Catching up

 We had ten medical appointments last week.  I like to bunch them all together if possible.  We had seven on Monday and Tuesday in Grand Forks, ND.  Far Guy saw his Palliative Care Dr, Pulmonologist and Oncologist.  A few meds were changed but nothing new is noted...he will have a PET scan in three months.   I saw a Neurologist who wants better nerve studies done that he will do himself, I had Visual Field tests at the eye Dr and she did a quick exam...I am still suspicious for glaucoma but don't have it yet, my eye pressures are great.  Then I had an MRI...I hate those things...The cysts on my pancreas are stable  the one on the uncinate process of the pancreas measures 5.2 cm x 3.8 cm  previously it was 5.3 cm x 3.5 cm  the cyst on the neck of the pancreas measured 9mm  and it measured 8mm in May.  I have not heard from the Gastroenterologist for his recommendations.  They can do nothing about them...I will have to go to Mayo at some point in time. 

Thursday Far Guy had his infusion and I ran errands.  On Friday we both saw the Dermatologist...I was all clear but Far Guy had a biopsy taken from his forehead. 

It was an exhausting week...next week we have three appointments...practically a vacation for me as they are all Far Guy's appointments. 

We are finally unpacked here at home, I am still catching up on laundry.  I had a nap every day since we got home. 

Far Guy has been fussing with Tilly and woodcarving. Hockey pre season games have begun.

I mulched leaves in the yard yesterday...they are about 50% down. 

Minnesota weather:  High 61F  or 16C   Low 40F or 4C

What's cooking?   Steak burgers, french fries and green beans.

Far Side

Finally

 We finally had that Date!  Tilly cooperated...she had a dead battery for some unknown reason.  Far Guy will figure it out.

You can guess where we ended up!  Yes, that is Far Guy's newest dash ornament. 

We made it to town and back home safely. 

We had a quiet day we both worked on the Christmas Ornaments and after we got home both of my brothers and their wives visited!

Minnesota weather:  Warm day  High 82F or 28C  Low 58F or 14C 

Yes we went to A & W:)

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Still Busy Days

 Paige, Cole and Savannah came by to help us out with some yard work and some housekeeping.  So we are caught up again for awhile.  We had a really nice visit with them all and sweet Rosie.  Rosie is Cole and Paige's Dachshund. 

In the evening we went to the neighbors get together a pork feed and a barn dance.  It was great food and fun to watch  the little kids playing ball.   We got to see a few people that we hardly ever get to see. It was quite windy and we left early.  I am sure the younger crowd will carry on!  

Aubrey is at her Grandparents and I will visit her one day soon...she needs a bit of time to rest and recover a bit after her surgery. 

Far Guy pulled Tilly out of her garage and washed her white walls...they look perfect again. 

Minnesota weather:  High 82F or 28C  Low was 59F or 15C   We need rain...the small farmers that cannot afford irrigation will be SOL if it doesn't rain soon. 

The pollen is heavy outside.  The Oaks are full of what we call danglies...but are technically Catkins. 

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Tilly on Main Street

 We ran all kind of errands in town...Post Office, recycling etc...then we picked up Tilly and went to lupper.

He has his blinker on here as he was leaving the parking spot.

Not many tourists here yet so we could park in the center of Main Street.  Yes Park Rapids is one of the few towns where you can park in the center of the street or diagonal.  The Main Street is extra wide because when they laid out the town they wanted enough room for horses pulling a sled of lumber to turn around in the street. 

A number of buildings on Main Street are empty.  There is no longer a dime store or a fabric/quilting/yarn store.

Gasoline was $4.04 in town. (Tilly uses lots of gas)

Anyways.  Tilly endured a few snowflakes in the air....I think Far Guy was about ready to catch them all. Tilly is home and safely in her garage.  Goodness knows what he would have done if it started to rain!!

Minnesota Weather:  High 42F or 6C  Low was 27F or -3C. Cloudy all day. 

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Friday

 We rescued Tilly from the repair shop.  The gaskets she needs have been ordered.  She needed to come home and go into the garage just incase it rains.  She will go back to have the repairs and an oil change soon.

Far Guy replaced my lawn mower battery and fixed a flat tire so I could mow. I dug out my lawn mowing stuff...special long sleeved shirt, red rubber boots, hat, safety glasses and special carrier for my phone.  I mowed the wild gardens east of the house...we like to mow it to give the wildflowers a bit of a chance!  The grass is turning green after the rain we had earlier this week.

We made pizza for supper. 

Minnesota weather:  High 55F or 13C  low was 35F or 2C.

