Catch up post on a snow day!!

Snow today

It was snowing most of the morning and has finally let up now that it is nearly noon. I took a picture of the back door of my mom’s house as I had to go and change the laundry there. I cheated and went over with the vehicle after I came home from getting the mail and stopping at the bank. I need to go back and switch the loads again and fold what is dry, but I am too lazy to leave the house at this time. If I would not have wanted the bank statements and to deposit some money, I might not have left the house today. Of course, I did need to go to the mail because some people seem to forget that winter shows up around this time in North or South Dakota. Paulina was home two weekends in a row, and never thought to take her heavy coat either time. Fortunately it wasn’t real heavy in terms of sending it through the mail. I found a second one that she had stuck away in another closet and forgot about. When I showed it to her on the phone as we were Face-timing, she declined wanting that coat. I promptly put it on and am keeping it for myself for now. It is super warm and has a hood. It is also black which seems to be the only color I wear lately. I am beginning to feel like the women of the frontier who always had their good outfits in black so they would have something to wear in case of a funeral. How bad is that. I don’t have black for that reason, it just seems that it matches with anything and so you don’t need so terribly many different outfits. Ha!! The worst part is that black shows every cat hair like there is a spotlight and a magnifier on them.

Apple pie

Last batch

I want to say I have been too busy to post lately, but that is only partially true. I have taken pictures of things going on around here, but I have just been too lazy to share them. The table of tomatoes is nearly gone. The last two times that I did any canning it was all whole tomatoes. The last batch was actually 12 quarts and 1 pint when it was all finished up. I didn’t think it felt like that much, but it took forever because so many of the tomatoes were really small. There are two boxes left on the table, but I am not sure if they will ever get made into anything. I also finished off the “bad” apples from the box I was given. I was going to do up all of them into some apple pie filling, but when I thought of how good they taste just sliced up, I decided to peel and slice the ones with bad spots on them and made a single pie. I will not give you a recipe since I didn’t really follow one anyway, and though it is edible, I have a little more practicing to do before it is really good. I had a few left over slices and ended up just eating them. So good. James agreed that we would just keep the rest on the counter eating them until gone. Last count gives us 9 apples, so they should last about 4 days or less.

I have also been trying to keep my hands busy at night while I am watching television and not playing on my iPad. This has been hard, but not really so hard since I started this crazy crocheted lap blanket. I recently ended up with all of the left over yarn from church now that we have officially finished up any possible quilting there. We did up all the quilt tops that had been made in the past by women of the church and so any left over yarn went to me, and the left over material that could be used to make more tops went to the Lutheran Church in Eureka. They still have a fairly active group, and we thought it was best that the material is used in a good way. I did take one small box home of the stiffer material. I hope to make some of the drawstring bags to give away in the future. I have a post about them some place titled “sling bags.” I will have to find that and at least get the date for it in case anyone is interested in it. Maybe if I ever get that table cleaned off in my room, I can work on that plan. For now I have made a bigger mess as I sorted out the yarn and reboxed some of it into thinner, medium, and thicker thread sizes. The lap blanket I am working on is the medium-sized yarn. I will have to post my three main projects, but not here. I am almost tired of my tendency to jump from one task to another or do several at a time. I finally see how it is more of a time waster, but I realize that I do it because I get bored doing one thing for too long. Oh such a life. Ha!!

Great day for soup!

here is what we just saw outside. 

Roger had to look too.

 

I made some soup to ward off the cold

Light frost!

Garden in the morning.

So the first frost of this season hit overnight. It was not as bad as we expected but I am currently not home to check on the real damage. James had to recover all of the plants when he came back from his morning bike ride while we had expected. As he was going past the bank, he noticed the sign said 37 degrees F, but by the time he was filling gas in my van, it was 33. That was between 7 and 7:30 a.m.

Morning glories seemed hit even though James covered them.

I left the house a little after 9 a.m. because I had to stop at the bank. It was warmer then and the sun was shining, so I took some time to remove the cloths from the garden. I hung them all on the fence and the pictures show what I saw this morning. Ironically some of the covered plants looked frozen while some in the open looked fine. We will have to wait until later this afternoon to see the real results.

Roger watching me leave

Hope you all have a great day!

Chance of Frost under a full moon

full moon over covered garden

A lighter view of the moon.

About a month ago one of the men in our church predicted that we would have frost on the full moon. I think he is right, he was just off by one moon. Ha!! We are supposed to be having temperatures in the low to mid 30’s F overnight. Siri told me 35 by 7 a.m., but no idea what it would be at 8 a.m., so that was the unknown that made us go out and cover tonight. I was willing to take the chance, James said we didn’t work this hard to let them all freeze. I have been picking as much as possible each night, and that included another basket full tonight. It was enough to fill up what I took out of the boxes last night. Hurrah!!

