First Snow

 Rain turned to snow in the early morning hours on November 20th.  We have enough to almost cover the grass.

Isn't it beautiful?  At least some of the brown is covered up with white.  I shoveled off the walk. Typically it snows three times before the snow stays...we will see what happens...our weather forecast looks like wintery temperatures for the rest of November.  

Jen sent a photo of Sadie in the snow...they got more snow Up North than we did. 

Looks like she walked outside on the patio and laid down.  I am sure she was racing around like a wild girl before long.  

I had a sorting day...sorted out some more "stuff" and labeled a bunch of photos.   I also cleaned out the old toy box...threw some old hiking boots out and began a donation pile for scarfs and hats no longer worn.  I tried to clear some odds and ends or "I will get to it later" stuff off my desk.  I was partially successful. 

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Cousins

Some of my cousins on my Dad's side of the family gathered yesterday for lunch. Seven showed up;  Geraldine, Hilda, Wilma, Georgianna, Evelyn and Chuckie.  It was a nice visit.  Better than visiting at a funeral....plus we were at the place that has the wonderful Sour Cream and Raisin Pie! 

I had a few old photos to share with the gals. 

This is an old photo from1994.  In the photo is Far Guy's Mother, me and my cousin Kathy.  That is Mary Ann's head of dark hair, she is a sister to several of my Aunts.  We gathered for a quilting bee to work on our 25th anniversary quilt.  Many of the relatives embroidered a quilt square and they were all included in two double quilts.  The photo was taken at my parents home on the lake downstairs in their large family room.

My cousin Kathy was missed yesterday....she always like the gatherings.  Perhaps the gathering she is having in heaven is much better!  In 30 years every one in the photo has died...except me. 

The quilts have never been used...they are like new.  

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Mailed and other stuff

 I mailed a whole bunch of odds and ends AND this years Christmas ornaments yesterday.  It took the postal clerk about 30 minutes to deal with my 15 packages.  He said he hadn't mailed that many packages in the last six months.   The lady waiting behind me was not too happy. 

We still have a few Christmas ornaments to hand deliver.  

Back at home I gathered together all my lawn mowing garb threw it in the washer and washed my red boots off in the sink.  All of it including my hat will be stored in the old toy box until next year.  

I got two pair of snowboots out and washed up a pair of crocs for the shoe drawer.  Also decided to get rid of two pairs of shoes from the shoe drawer...progress! ( Truth be told I still have one pair of crocs by the door just incase I need to slip them on quickly instead of my snowboots)

Listed a few more things for sale on Facebook Marketplace.  It all takes time. 

My desk is full of "stuff" from upstairs...paper stuff...old stuff..."stuff" that my Mom kept..that needs to be sorted out...many things will find a home in the Grands three ring binders that I have been keeping for them.  ( I sorted things out for my siblings last Spring and my pile of "stuff" just sat upstairs.)   All that "stuff" needs a proper storage spot!

AND I am ready for the snow!  I can tell the snow is coming...change of weather is painful for me. 

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November 17th Blooms!

 Imagine my surprise when I saw that the weedy little daisy in our rocks on the West side of the house decided to bloom.

No one said November 17th was too late to bloom.

The rabbits, squirrels, skunk, deer or bear have trampled part of it... I have treated the area with round-up many times over the Summer and into the Fall...yet the daisy blooms. 

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Fall Projects and thoughts

 Yesterday we had a project day...well project morning anyway.  Recycles went to recycle and garbage went to the landfill.  Patio chairs, table, various lawn ornaments and a bird feeder went into winter storage.  I vacuumed up the counters in the garage and threw a bunch of stuff away....some old gloves, yucky rags and empty containers.  I brought the snow shovel to the front door in anticipation of snow. 

Two things on my mind/in my craw this week.

Thursday the grocery store not Wally World had two checkouts open...they have at least eight lanes and four self checkouts.  I stood in one line for a bit...the cashier was coughing so much she was doubling over and then lifted off her mask to talk to people...can you imagine the hasty u turn I made to the self checkouts?  If a manager had been around I would have complained...that gal should not have been allowed to come to work...what is wrong with people? 

Dancing with the half naked Stars... men could you keep your shirts on?  I don't mind watching you dance UNTIL your shirt is ripped open then I just want to fast forward or turn the channel.  There isn't one among them that has bald chest that is worth looking at. 

Far Side

 

Fog and stuff

 The foggy mornings of November are here.  I woke up about daylight and it was really foggy..the light from the sunrise made it look really strange so I went back to sleep.  Nothing like avoidance. 

We had a quiet day at home tending to a few things.  Laundry, a bit of cooking and various odds and ends.  

