Projects

 My desk is full of projects.  I brought a number of things from upstairs to my desk to be worked on.  I am adding old photos every day to the facebook site for my Maternal Grandparents...I hope to finish that up soon.  There is a gathering this summer for that part of the family.  I went down a couple of rabbit holes adding photos to Find A Grave...and I know that there are more photos I could add...and oh yes a pile of obituaries to scan.  

One by one the projects will be dealt with and put in the proper place.  I have my Great Grandmothers funeral book...she died in 1968.  Also my Maternal Grandparents funeral books...if my siblings don't want them ...then maybe I will take them to the gathering and give them to my cousins to fight over...ha!

More yarn projects have been added to my desk since I took the photo.  Far Guy winds my yarn into balls for me as he watches music videos. 

For a break I am Spring cleaning the drawers in the kitchen...there are 17 drawers and 8 are done.  Isn't is funny or not how weird stuff is saved...especially in the one kitchen junk drawer. 

Our weather is cool and a bit dreary.  The high on Friday was 43 F or 7 C eh.

This week our company was friends Joel and Jackie and their dog Buddy, my other baby brother and she who sees robins first.  

Far Guy got the old car Tilly started up as next Monday she has an appointment for a new boot.  (It is something that covers the drive train ...I think...I know it is something important that has been bugging Far Guy.)

Far Side

Scanning Progress and Project List

 I tried to begin my Mother's family old photo project.  I was all set upstairs. I wanted to keep the mess upstairs!   After several afternoons working with Far Guys Laptop I decided to move downstairs.  My Windows 10 brain and Mac brain were fighting!!  Talk about frustration!  I bought a new Canon printer/scanner for the project.  I had to hard wire it to the laptop.  When I brought it downstairs it would not work wireless to my Mac so I had to use a freaking cord too...and give up space at my computer station.   I am going to use the piece of junk for this project and then sell the darn thing.  The only thing that is saving it at the moment is that it will batch scan and automatically detect photos (mostly).

So for now photos go downstairs in a pretty container they are scanned and sorted to family name and then they go back upstairs into manila envelopes.  Uffda. 

My Great Grandmother Hadwig (Hattie) she was a twin, her twins name was Elsie.  Somewhere I have a photo of them that appeared in the newspaper when they were in the same Nursing Home.  

I got the Facebook Group Family page up and running yesterday.  Mission partly accomplished.  Now to scan and scan some more! 

The outside Fall Project list is complete, yesterday my other baby brother and his crew showed up and new plastic was put on the greenhouse/woodshop!  We are so thankful to have that done before it snows!

Far Side.

 

Days

 Seems like we were busy everyday so far this week.   A couple of windows have been washed.  Grocery day had to happen early...one substitution that did not make me happy...again ...when I said no substitutions.   We got a loaf of non moldy bread....it is practically a miracle.  

Far Guy's Godmother Marge died on Halloween.   That is "Marge Grass" in the photo.  She gave us a start of that plant about 20 years ago.   Services will be held at a later date... Marge was 88 years old. 

Psalm 23 Verse 6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

A very nice young man...age of 60 died last week from Covid,  he worked at the place where we used to take Chance to be groomed.   He was always so cheerful and happy to see Chance...one time when we picked up Little Elvis from a grooming he hollered "Elvis has left the building! "  

Far Side

Afghan Squares

The crochet along (CAL) project is coming along.

The fancy squares above are called Queen Anne's Lace.  Each fancy flower square has a coordinating simple square.

I laid all the squares out on the bed to get some idea how I was coming along.

The new stitches/squares are fun.  All the ends have been sewn in but the squares still need to be squared up and crocheted together.  The squares way at the top looking lonely are waiting for their flowers pattern partners that will be released tomorrow.   I guess each week must be a row if you do four flower squares and four plain squares.

It was fun to see how it may look someday.  I might need more pops of yellow in the remaining squares...not sure how many more squares are in this project.

Well that was on my list of things to do.  I also got all the downstairs ornaments and the tree upstairs.  I sorted through Christmas totes and eliminated a bunch of stuff...two totes worth.  Then I went through my one tote of fabric stash....it is gone.  I have one small container of quilting material that I am keeping.  I will mark the rest of the fabric for a garage sale or give it away.