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Stash

 I made a small baby blanket...perhaps just right for a car seat in the Summertime.  

It is the linen stitch using a 3.5 crochet hook.  The yarn Stylecraft Special DK  and I have no idea what the colors are anymore.   I have a bunch of yarn yet to use up. 

Far Guy and I took Tilly to town for his Infusion and a blood draw for me.  Our Buick has been in the body shop getting a small dent fixed.  Tilly is now in the repair shop for a diagnosis about her transmission fluid leak.  We are glad to have the Buick back...although Ranger Blue is great transportation! 

Minnesota weather: High 77F or 25C  Low was 32F or 0C.   It rained early on Thursday morning.  Thundered enough to wake me up...which is really saying something as I am a sound sleeper!

Whats cooking: Freezer food...Vegetable Soup for me and Jambalaya for Far Guy.  One night we had Moons over my Hammy.  

Far Side

Update:  This blanket was given to Baby K so she would have a small blanket to have in her car seat!

The Snowbank named June

I think that June may be gone in April this year.  We are supposed to get really warm weather this weekend. 

Always fun to see June disappear! 

Something missing was not found so we did the best we could and had a new key made.  It took three different visits to two different places of business to accomplish it....but now we can cross it off of our list and I can say with certainty that the missing keys will show up now. 

Far Guy has been out to visit his old car Tilly in the garage and the next door neighbor/great niece Anna stopped by with Remmy. (Remmy is a pup that was rescued from a ditch nearby last Fall...someone threw her out the window) She grew over the Winter! 

What's cooking: My other baby brother brought us over a couple of jars of venison soup that was really good so we didn't have to cook our first night back.   Yesterday we made Chicken Enchiladas before watching the big Hockey game...we lost so it was not a fun game to watch. 

Minnesota Weather:  Sunny.  The breeze coming off the snow is chilly.  High 46F or 8C  Low was 30F or -1C eh!

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Lotza appointments

 Now that the house and yard is mostly taken care of, we can concentrate on the medical appointments this week.   Far Guy has three medical appointments and one misc appointment. I had four appointments but I cancelled two of them...Jen can remove my stitches from the biopsy in my forehead and PT is going well so it can be rescheduled in two weeks.  BTW my biopsy came back with clean edges so that was good news!  So between us we still have six places to be on various days this week.

These Mums were outside the Farm Supply place where we went to get Tilly a new battery.  She refused to start the day before she was supposed to get her transmission checked.  Hopefully she will start now and eventually she can make it to her appointment one day soon.  My baby brother and his bride helped to get the battery loaded in the car so we could take it for an exchange.   My baby bother was also here several afternoons taking care of leaves!  We appreciate all the help!

Supper was homemade pizza.  It was really good!  I think a twice baked crust was the secret!

Minnesota Weather: High 51F or 11C  Low was 34F or 1C eh!

The last outside water hose was disconnected. All the misc "stuff" that was in Ranger Blue was put away.  We went to town for a prescription with stops to recycle and to drop off outgoing mail, and a book to the local little library.

The Ben Franklin store in town is now closed...they moved the store to a different town...not sure where...but as nasty as that guy was I hope the door hit him in the you know what on his way out of town. (he let it be known that he could not survive on the Winter time locals, there would be no going out of business sale and to stop asking because all inventory would be moved to a new location and there would be no warning as to when the store would close)

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Colorful

Sunday my other baby brother and she who sees robins took us out to lupper at our favorite Mexican place.  The food was great as was the company.   Far Guys stomach was a bit iffy but the ice tea seemed to work a bit of magic so he could eat a taco. Yeah for another no cooking day!

We wood carved on the Christmas ornaments for a little while.  It was a very nice Fall day.

The driveway is getting colorful.

 Minnesota weather: High 79F or 27C Low was 68F or 20C.

We have four medical appointments this week. I think Tilly has an appointment to get her transmission leak checked...so that will be the excitement for our week. 

Far Side

Andy and Tilly

 Our son in law Andy took Far Guy's Desoto to the local car show on Saturday morning.  Far Guy did not feel good enough to attend.  However we are happy that Andy could go and show Tilly off! 

Photo by fellow blogger and neighbor Leah!

Andy reports that many people stopped to talk with him!  Some people he knew from Robotics too! 

We enjoyed seeing them all...Andy, Jen and Sadie.  Jen helped me do some of the hard housework...vacuuming, cleaning the tub and scrubbing the bathroom floor and helping me change the sheets on the bed.  So wonderful to have helping hands! 

It was a nice day in Minnesota the high was 79 F or 27C and the low 59F or 15C eh! 

