St. Urho’s Day Parade

The parade was wonderful all five minutes of it..it was about 60 degrees and overcast.

The Finnish Flag Bearer

You can see the grasshopper dragging some of the grapes on the way out of town.

The cutest grasshopper

There were two of these little grasshoppers, just as cute as they could be.

There were even some of our relatives..imagine that.

Helen and Archie driving the Wolf Lake Royalty.

The Knights of St. Urho

Resplendent in their underwear over their long underwear.

Even some weekend wannabees!

Chance could even read this sign ROOWF..ROOWF!

It was a fun parade, I will look forward to it again next year!

We took Chance down to the St. Urho statue for a photo!

If you are ever in Menahga Minnesota  around March 16th you might want to put the St. Urho’s Day parade on your schedule:)

March 17 2012

The yard is brown.  Even though the temperatures are warm..almost 70 degrees yesterday, it feels like spring but it does not look like spring yet. 

You can see the snow stick on the right.   Far Guy has been waging war with the acorns.  There was such a good crop that you could be propelled across the lawn on them.  He had the old mower out and tried to chop them up..you cannot blame a guy for trying.
Ugly bug warning!

These bugs are hitting the windows at night..this one was out during the day.  I call them June Bugs..I did not take Entomology.  Anyways these bugs did not get the memo that it is March and technically still winter. They usually hit the windows in May not in March.
Our hundreds of Red Polls that were here and eating thistle seed like it was their last supper left with the warm weather.  There were about six hanging around the feeders yesterday along with our normal Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Chickadees.
We went down to the Dead Beaver Area on the river yesterday to see how it was melting.



We are having great date nights this week. Tonight is the third night in a row for a “date.”  Hockey is pretty good  lately..The Fighting Sioux pulled out a win last night..they played the Minnesota Gophers.  We are Sioux fans..turncoats, I know. Tonight they play again..Denver.  I usually watch from one couch and Far Guy from the other, I sometimes doze off between goals,  Far Guy does a play by play commentary so I can keep my eyes closed and still keep up with the game…sometimes I find his voice so soothing I wake myself up snoring:)

Happy St. Urho’s Day!

Let the wearin’ of the purple and the green commence!  Chase some grasshoppers if you see them..make and eat some mojakka. ( I made some beef mojakka a couple of weeks ago..all packaged into individual servings and in the freezer!!)

The big parade down in Menahga commences at 12:20 TOMORROW.  I will be there taking some photographs.  You have to be on time because the parade only lasts about five minutes. The brave townspeople will escort those pesky grasshoppers out of town.

Now for the St. Urho’s Day Poem

Ooksie kooksie kollme vee
Santia Urho is the boy for me
He chase out the hopper as big as pirds
Never before have I heard those words
He really told those bugs of green
Bravest Finn I ever seen
Some celebrate for St. Pat and his snake
But that Urho boy got what it takes
He got tall and strong on feelia sour
And ate Kalla Mojakkaa every hour
Thats why that guy dould chase those beetles
That crew as thick as jack pine needles
So let's give a cheer
in our very best way
On the sixteenth of March
St. Urho's Day!

Kalla Mojakkaa is Fish Soup..you can make that if you wish..or you can make beef or pork or lamb.  I always make beef mojakka. I will be passing on that feelia sour (thick sour milk).

I missed the parade last year because we had an ice storm..this year we are supposed to have 68 degrees and sunshine:)

Chance : Winners!

Hiya! It is me Chance the blogging Border Collie.  My foot is much better, thank you to everyone who was concerned.  I was a little limpy.  Then Far Side got out the scissors and made a huge mess and clipped my hairy feet. I did not limp at all yesterday..they are not sure if that helped or if I had a acorn bruise from all the acorns in the yard..or if I tangled with a sharp stick..no one could see anything visibly wrong with my foot.

Oh and Far Side cleaned my teeth too..they are now clean as a whistle. I don’t particularly like it..but if it makes her happy then I sit still whilst she scrapes on my teeth with that dental instrument.

The snow in our yard is almost gone..it disappeared from the snow stick at 3:32 on March 13.

