Chance greeted our visitors.
Maddie, Trica with Mikey and Savannah
(Paige was working and couldn’t come, she called us later in the day!)
We had a good visit. Mikey got his first photo in the wheel seat.
Hey Mikey!
It was a good day, we visited with more relatives that stopped by. I read for awhile and had a nap and in the evening we went for a ride in the Smoky Hills with my other baby brother and his wife…saw 30 plus deer.
Jen, Andy and Adam visited us yesterday and we went out for lunch along with my parents. Four generations together.
After lunch I visited one of my favorite cousins who wasn’t feeling like himself last week. He was feeling better after a rough week…he needed a couple of pints of blood to bring up his hemoglobin. I told him to eat steak and greens all week!
Then I went over to the church where the children were giving a musical called O Chicken of Little Faith. It was really cute…two of my Great Nieces were in it Brooke was an egg white and Olivia was the yolk…they linked arms at one point! My other baby brother was a cat…seems they roped a few Grandfathers in to play some parts…it was well done! My brother wore a grey hat with pink ears…and he said he was really happy I didn’t have my camera.
This was the cute card I got from Jen, Andy, Noah, Adam and Miney and Little Elvis!
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!
I love this time of year, different birds visit our yard. A Hummingbird flew in and back out again, I have a little feeder out for them. He/she did not come back.
We sat outside after supper and watched birds.
Purple Finch
Chipping Sparrow
A Butter Butt or Yellow Rumped Warbler. I believe this is a male.
Friday I had a very relaxing afternoon. I went up North to visit a long time friend (since 1975) for the afternoon. It was fun catching up! I came home just in time to help with supper and to reassure Chance that I had not abandoned him forever.
It froze again on Friday morning it was 29 F or 1 C eh! It warmed up to 58 F or 14 C eh!
The Pine Siskins arrived, they love the Niger Thistle Seed. They fight each other for space at the feeders…some are real cranky.
Pine Siskins may or may not have a touch of yellow on their wings and at the base of their tail.
A traveling Rose Breasted Grosbeak stopped by for a snack…I did not see his mate…perhaps he is a bachelor.
Rose Breasted Grosbeak
We heard neighbors have Orioles so we put out the grape jelly/orange feeder for them.
This feeder has bowls that hold grape jelly and screws that hold oranges. My Dad made me this feeder a number of years ago…I painted it bright orange.
I made Hummingbird Juice and will put that feeder out soon.
Dad and I went to Bingo last night…he got to holler BINGO once in the first game of the evening after that we were both silent. The Blackout/Coverall pot went to a really lucky gal. If we couldn’t win I was glad she did.
Seems like everyplace we look lately there is a project to be done.
Last winter we talked about a different place for our carvings…they were here and there and everywhere. Our good friend from Oklahoma City had a design in mind for some shelves next to the fireplace. He made them and brought them by a few weeks ago! He is a sweetheart!! I sealed them and then they became a rainy day project. Our fireplace has two heavy duty timbers on both sides of the fireplace.
Before
After
All the carvings were cleaned…I use a small dry paintbrush on most of them.
There was one carving that just wouldn’t fit…and I have two other carvings a Trillium and a Loon that are elsewhere in the house.
Yes that fireplace surround is a one of a kind. We went to Menards and picked out three different colors of tile and smashed them with a hammer and it took me three weeks to put the pieces in place. Then the whole thing was grouted and sealed. The gas fireplace is our backup heat source if the electricity goes out.
One more wall in the house was spring housecleaned!
The Class of 1968 is having their 50th Reunion in the Fall. So much planning and problems to sort out…especially if you are a worrier like my husband. There were 157 graduates that year. He has found all but two. I think he has given up on locating them. He would like to contact them all….Dennis M. Bell and Thomas L. Byars where are you?
The “group” think they have a place for the doings. It doesn’t help that some of the female classmates have their own meeting after the meetings…go figure.
My husband has a list of all those who have died…3 were classmates that did not graduate with them but attended school with them for many years and 21 class members that graduated are deceased.
Only three of the seven people in this photo are living…Far Guy smiling…a Cardiologist…and an Optometrist.
I took this photo in the high school auditorium with a little camera called a Polaroid Swinger. Commencement was on May 29th that year at eight o’clock in the evening.
The gowns are a Blue /Grey color. They were kept downstairs in a room (Civil Defense Shelter) off the hallway that led to the Annex. You had to go in and be measured with the gown on…as the school wanted them to all be about the same length…not sure why that mattered. Then you selected a hat …one that wasn’t too big or too small…it had to be just right…then you had to sign for everything…and had to take it all to the dry cleaners before returning it.
The class flower was a yellow rose and their motto was “We are not flowers in a greenhouse but trees in a storm.”
Whilst we were fixing supper Far Guy said “Goldfinches just arrived on the feeders.” After supper Chance and I went out to sit a spell.
The Goldfinches are sporting their summer finery.
As you can see this one still has some winter feathers.
Chance meanderd around the yard doing his usual stuff…then came to lay down by me and survey the yard…he looks to the right and to the left over and over again.
I am busy with the birds…watching them flit around…then I notice a squirrel that came bounding into the yard and as soon as it saw Chance it flattened just like a pancake.
I wondered who would see who first. The squirrel tried to exit the yard and I told Chance to get him…and Chance chased him off…makes an old dog feel good…the squirrel was in no danger.
We spread some grass seed and a bit of garden soil on some bare spots in the lawn and then sat outside until Jo showed up looking for Odda…we sat and visited for awhile and sure enough Odda came to visit. It was a lovely day in Minnesota on Monday it was 80 something F 26C eh! We went straight from Winter to Summer. It is supposed to cool off and rain…so maybe our grass seeds will grow fast!