Far Guy reports that a large deer was in the yard...possibly that accounts for an empty bird feeder either that or the bear was here. 

Today we will collect some of the things out of the yard for Winter storage and we will roll the patio table to the garage, and return the snow shovel to it's Winter home by the front door.  A Wintery mix is forecast for next week.  I am just thrilled...can you tell? 

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Sticks and Stones

 There is a sculpture on Main Street in town that is named sticks and stones. 

A stick, some stones and a metal frame.   Who knew? 

I was reminded of the childhood saying "Sticks and stones will beak my bones but words will never hurt me."  Do you recall that one?  A children's rhyme from 1862.  

I do know that some words can hurt.  I was reminded one day by a very little girl who I had just scolded for doing something or another...as a tear rolled down her cheek she said "You hurt my feeling"  Yes not feelings ...just feeling...apparently one feeling. When you are little you can have just one feeling. 

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Rain

 The rain is turning the grass green and the grass is growing.  I am not getting the lawn mower out again.  

The few leaves that were in our yard and on the patio blew away in the gale force winds on Tuesday. 

I have an old mower propped up against this tree...you know the old push mower with the cutting blades that went around as you pushed.  I believe it is called a reel mower. It took some arm power to push it in tall grass...I recall getting a run at it.  At one time years ago...like 50 years ago you could buy a weed killer bar to attach to the back of the mower and all your dandys were killed...possibly it was 2, 4 - D who really knows for sure. 

Now a days I leave the dandys in the side yard for the early bees, dandys do stop blooming if you mow over them often enough.  But then again I have no neighbors that complain about them. 

The rains in the Fall are good for the trees it will help get them through the winter. Our high temperature yesterday was 40 F or 5 C...it was a tad chilly but not cold enough to snow. 

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Awesome

 Sometimes you have to be reminded that you are awesome! 

Sam sent me a belated birthday gift...a reminder that I may be older but I am still awesome!  I love the project bag too...:) Also included were a compact mirror, fuzzy socks and a drink cup...there was also a candle that we will use out on the patio.   Thank you Sam!

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1953 or 1954 Deer Hunting

 I have several old photographs of me and a deer. 

Who: My Dad and me

Where: the Farm in Carsonville Township

Why:  Hunting photo

When:  1953 or 1954  I am either two or three years old.

I believe that is my Uncle Adolf on the left and my Dad on the right.  Note my fancy headscarf...most likely a dish towel.  The windows in the center of the photo were living room windows, the outside wood chute is the little toot on the left and the door to the house is on the far right. 

Here we have another person...Uncle George or maybe my Aunt Marie's husband Uncle Kenneth on the far left. 

I wish I knew exactly who was who...but in the end it is my Dad and his brothers or his brother in law  at the end of a good hunt. 

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Veteran's Day 2024

 Far Guy is a Veteran he was in the Air Force and the North Dakota Air National Guard for 26 plus years.  

He was always going places in planes. 

 I knew when he was leaving but the return home could take place at anytime ...usually days late.

One time he took a camera with him and took a selfie .

Then he took a photo out of the canopy.

Happy Veteran's Day to my husband and all others who have been or are now in the Armed Forces.  Thank you for your service! 

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Progress is slow

 I washed a window today and Far Guy did one more...maybe tomorrow we can get another one done.  We are slow but steady.  

This afghan is still in my work basket...I have been working on it off and on...mostly off... for a year.  The Fall like colors should inspire me!

The deer hunters around here were quiet...I didn't hear any shots.  It spit rain here when I was washing that window on the outside. It was not cold enough to snow. 

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Brown

We are deep in the brown season, usually we have some white by now...I am certain it will come sooner or later. 

We had a busy week and the time change caught up with me yesterday and I slept the afternoon away. 

Deer hunting starts today, hope everyone has a safe and productive hunt here in Minnesota!

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Book Club:November

 I picked the book for book club this month.  I read it previously and enjoyed it very much...in fact I enjoyed it the second time I read it too!  I give it a 9 1/2 out of 10.  It is a fun read.

James Patterson and Tad Safran wrote The Twelve Topsy- Tervy, Very Messy Days of Christmas

It is a good book that may inspire you to begin Christmas preparations. ( I could use a big kick in the butt to get me going on the Christmas cards)

All of the gals at book club enjoyed the book. 

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Wednesday a quiet day

 We needed a quiet day after traveling for two days. I am not doing well riding in the car...about an hour from home I crawled into the back seat and slept.  The pain was too much. 