Progress is slow but sure!  I have kinda a mess up there right now...so I have to work up there for a few days.  Who knows what treasures lurk up there.

Reduce, reuse and recycle to save time at a later date!   I still have a Shiny Brite tree to undecorate but I am still enjoying it as I work upstairs.

Far Side

Christmas Cards, Letters and Photos

Chance and Far Guy love their trips to the mail box during December. 

Since we send 120 Christmas Cards.  We get many in return.

I did find one of my Christmas Cards…tucked away in a box of cards that I sometimes take to carving when my hand is not up to working with a knife.

2017 Christmas Card inside it said “Christmas comes anew each year to draw people in from the cold.”

The sled/birds design was a stamp, stamped on water color paper and embellished with markers and glitter then it was framed with a border of red (other colors were used too) and then mounted on the white snowflake embossed paper ( which I also embellished with some kind of glitter!)

Yesterday I read through all the Christmas Cards and letters again.  Then they were either tucked away in a folder or recycled.

 

Photo Christmas Cards were looked at again and placed in a folder for a someday look back down memory lane.

Some letters were kept.  The letters are bittersweet; they told of struggles with cancer, deaths, births, lonliness after being widowed, and the usual what Far Guy calls “Brag” letters…we vacationed here and there and everywhere. Two letters in particular touched us this year…Jamie with her sense of humor and Bob and Sheila…  well I guess really only Bob writing about an old print of Rural 1950’s Farm life and never giving up on our dreams. Bob is a retired Pastor and he and Sheila are the other set of Grandparents to Noah and Adam.

Some cards had notes inside and some were on the front…like this one…from Sharon, her husband Gary was Far Guy’s best friend who died way too soon back in 1993.

The card count this year:

46 Christmas Cards

24 Christmas Photo Cards

22 Christmas Letters

Lots of good reading!

Ongoing Project:  Last year I organized all the Christmas letters and photos and put them in page protectors in three ring binders.  This year is was real easy to get out the binders and slip letters and photos where they belong.

Cold

Still cold.  It might warm up a bit on Sunday afternoon.

Chance is real bored, he wants to go for his ride…I cannot blame him.  He hasn’t been for a ride since Wednesday. 

I put away downstairs Christmas except for the Nativity set…I wasn’t ready to put that away yet.  The Christmas totes were gone through…we have a few Christmas decorations that belonged to Far Guy’s Mom…they found their way into a pretty box with a note explaining them.  So I explored the Christmas Totes….vacuumed their area and put them back. Dusted too if that counts.   A bunch of odd ball stuff was piled up to mark for a rummage sale.

The Shiny Brite tree is still up, I am not ready to put that away yet either.

Far Guy worked on his latest flower carving and it is awesome.  I will photograph it soon…before and after painting.

Chance slept…chased his treat ball around, pestered someone to play ball (I did) and he tried to lead us to his treat drawer many times…his restricted diet must be boring for him.    When I was cooking supper he was a pain…underfoot and insistant that he was hungry “NOW.”

I hope to make some more of these funky bead creations over the winter.  This one still looks good but it has faded a bit.  I bought some heavier copper wire which might work better.

Hope you all are staying warm. It was turdy below zero here.

Ongoing Projects

Every day or two I pick a project to FINISH.  My desk is cleared off now…so more projects will accumulate there.

Can you guess what this is?

I designed this pattern last year.  No it is not a winter bikini top for a skinny minnie with no boobs.   I used a heavy chenille yarn that is very soft. 

The sleigh bell Christmas ornament project is completed.  Well ahead of the 2018 Christmas deadline. I hope I don’t forget about them.

I contacted a “bell expert”  who said that these bells on a brass stand were most likely used on a dinner table and maybe the guests used them to ring in the new year.  Since I wasn’t planning any such dinner in the future the bells were taken apart.

There was a screw that held the base onto the bell.  Far Guy removed all the bases and ribbons were attached at the point where the screw attached and then the screw was replaced holding the ribbon firmly in place…it worked perfectly…the extra brass “stands” are now in the button jar along with one small bell without a dinger.   It was a fun project but I am glad it is done.

Still guessing what I crocheted?

