Sleepless in Minnesota

Saying good bye to a great exhibit

2012-01-02T23:19:00.002-06:00

Today was the last day to see the Smithsonian New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music exhibit at the museum. We decided to serve cookies, apple cider and coffee and had a steady stream all day until around 5:30. I feel nostalgic about seeing this exhibit leave knowing it is the last Smithsonian that I will have been in charge of getting for the historical society. It was one that I had wanted us to have when I first heard about it four years ago. Music haunts each of our days. It is the thing that takes to and from work on our radio, it is what we often listen to when we can't sleep at night, it hails the opening of the Christmas season and rings in the New Year. It accompanies when we are at work, in the plant, on the tractor, or in the truck like I was when I worked for USX at Mintac.

One of the things that never fails to impress me is how many types of music have developed in the United States. Country, Rock & Roll, Blues and Jazz, Gospel, and freedom songs by such people as Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan. Many of these songs became a part of my life when they were developed and therefore are a part of who I am.
I thought it would be enjoyable to share some of the high spots of the programs and exhibit.

More later!

It is time to say good bye to this wonderful exhibit and thank the many people who helped us with the wonderful programs that made the exhibit such a bell ringer for the historical society. Our visitor count for the month of December has out done any count I can remember -1,832 visitors and over 300 more who attended our Christmas Harmonies program at the Roseau Community School Theatre.

Lots going on!

2012-01-02T23:02:00.001-06:00

Started baking . . . again, this time it is the right Christmas cookies. Last night I baked two batches to cookies, pecan sandies and Cinnamon balls. I have butter and cream cheese in a bowl just waiting for it to soften a bit so I can mix up a double batch of Teatime Tassies. Michelle and I were talking about cookie baking for Christmas and she said her favorite was the Pecan Tassies. I guess I would have to agree. So far I have 4 dozen of our favorite cookies done and when the tassies are done it will probably somewhere over 6. That is plenty! Oh, but then I remember, we had a cookie exchange at church about two weeks ago and those are in a tin freezing.

Last week, we had a RCHS board meeting. I always try to have a special Christmas luncheon/dinner, we meet at 5:30. I usually serve a meat and cheese tray, crackers and some of the board members bring cookies or some sort of Christmas bread.Irene Olson makes the best Christmas bread I have ever tastes and it is so pretty. This year, we added a veggie tray. We always order enough so that the staff can enjoy it also. Our staff is very dedicated and does such a great job, I really appreciate all they do to make my life at work easier.

Yesterday, several friends and acquaintances were invited to an annual Christmas lunch at a special friend's home. Linda is a wonderful host; gracious woman and wonderful cook. It is always great fun to visit with friends and enjoy the food she serves. Thanks Linda for a delightful afternoon and Merry Christmas!

Events!

2011-12-05T19:01:00.000-06:00

Today was the dedication of the City of Roseau scupture. The detail is wonderful! The history regarding all of the animals, humans and insects add so much to the interest of it. Following the dedication the Roseau Area Friends of the Library held their annual Christmas Treasures program and tea. Excellent music and wonderful stories. Two of our Toastmasters, Ed Alexander and Gwen Sallberg presented stories for the program. It was also enjoyable to see Daisy and Seraphina Johnston sing two songs, Away in a Manger and Angels we have Heard on High. They were precious to watch. Their mother, April, played the piano for them while dad sat near in case of problems. The two little ones were a great hit.

Next Sunday the Roseau County Historical Society will hold their Christmas program, Christmas Harmonies, at the school. It will have a wonderful selection of music and stories.

Last night, the branch had the Christmas party. We had entertainment by several of the branch members, including myself. Stories and music from religious to humorous was enjoyed. Twas the Night Before Christmas has always been one of my favorite Christmas stories so that is what I did. I asked all children under six to come up and help me read the story by filling in the words I *couldn't remember*. They were impressive, knew all the words!

Today, Ashley flew home to her parents in Taiwan to have the baby there. One good thing, James had only three trip per month so hopefully he will be able to travel back and forth a bit between trips. A one and a half-hour trip to see your wife doesn't sound like much.

I am looking forward to retiring next June 30th. One of my goals is to see the new grandson-to-be in Hong Kong.

Last week I turned in the two Christmas socks I finally completed for the December babies born in the hospital. It brought back so many memories. James was born on December 12th so we brought him home in a Christmas sock. Sometimes it is amazing how things go around!

Smithsonian traveling exhibit - "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music Opened Sunday!

2011-11-17T22:12:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, the Roseau County Museum held the ribbon cutting for the Smithsonian traveling exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music. What a great exhibit, it touches on all genres of music developed in the United States and the history of the times the music was developed. Roseau County Commissioner Roger Falk cut the ribbon.

In the above photo left to right: Britt Dahl, RLou Specher, Charleen Haugen, Roger Falk,and behind Falk, Marie Kompelien, and board members Lola Grafstrom, Ida Novacek, Harriet Heinen, and Helen Wagner.

Over 80 people attended the event which was followed by a catered dinner. We were pleased to have Elizabeth DeSoto of the Minnesota Humanities Center attend the ribbon cutting and dinner.

This was an exhibit that people thoroughly enjoyed and several came back to look at it when I went in to work Monday and Thursday. Music always seems to leave one with a memories; memories of songs sung with friends, dances, first loves, the husband and wife song, said songs that remind us of parents or grandparents who have passed on, the cheaters and heart breakers or the hymn of faith that gives us hope. This exhibit includes all of that and more.

It is amazing that the United States was the birth place of so many different types of music, rock and roll, blues, jazz, disco, country western, songs of freedom. As I walked through the exhibit it reminded me of Patsy Cline and I fall to pieces. Elvis and Love me Tender. What are you favorite songs from days past?

Harvest of Hope Ensemble


Roseau Co. Commissioners Roger Falk and Jack Swanson

As one can see this is a very fun exhibit!

New Harmonies a taste of culture in Warroad

2011-11-07T22:38:00.020-06:00

What a wonderful concert at the Warroad School last week! It was put together under the direction of Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay and Julian Hines through the Minnesota Humanities Center in connection with our upcoming Smithsonian exhibit, "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music." Fourteen very talented students, included several foreign exchange students entertained approximately 100 individuals at the school mini theater with song, dance, instrumental music, and poetry.

We had such wonderful responses following the program. One party emailed and said her husband had wanted her to go with him, so she did, taking her Kindle thinking she was going to get bored. She was so excited about the performance that she didn't check her Kindle once! She was looking forward to the next two programs we have this coming weekend. It is more than gratifying to receive comments like that.

These Warroad Students Rock!

Julian Hines - one of the workshop teachers.

Julian Hines, a dancer, shows a routine during the show.

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, the main workshop educator,
recites an award winning poem she wrote.

David Olson strummed his grandfather, Gust Nordval's guitar.
Gust purchased the guitar during WWII and recorded the places he was on it.

Warroad Advanced English teacher Kelsey Didrikson. Everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her.

I am looking forward to feasting on the upcoming music. We have so much going on. Saturday at 7:30 pm, we have "Stories of Music, Stories from Home" at the Roseau School Theater. During this performance, over 50 instruments will be played including some antique instruments. The program combines music and stories about community and home. On we open the exhibit! We are planning a ribbon cutting at 5 pm with a dinner at 6pm. This is going to be a wonderful event, I can just feel it!

Brian arrived from LA on Thursday. He spent most of Friday at Denise's shop putting makeup on the gals for the Diva Days Style Show at the Brick House. I think he said he did about 28 women. They looked fabulous when he was done. Nothing like have a pro put on your makeup! Saturday he had a booth at Diva Days, his first time. He is so generous, gave each person who attended the Diva Days Style Show a coupon for an eye lash curler to be picked up at his booth. Needless to say we were busy. He showed makeup tricks on several women who stopped by the booth. Many also signed up to take his Sunday afternoon and evening classed. The evening class was an advance class. I even learned some new tricks. I was his cashier. Took me a while to get use to the calculator and the credit card program, but I finally did.

James took his first real flight this past week. He flew the 340A from Hong Kong to Rome. He has three scheduled flights to Rome this month. I am looking forward to the day when I will get to fly to Hong Kong, that should be interesting.

They finally found an apartment. I am amazed at the size, it reminds me of our first apartment only I think ours was smaller, if that is possible! Their apartment is 630 square feet. Reminds me of the movie Two Weeks Notice ,starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock, when Hugh Grant steps out her parent's apartment.

Time to call it quits. Much to do tomorrow and I need a good nights sleep!

Project Mercy

2011-10-22T11:26:00.003-05:00

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25:40

As I was checking out the news portion of the LDS church website, I came across something referring to ATMIT, the nutritious supplement used in several countries to fight hunger and famine. Wanted to know more, I did some research and discovered that it has its connection with Marta Gabre-Tsadick of Ethiopia, the founder of Project Mercy.

In 1977, Marta Gabre-Tsadick, and her husband, Demeke Tekle-Wold, (photos of the two) and their dear friends, Pastor Charles and Fran Dickinson, established Project Mercy, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing emergency relief aid, educational assistance, and refugee relocation help to African refugees. In the 1980s through the 1990s, Marta initiated innovative food and sewing programs that enabled Project Mercy to distribute food and clothing to hundreds of thousands of starving, needy refugees from Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, and Ethiopia.

ATMIT was developed by Marta and today is supplementing the diets of children in several countries. An LDS church website made this comment about ATMIT.

"Atmit is an excellent source of nutrition," said Elder James W. Hansen, M.D., Ph.D., a medical adviser and a missionary for the Church Welfare Services Department. "It is a milk-containing oat-flour-based nutritional product that is a good complement to whatever nutrition might be available from local sources. It has been used successfully as a well-tolerated food in some cases of extreme starvation. It encourages self-reliance by requiring some preparation by the consumer and the availability of water and fuel for cooking."

Atmit also contains sugar, salt and supplemental vitamins and minerals. The formula was recently improved by Elder Hansen and Dr. Michael L. Dunn, Ph.D., a professor from the BYU Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science (see related article). A single serving provides 34 percent of the recommended daily allowance of protein, 43 percent of calcium, 99 percent of iron, and high percentages for a dozen vitamins and minerals for children under 5 years old. This formula helps them maintain some nutrition over a short period of time until crops are harvested and they can again thrive on a regular family diet.

For $6 dollars, US, this will feed a child for a month. What a value and what a wonderful use of our fast offering!

Volunteerism

2011-10-21T10:19:00.003-05:00

We had a hospital auxiliary meeting on Monday evening. One of the projects they needed help with was sewing Christmas stockings to put the babies in December in for their homecoming. I don't have a lot of time but wanted to assist this this project so took home two stocks. They are pretty cute and not hard to sew. I think I will look up the number of December births in 2010 to see how many are actually needed. My friend Mickie is also doing this project.

There is always a concern with how well the auxiliary is doing, we don't usually have many members attend the meetings but this meeting was the exception. There were about 30 there. We played a game called "Lucky Buck" where baskets are bid on. It was quite fun and an excellent fund raiser. I think over $300 was taken in on the game. All of the proceeds from fund raisers and membership go toward special projects for the hospital. I was quite impressed with what we were able to accomplish the fund raising. I will have to make some calls to find out what the projects were that the fundraising paid for.

Home for a few hours this morning before heading in to work a bit. Yesterday we completed the historical society fall newsletter and will mail that today. It is always a bit of a challenge to put together the newsletter. Right now we have so many things on our plate with the upcoming exhibit.
Britt spent the day working with the Sentence to Serve crew setting up our new exhibit platforms. They will be in again this morning. We have two new exhibits, a church exhibit and a parlor, music exhibit. It is a good thing we have the equipment we have to be able to do an exhibit such as this.
We do not have all of our exhibit poster designed yet. Have some of the info but not all of it. I would like to see us have more local photos but those don't seem to be coming in like we had hoped. Thank goodness we have photos from the Roseau Times Region from many years ago.

