News from home

 There was a storm through Minnesota on Friday night, many people are without electricity. Luckily our home in the woods is okay. Grandgirls Savannah and Paige both had trees down…in fact a tree blocked Savannahs door. My sister has no electricity and my friend Susie has no electricity either. It will be a number of days before electricity is restored. The weather people are calling it a hurricane.

Neighbor  Leah sent me a photo of the Flax field blooming across from our driveway! I wish I could have seen it, maybe next year!

Such a beautiful sight to see! 

In other news, Miss Minnesota was crowned…and she is the beautiful Emma who lives near us and just so happens to be dating our great nephew Mason! You can check out the Miss Minnesota Facebook page to see a photo.  She is a nursing student and her platform is Water Safety Knowledge which is perfect for all the lakes we have in Minnesota.  Onward to Miss America..wouldn’t that be something!  Just so you know she is as beautiful on the inside as outside. 

Far Side

Cool Day

 What better activity than to color and glitter up some fronts for cards.  They will be trimmed matted and attached to cards some day. 

It was a cool day. The high was 43 F or 7 C.  

We had a quiet day, supper was steak and green beans...Far Guy sauteed a bunch of mushrooms for his steak...I do not like mushrooms so I had a baked potato. 

I organized some of my ideas for birthdays coming up...getting my ducks in a row and a few things ordered for the two great grands that have birthdays soon. 

This week three great nephews and a great niece graduated from two year programs; Hailey with a degree in Forestry, Jordan with a degree in Butler/Caterpillar Service Technology and Mason in Diesel Technology.   Always fun to see these young adults going to school, doing the work and graduating!  Onward and forward to adulting! Congratulations kids!( All are grands of my other baby brother and she who sees robins first)

Far Side

April Fools Snow

A number of years ago we had 18 inches of snow on April 1st...how do I recall??  It is Great Nephew Mason's birthday and we walked over to help celebrate his birthday because the snow was too deep to drive in.  Mason was maybe 6 or 7 years old back then...today he is 20...hardly seems possible!   Happy Birthday Mason! 

We are supposed to be getting a Winter storm beginning Tuesday afternoon going all the way into Thursday.  We have to travel on Tuesday so hopefully that is all said and done before the storm begins. 

My Dad's car in the snow a long time ago. 

Perhaps Old Man Winter wants one last reminder of Winter before he yields to Spring. We can always hope.

We had a salad for supper...with some baked chicken and raspberries.  

Far Side

Uffda x2

 I had the high dose flu shot on Monday afternoon...3 days later I am still feeling like death warmed over. BUT it must be better than the flu. Right? 

To make things even more difficult...our septic system water sensor alarm started beeping Monday night...the phone was ringing and the alarm was going off...the alarm company wanted to make sure we were aware..."yes I know it is going off we are dealing with the situation"   Far Guy said "Something is plugged."  I called my other baby brother and his phone went to voice mail...it was 10 PM ...I called she who sees robins first and she answered right away.  She woke up my other baby brother and he and our Great Nephew Mason came right over...they decided it was tree roots...got it partially unplugged enough so that water would drain out...and they would fix it in the morning.  

So the next morning nephew Josh, Ryan and David came to dig up the tree root clogged septic line. 

They replaced the pipe and hopefully it will take another 26 years to become clogged with tree roots again.   My brother says it is normal for tree roots to seek water and cause problems over time. 

Luckily my other baby brother lives right next door and he owns a Construction Company that does septic systems and all kinds of dirt work.   How lucky are we??  Very lucky to have someone you can call late at night and will put you on his list for repairs the next morning!  

Living in the boonies has it's challenges. 

Far Side

Parties and Baxter

 We had two parties this weekend.  Saturday was Mason (Great Nephew who lives next door) High School Graduation Party.  We got to visit with a number of neighbors that we don't see often. Pulled Pork, buns, baked beans, potato salad, chips and cake were served buffet style. 

Sunday we celebrated my cousin Geraldine's 75th Birthday.  More food was served; ham on buns, potato salad,  pasta salad, fruit, pickles and many different kinds of desserts. Her children gifted her plane tickets to Finland in September...boy was she surprised!   It is a girls trip with her daughters going along and a daughter in law. 

Needless to say we didn't cook for ourselves this weekend! 

Sunday Baxter's family deserted him so he spent some time with me.  He listens to me much better when my baby brother and his bride are not around!  (Just like a little kid.)

Baxter and Lilac blooms! 