Judy from Judy’s Photos is the blogspot winner! Judy guessed March 14.  Jan from Alex is the Area Voices winner!  Jan guessed March 21.  Those were the closest guesses to March 13.  Far Side sent them both congratulatory messages! 

Here are the carvings that Far Side completed. She will package them up and send them off in the mail very soon. The carvings are from Cottonwood bark and they have been sealed with Bees Wax. They are about 2 inches by 2 inches.

I have a reminder for you.

We sprang forward with Day Light Saving Time.  NOW is the time to change your batteries in your smoke detectors.  I know it may seem like you just did it..or that your batteries are still good..but change them anyway.  Far Side always makes Far Guy change them..she keeps after him till he finally does it so she shuts up.  Another tip: Never leave home with your clothes dryer on.  I don’t care if it is a brand new dryer or an old dryer..shut it off when you leave the house:)

Wistful Wednesday: German Cats and Dogs

My maternal Grandmother liked cats and dogs.  She had a way with animals.  I could never understand how she taught her critters to understand German. 

As a young person I found foreign languages just that F.O.R.E.I.G.N.  My Mother spoke German and my Father spoke Finn..and I spoke English.  I think my parents preferred it that way..Dad would talk to his brothers in Finn and Mom would talk to her sisters in German..I recall my Mother saying that she felt left out of the Finn conversation..well join the group. I felt left out of all the conversations.  I think maybe they did it on purpose so that little ears would not hear adult “stuff.”

Back to Grandma and her German understanding cats and dogs. Grandma always had some kind of wiener dog..a Dachshund..low to the ground with toe nails that would click all the way across the linoleum that covered the kitchen floor. Their names were always similar too..Doxie and Dixie and Trixie..or some such name that is buried so far back in my head that it won’t come out when I want it too.  Grandma would tell that dog to sit, roll over or dance and twirl in German and the little fat elongated dog would do whatever Grandma said. Then Grandma would give the dog a treat..my Grandma was an excellent cook.. no doubt the dog liked her cooking too! 

These are Grandmas Cats..sitting on the front step..waiting..waiting for Grandpa to come out carrying the slop pail..or waiting for him to go and milk.

Those cats had a perfectly warm barn to go to..yet here they were huddled on the steps.  I noticed that someone brought Grandma a wooden ski decoration and a festive wreath, I wonder why one ski was stained and one was natural looking?  I will guess that this photo was taken some time in the 1970’s around Christmas time.

In later years I would attend a dog obedience class with a Police Officer and his K9 partner.  He spoke to his dog in a foreign language and with hand signals..it was then I understood.  My Grandmother didn’t want just anyone ordering her animals around.

We have a winner of the snow stick contest..the snow left March 13 at about 3:30PM.  Chance will reveal the winners and the prizes tomorrow:)

March 13, 2012

It got to almost 50 degrees yesterday..and it rained.  The snow is retreating fast.  The snow stick still has some icy snow around it but it may be gone any minute especially if it continues to rain.   

Here is an idiot fisherman and his transportation out on the lake. I hope that is not one of my relatives.  Perhaps he wants one of those Viking Funerals..you know the ones, they prop your dead body up in a boat..add sticks and straw and a little accelerant and then lob flaming arrows into the boat at sunset…then they all grab hands and sing “Kum by yah.”

  

The ice on the lake is covered in water.  Far Guy walked out on the lake a bit.  Chance and I stayed ashore.

Chance is pulling his every spring thing.  He has tender feet and when the snow gets icy ridges he walks on three legs.  He holds one in the air…first it was the back right then the front right..Far Guy babies him.  “Oh, poor Chancey does your foot hurt?” The dog just soaks all that up and limps even worse, he is a smart dog.  He misses the activity of having doggie company so he is in a bit of a funk this week.

I absolutely hate the adjustment to Day Light Saving time. It is real dark in the morning again.  My body and clock rhythm end up all out of sync..I get a headache and I get cranky..irritable..well more irritable than normal.

