Happy Father’s Day

I made a card for my Dad.  The photo was taken 60 years ago.  I took my parents out for lunch yesterday to help celebrate the day.  We went to a health food café because they have gluten free items on their menu..we had Sour Cream and Raisin Pie for dessert…one of Dad’s favorite pies and mine too. 

My Dad and me in 1953.

 

Far Guy and his Dad in 1950.  Far Guy’s Dad died in 1994 when he was 80 years old. 

“Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.” ~Reed Markham

Happy Father’s Day! :)

Long Week

It has been a long week, the programs at the museum seem to take up a lot of my time.  Making sure all the t’s are crossed and the i’s have dots.

Both programs were well attended this week.  We received good comments both days. Chance was the official greeter for “Flag Day” yesterday…he did an excellent job!

This week I met some new people, helped out with some research and organized a few things.  Cleaned some..dusted some..answered the phone and questions.

Google called numerous times this week wanting the museum to take out an ad.  I keep pressing two to be removed from their list.  I accidently left the phone off the hook after pressing two to be deleted yesterday..I was wondering why it was so quiet for over an hour..it seems I forgot to hang up the phone.  Oh well.

I managed to make an non friend when I was asked to appraise a piece of land that had ancient burial grounds.  I said a bunch of dead bodies wouldn’t necessarily make his land more valuable.  I referred him to one of the Tribe offices.  He wanted to know if someone on my staff couldn’t just pop out a number for him..ha ha ha staff.

Someone else was downstairs and came up shivering and asked why I didn’t turn up the heat?  “What heat would that be?” I asked.

I made up a batch of brochures to take to the Chamber office.  Two days later in the mail I got a critique of my brochure by a new business in the area..they felt they could do a better job and they were sure that their consulting fee and the printing would be well within the advertising budget.  (Little do they know that I have no advertising budget..I am lucky to have ink and heavy cardstock.)

This week we did get some good news/bad news.  We got a grant to purchase some UV filters for the windows in the Military Room.  The bad news is that we only got half of what we asked for..so I will have to try to come up with donations someplace else to make up the difference..either that or the project will have to wait another year.

It ain’t easy working for a non-profit.

A pretty picture of a pink pansy:)

Bluebirds

We finally saw the Bluebirds.  We had been seeing a flash of color here and there.  Nothing for sure.  After a while you can imagine anything if you think about it long enough.

I am not certain which nesting box they are using.

Mr. Bluebird

Mrs. Bluebird

Before we had so many Bluebird nesting boxes they picked the one near the house and were easy to photograph.  Then Far Guy built many homes for them.

Bluebird House

Our nephew Logan was visiting a few weeks ago.  We were sitting outside enjoying the evening.  I told him to brace himself for old age..when going out for the evening means sitting on the patio watching the birds:)

Bath time

Chance and I were entertained by an American Redstart.  Look at him! He is poised almost like a high diver!

He checked out the birdbath…it must be Saturday night?  When I was little we bathed on Saturday night so we would be good and clean for church on Sunday morning. Yesiree we bathed once a week whether we needed it or not.

Water was splashing all over.  I was laughing and Chance was looking at me like I was nuts, he of course spends much time surveying his domain..so he is used to the bathing birds activity.  I think he is a little jealous..his pool is still in the grain bin.

The little Redstart had a blast!  I watched to see if I could spot a female American Redstart..I think I saw one but didn’t get her photograph.  Perhaps she is shy.

How did we survive with just one bath a week ?  In the summer we went swimming or played water games in the yard squirting each other with the hose.  I was in third grade before we got a real bath tub and toilet (Yay!!!!) in the house.  After that we took more baths.  Nowadays we would never think of missing a daily shower/bath:)

Wistful Wednesday :1952

Another wonderful photo of me when I was little.  This one was taken 61 years ago.

Connie June 1952

My Mother must have taken this photo.  It was taken at my maternal grandparents farm.  That is the grainery behind my head and off to the left is the chicken coop..I can see chickens out there..and a woodpile. The outhouse with the two seater was off to the left.

There was a circular driveway, it circled past the house, by the pump house, past the grainery and then by the garage and down the lane. Cars would be lined up there every Sunday afternoon.

You could walk to Grandpas huge garden which was way past the chicken coop.  You had to watch where you stepped with or without shoes going past the coop. When I was really little they had a garden up near the house.  Grandpa must of thought the soil was better elsewhere.

Grandpa always liked it when I walked down to the garden, the rows were perfectly straight and the aisles between the rows weedless..and it was a huge garden.  He must have spent hours everyday in the garden.

