Summer begins

 Around here we think of summer as June, July and August....or from when school lets out to when it starts again.  

I am already thinking summery foods...we had some potato salad over the weekend...it is a summer food but I have been known to rock the boat and make it in the winter. 

I dug up the small flower bed...I suppose I should plant some flowers in it.   Next year I think I will just have pots of flowers.  

Far Guy and I repaired the lawn mower, I mowed the far driveway to test out the mower...it blows a little less grass and dirt at me.   I have my very own pair of Safety Glasses now! 

I checked out the weather report...no rain....the other day it rained about as much as I can spit.  It is going to get warm...like August warm later this week. 

I baked some cookies for a "doings" next weekend.  If it is close to the 100 degree mark as forecast we may just send over the cookies.  I baked them, let them cool and put them in the freezer. 

Far Guy hung up the Butterfly house for me...it was a gift from Mark and Cindy in Oregon....Mark built it and Cindy painted it!  With the price of lumber it is a very expensive gift!

Far Side

Projects on Sunday

 Far Guy worked on his new old car ...the horn doesn't work and the brake lights need some work.   I think he may have used the vacuum cleaner too!  He moved a bunch of tools over there...my garage is being transformed into an auto repair shop.  The radio works...his project continues.

I carded dog fur for quite some time, my other baby brother and she who sees Robins first were our visitors along with my parents.  

I put my Christmas Card project away for a while...I am about half done.   I was getting bored with that project so I got out some different cards to work on...with an emphasis on Fall cards. 

I straightened out some of my yarn stash.  

The latest shawl project is Fall inspired...and it is almost finished.  After it has been blocked I will take a photo! 

Our summer type weather is leaving us for a few days...nights will be REAL cool with a possible frost and daytime highs in the 50's ...uffda.  I may have to move my carding dog hair project into the woodshop/greenhouse. 

School starts here in Minnesota this week.  They always start the day after Labor Day.  The kids will need jackets! 

Far Side

Christmas in July and tomato report

Yeah!  The Christmas Ornaments for 2020 are done!  91 were completed yesterday.  Paints and the drying holder were put away....the ornaments fill two pretty boxes and await Christmas delivery.  Some have been packaged up to go back to Washington, Oregon and North Dakota.  Many will be mailed to people all over the country.

We like sitting outside carving on the patio...letting the chips fall where they may...Far Guy routinely uses the leaf blower to blow them into the grass...we do track a fair amount of chips into the house! Woodcarving the Christmas Ornaments is one of our summer projects.

We have been making some kind of ornament since 1990 to share with relatives and friends.   Ten of those years they were woodcarved ornaments....other years they were some crafty idea that we liked.

I have begun thinking about the 2021 ornament...nothing definite yet...we have time.

I will have an ornament give away as it get closer to Christmas.

On to other "stuff" now ...like the Christmas Card.  I have all the watercolor paper to cut to shape...and I can stamp and stamp some more... and then watercolor for many days weeks months...we send out about 125 Christmas Cards....it is a tradition.  I will order the envelopes someday soon.  I will order them from Paper and More...I can never recall their name ...so now I have it in the blog!

Far Guy's tomatoes are getting really tall...they have flowers sure hope we get some tomatoes someday.  Knock on wood the deer have not found them yet.

Far Side

Okay Ornaments

It is okay.  The ornaments did not go to option d...I am living with option c.  My CDO has to take a backseat this time.  (Compulsive Disorder Obsessive) Not everything has to be "just so."

Jen said they were OK and so did Far Guy (of course he would have reworked all of them IF I had asked him.)
A least they have a very pretty decorative hanger.

And a very pretty Christmas Box for storage of the ones completed.

I am a bit obsessive about the list...one little check mark for name and date in process...and then the color they were painted and the day they were completed.  I keep track of colors because too many of the same color in a family is not good...they should all feel special.

I carved my daily two ornaments and Far Guy did his also.  I painted some.  It is all a work in progress. 14 are completely done!  It is  a start.