Lately little things bother me, like the blonde gal at the grocery store that wants to put 50 pounds of groceries in one of my reusable bags.  I always tell her “I have lots of bags..keep them light please.”   Well if I cannot lift it from the counter into my cart with one hand then it may be too heavy doncha think?  If I have to use both hands then it is way too freaking heavy.  One day she double triple loaded all my bags, I could not lift them..so I stood there in line re-bagging the groceries.  I like Eric he never makes the bags too heavy and he never touches my bread.  My bread all gets loaded into the top part of the cart and never in a bag.   If I am going to pay $3.89 for a loaf of bread I do not want it squished.  Eric knows that…the other bleached blond broad should take a lesson.  So..I am not only scanning all the checkouts for the least germy person..I now have to watch out for the bleached blonde bagger.  Grocery shopping is getting more complicated all the time.  They moved the Pizza Dough Mix..it has been in the same spot for over two years.  They were moving it around one day when I wandered down that aisle..I told them to leave it where it was at.  I shared with them how miserable it is to look up and down an entire aisle searching for one item..change is not always a good thing.

I won’t even begin to complain about the wonderful postal workers that carry our mail in snow, sleet, rain and in the gloom of night.  Or the exceptional service that we don’t get 4 miles away.  I now drive 7 miles one direction or 14 miles the other direction to the post office to avoid the guy that is breathing good air.

Darn Day Light Saving time anyway:(

High School

I am working on a project, a slideshow on the computer called “Then and Now” for a Museum presentation.

Far Guy and Chance escorted me around town to take some photos.

This is the High School that Far Guy and I attended. Far Guy graduated in 1968 and I graduated in 1969. It is apartments now. I would like to go inside and see what it looks like..but we don’t know anyone that lives there. I have a hard time envisioning it being apartments.

I suppose I will always think of the rooms as belonging to the old teachers. Mr. Harold J. taught Chemistry..Tom U. crawled out of the window one day during Chemistry. He was great entertainment..he could dislocate his shoulder at will. Did you know that Bunsen burners will ignite “natural gas” if a student farts?  Yes, I learned great things in Chemistry!  Mr. Bill S. made me put my chewing gum on my nose..just because I forgot to spit it out before class one measly time. He taught Civics..really boring.  I learned nothing in English..I read library books.  I excelled in Advance Biology no doubt partially due to the fantastic teacher Mr. Don S.  I scraped by in Advanced Algebra and a Health Class that taught First Aid and three years of Latin and some assorted History classes that I enjoyed..World History, American History and Current Events..luckily I had Mr. Harold C. for most of the History classes he was a real teacher that taught..really taught. He was particular ..you never answered one of his questions with an “I don’t know” because he would say “That is incorrect, I have taught you the answer, obviously you do not recall.” I met his son and daughter last summer..marvelous individuals..I told them how much I learned from their father and how much I respected him as a teacher.

I wasn’t in band because the Band Leader hollered at girls and make them cry. I was tone deaf anyway.  I knew he and I would not get along. I had him for band lessons one summer, he hollered at me so hard his face turned all red and his eye balls were close to popping out of his head. I cannot sing a note so I was not in choir. I did not take any business classes like steno, typing or bookkeeping..some of the men that taught those classes were always hugging the girls and looking down their blouses..they made my skin crawl. Girls were not allowed to take shop or drafting back then..I most likely would have liked those classes. I barely passed Home Ec when I had to take it. I took Art one year, I always wanted to learn to draw..I must have been a slow learner or he was a lousy teacher because I cannot remember one art project that I took home.

Funny what memories taking a few photos will conjure up! :)

It is Melting!

Our snow is melting! 

There are water puddles and mud ..but the snow stick still has snow.

It was pret’ near 50 degrees here yesterday..the snow stick snow will not last long at this rate.

Chance had a good old snow bath!

I will be enjoying the melting for the next week or so because we are forecast to have above normal temperatures..perhaps our weather is springing ahead with the clocks last night:)

Ground Blizzard

We had a ground blizzard on Thursday.  I do not have any photos because I white knuckled it home at no more than 30 MPH on glare ice.

I was at a longer than normal meeting at the library, from there I made a trip across the parking lot to deliver a package and then I went to Wally World to purchase a new microwave since ours was making weird noises and wouldn’t heat up anything. I may have lollygagged around a bit in the store.

At home Far Guy was fit to be tied.  He and Chance took off to find me..he was picturing me in the ditch freezing to death.  They gave up their rescue mission half way to town because of the treacherous roads.