We used to have vegetable gardens.  This year Far Guy has two tomato plants in buckets in the little red wagon.  It is easier to cart them around should the weather turn nasty.  He also has two tomatoes planted out back in his “garden.”  “Garden” consists of a few raspberry plants and two tomatoes.

I never could grow rhubarb.  I was at a garage sale last week and they were giving it away so I chopped it up and froze some for next winter.

Sometimes you don’t have to have a garden to get produce..you just have to be at the right place at the right time:)

Yellow

Today it is all about the yellow.

Fuzzy yellow goslings protected by their parents.

The Yellow Lady Slippers are a full two weeks late. They are just beginning to bloom in the Tamarac Wildlife Refuge.  They are small this year, in another week or so they should be in full bloom. 

The Dandy’s are going wild in the rain that we have had. The ponds are filling up and the trees are soaking up the rain.  The mud puddles are ringed with yellow pollen and my car is covered in pollen.  The next time it rains all the pollen should be gone…well the majority of it anyway:)

The good, the bad and the ugly

We went for a rainy day drive through the refuge.

The good: Canada Geese, they are grazers and poopers.  They make abundant supplies of fertilizer for your lawn.

The bad: Great Blue Heron..bad if you are a small fish or a chippy..he is a relentless hunter with a huge appetite for fish, frogs, snakes (Yay!!), and birds.

The ugly: circling..just like in the old Westerns..nothing good is ever found by these birds.

Turkey Vultures.  They eat carrion (dead stuff), reptiles, insects and small birds in their nests.  They are ugly with their bald red heads.

It was a nice drive.  We hit up a couple of antique shops..more old photos made their way home with us and some erector set “stuff.” Perfect rainy day activities..followed by a nap:)

Minnesota Woman

I am always intrigued by “Historical Markers.”  I have a hard time driving by them, I am always curious what they say..are you?

Chance wanted to get out of the car..it was a good excuse to stop.
He had a good walk, smelling all the strange smells…doing what dogs do best.
AND I got to read about Minnesota Woman and so can you! :)

Minnesota woman – the skeleton of a girl about fifteen years of age was discovered at this point in 1931 by a highway repair crew.  Although the skeleton has not been dated exactly, based on the site geology scientists believe it to be perhaps 10,000 years old.  This would make Minnesota woman one of America’s oldest human skeletons.
Two artifacts – a dagger of elk horn and a conch shell were discovered with the bones.  Archaeologists believe that the girl drowned in Glacial Lake Pelican, which adjoined Glacial Lake Agassiz, a huge body of water that covered much of northwestern Minnesota at the end of the last ice age.

Lilacs and a Cat

The lilacs are almost at an end.

A few more buds will open and then they will be done.  The  air is still heavily fragrant.

Mary never gets to see her lilacs since she only comes to visit later in the summer.

I stopped by that little white house with the handicap ramp and the blue trim.  Mary your lilacs are beautiful!

Thursday night when I came from work, a cat ran across the road into our land.  It was a black and white cat.  I warned Far Guy that is was a real black and white kitty and not a skunk!

Friday morning it was in the ditch hunting.

I rolled down the window and took a photo.   I am sure it will be Eagle food before long.  It might be a feral cat…or one that someone dropped off.  I hate to see animals out there by themselves, full of ticks this time of year, but there are rabbits and chippys to catch and mice too..so I am sure it is not starving to death.  We have water out for Chance so if it wanders into the yard it can have a drink.  Right now that is the best I can do:)

What is?

The secret of my beauty?

OR

What is the secrete of your beauty?

Some yayhoo left me a message on Facebook.  He should have stayed in school.  I have no secrets.

I have this one wild hair on my neck that grows about three inches overnight..that hair follicle must be working overtime on the holiday pay scale. If I could harness that secret I could retire for sure..cause I am sure I could sell it to balding men that do the comb over.

I try to watch that one wild hair..sometimes it gets away from me and starts to curl..then if the wind blows it feels like there is a bug on my neck..ewww.  I try not to whop myself too hard on the neck..just hard enough to kill the bug that is really a hair and not hard enough to damage my windpipe. I am sure the last time it went wild that many people were talking to me whilst staring at it thinking does she know that she has a very long curly hair on her neck? Or does she purposely grow out the hair on her neck so she can measure it?   I had to think back..who did I talk to?  Were they were smirking or walking away from me bursting into uncontrollable laughter?

I hate that wild hair…unless of course I discover it’s secrete secret:)

Chokecherry blooms along the drive.

