Monday, June 29, 2015

In Case You Were Wondering.....

What am I doing right now?  Well.....dinner is on the stove, staying warm.  It's 4:50pm.  BH is out in the back 5(acres), behind the old farm house, throwing the rest of his chopped wood into the basement.  He said there was about 200 pieces left.....out of the 5200 he had stacked outside.  You read that right.....5200 pieces.  Which is our wood supply for next winter.  "It'll only take me a half hour or so".

I'm assuming there should have been an underline in the "or so".  We had no lunch today...so I'm starving.  I wanted to eat before 5pm so the kitchen would be cleaned up at a reasonable hour and we could relax for the evening.  I think I missed that train.

What's for supper?   Grilled (in the house) salmon, rice/w stir fry veggies, Waldorf salad and wheat bread.  Jello for dessert.  I haven't made Waldorf salad in many moons.  Can't wait to have it again!

Well, they're calling for thunderstorms tonight.  I opened the windows about 4:15 after having the A/C and all the fans running all day.  85 we had for a temp and a bit on the humid side.

I also blew a fuse.  The second one in 2 days.  The first time in about 20 years.  I guess I need to watch what's running on the same circuit a bit better.  I think it's because we moved the higher BTU  A/C into the family room on that line. 

So I guess the A/C, 2 fans and the dryer can't be used at the same time.  Ohhhhh.......Oleeever......Oleeeever..........(my favorite saying from "Green Acres").   Remember how Lisa had to unplug the coffee pot to plug in the toaster?  Yeah....it's that kind of thing.

Ok.  He's here.  Time for supper.   Mmmmmmm........

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Whirlwind.......

Pretty much this month.   So we took son to the Martina McBride concert last Friday.  It was amazing!!  She is a great performer.  We thoroughly enjoyed the evening......and son is still talking about it.  I took videos with my camera and converted them to a DVD for him.  He got to shake her hand at the end of the concert...he was the first and only one at the edge of the stage for the last song.






Yep...that's him in the first photo.  He says he'll carry this memory with him forever.....no doubt!

Got the word from granddaughter 2 days ago.....her unit will be leaving for Kuwait on June 30.  There's talk they'll be serving in Iraq as well.  God bless them all.

I've got 1 more room to do for the annual cleaning.  Plan to get at it today.  Then I'm done with all the inside work; time to move outside.  Not my favorite thing....outside....in the summer.  The heat, humidity, bugs......LOTS of bugs....of every species.  Of course, no shortage of mosquitos.....the state bird of Minnesota.

No knitting has taken place this month.  Lots of spinning though.  However, why does it always seem that the closer you get to finishing a fiber, the longer it takes.  It seems like there's no end to this particular color.  And my patience is running thin.  I want to get it done and move on to another.

Grandson's graduation party is today.  We will not be attending.  A very, very long story.  Lots of drama from our son and his fiancé.
They have pulled us into a nasty situation which we have nothing to do with.  And now there's a lot of anger on their part at us, and a lot of hurt on our side. The fact that invitations were sent out a couple of weeks ago....but we received ours just Wednesday.  Grandson was supposed to stop by our home Sunday to invite us personally, but never showed nor called.   It makes us feel like it was never intended for us to be part of the celebration; a last minute thought or decision on their part.  Oh well.  We've been through this before with another adult kid.  This is NOT the family I grew up in.  This is NOT my parents' family.   Never will be.  What a rotten shame.

So....cleaning today; taking daughter grocery shopping tomorrow.  That takes a few hours.

More rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  We've been getting quite a bit of rain.  I wanted so bad to douse the flowers with MiracleGrow to make them "thicker and lusher" as the advertising says, but they're wet enough with Mother Nature's help.

Still don't have the screen house up yet.  BH promises it'll be up by the Fourth of July.  We'll see......

And that's all the news from Upnorth, MN.   Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Catching Up.......

Well, it's been pretty busy here in the beautiful land of loons.  Talked to granddaughter a couple of times; she's doing well in Texas.  Still no news yet as to when they'll be shipping out for Iraq.

So I've been catching up on the Spring cleaning.  2 more rooms left to do...I'm thrilled!  Then it's on to finishing up some outside projects and doing the unpacking of boxes.

There's been plenty of spinning going on; some knitting, though I haven't been "feeling" it for the past couple of weeks.  The white vest got washed and blocked yesterday...pictures coming soon.

