Chance: Bored

I am so bored.  Yesterday, it rained all afternoon and all evening.  No one went for a ride, my routine is all messed up.  Didyaknow that I can sigh just as hard and long as Far Guy?  Yup it is a fact, when bored we sigh exactly the same way…according to someone we are a quite a pair.

I like to play ball every evening and then go for a ride and then I am content to settle down for the night.

Like this… my tail gathering leaves to drag into the house later.

Not like this…  me hiding under the bench and Far Side throwing the ball only so far with that black clicky thing in her hand.  I think she missed our evening ride too.

Not much is new here, some guys were here digging a trench, they had shovels and I was ordered not to help herd any dirt.  The little kids came over a couple of nights and ran around the yard playing hide and seek.  Sometimes when we are out for our RIDE I see the kids on the road and we stop for hugs.

Tonight I think I will just dream of hanging my head out the window with the wind flopping my ears around and drooling down the side of the car.

Flowers In Town

Chance and I went to town on Friday, we had errands to do, Far Guy was working at the museum.  We stopped in to see how he was doing, he was very busy so we left him alone to carry on.

I wanted to photograph some of the flowers downtown before they freeze.

This is a Gartenmeister Fuchsia.   If you only grow one Fuchsia this one should be it.  I used to grow it, and it went out of the door like hotcakes.

Red Petunias, I am not sure of the variety of this one, but it may be one called Ramblin Red.  This is a planting in one of those plastic bags.

Here they are hanging along the building.  There are drip water tubes going to each plastic bag/planter. AND probably a tad bit of fertilizer as petunias are heavy feeders.

This street is very colorful.  The smell of petunia’s wafts along in the breeze.  I turn on this street after work if I have mail that needs to go to the post office, it is the path of least resistance to the stop light and the way home.

I am wrapping projects up at the museum.  Microsoft Office 2010 expired, not sure what to do about that… my mailing labels are in that program.  My computer consultant is thinking over the situation. If it isn’t one thing it is forty others.  I have six work days left. I will have to work from home a few days in order to finish things up.  It is what it is…at least I can stop and have a nap if I feel like it! :) 

Roses and Models

The evenings are getting chilly.  You might need a light hooded something to wear outside.  Better a light hooded something than a parka…that time is coming soon enough.

The climbing roses rose to new heights this year.

This huge arching branch grew way above the wagon wheel and then bent down with the weight of it’s blooms.  That is one of my favorite whirly gigs..a loon and a baby.

The neighborhood has been hauling wood in the evenings.  Wood from our woodshed down to my brother’s woodshed.  The neighbor kids are making short work of it all.  Chance will run along for one load and then he is content to stay with me and rest..and be a model.

Here he is showing off all the wild rose hips.

I had one other model.  She said “Wanna take my picture tonight?”   I said “Yes as long as you pose for me with your hand on your chin.”

One picture was all I got and she was off and running to catch a ride to the woodpile:)

Frogs of a different kind

Flower frogs are really cool, they can help you arrange flimsy limp flowers in a vase  or you can discover a new use for a vintage item.

Funny lookin’ frogs

 

They can hold things in place.  In my case they can hold vintage photographs, I have just a few.  I can change them with the seasons.

They can hold long forgotten moments.

Yes, I guess I have found something else to look for in antique shops and garage sales.

Of course they will display other things besides photographs.  Cards is one thought that comes to mind.  I usually display cards I get in the mail on the window ledge until I tuck them away in a hatbox. (That is a whole other thought to share someday.) 

My smallest frog was just 50 cents at a garage sale over the weekend…a good buy.  My other frog was considerably more expensive. Frogs come in all shapes and sizes and some are different colors.  The frog is made of metal possibly lead and the pointy things look like nails. A grouping is supposed to be odd…three…five…seven…nine.  Two just seems strangely odd somehow.  I was trying my hardest to stave off this newest thing to collect  but it seems I am a goner:)

Wistful Wednesday : 1940’s

The end of summer is upon us.  All of the Dinner Plate Dahlias should have bloomed by now or having their last hurrah gracing kitchen tables with their bouquets.

Far Guys Paternal Grandmother was a wonderful flower gardener.  She had Lady’s Slippers growing next to her back step on the farm.