When I left home it was snowing a little… no big deal.  Four hours later it was a full blown ground blizzard that polished the wet snow that had fallen onto the roadway and created a layer of ice that shimmered in the sunset.  However I did not know this..in town it was not a blizzard.  I left town unaware.  Well I soon figured it out.  At that point I wished that I had taken Far Guys cell phone.  Oh it was icy..fourteen miles at 30 MPH takes at least a half an hour.  Several times I wished my bag with my camera was in the front seat instead of the backseat…buggers.

When I arrived safely in the yard..Far Guy was relieved to see me and Chance wagged his tail ninety miles an hour.   Far Guy was a little upset that I did not call..was there a phone at the library..of course there was.  Was there a phone at Wally World..of course there was..why didn’t I call??  Because there was no phone booth along the side of the road after I realized I was in a blizzard.  I made it home safe..he was just terribly worried about me.  He was a mixture of happy and angry all at the same time.

I stayed home and safe all day yesterday.  It is suppose to be 48 degrees tomorrow and I am venturing back to town to complete a project I am working on..Far Guy said he and Chance are going to drive me:)

Inspiration and Dreaming

I am giving part of a presentation later in the month.  I have been getting ready for it. I think I know what I want to say..now I just have to re write it until it flows and inspires.

I hate meetings..but I had one yesterday and scheduled another one next week..a committee meeting.  Four of us are working on a huge presentation.  I have to take photos of a whole bunch of “now” scenes around town and match them with old photos and make a slide show presentation.

It will all be fine..I am to be inspiring about the future of the museum..whilst others concentrate on the history and the inner workings of the museum.

This is part of what I will say.

I have always been a dreamer.   I dream of the Hubbard County Historical Museum  being handicap accessible.  A place where young and old could gather year round.  A building with heat and air conditioning.  A busy vibrant place where "oldsters" could gather for a game of checkers..a place where old stories and "life how it used to be" could be shared on a daily basis.   It could be the heart and soul of the community and a fun place to visit with many different activities and traveling exhibits.  A place where silent movies are shown, a place where you might go for an old fashioned pie social, or a box lunch auction..or a taffy pull..or to churn butter or to make homemade ice cream.  A place where you could bring your grandkids for the afternoon for a game of hopscotch or marbles.

Is that inspiring?  Do you suppose I might inspire someone to volunteer, become a member, donate or buy a ticket for our upcoming Chuck Wagon Dinner?

I completed two huge projects in February..both fundraisers.  The results from one are starting to trickle in with the pre sale of tickets for the Chuck Wagon Dinner…only one person wrote a nasty note that said “Don’t send me anymore tickets in the mail. We might be gone and we don’t mind spending more for our tickets at the door.”  The other project starts at the township level next Tuesday night at the annual township meetings. I am hoping for donations.  We will see what happens next…I am hopeful.

Yesterday I laid the groundwork with the Board to redo this room.  Brace yourself!

It doesn’t have a name yet.  I call it the Jail Cell Room..because that is part of an old jail cell from the old jail that used to be next door to the courthouse.  Gus the Ghost might be a bit upset when his room is disturbed. He is dumfounding men this winter..he isn’t allowing a light to come on..many men have checked the bulb, the switch and the circuit breaker box..multiple times..I know it is Gus..just pulling a trick on them all..and I smile.

This is a Jail Cell door.

Every jail cell needs a toilet and a sink..both are waiting to go on display.

If all goes well with donations and fundraisers we will be able to complete the needed work in this room…along with some other work that needs to be done in other rooms. Keep your finger and toes crossed for me:)

A Mother’s Love

Who am I in awe of this week?  Stephanie Decker in Indiana who almost gave her life for her children during the tornado.  Those children will always know that their Mother loved them so much that she would die to protect them.  If all Mothers were like her, the world would be a better place.  She is a hero. Her parents must be very proud of her and her children must feel very special:)

Echinacea purpurea or Purple Coneflowers last summer.

Wistful Wednesday: 1940’s

I have a number of old snapshots of rural America. I was showing them to my Dad…sometimes he is the storyteller.

“In the 1940’s my Brothers George and Adolf would go over to Comstock ( Comstock is a little town south of Moorhead Minnesota.) They would pick potatoes there.

