Red Moon

We've had some awesome moons this weekend. I finally got a picture of it, not the greatest picture but it still looks pretty neat.

Today hubby is working on the kitchen light. The thing has been trouble for some time so we're replacing it with one of those new LED panels. Hopefully it will be an improvement over the fluorescent panel. Of course it doesn't just "sit in" to the suspended grid as advertised - go figure.

It's another scorcher this week with high temps and high humidity, blech :P but next week looks more comfortable in the 60's. The cherry tomatoes are blooming like crazy so we've been eating those like crazy, I always miss them in the winter, you just can't buy tomatoes like that in the store.

This is a picture of a pansy that is in a pot of flowers from the Grandkids, it's one of my favorites.

Fate

Yesterday while we were out gallivanting we were at a Moving Sale and they had a sign out that said "Hobby Farm priced to sell" so we inquired about it. Turn out the place is for sale because the owners had moved to North Dakota. Frank and I both thought, "What a great place this would be for Angie and family". Then we went out about our day.

This afternoon Angie calls, they're out looking at houses (Really?!) so I give them directions to the place we looked at yesterday - they're in love with it! So hopefully it will work out. Seems they want to be closer to us than 10 miles. Well, this place is 4 - 5 miles away, not exactly walking distance but still closer. I agree it would be nice.

So we got to spend some time with them this afternoon - Grandpa even got a few hands of Go Fish in with the kiddo's.

Gallivanting Day

We had quite the morning. First we drove down to Snellman Junk to see what was new, found a few things but apparently they aren't going to stay there. We enjoyed stopping in there, she was always friendly and they have a good selection of "high values".

After that, we stopped at a Moving Sale and then the area Fun Fly. We enjoy watching the rc planes flying and the fliers usually take the time to answer questions - I nice bunch of folks. This year we noticed a young boy flying his plane with his father close by, he did a great job.

We talked to the man that owns the plane in the top photo, it's not a cheap hobby - $10,000 worth right there. Too rich for my blood but we enjoy stopping in to watch and support the group.

Birthday celebration II

This has been a hectic week at work but tonight was card night. We've been playing cards for years with the neighbors every Friday night. We have snacks, visit, and play cards. It's a nice way to end a busy week. When one of us has a birthday we celebrate that too. Tonight was Red Velvet creme roll cake and Red Velvet Ice Cream - YUM! And tonight my team won, how great is that?

Happy Birthday to me

Today was my birthday so after work I came home and our youngest daughter was here with the grandsons. She made me a great sign for my garden and helped Frank with my birthday dinner - Lasagna and all the fixings (even homemade bread!).

Later Mike (Angie's husband) and 2 of the other grandkids came out and had dinner with us. It's the first time they've been here in a long time due to a family conflict. It was great to have them all here though.

I am so blessed.

The Crafting Continues

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this overlay crochet thing. I'm still considered a newbie since I've only been crocheting a couple years. Seems like I always have to try the most difficult stuff, probably because it's the nicest looking.

It's coming along, I believe it will take me longer to weave in the ends than to create the project. Not sure on the colors yet either but we'll see how it looks at the end. It will make a nice pot holder if nothing else.

We have a guy here cutting the hay in the field, he cuts it once a year and usually later than we'd like but at least it will be cut and, hopefully, green up some for the livestock  deer this fall. They enjoy nibbling and we enjoy seeing them. We notice the fawns have grown quite a bit already, they still have spots though.

Ok, back to the mandala....

Feeling Crafty

It must be coming on winter because I'm feeling like doing crafts again. I started a crochet mandala pattern that I bought. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

This is a photo of it that someone else crafted. I'm hoping mine at least resembles it. 

Neither of us felt like having leftover soup so we decided to head down to Menahga and have a burger at the Cottage House restaurant. It was good (as usual) and it was a nice treat.

Friend on the window

This is what we were greeted with this morning

He has probably got a pretty active buffet in this location, right above the water barrel where a lot of bugs hang out.

Kind of a cool misty/rainy day here in central Minnesota. Temp is 68, it's a good day to work inside. I think it's a good soup making day. I have some corn still from our friend so I think I may make some Corn Chowder. 

Milo had day camp today (poor kid), hope he has fun in spite of the weather. Hubby is having coffee with a friend, solving all the worlds problems I'm sure. Guess I'll start shucking that corn...

Great News

Angie's CT Scan results came back and they're fine - whatever they saw on the X-ray didn't show up at all. What a relief!

The boys started their home school year too. Yesterday while they were here we picked up acorns for some of their crafty projects.

Milo is in 1st grade

Rowan is in Tot School (He's only 2)

Family Time

Got to spend some time with Angie and the boys this afternoon, there were lots of giggles and fun all around. I had to return to work for a couple hours so Frank got to spend time with them too. It's amazing how much life kids bring into a house. When they go home it's so QUIET!

Projects with the boys are already in the works with Grampa for the upcoming winter. The boys, being 2 and 5,  have so much energy and love of learning and Grampa has alot of knowledge to share with them. It should be alot of fun.

Communication interruption

Today started out in the wee hours with an issue at the workplace where the Email communications came to a screeching halt. A person doesn't realize just how dependent they are on this system of communication until something like this happens.

It is not yet resolved at end of day but tomorrow is a new day so, hopefully, things will be rectified.

The CT Scan our daughter was to have today didn't go as planned either. For some reason the wrong test was ordered by the Dr. so it's a waiting game. The test has been reordered and supposed to take place early Friday morning so fingers are still crossed here.

Weather wise it was downright chilly here today - and windy. Not a great combo. I love the cooler weather but coat weather wasn't quite what I was hoping for, I almost feel bad for all the tourists here on vacation without appropriate clothing. Good for clothing sales in the area I suppose. Sweatshirts were probably a "hot" commodity - no pun intended.