Morning glory garden

Tonight the blankets are surrounding the tomatoes and the pumpkin, which are nestled on the ground between the tomato cages. I also covered the peppers, but there are no pictures of them. The wind has come up and we are pretty sure the blankets will be eased off before morning. Normally we would hold them down with bricks, but the cages have the plants so high I don’t think it will reach. James says he will check before he heads out on his bike ride in the morning and will reposition them. Frost is only a problem when the sun hits the cold plants, so they will be covered for sure before then if by chance they blow off. I took a few other pictures of the flowers just to know what they looked like because there was no way we were going to try to cover any of them. I did pull all of the house plants inside as soon as I came home from school and the other more outdoor types of plants like the petunias and the moss roses, we just pulled under the swing which sits under the upper deck. They should be more than fine there.

Looking at the full moon tonight, I think of those who were outside in Las Vegas last night under a nearly full moon having a wonderful time at a concert with their friends or family or just someone who had a ticket and stood beside them. How one person’s mindset can affect so many lives for such a long time. May God be with those who are grieving and those who are hurting and healing on this night under this full moon. May God’s love and healing power extend to all who are feeling the loss of this time, whether it is loss of a loved one, loss of time to recovery or even loss of innocence because we are all part of that issue. And by the way God, I am getting just a little bit tired of extending condolences and prayers for the families and those injured, maybe we could find a solution to this mess in our world. We, at least I, am open to some suggestions. Please let us know what you need from us to insure that these sort of events don’t happen anymore. Thanks God!!

Rain, rain and more rain

Rain water outside the school in Linton.

We must be getting some residual from the hurricanes or maybe just some normal fall rains, not really sure since I didn’t check the forecast. We knew it would rain today and oh boy do we need it. The garden and all of the fields will be happy to drink the wonderful water, but….it is so cold. There are reports of snow in Montana in the higher elevations, again a wonderful sound as it will likely put a stop to the fires where it is falling. All good as long as it warms up again when the moisture quits. We have not officially made it to fall on the calendar, so we are not so interested in seeing winter on the ground.

Today was Homecoming for the football team. The two schools, Linton and HMB both had some in school activities of their own then those who were free or so inclined, headed to Linton for the final big Pep Rally. Up in HMB where I have been working as a substitute, the high school finished off the interschool volleyball tourney early this afternoon, there was a mini-pep rally with introductions of the volleyball and football players and stats people then the entire school headed outside and down Main Street for a parade. It was pretty neat and I have some pictures, but cannot post them at this time.

I am in James’ classroom while the game is happening in Linton. I refuse to go outside because of the rain. I might melt like the witch in the Wizard of Oz. I would be heard fizzling into nothing screaming, “I’m melting, I’m melting!!!” We cannot have that because of the plans for the weekend. We are heading to Jamestown in the morning for a weekend with the girls. The twins will be baptized by none other than grandma, me!! It will be at First Congregational UCC there which is where all three of our girls were baptized as was Jaxon, so this is sort of THE place for us. Anyway, I will enjoy the weekend, I hope. We are packing the swim suits and hope to have a fun time in the pool with the grandkids on Saturday night.

Last comment about tonight. I would have gone home with my sister, but I heard the game was on the local access channel and I decided to stay in the school and watch. Great idea!! The game is on the channel that the school does not get, so I am listening to it on the radio, but not the same as watching. I still refuse to go out and stand in the rain. Every time I walked outside today, it felt like I was soaking wet when I got inside, not my idea of fun! Oh well, we love the rain, I will just keep telling myself!!! Enough your weekend!!!

Smoke from a distant fire

sunrise 9-13-17

We have been having these awesome sunrises and sunsets because of the smoke in the air from the wild fires in Montana and Canada. Today it was a bit much. The smoke was so bad you could taste it. We are in the northern part of South Dakota so sometimes we get in on these things, but consider it comes all the way through North Dakota before it gets to us. Victoria said that Dickinson, ND was so bad that all sports were called off for the day. We also heard that in Bismarck the children were not allowed outside for recess because of the smoke and some particles in the air. Here is was acrid and hazy as you can see from the pictures scattered through this post.

For those of you not familiar with the area here is how to explain our states. North and South Dakota are somewhat rectangles. Say in proportion about a 4 high by 8 long. If you fold it in half side to side that is the place we live just inside the South Dakota border on the east side of the fold. Now take the North Dakota rectangle and fold or divide it in thirds top to bottom and draw a line on that bottom fold, that is Interstate 94. Make that line like a time line and in the middle where the zero is, that is Bismarck, so if it is 8 from one end to the other that makes Jamestown at positive 2 and Dickinson at -2, anyway that is my short geography lesson for today.

