Crafts

 Jen has a Craft Room here and set up a desk for me, I brought some projects with me and will enjoy the nice bright space to work in.  A space you can just leave "stuff" sitting out and no one cares. 

If blogger would let me upload a photo I could show you. Instead it is being a brat.

I have oodles of things to work on...I stamped images on watercolor paper for cards like a mad woman before we left home, and Jen has stamps here...someday I will get some more watercolor paper and raid her stamp collection and see what kind of cool stamps she has!   I have the stamp for next years Christmas Card!  I brought that along and I have some other projects to watercolor.   I have three afghans to work on and a Christmas gift to finish and I have a new pattern for mittens...so many crafts...

Jen painted a picture since we got here and I assisted her hemming some curtains.  Neither of us are accomplished seamstresses but we got er done...hope both panels are reasonably the same length! 

Far Guy is going to start woodcarving again soon.   He left his woodcarving tray at home so I found him a wood tray at Hobby Lobby that he can convert that will be similar to what he has at home.

Supposed to get a blizzard here Saturday night through Sunday night...we will see. 

Far Side

Yeah photo uploading is working again!

Firsts

 Far Guy had his first infusion of Aralast here yesterday the nurse was very nice and her parents live in Park Rapids and we know her father.  Small world.   It took about two hours.   A bit longer than the 45 minutes that it took back home.  Far Guy has to have the infusions weekly. 

I had the first book club from here, no problems it is all online.  The Persian Pickle Club was the book, I had read it several years ago but enjoyed reading it again. 

We got our first Christmas Card in the mail! 

I got out the next book for book club The Children's Blizzard a blizzard that took place in 1888.... a historical novel of the Upper Midwest. 

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Spots

 We have computer spots, not side by side but across the room.  Andy and Jen gave up their office space for us. 

Far Guy can watch the street and see when someone goes down the street, mail man, delivery trucks, school bus etc...

The couple next door hired a guy with the tallest ladders I have ever seen to decorate the trees in his yard...should be interesting.  I was outside when the guy was way high on his tall ladder I almost hollered "Hello be careful"  but I showed great restraint in being quiet. 

My spot!   No view but thats okay I have space in the corner for all my stuff.  

Work is progressing on my Winter Wonderland Afghan...you can see it there on my desk.  Slow but sure! 

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Change in Direction

 Over the weekend we left our cozy little home in the woods in the capable hands of Lissette our house sitter and my brothers and my nephews watchful eyes. 

We moved Up North to the city where our youngest daughter Jen and her husband Andy live.   They helped us unpack and get settled in. We will be here a few months or until they kick us out.  We are closer to Far Guy's Doctors and Specialists for the winter, instead of a three hour drive they are just across town.  Someone is usually home here so if I leave for a few minutes Far Guy is well taken care of. 

We have a very nice room with a bathroom right outside the door.  The whole house is massive...I had to tell Far Guy if I am in a different part of the house and he needs me ...he will have to call me on the cell phone.  

Little Elvis is such a good companion, he waits in front of the front door making sure we don't leave without him.  He sleeps in our room at night or right outside the door...I nearly fell over him one night when I opened the door to go to the bathroom...he can still move pretty fast for an older dog! ( Good thing I am a  little slower in the middle of the night)

We are adjusting to a new room, news beds..everything is a bit different from back home.  Change is good, we are comfortable here and get to see Grandson Adam every day.  Jen and Andy are patient with us and we are so thankful for them! 

I will be going back home to the woods from time to time, to check on the house, to see my brothers and my parents.  I can pick my travel days according to the weather and driving conditions.  Far Guy will accompany me if he feels okay, if not he is in safe capable hands here. 

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Decorations

 I did a bit of decorating at the front door. 

My best friend Susie was  making Christmas Swags again!  We had a good visit a week ago.  She and her husband are fishermen so they sent a mess of walleye home with us...really yummy! I have known her since before our oldest children went to kindergarten...and those "kids" will be 50 in the coming year. 

I put up a few decorations on my other wreath...Fall became Christmas! 

No lights this year.  Just some Santas and a couple of snowflakes.

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These two or four

 We had a small get together with some Grands and our two Great Grands.   So good to see them all again! 

Great Grands are growing like weeds. 

