Frost, fog and a friend

We went to Detroit Lakes yesterday.  I needed a hair cut...I swear she cut off about 10 pounds of hair at least it feels that way.   In all about 8 inches was cut off...and it is still long enough to put in a bun!  I only get my hair cut a couple of times a year..it grows really fast about an inch plus a month. I go to the place where you can check in online but I didn't.  Next time I will.

It was foggy and frosty when we left.

The sun came out in Snellman.

But then we drove right back into the fog again.  This old barn is really leaning.

 I had to wait a bit to get my hair cut so we went to a couple of hardware stores.  When Far Guy dropped me off to get my haircut he went by the grocery store to get a few things...he was recognized by Sonja a faithful blog reader and they had a nice chat.

Sonja sent me an email:
Well, by now I'm sure you know whom I had the pleasure of meeting today. I had to do a double take because I really don't know a lot of people from this area that I might run into at the grocery store.  And I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass and then be left wondering if that was indeed your handsome husband.  I also did not want him to feel like he was being stalked, but it did make my day.

For the record it made his day too! 
Far Side

Cards and a Hand Update

I received a few Get Well I am glad your surgery is over cards!  Then I got a package in the mail from Kansas with some books to keep me occupied!  Thank you all, it is great to get unexpected mail!

Then it was my birthday and a few more cards showed up in the mail.

That cake is filled with a whole lot of candles!

My parents took us out for a late lunch/early supper yesterday and my Mom made a cake with coconut and brown sugar frosting!  They both said that they didn’t think they would live long enough to see a child as old as me.. I replied “I didn’t think I would ever be this old either”  and we all laughed.

My Mother sewed a new kitchen curtain valance for my birthday.  I dropped that hint on her a few months ago when I saw a fabric I fell in love with that is part of a Minnesota Collection. We got out one of my old curtains for a pattern and when I clean the shade and wash the window I will put it up and take a photo.

The hand report.

I am three weeks post carpal tunnel release surgery today.  I have burning in two areas of my wrist/hand.  It is still swelling.  I ice it all night and sometimes during the day.  I take Aleve and Ibuprofin every day. I have good mobility but there are still some things I cannot do.  Like wring out a wash cloth…or my hair ( I have long grey hair)…pull anything toward me…like heavy drawers, open bottles of anything, push the car door open.  Three weeks and I have not driven the car…heck I cannot drive a grocery buggy so I let Far Guy drive.  Pushing, pulling  or reaching out is painful, anytime the palm of my hand comes in contact with anything I have pain.…I am getting real used to being a lefty. It is very possible that I have nerve damage and it will just take time and patience to recover.  Sometimes I am sorry I had the surgery…but then I recall the pain I had before…six of one half a dozen of the other….at least there is a chance that this burning pain will go away…someday. Getting old is not for sissies.

A bit of good news I had a biopsy taken from a small growth above my eyebrow.  It is just some kind of cyst and not cancerous per my dermatologist who went over every inch of my body. She likes doing small surgeries so I think I made her day by having something that looked troublesome that she could remove.

Four Years

One day back in 2007 I woke up and said..gosh I think I will write a blog.  Perhaps I will voice some of my opinions and tell some stories about how things used to be when I was a little girl.  Perhaps “The Five” will find it interesting and amusing someday to learn something about their Grandmother…then again maybe not..you never know.

I had been reading Buffalo Gal’s Blog for a couple of years..she was and is awesome with all of her stories!   She and I became fast friends.  I value her opinion and her friendship.

Today is post number 1,468.  I have not missed many days in four years. Daughter Jen guest blogged one time when I was hospitalized with pneumonia.  Chance guest blogs from time to time so I do get a break.

One thing I worry about is repeating myself..have I shown an old photo before on Wistful Wednesday?  If I repeat myself I hope my readers will just go with the flow, and chalk it up to getting older.  I thought about compiling an index..I decided it would be too much work.

Last summer when I was working at the museum I began to write in my mind and then spit them out into the computer late at night.  It seems to have worked.  I have discovered my best writing time is when the house is quiet and the phone is not ringing.  Blogging is a hobby.. a fun hobby.  Most of my blogs are written the night before and published in the early morning.

