The Refuge

We ran an errand..Okay we went to Menards in Detroit Lakes to buy a new folding table and a few solar lights… big shopping trip!  We came back through Tamarac Wildlife Refuge.

Hardly a creature was stirring. No birds…no deer.

There was a dog out on the ice with some fishermen on Pine Lake.

The Ottertail River is low.  Usually we can spot an Eagle or two here. Nada.  After we got home I heard that over fifty Bald Eagles were at Flat Lake…so we were close but no cigar.

Someone was working on a big tree…I wonder how long until it topples over?

Sunday was a lovely day for an outing.  It was 70 F or 21 C eh!  We drove slowly through the refuge with our windows down …it was a real treat.  That was our last warm day.  Monday our temperatures dropped by 40 degrees…much more seasonal for us.  It was nice while it lasted…it was just a taste of spring.  It gives the cooped up people hope that spring will come eventually.

 

Happy St. Urho’s Day

St. Urho saved the grape crop in Finland from the pesky grasshoppers….at least that is how the legend goes.

Every year we try to go to the St.Urho’s Day Parade in Menahga Minnesota. I made a trip over to the bakery before the parade they were almost sold out…I managed to snag one of the last loaves of flat bread. Yum!  We had fun people watching before the parade began.

My camera card malfunctioned so I got two photos…I was disappointed but what can a gal do except learn from a mistake.  FYI just because you think the card is in the slot correctly…the little door can still close…and when you finally look at your screen it says No Card In Camera… OH BAD WORD.

I managed one photo of St. Urho.

St. Urho was handing out Tootsie Rolls after the parade.

It was a wonderful 10 minute or less parade and the weather was beautiful!  There were purple and green beads, purple and green licorice and purple grapes all handed out by The Nytes of St.Urho to the crowds lining the streets.

Nytes of St Urho handing out candy last year.

Chance got in the mood with the wearing of the St.Urho beads.

So where ever you are and what ever you do…a Happy St. Urho’s Day to you!

Flags and Fields

I finally got the flags changed yesterday. 

As you can see the snow is mostly gone.

We went for a ride to see what was happening in the neighboring fields.

Trumpeter Swans and Canada Geese were foraging for food.  Chance was polite and just watched them.  They honked at us but kept feeding.

Today we are supposed to be near 70 F or 21 C eh! 

Snow and Bird Report

Our snow is almost gone.  There are just a few drifts left.  It is dry at the snow stick.  We will have a snow stick contest IF we ever get a bunch more snow.   I have some new woodcarvings in the works for some winners or maybe it will just be a drawing.

Spent birdseed has been removed shovel by shovel.  A few a day….wouldn’t want to rush anything.  The stacking plastic chairs made it to the patio.  More doggy dew was dispatched to the woods.  A coyote was on the east side of the house…he left a hair filled deposit.  Might explain why the Border Collie was nervous a few days.

More birds were photographed.  The Redpoll numbers have decreased…some must have went North.

Redpoll just hanging around.

A White Breasted Nuthatch and a Pine Siskin sharing while a Redpoll waits her turn!

The Pine Siskins arrived with the warm temperatures.  We also had an immature Red Bellied Woodpecker…and his belly did have a few feather areas that were red.  We were just sitting outside for a bit that day so I didn’t get a photo.

This is an older Red Bellied Woodpecker…he never did cooperate with me to see if he had a red belly or not.   He has some beautiful tail feathers.

Our resident birds stay all year round the Nuthatches, Chickadees and Woodpeckers.  The others come and go as the weather changes.

My other baby brother called me one day he and she who sees Robins first saw a Robin.  They didn’t get a photo so it doesn’t count besides that they were in Missouri.

Chance: Playing Ball

All the balls I lost in snow banks have been found.  I thought one of my favorite blue balls was lost forever after Far Side threw it wildly in the dark one night and it landed in a snow bank. I searched and she searched…yesterday Far Guy found it…he is my hero.

IF you are a Border Collie waiting is part of the ball game.

Then you have to anticipate where the ball will land…hopefully it lands in your mouth and doesn’t bounce off your nose. One time Far Side threw the ball with the flinger and it hit a tree and came back and hit her in the forehead…boy was she surprised.  I think she said “Oh BAD WORD.”

Someone said I should go on a diet.

Diet smiet…I am 10 1/2 years old.  I am too old to diet.   I had a tough week, I am a little stiff and sore, Far Side says I have some arthritis.  We have been playing ball…BUT when Far Side says to quit I do. She gave Far Guy and me a lecture, “If any kids come to play ball that dog (ME) has to stop every once in awhile OR go on a leash.”

Sometimes I wait around with the ball in my mouth until she figures I have rested enough.  Too much spring is Far Sides diagnosis...Spring Fever.  She says “Chance calm down tomorrow is another day to play ball.”

Spring at Shell Lake

We finally went for our after supper drive.  Chance was thrilled.  Daylight Saving time is good for something.  We had 51 F or 10 C eh! yesterday. 