How tall was Grandma?  I have a photo of her and I together we are about the same height 5’7”.   So those Dahlias are at least five feet tall.  She must have had a whole row of them.  Grandma was a patient gardener.  Digging the bulbs, shaking off the dirt, making sure the bulbs were dry before storing them in the root cellar for the winter.  Planting them again the next spring and waiting for late summer for the blooms.

I grew Dahlias a few years.  Then one year the Fall got kinda winterish and the bulbs stayed in the ground…and froze:)

Three weeks and sales

I have three weeks left!  Ten working days, I have some extra days off because of times I was supposed to have a day off and no one could fill my shoes.

The end is in sight.  WHEW!  I have no plans yet of what I will do when the doors are closed for the winter.  Sleep most likely.  I am still real tired exhausted.  I will work for the Museum over the winter just differently, my office in town is moved upstairs in our home.  Email, regular mail, blog posts, research questions and phone messages will be dealt with in a timely fashion…most of it can be done in the time it used to take me to travel from home to town.

We went to some garage sales last Sunday.  I used to think our yard looked messy.  We were at one house that raised a dozen turkeys right next to the house…the smell was overwhelming and two little boys were sitting there eating lunch.  Coulda gagged a maggot for sure.  The lady had gardens all over and buckets of plants sitting here and there and about 100 lawn ornaments in the form of exercise equipment and old appliances…it was a sight to behold.

I bought three dice, a frog and an old bell…that is all from the entire day of shopping!  I know …last of the big spenders!  The dice will go into the dice collection jar and the bell needs some work, it might have a half way decent patina when it is cleaned up.  I may hang it next to the door.  Not sure where I will put the frog yet.  I am struggling NOT to start a collection of frogs:)

Museum Mystery Monday

I have been trying to get my incoming shelves at the museum all cleared off.  One by one the boxes and bags are opened and spread out on my desk for photographs.  Some items  are rather curious.

Some of the items in the background may help you make a guess.  All this “stuff” came in the same box.   This particular item is from the 1950’s and would not be used today.  In some parts of the country it would have been used more than others.

It was something I have never seen before.  I hope no one out there has used this mystery item, but if you have used it please tell us all about it!  I will add a photo of the reveal later in the day.  Guess away:)

You all were good guessers!

The hard plastic parts were for suction, the little red knife was to cut x’s across the bite marks, also included were an antiseptic and a string.  It is a Cutter Suction Snakebite Kit.

On a side note:  A few weeks ago I was contacted by a writer who was researching deaths by snakebite in Minnesota.  I assured him the there were no snakebite deaths recorded in Hubbard County, at least I have not run across them.  However in the south eastern part of Minnesota there used to be two types of Rattlesnakes, a Timber Rattler and what the early settlers called a Prairie Rattler but was actually a Eastern Massasauga, many children were bitten by the Prairie Rattler because it liked swamps and meadows (hay land where the children would run through barefooted)), it took the better part of a week to die from that bite  and it was very painful. Wheresas if a Timber Rattler bit you, you were most likely a goner in less than a day back in the olden days:)

Oh Deer!

I am not sure what drives the deer…hunger...the whole world is one huge smorgasbord to them.  I guess if there was free chocolate down in the corner field I would be there too!

Chance thought he was so smart tonight, waiting for me to take a few pictures and then he would bark and delighted in watching the deer run…his tail was wagging ninety miles an hour.

These two were in the neighbors horse pasture. The fawn still has spots.

These three were all lined out in a CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) field.  Twin fawns most likely following their mama.

Then we found a herd of seven but I only got  a photo of five.  A not so good photo because the daylight was fading.

Chance really enjoyed this herd!  Deer were running all over. So when I say we are being over run by deer…you will understand.  Tonight we saw 18 deer total in one square mile.

I am glad this week is behind me.  I am tired, the heat and humidity was horrid on Saturday, I came home and crashed on the couch in the AC for an hour before I felt human again.  I had people that stayed beyond closing time at the museum.  They were getting on my last nerve.  Three weeks left:)

September 7 2013

The Canada Geese are bunching up, they have been in the pea field and then after the peas were baled they headed a bit west.

I counted about 56 in the field.

Some of the trees seem to have huge clusters of cones.

We stopped at the neighbors and let the dogs play until it got dark.  This is their windmill. The skies were beautiful at sunset. 