The wind was horrid yesterday...but it kept the skeeters away.  The wind dried out my flower bed...so I watered and then it rained...go figure.

Perfection is over rated anyway.
 Far Side

Off Track

I got off track yesterday.  Yes I got my two ornaments wood carved and made the ornament list for 2020...so I can check them off one by one.  I painted a few ornaments after wood burning names and dates on them....I may paint them differently..still pondering that.  I need a small paint booth and Far Guy is helping me with that.

It was very warm in the late afternoon, I came in from outside and started watching some old episodes of Little House on the Prairie...Christmas episodes...well that got me thinking about the Christmas Card for this year.  It needed to be  stamped...it is a tri fold design so it has four stamps.  This is a sneak peek at one side...it will be colored and glittered and the blank part of this side will be cut away to help reveal the other stamped parts.

Well the Misti that I bought last winter sure came in handy...it stamps in the same exact place every time (it is idiot proof)...I did  7 or 8 to begin with...it will give me something to color.  I must find a Christmas Box to put these in...since I am a box hoarder that should not be a problem! Major production on the cards will begin some day...I need more watercolor paper and a thinner bone folder.

I had a stamp I had never tried...so I had to try that one too!  Sheaves of wheat and a pumpkin and some vines...very fallish.

I missed nap time...before I knew it ...it was time to pack up my stuff and clear it off the table for supper....our garden lettuce and  a freezer meal...a Chicken Enchilada for Far Guy and a Vegetable/Hamburger Hotdish for me.   That was the last of the Chicken Enchiladas...so one cooler day I will make up another pan...cook once and eat several times!

Far Side

A thing of beauty

I splurged and purchased a juicer steamer. It steams berries and separates out the juice.

It is a thing of beauty.  It has three parts...top part is for the berries, the middle collects the juice and the bottom is for the water...juice is siphoned off with the hose from the middle part.  No more pillowcases or cheese cloths hanging and dripping in the kitchen.  We will use it mainly for chokecherries.  Possibly for raspberries too! The jelly from this juicer steamer should be beautiful!

 The chokecherries are going to have a bumper crop this year.  The tall shrubs/small trees are filled with tiny green berries that will be ripe the first part of August.

Chokecherries in bloom earlier this year...every itty bitty flower has the potential to be a berry.

The berries are forming nicely  June 26 2020

Far Side

Tuesday Times

More of the same at our house.  I sprayed yet more Poison Ivy in the morning when the wind was calm.  After that I joined Far Guy in his wood carving office on the patio.

I carved two ornaments...Far Guy carved more than that.  He has his phone and a speaker for his music and coffee...so he was all set.  He talked to his sister on the phone for a while. She is scheduled for a big surgery in early July as she is fighting Breast Cancer....she has completed two different rounds of chemo.

My latest shawl.

It can be worn many different ways.  I like this pattern, the yarn and the way it drapes.   This shawl made it to the shawl box but I have someone special in mind for it...someday.

In the evening I watered plants, cleaned out and filled bird baths and worked on the milk can project.  Far Guy ordered a new weed whacker...our last one would work about three minutes and then the battery would have to be charged...a new battery was almost as much as a new weed whacker. The new one works marvelously!  In a few days we will have the trimming all caught up with.  I can only walk around so many trees before I get dizzy!

The days seem to be going by faster and faster.
Far Side

Projects and Visitors

Projects were varied yesterday.  It was hot outside.  In the morning I woodcarved  and worked on my milk can project.  (It involved water and Dawn dish soap and a trip to the greenhouse for drying.)

My brothers and wives were visitors.  During the day and in the evening.

Fawn in our yard.  My baby brothers bride took this photo.

I cleaned part of the linen closet in the downstairs bath...the shelves with baskets of like types of medications; cold stuff., cough stuff, wound stuff, stuff to make you poop or to stop you from pooping...(that is Far Guys stuff...I prefer cheese or dried apricots), all types of Aspirins PM, all day, low dose etc...I thought I was low on toothpaste....not so much as I found 5 tubes.

