Wistful Wednesday : Savannah

The little girl that used to come in the door and holler UM’s and run to her Grandpa’s office… and get M and M’s out of the machine that sat on his desk.  All the time she could spend drawing on pieces of paper taped to her high chair using big girl markers.  The days she spent with us when her parents went on vacation and we let her have a special rock to pee on…they returned and took the rock and the potty trained little girl home with them.   The phone rang the next day “You are in big trouble, she showed the whole neighborhood how the pee rock works.”

She went to first grade in Lombard Illinois.

She was a lefty…still is…I have learned not to sit a lefty and a righty next to each other at the dinner table.

So now she graduates from High School.  I don’t know where the time went…

She will pursue a degree in Elementary Education.  When she gets her degree and a job some children will be blessed to have her for a teacher.

The first of “the five grands” to graduate from High School!  We are so very proud of her!

Wood Carving

We try to go to carving once a week.  A bunch of us meet in the basement of the library.  It is a good group, if you have a question someone will have a suggestion for you…we trade wood and stories.  Most of the time I am out numbered…but occasionally a few women show up.

Dave won People’s Choice Award at the Red River Valley Woodcarver’s Association weekend in April with his trio of sunfish.   The Wood Duck won best in it’s division and it was carved by my cousin Chuckie (on the right).  Dave’s flying Canada Goose won a blue ribbon.

 

Bill serenades us from time to time.  He carved and built this Nyckelharpa, he is one of ten Nyckelhapa players in Minnesota.  He always says “I am one of the top ten Nyckelharpa players in Minnesota, but then there are only ten!” One time he left a Nyckelharpa for me to take to an event…and he gave me a quick lesson!   I could never be a player…too much stuff to remember.  Bill has a primitive mushers cabin over on one of the lakes in the boonies complete with a resident bear, fox and other assorted creatures. He used to keep sled dogs there…now it is just his occasional residence. 

The snow bird carvers are filtering in after their winter in places warmer than Minnesota.  Everyone is working on something different.

These are Chuckie’s Loons, over the winter there was an evening class and they carved this loon.  Far Guy has carved a loon before and I am no good at carving ducks so I am certain that it would be the same with a loon.  Chuckie carved three loons and will give them all away.

This is Rich’s Loon as you can see everyone  is a little different when it comes to painting!

Far Guy and I are still carving the 2014 Christmas Ornaments…every week the other carvers ask what the count is and shake their head like we are nuts…this week the count is 26. We may have to take a break and carve something else for awhile, goodness knows I have enough unfinished carving projects.

I still like carving the little houses out of Cottonwood Bark the best.

Each one is different.  No two are ever alike, I would be hard pressed to carve two alike.

Bad Medicine Lake

I knew that this marker existed someplace.  It is in the upper parking lot of the north public access.  We found it one day this spring.  Chance seems to know when I need him for a photo op!

Sometimes you can drive by these markers all the time and never really see them.

Bad Medicine Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in Minnesota. 

The Laurentian Divide is very near the historical marker.  North of this spot the water in rivers empties into Hudson Bay and the Artic Ocean, south of here water empties into the Mississippi River and flows south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Bad Medicine Lake has no inlet or outlet, it is spring fed.

Bad Medicine Lake also called the Lake of the Valley, was originally known to the Ojibway Indians as Ga-wimbadjiwegameq (Lake lying in a mountain depression).  Among the many stories about the  name’s origin are legends of serpentine fish and monster pike that dwelt in the blue-green depths.

Bad Medicine is one of the clearest and least polluted lakes in Minnesota.  It is entirely spring fed and has no inlet or outlet.  The Laurentian Divide separating the Hudson Bay and Mississippi watersheds crosses Minnesota Highway 113 about one and one half miles west of this marker.

Between 1904 and 1918 the Nichols-Chisholm Lumber Company cut most of the majestic White and Norway Pine stands that surrounded the lake.  The pine logs were hauled to Commonwealth Landing on Elbow Lake, and from there they were carried in massive spring drives down the Ottertail River to the company mill at Frazee.  Old Headquarters logging camp, near Long Lost Lake, was the hub of and extensive network of standard gauge railroad lines used to haul the logs.  The outlines of rotting ties still mark the locations of the railway beds in surrounding forests.  Blackened stumps and fire scarred pines are mute reminders of the huge forest fires of 1918 which followed the logging operations.

Erected by the residents of Bad Medicine Lake  1985

The lake itself has about five miles of shoreline and covers about 800 acres.

Birds and feathers

It seems like I am seeing a new bird everyday. 

Yesterdays bird was very pretty.

I think it is a Cape May Warbler…just passing through to his summer home in the North.

He was nice enough to show me his very golden yellow belly.

Some of the neighborhood kids were over for a visit.  I think I bored them with bird names.  Mason thought “butter butts” was a way cool nickname for the Yellow Rumped Warblers. 

“Butter Butts”

Mason peeked into the Robins nest for me..there are three eggs.  I held the ladder whilst he climbed up. 

Far Guy and I sat outside for quite a long time yesterday…watching birds and working on Christmas ornaments.  It was nice to be outside in the sunshine! 