I also write Forgotten Old Photos.  A blog where old photos found in antique shops are sometimes reunited with family.  That blog brings me great personal satisfaction.  I also get to feed the old photo collection monster that dwells inside me.

Blogging would be a perfect job!  This winter I am being paid to continue writing the Hubbard County Historical Museums blog.

My personal photo blog Far Side of Fifty Photos began to suffer last summer..it was hard to keep up..photography is still one of my passions..and Chance is sometimes a willing subject!

How long will I be blogging for..I have no idea..I take it all one day at a time. God willing and the crick don’t rise I will be back tomorrow.

I have “met” some marvelous bloggers over the past four years. Some I have actually met in real life..some are neighbors!  I thank each and every one of my readers, especially those who leave comments!

Now for a pretty picture. I once had a blogging friend who said “No post is complete without a pretty picture.”  Heaven has been her home for two years now.  Yes, even in the blogging world there is death and feelings of great loss when we lose one of our own.  I cannot explain it..it just is.

Lupines in the wild gardens..with Veronica ‘Blue Bouquet’ providing the bokeh:)

Three Years

Today I get flowers. Or maybe it is you the reader that deserves the flowers. Whatever..

A Yellow Lady’s Slipper along the driveway.

A big old bee drunk on the nectar of the Baptisia (Wild Indigo)

Three years and 1,100 entries. Thats why we get flowers. Me for writing them..you for reading them.

Far Guy and I never plan too far ahead.  We try to be flexible.  There was a Train Show that Far Guy had been looking forward to a few weeks ago..the weather turned stormy..so we stayed home. He was disappointed..so was I ..not for the Train Show but for the Antique Shops that we would have passed by on the way back.

I won’t plan too far ahead with this blog either..if it makes it to four years that will be fine and dandy..if it doesn’t ..it doesn’t. My daughter Jen would say “Mother it is what it is.” 

I believe I have accomplished what I started out to do three years ago.  That was to leave some small part of me behind for the “Grands”.  I have a really good start.

I would like to thank my readers, and those who take the time to comment!  The side effect of having a blog is the connections you make with people of all walks of life all over the world. I have amazing friends..amazing readers who leave comments ..people who I could have over for coffee this afternoon and within minutes we could be in a comfortable conversation..but they would still have to bring their own cookies:)

Okay..Some Of My Readers Have Spoken!

Thank you readers for the comments. I did not get any negative feedback, so I guess I will continue to blog, as long as my readers comment occasionally! If my "funnies" make you laugh out loud, and you get to live seven minutes longer, I feel kind of obligated! One reader said I was like "chocolate for her mind" ..we used to live next door to each other. I did have one astonishing request for a long term commitment "Ten years" was her suggestion. I am sure she is just momentarily deranged by the lack of sunlight in Sweden. I do thank you all for the encouragement!

This flu really sucks, I have no appetite..for me this is really strange. What is even stranger..one time when I surfaced from my fever induced delirium I could smell pizza from Pizza Hut. I swear it was the aroma of a thin crust, pepperoni with extra cheese with just a hint of the warm cardboard box. I decided it was just a revenge delirium, I wanted Far Guy to be as miserable as me. He is allergic to some ingredient (more than likely meat tenderizer)that Pizza Hut uses, it gives him the Hershey squirts for days. I have come to my senses..for now..he brings me jello, chicken soup and popsicles.

Far Guy is taking a daily dose of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to boost his immune system. I do not know how he swallows it, and keeps it down, but he does. It just might be working too..as he is not sick yet! This idea comes from a fellow blogger and friend Buffalo Gal! Thanks B Gal!

I hate all the over the counter cold and flu medications that just mask your symptoms and bust up your normal bodies rhythms, which makes you sicker longer. Did I get a Flu shot..NO..It seems I have been the most miserable those years. The last time I got a Flu shot, I got the Flu so bad I told Far Guy to just drop me off at the Funeral Home..just in the driveway so they could roll me in when they came to work the next morning. It seemed practical to me at the time, it would have saved a body pick up fee.

I am feeling better, today I am going to venture outdoors and take some photos, throw the Frisbee for Chance and document the snow before the next snowstorm comes on in tonight. The snow fall record for the month of December will be broken with the snow they predict for tonight:)