Far Side

More Graduates!

 Our great nephew and great niece graduated on Sunday.  Their parties will be in June on different days.  We can go out for lunch twice! 

Hailey and Mason 

* Photo by Stacey (Hailey's Mom and used with permission)

It was a warm day for the graduation ceremony outside.   These children are cousins.  They are both my other baby brother and she who sees robins first Grands.  Hailey is Grand # 3 and Mason Grand #4  ( 15 total so we have lots of graduation parties to attend.)

We are very proud of these wonderful kids...Mason is going to school to be a Diesel Mechanic and Hailey will pursue a degree in Forestry.  Mason lives just across the road from us and Hailey lives nearby. 

Congratulations Mason and Hailey...job well done!

Far Side

Dogs

 Bailey lived next door.   We would hear her barking; she barked at deer, raccoons, squirrels and just about anything that moved.   Including us as we walked by her driveway.  If her bark changed in tone Far Guy and Chance would walk over to see what was up.   She liked Chance and would visit him...then she got a collar that beeped and she would only come to visit when the battery wore out.    She loved her people and they loved her.   In the past few years she has been going downhill...she would never allow me to pet her until the last year or so...senility I guess. 

This is Bailey and one of her people.   Her youngest people are now 15 and 16.  They were just little when Bailey was a puppy.  ( A Beagle)

Bailey and Chance in 2009. 

Perhaps she is running with Chance again.  Bailey crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in her sleep one night last week.    She had been barking less and less and then the barking stopped. 

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: May Day Report

I have celebrated May Day since 1953….so that means that this is my 65th May Day.

This is a photo from May Day 1954 when I was 2 years and 8 months old.  My May Baskets are lined up on the snowy hood of my parents car.

The tradition as I know it:  You decorate baskets fill them with candy and you take them to neighbors and friends.  You go up to a door and hang the basket on the door knob, knock and then run, because someone will chase you and try to kiss you.  I am old, I will settle for a hug…because I am not running away.  Growing up we decorated small baskets to take to neighbor kids and elderly neighbors…it was something fun to do after a long winter.

So the tradition continues.  I made some deliveries and took some photos. My Great Nieces and Nephews

 

Olivia

Brooke

Ava

Kelly was asleep and Hailey was getting ready for a game after school.

Mason and Anna…these two live next door and are growing like weeds!!

I still have three baskets for Teddy, Harlow and Vivian hopefully I will see them soon.

I stopped by my parents.

Mom and Dad May 1 2018

I stopped by a few other places…some favorite people I don’t see often enough.

After supper we delivered a few more baskets and some dog treats for Odda and Putz.

In my opinion May Day is a fun holiday…something as simple as a cute little basket with a bit of candy makes people young and old smile! 

I hope you all had a wonderful May Day!  If you made a May Basket or got one perhaps you could share the story in a comment.

May Day Deliveries

We began our deliveries in the afternoon with a basket for my parents and then two of my favorite cousins. 

After supper we continued our deliveries.

The four princesses and the little prince were not at home so their baskets ended up in grocery bags tied to the plant hanger.

One of the little neighborhood gals had a big smile for us.

Then we stopped by one of the neighborhood bachelors, and then over to Steve and Jo’s where Chance got a May Basket!

He wasn’t very polite about it, he just wanted to rip it apart to get to the jerky treats!

Our last stop was at Lumber Masons…his adorable sister was not home so he assured me that he would save one basket for her!  He is growing like a weed and is taller than me now.

Thus ends another sucessful May Day!  I hope some of my readers days were brightened by a basket, a kindness or just a smile.

Vanes and Fall Projects

We have a whole bunch of windmill vanes in the grain bin.  They are from long ago and a farmstead in North Dakota.

They may be a project for next summer.

Earlier this fall we saw this just leaning up against a tree and we both liked it.

Yesterday LumberMason and I dug up, moved and stacked a whole bunch of landscape bricks that were all around one of the old gardens. We were working really hard and getting tired… then the reinforcements came in Mason’s Mom and his sister, many hands make for lighter work. I think the blocks weigh about 20 pound each, I am tired.  It will make that wild garden easier to mow in the fall.  I will put the blocks up for sale.

The kitchen and bathroom are tore apart as we are trying to string the cable for the computers.  If I look on the bright side I will have some cabinets cleaned before winter. But what a mess…we barely had room to eat at the dining room table last night. Chance is certain we are doing something drastic as his dog food has been moved out of the cabinet and it is sitting against a wall…he doesn’t like change either.