We took the feather pillows in to be re-ticked and cleaned.  A church in town was having a fundraiser, a fellow from Willmar Minnesota was there with his feather cleaning truck.  I always ask if I will get my own feathers back…he said yes of course minus the dust.  I have two feather pillows that were a wedding gifts from my Maternal Grandparents…my Grandmother saved feathers and down for those pillows. It probably isn’t important to anyone but me.

First Wildflowers

Last night we saw the first wildflowers to bloom in our area.

Cowslips or Marsh Marigolds or Caltha palustris.  They are heavy in bud and if it ever warms up they should be full of blooms.  These are down on Ashley’s road at the creek.

Higher up we found some Prairie Buttercups.

Ranunculus rhomboideus pretty little tiny things that seem to be blooming right out of the grass.

It is encouraging to see some wildflowers blooming, even though we have had downright freezing weather at night.

I heard that the bears are out of hibernation and hungry.  One made a visit about 6 miles south of us and destroyed bird feeders.

It was a quiet week for us…keeping things low key so Far Guy could get better.  I worked in the kitchen cleaning cupboards and on rummage sale stuff and even managed some entries in the 1918 Farm Diary.  I have several other projects in the works…nothing is finished yet…of course.  We were even plumbers one day as the kitchen sink drain had a leak.  Such is life in the fast lane of retirement.

Chance: A Checkup

Hiya it is I the blogging Border Collie!  I went to the Vet and had my yearly checkup!  Far Guy was feeling good enough to come along…we think he has turned the corner now thanks to excellent nursing care by you know who and ME!

I am doing just fine, I have a little arthritis in my left front leg…but my other legs are perfect!  I still have the Stye in my right eye, as long as it doesn’t bother me all the time they are just going to let it be…if it starts bothering me and doesn’t respond to the eye ointment I will have to have surgery…eww. 

Far Side said I needed that expensive 65 smackeroos blood test to make sure I didn’t have Lymes or any of the other tick diseases…or Heartworm.  All my tests were negative.  It hurt a little when they took the blood out of my leg, and my eyes got big and pleading looking.  Far Side wanted to know without a doubt that it really is arthritis in my front leg and not Lymes…so she is happy now.  Well not happy that I have arthritis..just happy I don’t have tick diseases.

I am already taking a bone shaped pill once a day called Cosequin to help old joints.  Barney in Iowa takes the same pill..he is an older Border Collie too.

My teeth look pretty good for an old guy.  They can tell I sometimes play with tennis balls…I have an assortment of soft rubber balls but I do like me a tennis ball!

I am looking good for being almost ten years old.  I am nine years and seven months old.  That means I have caught up with my owners ages…no wonder we all enjoy a nap in the afternoon.

Far Side brushed me real good.  I hope she is happy now.  She said “Cross Chance off the list.”

I am doing my part to help out the birds.

Rainy and Cold

Time outside was limited yesterday.  It was raining off and on and cold.  There were freeze warnings for last night and tonight.  Anyone that forgets their hanging baskets outside will have to buy new ones.

For now the birds are entertaining.

A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  He is very handsome.

AND now for his female counterpart who is very shy…I stalked her for a long time.

Here she is …she got the short end of the stick…and is fairly dowdy compared to her mate.  She is sitting on the branch that holds our outdoor sensor for the thermometer.

A Harris’ Sparrow stopped by to rest and recoup.

I love his black head, I have not seen this Sparrow in our yard before..we must be lucky this year.

Side view of Mr. Harris’ Sparrow  he will head on North for the summer…way North!

While in town I bought a new feeder for the Orioles and they are sharing sometimes not so happily with the Yellow-Rumped Warblers.

This feeder hold an orange, and has a container for sugar water…Far Guy mixed 2 cups of water and 1/3 cup sugar boiled it, cooled it and filled the bottom part of the feeder.  This feeder also has little dishes that hold grape jelly.  Emphasis on little..as they don’t hold much jelly.  I have another feeder out there that has larger containers for jelly and a spot for two oranges. 

The Yellow Rumped Warblers like the suet feeders.

 

Here the little Goldfinch is giving them the business.  Yes, we have a safety pin..that discourages the Ravens from opening the suet cage…they haven’t figured out how to undo a safety pin…yet.

Update on Far Guy:  He was started on a different antibiotic.  He has acute bronchitis. If it is bacterial he should respond soon, if it is viral it could take weeks.  He is resting mostly because he is exhausted from coughing, I goad him into moving around some and using one of those deep breathing thingys and he is using the nebulizer.  Short of hospitalization…I am doing what I can to help him get better one day at a time.

Many people in the area have had this whatever..starts with a tickly throat, then a cough and then a head/chest cold with a temperature and body aches.  Far Guy had it and was over it and relapsed.  So far I have avoided it.

Wistful Wednesday: Pine Springs and Mowing

Years ago 1986 to 1995 we owned a small fishing resort.  It had eight cottages and a campground.  Far Guy worked in Fargo and commuted 92 miles one way 184 miles everyday.  I ran the resort. The girls were in 9th grade and 6th grade when we moved them out of the city to the boonies.