Haze today

This is all I know for now. It was a long day at church with Ministerial meeting this morning and quilting this evening. I managed a trip to the Health Care Center which was good. I also saw the chiropractor before I left town. She adjusted my hip, knees and ankles and told me to drink more water and walk more to remove the toxins from my joints. Hurrah!! Just what I want to do in this heat and smoky air. At least the water sounds like a good idea, maybe I will get started now. Take care and stay out of the haze!!

Morning in the garden

Morning Glories

Sunflowers looking for the sunrise

Sunrise August 30, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

This morning was beautiful as we were leaving for school. I grabbed a few pictures to share. Nothing else to say. Sending prayers to all the people in the path of the storms and the floods down south.

Rain clouds

Clouds to the south over the trees.

Looking north

I took these pictures a few days ago, but the sky isn’t much different tonight. I went to check the garden (found a cucumber) and James went to dump the kitchen compost container, and we both barely made it into the house before the rain began to smatter against the windows. It was not much rain this evening, but enough to keep the pool closed. Paulina will not be getting much of a final check at this rate. Either no children come, or the weather sets in and they have to leave after an hour or two this whole week. It sounds like next week will pretty much be the end because the other guards are leaving to return to school, and they really have not had anyone there. It was plenty hot and busy in June, so I guess that is just how this summer is going.

It is good that we are getting this rain now, at least some of the crops will be salvaged, and perhaps there will be a little moisture going into the ground for hope of something better next spring. James talked to his brothers and it sounds like the row crops will be a little less than a great crop, but at least it is better than if the heat would have continues. Also, I am hopeful that this means the pastures will be ok. Half of what we own is pasture land, and I am always concerned for how that holds up.

James and I were in Bismarck today to pick up my aunt from the airport as she came back from Phoenix. She had been there since the middle of July or so. It was just a little less than a month, and I think time for her to get home. Ha!! I don’t know how many times this past week, I wanted to pick up the phone and ask her to come over for coffee or just sit on the porch, and then I remembered she wasn’t here yet.

One of the best things about the trip to Bismarck was that we really didn’t have much time to shop, so it was plan what we needed and get to it. I liked the idea because not buying is my new best way to eliminate clutter. We did purchase a few needed items, and then we browsed the canning area where I picked up some lids and both powdered and liquid pectin for making jelly. I need to get at those choke cherries tomorrow afternoon, no excuses. I also bought a larger embroidery hoop to do those towels that I stamped yesterday. I put a new bulb in the light beside my rocking chair, now I have no excuse for not doing those towels as I watch television at night. Hmmmm.

I learned that I won’t need to start my long-term substitute job on the first day of school because they are going to have the students stay with the regular classroom teachers on the first week until they get the schedules all in place. I will be starting on the last Monday in August and stay until the teacher is back. Ya!! I enjoy that room and am looking forward to being there. I know most of the students and the other teachers, and it is one of those really small schools that just feels like home.

Well, enough for tonight. I am supposed to be finishing my message, and I just can’t get to it even though I pretty well know what I want to say. These are the times, I would love to use note cards and a few key words and just talk. I am always afraid to do that because I might never get to the point and end it. I already carry on too long for some people in the audience (mostly family, Ha ha!!). Catch you later.

Sorting, washing, organizing…

We spent today sorting many of the boxes that we dug out of the closet and up from the basement. We also dug out more boxes from almost every corner of the house. Sadly we didn’t completely clean any of those corners. I keep hoping for some time yet this summer and into the fall. At least the closet looks better, and it feels so much bigger. James and I sort of agree that it is because of all those craft boxes that have been removed, and also because of the new shoe shelf, which allowed for us to toss out that ugly broken shoe stand. Yipee, it was nothing by a pain that I tripped over and it scratched up the floor.

Sweatshirts drying on the line.

So, the bedroom looked pretty cluttered yet last night. We drug most of the boxes of clothes downstairs, and I am about 3/4 of the way through washing everything. Most of it will end up on the rummage sale. I have picked a few things to put away for another day, about four items to keep, and an arm load of old t-shirt material items to add to the stack slated to be cut into t-shirt yarn for to crochet rugs. I also have a pile of jeans to be cut into quilt squares. Like I said, I am hoping to get to some of these projects this fall. If I have to do it in the evenings, I am thinking that I will need to invest in a decent light.