Update: The cable reached it’s destination and we have great Internet Speeds!!  Yeah for us old folks!! We came out of the utility room along the top of the kitchen cabinets, down inside a cabinet, then out the cabinet back wall through the wall into a bathroom cabinet and from there through the wall into the Living Room.  For awhile there I was wondering if I might have to get real creative disguising a cable wire with twinkly lights running through the kitchen into the living room.  I am relieved that this project is done.

Say is isn’t snow

It was snow, it was way past dark when Chance came in covered in snow.  The next morning told the tale of a April’s Fool joke Mother Nature style.

One day late but the point was made…Winter is not over yet.

This colder snow took all day to kinda melt…at nightfall the northern parts of the yard still have snow.

What to do on a cold day…laundry and make a trip to the “dump” we make a trip there about every three weeks with one bag of garbage.  Since we recycle…we pay $3.00 a bag for garbage…that figures out to $4.00 a month.  Not bad.

See we have a bit of green coming in the grass!

Spring is trying to get here!

We walked over to see Mason for his birthday, he is eleven now!  Chance went along and visited Bailey.  We were invited to the evening birthday party but…too many germs for Far Guy when there is a large group of little kids.

Then we came home and I watched a movie on Netflix called Little Boy, well worth watching, I give is a 5 +++ out of 5 stars.

 

Holding onto the sun

The sun is setting earlier each night.  The countdown has begun toward that 4PM December sunset…uffda.  The sunset last night at 8:07 PM…we had 13 hours and 33 minutes of daylight yesterday.  It was a warm day with a high of 81 F or 27 C  eh!  The humidity was almost as high as the temperature.

Last night I had two willing victims eager participants for photos, my great nephew and great niece.

Anna holding the sun!

Mason

The kids were out riding their bikes whilst their Mother was jogging.

We were on our nightly ride…saw just two deer and no turkeys.

We watched the sun disappear behind the clouds as we drove. We have a smoky haze in the air from the wildfires out west.  At times you can smell the smoke in the air.  I hope the fires out west are put out soon.

May Baskets

We did the May Basket deliveries.  One group was off doing princess “stuff”, another little gal was sound asleep.  Got to see lots of dogs…Ivy and Roxie, Joe and Ellie, Putz and Odda. 

These two children were home…they were just getting ready to head out for a ride.

It was a beautiful evening. 

It rained a bit early Friday morning…but not enough to make a difference.  We need rain badly.

We have Bluebirds in a house by the end of the old drive.  Jo down the road has a pair too.  I will have to stalk them one of these days.  The Robins are here but they are not building a nest on their platform yet…and not on the ladders either.

Walk

We all went for a walk to the mailbox.  That is the time when Chance gets all the news from the night before…how many deer, rabbits and squirrels went through.  Usually this is a “male” activity…I went along to supervise and to make sure that someone didn’t overdo.  I went from Gestapo to “Warden.”  Staying home and staying indoors is not an easy activity for Far Guy.

As you can see we have very little green yet.  We are hoping for rain today.

The best part of the walk for Chance was finding Lumbermason coming up his driveway for a chat.  There is a tree across the back path…Lumbermason said he would take care of it.  I am sure it will be neatly stacked before long. 

 

A Thousand Words : Baseball

Keep your eye on the ball!  This is our great nephew Mason, he is just four years old..he is a very good ball player!  Yes, he connected with this ball, I hollered "Run, Mason, Run"  what fun to watch little kids play ball:) 

Visitors!

It was a great day in Minnesota yesterday! It was way above zero! The sun was shining and it was about 36 degrees, The only complaint I have is that it was windy. Snow melted off the walk and snow started to melt and drip off the roof. It was a great day for visiting outdoors.

A fine time for a little boy and his new puppy to visit! Mason (Our Great-Nephew) brought over Bailey a Beagle puppy that they got a short time ago. Kids and dogs..what a combination.

Chance loves doggie company and after the puppy got over her initial shyness they had a ball, running around the yard. Chance was a gentleman and never played too rough. Far Guy and I could watch dogs play all day and be properly entertained.

I tried to get a photo of both of her ears flying in the air. It looked so silly when both of her ears were flying..sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment..instead of trying to photograph it.

Anna (Our Great-Niece) came to visit too...isn't she beautiful! Those big blue eyes are going to break many hearts in years to come. That is IF her father ever allows her to date anyone.
Chance was exhausted after his company went home..and had to have a nap! :)