Another day is done.  Far Guy had a good day at the museum yesterday, he had lots of visitors and a very busy day.  Chance and I cleaned a bit here at home and did laundry and supervised the Gas Company workers that came to set up a new LP tank and dig trenches (the ground is powder dry) for the gas lines that will be hooked up to the new furnace one of these days.  The new furnace project sure is taking a long time…I am thankful we don’t need a furnace yet…it was 94 F here yesterday:) 

Purple and Yellow

After the last rain which totaled an inch in our rain gauge the wildflowers came alive again.

Showy Goldenrod( Solidago speciosa) and a field of Asters.  I am not sure which Aster as identifying Asters always gives me a headache.  A pretty purple Aster.

Like this one.. purple with a yellow center.

Not much is happening here.  Same old same old.  Work, eat, take some pictures, sleep and repeat.  Boring and calm is just fine with me.  It is supposed to be 90 degrees again today…well guess who is scheduled to work today..not me.  Far Guy!  He has a list of jobs a half mile long at the museum.  Chance and I will hold down the fort and make sure the AC is at a proper temperature when he returns.

Chance loves to go for a ride every night.  He waits patiently most nights and gets real excited when he sees me messing with my camera bag.  Last night we saw a skunk in the ditch, it ran into the neighbors corn field.  It was about 10 feet away from Chance hanging his head out the window.  Skunks have good aim too…luckily this one did not spray…or Chance and I would have got it…what a mess that would have been.  I don’t like seeing a skunk in the daytime…they are either sick or really hungry.

There are a few bees out and about.  Still not seeing butterflies.  I saw my first skein of birds headed south yesterday morning on my way to work, a group of about 50 geese would be my best guess.  No picture…because I was driving:)

Old Stuff at the Museum

I have been buried in old stuff, sneezing.  Old stuff sometimes makes me sneeze.

That Record Cleaner had most of you stumped the other day.  It had me stumped for a long time too, I turned it every which way and even stood a board game inside of it.  Then I said “Self.. think about it.”  AND the light came on.

Some people actually used a record cleaner instead of just wiping them off on their jeans.

I am making a little headway.  This display case is downstairs. 1970’s items are displayed in the bottom of the case.

“Stuff” is making it from my office into display shelves.  That Mystic Hand Board is from the 1940’s and is considered a little rare. It was manufactured by Haskelite Manufacturing Corp. of Chicago IL it was popular before the Ouija Board.  The Mystic Hand Wooden Planchet is in perfect condition.

The box is a little worse for the wear but the game is a great start to a collection of board games. 

Did you notice the pin on the 1970’s jacket? 

I had the meeting with the mucky mucks at the County.  It went fine, the result will not be known until they have their budget meetings.  I am cautiously hopeful that we will get some kind of increase and maybe new carpet for the foyer.  The two new Commissioners even smiled at me…that is a first…perhaps it was the welcoming pretty picture of the Historical Museum Notecard I sent them after they were elected!

Three weeks and 2 days left, not that I am counting or anything.  Since school started it is quiet in the building, so I can move right along making headway with all the “old stuff”:)

 

Wistful Wednesday : First Day of School 1961

I was almost ten and going into the 5th grade.  I went to an old two room school house which later became the Community Center/Senior Citizens Center in Osage.  Mrs. Zeller taught the 5th grade, she was a kind lady.  I would get A’s in Spelling, Arithmetic and Social Studies and struggle to get a B in Science.  I got a pair of glasses before school started, it was probably the first time in five years that I could actually see the blackboard.  I would remain blind as a bat without glasses.

My baby brother would have been going into second grade with one of my favorite teachers ever, Mrs. Zauche.

Didn’t everyone wear a scarf to school and white anklets back in 1961?   Those white anklets drove me nuts after they lost their elastic they would fall down and eventually get all bunched up under my heel. That dress was beige with dark brown and teal squares. I have no idea what color the scarf was and my taste in bracelets was minimal.

Sharpening pencils. Remember that sound on the first day of school ?  Everyone had to sharpen their pencils, that must have driven the teacher nuts. We didn’t have one of those crank pencil sharpeners at home, when Dad was home he would sharpen our pencils with his knife.  We had one of those little hand held worthless sharpeners.  Far Guy was lucky, his Mom used to be a teacher and they had a crank pencil sharpener on their back porch ( because she was a teacher is probably why it was on the back porch.)

