Three Signs of Spring

We saw a Bald Eagle the other day, the first sighting this winter/spring.  The streams and little creeks that have water flowing are opening up. 

The second sign is the chairs that have been delivered to Ace Hardware.  Spring colors for sure.

Looks to me like there are a few more colors in the back too… yellow for sure!  They should have the best selection of colorful chairs around!

Bad Medicine Lake 2012

The third sign of spring was a dead skunk at the side of the road, they have come out to be lovey dovey and one apparently didn’t look both ways before crossing the road for a rendezvous with his sweetheart.  Stricken down during his quest, either that or it was a suicidal skunk. Whatever he is now what I call “a very good skunk.”

Happy St. Urho’s Day 2014!

We attended the St. Urho’s Parade in Menahga yesterday.

That is St. Urho  with the pitchfork.

He kilt all the grasshoppers and the grapes were saved!

Today is the day that Finlanders all over Minnesota celebrate Saint Urho's battle with the pesky grasshoppers that threatened the grape crop. He chased the grasshoppers waving a pitchfork hollering "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, menetaalta hiiten"...Grasshopper, grasshopper get the hell out of here.

Chance kept one eye on this dog for a long time…until he disappeared down the street.
The King and Queen waved and all was well, candy was tossed into the streets.

The nytes and the ladies of St. Urho are always fun to photograph! Just incase you are wondering the colors of the day are green and purple…the color of grapes.



Where can you wander around town in your underwear and a cape and be greeted with a smile…well in Menahga Minnesota of course every year on the 16th of March.
The parade lasted about seven minutes this year!

Babies

We finally got to meet the new babies.  They live up North and belong to very good friends of Jen and Andy.

Twins…when we found out that they were expecting twins I was hoping for two girls… but one of each is just perfect.

I was excited to meet them and their Mom said I could hold them as long as I wanted…I think she is over the new baby is all mine thing. They are just about eight weeks old.

Of course the boy child has oodles of hair…he slept the whole time we were there but we held him anyway.

The girl child was just as sweet as can be.  She is the patient one.

Perfect..they are just perfect! It will be fun to watch them grow up!

About Time

It was about time that I wandered through the house and picked up all the Christmas/Winter decorations and put them away.  The silk poinsettias were replaced with red tulips. Everything found a storage spot! With all my organizing upstairs the Christmas crap one of a kind decorations were reduced by one entire Rubbermaid tote!!  Some people may measure progress by other parameters, my yardstick is totes!

The red lights and sleigh were put away and a bunny is now the star of the outdoor wreath.  I turned the lights on over Valentines Day…but golly that was a month ago…how time flies by.

Somehow a bunny doing the splits makes me smile.

For now this flying goose replaces the pine cone wreath on the other side of the door.

Nothing like a bit of warm weather and a lake in your yard to make you think about spring.

I am sure we will get more snow, it would be a really early spring if this weather continues.

The snow stick stands at 12 inches…we lost another three inches in the past couple of warm days.  Last year we had 24 inches at the snow stick this time in March.

Tired and now retired

I gave my best effort to the Historical Museum over the past few years.

I am tired. I wish them all the best. 

My last official day is March 31.  I am relieved, I feel like the weight of the entire Museum has been lifted from my shoulders.

I struggled long and hard with my decision to retire. There were two projects near and dear to my heart that I had hoped to finish. In the end… Far Guy and Chance both voted yes and I agreed.

I gave my notice at a Board Meeting on Monday afternoon, short and sweet, I resign. The end. I was at the meeting about three minutes. ( I wanted to sing my resignation..but I was dignified.)

I let most of my volunteers know of my resignation by email so they wouldn’t have to hear it through the grape vine…or as gossip.  Small towns..rumors can go rampant!

Now I will have some time to smell the roses

Wistful Wednesday: Boys on Bikes

This old polaroid was most likely taken by Far Guys Dad.  It was probably taken in the fall of the year…maybe around 1961 or 1962.  Do they look 11 to 12 years old to you?