We sat outside part of the afternoon visiting with Cousin's Bonnie and Wayne and in the evening with my other baby brother and she who sees robins first.

Far Side

A boot

 Far Guy got the new boot installed on his old car Tilly.  The boot is filled with grease and it protects the drive shaft from costly repairs.  Although Far Guy says it was an expensive fix.  I replied "old cars are expensive." 

We went out for breakfast and ran a few errands while she was being worked on.  Afterwards Far Guy filled her up with the proper gas...premium. 

So other than some polishing the old car Tilly is ready to go to car shows this summer.  

Far Side

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.)

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Winner Winner

Yesterday we went to a Car Show at the Wolf Lake Harvest Festival.  The wildfire smoke stayed aloft so the air quality was ok.

Many people stopped to visit with Far Guy about Tilly.  Apparently the car or my husband was a big hit with all those Finlanders! 

He won the Grand Prize for the most Outstanding Car in 2024.  Besides the trophy he got a cap, a cup and a $50 gift card.  Winner Winner! No chicken dinner but the gas card isn't half bad.

It was a good day, a bit warm but we managed. 

Far Side

Tilly's Rich Sister

 Tilly attended the car show in Park Rapids yesterday.  She is looking fine.  Far Guy spent a number of hours making sure she was as perfect as she could be for the car show. 

Tilly has "stuff"  a Drive In Theater speaker and a take out tray with A & W mugs. 

Now meet Tilly's rich sister Sugar Plum.  She belongs to Pat and Mona from up north. 

Sugar Plum has all the bells and whistles that can be on a 1959 Desoto...versus pain jane Tilly. 

Pat and Mona's Sugar Plum Desoto won two trophies...Lion's Choice and Best Orphan.  We are very happy for them!! 

It was  a bit cool especially early in the morning...I was thankful for a coat.  Far Guy said it was 44F when he got up.  We had a good time visiting with a number of friends and relatives during the car show.   We came home and had a nap..or in my case a sleep as daughter Jen as said " Mom a nap is two hours or less." 

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Car Report

 The mechanic in town that does work on Tilly says she needs a new boot, but is safe to drive until she is repaired.  They are ordering parts.  ( I am not sure what a boot is in car speak but apparently it covers something important)

Far Guy brought her back home.  

Tilly is looking good for being 65 years old. We hope to get to a couple of car shows yet this summer.

Far Side

No Blue Sky

 We had rain all day yesterday.  No blue skies or jet trails or aircraft sparkling in the sunlight. 

April showers bring May flowers or so they say.  We are thankful for the rain as everything is real dry here,  the chances of wildfire are high.  Looks like it may rain a few days. 

We ran an errand to town, Far Guy needed some special gasket for his old car Tilly.  I needed  wanted some different paper for May Baskets. We both accomplished our tasks. 

Yes it is May Day next Wednesday...so be thinking what kind of May Basket you can share with a small child, a neighbor or a friend! It doesn't have to be fancy... just fun!

May Day kinda snuck up on me...but I have the whole rainy weekend to putz with paper. 

Far Side

Car Show

 The local Car Show that Far Guy's Car Club sponsors was yesterday.

Lots of people out and about.   We got to visit with a number of old friends, classmates and relatives. 

Tilly was the only Desoto present.

Here are some views of Main Street.  The weather stated out a bit chilly and warmed up to mid 70's before noon.  No smoke in the air or rain...so it was a good day to be out.

After the car show we ran a couple of errands in town, picked up a pizza for supper and came home and had a long nap. 

Far Side

Quiet Saturday

 I had a quiet Saturday catching up on a few things including a couple of naps. 

Far Guy did some "stuff" with his car.  We have car shows this week so we need to polish her up!  Hopefully it won't rain or be smoky...cause Tilly does not go out in the rain and Far Guy does not go out in the smoke.

Thank you for all your encouraging comments yesterday, I appreciate them.  I struggled what to say...and decided that since my grands and great grands may need the health information some day...I would tell it like it is. 

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Gathering spot

 When we had Tilly in town we went by an  old trail that used to lead to Crocus.  A gathering/parking spot that some teenagers may or may not have visited back in the 1960's. 

The light was not great that day so we will go back and see if we can get a better photo someday. 

You can barely see the reflectors on the timber that block off the entrance.

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Date Night

 Far Guy missed taking Tilly to the car show so we went on a date night instead.  The wildfire smoke is mostly cleared out...some still remains. 

Can you guess where we went?  Hint: they have car hops. 

After supper we  had a nice visit with Far Guy's cousins at their lake place. 

Far Side

** If you guessed A & W you are correct.