Town and Visitors

 I ran errands while Far Guy had his infusion.  I had quite a list at Wally World.  Main Street was full of cars, there are still a few tourists around. 

I have a list of many others things to pick up here and there but did not feel up to doing it yesterday.  One day soon I will have Far Guy drive me around and drop me off here and there to get everything on my ongoing project list.  Embroidery floss, Seven Ant Killer, white primer and paint, a wood sealer for some wood trim that needs a refreshing and bath tub molding...our tub has a rounded back edge and the sealant and molding need to be replaced.

My Cousin Chuckie came out to visit us in the afternoon and my baby brother and his bride and Baxter visited us in the evening.

1933 Buick that was at the last Car Show.

The oven repair fellow is supposed to be here today (Friday) to fix my oven.  It works for a couple of hours then makes dinging noises and shuts itself off.  It is a Jenn-air range that is 24 years old.

Far Side

Until we meet again

 Today we say until we meet again to a long time friend and wife of my cousin Chuckie.   His wife Mary Ann died last Friday.  I have known her for over 50 years...Chuckie brought her by my parents home to meet us when they were dating. 

Mary Ann was a good friend, she volunteered for me at the Museum for several years....it was a day out for her.  Mary Ann had bronchiectasis and she fought frequent infections.

She will be remembered fondly and missed by many especially her husband, daughter and her twin grandchildren.

 

Far Side

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Saturday’s Bloomers

The purple plants are in bloom.

Campanula

Blue False Indigo or Baptisia australis

The first of the Lupines is in bloom.

Veronica

We attended the 50th Anniversary celebration for my cousin Chuckie and his wife Mary Ann, we went shortly before the doings started to avoid most of the perfume soaked women that would be there.

We came home and Far Guy worked on leveling the road (getting rid of some ruts) and I put away rummage sale stuff and cleaned part of my garage.  Far Guy came back and I tried my hand at leveling…I did just fine moving dirt from one area of the road to another…trying to level it out. It was a very humid warm day. 79 F or 26 C eh with 75% humidity.

Wistful Wednesday: Chuckie’s Cart

My cousin Chuckie still has a cart filled with flowers in his yard in the summertime.

I think the donkey and cart pattern was originally Uncle Wilberts.

My parents had two of these carts filled with flowers out in front of their house at the resort. My Mother used to plant Geraniums in hers too.

It was fun to see, I had almost forgotten about them.

Cousins

It has been a Cousin kind of week.  On Monday we were invited “sometime this week to see the flowers”  by my cousin Chuckie.

Hens and Chicks almost in bloom

We finally made it there on Saturday afternoon.

Hens and Chicks in bloom, it has been my experience that once they make this prolific stalk topped with a bloom that they die.  Chuckie agreed with me.

He had many plants in bloom.

I think this one is my favorite.  Calibrachoa Superbells ‘Cherry Star’ or Million Bells. I love the way the throat of the flower is highlighted as a star!

It was a nice visit with Chuckie and his wife Mary Ann.

Other cousins we visited with this week.  Tom and Linda in the grocery store.  Kathy over at the farm.   Far Guy visited with John one day this week when he and Chance were out running errands.

After my Aunt Karen died I contacted two of my cousins by mail from my Mother’s side of the family.  I heard from one who lives in Tennessee and is doing okay.  The other appears to be a Psychic…so she should know I tried to contact her but I sent a note anyway and have not heard from her and I have received no psychic vibes from her either.  Hopefully I will hear something from her, my letter has not been returned…she was tough to track down…she changed her name after she was divorced.  I knew what she wanted to change her name to…and indeed it happened…found her and her new name and a photo…perhaps I am psycho psychic too!

Wistful Wednesday : Old Newspaper Photos

“She who sees robins first” clipped a photo out of a local paper.  I figured it was a bit of family history so I scanned it.  It is still on my desk but it will make it’s way to Cousin Chuckie.

 

The original photo was most likely taken in 1949.   My cousins would know.  I have two first cousins ( Uncle Jalmer’s  and Aunt Jenny’s sons) on the left hand side of the photo…Chuckie (Melvin) in the back in the white jacket and Gerald in front of him in the plain coat holding his hat in his hand. See those two boys in the front row with the matching jackets they are my second cousins…brothers Richard and David sons of my Great Uncle Levi ( My paternal Grandfather’s brother) and Great Aunt Ida.

We go to woodcarving with Chuckie…in this photo he looks very much like his only grandson Aiden who just turned ten years old.

I imagine these nine little boys gentlemen were a handful for the teacher.

Spring Snow

My cousin Chuckie was telling us yesterday that his Tuesday morning fishing  time was interrupted by two hours of snow…it melted as it hit the ground.

It turned cold enough to snow.  One morning on the way into town there were chunks of snow on the roadway.  Far Guy and I looked at each other to confirm that we weren’t both crazy seeing things.  It was SNOW. Dropped off by trucks or cars passing through from North Dakota or South Dakota.

Then we had this…

Don’t get too excited.  These are flower petals.

Malus X ‘Spring Snow’  A sterile flowering Crabapple.  It only has flowers no fruit.  It has a real strong fragrance…Far Guy noticed it right away.