The best part of it all is that I was able to find homes for the sheets in the towel closets in the two bathrooms upstairs. We also fit the boxes of pictures into the computer room for now, and James went through a box of old pay stubs and bills, and was able to toss everything except one envelope of information about the concrete in front of our house. He put that in with files of other house upgrades. I also threw away some boxes, but still need to figure out how to let go of those balloons. I mean really, I think I have every myelin balloon that was ever given to anyone in this family. In 35 years, that is a lot of balloons.

Our real goal this summer was to get the basement emptied of some of the junk there, so we can actually use it as livable space. As it was we took about five boxes up stairs from there. Paulina went through her suitcase of Bratz dolls and a couple of other containers and organized things better. I think there was even some garbage generated in the sorting. In going through containers, she found some of the pieces for certain of her dolls, so they can now be stored away for when she ever has her own place.

Workbench that may become a plant holder, or a seat, not sure yet.

She has identified a few of the old pieces of furniture that she is willing to take to college. She and her friend, Katie, will be living in a campus apartment this year, and so they have room and need for more than just their clothes. They won’t need a fridge, but I can send some dishes and baking supplies, which should help clear out some of the kitchen areas, too. Yaaaa!!! All these things go with the idea that they are not to come back. Haha, as if that idea has worked well in the past. I also identified a few pieces that I would like to see removed from the house and not brought back inside. One of them ended up on the porch for now, not sure if it is going up for sale in the near future, or just staying outside.

Plant mess

Last evening as we were working in the house there was a short rainstorm outside. When the wind came up, we just ignored it, which is not something we ever do. When I went downstairs to put a box on the dining room table, I peeked out to the porch from the living room and found a slight disaster. The plants that had been sitting on the ledge and the little table were on the floor and some of them were completely out of their pots. I did the best I could to stand them up and put them back together, but I am afraid the little aloe vera plants will not survive.

Tent is doing well!

After my fiasco with the plants,  I was soaked and needed to change. By that time James realized the wind had picked up, and he ran out to see if the tent needed to be taken down, then he was soaked. He had put it up in the morning to see if it was still usable. We have had that thing since 1992 when we were chaperons for the Senior Class trip that was a canoe/camping trip in Minnesota. That was the only time we ever went camping away from home. The only other times we used that tent was with track meets. It was along at the 1997 State Meet in Minot and Jessica, Victoria, Paulina and Sarah Wiley stayed in there through the whole meet. We were really afraid that Paulina would try to get out and run around (she was only 2) but they must have had enough toys along to keep themselves occupied. It was great.

Well, James decided not to chance taking it down during the storm thinking it would do more harm than good. This morning when he went out to check on it, there were only a few damp spots in it. Apparently all the years packed away in the basement have not done it any harm. Hope the kids have fun playing in it this weekend. James is thinking that Jaxon might enjoy camping out with grandpa on Friday night. We shall see how long that lasts. I wonder how high they would jump if someone snuck outside and tried to scare them????

 

Foggy day, foggy sinuses

Well Monday isn’t much better in terms of the sinus/sore throat/can’t breathe situation. I woke this morning worse than Saturday, or so I felt. I was up yesterday at 5 a.m. and never did sleep until after midnight. I have been miserable since the last of the pills wore off on Saturday. I am hoping to get some today. I tried at the local pharmacy place, but not the kind I like to use and I am too stubborn to try something different.

This morning the sun was shining and the sunrise was actually fairly pretty, but when I looked outside at 9 a.m. I was shocked at what I saw. A massive fog had moved in and it was really thick, but so bright that it hurt your eyes to look at it. Actually today everything hurts my eyes, they don’t stop watering. It feels like the mucus is so tight behind my eyes that they are nearly popping out. I know this is really an appetizing and wonderful blog to read, NOT!!

I was planning to skip out on track practice today, but I am thinking if we are outside, I probably can’t germ up anyone. I am also supposed to sub tomorrow for the computer teacher, so I will try to pull it together to fulfill that obligation. I am really hoping to get a few more sub dates this spring to help reload the savings account since I found out what the synod trip is going to set us back, yikes. We will probably be doing one of those credit card roll over things which is so not advised by the money experts, but sometimes you do what you must. I just know there won’t be any crazy purchases or wild trips in our lives after this.

Enough of this wailing and gnashing of teeth. I better take a hot shower and head north. Maybe I can catch a nap in the van before practice. Sitting up seems to be the only way I can sleep. No just to make sure that I wait until the van is parked before I take the snooze. Catch you later. O, by the way the sunrise picture at the top is from a couple of weeks ago, but it was nearly that pretty early this morning, too.