I just finished talking to James and Ashley. She is due to have their little boy in the beginning of February. They are very excited about that and have even considered the names already.

They go to an English speaking branch for church. There is about fifty or sixty members from many nationalities including the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. On Monday they went to the temple. I hear the Hong Kong temple is beautiful.

Thought for the day:
"I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil." — Deuteronomy 30:15
"The Lord has left no doubt in defining His side and where the Saints should be in their thoughts, words, actions and practices. We have His counsel in the scriptures and in the words of the prophets. To ancient Israel, the Lord said through Moses: 'I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil' (Deuteronomy 30:15). The Lord counseled His prophet Jeremiah to instruct the people: 'Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death' (Jeremiah 21: 8). That is the contrast; that is the choice. Either we are on the Lord's side of the line or on the side of the adversary," said the late Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin during a CES ( Church Educational System) devotional on Aug. 2, 1992 (Ensign, March 1993).
"The line between those who are on the Lord's side and those who follow the adversary has been with us from the beginning. Even before the creation of this world ... [and] has persisted throughout the history of mankind and will continue until the day of judgment when Jesus comes again in His glory."
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/61456/A-thought-from-the-scriptures.html

Fall's Arrival

2011-09-20T21:50:00.003-05:00

This summer complimented us with some of the nicest weather we have had for several years but like all good things it came to end last week when the temperatures plummeted thirty degrees and sent a killing frost.Our soybeans were spared damage only because they were the first crop we planted this spring. They will be ready harvest this week.

It is hard to believe that it has already been three weeks since I returned from my week in California. It went by so fast! It was the last time to see James and Ashley for quite a while. James had spent three weeks in Albuquerque in reserve working with his former unit with Ashley arriving the second week. They spent the last week in LA putting together their final shipping items. They have been staying at Cathay Pacific's hotel at the Hong Kong international airport where they have three months of time to locate an apartment. He is in ground school there now and received his roster for next month, his first flight with Cathay is to... Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Needless to say, he is very excited.

First thing, upon flying into LA, was to rent a car and head north to Michelle's and visit the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was the first time I had seen our 18 month old granddaughter Keria and of course she was adorable. Breanne and I spend Monday in their pool. Damen and I enjoyed the time together. I found out that he loves to splash everyone and even enjoys being splashed himself.

Our sweet little Keria!

Keria and Grandma

The time went by way too fast and on Tuesday am, the highway beaconed and I was driving back to Brian's in LA. That evening, Brian, James, Ashley and I went to dinner, something we did almost every night except the night Brian made us a fabulous chicken dinner.

We did spend one day at the beach. This sea gull decided to land about 10 feet from us. The day was beautiful and the surf something else! I am waiting for the photos the guys took of me with the surf behind me. Several people said the surf was the highest they had ever seen it. I walked out several times and when it came in a couple of time, the back flow took so much sand out from under my feet, I almost lost my balance.

Ashley and James enjoying their meal.

Ashley, James, me, and Brian at the Mexican restaurant on the last night.

Friday night, everyone wanted Mexican. I guess they don't have many Mexican restaurants in Hong Kong. This doesn't surprise me.We each had something different, but really didn't share much as we were too hungry. The night before James, Ashley, a friend of Ashley's and I went to dinner in Old Pasadena. We ate at this Argentine restaurant and I had a wonderful steak. When I am in LA, we hardly ever cook, just eat out. The variety of places to eat are endless which makes it such fun.

We spend as much time together as possible, considering James and Ashley had many things to take care of with this being their last week of life as they knew in it the U.S.. On Saturday, it was on the two planes, one bound for Fargo ND and the other to Hong Kong, as James and Ashley entered a new phase of their life together.

Relay for Life

2011-08-24T21:36:00.001-05:00

This year's Relay for Life was on August 12 at the Roseau City Park. The YaYa gang has their stall in the shelter on the far west near a parking lot. This is sure handy when we bring our things in.
Lots of people attended and the evening was very nice. I don't think any of the group was missing and the pot luck was delish!

This Relay for Life event honored both those who have had cancer and are survivors and those who did not survive. Within the past month, one of the families in our group had lost a loved one to cancer. A few years ago, another member had a son-in-law pass away. The luminaries tell the story of those who are now missing.My mother is one, although she was a breast cancer survivor who live an additional 30 years after having a breast removed.

JamesUpdate.

2011-08-10T07:23:00.001-05:00

Spoke to James this morning. He has spent the past two days taking his finals for Cathay Pacific Airlines. He received his assignment, he will be flying a A340 Airbus. He was first told a 747 but this was recently changed. He likes the routes for the Airbus, it flies to San Francisco and Vancouver in North America. He does not know where he will be stationed so that is still to come. He has about three months of more training in Hong Kong prior to this. Some is ground school.
It is another beautiful day in the neighborhood as Mr. Rodgers use to say. We have had a fabulous summer and it seems to continue to be that way. I am excited about the forecast for the Thursday, August 25, we are to have another nice day. We are hosting the singing group The WoodPicks at the Gazebo in Roseau. They play an acoustic mix of Gospel, Bluegrass/Country and Americana music, as well as their own songs. The first time I heard them was at the county fair this year. Great fun! Five talented guys!

Family Reunion

2011-08-10T07:12:00.000-05:00

The past three weeks were so busy. Michelle and Dave spent a week with us in July during the Roseau County Fair. Between visiting, going to the fair, and keeping up on the yard work, the week just flew.It had been several years since Michelle was home, and Dave had never been to the farm so it was great to have them both here.
Summer is her best time to do things like this as she is out of school and her students cut back on lessons so she has more free time. It will be back to school for her within a week. I think several of her music students have already started school so she is teaching more again. School starts in early August at most schools in California. They have longer breakers at other times of the year.

Today Brian and his friend, Frank, start a week-long hike in Yosemite. I would love to go along but I don't think I am capable to doing something like that anymore! They did suggest I come out and spend a couple of days at the Meadows where they would be camping at one time. Yosemite is one of our favorite places to visit when I go to see everyone. Last time James and Michelle did the bike riding thing. She said it was great fun going off the road and onto a trail where you so things you don't otherwise.

Last weekend was the Ross Family Reunion in Grand Rapids. I had planned on spending three days but was ill on Friday so didn't go until Saturday. There were about seventy of us, mostly the Minnesota clan. My Uncle Ron from Oregon has been in the Range area since my Aunt Renee passed away and at Uncles Bryce's for several weeks. It was great to see both of them and the cousins. Bob and Marie had vacation time and encouraged Beth to bring Jon. I hadn't seen my nephew Jon in years. It was great seeing everyone. This year we were at Shelly's lovely home on Prairie Lake with fabulous weather. The kids tubed and fished and, of course, we all ate way too much!

The latest

2011-06-27T22:57:00.002-05:00

This has been a busy two months. Student tours and the Minnesota History Contest was on the agenda for the full month of May.We served students from Badger, Greenbush and Roseau with educational SMART board programs on Farm Animals for kindergarten and preK, Local Ojibwa History for first grade and immigration for second graders. We also had scavenger hunts for the older students. Some easier ones for the younger students.

The Minnesota History Contest went well, with Lake of the Woods sixth grade participating for the first time. I hope they felt is was valuable enough and want to participate again next year. A neighbor girl, Ivy Braaten took first place. First time Roseau has taken first place. Warroad took second and third and there was a tie for fourth. We give trophies to the first three positions and medals to the next three and all six receive $50 savings bonds. These are sponsored by Border State Bank, Citizens State Bank and Security State Bank.

The end of the month had great excitment for our daughter Michelle as she finally graduated. She now has her music degree. She will do a credinial program next. She taught piano, violin, viola, and voice this past year. She is now enjoying her summer as most of her students take the summer off.

Michelle and Dave are coming to visit during the Roseau County Fair. They will be here for a little over a week. They are looking forward to attending the fair and seeing some of her former classmates and church friends.

Ashley spent about six weeks in Austrailia with James in May and June. They took in some of the local site seeing tours. Saw the penquins, kowals, and kangaroos. Adelade is near the ocean so they were able to site see in that area also. They did quite a bit of bicycling while she was there. By chance someone who had lived in their apartment before they had left a bike and it was perfect for her.

James has about five or six weeks left in his training there. He will then go to Hong Kong for more training with Cathay Pacific Airlines. He is really enjoying this time. He enjoys learning and is challenged by the various things he is being taught.

We open a new exhibit next week, a church exhibit called Faith Matters: Churches in Minnesota's Historic Northwest. We will add a few local churches to the mix and a list of past and present churches. Preparations for the New Harmonies exhibit with programs and exhibits are under way also. We are going to open on November 12th with the Story of Music, the Story of Home. A musical program about the music and insturments that are a part of U.S. heritage. Today I received a list from several individuals from the western area of our county telling about the bands, dances halls and pavilions that were popular when they were young. It is going to be a busy summer and fall!

Happy Birthday, Brian!

2011-04-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

Forty-five years ago, our Brian entered the world at 7# 9 oz and 21 inches long. We now had a girl and a boy, amazing! This little tyke grew up to be the charming man he is today.Handsome and debonair, street smart and able to understand the world he lives in.Happy Birthday, Brian!

This week has been an adventure in discovering new and different ideas about exhibit design. On Tuesday, Britt and I headed down to Fargo-Moorhead, working our way south on 32 out of Thief River Falls because of the flood Red River closing part of 29.

The Big Picture and the Little Picture… Exhibit Design Insights & Case Display Details meeting was hosted by the Clay County Historical Society at the Hjemkomst Center. Pam Burkehart and Claudia M. Pratt were our presenters. They are both excellent designers but I honestly think that Britt is every bit as clever.Her idea of using the insulted tubing used for pipes for the bars in the jail cell she created in the museum shows how creative she really is. Today is started putting the exhibit for the clay animals designed by the advanced art class at the Roseau School following the Artist-in-Residence program we partnered with the school. This partnership brought the very talented Memo to the school to spend a week teaching the students the different types of clay work. No pottery in this class, faces and animals instead.

I am in my third week of physical therapy, Pain and Torture, and that it has been. By the time we are done with the half hour session, both my therapist and I are sweating and I am half crying from the pain of it all. I have gone from 82 degrees to 105 and we are both thinking we may have to settle for that. My back was so sore last night I laid on an ice pack prior to going to sleep, one on my knee and one on my lower back.I think part of it comes from being out of shape. I need to find an all around fitness program and work at it. Perhaps a personal trainer would be a good thing for a while. I wonder if there are any in the Roseau area. Tomorrow is another day in a course of PT so I think I will hit the sack and get a good nights sleep.

Knee Replacement and return to physical therapy

2011-04-10T23:01:00.000-05:00

After suffering in with some back pain and going to a chiropractor and massage therapist, my regular doctor finally returned from vacation and suggested physical therapy. I knew my range of motion was not good. I have been lax in doing my exercises for about a year and a half. I have done some walking but not the kind of exercises that will help the range of motion. Some people probably think whatever they have is good enough after that long. Mine ROM was 82 degrees, considering that we live in a split entry home, that is not good enough and was causing me to improvise too much.

Can I say there has been lots of pain and torture? I believe so.Each one of the last seven appointments my ROM has increased and on Friday we ended at 103. Whoo hoo! This is going to be a life long situation I am afraid. Even as I sat in church this am I was exercising my knee. Saturday I worked out at the rehab for about 45 minutes. I found I could ride the bike much better following the workout with the leg press machine. Where I was only able to sit at a four and bike, I could go to a three.