Fingers Crossed

I had a conversation with our youngest daughter, Angie, today. She thinks her sinuses are better but when they took an x-ray they found something that concerned them - and now all of us!

They feel she could have a risk of hemorrhage at the base of her skull and so she is scheduled for 2 CT scans tomorrow, 1 with contrast and 1 without.

We all have our fingers crossed that it is nothing to worry about (even though we are still worrying).

Manic Monday

Today was pretty busy with work but I did get a chance to chat with Crystal for awhile, both of us traveling to different jobs. I tried to get ahold of Angie tonight but she was probably already sleeping. I hope she's feeling better she had a sinus infection the last time we talked.

Cooper found a new prize and he was anxious to show it to me when I got home - a big piece of a log, he was pretty proud of it. Frank had been sawing wood so Coop nabbed that right away - that dog has sure got some strength to carry that big thing around!

I'll have to snap a pic of him carrying it and add it.

End of the Heat Wave

Today is supposed to be the end to our current heatwave. It can't end soon enough if you ask me. Why do people say things like, " At least it's not 20 below" when it's hot. At that moment 20 below would be a welcome reprieve!

It feels great this evening, a definite drop in the humidity level. We even went all out and turned off the A/C. I am glad we have the A/C but am always ready to opt for opening the windows and getting some fresh air.

Even the animals have been struggling because if the heat and humidity isn't bad enough the bugs seem to thrive in that atmosphere. We had a doe and fawn on the field last night and you could tell they were being "bugged". I'm sure just getting out of the woods was helpful.

Tomorrow should be a change for the better, the forecast is for cooler and drier weather for the week. Yippee!

This is what greeted me in my car after work yesterday, uffda!

Ancestors

I have had a good time the last couple years doing our family ancestry. I have a subscription on Ancestry and have picked up alot at the familysearch.org site as well. This is a picture of my Grandfather on my Dad's side.

He was supposedly born in February 1881 in Dekalb County, Illinois but as the story goes, he was raised in an orphanage and the folks there gave him his last name. Makes researching pretty difficult. He passed away in 1974, I was only 12 so I have limited memories of him.

Strange how some lines are so easy to follow and others come to an abrupt halt pretty quickly. The information is not always accurate either - it's been a learning curve. 

Passing the torch

I got a call from both daughters today. It's always great to hear from them. They have very different lives. The oldest daughter is very career driven and loves to plan and take vacations. She is in the midst of planning a Christmastime trip to celebrate her mates sons 21st birthday. They are planning a weekend in Las Vegas. Not my thing but I know a lot of people that enjoy gambling. She is getting ready to take her test to be a certified Property Appraiser. I couldn't be prouder of her, she's worked long and hard for this.

Our youngest daughter is a Stay at home Mom. She also homeschools our Grandkids. She was excited about doing everything homemade. She had just made Granola Bars and fresh bread. It reminded me of the years I spent as a Stay at home Mom. It is one of the hardest and sometimes thankless jobs there is. But it is so worth it, in my opinion. I am proud of the way she is working with the boys, she definitely goes the extra mile.

So, very different lives but each very important. I am blessed beyond words.

Unwanted Pests

I have an old boiler out front that I plant annuals in every year. Last year a tree sprouted in there but I left it there. I figured it wasn't hurting anything. This year it was much bigger and definitely a poplar tree. Still no biggy until it was overtaken by worms. I didn't get a picture of them but they would line each leaf and eat it entirely. Well, that was enough of that, I got the big pruner and cut it down. I'll have to dig out the roots this fall when the flowers die back. I don't know what kind of worms they are but they are small and, apparently, hungry.

I had entertained the idea of relocating it somewhere else, maybe out by the pond - pre worm infestation. Oh well, what do you do? Sure looks bare in that planter with it gone though.

Thrifting

Today was just alot of working so I am going to blog about last Friday instead. We took off around 11 and stopped at one of our favorite places for lunch - Bullwinkles in Nevis, It was awesome as usual. Then we drove on to Akeley to do some thrifting. Thrifting is what I consider recycling for a good cause. The people at the Akeley ARCC (aka the Akeley Mall) have a big job keeping track of all their donations and they are always there to greet the public with a helping hand and a smile. While driving through on one of our prior trips I noticed a sign painted on one of the old buildings on "Main Street" in Akeley, I got a chuckle out of it so I felt the need to snap a picture of it.

Since it was wintertime we didn't consider the idea of actually dancing but someday we just might!

I think it's Sunday

Hubby made one of my favorites for breakfast this morning - blueberry pancakes. Cooper is also a fan. It's a ritual Sunday mornings that Cooper gets "human" food for breakfast, I think pancakes is one of his favorites too.

I have to go in to work this afternoon for a project that is starting tomorrow. I usually don't work on the weekends but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Weather is much cooler this morning - much better breathing weather for Frank. We had a light show last night in the SE of almost constant lightening. The sky was filled with stars above us though. I wanted to capture it but to date have been unable to successfully photograph much of anything at night. I did, however, find a picture online of it that someone else captured by Vergas, MN. Credit to Wunderground site.

Second bloom on my old roses - I call them my Gramma roses since they came from my Gramma's place. She passed away in 1970 but a piece of her remains in my garden.

First Post

This is my first post in this blog. I think it will be just a day to day journal of our lives. My Mother kept a daily journal which I have found comforting since her passing so, hopefully, this will be something our daughters will enjoy when we are no longer on this earth.

It's a lazy Saturday here on the Sprucehaven Farm - named by family vote almost 12 years ago when we moved here. It's warm and humid today which makes it a tough day for hubby, he was diagnosed a couple years ago with severe COPD. So, it will probably be an inside day today.