After that adventure I worked on some of my stamped cards...coloring with various mediums and using glitter!

After supper I attacked some ants that want to move near the house.   Toward dark Odda came to visit.

She still loves us.

Far Side

Someday Projects

We kept saying someday we should clean up that old woodshop/greenhouse.  It became a dumping spot for many projects and lots of wood that might be a wood carving someday.  I finally finished cleaning up out there.  That was a long project...36 days but some days were too warm or I was too busy to work out there.  I am so happy to be done cleaning in there.  Now I can enjoy the space again and work on some more dish flowers.  Far Guy still has a bit more wood to sort through and some "stuff" to organize whenever he feels like it.

I have a big project waiting in the wings.  Not sure I am ready to revisit this project yet. It was a project I started back in about 1986.

The old milk can was painted by my friend Susie.   I kept something inside the can all these years.  The milk can sat in the kitchen at the resort and at the house in Harwood it sat in the foyer.  The box on top holds two special tools to  help with this project.  It will be an adventure.  Take a guess if you like...what am I up to now? 

Far Side

Almost Blooming

The Fern Leaf Peony just has one bud  But that one bloom will be appreciated!

This was a gift from long time blog friend Larry in Iowa a number of years ago.

Our late blooming Lilac has a number of buds.  I pruned it way back last year right after it bloomed...I will try to do that again this year.

We had several busy days.  We hung up the wasp nests, Far Guy only hit his cut up thumb once...ouch, I took care of more thistle and poison ivy, Far Guy sharpened his woodcarving tools.  We visited the last two cemeteries and took up the flowers...it makes it easier for the people who mow.  We trimmed the Purple Leafed Sandcherry shrub...it was looking leggy and had some dead wood.  We seem to find enough "stuff" to keep us busy everyday.  I harvested some rhubarb from the neighbors who always share their rhubarb...I washed it up and chopped it into cubes and froze it in 2 cup portions so it will be easy to make some jam or some other marvelous rhubarb creation! We took some time out to hold hands and watch the Bluebirds come into the bird bath in the evenings.

Far Side

Yard

I mowed.  It takes a couple of hours. 

Changed the stuff on the wreath outside.

My baby brother brought me a gift.

Scandinavian Butterfly House

Far Guy put it in a tree...close to the ground and close to the flower garden.  I will find a glass flower in my collection that has a larger dish to collect water and put that in the flower garden.

Far Guy says his finger is okay...I don't look at it.   I am feeling a bit better...just had a twenty minute nap yesterday.

Our weather has warmed up. It was 79 F or 26 C eh! yesterday.  The Oaks are almost all leafed out now.

The Oaks make for nice shade in our yard.

A friend of ours died of Covid~19, he was 73 years old.  His wife has escaped the virus so far.   It seems more real when one of the statistics is someone you know.
Far Side

Nests

I finished off some Wildlife Rescue Nests and got them in the mail to a rehab person in Michigan.

The double stranded nests are getting harder on my bad thumb so this is the last shipment for a bit. They have to be crocheted tightly.  Never fear I have plenty of other charity projects to work on.

I created my own wasp nest crochet pattern.  The pattern on the Internet was really large.  I started at the bottom with a magic circle and worked my way up adding stitches when ever I felt like it.  As you can see I am incapable of doing two nests exactly alike.  I had no beige yarn so I chose this dirty green color from my stash.

They are filled with plastic grocery bags.
I used Mod Podge to help protect them a bit...I figured that way they will last  two years instead of just one.

I hung them over the sink to dry...anchored by drinking glasses and a Loon.

Here they are all dry...I can still add a clear spray sealer to them...I found some in Far Guys stash....but I am not sure it is needed.

We will hang them up and see what happens.  One is going out at the Sauna and the other under the back deck (the scene of last years painful encounter.)