These are busy little kids.  Hey Mikey loves chocolate milk and celery.  Cee Cee or Miss Sassy Pants has found her voice mostly to command her mother's attention with a loud MOM! 

Hey Mikey is playing Hockey now and his Mom reports he is skating better than last year.  He is 4 1/2 years old. 

Cee Cee is 20 months old.  I told her she needs to go potty in the big girl potty..she said NO.  However she laid real still when I changed her poopy diaper after her parents were going to do rock paper scissors for the honor. 

Maddie and Cee Cee

 Savannah and Cee Cee

Adam had to work.  Noah was not feeling well.  Paige was celebrating Thanksgiving with her Beau.

We appreciate all our Grands and enjoy spending time with them.  We played the game Splendor and of course played with the littles and watched the Hockey game...and had a marvelous spread of snacks. 

Far Side

 

Winter Wonderland

 Winter Wonderland is the name of the latest CAL (Crochet A Long). 

The yarn finally came!    It was released from the hostage situation within the Postal Service.  Who knows why it was held nine days in West Fargo ND.  

Far Guy is busy winding already.  I always wind my yarn into balls because otherwise I might encounter a join (where two different pieces come together) or some inferior thread or a big horrid tangle while I am crocheting. 

The pattern has rows of trees, hearts, reindeer, snowmen, snowflakes etc...you get the picture.  I may add in some blue and perhaps even a dark burgundy...time will tell. 

So this is the third CAL that I am working on.  Sooner or later I am bound to finish one!  I am absolutely smitten with mosaic crochet...it is like drawing with yarn. 

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Cranberry Lake

 You can only see this lake in late Fall after all the brush has lost its leaves.   Not sure why it is call Cranberry Lake....maybe there are some Highbush Cranberries nearby.  Come Spring I will have to watch for the blooms.

We had a really nice ride in the hills the other day. 

As you can see we still have snow.  Imagine that!

We finally emptied the deep freeze...the last thing in there was ice cream so we just had to finish it off....must be the reward!  Now to completely defrost it! 

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Making Progress

 I finally saved all the photographs on my old computer, photos were copied to flash drives and the  HP Simple Saves were wiped clean.  Simple Saves are awesome if you use Windows.  They are not compatible with a Mac. 

Kind of bittersweet as I had that old Windows 7  Desktop since 2011 and it had great photo editing software! AND it still worked a bit slow but it worked...they no longer did updates to Windows 7 so the writing was on the wall. ... the hard drive will be smashed and the rest recycled.  I did run into some great photos...they still need to be organized...a good project for the winter!  I may even order some prints over the winter.  Added bonus is the table that computer sat on is now all cleaned up...one area looks less cluttered!

I have been busy with lots of projects.   I am finishing up a Christmas gift and spent some time upstairs organizing stuff...one thing leads to another to another.

130 Christmas Cards were mailed.  One last ornament was mailed to someone special!  

Here is part five of my afghan. 

I am still waiting for the yarn for the Winter Wonderland afghan to get here.  It is being held hostage in West Fargo ND, I finally had the Post Office nice gal that has a working brain track it down as it has been in West Fargo for eight days.  In the meantime I began working on part six of the afghan pictured.   It has one more part and then the border. 

My fever blisters( from the fever I had after the Covid Shot) are just about healed up.  That is a relief! 

We had a quiet Thanksgiving Day. 

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Happy Thanksgiving!

 

We have a quiet day planned, we have a few things to do.  I will make pumpkin bread for the Grands and Far Guy is making his cheezy dip.  Ribs are on the menu for our evening meal. 

Today we are thankful for shelter from the cold, enough food to eat, reasonably good health and our family. 

We had lunch with my parents yesterday... Mom made Sloppy Joes and we brought  Sour Cream and Raisin Pie for three of us and Far Guy had Oregon Berry Pie.  The pie was delicious! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Far Side

Barn at the Farm

 The barn at the farm where I grew up has seen better days.   Soon it will be a pile of rubble and a new barn will be in its place.  We had a good visit with Roger when we went over and petted Annie the Border Collie.

Yesterday I took a few photos.  It had been on my list of things to do since early Fall and we just didn't get around to it. 

