Picnic Day

 We had great food at the picnic yesterday!  Jen, Andy, Paige and Cole attended!  A few of my cousins were there.  Good visits with my niece and nephews that live far away in New Jersey, Washington and Oregon.  My baby brother and his bride graciously host the event!

Photo from my Mom's SD card.

Far Guy had a rough day.  You never know how rotten or how good he will feel.

Far Side

Cousins

Some of my cousins on my Dad's side of the family gathered yesterday for lunch. Seven showed up;  Geraldine, Hilda, Wilma, Georgianna, Evelyn and Chuckie.  It was a nice visit.  Better than visiting at a funeral....plus we were at the place that has the wonderful Sour Cream and Raisin Pie! 

I had a few old photos to share with the gals. 

This is an old photo from1994.  In the photo is Far Guy's Mother, me and my cousin Kathy.  That is Mary Ann's head of dark hair, she is a sister to several of my Aunts.  We gathered for a quilting bee to work on our 25th anniversary quilt.  Many of the relatives embroidered a quilt square and they were all included in two double quilts.  The photo was taken at my parents home on the lake downstairs in their large family room.

My cousin Kathy was missed yesterday....she always like the gatherings.  Perhaps the gathering she is having in heaven is much better!  In 30 years every one in the photo has died...except me. 

The quilts have never been used...they are like new.  

Far Side

Gathering

 We had a gathering at my baby brothers lake home for our Mother's birthday.  My sister and sister in law did most of the cooking,  some of the cousins brought food to share.  I made vegetable beef soup.

The women sewed and worked on crafts and the men talked.  My baby brother and his wife have a perfect room to set up tables for sewing machines for everyone who wants to sew.  They can sew and watch the birds out the windows.

It was a good gathering to celebrate Mom's 94th birthday on Friday and then again on Saturday.

Mom at her sewing machine.  She still has a bad cough. She was sewing together quilts squares made from my Dad's shirts.

Here are some of the other projects the gals were working on.

Christmas ornaments out of buttons.

A blueberry quilt.

Another quilt.

Donation blanket for Gillette Children's Hospital....fleece blanket with crochet edge. 

Potholders

I did not get a photo of one of the gals potholders or the gal who was working on a baby blanket. 

 It was a very nice gathering.  My Mom enjoyed visiting with everyone.

I worked on some embroidery and helped a gal rediscover knitting. 

Far Side

Saturday

We drove up North to meet Maddie, Brenton and Hey Mikey for a few photos.  They are here for a few days from Michigan.  Hey Mikey is growing!

He is quite the little man.  He makes us smile.

It was a chilly afternoon with a raw wind.  Jen took photos also.

Andy was trying his hardest to get Hey Mikey to smile.

As you can see we still have some snow….and it was another dreary November day.

Later we all went out for a late lunch…Trica and Richard, Savannah and Andrayus, and Paige and Cole joined us.  It made for a table full. ( Just Adam and Noah were missing.) Hey Mikey was perfect in his high chair…but he kept licking the salt off the chips and then handing them to his mother.

After late lunch we went to Hobby Lobby…I bought a few buttons and some more yarn…imagine that.  I  made a hat for Hey Mikey and I knew it would be too large…now I know exactly how small to make it. 

It was dark when we headed home. We thought we might see some deer…but they must have been hunkered down because of the wind.

Noah : The Graduation Party

In a small town where there are only 28 students in the graduating class the whole town celebrates.  People wander from place to place on the night of graduation.

The support begins at the Graduation Ceremony.  As we walked into the gym there were long tables with a paper bag with each graduates name on the bag.  Jen deposited cards for most all of the kids graduating.

After the Graduation we headed back to Andy and Jens for the party.

The main feature was a Taco Bar with all the fixins.

There was a slide show behind the cupcakes.  They shared space with a candy offering of Nerds for Nerds, Gummy Worms for Bookworms, Smarties, $100,000 Candy Bars for Student Loans and probably a few I missed.

There was table for cards and a photograph to sign as the guest book.  There was a book of letters from his parents that began when he was born and several photographs.

Outside there was a Smores Bar set up near the firepit.  It was a chilly night so a fire felt really good.