I love to stroll down the aisles that have all the school supplies. I wandered around one day recently and came home with some new pencils, pens and a notebook. What a great variety of school supplies there are nowadays! I purchased some ink pens that are all different colors of ink..pink, green ( as I scribbled the green on a piece of paper I realized that my husband used to use a green pen in high school), purple, orange and boring old blue. I like the .09 mechanical pencils…there is a difference…the .07’s lead breaks too easy for me. I am picky with my pencils.

School started yesterday here in Minnesota.  The neighborhood “gang” all reported a good day!  Miss Aubrey started kindergarten, her brothers Gavin and Jordan and cousins Anna and Mason all escorted her from the bus to her classroom.  Kate reported that the teacher said “There was a whole group of kids with Aubrey this morning!” :)

12 how did that happen?

Someone went from a tiny baby to twelve just like that!   This grandma wants to keep him little and safe forever.  Possibly it has something to do with the year of his birth, perhaps it is because he is the “baby” the youngest of the grands, and maybe it is a little bit of both.

I have suggested to his mother that she do something to stop his growth, but she keeps feeding him.

His arm is normal again at least that was his last report to me.  I turned his wrist this way and that and pressed here and there to make sure he didn’t have any sore spots or abnormalities that I could see.

 

He is a delightful child who will talk your ear off if it is just me and him one on one.  He likes Orville Redenbacher’s  Ultimate Butter Popcorn…when ever he is here, he opens the cupboard and says  “Oh good you still have my popcorn.” He has decided that he doesn’t like chocolate milk in a carton.  He likes to mix his own using Hershey’s syrup.  He only likes long spaghetti, recently he wanted spaghetti and I tried to pawn off some elbow macaroni as being the exact same thing..no dice.  He accompanied me to the nearby small town for the “right” looking noodle.  He also likes spaetzle ( a homemade noodle or dumpling) and will eat a heaping bowl full and go back for seconds. 

He is getting more handsome all the time..and taller! 

Happy Birthday Adam:)

Museum Mystery on Monday

On Saturday at work I tried to stay in my office and accession in items that have been accumulating on my shelves.
I was making progress and was able to discard two big boxes that held “stuff.”
Then a little old lady showed up with a huge box full of WWII items.  Some are very interesting but I saved them for another day.  Luckily her husband wrote little tags with great descriptions and told some history of the items…gotta love people like that!

I have four weeks to clear off these shelves.  I might make it.  See those sticks off to the side, it is an old croquet set that doesn’t have a stand.  I don’t know exactly how I will display that yet. Maybe I will put them in an old wooden box if I can find one…or an old bucket.
Everyone is frantically bringing items into the museum before we close. Every item must have duplicate paperwork, a number, a photograph and be entered into our computer system and a thank you letter must be written.  It all takes time.  It is detail oriented work so it is impossible to pass on to a volunteer.
Now for the mystery item!

What do you think it is?  Did you ever have one?  I didn’t and I did not know what it was, but I figured it out.  It looks the same on both sides and it has a battery compartment on the bottom.  I think it takes two larger batteries maybe D cells. 
You would rarely need such a device today. I will update this post tonight about  6 PM with the correct answer:)

Update:  It is a battery operated machine that cleans LP Records.  The slot has a kind of fabric with fine hairs and the record is cleaned while rotating. 

Last of the Summer Skies

We can bid adieu to August.  She was dry and cool and then dry and scorching hot. 

Around these parts August is the last of summer.  September is when school starts and everyone closes up their cabins for the winter.  Most of the tourists will have exited the State by Monday afternoon.  All that will be left of tourists is the older retired couples who like the cool nights and fall colors.

The skies were quite dramatic last evening.  A storm was heading our way carrying a little bit of much needed rain.  Chance hates the thunder…he ended up on the floor in the back seat…poor boy is such a fraidy cat dog when it comes to thunder.

We drove around looking at the clouds.  It doesn’t take much to entertain us anymore.

We headed up to the prairie.  From the cemetery we watched the storm come in and the sun try to burn it’s way through the clouds.  By the time we made it back home it was raining!  I hoped to photograph some lightening..no luck this time:)