Today is my daughter, Michelle and her husband Dave's wedding anniversary. Congratulations you two!

On Friday Michelle had Breanne and the kids over to do an an Easter egg hunt. It is things like this that cause me to be closer to her and her children. I haven't talked to Bryce in quite while either. It is difficult when he is in the Coast Guard and on the east coast. I am sure he gets lonesome for home. He spent about two weeks in California in February. I believe he missed his family more than he thought he had. I get to talk to Breanne and Leah often but not him. Michelle can be hard to call unless she is in the car on her way to one of her 27 music students! Good thing we have mobile phones or we hardly ever talk. Between her attending the university full-time and the music students, she is one busy woman.

Yesterday afternoon the Roseau library had a professional genealogist give a workshop through the Minnesota Arts and Culture Legacy Library funding. It was given by Rick Crume.It was very informative. He examined several websites we could find information. One of the sites that looked promising was Roots Web World Connect Project. The have approximately 644 million names and it is a free website own by Ancestry. We each received a six page paper of websites. It makes one itchy to do their genealogy when they receive information that gives good sources.

FIVE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN THE PAST WEEK

The Roseau library and the Roseau County Historical Society A-B-C book, P is for Pioneer went to the printers last week.
I finished the historical society annual report for the meeting on Saturday.
I worked out or went to PT six days last week.
The Roseau River opened in three days, the ditches opened past our house two days later.
We are getting things ready for the Minnesota History Contest in May.

Time to head to bed, pain and torture again at 10:30 tomorrow so need a good night's sleep.

Waiting for Spring

2011-04-02T21:19:00.001-05:00

Today is the annual spring general conference for our church in Salt Lake City. Our family has so many good memories of us going to general conference in April.It was always inspiring to be among so many Latter-day Saints. I just turned on conference to listen and watch while I blog and President Monson announced that there is going to be a temple in Winnipeg! I am so excited! I have prayed for years to have a temple in Winnipeg. Now we will only have to drive 100 miles instead of 400 to attend the temple. Wonderful! We had a temple trip scheduled about three weeks ago. Our friends, who went were caught in a terrible blizzard on their way to the Bismarck Temple on I94. 800 motorists were rescued during that storm, including them.

This was the last week of Women's History Month so it must be time to put some photos on my blog.
This year nineteen women were selected from Roseau County cities and townships for the honor of being a One Woman.

One Women selected were Gladys Paulson – City of Badger, Alice Miller – Barnett, Alpha Darst – Barto, Marianne Kristofferson - Enstrom, Alice Erickson – Falun, Adele Folland – City of Greenbush, Pearl Loe – Grimstad, Avis Wiskow-Huss, Helen Bergland - Jadis, Lillian Nelson – Malung, Sadie Rygh – Mickinock (2009 selection), Dorothy Brinkman – Mickinock, Clarice Billberg – Palmville, Alma Mellquist Skime - Reine, Annette Hermansen – City of Roseau, Mary Dostal – Skagen, Frances Karlsson-Stafford, Loretta Voll-Unorganized/ Norland, and Anni Daedlow – City of Warroad. These women are well deserving of this title for their communities; their volunteer work and serve has made their communities better places to live.

This year we were concerned about the program due the townships not sending in the name of their selections but about two months prior to March first they began arriving. This kept Britt very busy working on posters. Her creative touch can be seen throughout the museum not only in the One Woman posters she designs but in the exhibit she put together for the Women in Government area.

The programs were wonderful and well attended. Time for photos! For a closer view of the photos click on the photo, then hold the ctrl key and increase the size by rolling your mouse wheel forward.

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who helped make the 2011 One Woman such a success and a special thank you to Britt Dahl our staff guru who designed all the Women in Government exhibits for the second program of Woman's History Month. Those photos will be put on in the future too.

Exhibits, exhibits, exhibits!

2011-02-16T05:30:00.000-06:00

We are half way through the North Dakota Museum of Art exhibit "Marking the Land" now. This photo exhibit has so many novel ideas on the ingenuity of people! I especially find the photos showing the handmade Stations of the Cross in the Catholic Church photo interested as well as the many items that dot the landscape of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The exhibit will be displayed in the Roseau City Center through February 28.

We have been unable to show certain videos on the SMART board. The SMART board uses a video application that works with only a few formats and it has been discouraging again and again to try and play videos with Real or Windows Media Player as neither show up on the board. Last Thursday, I contacted SMART concerning this problem and worked for about 2 hours will a tech person only to have her decided we needed to work with someone who was more knowledgeable. I have to say, they are awesome to work with, I have worked with several individuals over time and they have all been very helpful and solved our problem. Yesterday the tech person she turned me over to called and we resolved the problem! Hurray! We can now show any video on the board.

We have been going into our cache of photos and showing them on the board also. Yesterday we started with Roosevelt logging photos and in the afternoon we switched to photos of the dredging of the Roseau River, taken in about 1915. These were very interesting. I thought it would be nice to have some background music and turned on a classical radio station on iTunes for this and found it to be very effective. We have a person who is always telling us we should have music in the museum, well this way we do! I think we will put together information and photos of the former One Women and put them on the SMART board during Woman's History Month.

The focus of Woman's History Month is One Woman, of course, and Women in Government. Our committee has been very helpful and we are getting down to the wire now and need to get our exhibits together. It takes so much time to do these things and volunteers are such an important part of doing the job.

I noticed a red squirrel in the yard last week one day. We have never had red squirrels here. When I told Ardmore he decided to put some sunflower seeds on the snow and see if it would come back. Now we have two squirrels visiting our bird feeders. The second time the one came he noticed seeds on top of the table on the deck where we keep our feeder.He tried to climb up the legs but they were too smooth and he fell back onto the snow below the table. After examining the area, he headed for the deck railing and climbed to the top of the railing, eyeballed the distance between the railing and the table and took the leap. Now he discovered he had much more to eat! The chickadees and red polls will have to share their food.

James seems to be enjoying his ground school with Cathay Pacific in Australia. It has been very hot at times though. About two weeks ago he said it was 105. We were sitting at about -28 that morning so it was quite a contrast. He will start fight school in about three weeks which he is very excited to start. Ashley seems to be enjoying her time with her family. They celebrated their Chinese New Year about two weeks ago. All of her family came to Dunon to be together.

Frost and Rain

2011-01-31T08:24:00.001-06:00

On Thursday we woke up to a very foggy and frosty morning. One of our visitors told me that an old wife's tale says that heavy frost means that we will have heavy rain in six months. That would put the rain at the beginning of what could be harvest time. We will see. I am even going to put it in my phone's calendar as a reminder.

This is what it looked like outside that morning:

Frosty days

2011-01-15T14:50:00.000-06:00

It may be cold in Minnesota but we have some absolutely beautiful winter days. An example of this was Thursday morning. On my way to work, I just had to stop and take this photo of Concordia Lutheran Church with the frost on the trees. It was such a white on white day with the clouds, the church and the white trees the red stop sign was outstanding.

Often the river is a site to behold when the frost clings to the trees along the bank and the wind blows enough to make it float off gently from the branches.

I took my camera when I walked last week and this was what our yard looked like looking back on it. Another frosty morning!

The same day I was looking out my window and marveling at the fabulous view I had of our three evergreens with the snow on every branch. How perfect is the world!

I am headed to a Rams Girl's Varsity game in about 10 minutes. They will play Duluth, I am assuming Duluth East but I'm not positive. Last night they beat Hibbing-Chisholm 9 zip. Roseau has such great hockey teams. Hibbing and Chisholm must have a population of abut 18,000 with both towns. it is amazing that a little town of 2,800 can have such an excellent hockey program.

Five things that I did today:

vacuum the upstairs and downstairs
dust everything
Talk to James in Australia and Ashley in Donun Taiwan
Clean out a cupboard
the next thing - go to the hockey game - Go Rams Go!

Listen With Your Heart

2011-01-11T09:00:00.001-06:00

This morning I have come across two items that connect the saying "Listen with your heart." The first was while reading the History of Relief Society. At the end of the short article was the question "What Can I do?" followed by two more questions:

1. What can I do to help the sisters I visit receive the gift of charity?

2. What can I begin to do this month to help share a righteous future for myself? For my family? For others?

What great questions! It means in order to put this into action I will have to think about what I can do and then put it into action.

Then a little later I picked up my latest issue of the Toastmaster magazine and saw the Viewpoint article from the International President Pat Johnson called "Listen With Your Heart." There at the very beginning was a quote from LDS author and motivational speaker Stephen R. Covey from his The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book.
The quote follows the Relief Society questions well:
Empathic listening involves much more than registering, reflecting, or even understanding the words that are said. Communication experts estimate that 10 percent of our communication is represented by the words we say, 30 percent is represented by our sounds and 60 percent by our body language. In empathic listening, you listen with your ears . . . with your eyes and with your heart. You listen for feeling, for meaning. You listen for behavior. You use your right brain as well as your left. You sense, you intuit, you feel.

So what does that have to do with the two questions I came across when I was reading the RS history this morning? Everything. If I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father and really want to accomplish the two questions, I will need to listen more carefully to what is being spoken to me by my family, by others, and especially by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus Christ is out mediator with our Heavenly Father so is the Holy Spirit our mediator when we need to be impressed of others needs. I hope I can listen with my heart empathy.

James and Ashley left for Hong Kong and then on to her parents about two weeks ago. It was very hard to think of them being so far away. I am so pleased that we all could spend Thanksgiving together at Brian's.

James and Ashley's new adventure will separate them for the next six months. James will be in Australia for pilot training with Cathay Pacific and Ashley will spend the time with her parents in Taiwan. I am hoping that during that time, James will be able to visit her and I understand she will be able to visit him one time. These are a lot of changes for a newly wed couple. They will spend their first anniversary apart. I hope they can think of special things to do for each other even when they are apart.

I have a dilemma every second Tuesday of the month now. I have both Toastmasters and Quilt Guild. Which one will benefit me long term? I wish I were two people, I could attend both and gain knowledge from each, as it is, that is not the case. If Toastmaster met in Roseau I would be able to attend both as our meetings are usually over by eight, but we go to Warroad so I don't get back to Roseau until nearly nine. I guess I will have to alternate! That means that this time, I will be going to Quilt Guild!

I completed my first wall hanging and did a stitch in the ditch on it. I had planned to give it to my sister-in-law, but it has hockey on it so it will not have much meaning to her. I will just have to make another one with a snowflake on it for her. Yup, it was suppose to be a Christmas gift, she will just have to get it when it is completed.

Christmas week

2010-12-25T18:36:00.000-06:00

Today has been a quiet Christmas, but that isn't how the week was. My brother Bob and his wife Marie were here Monday through Wednesday for the first Christmas together for several years. It was very enjoyable. We had ham instead of turkey by my brother's choice, scalloped potatoes and all the trimmings.

Bob had given Marie a Kindle for Christmas, plus a $50 gift certificate and we installed it and ordered her first book. In the first sitting she was well into the book and already in love with her new Kindle. We have the same taste in books so often she will take a book I have home with her, now I won't be able to do that when I visit them.

It is rather strange not to have any of our children here for Christmas but with their work schedule and school, they find that difficult to do. Plus, Michelle has her family over for Christmas Eve and that is a tradition in their family. I do believe if Ardmore was a traveler we would be there too, but he isn't. Brian and James and Ashley went to friend's for Christmas.

This is James and Ashley's last Christmas in the United States for at least a couple of years, I think. By this time next Saturday, they will be in Hong Kong and then on to Ashley's parent's in Taiwan for several days. James will then leave Ashley there and head to Australia for six months of train for Cathay Pacific Air Lines. Perhaps the day will come when I will climb on a plane and head to Australia for a vacation or perhaps China. That would be an adventure!