They must have been in a parade…maybe homecoming.  I dated both of them, but not till a little later in the 1960’s. 
This photo was taken in Park Rapids in the front yard of the house where Far Guy lived.  That is the forestry across the road.  The road was two lanes back then…now it is four lane with a fifth lane in the center for a turn lane.
Times change and so do towns.

This photos is for reference only. The Andrews, Larson and Taskey homes were bought up by Caseys.  Far Guys old home (gray with white trim) remains at the end of the block. 
In the old photo the boys would have been standing with their bikes just in front of the pickup that is parked at the Gas Station, very near that large shrub.

The trees behind them are gone also.
I took this photo from what would have been Emil Taskeys front lawn.

Only a few really old trees remain after the storm in 2011.  The area was replanted in 2012.

You can see one of the little trees poking up out of the snow.
In retrospect, I have to feel sorry for Emil, living in-between two families with boys. He and his wife had two girls.  Perhaps those boys made him nervous.

Note from my husband:
We took the front wheel off from Marks bike and installed it on the back wheel of my bike making a DIY bicycle built for two. I can still recall trying to learn how to ride it. I think we got a second prize in the parade.

On The Wings of a Snow White Dove

Far Guy and Chance get the mail every morning…it is a ritual. 

I saw the unfamiliar handwriting at the familiar address. Damn.

A memorial card and newspaper clipping fluttered out onto the table.  My heart was in my throat and tears burned my eyes.

I knew it was Lois, if it would have been Hubert, Lois would have called…but Hubert he is more of a mail guy…a man of few words unless you are face to face with him.

Lois was 75 years old, I met her back in 1968.  She was a good friend for years and years…then they moved and we moved and we lost track of each other.  I sent a letter to the café in  the small town in Oklahoma where I thought they lived and lo and behold the Letter Carrier recognized the name.  The phone rang and it was Lois saying “I heard you are lookin for us?”

I sent her my famous notecards every so often, catching her up with our news.  I sent the last card in mid January, I last heard from her just after Christmas.

Now she is gone.  She didn’t have children.  She had a well loved blind in one eye cat called “Half Pint” and of course Hubert. 

Here is a old photo of Lois taken in the summer of 1971.

She was taking to Far Guy, those are his hands off to the right.

Lois died February 20, 2014.  Graveside services were held February 27, 2014.

It is what it is, we always wanted to go and visit them but never got there.  I am thankful for the numerous phone calls and letters we exchanged over the past few years.  Lois was a good friend.

Both of my long time letter writing friends have died within nine months of each other.  My mail box is going to be a little emptier from now on.

Do you have any old friends who you exchange letters with?

What time is it?

It is melting time…not sure that it is spring time yet…but 43 F or 6 C  is cause for a celebration eh!!

The snow shelf on my garage collapsed.

Throughout the afternoon the snow banks sank in the warmth.

The snow stick measures 15 inches…it was reduced by 2 1/2 inches in one day..at this rate it will be gone by the official arrival of spring.

Some of the area fields were showing some black dirt by late afternoon.

The sun was only out for part of the day.

It was also time to spring ahead.  I hate it and so does my body.  It takes me a week or two to adjust to the time change.

It was time to go visit the grand girls and get caught up with them.  Savannah will be done with school at the end of this month, she has all of her course work done for the year…graduation is looming in the spring.  Paige will be taking Driver’s Education soon and Maddie is taking behind the wheel and will get her license if she passes the test.  It was good to see them happy, giggling and giving each other a bad time.

A quilt makers birthday

My Aunt Grace celebrated her 80th birthday yesterday.  Her children planned a lovely get together at the community center.   My Uncle George ( My Dad’s brother died in 1997 so she has been a widow a number of years.)