Then there is this kinda fluff.

Aspen/Populus species/ Piss Popple/Cottonwood fluff.  The fluff carries the tiny seeds all over.  Chance carts them all over and into the house.  The fluff lays in snow drifts over the lawn…and we only have a few trees.  When the wind comes from the North it looks like it is snowing.

Our grass is turning green…finally!  It rained all day yesterday…not enough but it is a start to help out with the drought.

“To me an ancient Cottonwood is the greatest of trees because in his youth he shaded the buffalo and wore a halo of pigeons, and I like a young cottonwood because he may some day become ancient. But the farmer’s wife (and hence the farmer) despises all cottonwoods because in June the female tree clogs the screens with cotton. The modern dogma is comfort at any cost” Aldo Leopold

Wistful Wednesday : Cousins and Veterans

Since my Dad comes from such a large family(he was number 10 of 14)  I have lots of cousins. 

When I look through the old photos every week for one to feature you never can tell which one will strike my fancy. 

This week two of my cousins had birthdays and I just happened upon an old photo of them.

The littlest guy in front was 67 and his older sister was 75, they share the same birthday.

My Uncle Jalmer and Aunt Jenny had four children.  The baseball hat cousin on the left is Chuckie ( we wood carve with him every week), Gerald (last week he was married for 50 years), Arthur the littlest one in the front and Evelyn the oldest. This photo was most likely taken in the spring of 1948 maybe 1949.

Another reason for featuring this photo is that Veteran’s Day is approaching.  All three of these boys were in the Armed Forces.

 

 

 

Art stayed in the Armed Forces a lot longer than his brothers.

They all came back home, married and had families and are enjoying being grandparents.

So I have cousins that are veterans, it is who they are…honorable men that defended our country.  Thanks guys!  They are some of my bestest cousins:)

Wistful Wednesday : Watery Escapes

I always thought that guys who enlisted in the Navy would be excellent swimmers.

My cousin Chuck.  He was in the Navy.  He is a woodcarver.  During carving this week he talked about his Navy swimming experience.   Turns out he was not a swimmer when he enlisted. In fact he had a great fear of the water.  During the initial Navy Swimming Test he jumped off the deep end of the pool and promptly sunk like a rock.  He said they fished you out with a bamboo pole.  Every day after boot camp he went to swimming class.  He learned to swim. He learned to set aside his fear of drowning. 

Early one spring when he was about six years old he was riding on top of a load of loose hay.  His father( Uncle Jalmer) was driving the team of horses.  His brother Gerald and a neighbor were riding at the back of the load.  The water was up from the spring rains and winter snowmelt.  Chuck was at the center of the load.  The wagon wheel hit a hole and the whole load of hay was dumped upside down in the creek.  Gerald and the neighbor were thrown clear.   Chuck was in the icy water with the load of hay on top of him.  Uncle Jalmer dug him out.  This was in about 1946… 66 years ago..Chuck says he can remember it as if it happened yesterday.

I found an old photo taken right about that same time.

Evelyn, Uncle Jalmer, Chuck, Gerald and Aunt Jenny

Chuck says that the last time he went swimming intentionally was years ago.  Although one year while collecting nets in a boat up on one of our Minnesota lakes he and Roger W. took on too heavy of a load of wet nets and sunk.  They overturned the boat and crawled part way on top of it and paddled to shore.  He said that Roger was laughing so hard he had a hard time paddling. Chuck was not amused at the time..although he did smile whilst recalling the story:)

Cousin Chuckie: Self Taught Carver

My cousin Chuckie is a self taught carver.  He learned to carve with a carpet knife on his noon hour.  This weekend he volunteered his time as a demonstrator at the Lake Itasca  Pioneer Farmers Show.  We stopped by on Friday to say Hi.

Chuckie is a very talented carver and wood burner.  All of these birds have been carved and each individual  feather is wood burned before they are painted..some are just carved and wood burned..the feathers are real works of art.

We see Chuckie at carving in town. He is always available to answer questions and to give suggestions.  His carving group is quite active, and Far Guy and I have decided to join them once a week when we can.  So to make a long story short we are keeping company with people who have very sharp knives!   It seems like a real friendly group, mainly men, but there are a few women.

I have an unfinished duck and an unfinished Santa that I should do something with..something as in finish or burn in the wood stove. Far Guy and I both have unfinished Carousel Horses from a class we took a long time ago. We have lots of projects to keep us busy with this group for the winter. 

Another of the reasons we decided to join the carving group is the Christmas Ornament that Far Guy designed for 2010. It is a carving. If we go every week between now and Christmas we will have it in the bag!  We need to carve about 60 ornaments…we have 12 done…well not done done..but carved.  When we get them all done I will share photos.  We have been working on them during the day either in Far Guys garage or in his greenhouse, the heat has been keeping us out of there lately and into the shade of the garage. Wood Carving is a very messy hobby, soon enough we will have to carve indoors, but for now it is an outside activity. 

Carving is a quiet activity, you can hear the Loons down on the lake, and the Chipmunks with an attitude Chirping at Chance, and the sound of a ball being deposited into the carving bag that sits on the floor between us:)