Yesterday we drove over to Shell Lake, all the back woods dirt roads we usually travel are a muddy mess.

There are patches of water on the ice.  All the fish-houses had to be off of the lake on March 10.

There is water going over the dam.  That weedy brown patch in the distance is a wild rice bed.

Shell River coming out of the lake.  Winter took its toll.

It isn’t often that you see a deer carcass in the river.

Here at home we have an inch of water at the Snow stick.

We did odd jobs outside.  Picking up some doggy dew and sticks and raking up excess birdseed off the lawn.  Spring stuff! 

Wistful Wednesday: Two Uncles

My parents come from large families.  Since my Dad has eleven brothers and two sisters I have many Uncles.

 

This must have been taken at some family gathering.  Cousin Verniel took the photo and shared it with me.

Uncle George on the left and Uncle Arnold on the right….looks like they brought out some sauna dressing room benches into the yard.  Looks like they were at Uncle Ervin’s place just from the lay of the land.  Late on summer evenings that woods would be filled with fireflies.

Uncle George was son number eight and Uncle Arnold was child number thirteen and son number twelve.  My Dad was son number ten.

Uncle George was a farmer and a fixer.  A piece of baling twine could be used to fix many things.  He was a kind, kind man.  He married Aunt Grace and together they merged her girls (she was widowed early in life) with four more children that they would have together.  I always considered the older girls “real” cousins…one day one of them said to me “BUT I am not a real cousin.”  Maybe not to everyone…but to me they were “real.” One was four years and one was two years of age when their Mom married Uncle George…so he was the only father they ever knew and they called him Dad.  

Uncle Arnold was a farmer and a carpenter, he could build just about anything. He was a wonderful gentleman who always had a kind word or two.  He and his wife Sharon have five sons.  I know one reasonably well, the others I don’t know at all. They lived on the farm where my grandparents raised all their children, now their oldest son lives there.

This photo was taken in 1978.  Uncle George would die in 1997 from cancer at the age of 74.  Uncle Arnold would die in 1991 from a heart attack at the age of 59.  Both of their wives are still living. 

My grandparents raised a wonderful bunch of boys and girls.  They were all hard working law abiding, welcoming, kind, honest people.   There wasn’t one I didn’t like or admire for some quality.  Not a carouser in the bunch….although they could make lots of noise at a couple of Shivarees I attended when I was little.

The Road Home

The road home for most of my life.  I have lived here or near here for 43 years except for 19 years elsewhere from 1969 to 1986 and then again from 1995 to 1997.

From the vantage point on this rise I can see the Smoky Hills State Forest in the distance and the fields that lie on either side of the road and the ribbon of highway stretching before me.  I took these photo out the windshield…no I was not driving.

The fields are black and the snow and dirt (snirt) are melting in the ditches.  No problem with flooding this year…at least not so far.  I can see the Fire Tower in the distance but I know right where to look for it after 43 years.

We are unseasonably warm.  It was 48 F or 8 C  eh! The sunshine was so warm. I wore my crocs with socks and it felt so good.  Today I will haul a couple of lawn chairs out of the garage!  Just think we are about 70 degrees warmer than we were ten days ago.  Will it last?  Probably not but it is a nice winter break.

Springing Ahead

Wow what a difference a few warm days make. 

It gets above freezing and we think it is summer!

The clouds were even summerlike!

There was a lone Bald Eagle soaring over the fields.

We had a nice Sunday drive…Chance enjoyed the ride.  He is feeling stiff and sore after a round of nonstop ball games with the neighbor kids.

What little snow we had is melting.   Chance doesn’t like walking through the cold water…but it cleans off his feet.

I don’t like springing ahead, I would just like one time or the other all year long. 

Cooking

My stomach has compartments.  I don’t like my food to touch.  Especially fruits, vegetables and Jell-O. I don’t want a piece of cake on my dinner plate either…I have lots of dishes.  Sometimes when we are out for supper and cake is offered without a new clean plate I lay my dinner napkin on my plate and put the cake there… I know …sick isn’t it?

Her at home I serve up separate bowls of vegetables and fruit for each of us. I would never serve a salad without bowls.  I like a few dried cherries on my lettuce …Far Guy doesn’t …he likes sunflower seeds, almonds and a bit of sliced cheese. We both like leaf lettuce, we rarely buy head lettuce.

We had some left over chili.  I asked Far Guy if he wanted to join me in a bowl of chili with potatoes and carrots…you mix it all together and throw it in the oven whilst you have a nap!  He wanted plain chili…alrighty then…plain is what you get.  Chance thought my version was delicious.  I am not sure what that concoction is called…Hobo Chili maybe.   I haven’t made it in a long time….maybe I was just hungry for cooked carrots!

At the beginning of the week I make menus for the week before grocery shopping.  We don’t stray too far away from the plan.

Menu ideas are on the fridge….speaking of the fridge…Mr. Fixit was out again…a connection behind the freezer became unconnected.  Not on the outside either ..it was deep in the freezer behind a panel.  Mr. Fixit says it happens…a part gets moisture ( probably from the last time he tore the fridge apart) and then the frost pushes the connection apart.   I will be going into the local appliance store with the measurements for a new fridge and pick out exactly what I want…three strikes and you are out or you get a new fridge.