We had an exciting Monday...Far Guy tried to cut his finger off and I tried to faint.  I am absolutely worthless when he is bleeding and in pain...being an former EMT I am not bothered by anyone else bleeding or with gaping  wounds...just my husband.  He thought he might need stitches...instead we used steri strips to seal it up.

I am not feeling much better after the Shingrix Shot last Friday...one day at a time...I had another four hour nap.

Far Side

Last Day of August

I already hate that it gets dark so early at night...I just hate losing that sunlight.

Had a busy day yesterday...I was the assistant lawn mower maniac/mechanic. We got er done and it runs and mows just like it did  before I broke it!   So I mowed for awhile!

I cleaned up my garage.  It was a nice day for that about 68 F for a high...Fall weather has arrived.

For fun I rewrote that sock pattern ...it is perfect now.  Maybe.

I sprayed some weeds in the rocks around the house.

Odda came to visit for part of the day....she is more than happy to sleep out on the patio.  We make sure she has water.  We both sat outside with her at different times throughout the day.  She loves attention and seeks out your hand to pet her.

 After Odda left I put that Wet and Forget on part of the patio...I like how it took care of the moss and cleaned up the brick in my test section.  The jury is still out on the cedar deck out back...it might need a wire brush.

Far Guy got called for Jury Duty...his third time...  He filed for an exemption since we may get called for the lung transplant at any time.

Flowers in town

Far Side

Catch up

I spent the weekend catching up with some projects that have been on hold.
Some family history research, working with old photos, testing my sock pattern and cleaning out the inside of the car.

My Mom's flowers along Dad's garage.

I wounded my lawn mower last week...I didn't totally wreck it but will have to get some parts and help fix it.  In the meantime I stole borrowed my baby brothers zero turn.  All the lawns are mowed...well except for the hilly parts at my baby brothers...I just don't do hills.

This week we have multiple Doctors appointments.  Eight I believe...it is what we do.

Far Side

August

Well it is August in Minnesota.  Only a couple of months until it snows.  The Oak leaves are starting to turn August brown.  The lawn has brown dormant splotches.  I hear there is some swimmers itch...you must shower after being in the lake or rub vigorously with a towel to avoid that itch....tiny bumps that itch like crazy.

The Deer Flies are here and I had a baby Walking Stick in my flower garden.

The Christmas Ornaments are coming along.  There are two phases to the ornament...an ornament with other ornaments ( yes we might be nuts).  14 are complete to the first phase...Far Guy is brainstorming the second phase.  I am painting and sealing more of the first phase.  All woodcarving is complete on the first phase.

The Coneflowers are in bloom.
Far Side

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Quiet Time

I needed a bit of quiet time one evening.  I headed down to the lake to sit on the dock for awhile.

There is a very bossy Red Winged Blackbird there, he squawked and had a real fuss cause I was on his dock.

The air was heavy with smoke from the Canadian forest fires.  Not many people out on the lake...the big weekend is over....many are just weekend people.

There were still a few Blue Flag Iris in bloom.  

There is also a good amount of Jewelweed next to the dock, it will bloom with either an orange flower of a yellow flower...the stalk of the plant has a gooey sap that is a natural remedy for Poison Ivy rash.  We have a continual supply on hand in the fridge and Jewelweed soap.

Yesterday I mowed until my gas supply dwindled...I will mow some more soon.  The stupid freaking squirrels ate my old gas can and hopefully drowned in the gas that was trapped in the wheelbarrow...maybe they had a gas party.  Bought a new gas can and they proceeded to chew through that one too...so I bought two new gas cans from a garage sale.  I might need a metal gas can. Blasted squirrels anyways.

We woodcarved in the afternoon and visited with my parents.
Far Side

Log Repair Project

Many years ago...like about 20 years when we built this house we used Jack Pine logs to make a covered entry.  We did it up real good.  We sunk rebar into a bucket of cement and buried them for footings...the rebar stuck up about 6 inches and the logs were set on top of the rebar...it was quite a project.  We were younger then.