No… not a bank robbers mask.  It is a face mask that people with breathing problems can use in the winter…the yarn is heavy enough to keep out the cold and the way it is designed air can be warmed up before you breathe it in.  This one serves a dual purpose as it is soft enough that Far Guy can wear it next to the right side of his face where his Trigeminal Neuralgia resides.  When he puts his parka on you only see his eyes.

We have a fellow at woodcarving that complained about breathing in the cold air…so I made him a mask also.

We struggled for years to find something that worked for Far Guy…we have a whole collection of face masks…that were either too tight, too loose, too cold…this one is just right.   One skein of bulky chenille yarn from wallyworld makes two facemasks. 

Ongoing Project: Sleigh Bells

Christmas gift from long ago…probably about 5 years.

 

It was a bunch of sleigh bells from Jen, Andy and the boys.   I put the bells in this wooden container and put them up on a shelf in the kitchen…twice a year when I would clean off that shelf I would think…I need to clean up those bells.

I started this project before Christmas.  I soaked them for a few days and then polished them…and polished…and polished.

Most of them still need their throats cleaned…but I could not stand the suspense of what one might look like? They were laying out on the counter drying.

Pretty…this one is a B/C bell ( Must be the place it was on the harness)

I am not sure how I will use these four bells…They are attached to the base with a screw.  Historically I can find no reference to bells mounted in this fashion.  So they are mystery bells.   They are all #3  petal bells. The creative part of my brain has a few ideas how to use them as Christmas ornaments….but I am not sure how they will look. 

For now, I will finish the cleaning…attach ribbons and put name tags on them and put them in a Christmas Tin to be opened before Christmas next year.

It was turdy below that old zero mark on the trusty old thermometer yesterday morning. 

Ongoing Project: School Days

One of my “ongoing” projects has been gathering together small school photos of the girls.  Good grief those photos were here and there and not in the right size.  Everytime I discovered a school photo it was like Christmas for me, progress was so slow I was not sure the project would ever get finished.  I eventually scanned the larger ones and found a place online that would convert my scans to whatever size I wanted.  Finally I dared to hope that I could finish the project.

Some projects take on a life of their own.  I was obsessed with finding the photos and trying to figure out what years they were from without asking the girls.  Afterall I am their Mother and I should recall.

It was a project that I started a number of years ago…like about 15 years…uffda.

It must have been about 2002/2003 or so that I made scrapbooks for both of the girls that concentrated on their school days.

It was shortly after that when I found the perfect addition to their scrapbooks.

Trica

Jennifer

I wrapped them up as Christmas gifts.  I think I got the years all correct except Jen’s 10th and 11th grade photos are reversed.

I also included a simple family tree.  I have more detailed family trees that covers many more generations but this simple one is a great addition to a scrapbook

I was happy to finish this ongoing project that never made my list last year.  It was the only “from the heart” project that I finished before Christmas.

It is really cold here.  We are safe and warm and working on various projects and napping.

 

Ongoing Projects: A Gown

For a very long time I have been wanting to do something with my wedding gown.  It is 48 years old this year.  It has been in several different boxes over the years, it finally ended up in the Cedar Chest upstairs. 

I bought a pattern for a long baptismal gown for a baby several years ago.  It has been on my “to do list.”

I finally took it out of hiding on May 31st.

It was very wrinkled.  Far Guy said “shouldn’t you iron it?”

Nah…

I will take a photo of it outside…maybe it will look better.

Nope still wrinkled.  Well I wasn’t going to iron it just for a photo.  After all I was going to throw it into the washer in cold water and hope it would hold together and not be just a bunch of unreconizable threads.

Deep breath.

It worked…it held together..now into the dryer keeping my fingers crossed.

That worked too.  Now to rip out some seams.  I called Jo and said “Got a seam ripper?”  She said “Sure what kind of trouble are you in now?  I will be right over.”

We ripped out seams and pinned the pattern on that first afternoon and cut out all the pieces.  The second afternoon we sewed some of it together.  The third afternoon it was all done except for some by hand stitching. I finished the hand stitching yesterday!  It was an adventure. Niether of us want to do a repeat anytime soon.  Jo is a much better seamstress than I am.

