How in the world did our Great Grandson get to be 7 years old? He just completed First Grade now onto Second Grade in the Fall. His birthday was a few days ago.
His Mom took this photo on the last day of school.
Happy Birthday Hey Mikey! Hope you have a really good Summer.
Great Grandma
Sometimes you cannot avoid all the muds holes in life.
Great Niece Aubrey has to have another bone graft surgery, this will be her 10th or 11th surgery. Of course we want her to have the best possible outcome when they do her big surgery next year.
Great Niece Ava broke her leg while playing softball...surgery will be Friday.
My Uncle Al has just weeks to live according to his Hospice nurses. I will visit him one day soon.
Yup mud holes.
Far Side
Update Ava's surgery was a success. Her leg should heal:)
The Trillium are in bloom.
Such pretty blooms.
There is a Large - Flowered Bellwort in the photo too...the yellow flower above the left bloom.
Fun to see the Spring Wildflowers bloom one by one.
Far Side
Last week we witnessed flag delivery high on the hill where my parents are buried.
A few vehicles parked at the bottom of the hill and children emerged with flags.
My brother asked one of the little girls for a flag since Dad's flag holder is not at the grave yet.
My Grandmother's Gold Star flag holder on the left and my Dad's flag on the right.
Since we were there last week my Mother's day of death has been inscribed on the headstone.
Far Side
When we were going through some of my parents "stuff" we found a letter. It is from my Uncle Arthur written to my Dad on January 14, 1944.
Dear brother Jacob,
Received your Christmas card yesterday thanks a lot for it.
I suppose that you already know that I am in North Africa. I suppose you are having a good time there out West. At least I had a good time in Montana boy I wish I was back there.
These natives around here sure live like pig. It sure takes a letter a long time to get here almost a month.
Is Hannah Kangas working in the same factory as you and Walter?
I got a letter from Hugo the other day hes expecting a furlough pretty soon, that boy sure deserves one. Well this paper is getting pretty well filled up so I guess I have to sign off. Take it easy and have a good time.
Your brother Arthur
A few things to note about the letter...
Walter was known as Bee Kangas...Bee was a year older than my Dad...they went out West to work in the shipyards with Bee's Mother Hannah, my Dad worked on the gun turrets when he was 17 years old.
Hugo was Arthur and my Dad's brother who was in the Army.
Note the censors 's stamp in the upper left.
Four months after this letter was written...
Arthur died in the Invasion of Italy May 20, 1944 and is buried at The American -Sicily Rome Cemetery in Nattuno, Italy. He was 23 years old.
Here is a link to more of Arthur's Letters.
Far Side
I have to back up a bit in our recent family history. Back to February 24, 2024 the day of my Mother's funeral and interment. ( Just in case someone a long time from now wonders...or wants to know because they were not there)
Mom's urn joins Dad's ( he has a prayer book that he had with him in Korea on top of his urn)
Our daughter Jen dropping her flower and her sister's flower into the urn vault.
We visited the grave this week.
May 22, 2024 the spot that was dug up was reseeded by my baby brother. New grass will grow there eventually. The cemetery high on the hill is beautiful in the Spring, the green so intense this year that it almost hurts your eyes.
Dad's Veterans foot marker is not in place yet nor is his flag holder. Mom's date of death has not been engraved into the headstone as of yet.
It all takes time. I for one was very thankful that we could inter Mom's ashes in February, after Dad died in December of 2022 his ashes were not interred until the end of July in 2023...it was a very long seven months for me...it was like the grieving process was halted. I know we all grieve differently but that waiting was difficult.
Far Side
The Hoary Puccoon or Lithrospermum canescens ( doesn't that roll right off your tongue!) is blooming in the ditches now. It is a small plant about six inches tall...if in a shady spot they can be taller. The roots can be used as a dye...a natural red dye. However that would mean digging it up and wildflowers should be left to bloom where they live:)
Far Guy is doing okay. Together we are an awesome team.
I am on day 10 or 11 of withdrawal from the drug from Hell Cymbalta. My Arthritis pain increases by the day...so there is hope that withdrawal symptoms will be over soon...nausea, fatigue and tremors are still present along with the pain...and yes my Doctor knows of my withdrawal symptoms.
I try to do as much around the house/yard as I can everyday. My blood pressure seems to be responding due to the discontinuation of another med that I have been taking for years.
Back to being like Thumper " If ya can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."
The rain has been wonderful!
Far Side
I finally caught a Oriole at the Grape Jelly! Such pretty birds that only stick around here to eat and rest before heading North. He is in the orange feeder.
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The Red Elderberries are blooming.
The flowers are upright...Hummingbirds and Butterflies visit the flowers. Birds eat the red berries when they are ripe. The red berries have seeds that are poisonous. This is NOT the Elderberry that wine is made from ...those berries are purple when ripe.
