Friends

Thank you for being such caring friends, how wonderful to have so many people that care about me and my wonderful husband. 

 This beautiful gift was waiting for me when I got home.  Thank you so much dear friend Linda. 

Yesterday Jen took Far Guy to his infusion and after we had some lunch we all headed North. 

I cannot drive when I take the good pain killers.  So far the pills are working as long as I stay on a schedule.  Ice packs really help the most and I can walk without difficulty and go up and down the stairs as long as I go SLOW. 

(How many words can I misspell in one sentence?)  Thank goodness for spell check.

I shall be back when I am able.

Far Side

Surprises!

 A package in the mail from South Dakota! 

Sara writes a blog called My Sewing Room and sews some lovely things and I admired the cat fabric she chose for this bag!  The bag has three zippered compartments inside. It is the perfect carry along that will hold numerous things!  Thank you Sara!

Another nice surprise was that Spring has arrived momentarily with the Pussy Willows.

We are not holding our breath on Springs arrival as Winter will be back in a few days with snow. 

Far Side

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

Grocery Adventures

 No oranges..and I like an orange for breakfast...good thing I have a few extra in the fridge and I have a few containers of grapefruit...so I will get by.  No slices of ham...and the 2% Milk ordered became Skim  Milk.  Like I said always an adventure.  

After I picked up groceries curbside at two places I dropped off a letter at the Post Office Drop Box and went through the Drive Thru at the bank it was time to pick up Far Guy.

There is more than one way to skin a cat...we waited and waited at the local Meat Market...when we got there only one vehicle was outside...so I waited patiently for that person to come out and while waiting three more people went inside....it is a small shop ...they could not be social distancing inside. So I called in my order and said I was outside waiting and within a few minutes my order was delivered to the vehicle.  Far Guy said "Well that was slick." 

Two sets or ornaments were delivered! Two more to go...one day soon. 

Cookies...I was going to bake some...and then there was a delivery to our front door. 

Beautiful tins!  The bottom tin is filled with Swedish Gingersnaps that are really yummy.  The top tin has a Dutch dessert called Stroopwafel  two wafer like cookies with a caramel cinnamon filling inbetween the cookies...to die for!  Both gifts from a special blog reader Kay!  Thank you Kay! 

So I may be short of oranges and ham but we have lots of cookies! 

Far Side

Cards, letters and a gift!

 Yesterday the mail box was full of mail...15 Christmas cards and many other misc pieces of mail. 

There was news of people in the Nursing Home and a spouse living by himself, some reports of covid, many reports of social distancing, trips cancelled and some trips taken.  There was a bit of history on the name Andrew...a most enjoyable read.

Two obituaries were included in the mail.  My Obituary Box is over flowing.  I plunked the two new obits in the box and it is mounding so the cover doesn't fit anymore....note to self...put this on your list of things to do.

I double check the Christmas card addresses and mark them received on my master list before the envelopes are shredded and the cards tucked inside the saddle bags that hang near the stairway. 

Thank you Sam for the cute Christmas Pillow...I have it in my tray on the dining room table. 

Jinx has a pillow! 

I shoveled, it wasn't a big deal. I like to keep the patio cleared of snow. 

 It was a fairly cool day with temps hovering just below and just above zero.  A little nippy. 

If the snow stays we shall have a white Christmas. 

I was busy with odds and ends all day long.  Seemed like there was one thing after another that required my attention...except when I was shoveling. 

Far Side

Trees and a new ornament

 Yesterday I picked up groceries curbside and then put gas in the vehicle and then waited for Far Guy to come out of the Infusion Center.   They stopped taking temperatures and just ask you questions now about Covid; have you been exposed, been around anyone with Covid, do you have an symptoms of Covid and do you have a Covid test which results are pending?  Go figure...of course throughout the whole Pandemic things have been fluid and ever changing. 

We headed downtown to see what was happening on Main Street. This is the new tree.

Even the heart that says Cindy Lou and the Grinch is upside down. 

There is a new tree in Pioneer Park.

At least it is a tree. 

Not nearly as pretty as the one that blew over in the wind and was too damaged to be saved. 

Then we dropped off some Christmas Ornaments for friends...tied one bunch around the drivers handle of a vehicle and the other on the handle of a garage door.  It kinda felt like May Day! 

This ornament was a gift from a dear friend...it was hanging on her garage door for me to pick up.  It is fabric.  Being a non seamstress I have yet to figure it out.