I did some laundry on Wednesday and put a few things away, had a nap and we cooked supper together.  A Philly Cheese concoction on pretzel buns....a double batch was made so that the next time we can just heat it up and not cook! 

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Philly Pretzel Buns

Brown a pound of hamburger

Add 1 cup of beef broth and three tablespoons of A 1 Steak sauce. I save the other cup of broth and freeze it for next time

Simmer until mixture is reduced

Slice pretzel buns in half, top with half the mixture and cheese we like mozzarella 

It makes four servings so I freeze the rest for a no cook day. 

Broil until cheese melts. 

I served it with pickles and carrot sticks. 

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I am finishing up my book for book club...I have read it before but it is a fun second read.

Neighbor and good friend Jolynn had a hysterectomy yesterday in Duluth for Endometrial Cancer.  Her daughters report she is doing okay, there will be no results on the status of the cancer until next week.  So she is heavy on my mind. 

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Fun and not fun

Fun!  We got to see a Grand and the Greats in between medical appointments.   Peach was especially friendly showing me her stick horse and her turtle dolly.  She even sat with me for a bit. 

Peach is a doll.  

Not so fun;  I had the MRI and will be seeing my Ortho PA soon to discuss the results.  That MRI is not a fun test 25 minutes and nine rock and roll songs...one of which was "I wanna get outta this place if its the last thing I ever do." I had to do some real controlled calming breathing...because I wanted to get out...what if the gals left...what if there was a power outage...what if there was a fire...thank goodness that song was number seven and I was close to getting pulled out.  Next time I will not be brave and I shall be in a medical induced coma medicated.  I am too old to be brave.

Okay might be fun. My Primary Care Dr is pleased with my blood pressure and I will have some more tests in January. 

FUN!  Going out for supper with Andy and Jen.

More fun!  Sadie!  She still loves us.

Fun.  We drove back home and voted.  

Two three more medical appointments scheduled this week. 

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Vote!

 Who ever you vote for just get out and VOTE!

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Tamarack

 The far tree is Larix laricina also known as Tamarack or Larch. 

Their needles turn from green to a faded green to bright gold this time of year.  Then the needles fall off.  Tamarack is a deciduous conifer.  

Most certainly a interesting tree...that will never be cut down for a Christmas tree.

Not much new here...Far Guy turned all the clocks back and changed the batteries in the smoke detectors.  We need a new CO2 detector as it would not stop chirping when he changed the batteries...they are only good for a few years. 

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falling back

 Uffda.  I hate the time change...I dislike the dwindling daylight hours. Someone said "Welcome darkness my old friend."

November is not my favorite month of the year...it is the brown month here in Minnesota everything is a different shade of brown.  

Brown is so boring...how about some blue? Like the waters of the Caribbean...nope not happening...only blue dishes.  

I managed to set the table with Far Guys favorite blue dishes.  We cooked supper for friends that we get together with once a month or so... we served salad, baked carrots and chicken enchilada hotdish...see that towel in the center of the table...yup I plunked down the entire hotdish there....good thing they are not fancy friends! 

 

It was our turn to cook supper...glad we got it done. I fell back on a tried and true recipe that we both like...and leftovers freeze well.  

Chicken Enchilada Hotdish

Cook some chicken in a roasting pan in the oven...shred it then add

1 small tub of sour cream about a cup

1 can of Cream of Chicken soup

Some diced green chilis

Spread the mixture on about 8 flour tortilla shells roll them up and place them in the 9 x 13 buttered baking dish.

Top with remaining mixture and your favorite cheese we like Co Jack about two cups

Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes give or take

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Fun Faces

 The big kids and little kids carved some nice Jack O' Lanterns

Such expressive faces! 

Great Granddaughter Peach even had a taste!  

All photos by Jen. 

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Halloween Report 2024

 I was not at home when the first batch came through so I missed a photo of the littlest trick or treater Lola.  Far Guy says she looked like a ballerina maybe. Then I met part of the first batch in the driveway and had them come back for a photo.

A grandma, a banana and a scary guy with curly hair.  Brooke, Ava and Kelly are great nieces and nephew.

Jen sent photos of our Great Grandchildren.

A scary devil, Princess Belle and a scarecrow.  Hey Mikey, Cee Cee and Peach. (The ghost in the back is just a decoration!)

Sadie waiting at the door.  Jen always does an awesome job decorating!  

It was a chilly evening in Minnesota for Trick or Treating but not raining or snowing! 

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Happy Halloween!

 We are ready with a plastic pumpkin full of candy.  We may get five trick or treaters this year...maybe.  All the kids are getting older.  

Here a a few photos of the good old days.

Chance hated the Halloween hat...he tolerated the scarf but that hat not so much. 