This year I am most thankful for the internet and Skype. It makes it possible to talk face to face with our children and to attend a Christmas Eve celebration even though we are 2,000 miles away.

This and That

2010-12-12T22:21:00.000-06:00

After having Brian here, even though he was busy most of the time, was great! It was interesting to see him present the Makeover Workshops. He really knows what he is doing and I walked out so much more knowledgeable myself. The time at a workshop goes by too fast and very enjoyable.

Ardmore took him to the airport this afternoon. I spent the time working on our Christmas letter, baking some cookies, and preparing for a speech I am giving on Tuesday at our Toastmaster's Christmas Party. Don't ask me how I ended up getting involved in doing that, I wasn't there when they assigned it to me. I will do my best with what time I have to prepare.

Today is James' 32 birthday. Time goes by way too fast. I well remember his birthing process still, although the remembrance of pain is fleeting. I can't remember the last time I saw him on his birthday, must be the year he graduated or the next winter perhaps as he was NDSU then and the following year he was serving his mission. From that time on, we have not been together for his birthday.One of the hazards of having children move away from home.

I am excited for him. He has until December 30th and will then be on his way to Hong Kong. He and Ashley will spend the next ten days together in Taiwan and then he will go back to Hong Kong and on to Australia for about 6 months of pilot training with Cathy Pacific. As much as I know our future visits will be far and few between, I am excited for this opportunity for them. I hope they take advantage of the flying privileges and travel to some interesting places. That may be difficult when they have children but who knows.

I have been using a card table to sew on and decided to purchase a sewing table for myself for Christmas. I hope I am making the right decision on the one I am purchasing. It is $800 and I think I see one just like it for only $549 on line. I hope that is not the case as I am going to be very disappointed if it is.I hope to pick it up tomorrow.

Time to go to bed and get prepared for another work week.

LA Temple

2010-12-03T07:14:00.001-06:00

One of the wonderful advantages of having a son in LA is the opportunity to visit the temple. After a late night on Friday, everyone was tired and slept in late. . . but me. I went to the temple at 7:30 am.

The serenity always gives me a sense of peace and lessens the thought of the day. On Saturday, it was on different. As I was sitting checking out who I was doing the work for, I thought of the many hours the person had put in doing the genealogy; then checked the work that had been done for the woman and realized that I was doing the last ordinance! The woman sitting next to me was also completing a woman whose history had been researched by our genealogist partner. What joy there must have been for these two women who work was finally completed and for the woman who had gathered their information. Her last name was Robinson. It was the end of a perfect temple session.

Thanksgiving and a Makeover Workshop

2010-12-01T08:17:00.005-06:00

Thanksgiving was great! I flew to LA, no hubby didn't go, he was concerned about water pipes freezing on the farm.I turn off the water when we go but that doesn't give him any consolation. We had a friend who left on a two-week vacation one winter and while they were gone a pipe on the second level of their home cracked and the water ran until they returned. What a nightmare that was!I think it put fear in my husband.

Back to Thanksgiving. Our grown children and spouses arrived on Thursday. Michelle has a heavy schedule at the California University at Stanislaus and had lots of homework so she and Dave headed back to Modesto on Friday. We did have some time to do a little shopping for the great-grand kids at The Children's Place in LA though. They always have the best sales on Black Friday; I spend $104 on about $250 of children's clothes, Great Fun! Dave stayed back at the house where the guys and Ashley played Monopoly. They were down to two players, Brian and Ashley when we arrived home and that evening, Brian won. James said he had never played a whole game where someone actually won. That evening, Brian and I did some some sight seeing at The Grove, joining James and Ashley later. We didn't do much shopping, just a little at Crate and Barrell.

It really puts one in the mood when you go to The Grove during Christmas. The beautiful tree and all the decorations and music. They do a water show at the fountain with the music. I remember last Christmas there was snow coming out of an upper winder and I was like, "What is this? I didn't come here to get cold, I want warm weather." No snow at Thanksgiving, I guess it must be way to warm.

Brian is coming home in about ten days to do some Makeover Workshops in Roseau. I am going to invite him to tell you all about it on my blog. He is a makeup and hair artist in LA and does stars like Mariah Carey, Betty White, and catalogs and magazines like Victoria's Secret and the Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit edition. Makeover Workshop is his business, where he teaches how to apply makeup and do your hair.

Time for a few photos from last week.

Violated

2010-11-25T17:35:00.043-06:00

Today is Thanksgiving. I wish all those who read our blog a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to be with family or friends. Thanksgiving is the most traveled holiday.

According to the U. S. government Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) website "The Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year’s holiday periods are among the busiest long-distance travel periods of the year. During the 6-day Thanksgiving travel period, the number of long-distance trips (to and from a destination 50 miles or more away) increases by 54 percent, and during the Christmas/New Year’s Holiday period the number rises by 23 percent, compared to the average number for the remainder of the year. And although heavy media attention focuses on crowded airports and bus and train stations on the Wednesday before and Sunday after Thanksgiving, when personal vehicle trips are added to the mix the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) reveals that Thanksgiving Day is actually a heavier long-distance travel day than Wednesday."

I flew to LA yesterday, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Brian is housing me and hosting Michelle and Dave, and James and Ashley, and Brian's friend Frank. My two married "children" arrived. It is disappointing not to have Ardmore but he does not like to travel. It is also too bad that our grandchildren could not be here.

The trip from Fargo to LA was wonderful although about an hour longer than usual due to 150 m/p/h head winds. We arrived to rain which was disappointing but by the time we picked up our luggage and walked out of the building the rain had stopped and everything was dry. Welcome to LA!

I would like to ask one question. What kind of problems do you run into when you rent a car? The last car I had had two flat tires during the time I drove it. This was annoying as I had to take it to a nearby rental place and switch cars one time and I called the company the second time and it took about an hour for someone to show up and they couldn't repair the tire, of course, just pump it up so I could take in it in. This happened the first day I drove it. I wonder if the party who rented it before me had problems and perhaps didn't report it or the company didn't check the tire after they did. I was also charged an extra $10 for having them come and fix their OWN tire. Tell me your car rental issues in my comments!

Yesterday morning I decided to check my checking account to see if any recent checks had come through. There were debits on the account; they just weren't my purchases! Three to be exact for about $205 from my cash card. They were dated yesterday from St. Paul. Now I didn't remember paying $70+ for gas at two places on one day. Has this ever happened to you? I called the bank immediately and it was taken care right.I hope that it was a rude shock to the person who thought they would be able to use that card a few more times and I hope they were caught. How do they get another person's card numbers and forge a card to use?
Although we have had our cards changed by our bank a couple of times due to fraud, our cards were never violated . . .until yesterday.

So what does Thanksgiving mean to me?

A loving husband and great children and grandchildren.
The gratitude of knowing that at some time a group of people decided they wanted religious freedom. We have that.
The wonderful freedom we enjoy. After all, I am visiting our family 2000 miles away and although I did get "the Treatment" due to having the hip and knee replacement, it was a quick and easy trip, and also was for our children. No armed vehicles traveling along our roads, no check points, just a drivers license, and the money to pay for the flight or gas.
The ability to purchase almost anything, either online or in a store.
The safety of the small town where we live.
The abundance of food. We eat way too much!
A job that I love and wonderful people to work with
Great Friends

I will post some photos online later tonight.

Thanksgiving Holiday

2010-11-22T23:56:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I fly out of Fargo for a Thanksgiving visit with our children in Los Angeles. I am looking forward to getting out the snow and the cold. It is suppose to be 0 F in the morning. My plane will leave Fargo at 8 pm so I have all day to travel. Fargo was suppose to get about 12 inches of snow today. I don't know if it did, travel will be treacherous if the roads are not taken care of. Packing is almost complete so it's just me and the car and the roads to contend with.

Today the Ya Ya had the Relay of Life fund raiser. There was so many things to look at and many baskets to put a ticket in for the drawings. There was a beautiful quilt and Melissa Lee Rudebusch won it. I think it is a queen and very attractive. Which reminds me, if I plan to get Breanne's quilt completed by Christmas I will need to get cracking.

I started a wall hanging for James and Ashley for Christmas. That went very fast and I am almost done. I think I can finish it in one more sitting. I'll see. I would like to make a few little gifts.

Museum staff have been working on an ABC book with the library, well, mostly Britt. The committee has had such great ideas. I am getting very excited to see the completed result. It will include a combination of words beginning with each letter, poetry to go with the art work which will be done by various artists, and a little chipmunk will run from page to page. Very clever work. Britt is so talented, she will do a great job.

The Rabbit

2010-11-20T17:35:00.001-06:00

Yesterday winter arrived with vengeance. The temperature was a mild 32 F at midnight Friday morning, so nice one considered not wearing a heavy jacket because there was no wind to speak of but by 7 o'clock am that had all changed as the temperature began to drop and the wind started blowing the snow that had arrived on Thursday evening around. The snow had a little crisp cover from the rain and the roads were icy. It had started to really cool down and by the time I headed home from work at 6 it was about 12 above and ferociously windy.This morning it was just below 0, and thankfully the wind had died down.

It was perfect weather for ham soup. I spent a couple of hours getting that on the stove. We had ordered new tires for my car, so I headed into town to have the tires installed and then on the Quilt S' More to discuss a quilt project. After a little shopping it was time to head home and fix some dinner for hubby. It was then that hubby told me about the rabbit.

We have had rabbits come into our yard for years. We even had a male and female take up residence one summer and have little ones. Today, Ardmore noticed this rabbit trying to dig near one of the shops. From what Ardmore could see later, he had tried to dig three holes. Ardmore was busy and didn't pay much attention to the rabbit but when he came into the house he noticed the rabbit was laying by our fuel tanks about 6 or 7 feet away from where he had been digging. He had apparently died. Was he sick or was from exposure? Could it be that the sudden turn in weather, took the animals by surprise, especially this little rabbit? We have had a very mild fall and no snow and no real cold weather until yesterday. Was there no place this poor rabbit could find to burrow due to the lack of snow? Are there other animals that found themselves in this same situation?

Shelter is such an important commodity. It makes one wonder how the homeless handle weather like this. Do we have enough shelters when it gets this cold? With our economy in such poor condition many people have lost their jobs and homes plus other possessions. Let us all pray for those who are suffering at such a time and remember our local food banks. Donations of food and money is such an important thing all year round, but especially during the holidays. As we gather together with friends and family, it would be a good time to pool a little money and pull out a few can goods and bring them to the food shelf.

Holiday Open House and Potluck Supper

2010-11-15T22:51:00.001-06:00

Last night we had our annual Holiday Open House and Potluck Supper. It is always one of my favorite programs and last night was even better as Britt and I and the board members did not have to clean up after the dinner, the Roseau Honor Society did the serving and cleanup. I am very impressed with their commitment and what a great job they did. It was the first time,we really were able to totally enjoy an evening without cleaning up everything. At the end of the evening, several men and women pitched in to put away the tables and chairs and all Britt had to see was completed in the morning was to sweep up and turn in the mics and keys. My hat goes off to those wonderful young women and those individuals who helped us after the meeting.

We had a little different program than usually too. Two of the Star of the North Toastmasters Club members presented speeches, one was on Goals and the other was on George Mallory's climb to the top of Mount Everest. The Highway 11 Ramblers entertained and Phil Sallberg and Barb Roseen sang three duet numbers. They ended with Winter Wonderland. Our MC was Lou Hermansen who did a great job of bringing history into the program with a few questions and, of course, plenty of joking. One can't go wrong when they have a "retired" minister as the MC, especially when it is Pastor Hermansen.