Annoying

Some things I find more annoying than other things.  The sound of a lawn mower, or no sounds of lawnmowers at the cemetery where you can practically see the grass grow…meetings  that don’t start on time and people who are not prepared for said meetings and arrive late.

Our closest little cemetery is very well maintained, it is mowed regularly and trimmed. Half of Far Guys relatives are buried there.  The other half are buried at another local cemetery which suffers greatly in the maintenance and mowing department.  In my opinion they are not being good stewards of the land or of the money they are entrusted with. Just my opinion. ( They are a bit holier than thou.)

I have asked Far Guy to buy a small push mower and we will take care of our own graves.  We can mow and trim them ourselves..it is what people did in the olden days.  Perhaps just taking a stand will help..I am not sure anything will change with that group until a few of them croak.  They are silver hairs so their time is probably coming soon.

On a different subject..I have a few questions for you..ready?  Do you ever get any annoying pop up ads that come up when you open my blog?  I have a reader from Alaska who is having a problem with pop up ads appearing.  Is it just her?  How does she get rid of them?  Is it  malware of some kind?

Myself, I use Google Chrome mostly and I don’t get pop up ads with that browser.  I don’t have an ads that go along with my blog, I know that some people do have ads..but I don’t  like commercials on TV so why would I have them on my blog?

The Large Flowered Bellworts are blooming.  There is a wild rose coming up right behind this Bellwort that will eventually steal the show from the Bellwort.

It is still rainy and cool. The high yesterday was 56 F or 13C.  It was cold in the museum. I had several visitors tour the museum, they didn’t stay too long after getting cold.

Tess, one of my volunteers and I worked in my office where I had a space heater plugged in. It was reasonably warm at 60 F.  We tore apart one of those old scrapbook/photo albums that had those horrible self stick pages. Buggers. It is a good thing that it was one of those inferior albums, after eleven years it lost it’s stickiness. We salvaged everything and put them in acid free page protectors in a new album.  We had a famous boxer that retired to Park Rapids by the name of Fred Fulton.  His entire boxing career is now safely tucked into a different album.  Eventually the entire album should be scanned and be available online ..but that is probably not happening anytime soon.  Funding for such projects just doesn’t drop out of the sky.  I feel lucky that I was able to order acid free page protectors and some albums so that some historical items could be saved, but still be accessible to the public.

I was asked to do some research for a grant, not a grant that we were getting but a grant for a Lake Association..they wanted me to do all their research by June 15…hahaha..I am still laughing over that one.   So you know I am not a total witch, I told them I would stack some research material up for them to look at.

So what is annoying you lately? :)

Wistful Wednesday: June 6 1998

Fifteen years ago our youngest daughter married Andy.

Jen had just graduated from Bemidji State University and was headed to Mankato to get her Master of Fine Arts in English.

Andy had graduated earlier from BSU.  He bought a house in Hector Minnesota and was working in the cities.

 

Starting their new life together.

  I was in charge of the flowers.  I ordered all the bouquets and corsages made, and a bucket of cut flowers to arrange into bouquets for the alter and for decorating the cake.

 

Savannah and Trica

Savannah was the flower girl, she was not yet two years old.  She flew down the aisle because I had gum and she knew it.  Maddie was only six weeks old and in the photos she is all wrapped up in blankets.

Rachael (our niece), Far Guy and Jacob (our nephew).

Jacob was the ring bearer.  Both he and his sister have now graduated from college.

Back in June of 1998 Far Guy and I had just sold our home in Harwood North Dakota, and barely finished moving everything we owned into storage on June 1.  Later in the  Fall of 1998 we would begin to clear the land for our greenhouse business and home here in the boonies.

Fifteen years seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye!  Happy Anniversary Andy and Jen! :)

Back to work

I have enjoyed my five days off in a row.  I got some things done around the house and took some naps.  I tell you what… Lymes kicks you in the butt…it is not something you get over just like that. 

I have decided that there are some things I just cannot keep up with anymore.  The windows are not sparkling clean..it rained on them anyway.   My car needs to be vacuumed and washed..and waxed.  My garage needs to be cleaned.  Those things will go on the list until I can string another few days off together.

I can only do what I can do…I am just one person and never claimed to be super woman.

I heard there were many things on my desk at work that await my attention.  This week we begin a brown bag lunch series called “Thursdays at the Museum.”  We have something going on at the museum every Thursday throughout the summer.  This week we  feature a wonderful local author Jim Jasken.  His book is called Kayaking a Moonbeam.  It is all about Minnesota..and nature.