It was a good gathering, we made it through the Taco Bar to douse our chips with Far Guy’s Dip and enjoy some time visiting…we skipped out after the fire was lit and it began to get dark to make our way home.

It was a fine celebration for Noah!  He will be attending the University of North Dakota in the Fall majoring in Chemistry in preparation for a career in Medicine.

Today also happens to be his 18th birthday!  Happy Birthday Noah!!

Far Guy’s Dip

Brown 1 Pound of Italian Sausage

Add and stir until creamy

A can of Hormel Chili with no beans

1 plus pounds of Velveeta Cheese

A brick of Philly Cream Cheese

Pickled Jalapeno Peppers sliced, add as many or as few as you like

A double recipe fills a regular size crock pot!  This is a favorite dip which all our “grands” enjoy!  It is known as “Grandpa’s Dip.”

Mints

I just finished a batch of homemade mints for a gathering this weekend.  They are drying out a bit on the counter before I pack them away in the fridge.

I made spearmint flavored leaves and amaretto flavored sunflowers.  Yes I know it takes a bit of imagination to make a sunflower out of the yellow ones….oh well they taste good anyway.

The recipe is simple enough 1 brick of Philly Cream Cheese and a bag of powdered sugar. Mix well and divide mixture in half or thirds for whatever coloring or flavors you wish to mix.  My big mixer came in real handy. After mixing chill your batches, I threw mine in the freezer because I wanted the mixture to cool fast so I could finish this project!

We have many different molds…and they have been used over and over…I think the first time we made mints was back in 1994 before my oldest daughters wedding…Arvilla and I used the molds while my Mom mixed up the batches. 

I sprinkle a bit of sugar into the mold, then roll a ball of mint and dip it in sugar and press it into the mold, level off the back of the mold and then lift gently on the outer edge of the mold and release the mint and then dip it in sugar….repeat…until all your mixture is used up…allow mints to dry a bit before packing away.  They freeze well and can be made ahead of time.

The leaf and sunflower I used are in front.

Flavorings can be purchased in a bake shop/candy store, food coloring is just the normal one from the grocery store.

Gathering Berries

Raspberries! They used to be my second favorite..with Strawberries taking the lead. Then Strawberries had to bite the dust when I became allergic to them. It was them or me..so I decided life without strawberries was OK. Sometimes during shortcake season..I get a little cranky. No more fresh strawberries on my toast in the morning, no bowls of berries for lunch, no freshly made Strawberry Jam, and no more fresh strawberry pies. Sometimes I think I am still grieving for those berries.. I walk by the containers of Strawberries in the grocery store and just inhale their essence...sometimes I just stare at them and I can imagine how they taste. I do taste them in my dreams..chocolate covered strawberries in your dreams have no calories or ill effects. Raspberries are now my number one favorite non lethal berry.

Yesterday, we headed over to one of my cousins. they started a Raspberry pickin' patch..so far they are only open to relatives and neighbors. The berries are wonderful, I love hunting and gathering..well the gathering part anyway.

My cousin and his wife have eight children, the oldest might be ten years old. When we drove into their yard, the children came out of the gardens one by one, and kept coming.. Far Guy said "How many kids do they have again? " He swore that there were way more than eight. They all had their rows that they had been weeding in the garden..onions and corn were the focus for the morning. These children of my cousins are very well behaved, they call their mother "Ma"..she speaks to the children softly, and they listen. She does not raise her voice, her phrases are sprinkled with please, yes, thank yous, good job and would yous. She is like a mother hen gathering those chicks around her seeing to their needs. It was heartwarming to watch. I felt like suggesting that she start a summer camp for some young Mothers I have observed in the grocery stores dragging screaming children around in their grocery carts.

I brought home lots of berries, I froze them on cookie sheets and then I packaged them in individual servings suitable for winter time consumption. We always use an old set of custard cups for our berries, so I used those to measure the portions. Then I thought, hey what better time to have a few neighbors over, so I made some phone calls, and in the evening we had a little get together. Nothing fancy mind you, but I made a quick trip to town for some Dairy Queen in quart containers..it was just perfect topped with the fresh raspberries. It was an enjoyable gathering, one long overdue on our part, one of those things you think "I should do that soon" ..so I finally did.

Gatherings..berries, thoughts, and friends...what are you gathering? :)