wet, slushy, dry or icy.  Driver beware...only one car in the ditch.

The huge snow bank was created by snow coming off the steel roof.  When it comes down it rumbles as it slides.  

I found an old half finished crochet project...cashmere yarn..so I refreshed my old brain on the stitches and  it may be finished...someday. 

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Storm Day Two

 The wind blew, it snowed and the wind blew some more. 

Here are my shovels. One Toro Power Shovel the best $100 I ever spent and one regular grain shovel that I like for shoveling snow by hand.  It is plastic and light to lift!

My wonderful nephew Josh plowed our drive and yard yesterday and shoveled the walk for me.  So  much appreciated!

I hope the sun comes out and melts the snow on the patio...it was almost clear before this storm. 

Toward supper time we made a quick delivery and the township road had lots of big drifts...Ranger Blue plowed right through the drifts made by the wind coming off of the fields.  The road will be plugged with snow in just a few hours.  The back way around through the woods was okay.

I made one of Far Guy favorite meals for supper...roast pork, potatoes, gravy and baked carrots.  Minnesota comfort food! 

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Storm Day One

 It was supposed to start snowing about noon and it began about 9 AM.  Far Guy had an appointment at the Clinic, I dropped him off and ran a few errands.  We were back home before noon when it began to snow really hard. 

We had a quiet afternoon and a nap.  I shoveled the walk twice.   The second time I used my Power Shovel!

So far it looks to be about four maybe five inches of new snow and it is still coming down and blowing around.

June is looking like a mountain.  

I can hardly wait to see what day two or day three brings.

My baby brother had back surgery in Fargo yesterday and reports that he has no more back pain which is a huge relief for him.  He will be there a few more days in the blizzard.  Glad his surgery was scheduled on day one of the storm as so many things are cancelled and roads closed. 

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Calm before the storm

 The blizzard is supposed to begin with snow starting about noon tomorrow. 

We are as prepared as we can be.  Yesterday I finally got all the ice removed from the walk. 

We went to recycle...good to have Ranger Blue out again! 

The highway was free of snow and ice...you can see that the Smoky Hills were living up to their name. 

Far Guy has a bit of a sore throat and a cough. Hopefully it is just the change of households and he will straighten out in a few days. I have one eye on him. 

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Confused Robins!

 Three Robins were in our yard yesterday. 

There is a Robin in the tree. I know... I know not a great photo. 

Here is our April 2nd Robin! This is the only patch of grass in our yard and I doubt that the earthworms have thawed out. 

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First Robins In Our Yard:

April 19 2008, April 11 2009, April 5 2010, April 4 2011, March 23 2012, April 27 2013, April 9 2014,  April 24  2015, April 21 2016, April 5 2017, April 29 2018,
some time in late May 2019, March 31 2020, April 4 2021, unknown 2022, April 2 2023.

June is huge!

 Our snowbank named June is enormous!

My other baby brother did a great job tending to June over the winter.  The snow in our yard and driveway has to go someplace and that place is June. 

We ran errands in town.   Groceries and some misc stuff.  We napped in the afternoon. 

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Home Again

 We have returned to our home in the woods.  The roads were good until we got within 15 miles of home.  The North East wind blew snow across the roads.

We started out with blue sky and chased the weather front all the way home.   We unpacked the car and put most of our "stuff" away.   Not everything fit in the car so Andy and Jen will bring the remainder of our stuff when they visit. 

A storm is forecast for this week.  Today we will stop by the Post Office and go to the grocery store, the cupboards are not bare but they are lacking just a few things. 

Menu's will be planned for two weeks...and we shop accordingly.  Back to life in the country!  As you can see Spring is not visiting our part of Minnesota. 

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