Grocery pickup was ok...missing oranges, yogurt, and Outshine Fruit Bars.  After disinfecting everything at home and washing Far Guys town clothing I went to my office on the couch to crochet until it was time to fix supper;  salad and Philly Cheese pretzel buns. 

Yes I still make Far Guy take all his clothing off that he wears to town and insist that he wash up real good.  We have heard of several people that have gotten Covid at a clinic...so he tries to be real careful not to touch anything...but he still has to press the buzzer to get into the Center and sit in their chair.  He disinfects his hands twice in the Center and then when I pick him up I hand him a Lysol wipe. It is all we can do to try to keep safe.  

Far Side

Sparkling

 We washed three windows!  It is a good beginning. 

I put up the sunflower valance that my Mom made me for my birthday.   The window is nice and clean...worthy of a new valance! 

I got a package in the mail the other day from Jen.  The card said "I hope your day sparkles!"

I should be set for decorating cards for a long time!  Stickles are lots of glitter in a small amount of glue and perfect for making sparkling cards. 

We are making good progress on our Fall work list...good thing too as the Junco's have been here three days...and some snoooooo flakes were seen in the air yesterday...if the sun had been out they would have sparkled....but it was overcast and dreary...and cold!

Far Side

Packages and more

 The mailbox has been full of great surprises lately. 

Sara from South Dakota sent a book with all kinds of card ideas!  Thanks Sara...by the way she is a quilter...and does some amazing sewing!  

The next day a package from Sam in Arkansas arrived.  By this time I was feeling real special! 

The knit Miss Marple scarf will keep me warm this winter! The scrubbies will be put to good use too! Thanks Sam! Sam always has all kinds of wonderful projects going on.  I admired this scarf all the while she worked on it! 

Bloggers are just the best kind of friends to have...especially during a Pandemic and Isolation...we all need each other! 

I got the South part of the yard done yesterday and mulched at the neighbors.  My brothers think I am too OCD (CDO) about leaves.  Oak leaves kill the grass and are a heavy mess to clean up in the Spring...been there done that!  I think I have mulched five times now.  

Another mulch or two/three and I will be all done with leaves for the year.  The Salvia 'Victoria Blue' in my flower garden has survived several frosts...the past few days a tiny yellow butterfly was visiting the flowers. The Impatiens are history. 

We had another very nice day yesterday...it spit rain a few times. ( I am not sweet enough to melt!) Far Guy worked on his new old car...valve covers is the latest project.  I got a few more things on my never ending Fall list taken care of. 

We made Green Chili Chicken for supper.  Chicken breasts seasoned with cumin, pepper and chili powder, place them on 1/4 cup of Green Enchilada Sauce in a baking dish...place green chilis on the chicken and top with more enchilada sauce and some cheese...bake 375 degrees covered longer than 30 minutes...depending on the size of your chicken breasts!  Bake uncovered about 10 minutes....serve over white rice.  Far Guy gave it a 10...and said he hoped I didn't like it so he could have all the leftovers...It was okay...I wouldn't eat it every week...but once in awhile it is okay.  Two servings went into the freezer for some night when we don't want to cook. 

I have three crochet projects going at once...too many!  So it is taking forever to finish anything. My shawl with pockets was way to heavy to take along to the cities last week...so I started another lacy shawl.  Then I saw that Cee Cee was wearing socks and her feet looked cold so I am crocheting her some cute little boots...one is done...now to get one to look like the other! 

Far Side

Unexpected gifts

I got  a box from Wyoming!  Always fun to get something unexpected!!

Long time blogging friend Nancy mailed me a hanging kitchen towel and two dishrags!  Thank you so much! Nancy is a marvelous crafter...she knits and quilts...mostly Quilts of Valor for Veterans.

We got a text message yesterday afternoon inviting us to a social distancing supper with friends.   We ate outside on their back deck... that overlooks their pasture.  It was a perfect evening to be outside. We enjoyed brats and lettuce greens from their garden and some delicious rhubarb kuchen.

We even got in some dog time!

Buddy was happy to see us too!
Far Side

Unexpected Gifts

I had a lovely phone conservation with an old old friend yesterday.  He said "I mailed all my Christmas Cards but I cannot remember if I sent one to you or not so I am calling you instead!"
He talked to Far Guy for a long time and then asked to talk to me.

He shared a bit of an old secret with me.  He has a son he never knew about.  He was contacted earlier this year and had a very nice reunion with his long lost son.  I was just thrilled for him.  He says his son calls him every week.  What a wonderful gift for a lonely old man. He said the visit was just perfect and that he cried like a baby when his son left.