Mowing was a big deal.  The grounds had to be well groomed.  The girls spent a fair amount of time on the mower..as did I.

We had an old Toro riding mower that was almost worthless.  Sometimes it ran and sometimes it didn’t.  Of course we had a push mower too.   The hillside was a bugger and was best mowed by making downhill  attacks and then circling around to the top of the hill again and again.  Far Guy would mow it sitting half on and half off the tractor seat.

Mowing was best done on turnover day which was Saturday or when everyone was out fishing or off to town.  I was known for trying to drive up power poles.  I tried to drive up trees too…especially the two times I was in a cast..once from a surgery and once for broken bones in my foot.  Sometimes I would take off to mow without my crutches…one time I ran out of gas and crawled to one of the docks.  The girls never noticed that I was missing, the dogs kept me company until Far Guy came home and asked “Where is your Mother?”

One year I had it with old junky mowers.  I called Far Guy and said I was going to drive that Toro off the dock into the lake.  He said “You better not, someone will fine you for polluting the lake.”

I went to the bank and got a loan for a new riding mower.  I think I needed $1,200 to purchase it.  I had to see the loan officer ( he and I graduated from high school together).  He asked me what I had for collateral other than projected income from the resort.  I said “I have a 1985 Ford Bronco II and two registered Shetland Sheepdogs.”  He wanted to know what Far Guy had too.. I said “Wait a minute, I am the one that wants the loan. Whatever his income is doesn’t count.”  I got the loan, and paid it off in three months.   Cash flow is sometimes a problem with a summer business. 

Mulching blades, electric start…it was a real honey of a mower.  It had a leaf bagger attachment and every fall I would spend at least 7 days picking up leaves.

The resort is private property now, one fellow lives there.  The cottages have all been sold and moved elsewhere.  Now we live just a half a mile down the road.

The Robins

The Robins have finally decided to make a nest.  One day there was no activity and a few days later..viola a nest!

For those of you that have followed my blog a long time, the nest is not on the ladder this year!  The Robins took the hint and built on the platform that Far Guy made for them.  He was lamenting it one day…saying maybe it should have had sides or maybe it could have been bigger.  Well the ladder doesn’t have sides and the ladder isn’t very big either.

A piece of wood and an old shelf bracket seems to have worked just fine.

Far Guys garage has a huge overhang…so that makes it a nice dry warm spot to have a nest.  In this photo you can see the ladder that was once a nesting spot and the spot where the shovels and rakes are hung along this wall which was sometimes the chosen spot.  That is an old greenhouse in the background which is now a woodshop/workshop warm place to work in spring and fall or chilly summer days.

It rained almost all day yesterday.  Chance and I were out in the rain several times.

Chance was my co-pilot for grocery shopping and errands in town…he put his window down and hung his head out in the rain.  We bought a new birdbath that we hastily put together in the rain, it ain’t perfect..we will fix it proper when it stops raining.  The rain is cold..but at least it isn’t snow!

Bird Time

The stop off and rest birds are starting to show up at the feeders. 

We hosted a Blue Jay convention yesterday morning.  I took this photo out the window.

Later in the day the Goldfinches started to arrive.

They remind me of bits of sunshine with wings.

The Orioles have arrived, but not in mass like last year… it is still early.  Grape jelly and oranges await them.  The best I can tell there are five or six males.

We see flashes of blue every now and again.  We think the Bluebirds are here.

We saw one in the neighborhood.

Everyday brings different birds to Minnesota…it is a wonderful time of year!

Far Guy is still sick, his fever is back.  Hopefully his medication will kick in soon.  We stayed home yesterday…we can go out for a Mother’s Day Dinner some other day.

Happy Mother’s Day!

This is the card I sent my Mom on Mother’s Day.  This was taken around Mother’s Day in 1952.  Her first Mother’s Day 62 years ago.

My parents are on vacation hopefully the card will catch up with her.

This is Far Guy and his Mom in 1953.  She died in 2006 at the age of 92.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there!

Chance: Someone is sick

Hiya!  It’s me Chance the blogging Border Collie.

Far Guy went to the Doctor and got three bottles of pills.  Guess someone was right when she said he better get his butt into the Doctor.  He has a fever and a bad cough that keeps him us awake all night.

I am just fine.  It’s not catchy is it?  Must not be… Far Side is just fine…she did join us for one nap time but that was because of the coughing all night business…it was hard to listen to and hard to sleep through.  She must have had a really good nap cause she drooled on her pillow and everything…just a little…a very ladylike drool…not at all like a drippy dog drool that leaves a puddle on the floor.

I go out to play ball with Far Side when she says it is time to go out…then I go back to my spot.

Just incase someone wakes up and wants to scratch my back or rub my belly. 

We had Chicken Soup and fresh flatbread for supper last night and Far Guy is taking all his pills and drinking juice until he says “It is sloshing around in my stomach, how much more do you want me to drink?”   Far Side says he might be a tad cranky…but he is on his way to getting all better.