 

It is a baptismal gown and a cap.  I need to get blue ribbon to string in the cap for the ties instead of white.  Far Guy hauled out the ironing board and I pressed the entire gown….my old iron is practically an antique but it worked well enough to get out the wrinkles!

The skirt of my gown was just perfect to make the skirt of the baptismal gown.  I wanted an old fashioned look of a really long gown. 

Hey Mikey your baptismal gown is all done on June 9 2017!

I am so glad this project is done.  Many thanks to Jo for going along this sewing adventure with me!

Photo Project

I have been working on marking and sorting photos.  All winter I found photos here and there and would put them on my desk in a box to be sorted.  I finally made it through the entire box.  Took a photo of the sorted boxes and found a spot for them in the closet from whence they came…it was touch and go because other “stuff” almost took their spots.

I was feeling really good, and then I found a bunch more photos tucked away. I may have said a swear word or maybe even two.  Now they are on my desk …something more to be dealt with in a project I thought was done. Ongoing Projects…was a good word for me and a bad one all rolled into one.

My goal last winter was to get all the odds and ends marked.  Next winter I will attack the photo albums and make sure they are marked properly.   I gave up putting photos in albums about 1994…that was a long time ago.

I have made very little progress in the digital files…some but not much.  At least the digital files are not taking up space on my desk.

Some photos were scanned, some were shared with my other baby brother as they were duplicates.

I found many photos that made me smile…so it wasn’t all bad.

Ongoing Projects: Cards and Photos

I have been playing with some stamps and watercolor pencils and my water brush.

Water color paper works the best.  I cut it to the proper size on my big paper cutter.  I stamp the cards, then I use watercolor pencils to add some color and then mush it around with my water brush.  A water brush is a squeezable reservoir with a brush attached to the top, you tip it over and squeeze out a little water to moisten your brush.

I have been sorting through all the family photos I found here and there over the winter and marking them properly.  It will keep me busy a few more days.

I found a bunch more photo Christmas cards and filed them properly.  I found enough that I had to start another three ring binder.  

The binders that I made for the grands are working great for me.  Adding items is so much easier since I got organized!

I am still working on Mikey’s blanket.
My desk is a mess again…

Goodbye March Hello April

The last day of March went out like a lamb.  It was sunny and about 50 F. 

We spent part of the afternoon watching a dock being installed  at my baby brother’s place on the lake.  There is still ice on the lake.

We took Chance along and watched from the patio…the former owners even left some patio chairs.

We got home just in time for the Septic Take Pumper Guy to pump out our nineteen year old septic system that needs to be replaced.  FUN.

March was not a very productive Month for ongoing projects. 

Great Grandson Mikey’s blanket is still in progress.  Good thing he is not due to arrive until late May!

The Income Taxes were filed.

Some family tree research happened, nothing too significant.  It is a huge time sink.

Some volunteer work was completed at Find A Grave…but there is still more to be done.

I completed a pair of carvings that I will share soon.

And so my ongoing projects are still ongoing.

Pussywillows down near the lake.

Wistful Wednesday : Cousins

I have been working on many different branches of my family and Far Guy’s family.  A few bits and pieces are coming together.

This is a photo from Cousin Verniel, she shared many old photos and obituaries from long ago.  Eventually the obits will all be entered at Find A Grave.

Like Verniel says this is the only photo of Grandma Margaretta or Gretta (my Great Grandmother) with darker hair.  Isak is her husband, full white beard and head of hair makes him highly recognizable. He is my Great Grandfather.

“Many of their sons”  would be my Great Uncles…my Grandfather Samuel’s brothers who will probably remain a mystery…my Dad was just two when this photo was taken.  I see some family resemblences …or do I imagine them?

I believe this photo was taken just outside the original building that Great Grandfather Isak built for his wife Gretta and their five children back in 1896.

With the info from Verniel we can now push back to the1750’s in Kittila Finland for my Great Grandfather Isak’s family.

****

I got a packet in the mail from Far Guy’s Cousin David.  The Abbott family is fully researched back to 1747 to Daniel Abbott born in England. (From the Northamptonshire area).  I made copies for each of the Grandchildren.