 They picked potatoes in a bushel basket and then dumped two baskets into a bag. I think they were paid by the bushel.  25 cents a bushel sounds about right.”

Dad thought that two men would walk behind the wagon and pick the spuds and then load the bags on the wagon.

These women in the photos have their huivi’s on and obviously brought a child along too. Huivi is Finn for a scarf or head covering. Those are potato sacks that they have tied around their backsides.

When we first moved to the resort back in 1986…I took the girls out with five gallon buckets to glean a potato field after the harvesters were done.  They complained the entire time..but we gleaned enough to last the entire winter:)

Old Wagon Wheel

You know how sometimes you just feel like an old wheel..wooden with a metal trimmed hub..old..partly rotten, a bit rickety, it used to move along swiftly but it is turning slower and slower whilst the world turns faster and faster..and you just want to holler “Stop the world..right now..I just have to get off for a bit and catch up..rest up.. so I can hop back on again?”

That is me right now..I will be just fine..just wallowing in a bit of self pity because there is not enough of me to go around at the moment.

So I am going to be like this old wagon wheel and rest against the grain bin for awhile..I am not answering the fricking phone until I get a few moments to catch my breath.

If someone has a crisis..mail me a letter:)

Good Better Best

Our Granddaughter Savannah has a real “cool” shirt.

Hockey is over for the season, the Sports Banquet for Hockey was last night  The girls will have a week off and then they will start Hockey Lessons a couple of times a week. At least the going to games away from home is finished for the season. Savannah said “Lessons aren’t so bad, you can just shove everything else aside and concentrate on the game…and just skate.”

I hope she always remembers what her shirt says..it isn’t easy being 15 in todays world.  She is looking for a car..she gets her Driver’s License in July..seems like only yesterday she was coloring with big crayons in her high chair:)

Chance: Eagle Food

Hiya!  It is me Chance the handsome blogging Border Collie.  It is finally my turn again!  Far Side is busy scanning old photos and crossing things off her list like a mad woman..she wants to get some lollygagging in again sometime later this month.

I have company!  Miney( short for Hermione) and Little Elvis are here for a few days.  I love having company, it is not easy being an only dog. Miney and Little Elvis are both Shelties.

Far Side says “Boy, Chance sure eats better where there is a little competition.”  I don’t know about that, but I eat all my supper before Miney steals it.   Miney and Little Elvis munch all day long..and although my food dish is always full I only eat once a day at suppertime.  Miney and Little Elvis are getting special dishes of Far Guy food at suppertime too..they are going to miss him when they go home.

We had a little excitement.

We were outside playing ball.  Making a hundred million tracks in the new snow.

When Far Guy and Far Side started hollering.

There was a Bald Eagle in the air circling.  Little Elvis run!  Well the more they hollered the more excited everyone got..barking and carrying on…running around like chickens with their heads cut off…confusing that old Eagle. 

Here is the pitiful photo that Far Side got after she was done hollering and saving Little Elvis.  That  dog and cat eating Bald Eagle had retreated.  But not before he sized up Little Elvis. 

We are going to have to keep a real close eye on Little Elvis..he is little..he is mainly fluff..and would be an easy Eagle dinner.

Far Side was not real happy seeing that Eagle at the treetops. She is not certain that she would ever be able to explain it to a certain Grandson who thinks the world of Little Elvis.  She says I am safe, she says being rotund can save your life..so me and Miney are in no danger:)

Grandma’s Fish and Flowers

I scanned a bunch of older photos yesterday.  I ran onto a photo of my Maternal Grandmother that shows her love of fish and flowers.

I know I have written before about the windows just off the kitchen that faced south. There were tables there right up next to the windows.  There were four windows.  That is where Grandma kept her African Violets, geraniums and some ferns and a philodendron that grew up the wall and went over the ceiling.  When the room was painted the philodendron roots had to be dug from the plaster.

I had forgotten about the extra chairs that she used to shove under the flower tables until they were needed. They were Avocado Green. I had forgotten the stool between the tables..you had to make the most of your space for plants and that Croton looks like it thrived there. Above the Croton on the stool is a mirror and above the mirror was a thermometer and possibly one of those old strips that turned colors in the humidity. I am not sure how well they worked..I recall the strips turning blue and staying that color.