I learned many things in that old barn.  Never trust Banty roosters would be number one on my list.  How to lock cows into their stanchions, how to feed and brush them.  How to get rid of lice and how to spray them with fly spray in the summer.   How to feed calves milk replacer out of a bucket with a teat and not spill the whole bucket all over because baby calves are aggressive drinkers.  How to milk cows by hand and take care of their udders because a cow with sore teats will be a kicker and difficult to milk.  How to use a milking machine and a cream separator.   That cows peeing will splatter a long way...same goes for poop.  Everyone knows their place in the barn except for a new cow.  While hand milking you can squirt milk into the mouths of waiting in the aisles kittens or your other baby brother.  How to clean out gutters, how to lay down a bed of straw for the calves in the calf pen....how to give sick calves shots of antibiotics. When it is cold in the winter the barn is warmer than being outside.   Barns have their own unique smells.  

The barn was built by the Lemons most likely in the 1930's... they were relatives of Far Guys ( a brother of Far Guy's Maternal Grandmother).  Loren Lemon and Florence Graham Lemon lived there and raised their three children there until they moved to Washington sometime before 1949 when Loren died.  My parents bought the farm in the Spring of 1952 when my Dad returned from Korea. 

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Baxter The Swimmer

 Baxter belongs to my baby brother and his bride.  Baxter is 16 months old now.  This is his first Fall at the lake.  He is a busy Mini Aussie boy, his nose is always working.  He found deer guts to bring home but that is a different story.

Here in Minnesota we get ice that freezes near the shore of our lakes...then depending on the current and fish activity it can have thicker ice in places and thin ice in places.   Fall ice can be treacherous.

Baxter walked right off the dock and onto the ice....well before long the ice broke and Baxter was in the water...he found a ledge of ice to get his paws up onto and hung there.   When Baxter is in trouble he does not bark.   The time he got a couple of fish hooks caught in his foot he just held his paw up and looked pathetic....that was on a Saturday and finding a Vet to remove them was a problem...my brother finally located a Vet 60 miles away that would stay in the office if they hurried to get there.  Fish hooks were removed successfully and Baxter was just a little loopy from the anesthetic.

Anyways Baxter was hanging onto a shelf of ice.   My brother was nearby putting away some things for winter.   I think he probably called his bride for help as soon as he saw poor Baxter clinging to the edge of the ice with his paws and the rest of his body submerged in the icy water...anyways...my baby brother got a kayak on  the ice/water and was busting the ice breaking a trail to Baxter...his bride was calling for Baxter on the dock...eventually after about twenty minutes in the water...Baxter swam to the dock and was pulled out!   

Talk about some excitement!  I asked if Baxter was cold and shivering... "No, he was happily running around. " said my baby brother.  

Good thing Baxter can swim.  I wonder if he has learned his lesson about ice.  Good thing my brother was there and it was a good thing he had not put all the kayaks away.  Possibly he should put an  ice chisel near the dock!

I remember when we lived at the lake we had a cat that must have chased something out on the ice...probably chasing a mouse... came back to the house looking like a big old icicle with ice covered hair standing out in all directions.  So cats can possibly swim a bit if they absolutely have to. 

Baxter during one of his visits to our house. 

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Dogs

 Bailey lived next door.   We would hear her barking; she barked at deer, raccoons, squirrels and just about anything that moved.   Including us as we walked by her driveway.  If her bark changed in tone Far Guy and Chance would walk over to see what was up.   She liked Chance and would visit him...then she got a collar that beeped and she would only come to visit when the battery wore out.    She loved her people and they loved her.   In the past few years she has been going downhill...she would never allow me to pet her until the last year or so...senility I guess. 

This is Bailey and one of her people.   Her youngest people are now 15 and 16.  They were just little when Bailey was a puppy.  ( A Beagle)

Bailey and Chance in 2009. 

Perhaps she is running with Chance again.  Bailey crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in her sleep one night last week.    She had been barking less and less and then the barking stopped. 

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A Mission

 We left on a mission with Ranger Blue to deliver a couple of ornaments to my cousin.  

We were not sure how the trails would be...but they were good. 

The Ornaments were delivered.  I still have one for a cranky neighbor...he hates 4 wheelers or anything that is not a car...so we didn't dare drive in his yard.  

The skies were blue and the sunshine warm. 