In 2013 Chance could not figure out why his best friends looked funny. 

All the kids in the photos have either graduated from high school or will graduate this year and next year. 

Those were the days. Happy Halloween!

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Fall work

 I think I am done with leaves for the year.  The ones in the woods will stay put especially if we get snow. 

My mower had a problem but Far Guy fixed it ...mostly and put new blades on it and washed all the dust off of it and put it away in the garage. 

It is good to have the leaves done. I celebrated by vacuuming out the car.  

The mowing was hard on my left hip and leg...I am having an MRI next week.  I am still going to PT once a week and doing exercises daily. 

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Fungi

 My other baby brother has a tree with some interesting fungi. 

I have no idea what kind of fungi this is ...other than interesting. 

On the other side of the tree is one little fungi.  

I used to know more about fungi...I took a very interesting Botany class many years ago...use it or lose it...

Sometimes I should just enjoy the discovery without all the information like its real name. 

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Fall Stuff

 Our Fall work list is getting shorter.  The leaves are out of the trees, well all the leaves that will fall right now.

If there are still leaves in the tree then that is most likely a Pin Oak and the leaves will fall off in the winter winds and the leaves will skate across the snowbanks or the new leaves will force them off in the Spring. ..it is called marcescence.

Those pesky leaves that catch amongst the solar lights are now history.  Raking is no fun for an old gal, it tuckered me out.   

I put a few pieces of furniture for sale on Facebook marketplace...sold one so far.  Yeah me!  

We have three medical appointments so far this week.   It is what we do for entertainment. 

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Linda

 Yesterday we paid our respects to Linda's family.  We went to the visitation a bit early to avoid the crowds of people that would be there.  We found Cousin Tom sitting by himself in the front pew of the church.  Others were in the church making sure the meal was being prepared and everything was just so for their Mothers/Grandmothers funeral service. 

Cousin Tom is sad, he has moved into Senior Living Apartments and out of his home.  The move was planned well before Linda died.  He shared that their home held 50 years of "stuff" and is for sale.  They would have been married 59 years at the end of this month. 

Linda wrote her own obituary and it was lovely especially the last few words.  " I have lived a wonderfully ordinary life; celebrate that with me."

There were a number of her poems in the funeral program! 

  I recall one of our first conversations probably the weekend near June 13 when we all used to gather to celebrate Grandma Tracie's birthday.   Linda liked to suck on rocks...she did it quite discreetly so small children would not notice...she said she had done it all her life and wondered if it was the minerals she liked.  I had never met someone who sucked on rocks before...she seemed pretty normal to me...and she was.  

 She had a marvelous laugh and she was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.  Linda was 78 years old.  She died from Leukemia. 

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October 26

 This is the day that my other baby brother was born and my baby brother and I told everyone his name was Jody,  I was nine and my baby brother was six.  A neighbor lady visited Mom in the hospital and said "What a cute name for your baby" ... and so he was named. 

Here he is in 1961 when he was one year old. 

Happy Birthday Jody! 

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The Greats

 Our Great Grandchildren are GREAT. Here are some recent photos of them at the wedding.  They are growing like little weeds.  They all belong to our Granddaughter Maddie and her husband Brenton.

Hey Mikey!

Cee Cee calling for her brother.

 

It was difficult waiting around for photographs.  Uncle Andy was explaining about patience and how it is hard sometimes but we don't get everything we want. 

Brenton and Peach

Jen and Peach

After the photographs the children went back to the motel with their babysitter.  It was a hard day for them being away from their Mom as she was busy being a Matron of Honor.  

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Cousin Kathy

 My Cousin Kathy died on October 11th.  We attended the visitation at the funeral home, the funeral was the next day the same day as Paige's wedding.  

Kathy was one of my favorite cousins, she printed family scrapbooks and cookbooks. She was very interested in family history and stories and was always up for any cousin adventure!  Before Kathy had her stroke she and cousin Geraldine would get together and could visit a day away seeing as many relatives as they could in a day.  

Aunt Eleanor with Mary Jane, Leonard with Mike, Uncle Oscar with Kathy and Ronnie.

This is a photo that my Mom took in 1953.  Everyone in the photo is gone now except for the two youngest...Mary Jane and Mike. 

 Leonard died October 23, 1958 in a hunting accident age 15

Ronnie died May 16,  2022 age 75

Kathy died  October 11, 2024  age 75

Kathy's Dad Oscar and my Dad were brothers. 

I will miss my cousin Kathy, her smile, laugh and her hugs.  She gave the best hugs. 

Far Side

Here is the newspaper article about my cousin Leonard's death.