Grandma grew stuff good.

I am not so sure about her fish.  This was a Five Pound Six Ounce Bass that she caught in February of 1983. Grandma would have been 72 years old in this photo.

Someone took a Polaroid of the fish and wrote it’s statistics on the back.

I like to fish for Bass too..using a top water bait in May or Early June..Bass are kinda feisty and they will hit the bait as soon as it hits the water and then fight for their freedom.  My experience with Bass is that they are always have little black spots on their bellies and are wormy..so I always have caught them and then released them back into the lake.

Apparently Grandma kept her big old Bass and she most likely fillet it out and fried it up in a pan:)

Busy, Busy

Well March came in like a lamb..36F or 2 C.  Dreary with no wind. It was a catch up day.

A huge mailing went out for the Historical Museum.  Four tickets for The Chuck Wagon Dinner next month were mailed to each member of the Historical Society to be pre sold..one of my fantabulous ideas..we will see if it works..or if I have just managed to irritate the entire membership.  The Board approved my suggestion.  I really need a fund raising committee. This was no small project, I designed and printed the tickets and wrote the letter and then stuffed envelopes for hours.  The tickets had to be numbered and a master tracking list compiled.

Nine weeks and I will be back at work.  It is not nearly enough time for me to finish all of my projects here at home.  Of course it didn’t help that I was sick for a whole week. I made a new list and had to carry over a few projects from last month.

Far Guy and I rushed into town to help measure some rooms in the museum.  Measurements were needed so that the President can write a grant for paint. It was colder in the building than it was outside.  Far Guy said he nearly “Froze to death.”

Our personal taxes are finally compiled and are ready for the accountant. Yay!

I backed up my photo files for January and February.

I finished scanning all of my old photos from my childhood albums and made copies.  I also arranged all the photos in the albums..and marked each and every photo on the back..who and when and sometimes where and why.

I mailed off a CD copy of family photos to one of Far Guys third or forth cousins..he found my blog one day and recognized his Grandmothers sisters.  Funny how those things happen..I think it is a “God thing”  ..as it turns out he writes a blog about his family history too.  We can learn much from others.

Far Guys biopsy reports came back just fine, he had tubular adenomas, they were benign.  They want him to repeat the colonoscopy in two years.

I ordered my favorite bath soap.  Shipping was free as long as you ordered 50 dollars worth of product from Target. So I ordered 24 bottles..that should last me about two years.

It was delivered and I squirreled them away in the bathroom closet. St Ives Apricot Exfoliating Bath Soap is only available online in our area.  I am not sure why..but I have tried to special order it through our local grocery store..it remains unavailable to them.

I am not quite sure what projects I will tackle tomorrow.  Perhaps I will scan some misc. photos that have been hanging around in a basket on my desk for about a year:)

Marching On

The big storm missed us.  What was supposed to be 18 plus inches of snow turned into less than an inch.  I guess South Dakota and Iowa got our share of moisture.
Here is the snow stick.  It measures 9 inches. 

We will have a snow stick contest.  Leave your guess. What day will the snow stick be free of snow? I have a green Smoky Bear ruler someplace..when it is free of snow by the stick I will declare a winner.   The snow stick is in a different spot this year.  I will leave the guessing open until March 03 Midnight, at that time I will add all the guesses to the bottom of this post.  Last year the snow left the snow stick on April 8th.

Ahh..what would the winner like?  How about a carving?  A Far Side original?  Yes I am sure I can come up with a few little bark houses..I have several in the works at the moment.  It will give me an incentive to finish them up:)


Guesses:
Judy March 14
Dreaming March 15
Linda March 18
Country Gal March 20
Muffys Marks March 21
Rae March 21
Gravy March 23
Troutbirder March 24
Nezzy March 26
LD Bergus  March 26
Rita March 28
Laura D March 29
Kayceebeebee March 29
Red March 30  4PM
Linda G March 31
Sam I Am April 1
Lanny April 2
rkbsnana  April 3
Liz in PA April 7
Ann April 9
Pamela April 11
Nancy April 15
Jinglebob May 1