This year, even though we called it a Holiday Open House, we didn't do it as a Christmas open house. Our theme for dinner included place mats, cups and napkins in an autumn theme. It had misted off and on all day and I was concerned about how many people would show up. No need, even though there was a free concert at one of the local churches, we still had over 60 at the program, and they came from across the whole county. I will post some photos tomorrow. Britt took a video of the program so if I can put some of it out and put it into a video, I will.

I have been a little lax at writing and have missed many days of "30 Days of Honesty" so will play a little catch up.

Day 3 :: Something you have to forgive yourself for:
There is so many things that I have trouble nailing this one down. I guess I will have to leave it up to the Lord to help me remember and forgive and forget the many things I have done that I need to forgive myself for.

Day 4:: Something you have to forgive someone for
I still sort of resent the times my husband left me to come to the farm when the children were young. His not calling when he was here left me feeling very alone and not having anyone to turn to for help. My parents lived in the cities and my friends did not live near by at the time. It was a lonely time when he went for two weeks without a phone call. Now he is here all the time and we see each other daily, what a difference that has made in our relationship. It is good, I guess it time to forgive and forget!

Day 5:: Something you hope to do in your life
I have had a full life. Looking back on what I have done to date makes it hard to think of what I hope to do in "this" life. I guess I would like to just climb in my car about the first of May and have enough money to travel the whole United States from east to west, and north to south. As a history buff, I see myself spending days at the Smithsonian, along the Revolutionary and Civil War trails, the Alamo, looking out at New York City from the tallest building there, visiting Central Park and Rockefeller Center. Yes, the list goes on and on.

Day 6:: Something you hope you will never have to do
Die after one of my children or grandchildren.

Day 7:: Someone who has made your life worth living for
My husband, he will laugh if he reads this. I have done many things due to having to be independent when he went to the farm and then living on the farm. I believe all of this and many other things have added measure beyond words to my life.

Day 8:: Someone who made your life like hell, or treated you like shit
This is something that is too personal to share.

Day 9:: Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted
I had a young love once that I really would have given everything to be married to but decided that we were not to be and let it drift apart.

Time to quit. More of this at another time.

Catch Up Time

2010-11-08T23:32:00.001-06:00

James flew back to the US from Australia via Hong Kong on Friday after two weeks of what he said was a wonderful trip of flight grading. He decided to take the train trip one day and headed to Elizabeth. Said next time he would head the other direction as he found out it wasn't exactly where he would have gone if he had know what it was like.

On the train this guy had two bottles, one of orange juice and one of vodka. He poured the orange juice onto his hands and rubbed it into his hair. Everyone on the train was a bit bewildered. Then the vodka came out and he drank the orange juice and the vodka. I think he poured it out so he could some of his vodka into his orange juice bottle, although James and I thought he wanted his hair to have some "gel" in it. Yup, people can be very strange.

All in all, he was felt his flight grading went well and has high expectations on being hired for the six month training. I am sure Ashley was happy to have him home.

Some of the quilting items are coming in. Britt put a few up today. What a talented person she is. It is great to see her able to use the talents the way she does. Instead of a tree, we decided to use one of the quilts with this large tree on it by our door. We talked about putting some gifts under it. I think we need the large doll we have, the Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and some the other things that hang out on the shelves in the bay storage room. We will have to see if we can climb up there and get some of the boxes down.

Brian is holding Makeover Workshops in Roseau on December 10th and 11th. I am going to take the class. Perhaps I will be able to apply my make up as professionally as when he does my makeup.

I am not consistent when I comes to keeping up my blog and discovered that I had not written yesterday on the 30 Days of Honesty so here goes:

Day 2: Something you love about yourself
Humm, this will take some doing. I guess I like the fact that I keep getting ideas for exhibits and that some exhibits just happen to come along that I know will be enjoyable for our visitors. New exhibits that I think people will enjoy include the Museum on Main Street Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit we will open next November, New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music. It is going to be work, lots of work, but it is going to be very good. I also think people will enjoy the Holiday Quilting exhibit, the Century Farm exhibit, and the upcoming North Dakota Museum of Art exhibit, Marking the Land, a Jim Dow photographic exhibit that will be displayed in February.

That's is enough. I need to go to sleep!

30 Days of Honesty

2010-11-06T23:39:00.002-05:00

There are several blogs that I follow whenever I find time to check them out. Tonight one of these had started the "30 Days of Honesty" project. I had to check out the hyperlinks she had to Snarky Pants to discover what it entailed. It was pretty impressive and one of her answers gave me thought so here is my participator area.

Thirty Days of Honesty

Day 1 :: Something you hate about yourself

I am a procrastinator. My intentions are always good but I get so wrapped up in what I am doing in the moment that things don't get done early enough sometimes. This past two weeks was a good example of how that can affect what goes on. We have a Holiday Open House on November 14. This has been scheduled for months. About four weeks ago, I began to plan for it. I send off the newspaper announcements about two weeks ago but then we had the New Harmonies workshop in St. Paul. My email would not go out and I had some additional computer problems which meant some of the things I thought were being sent did not get sent in time. Then we came back to Roseau and I worked last Friday like mad trying to catch up. You know how that is, gone four day and it takes twice as long to catch up. I finally got the poster completed but than ran out of time and people to put them up. I think I may have lucked out today though, as it was Diva Days at the city center and I had put up a huge twenty-three by twenty-eight inch poster in the lobby. Hopefully it had lots of attention and will bring us success. Now I need to send an email reminding everyone of the upcoming event.

I need to pray that Heavenly Father helps me with this area of my life, if I don't procrastinate in my praying. :<

Family things:
Brian is coming to Roseau to do Make Over Workshops on December 10th and 11th. I am excited for him as he now is broadening his focus. He gave a workshop in LA today.

James was to fly into LA tonight and will stay with Brian. I believe plans are to go out to dinner. I am jealous.

Michelle gave her final university recital last night. This saddens me as I have not been to one of her recitals. I wonder if her teacher has these taped? I think I will have her find out.

Enough for now.

Election and recovery

2010-11-04T23:03:00.001-05:00

First things first, the Republican's are back in power in the House of Representatives, Minnesota has a unsettled governor election and a Republican Minnesota House and Senate. The big news is that my brother was re-elected to the Hoyt Lakes City Council.

This has been a very busy week, especially after being gone for four days last week. We have out Holiday Open House on November 14th so there is lots to do with that. We put out our newsletter today and I completed the poster and put it up on a large stand in the lobby. This weekend is the opening weekend of deer hunting season so Diva Days is on Saturday so there will be a lot of traffic in the lobby coming and going into the city center community rooms. Hopefully is attracts attention

Tomorrow three of us from the museum are going to Sevlin for a workshop for the consortium. We always have a great time getting together and visiting and training for one thing or another. About twenty of us had a photos and archive workshop in at the Roseau museum two weeks ago. Had a great time and ate well, I'm sure this will be the same.

Here are some photos from the workshop:

Consortium President Dean Vikan and Secretary\Treasurer Tamara Edevold

Cindy Adams - Kittson County Historical Society Director

Lunch in the Roseau City Council room

Tamara discussing the care of large photos

Cindy discussing the proper care of books in the archive.

It was an excellent day to mentor and learn from one another. Tomorrow will be another day of the same sort with the focus on textiles and other collection items.

New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music training

2010-10-31T23:45:00.004-05:00

Early Monday morning, two staff members and one volunteer from Roseau County headed south to St.Paul for training on a Smithsonian Museum on Main Street New Harmonies exhibit we are hosting at the Roseau Co. Museum beginning November 12. This will be our third MOMS exhibit in 4 years. We are very excited about hosting this exhibit as it is all about music and almost everyone is interested in music.

Group sessions like this for training are always excellent.Ideas flow, creative juices mix, and we work with one another to make it the best exhibit each of us has presented.

Minnesota Humanities Center

Roseau County Historical Society crew

Rlou Specher, Britt Dahl, and Charleen Haugen

Smithsonian and MN Humanities trainers


David Gabitske - Minnesota Historical Society, right

Nicollet County Historical Society

Drummers at the Anishinaabe Cultural Center

Dining out in Minneapolis

One of my favorite folk singers - Charlie Maguire entertaining us.


Rlou relaxing in the common area at the humanities center

Church Employment Specialist

2010-10-16T15:41:00.039-05:00

About a year ago I received the calling as our employment specialist at church. It has been a challenge and I keep working on trying to get the hang of the position and seek areas that I can help those who are unemployed in our branch. At the present time I am working on an upcoming Career Workshop that I will be presenting as soon as I receive some posters that were purchased through the church distribution center in Salt Lake City.

I use the Internet to become more familiar with this calling. Today I happened to connect with the Linked In site for Church Employment Specialists. This is just what I was looking for! I was able to register and received a quick reply accepting my request to join and was send an excellent website link. After a quick glance through the site, I pounced on an area called Sticky Ideas, which are for church bulletins. One of the ideas struck me immediately. Often people will say "No problem" when someone gives them a work assignment. I never thought of this as negative until I read this Sticky Idea,
Career guidance – Don’t introduce negatives, if someone asks you for additional information; respond that “It would be your pleasure” or “I would be happy to”, do not respond with “no problem”. No problem raises the question of “I didn’t know there was a problem, is there a problem?”How true that is. No problem could indicate there was a problem but I will do it anyway.

There were many more of these Sticky Ideas which I plan to use in our church bulletin. Now I have to get back to studying for the upcoming workshop.

I read an online blog almost daily. I believe the person who authors this blog gives great thought to scriptural meaning. Today the blog was on charity and I had to refer back to their last Saturday blog due to a reference to it. A comment by the author was:
"Thus, the truly charitable are the people who are most likely to be open to being taught by those with whom others reactively disagree - since they are the ones most likely to seek for ways to understand without judgment and reflexive rejection.How often does someone bring up a point and others reactive in disagreement with their suggestion relating to a scripture? I have never considered that perhaps ONLY charity believeth all things, but I really like the way my mind is being led."

I have seen this happen every once in a while and will now look at the comment the person makes without reaction and hopefully with a more open mind.The main focus in the blogger interpretation was that we must be open minded to gospel teaching and only then will we be able to recognize what is truly of God and what is of Satan. I hope I am open minded enough to understand this concept and to recognize truth for what it is.

Six things I am thankful for this week:

A wonderful sunny day
Completing a grant so it can be checked by MHS
Meeting with my companion to organize next Friday's archive workshop.
How beautiful my outside geraniums still look.
Finding time to read something enjoyable each day.
Knowing that Heavenly Father answers my prayers in ways that I recognize only He could.

Chile miners recued

2010-10-13T21:34:00.000-05:00

Today is a memorable day for 33 miners and the country of Chile. For 69 days, thirty-three miners were trapped in an underground mine in the San Jose Mine in Chile after a cave in. For seventeen days the men rationed their food and finally the world learned of their survival. Through the efforts of their foreman, the men managed to keep themselves sane and eventually even spoke to family members. One man became a father and another discovered he was going to be a father for the first time. Tonight after a 22 hour rescue the men are all out of the confinement and in a local hospital undergoing tests. It took 12 countries including the US to come together to assist in this miraculous feat. The NASA assisted the Chilean army in preparing a capsule to bring the miners out. A Pennsylvanian drill bit company assisted by supply special drilling to reach the men who were 2,000 feet below ground. A 36 inch hole was drilled down to the men and the capsule lower and brought back to the surface. A medic and five other men went down in the capsule to assist in the rescue.These men have been in the prayers on people across the world as we were periodically kept up to date on what was going on down below and on top regarding the rescue attempt. Now they can sing praises to a merciful Father who gave them and their country hope and in the end happiness.