I took one allergy tablet. It made me sleep for ten hours then I was awake for six hours (during which time I laid down twice) and then I had a four hour nap and I am still exhausted. It makes you dream crazy stuff too…I have decided to stop taking that particular pill. Onward to a runny nose and itchy eyes of springtime in Minnesota.
I will shelve this information…it may come in handy for my family someday if I am trying to escape the Nursing Home. One pill and I am conked out and when awake I am calm although a bit spaced out….did I care what was happening when I was awake…not so much.
Chance is always good company when I am asleep/not feeling well….he stays right by me. When he was little I slept with one hand in his laundry basket…just to keep him company so he wouldn’t whine all night.
The grass turned real green after a rain yesterday.
Soon I will have to mow.
The Chokecherries have busted through their buds. I hope they don’t freeze, even if I don’t make jelly the birds love the berries.
We enjoy the green, and the warmth. Far Guy is carving outside most afternoons. We both worked on stage two of the carvings for this years Christmas Ornament…stage one is done…cutting the wood to length…stage two is marking the centers and then they go to the lathe…so far I am just the marker…no lathe experience for me …yet. Stage three will be the actual carving…I have several done and one is painted and totally finished.
Cleaned the leaves and dead grass out of the perennial grass on the east side of the house. If you do it every year you get two wheelbarros full, if you leave it for a few years it takes many more wheelbarrows and becomes a big project.
Our middle Granddaughter graduated yesterday. She is a Dental Assistant, she begins her internship soon, first with a Dentist and then with an Oral Surgeon. She will have a busy summer.
Hey Mikey and Maddie
She did switch to a pair of heels, but these boots are more her style.
She told me one day that she would be saving the world one tooth at a time!
Congratulations Maddie!
We were not able to attend the Graduation Ceremony, Influenza B is still bad…the ceremony was in the Sanford Center which holds thousands of people with a million germs. So we saw her just before the graduation ceremony to congratulate her and give her some hugs.
This Twirly Gig was a May Day gift for me …from me. Somehow it ended up in my shopping cart one day when I was buying bird seed. When I got to the car Far Guy said “ That twirly gig must have lept right off the shelf into your cart.” He knows me well. I had one just like it last year except it was pink. That one nearly drove me nuts…it kept losings its petals…I glued it many times…until finally the lawn mower took care of some of the petals and I threw the whole thing away. This time I have fooled the foreigners that made it…I glued every wire on every petal before I put it outside.
I wonder how long it will last?
It is one of the only things that remotely looks like a flower in our yard.
Took my Dad to Bingo…we were losers. He won last week when I was under the weather with my oral surgery…go figure…who is the jinx?
My mouth is finally better. I still have a bit of soreness and an earache…after 9 days…the stitches haven’t driven me crazy yet…I hope they dissolve soon…two are gone…two are left….flopping around driving my tongue nuts. I have finished the antibiotics and hope the infection does not come back again.
We gave out May Baskets two days in a row! Our niece Meg was at her parents on Wednesday so we took the little ones baskets over there.
Teddy, Vivian and Harlow. Harlow was having a bad day and even a May Basket wasn’t cheering him up. He had fallen while running and hurt his finger and his hand…he had lotza bandaids.
Vivian is really cute…I love her hair!
Her Grandma fed her some chocolate and she had fun with the plastic grass. She looks a lot like her Aunt Katie…I think it is the blue eyes and blonde hair. (Vivian’s mama Meg has brown eyes and brown hair)
It is always fun to see these kids. Teddy gave Far Guy the whole story about how Harlow fell and hurt his hand. When asked how he got a mark on his nose, we were ignored….he didn’t want to talk about it. Turns out Harlow hit him with a plastic hammer. Our niece Meg has her hands full!
We asked Teddy if he got any other May Baskets…nope just one.
The box I kept the baskets in is now empty. Kinda sad…oh well there is always next year.
I have celebrated May Day since 1953….so that means that this is my 65th May Day.
This is a photo from May Day 1954 when I was 2 years and 8 months old. My May Baskets are lined up on the snowy hood of my parents car.
The tradition as I know it: You decorate baskets fill them with candy and you take them to neighbors and friends. You go up to a door and hang the basket on the door knob, knock and then run, because someone will chase you and try to kiss you. I am old, I will settle for a hug…because I am not running away. Growing up we decorated small baskets to take to neighbor kids and elderly neighbors…it was something fun to do after a long winter.
So the tradition continues. I made some deliveries and took some photos. My Great Nieces and Nephews
Olivia
Brooke
Ava
Kelly was asleep and Hailey was getting ready for a game after school.
Mason and Anna…these two live next door and are growing like weeds!!
I still have three baskets for Teddy, Harlow and Vivian hopefully I will see them soon.
I stopped by my parents.
Mom and Dad May 1 2018
I stopped by a few other places…some favorite people I don’t see often enough.
After supper we delivered a few more baskets and some dog treats for Odda and Putz.
In my opinion May Day is a fun holiday…something as simple as a cute little basket with a bit of candy makes people young and old smile!
I hope you all had a wonderful May Day! If you made a May Basket or got one perhaps you could share the story in a comment.
June was hanging in there on our 185th day of winter.
June on April 29
On the 186th day of winter June melted. It rained during the night and she shrunk, at noon she was still there but at 4PM she was gone. It was 76F or 24C eh! I hope it wasn’t our one day of summer.
June disappeared on April 30
So we have some winners!
Tired Teacher (Nancy) who guessed April 27 and also those who guessed May 1 diane, Terry and Linda and JoAnnes Ramblings. Please contact me by email captainconnie2001atyahoodotcom and something will be in the mail for you soon!
Just a reminder today is May Day…go ahead make someones day with a basket filled with candy or flowers! I will be back with my May Day report on Wednesday. My little May Baskets are all set to be delivered.