The river has ice along the edges.    It was good to get out and about. 

Back at home I made Rhubarb - Raspberry Jam.  Trying to clear out the big freezer....it really needs to sit and completely defrost for a few days.  Far Guy did some odds and ends outside....before we knew it...it was dark.

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Butterflies

 Wow I got a package in the mail! 

Such beautiful work and so many butterflies! 

I know how much time is put into the embroidery....it is beautiful handwork.  These came from my long time blog friend Linda in Colorado!   I shall treasure the pillowcases...they are almost too beautiful to use...but I will use them!  Thank you Linda! 

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Ornaments 2021

 Most of the 2021 Christmas Ornaments have been delivered.  

Far Guy did all the carving this year.  ( My thumb was just not up to wood carving)  I did some touch up work and sanded them all in preparation for painting. 

Meet the 2021 Gnomes! 

Welcome to the dining room workshop.    The peanut butter jar stand should be patented, it works so well!   I can work on 12 carvings at once.  

The carvings this year are various sizes, shapes and colors.   There is ONLY one orange Gnome and that goes to special friends in Wyoming. 

Some have beards and some have smiles.  Each one is unique and one of a kind.   I used acrylic paint, sanded some paint off and did a brown wash and then added a sparkly glaze to the Gnome hats.

We are very pleased with them and hope that everyone on our list enjoys them.   110 carvings were made. It is truly a labor of love. 

Far Side

Snowy Windy Day

 It was snowing and blowing around...the wind was moving the tops of the Oak trees and an occasional snownado came through the yard ( tornado shape wind picking up snow). The wind chill was near zero so it was  a tad chilly out there. 

Yup sure enough there was a ground blizzard happening out there. 

We went for a ride in the woods down to the river.  Far Guy said "It might be an adventure! "   We made it there and back safely. 

No sun now for days...typical November days ...cloudy and dreary...we use our special light most mornings when we are reading emails and news.

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Idiot with some yarn

 That would be me... the idiot.   When I ordered yarn for Winter Wonderland I did not double check the order...so I have no cream color...well you need cream or white to make that blanket. 

I have lots of green. 

I quickly made another order...it probably won't be here til next week.  Oh well in the meantime I need to do a yarn inventory and work on the other mosaic crochet blanket. 

All the Christmas Cards have their words and I signed them all...next comes address labels and stamps.  

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Words

 I am working on words. 

Peace, Believe, Noel and Joy are the words I chose to use on the Christmas Cards.   I used the Gemini and dies to cut out the words.   Then I had lots of  poking out to do the centers of all the a, e, o, l's etc ...it was putzy work.  I got rid of a number of paper scraps that were accumulating in the paper drawer in my desk. 

One more afternoon and I will be done with those words!  My fingers get all sticky from the glue I am using. 

Far Guy entered all the addresses one by one on the Christmas Card list...he was a trooper and hopes he never has to do that again.  ( Windows to Mac was a nightmare)  The address labels have been printed.   He is working on the Christmas letter. 

The last of the Christmas Ornaments were mailed Monday afternoon...so I will reveal the ornaments at the end of the week.  Brain Dead Postal Lady had no Internet so she could not weigh packages or print out postage...I didn't know the scales were connected to the Internet...I wondered what they did in the olden days?  She told me to come back tomorrow...ya right. ( I may have said bad word bad word under my breath)  I went to a different Post Office that is open from 12 - 2 and she was more than happy for the business. 

Fever Blisters are no fun...I get them when I have had a fever for a couple of days...and guess what the Moderna Vaccination Booster gave me a fever.   In a couple of weeks they will be gone...it always takes time.   The ones inside my mouth are a bit better...but I am still cranky.

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More stupid sNOw

 Yup it snowed again overnight on Saturday night/early Sunday morning...  

It must have been about four maybe five inches...and it was good heavy wet snow like you make a snowman with.   I was tired after shoveling so no snowmen were made. 

The glass flowers were all covered with snow. 

I rescued the bird feeder, it had lots of ice in the tray...poor birds were struggling to find seeds.  Then I shoveled in front of the garages. 

Then I went to the couch and sat with my feet up feeling sorry for myself because I have fever blisters inside and outside of my mouth....I suppose there could be worse side effects from the booster shot. 

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