I have been busy working on a grant for lights and UV filters in the museum. Today I spent many hours writing and working through the grant form. I have the bid quotes and all I have to do is submit it now. I am almost ready to write the final report on the Oral History grant Aaron Nelson and I received. Lots to do and not much time to accomplish it. I will look for someone to do our publicity.

At home we have been completing the farm work. The geraniums look the nicest they have for months. It is too bad that within a week and a half we will be down to 15 above F if the forecast is correct.

Well I need to do some studying for the upcoming employment class, I'm teaching at church. I will need lots of prayers as I teach this class so if you are praying, pray for me!

Come listen to a Prophet's voice

2010-10-10T23:04:00.002-05:00

This morning we had two excellent talks in sacrament on prophets, especially the blessing of having a living prophet on earth in these latter days. Knowing there is a prophet who has direct revelation from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is such a blessing in our lives.

Last week during our church general conference we had the opportunity to listen to the prophet, Thomas S. Monson on the BYU television channel. In his Sunday morning talk he spoke about the Divine Gift of Gratitude. Using Luke chapter 17, he reminded us of what gratitude is and is not.
“And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
“And as he entered into a certain village, there [he met] ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
“And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
“There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”²

He went on to say, "Through divine intervention those who were lepers were spared from a cruel, lingering death and given a new lease on life. The expressed gratitude by one merited the Master’s blessing; the ingratitude shown by the nine, His disappointment.

"My brothers and sisters, do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love."

We live in a country of plenty, a country that meets our every need. Another story our prophet told was "an account of one family which was able to find blessings in the midst of serious challenges. This is an account I read many years ago and have kept because of the message it conveys. It was written by Gordon Green and appeared in an American magazine over 50 years ago.
"Gordon tells how he grew up on a farm in Canada, where he and his siblings had to hurry home from school while the other children played ball and went swimming. Their father, however, had the capacity to help them understand that their work amounted to something. This was especially true after harvest time when the family celebrated Thanksgiving, for on that day their father gave them a great gift. He took an inventory of everything they had.

"On Thanksgiving morning he would take them to the cellar with its barrels of apples, bins of beets, carrots packed in sand, and mountains of sacked potatoes as well as peas, corn, string beans, jellies, strawberries, and other preserves which filled their shelves. He had the children count everything carefully. Then they went out to the barn and figured how many tons of hay there were and how many bushels of grain in the granary. They counted the cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and geese. Their father said he wanted to see how they stood, but they knew he really wanted them to realize on that feast day how richly God had blessed them and had smiled upon all their hours of work. Finally, when they sat down to the feast their mother had prepared, the blessings were something they felt.

"Gordon indicated, however, that the Thanksgiving he remembered most thankfully was the year they seemed to have nothing for which to be grateful.

"The year started off well: they had leftover hay, lots of seed, four litters of pigs, and their father had a little money set aside so that someday he could afford to buy a hay loader—a wonderful machine most farmers just dreamed of owning. It was also the year that electricity came to their town—although not to them because they couldn’t afford it.

"One night when Gordon’s mother was doing her big wash, his father stepped in and took his turn over the washboard and asked his wife to rest and do her knitting. He said, “You spend more time doing the wash than sleeping. Do you think we should break down and get electricity?” Although elated at the prospect, she shed a tear or two as she thought of the hay loader that wouldn’t be bought.

"So the electrical line went up their lane that year. Although it was nothing fancy, they acquired a washing machine that worked all day by itself and brilliant light bulbs that dangled from each ceiling. There were no more lamps to fill with oil, no more wicks to cut, no more sooty chimneys to wash. The lamps went quietly off to the attic.

"Then it was Thanksgiving again. Their mother said, “Maybe we’d better forget it this year. We haven’t even got a goose left.”

"On Thanksgiving morning, however, Gordon’s father showed up with a jackrabbit and asked his wife to cook it. Grudgingly she started the job, indicating it would take a long time to cook that tough old thing. When it was finally on the table with some of the turnips that had survived, the children refused to eat. Gordon’s mother cried, and then his father did a strange thing. He went up to the attic, got an oil lamp, took it back to the table, and lighted it. He told the children to turn out the electric lights. When there was only the lamp again, they could hardly believe that it had been that dark before. They wondered how they had ever seen anything without the bright lights made possible by electricity.

"The food was blessed, and everyone ate. When dinner was over, they all sat quietly. Wrote Gordon:
'In the humble dimness of the old lamp we were beginning to see clearly again. . . .
'It [was] a lovely meal. The jack rabbit tasted like turkey and the turnips were the mildest we could recall. . . .
' . . . [Our] home . . . , for all its want, was so rich [to] us.”¹³

President Monson reiterated, "My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

I know I don't express enough gratitude for all that is so precious in life. Our warm home, electricity 24 and 7, the ability to call our children and talk to them face to face on the computer or at any time and anywhere on the cell phone or just to climb on a plane without much hassle or drive a car across country to visit them. Wonderful friends who add joy to my life. My wonderful companion who has supply our home with so many wonderful not so necessary "things." Our young people who so willingly step to the plate without a draft to protect our country, often even giving life or limb to do so and their parents who are aware of the sacrifices these young people make each day.

Yes, I need to have an attitude of gratitude at all times.

Fall Harvest

2010-10-05T11:46:00.004-05:00

Fall has many meanings. It comes at the end of summer with vibrant colors on the trees, rusty gold, amber, scarlet, and brilliant orange. It means harvest to the farmer and gardener; leaves to rake, the end of mowing the lawn, flowers in their last glory, and Indian Summer.

We are in the midst of harvest.

Unloading soybeans

The mixture of the wind noise and the tractor noise is overwhelming.

From the truck to the bin

We have had fabulous weather since last Friday and our harvest is fast coming to an end. Hubby started chisel plowing this morning and is now about ready to head out to combine again.

One of the other things harvest brings to our farm is a crop of small apples that are not crabs from a tree in our back yard. Our apple tree stands as a sentinel to three oaks in the back yard. It now stands bare with only a few apples clinging to the branches that are too high to reach. When Brian was home, he pulled out the ladder and headed out with a pail and filled it full of apples.


Remains of the apples

The ones that Brian picked are now made into a delicious apple filling for pies and apple crisp. It’s a recipe I received from my friend Becca.

Apple Pie Mix

4 ½ cups sugar

10 cups water

1 cup corn starch

3 Tbsp lemon juice (Real works)

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

Mix together and cook until thick and then cool

2 gallons of apples

If you use small apples just remove the seeds, slice in a food processor. No not cook apples.

Mix the apples and the mixture and fill large peanut butter jars, if you use the real large one you will make a 9/13 pan or a pie, the next size down makes an 8/8 pan. Be sure to make sure you use the amount of mixture necessary for the apples.

Freeze and thaw as needed.

Completed jar of apple mixture for 8/8 pan

For a 9/13 inch pan use the following recipe, use 2/3 of recipe for 8/8 pan

Apple Crisp Topping

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

2/3 cup cold butter

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix

Spay 9/13 inch pan with Pam, add the large jar of thawed apples to the pan and spread evenly.

Top with topping and spread evenly. Bake 350 for 1 hour.

It is so tasty with pecan ice cream!

Oh, so tasty!

I think I will have to get a larger ladder and pick the rest of the apples so when winter is here we will enjoy this recipe even more. Thanks Becca for sharing!

This day in history - Jack Kennedy

2010-09-29T09:05:00.000-05:00

This morning while surfing the net, I decided to visit the Library of Congress memory page and checking into "This Day in History". It included a thank you letter sent by Lieutenant Kennedy to Clare Booth Luce for a gold coin she had sent him and he had attached to his ID tag. I could hear that familiar New England twang that Kennedy had as I read that letter. Those of us who who were fortunate to live during the time he was President can probably relate to this. Known as the days of Camelot, we thought we lived in a golden age when there was no war. Needless to say that was about to end as we entered the Vietnam War era some short years later.The letter was an endearing reminder of a President that encouraged us to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" and the beginning of true service to humanity.

Today I head back to work. I had thought I would do so yesterday but decided my jaw was much to sore then I laid down to take a nap in the afternoon at 1 and didn't wake up until 4:30, so I guess what I really needed to to finally get caught up of the sleep I had missed when I was in such pain. Right now I still can only open my mouth about half way. Has anyone else ever had this experience when having a back molar removed?

Sunny today, it looks like we are in for a grand day! Perhaps harvest will soon happen with those soybeans that are standing ripe in the field. DRY UP FIELDS, dry up!

Soybean field July 21, 2010

Soybean field - September 23, 2010

A forced time to relax

2010-09-27T21:21:00.003-05:00

July 21

September 23

July 21


September 23

I have been sort of forced to relax these past three days. Friday night I noticed that the right side of my face was getting sore. By Saturday afternoon I could hardly open my mouth and realized I might have an abscess tooth and started popping pain pills. It was abscessed so this morning our family dentist decided it was better to pull it than to repair it. I went home with antibiotics and one less tooth, and also less pain, mostly due to the pain pills. I am so glad I live during this time.

I remember the first time I had toothache, I was in fifth grade. My grandmother insisted that she take me to her dentist and he filled the cavity. The thing I remember most is the awful taste of the medication he smeared on my gum area prior to the Novocaine shot. The taste still is not the greatest, but definitely not like it was 63 years ago. I remember when I took my children to the dentist, I couldn't stay, the memory was not good and I knew that what I was doing was for their health. I would cry just knowing they had to go through what I did. Then a few years later we received dental care through hubby's work and we found a better dentist. Then they had braces and all the things that make for a happy smile and a life of good dental health.

I finished reading Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. This book deserves 5 stars. I haven't been this moved by a book in a long time. I really enjoy historical fiction and both The Help and Winter Garden were historical fiction. Winter Garden is the story of the relationship between a mother and her two daughters and the secret she has kept from them,using "fairy tales" as a means to share the secret. When I had finished, I was so grateful to live in the United States, we have not experienced war as so many other countries in the world have. Just the thought that when there is war, the men go off and leave their families, the wife, the children and their aged parents to struggle through what happens in their communities. How fortunate we are to not have had to bear this trial. If you want to read a great book, head for Winter Garden. You will not be disappointed.

One of my dear friends has recently shared the sad news that her son was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. Although I will not put his name on my blog, please pray for him, our Heavenly Father knows who he is.

It is sure quiet at our home now that our son Brian has gone home.

Relaxing and watching a little TV


Brian watching a little TV

A week with Brian home

2010-09-24T13:23:00.004-05:00

It is always great to have family come home and this week was special as Brian has been here since Saturday. We haven't done anything special, as there really isn't anything special to do in our little town except eat out, visit friends and go to the movie on the weekend. To top it off this week has been one of the rainiest weeds we have had in along time. Yesterday it rained over three inches. We did a lot of reading and relaxing during the week. Today he is out having lunch with friends.
On Tuesday, Brian styled my hair taken care of and a makeup application done, needless to say, it was very noticeable when we had our RCHS board meeting that evening. No matter how much he tries to teach me how to style my hair, it never turns out like he does it. I guess that is what happens when one has an LA pro style you. It was such fun!
We did something very different last Saturday afternoon. We went to a political barbecue for our local Democratic Party. As Republican as we are, we do favor U.S. Senator Collin Peterson and Leroy Stumpf. We were invited by a friend of Brian's and were on our way back to Roseau from Fargo so stopped at the 2 Fools Winery for a bit. It was enjoyable visiting with the individuals who were there and believe it or not, not talking politics!
Last night, while Brian was busy with some things, I went to help the Ya Yas setup their rummage sale which includes some Relay for Life rummage sale items. With the help we had we put everything out in about two and a half hours. As always, when one gets together with "the girls" it is always enjoyable.
Brian leaves for LA tomorrow and Monday will be back to work again. It has been restful and enjoyable.
I finished ready "The Help" on Wednesday. The review from the New York Times says it all. I highly recommend this fiction book about southern living during the sixties.
Brilliant sun now, and in the 50s. Whoo hoo!