Thursdays at the Museum was a nightmare to schedule..I worked with  five authors. Only three are scheduled because two of them didn’t know exactly when they would be in the area.  One author was insistent that she get another authors day. ( She is not being featured.)  I asked the Board Members to step up and do a presentation..only two were interested. ( Yes, you can see me beating my head against a brick wall.)  I am taking two Thursdays myself( How to scan old photographs and Wedding Dresses through the years) and Far Guy is taking one ( How to use a Braille Typewriter.)  I hope we have a good turnout.  You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink.

In town the lilacs are in full bloom, the air is heavy with their fragrance.   There is one beautiful hedge of white lilacs.

Our weather still does not feel like June or summertime..the fireplace is being used on a regular basis.  It was 64 F yesterday for a high.  It is still cold in the museum..but I brought my parka home:)

Lawn Mowers and other things

We attacked the grass, it really grew last week during all the rain.  I drove that stupid new lawn mower, I so want my old mower back but I think Far Guy took it to the dump.   This new machine has hydrosomething drive..just a fancy smancy name for ways to confuse an old woman.  I just want a lawn mower to go forward and cut..that’s it.  I don’t care if it will mow whilst going backwards..I never drive backwards anyway..but Far Guy made a big deal out of showing me that if I pushed some button I could mow while driving backwards.  Did I try it? No..I am not fond of backwards…and the hydrosomething..I am not a fan..my foot gets tired. I am used to using my foot to stop..not to go.  

I had a vehicle once that lost it’s R.  For 18 months I never backed up, I only used a pull through parking spot in town..and if I had to back up I opened the door and got out and pushed it backwards..gosh I miss that vehicle.  Some days I wish I had it back..I know it will be a great collectors item some day.

Far Guy trimmed while I mowed..then he got out the anger management stuff (Roundup) and I murdered a whole bunch of Poison Ivy..take that..you evil little plant…suck in that poison in the sunshine and shrivel up and die…ha hah ahaaa.  It felt so good.

We went for a ride and stopped to visit neighbors..some were mowing and some had just finished mowing.

Barbara’s Lilacs.

It is going to rain again and it is still cold here although yesterday we had some sunshine so it felt warmer than the 64 degrees it was.

We talked to Adam, his pain is only a one..he reports that he has a hard time opening a bag of chips unless he uses his teeth..and his Mom helps him get cleaned up and dressed. He cannot play computer games..but he can play his X-Box.  I suggested that he read.  Ya..he guessed he could do that.  He will get a cast sometime this week..he wants a green one:)

Flowers Finally

Chance and I did a walk around the yard and found some blooms…besides Dandys!

The Double Flowering Plum or Prunus triloba ‘multiplex’ is blooming quite nicely.

The blooms look like little roses.

Far Guys Large - flowered Trillium or Trillium grandiflorum is blooming.

She lives on the edge of the woods..just one..all alone..never spreading or causing problems like some other plants I know.   The Deer seem to leave her alone.

Chance is still in a funk because his friends left..and it has been raining and thundering and the wind blew..and Far Guy worked at the museum..so Chance stayed home and I cleaned his teeth.

It is not warm here.  It has been cold and rainy.  We were lucky yesterday to make it to 56 F or 13 C.  It hardly feels like Summer weather.  The calendar says it is June but you could have fooled me:)

Day Off and Adam Broke His Arm

Sleep late, go for a long drive, rummage around in many antique shops, buy some memories, play ball with Chance in an old cemetery, walk in the rain, stop for supper, admire all the crops coming up and the green everywhere.  I can afford one day to totally goof off!  I have three more days to enjoy..but they will be spent at home..cooking and cleaning and catching up on all my “stuff.”

Far Guy has more to add to his Gene Autry collection.  I suggested he build another display case.   I have several Gene Autry  books that are not being displayed.  I passed up a book today..too expensive for the shape it was in.

Of course I bought some old photographs. 

And a bear.

A bear at least as old as I am.  My parents had this exact bear planter/container.  I dusted it many times in the knick knack shelf at the farm.  I think they may have gotten it as a wedding gift.  Not sure what I will do with him yet..where he will go or what he will hold.  Some things take time to figure out.

Grandson Adam broke his arm yesterday.  His Grandfather said “ Tell him thank you for waiting for his parents to return before he broke something.”  (His parents had been home less than 24 hours.) When I first heard the news..I pictured him flying off his bike or off the four wheeler into the street.  Instead he tripped over a board in his own yard, and put out his hand to catch himself and broke his arm in two places just above his wrist. Owie!  Adam will get a cast next week.  Poor kid..my arm hurts for him:(