Steve and Jo's Lilacs.
I mowed for a couple of hours yesterday between the rain showers. If we get rain mowing is almost a full time job in May and June. Far Guy had his infusion and I ran errands in town.
Far Side
Noah was 25 years old yesterday, I must have been off in la la land, or forgetful city.
Anyways our oldest Grand Noah is now 25 years old plus one day. We celebrated with him last week, we went out to his favorite Mexican Place! We had a good visit and he talked about his work and a very scary project that he thought was the best thing ever...I believe he said he was up 360 feet in the air and he would do it again! He is happy with his job and is looking to buy a house.
Photo of Noah and his dog Aurora taken last December
Happy Birthday Noah, I hope you had the best day ever! We are so proud of you! Love you always and forever!
Grandma
Nothing better in the Spring than to see the striking green color of ferns that survive our Minnesota winters!
It helps that we are getting rain:)
Far Side
Last Summer Baxter gained a bit of weight...of course it was all my fault...I am the Treat Lady. ( No one else could possibly give him any treats) Baxter loves stopping at our house for a treat. He hated it when we were gone last Winter. No treats and a strict diet. What to do...what to do. Sadie will do anything for a Cheerio...well turns out Baxter likes them too...dispensed one at a time. I put some on the upstairs steps.
Imagine small sprinkles of sunshine all over your lawn.
With the rains came green grass and abundant sunshine for the bees:)
I am going to be like Thumper "If ya can't say something nice don't say nothing at all."
Far Side
The Double Flowering Plum is in bloom, the blooms are sparse most likely from last years drought.
Perhaps this shrub needs a total cut back or rejuvenation.
It rained on the blooms.
I am spending most of my time on the couch; shivering, waves of nausea, headache, tremors, in pain and very dizzy, Far Guy keeps one eye on me. Withdrawal from some medications (Cymbalta) is not easy. I did a six week taper...and still have horrid symptoms. Poor Far Guy had to take over cooking cook if he wanted to eat.
One day on the new Blood Pressure medication was all I could take...I will wait a few more days to try that again.
Far Side
Construction is happening in Osage.
Far Guy took this photo near the Dam. It was a mess on Thursday, but the wait was not long to get through.
Yesterday Far Guy worked on his old Car Tilly, I did some laundry and cleaned out one of the grates in the walkway that catches dirt. One more to go. After doing one I had a nap. We made supper together. I am not feeling terrific....lightheaded and I hurt all over.
One day at a time.
Far Side
I am REAL. tired. of changes in medications. My last Arthritis medication by injection was just. not. working. It has taken two months to get the new highly expensive drug ($18,000) for two months...good thing we have good insurance so our copay is $76.00 How ever do people without great insurance pay for these kinds of meds? What does it have in it anyways...gold? Anyways it is in the fridge, in the meantime my Primary Care Dr is trying without success to manage my pain and my blood pressure. Uffda. I am coming off of the medication for pain...the shits is that it was working...except for the side effects. The withdrawl is horrid....night sweats...tremors etc. He may attempt a different med in a month. IF all the side effects are gone. In the meantime I have yet one more BP med to add to the two I already take and a new arthritis injection.
One thing at a time...the most important at the moment is my Blood Pressure so I will begin that new med now and give it a number of days before I do the Arthritis Injection. Just in case I have a reaction.
My blood pressure is up because of the pain...and the Dr says Naproxen and Aleve are fighting my Blood Pressure meds...so only take Tylenol. Alrighty then....I will give it a try.
It sucks to have medication problems.
We got some rain on Wednesday...the car was almost rinsed off. Yesterday was Far Guy's Infusion and errands in town...road construction has started in Osage. We will be staying home the next few days hopefully.
I see lots of naps in my future.
Yesterday we traveled to Grand Forks ND to see my Doctor for yet another medication change. I was tired or forgetful after 5 hours in the car and no blog was written to publish.
We are both fine just old and forgetful.
Far Side
We have this bush in our side yard just on the edge of the woods. Far Guy uses the twigs for stems of his wood carved flowers.
If you ever walked in the woods you would know it if you brushed up against this bush.
It is about ready to flower. Note the thorn?
It is also called Hawthorn or Maythorn ....but we call it Thornapple.
It was very smoky on Sunday. I took a few photos on our way to have late lunch/early supper with my brothers and their wives on Mother's Day. The meal was good, I had my first margarita of the summer, half strength...I am a light weight.
The Chokecherries are really putting on the blooms, we will have a bumper crop of berries if it doesn't freeze. Hope the bees are active enough to pollinate the flowers!
I mowed at my other baby brothers shop yesterday and our front yard, I am leaving our side yards that are full of Dandys for the bees. I mowed for about ninety minutes. ..that was enough for the day.