My uncle died a few weeks ago, 84 yrs. old.  He's had Alzheimer's for a number of years and cancer.  My father's younger brother. Now there's only 1 sibling left....their youngest brother who will be 80 next month....and I might add, in very good health.

BH and I are taking sonwhomovedherefromSCsome years ago, to the Martina McBride concert in southern MN. tomorrow.  We ordered the tickets about 3 months ago, as a surprise for him and a "thank you" for all the work he does around here when he visits.

Not to mention that he is TOTALLY in love with Martina!!  He has every album and a few video concerts....that he watches over and over again. 

It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from our home to the event.  And we're planning on driving home tomorrow night.  Not looking forward to that.  I hate driving at night....especially when we start getting back into the rural areas.  And....it's supposed to rain/w thunderstorms all day and into the night.  But we're taking an overnight bag just in case we feel it necessary to stop somewhere for the night.

Saturday I'm planning the Father's Day doings....because there's more rain and thunderstorms predicted for Sunday.  Hopefully, Saturday will be ideal for a cookout.  I cut up a watermelon this morning; got the potatoes on the boil for salad; going to the store and pick up some cheap steaks(??) and throw in some brown beans.  Daughter who lives in town now will be coming over, son will still be here, so it'll be a good day.

Next weekend is grandson's high school graduation party.  South of the Cities.  Another 3 hour drive down there.  And we will be coming home that night.  For sure.  Unless, of course, we're not invited.  That remains to be seen.  A huge problem has developed over the past couple of weeks between son, fiancé, granddaughter, and has spilled over onto us.  But more about that later.....or...not.

I'm so looking forward to July!  After the 4th, of course.  I hate holidays...except for Christmas.  Then we'll be free from any obligations....and can get on with our own plans.  Fingers crossed.

We still don't have the screen house up yet...too much rain, grass cutting and cool weather.  The A/C's have been sitting in the house for a few weeks....not set up yet.  We've had some very cool weather lately.  But, hey....that means the electric bill won't be going through the roof for another month.

Well, chickies.....gotta get to the store and continue on the tasks for today.   Wishing you all beautiful sunshine, comfortable temps and peaceful days.   Happy Father's Day to all your BH's !!!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Flying By.....

Wow....another month has gone by with barely a notice.  All the days seem to be running together lately.  The calendar for the past 3 months have been filled with appointments, reminders, birthdays, graduations, etc.  It almost looks like we're really very socially active people!  Not.

So, I finally heard from my brother and SIL about the sweater.  She absolutely loves it!!  Was sooo happy to receive it.  Even sent me a note from herself.   Whew.

I finished the white vest, but it needs to be washed and blocked.  Actually, I haven't even had time to do that, much less pose it and take pictures.  But I will....eventually.   So I started a pair of socks a few weeks ago.  Which, sorry to say, have been languishing in the tote bag more than being worked on.  Lost the mojo, I guess.

You know how it is when you have a million things on your mind, hundreds of things to do, and everyone seems to have a problem with something or someone.   Good grief.

Granddaughter left on Sunday for Ft. Hood, Texas.  She'll be undergoing more training before being deployed......to what was supposed to be Kuwait.....but she found out last night, may most likely be Iraq.   For 7 months.  Possibly 1 year.  

I'm sick.  We love her with all our hearts; we pray for her every day; we support her totally; she's very strong and determined for a gal-soldier who just turned 20 last week.  But when is this INSANITY going to END???
14 YEARS!!   REALLY????  How many more battered lives?  How many more deaths?  How many more destroyed families??   Have we REALLY made any difference in an area we never should have stuck our big, arrogant, self-important noses in???  No.   How much more money are "we" willing to spend on a fruitless endeavor while our country is going to hell??

We're BANKRUPT, remember??!!!  

Sorry.  This is just one of a half-dozen issues we've been dealing with over the past month.  Sometimes you just have to blow it all out before getting back in the game.

So....here's some photos.  We met her fiancé's family for the first time....wonderful, wonderful family.   My brother, SIL (not the sweater ones), our youngest son, were all there for her Deployment Ceremony and saying good-bye the next day before the unit boarded the bus for the airport.







We love you, honey.  God bless and keep you and all your buddies safe and bring you home soon.