We really need some new menu ideas.  We seem to be in a loop that we repeat every fourteen days. Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

About noon everyday the same question is asked “What do you want for supper?”

Watering Can

I have a watering can out in the yard, it is attached to a stake in the ground.  The can itself is suspended in the air above a bird bath.  In the summer time birds are attracted to dripping water, I put ice cubes in the can and they will drip all day long.

Here is another view.

Far Guy made this for me a long time ago.  Usually if I envision something and explain it to him …then he can build it.

I shopped for a new watering can for this project, I have several antique watering cans but I didn’t want to put holes in them.

Far Guy is feeling better.  Hopefully he didn’t overdo feeling better yesterday.

Bead Garden Ornament

Jen showed me a Garden Ornament on Pinterest.  For $40.00 I decided I could make several myself.

Will it work…maybe… the prototype is never perfect.  It must be tweaked.

 

I finally had enough beads strung on the wire to give it a whirl.  That big old nut just keeps the wires in one spot after they have been strung.  I enlisted Far Guys help and off to the woodshop we went, the sun was out so it was warm in there.

We found a green plastic stabby stick…highly technical.  Far Guy drilled a hole in the center and then we safety wired the  bead thingy fine sculpture together and stuck it down the center of the stick.

For now it is in a snow bank.  It is not perfect.

It needs more legs/arms whatever and some could be shorter.  I should have spent more time taking the kinks out of the wire. ( I can always fix that.)  I used 20 gauge Galvanized Steel Wire.  The beads are from garage sales and a few from Ben Franklin. I used 3mm crimping beads, they were a little large but they worked.

This one will stay in the yard and weather in the cold…I will make another.

Here is the snowstick.  We now have five inches of snow.

I am counting on the warm temperatures next week to melt it all in a few days.

The Crud

Far Guy has the crud again, he is taking antibiotics and a steroid.  He is supposed to be resting and drinking fluids until his stomach sloshes with water….his words.  I just tell him to keep drinking water.  I don’t care if it sloshes in his stomach…

Yesterday I left Nurse Chance in charge of Far Guy whilst I went out to lunch with my cousins and ran a few errands.   

There was a really weird woman waiting in line at the Pharmacy window…she must have been a former prison guard …or maybe an inmate. Spooky to be waiting in line and have someone staring at you the entire time.  I wondered if I had a huge booger dangling from my nose…I checked a few times…nope no booger.  Maybe she was high on something…who knows.

My cousins report that another cousin’s (Daniel) crud turned into pneumonia.  Aunt Anna had the crud and it lasted well over a month.  My other baby brother had the crud for about two weeks before finally getting some antibiotics.

So far I don’t have the crud.  I hope I can escape it this time.  Seems to have been a tough winter for many people especially the elderly.

We are due to warm up here…into the 40’s F or about 7 C eh!  I have to see it to believe it.  Maybe some warm temperatures and some sunshine will chase the crud away.

Hydrangea bloom August 2014

Wistful Wednesday: The Big Guns

Far Guy was the Supervisor of “The Gun Shop” for a number of years before he went into the Weapons Release Shop as a Supervisor….then he went to Quality Assurance and Safety Inspection.  Before “The Gun Shop” he was in Weapons Loading.

Yes that thing on casters is a gun. 

A 20 MM Gatling Gun.  It has six barrels it shoots 6,000 rounds a minute. The rounds could be high explosive incendiary (HEI), armor piercing or target practice (TP) usually every 7th round was a tracer.  The F-4 Fighter could carry up to five of these guns. 

He is bore sighting using a laser.  It is bore sighted to 2,000 feet. 

The Pilot squeezes the trigger for short bursts because long bursts would warp the barrels.  The shortest burst recorded was 25 rounds.

It was possible for the gun to try to put more than one round in a barrel at a time when this happened several things would break inside and there would be gun powder all over.   The only way to make things safe was to spray WD 40 all over everything and soak up all the gun powder.

There were 22 of these guns in the gun shop.  They also stored all the ammunition.  The Gun Shop itself was located in a very secure spot on base …away from everything else in a rocket storage building.  No one got to go out there unless you were escorted.  I visited once during an open house. 

Gulfport Mississippi  was like a second home during the time at The Gun Shop.  All the live fire exercises were held out over the Gulf.   The base at Gulfport was what is called a bare base, they had to take everything they needed from home base ( an exercise in mobility).

Shots were fired from the gun aboard an F 4  at a big aluminum dart shaped target that was towed by another aircraft.   At first the target would be brought over the runway and the cable that was attached to it was cut so that the target would land safely.   One time the cable failed to break away after being cut so they headed back over town toward the Gulf…when the cable finally broke…it went completely through a Barber Shop in downtown Gulfport…thankfully it was Monday and the Barber Shop was closed.   From then on the target was dropped off over the Gulf.

A 20MM round