Far Guy is busy working on Tilly...something about valves and gaskets...he is feeling pretty good at the moment. Getting a bit stronger everyday.
Far Side
The Marsh Marigolds are blooming.
Tractors are in the fields.
Far Guy saw two rabbits in the yard yesterday so maybe we will have lots of little bunnies running around before long!
The Pin Cherries are in bloom...all signs of Spring here in Minnesota.
We are also getting wild fire smoke from the neighbors up North.
Far Side
I wonder how Mother's Day in heaven is?
We think of our Mother's on this day if they are alive or in heaven.
Far Guy had Doctors appointments Up North so we left right after his Infusion on Thursday and came back late Friday afternoon. He is doing okay.
Guess who else was happy to see us?
Little Elvis had a sleep over with us in our room. He had a small problem last week, he caught a toe nail on something and it bled something fierce...and he traveled throughout the house ...no doubt looking for help...poor boy. Jen asked me if I wanted to take him home...I would like to but I don't think he would be happy here. He doesn't hear anything, hand signals work the best with him...and I am not sure how much he can see.
AND then there is the retriever...
She was so happy to finally get my shoe. Her tail was wagging ninety miles an hour. She enjoys being a shoe thief!
She wasn't the least bit remorseful. However she did give up my shoe...eventually...but would not retrieve the other one. Sadie is quite the dog, Thursday evening she went from person to person for attention. Her own personal round table of attention. She has been shutting herself in the bathroom...she goes in there to drink out of the toilet bowl...yes dogs do that! I am sure her big old tail hits the door and the door partially closes behind her...she isn't brave enough to nose the door open...so we worked on that a bit...with me standing outside the door saying "Sadie nose" and offering a treat through the open part of the door...she nosed it open multiple times. Will she remember...not sure. When she shuts herself in the bathroom she doesn't bark or whine she just waits patiently until someone rescues her. Thats Sadie for you!
Did you know our son in law Andy is a marvelous cook? ...well he is...he made bacon cheeseburgers on the grill, potato rounds in the air fryer and a caprese salad. I miss his cooking and I miss the days off from cooking when he cooks!
Jen is a good cook also...but she does not enjoy cooking like Andy does. She is a marvelous baker! So they make a good team.
It was good to see everyone...we also got to see Adam, Maddie and Andy's Mom!
Far Side
The Lilac buds are expanding. This is a Donald Wyman late blooming lilac
Far Guy saw a Oriole, the grape jelly feeder is out and waiting for them. I saw a Hummingbird, so I quickly made the sugar water for their feeder. Not much is blooming here in the boonies. The Pin Cherries are about to bloom and sunny spots have a few dandys.
Far Side
The Forsythia in town are all blooming.
First of all Far Guy felt a throbbing and some extra pain yesterday...did he or didn't he pass that stone? I heard no screaming, I always felt like I was dying when the stone passed. So we have no idea if it is history or not. He feels much better. The stone might be happy in his bladder ...until it is not. Time will tell.
Our new stove is all hooked up and I was able to conjure up a fairly decent meal of seared salmon and green beans. I am so happy to put the stove saga behind me. I can tell you one thing this stovetop gets way hotter than my last one...I will have to watch things closely not to burn them!
It is a pretty stove. Big sigh of relief that it all worked out!
I had the money earmarked for a vacation...that didn't happen...so instead of a vacation I got a new stove.
When Jen and I were making Spring Break vacation plans, nothing was going right, the cruise we wanted was full and the Mexican Resort we finally chose did not take American Express, flights were difficult to coordinate with our days away...one thing after another...we finally said guess we are not going...good thing too as Far Guy was really sick and was in the hospital during the time frame we were to be gone. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow when plans are not working out.
Far Side
The Oaks are budding out...the ones high in the trees show up nicely against the sky.
Here are some buds close up.
Far Guy's Doctor wanted him to be seen in the ER yesterday, we spent the afternoon there, he had a CAT scan and it was revealed that he has a 3 mm stone about to dump into his bladder....from there he should be able to pass it on out. It all takes time and lots of water. He got some pain meds that seem to take the edge off the pain. One day at a time.
Yesterday the stove guy came and looked over our new stove situation, he had to order some special venting so maybe if the part comes and all goes well we can cook on the new stove tonight!!
Real exciting things happening at our place!
Far Side
Far Guy is having a bout with kidney stones...his first experience. I told him it is worse than labor pains. We will head to the clinic today...to see if they can figure out if it is small enough to pass.
I drink lemonade most all of the time to help dissolve my stones should I have any...I am a stone maker, as are our daughters.
I keep telling Far Guy he will live...
We had beautiful weather yesterday, the evening was perfect 66 degrees and a slight breeze. I sat outside for awhile...heard the Loons calling down on the lake.
I put out a whirly gig.
I got all my new solar lights out ready to replace the non working ones.
Far Side