Wonderful harvesting weather

2010-08-24T22:19:00.008-05:00

Last week, I took three days off from work for harvesting. I usually drive the truck and unload grain. We were able to get off all of our wheat off and took the canola off on Saturday. During that time, the days were warm, often hot, and dry. This was very apparent as one watched the combines leaving a trail of dust high into the air and across the field as they traversed up and down gobbling the grain in front of the header. Now that we have completed those two crops, hubby is busy chisel plowing and waiting for the soybeans to ripen.

I have been reading The Story of Edgar Sawtell over the past week. This is the first novel by Wisconsinite David Wroblewski and is a wonderful story about a mute boy, his family, and the dogs they raise, and especially one special dog. It hit the NY Times best seller list last year. A wonderful story of human frailty, family love, and heartache, it pulls at the heart with the raw human emotions the family feels during their life struggles.An Oprah recommend, it is a good book for a book club discussion.

Along with all the dry weather come the spiders, who are finally able to design a web that isn't destroyed by the rain storms we've had this summer. I know that spiderwebs are tough but when the bushes and trees they cling to at tossed to and fro by the wind and rain, it would be amazing if they could stay intact.

Here is a Barn Funnel spider's web that I found in the cedar bushes in front of our house. This spider arrived with the immigrants from Europe and is pretty native to Minnesota now. I love to see the beautiful intricate work they do as they weave their webs. Sometimes during a dry seasons one can see these webs all over the yard. The spider hides deep in the base of the funnel and comes out only for prey. I would say it is a good way for them to catch a drink of water when it is dewy in the morning also. It is not a dangerous spider but hides in dark places; especially in the corners and crevices of the home.

Just one more of God's magnificent creations.

Our Vinca Catharanthus roseus and the Flicker

2010-08-14T12:29:00.005-05:00

When I first went to Carol's Cedar Cellar this spring for annuals, I spied this beauty hanging on one of the hooks and knew exactly where it was going. The Catharanthus roseus is a native of Madagascar and takes drought well as is proven by the above photos. Many times this summer I would come home and find the plant looking like it does in the top two photos. It immediately received the water it needed. After about 5 hours it was totally revived and was a beautiful as the day I purchased it. It comes in several other colors so one has a great choice.

The first bird, we who live in Minnesota, look for in the spring is the robin. For some reason this spring we had a flock of about 100 robins scrounging for food in our front and back yard this spring one day. Soon after that arrived my favorite bird, the Flicker. There are several in our yard each year. Today, I was greeted by this beauty sitting in the tree behind our house. What fun that was to see!
Last night, I attended the Relay for Life at the Roseau City Park. What an impressive program! The music, luminaries, and the friends that gather to honor and memorialize those who have had cancer was so well organized and such fun. I walked the park roads looking at all the luminaries and trying, in vain, to locate my mothers. There were hundreds of luminaries, so it was very difficult to be sure and find hers. I had decided not to take my camera and was very disappointed that I hadn't. Unless we are very busy with harvest, I will attend again next year. Perhaps I will purchase more than one luminary and put then from her grandchildren.

Harvest slowed down due to some rain yesterday afternoon. I did do a couple of rounds swathing this afternoon but we were in and out of light showers so we didn't press it. Warmer and dryer days are due next week.

Great-Grandchildren

2010-08-09T07:55:00.007-05:00

With the temperature over 85 on Sunday, the oven did not sound like a good idea but a tuna salad did. We enjoy tuna salad and I enjoyed changing the recipe. With the salad, cucumbers in Greek vinaigrette, and a cantaloupe-blueberry salad we were more than satisfied before our customary Sunday siesta.

This tuna salad was different than any I had ever made and turned out to be very tasty. So here is the recipe.

Cook 1 cup of small shell macaroni, drain and rinse with cold water, add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste.
Dice 1/3 cup red pepper and 1/3 cup onion, and two stalks celery.
Place these and the macaroni in a bowl and add one can peas, and two cans of drained tuna.
Season with an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon Dean Jacob's Grinder Fresh Spicy Garlic and McCormick's Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper seasoning.
Toss together.
Mix the following dressings, 1/8 cup of Ranch dressing, 1/8 cup of mayo, and 1/8 cup of fat free sour cream, and added to tuna salad, mixing well. Serve on a lettuce leaf.

This past weekend Michelle had these two cuties, her grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.

It is such fun to see how they have grown. Kera Dawn is now four and a half months old and already takes after her other grandmother, as she has strawberry blond hair. Can I say she is a adorable? Damen just sprouts up and then out, then sprouts up and then out again. This is a set I gave him last summer from the Children's Store. I head there on my trips to LA and love the sales.Humm, what kind of cute girl's clothes will they have...

I read about the link between a 20% increase in skin cancer caused by an ingredient in most sunscreens, retinyl palmitate. In studies on rats, sunscreens with this ingredient have caused tumors and lesions. One will have to become very aware of what the ingredients are on sunscreens from now on. It reminded me of my great-nephew. About 4 or 5 years ago he had a skin cancer removed from his back. Could there be a link between the sunscreen used on him and the same that was used on the rats?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

We started swathing wheat on Saturday with the intent of letting it lay for a couple of days. Yesterday it was hot, 95 above! I did the swathing while hubby did the combining. I can tell the wheat is not running as well as last year. What can one say, when you aren't able to spray at the right time or put on a fungucide. Today we did the same job's and I also unloaded the grain. The heat and humidity make it hard to be outside unloading a truck. You get chaff all over you and you itch for the whole day!

Then this evening I had a board of directors meeting. Funny thing was that it started raining just before I was going to head to town for the meeting and we had get the combine and trucks out of the rain.I will be very happy to have this wheat field done.

Three things about Tuesday:
We didn't have a break down.
It got a little cooler after the rain.
Breanne and I had a very enjoyable visit this afternoon.

Company and Winnipeg

2010-08-07T18:57:00.003-05:00

My brother and wife arrived Friday afternoon after a long detour from International Falls. If they had known, they had forgotten to take their Minnesota map, they would have crossed the border into Fort Frances and gone on the north side of the Rainy River. Being familiar with the trip to Roseau didn't cause them any frustration until they reached the detour. Bob's attitude was good, even after the long detour. I think there should have been someway to learn of the alternative drive. They took the northern route when they went home today.

Yesterday, while hubby cut CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) acres, we headed into the city of Winnipeg Manitoba about 100 miles northwest of the farm. Our first stop was to The Forks to meander through the shops, check out the different cuisine available and take a historic tour of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers on the one of The Forks smaller tour boats. It was interesting to see the flood levels on one of the bridges. The highest of which was from the 1957 flood. They claim the latest diversion "ditch" will protect the city from a 700 year flood. How do they determine things like that?

As we traveled the rivers we were presented information on the St. Boniface Church, I attended a workshop at the museum once. The museum was very interesting and included some exhibit items from Pierre La Verendrye an early French explorer who also established Fort St. Charles on the Northwest Angle of Minnesota during the 1700s. The area of the main city was clearly visible as was the first area established with the French architecture. The main docking area where early settlers landed. At one time it was believed that Winnipeg would be larger than Chicago, but the railroad eliminated the use of the Red River down to the Minnesota River and onto the Mississippi River which was thought to be the major way to transport commodities. I remember reading in an early Warroad newspaper where the largest shipment of wheat traveled on the Canadian Northern through Warroad sometime in the beginning of the twentieth century.
We all enjoy our little history lesson and then stepped off the boat, located our sea legs and headed to a little store to find some homemade ice cream. I had a scoop of lemon and one of mango, I highly recommend it!

We continued to examine the other wares in the market, the meat was surprisingly inexpensive. The produce comparable to ours. The trinkets and do-dads fun to examine and then it was time to cross over to the other building and check out the toy store, the Christmas shop and the various clothing and home decorative items.

By this time it was already 5:30 and we were hungry. Bob and Marie have eaten pizza at a place on Corydon Street and wanted to go there again. They have great pizza there, but the name escapes me. I could find it though, and it wasn't too spendy either.We ate in their outdoor restaurant, a real treat in our northern country.

After stopping at the mall in Steinbach, we ended up for coffee at Tim Hortons. It was the end of a beautiful and enjoyable day. Now if I had only remembered to take my camera.

Today it was back to work for a few hours and then home to make a blueberry pie for hubby.

Bryce's New Car

2010-07-27T22:27:00.003-05:00

Our grandson spent several months training in training for a Coast Guard position this past spring and summer. With generosity, he gave his sister his Path Finder so she would have a reliable vehicle. Now he has purchased a new car, a Honda Accord. Needless to say, he is pretty excited. He also has moved into his apartment in town north of Miami. What more can a 22 year old want; a good job, a nice car, and an apartment of his own. Oh yes, he probably would like a sweetheart!

Stanley Cup will be in Roseau on August 15

2010-07-16T23:15:00.001-05:00

I received the news today that the Stanley Cup will make an appearance in Roseau with Dustin Byfuglien on August 15. That is bound to be an exciting day for hockey enthusiasts in the area and state. I am looking forward to seeing it myself.

Grandson photos

2010-07-16T08:11:00.003-05:00

Michelle took care of Damen during the Fourth of July weekend on Saturday and took some photos for me. He has grown so much since Christmas. I can see he is slimming down and will soon be chubbing up again so he can add inches again. I really need to find some time to go out and visit.
The aerial and century farm exhibit is almost ready. I drove to Grygla to pick up the grids we had ordered from Palay Display. Sardiff Bros.picked them up but wouldn't be able to deliver them until late Friday afternoon and we are ready to hang things today, so it just made since to go get them.

The museum has been very busy lately with many summer vacationers. We had a family from LA on Tuesday. Family reunions and family visits are the main reason we get the visitors. Our exhibits on One Woman and Women in Military draw a lot of locals also. We think the new exhibit will draw even more.

I woke up to the beating of rain on Sunday night and another fierce thunder storm which left an inch and a half of rain. The grass needs to be cut so I know what I am going to be doing this weekend again. Most crops look great, the canola did no handle the rain very well though. I hope to go check out the blueberry patches just into Canada this weekend. I am sure that bug spray will be VERY important in the woods!

Time to head to work!

Weekend Oasis

2010-07-12T22:19:00.005-05:00

This weekend was an oasis from too much work. The lawn was mowed in no time due to how dry it is right now; in fact we didn't even need to pick up any grass for a change.

We had good news, Leah's car was found in one piece! The only thing the thieves took were the items on her seats and floor. She drove it home on Saturday and said there were only a couple of problems, the steering wheel doesn't lock any more and they must have jimmied the ignition as it feels a little different. She is one lucky young woman! That was the fourth time here car was broke into. Seems to me the saying is three times and that is usually it,

One day last week, our Branch President asked me to give a talk in church. The assignment was Faith. I always learn more than those that listen when I give a talk. I did quite a bit of research and thought about off it an all week so on Friday I started looking through the Ensign Magazine conference issues.

One of the two apostles presented an excellent way to increase faith. Elder Robert Hales' conference talk "Finding Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" in the the November 2004 issue gave five basic things that are necessary to establish faith in ones life.
(1) hear the word of God, spoken and written by His servants
(2) let that word sink deep into your heart
(3) hunger in your soul for righteousness
(4) obediently follow gospel laws, ordinances, and covenants
(5) raise your voice in mighty prayer and supplication, asking in faith to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior.