Aunt Grace is a quilter.  She has made many quilts for her family.  Some were on display yesterday, it caused much discussion ..remember this one?  Look at this one..well loved!

I first learned to quilt at her house years ago.  Making those tiny little stiches so they looked like all the other ladies in the “bee” was a challenge for me. I am not sure why they invited me, but I was welcomed and I learned to quilt one stitch at a time.  Those “bee” days had the best lunches ever with everyone bringing something along with stories and laughter. 

One of my cousins is the best cake baker ever, there were cakes galore.  All with different flavors.  Who knew…my cousin Wilma should have opened a bakery!

I had blueberry, Far Guy had chocolate…after we had a lunch of ham, roast beef, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, potato salad, every kind of fruit salad imaginable, trays of vegetables and the obligatory pickles and herring.  Pure Minnesota comfort food. We skipped supper after that lunch!

 

Aunt Grace received some beautiful flowers.

The best gift of all was to have all her children and most of her grandchildren and great grandchildren all together( about 100 of them) for her special day. Here are my cousins in birth order giving each other a bad time.

Happy Birthday Aunt Grace!

Hanging Around

The snow is still hanging around.

This is the snow curl on my garage.  It is comfy just hanging on.  The snow we have gotten this year so far is a dry snow that doesn’t weigh much.  One of these days the curl will come crashing down.   Sometimes it makes a squeaking noise as it inches down the roof.  Chance hates it when the buildings start to shed snow.  One time when he was a pup he was buried by a snowslide and Far Guy had to rescue him…he has never forgotten.

Here is the snow hang over on the grain bin.   I have to put that cover/cap on the repair list.  Last time it was out of place Paige set it back to right again. Andy boosted her in the air to the roof where there is a ladder which is now covered up in snow.   That other wooden ladder was for vines to climb the bin.  I should probably take it down as it is rickety.

You still have time to enter your guess for the day you think the snow will be gone from the snow stick.  Guess a date and AM or PM here.  Entries will be accepted until Sunday March 9 at 9PM.

Remember we SPRING ahead tonight…I hope you bought those fresh batteries for your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors…you are worth it! 

Sunflower Carving

My husband loves to carve flowers.  All woodcarvers find their niche, that perfect spot where they carve the best.

We can carve inside the house in the winter.  We invested in a dust collector.  It does exactly that collects dust and is much quieter than a vacuum cleaner.  The motor runs a fan that sucks the dust particles into a collection bag.

Here he is power carving some leaves for a different project…prototypes are being worked on.  R and D is rampant in our dining room.

Recently he has been working on a sunflower.

He needed some help choosing colors and painting.  We stood in Ben Franklin for a long time discussing yellow and it’s particular shades.  He had an idea in his brain how it should look…I tried my best.

I took it over near the window so it would catch some sunny sunlight.

I was not sold on the black in the center..seeds they are seeds he says..okay.

The back is a work of art too…let me tell you this was not easy to paint and if he ever carves another I will paint before it has been put together.  As it was Far Guy wrapped Saran Wrap around the entire yellow head so I could paint the green.  We worked the Saran Wrap in-between the yellow and the green.  Yellow and green make blue and that would have been bad.

It is a very tall sunflower.  It took most of an afternoon to paint.

It still needs to be sealed and have a proper base…I think Far Guy has an idea to use a piece of black walnut…when it gets warmer out and he can work out in his woodshop.

For now it joins some other carvings and the lovely peacock feathers on the mantle.

Sunflower carving by Far Guy, Black Walnut Lady Slipper by Far Guy, Peacock Feathers, little house carvings from our first attempt at Bark Carving and the Lady Slipper I carved for myself. Don’t mind the nails on the edge of the mantle…they are for stockings at Christmas.  They don’t bother me except when I dust..then I try to smile and recall the grands excitement on Christmas mornings over the years.

Don’t tell anyone but I still have a few Christmas “things” up..and it is March 7th oh my the Christmas Police will certainly be after me.