Years ago his second wife asked me to find the children he had with his first wife...they wanted nothing to do with their Dad...she was so disappointed...she wanted that so desperately for her husband ...and then she died.

For the rest of the story.  My friend spent some time in prison because he shot at his first wife and another fellow during one of their rendezvous.    He served his time, his wife divorced him and took the two children; a boy and a girl and moved back near her home town.  Shortly after that my friend took up with some  gal...apparently they had a rendezvous of their own.  Her father found out about his prison time and grabbed him one night and told him to never come near his daughter again.  So he didn't.  Turns out that she was pregnant and her father gave the baby away for adoption in Iowa.

The baby was adopted and now is a grown man and he lives in Santa Rosa California, and  has a successful business there and calls his Dad weekly.  He has tried to contact his mother but she wants nothing to do with him.

I can only imagine the joy that this child brings to his father and my friends second wife would be just thrilled....it was what she wanted so desperately for him years ago.

I have many more questions...was he found through an Ancestry site...a DNA match to a close relative?  I watch that show Long Lost Family and enjoy how searches and reunions unfold.  However I was a good listener and didn't ask too many questions.

Far Side

Special Delivery

One of our neighbors brought us a box of produce!

The tomatoes are the best ever!  We had the sweet corn and one of those huge tomatoes for supper last night.  The tomato was so meaty you had to cut it with a knife into bite size chunks….talk about flavor! 

Curt has been growing produce especially tomatoes since he was a boy in Arkansas, he started growing tomatoes to sell to help out his family.  He never tired of growing them and now at 80 something he still grows and sells them.  He puts a sign out by his driveway and is known locally as The Tomato Man.

Curt knocked on the door yesterday and said here try these!  Far Guy took him a whole bunch of “flats” the flat boxes to put produce in earlier this summer.  Occasionally he has computer troubles and we try to help him out. He is all alone, his wife died several years ago.

He explained why tomatoes sometimes crack.  We always thought it was uneven watering.  Curt says “Night time temperatures that are cool makes the skin of the tomato tough and inside the tomato is still growing and finally cracks the skin.”

Curt grows mostly old fashioned tomatoes …ones he had good luck with over the years, if he can find the seed.  We used to plant all of his seeds for him, he would come visit the seedlings in the vegetable greenhouse and about Memorial Day he would bring over his van and fill it with seedlings.  Far Guy used to breathe a sigh of relief when those plants were gone.

This year we had two tomato plants out in the raspberry patch…they both died.  We are not the gardeners that we used to be.

Quilt of Valor

A few weeks ago with urging from Nancy I submitted the paperwork online for a Quilt of Valor for my husband ( Far Guy) who served in the Air Force and the North Dakota Air National Guard for a total of 26 years.

I knew the request was in the works, I spoke with the Minnesota Coordinator.  She said “We will try to get it presented before August 1st …I will let you know.” I figured I had time to organize something… a small gathering with our daughters and the grands.  I think it is important for the grands to know about service to our country and the sacrifices that Veterans make.

Things happened faster than anyone anticipated.  On Tuesday whilst I was home mowing the grass, Far Guy was at Respiratory Therapy and then went by the Museum to do some work on the High School Memory Room when the Veteran’s Service Officer walked in and presented the quilt to him!  I guess it was meant to be.

I wasn’t there to get a picture. 

I got a photo later at home.

For now we have it draped over one of the railing upstairs, so it is the first thing that you see upon entering our home.

We know that a gal by the name of Jean put the quilt together and also did the long arm quilting.  That is all we know.  What a labor of love these women have taken on.  So far 102,587 quilts have been awarded through the Quilt of Valor Program.

My husband was so pleased to be honored for his time in the military!

Spring Gifts!

Jen went on a Spring Vacation to Miami and brought us back a bit of summer.

It had more margarita flavored Jelly Belly's in it…but some went missing.  I have not had a margarita since last October it may be time ( I always ask for half strength…full strength makes me giggle and walk funny)

My Mom made Far Guy a Chance inspired table runner and place mats to match.

Blog reader Dale spent some of his quiet time this winter after two surgeries woodburning Chance’s likeness into some wood.  Thanks Dale!

 

Our other spring gift is mud.

Yes we still have snow, but it is melting and making mud.

Happy First Day of Spring!

Colors to get lost in

Living in a sea of snow makes me yearn for a bit of color.