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An email came from a cousin of Far Guys from his maternal grandmothers side of the family.  He found me through a blog post that I wrote about the Lemon family several years ago.  Another cousin (Joyce) did research on the Lemons and compiled a booklet back in 1983. I updated some information and have  made a copy to send off to Tom in San Francisco.   Whilst updating I also updated some info at Find A Grave…and discovered that one cemetery in this area is really short on information and photos…so that is a project for next summer.

***

Thank goodness for cousins who share and are sharing their family info…I am encouraged.

I have asked Cousin Geraldine to begin a project to collect information from the newest generations that are not included in our Yliniemi family booklet.  It is a big project…but if everyone pulls their information together with names, birthdates and place of birth… town, county and state and marriage dates and to whom… in no time at all we could have up to date information.

Ahead

We turned most of the clocks ahead…we forgot a few…the thermostat does not go ahead automatically …duh.

I worked on some genealogy…going down different rabbit trails…cousins.  I know more than I did before…but not much. I still have lots of questions…and need to keep better notes. I need to have my questions someplace besides in my head.

I cleared one stack of papers off my desk… then I got an email from one of Far Guy’s Maternal Cousins ( I would call him a long lost cousin but he is doing research just like me)  and another project was added to the ongoing project list.  No progress is made there except this cousin may have some info to share…never can tell.

Ratibida pinnata  July 2016

I have the menus planned for the week.  Far Guy has become a bit testy when I am the first to ask what’s for supper.  Ribs and a baked potato, soup from the freezer, baked chicken and salad, venison and a steakburger round out the week with two supper dates during the week. Yeah for two nights of no cooking!  We had a huge break through last week…Far Guy discovered that he kinda likes roasted asparagus!!  I will roast another batch this week.

I was going to say I hope to get many projects done this week…but then that may jinx me…so I will just do what I can do to stay ahead.

It snowed again, it almost covered up the gray snow.

Snirt Storm and Project Updates

First it snowed and that was okay… nice big snowflakes.

BUT then the wind came up, it just howled through the yard.  Chance had to be coaxed to go out.
It was awful. The wind blew for two days…40 to 60 MPH gusts. My happy little sunflower yard decoration flew off and is probably in the lake by now.  The squirrel guard blew off the feeders, a small piss popple came down in the driveway.   I was sure we were going to lose power but we didn’t.

All of the dirt on the fields in North Dakota and Western Minnesota ended up mixed in with the snow = Snirt.  Everything is just filthy outside.  I am hoping for a rain to help clean things up.  It blew so hard that the window screens caught the snirt.  The dirt hangs there like cobwebs.

It is not exactly a winter wonderland.

There is still ice and two inches of snow at the snowstick.  We are headed back below zero again. 

Ongoing projects: 

I am working on Mikey’s blanket. (Our great grandson who will be born in May…his middle name will be Michael…so I am going to call him Mikey…just like in the Hey Mikey Life Cereal Commercials.)

Taxes!!  Information was compiled and the paperwork is at the accountants.  I am always happy to have my part completed.

A special woodcarving project is in the works…it is going slower than I anticipated.

Not much new

The wind is just raw lately, you want to wear a cap and mittens for sure.  It was –2 F here on Friday morning.  Chance doesn’t like the wind and must be accompanied outside.  There is safety in the pack.

 

I took the red Christmas lights down from the wreath outside and put up the snowmen. The red lights worked for a Valentine decoration but now it is March.

We went to town yesterday.  We had a few errands to do.  Chance needed help getting in the new vehicle and when we got back home he refused to get out…finally Far Guy lifted him up and out.   Chance is going to have to wear his vest with the handle…and he hates it.

Anyways the Ben Franklin Store in town was one of our stops.  I returned two stamp pads that were dry when I opened them…naturally I threw out the receipt.  They said get two more as replacements and we will open them and check them out…well those were dry as a bone too.  I said “I bet all your stamp pads back there are dry.  Some more people will be disappointed.”   So they refunded my money.  The next place to buy a stamp pad in Chocolate Brown is 35 miles away…so my stamping project is on hold.

I bought some yarn and I am beginning to crochet a blanket for the new baby.  It will just be a simple blanket with a soft yarn.  Naturally they only had 17 1/2 ounces of the yarn I wanted so I am making it work….I think.   If not I will just have to go buy different yarn.

It is forecast to be near 50 F today!!!