The logs aged...and this spring we noticed the bottom part of the logs were starting to  become rotten. Some bird most likely a woodpecker had quite a time with one of the logs.

We were not quite sure how we were going to fix it.  Between Andy, Jen and Far Guy they came up with a solution.

Before:

Chance and Odda in 2015 

After:

New brick platforms for the logs to set on.  The logs were cut off and the rebar cut off and ground off to make a level surface.  This fix should last another 20 years!  It was sprinkling when I took the photos.

Miss Miney and Little Elvis July 5 2019

Many Thanks to Andy and Jen for taking time out of their vacation week to help us with this project!  We could not have done it without them.  Thanks also to my other baby brother who had a whole pile of bricks from a construction demo in his equipment yard...I had my choice of colors of bricks...I chose the grey. 

Miss Miney and Little Elvis have returned to their own home...we will miss them.  The house seems quiet without them. 

Odda still comes to visit...she was visiting yesterday...we are her safe place.

Far Side

Busy Day

We had a busy 4th of July.  Lunch with Jen, Andy, Rod, Jamie and the girls.  (We spent time in Hawaii with the girls and they are delightful company!)

I sprayed some Poison Ivy...but still have more to do.

We did some woodcarving outside on the patio and my baby brother and his wife stopped by with the gang from North Dakota..Katie, Hunter, Jordan, Gavin and Aubrey...those kids grew taller since we saw them last.  The Twins have their permits to drive!

Miss Miney and Little Elvis are still with us, Little Elvis is keeping the squirrels on their toes!

All during the day Far Guy readied materials for a project that Andy and Jen helped us with.  It was accomplished and I will take a photo soon.  Cross one big summer project off the list!

Far Side

Chokecherries: Part Two The Jelly

We had a real cool day on Wednesday, I spent the afternoon making jelly.

I have to be organized when I have a project in the kitchen…

It is nice to start out with everything not sticky….cause it will get sticky.

My recipe is 4 cups of chokecherry juice put in a large saucepan add 1 package of Sure Jel or 1/3 cup of Sure Jel from a jar and 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice.  Heat and  bring to boil for about a minute.  Then add 5 cups of sugar, stir well and bring to rolling boil for a minute.  Put in jars that you have sterilized along with sterile caps and tighten the rings.  Put in hot water bath for five minutes after the hot water bath achieves a boil.  Take jars out and cool…the jars were heard popping as they sealed.

Clean jars waiting to be sterilized.

35 jars of chokecherry jelly, one jar was the tail end and only a partial jar which I will try in the morning on my toast.

We did five batches, Far Guy helped with transfering hot jars here and there.

From tree to the jar in 3 days.  We picked fruit on Sunday and made the juice…I checked the weather and Wednesday was supposed to be cool so that was a perfect time to make jelly.  I kept the juice in the fridge.  Some people can their juice or freeze it to make jelly in the winter. I am glad our project is over with!

Lazy Summer Days

I am looking forward to a few lazy days…probably not yet this week.

My list of summer projects is so long it is only in my head instead of on paper.  Sometimes just getting the normal…cleaning, dusting, laundy and cooking is enough for a day with nothing extra done.

I did carve a bit yesterday.  My goal of one ornament carved and ready to paint a day must have ben a pipe dream.   We do have 39 ready to paint and 3 have been completely painted. (Andy and Jen carved their own ornaments and Jen painted them.) 42 total or just about 1/2 done.

I can paint when it is too hot to carve outside.  We both enjoy time carving outside…cleanup is a breeze Far Guy uses the leaf blower to blow the chips off the patio.

We took the time to inventory the deep freeze and the refrigerator freezer…seems we are stocked  up just like it is winter and we could be stormed in for days.

Canada Geese family

No doubt the statue of the little girl that is on the dock scares Canada Geese away and keeps them from making a mess on the dock. Canada Geese are poop machines.