Colors that make you forget all about the wind blowing the snow around so hard the poor dog must be accompanied outside to do his duty…perhaps he is afraid he will blow away…or get lost in a blizzard.

A long package arrived in the mail.  It was for Far Guy. I figured the Class of 1968 Graduation Tassel was for him and the rest of the package was for me.  We argued a bit about it..mine..is not..is so.

I put them in a vase.  I photographed them…I am drinking in their beautiful colors.  All the way from California just for me. 

They are a bright spot of color on the fireplace mantle, I am certain I am enjoying them far more than my husband so they must be mine.  Thanks a bunch to a weekend rancher in California!

Far Guy is feeling much better today, I just have to keep him hydrated and resting throughout the day and I think he will make a full recovery.

Sharing the wealth

Last weekend we had a date.  We went to a fundraiser for the Local Animal Shelter.  It was a Turkey Dinner, the turkey was excellent.  I like to go and see what other non-profit organizations do for their dinners and silent auctions….besides that it is for a good cause.  They were selling raffle tickets.  My husband forked over $5.00 for a raffle ticket for me! (Men should always pay on dates!  Steve Harvey said so!) He bought his own ticket earlier in the week. They sell 1200 tickets at $5 each.  They give away cash prizes totaling $2,350 and make a profit of $3,650 if all the tickets are sold.  Not a bad fundraiser if you have members that will sell the tickets.

Shortly after we returned home, the phone rang and I won!  Third prize was $250 !!  I was so happy, I hardly ever win anything and this is the first ever raffle ticket that I have won.

I knew I had to share, first with my husband and then with the Animal Shelter.   I am always thrilled when someone comes into the museum with something from our wish list!

Rawhide chews were on their wish list. We bought all sizes.

We also looked at the dogs available for adoption.  They had a Sheltie that would have been very tempting, she looked just like Little Elvis but a bit bigger… happily she had been adopted and was just waiting a few days for her new owners to pick her up!

Sometimes we think that a companion for Chance would be a good thing.  Chance is so sad after spending a few days with Little Elvis and Miney…he really misses them. Sometimes we think that one dog is plenty for us…at least until the right dog comes along.

Chance never gets Rawhide Chews.  He never cared for them and would look for someplace to hide them so your feelings wouldn’t be hurt. He used to bury them under pillows or in the couch until he discovered that burying them outside was much better, then he would dig them up much later when they were all stinky and gross… so he doesn’t get them anymore:) 

 

The Shiny Brite Ladies

The Shiny Brite tree is all decorated. I lost count..I will estimate that there are about 300 Shiny Brites.

This year Lillian joins Jo, Rae and Grace.  They are all Shiny Brite ladies whose ornaments adorn my big  tree upstairs.

The purple ones belonged to neighbor lady Grandma Grace and then she sold them at a garage sale.   Lucky for me..they are the ornaments that began the Shiny Brite Addiction a long time ago.

This is one of the indents that Rae at The Old Weather Vane gifted to me several years ago.

Jo who lives just down the road from me..gave me these last year.

This year my best friend Susan was clearing out some of her Mothers belongings..Lillian liked Shiny Brites too and after her death Susan gave me a box.

This is the first year they have been on my tree.

So these are for you Lillian.  When I look at them I will remember your smile and your laugh..they are a perfect addition to my tree.

I think it looks just wonderful!   All the Shiny Brites that I have been collecting over the past 25 years finally have a proper home:)

Unexpected Gifts

A few days ago I received a packet of old photos from a gal in Fort Myers, Florida.  They are interesting old photos that I have scanned and I will mail back to her shortly.

Included in the package was a unexpected gift. Artvelopes.  She designed them to help keep letter writing alive!  The process to make them includes drawing, copying, glue making, folding, glue application and packaging.  I haven’t  seen anything like them before.

I am a letter writer..imagine that!  I have several friends that have refused to join the computer generation. I should write them more often. I try for one letter a month, but sometimes time just slips by. Sometimes they call and ask “Are you guys OK?”

Can you imagine opening your mailbox and finding an Artvelope inside?  Pam takes decorating envelopes to a whole new level!  She showcases some of her artwork on her blog. Spirituality 101: Introspection and Reflection ..check it out ..tell her Far Side sent ya over.

What was your last unexpected gift?  During the Christmas Season perhaps we get all wrapped up in what we will buy.  The last four unexpected gifts that I received were all homemade or gathered gifts..what were they?  A jar of plum jelly, these Artvelopes, a box of Cyprus knees and a bag of catfish! :)