Faith is such an evasive thing, we can't see it or hear it or feel it. We have to trust and make an effort to have it. In Hebrews 11:1 the Apostle Paul taught that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So true.

I am working at having faith that we will complete the exhibit in time for fair week so that we will have fair visitors take the time to come and see it. We will be putting some of up at the fair too. One part of the exhibit will test how well we can recognize our neighbor's farm from an aerial photograph. We do get impatient with how slowly some of the photos and information are coming in though.

I finished reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake at 8:00 this morning. It is a very different story with many twists that one can't really figure out until almost to the end. It would not be a good thing to be able to taste the feelings of someone who had cooked your food for you. This is the case for the little girl in the story. It is now on to try and complete The Elegance of the Hedgehog. This is also a recommended book from Oprah's O magazine and the More magazine.

The safety of where I live

2010-07-06T21:40:00.004-05:00

We live in a fairly safe area. Oh sure, it is not perfect but it is pretty neat to live here. Today our granddaughter called to tell us her car was stolen. This is the second time she has been a victim of thief. The first time was two years ago when someone broke into her car and stole her radio, her cds and anything else they felt was of value. I hope they are able to catch these criminals before her car is wrecked. So often it is stolen at night by someone who just wants to joy ride and then they ditch the car somewhere or wreck it.How do they even start the car? It can't help but make one feel violated.

Today our staff installed the first section of the aerial photo exhibits. We have a lot of work to do to complete the rest of the exhibits but there is progress. We had one wonderful volunteer who typed up several of our biographies for the Century Farm exhibit. That was a great help, now we will put together the posters. The info part goes quite fast, the photos are another thing. Some of them will need to be edited as we have not had time to do that.

I finally figured out how to use Adobe Photo Shop CS to scan with our scanner. All along I have struggled when I have had to use it. Friday I asked one of our staff if she had used the scanner yet and she told me no so I thought perhaps we could learn together. I, who have been challenged by the scanner since we purchased it! Well lo and behold there was a function called overview, so I clicked on it, tada, just like magic,there was the area we needed to use to scan. What is it about discovering a new process that makes us feel so grateful? I sure did.I am no longer worried about having to scan at the museum.

Our great grandson Damen spent Saturday with our daughter. Michelle and I connected on Skype for a while. Damen is so cute! Last summer, he and I played a tickle-lion game, where I would tickle him and growl like a lion and he would growl back. It was such fun. Saturday we did the same thing long distant, I growled and talked to him like I had. He got so excited, he started touching the computer screen and giggling and growling back.

He is two and a half now and is not quite so wild as he was about 6 months ago. Michelle says he doesn't listen to her but he does listen to Dave. What is it about a man that commands respect?

One of our couple volunteers agreed to put in a Scandinavian exhibit in the lobby exhibit case. Keith is a master carver and Leanne put together a collection of handwork, you can see their exhibit either in the lobby of the museum or right here. Thanks you two, what a great job. I am so thankful for our volunteers, they are wonderful and the proof is on Leanne's website.

Life is busy and good

2010-06-18T22:20:00.005-05:00

This week has seemed to fly by. I did take Wednesday off and it was a marvelous day to do so; 85, brilliant sun, a retirement party for a friend to attend, and then off to have Pam knead all the knots out of my body and send me almost into la, la land. Her massage is so wonderful!

I finished reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson this week. His wit was quick, his knowledge wonderful, and his stamina more than I would have had even at 20. It is amazing to think that anyone would desire taking an over 2,000 mile hike in the Appalachians. His drive was something to admire. I really enjoyed his in-depth coverage of the flora and fauna, the stories of a few of the deaths on Mount Washington, the escape during a case of dense fog, and the snow and rain that they were forced to travel through and finally the heat that did them in at the end. His friend was a trouper for even going with him. A good read.

Life has been a mist of rain quite frequently this past week. Except for Monday and Wednesday we have been cloudy and often rainy. Last night was something else.I was working late on the aerial photo exhibit at the museum and suddenly the fire alarm started sounding. Without a radio in the museum I ran to the library to see what Chuck could come up with; it was tornado watch. I went back to my cozy office with four walls and no windows and though how it was the safest place in town at that moment then got homesick for hubby and headed out the door and went home. The lightening was furious in places but all we had was a hard 15 minute rain that dumped 1/2 inch on us. The next morning, the TV reported tornadoes all over the state and several in northwest North Dakota, too. We were very lucky to escape.

Let's see, there must be five things I am thankful for tonight.
1. Our staff, they are the greatest!
2. Our cozy home.
3. Skype, I can visit with my daughter and grandchildren, face to face.
4. The scriptures, they keep me close to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
5. Good friends and family.

Another busy day tomorrow, it is the Scandinavian Festival and we have a Story Time for Children at the museum. I can just taste that rice pudding with raspberry sauce. Yum!

The Birds!

2010-06-16T09:26:00.002-05:00

When I came home from work yesterday the first thing I did was peer into the Robin nest under the south end of the deck. I should have ran for the camera! One little one was sitting on the edge of the nest while the others huddle together, half and half out of the nest. This morning, I grabbed the camera to take what I thought would be one last photo but they were already gone! One of the parents came swooping in and landed on the grass not far from me and kept a close eye on what I was doing. Whatever for, they had already helped the little ones in their flight to a new life? What will be the next thing to see in our yard that will give us enjoyment.

Ardmore walked to the bridge yesterday and on the way saw four baby wood chucks hardly any larger than his hands sitting out of the their tunnel. We believe the mother was killed a while back as someone had stopped on the road and then we heard a gun go off. What will these little one do if the mother is gone? Hopefully the male helps, does anyone know if a father wood chuck would step to the plate under those types of circumstances? Time for some research!

The Aerial Farm exhibits are coming along, slowly but surely. We have about 50 photos to work with now. Several for the Century Farm exhibit and some the other aerial farm exhibits. We took all the info on the mystery farms from the early 1950s Roseau Times-Region newspapers and I will now begin to call people to see if they are able to locate their family farm black and white photo. I don't think we will get the exhibit up before July first, but hope to start.

It is a beautiful day today, we are suppose to get up into the 80s. No wind to speak of either so our wheat should get sprayed some time today. We have reached a point where we are more concerned about spraying the fungicide than even the herbicide. After checking the field a couple of days ago, Ardmore reported lots of damage on the stems. We knew that would be a problem with all of the rain we have had. Pray that our area doesn't get any rain for at least a week. LOL

I stayed home today to soak up the sun and do some work at home. This afternoon is my friend Ann's retirement party. Congrads Ann!We went out to lunch yesterday. Chinese is so good!

THE STANLEY CUP IS COMING TO ROSEAU MINNESOTA!

2010-06-09T22:44:00.002-05:00

Due to tremendous efforts of Roseau's Dustin Byfuglien and his Chicago Black Hawks team mates, the Stanley Cup will be coming to Roseau! This is the second time an individual from Roseau has won the Stanley Cup, but will be the first time it will be in Roseau.

Roseau was voted the Capital of the State of Hockey contest on www.wild.com on April 10, 2010 when the Wild hosted the Dallas Stars. Roseau has always been strong, winning their first state championship in 1946 when they were known as the Green Wave. The tremendous effort of the coaches to teach our young people to skate and play the game is renown. Even when the young boys played in youth hockey they were tough enough to go all the way to the Nationals and win.
Congratulations to Dustin Byfuglien and his team, they were deserving of the win and we are proud to be associated with them.

Scripture Study, Museum Exhibits and Exhibits

2010-06-09T08:40:00.017-05:00

This summer I signed up for the challenge to read the Book of Mormon. I decided to use the teacher's Sunday School manual with the process and have found that this is very effective when using the internet. Dearscriptures.com is an excellent way to study the scriptures using the manual as a study guide. Hubby and I are using the SS Old Testament manual for our scripture study using dear scriptures which caused me to decided to do the same when I committed to studying with the Facebook Book of Mormon group. The one thing I really like is the ability to add comments from the lesson manual into my scriptures on "dear scriptures" It has several excellent scripture dictionaries, one can highlight or change the color of text, as well as leave comments.

Last week, Keith and Leanne Johnson setup a display of several Norwegian items. Keith is a wonderful wood carver as you can see. Leanne displayed several bell pulls, crocheting, and other piece of hand work.

The Roseau Scandinavian Festival is held June 18th and 19th, so this display is setup just in time. The museum will be hosting a Scandinavian Story Time for children on Saturday the 19th from 12:30 to 2:30.

We are hoping to open the "A Bird's Eye View of Roseau County Farms" and Century Farm exhibit just before the Scandinavian Festival, but it doesn't look like we will make it. We will see.

Today is the final game the Chicago Black Hawks will play for the Stanley Cup if they win. Go Dustin Byfuglien and your team, we are routing for you all!

Hockey and Roseau

2010-06-07T22:33:00.005-05:00

We have had our nights taken up with watching the Stanley Cup and our own home town player, Dustin Byfuglien. It was great seeing him make two goals last night. Our goal is on seeing the Stanley Cup visit Roseau. Go Black Hawks Go!

We have been busy putting together a new exhibit at the museum. It will have two parts to it and will go along with the Smithsonian exhibit that just left us. It will examine the changes on the farm since the 1980s when there was more dairy and beef cattle so fences were seen in abundance. Today we have very few dairy farms and not many beef ranches in the county either. The exhibit will present aerial farm photos from each township, Britt titled it "A Bird's Eye View of Roseau County Farms". The second part will focus on Century Farms, there are about 60 farms that have submitted applications under the Minnesota State Fair and Farm Bureau program that honors families who own Century Farm. This has been an enjoyable exhibit to work on and especially so when I call the families and ask if they would be willing to help with the exhibit by providing photos. We have about 40 photographs in the aerial exhibit, some are in already and some will be coming in during this week. We hope to get the exhibit up by the twentieth of June. That will give time for summer visitors and family reunions to come and see how things looked on a farm in the past compared to today. One of fun things we have coming in is some the aerial mystery farms from the 1950s that were in the Roseau Times-Region.

Today was time to play catch up on some of my friend's blogs. That little guy of Desi's is so dang cute as are Appie and Dave's two little gals.

Today was our daughter, Michelle's birthday. Happy Birthday darling daughter!

Wolves howling in the night

2010-06-02T08:05:00.005-05:00

Hubby asked me if I heard the wolves howling last night. Here I thought I had tossed and turned all night, no, I did not hear the wolves. He thought it sounded like there were about 4 or 5. Brush wolves, probably. I remember we had a brush wolf in our area several years ago. I was cultivating when I saw him. Such a scrawny animal, I felt sorry for him or perhaps it was a her and she was nursing pups, which would explain her condition. I hope these are just brush wolves and not timber wolves. If they are the size of the timber wolf we have in the museum, it
could be fearsome.

Monday's Memorial Service was such a wonderful tribute to the Korean and Vietnam vets. Aaron Nelson and his advanced history class put together a wonderful program and exhibit honoring them. Throughout the year the class had conducted oral histories from several veterans. They presented each of them with copy and also the historical society and the Minnesota Historical Society. I was very impressed with their work. Aaron and I had partnered on the project to receive equipment through the Minnesota Arts and Culture grant. We were so pleased to be able to get this grant. It provided what was necessary to do quality oral history programs, lights, camera, etc. The museum had also conducted four interviews with women who have served in the military. During the next few weeks I am hopeful that I have a couple of the students come in and assist us in organizing these interviews so we know how to handle them.

It is very humbling to participate in such a great program.

James' Advancement and Spring Storms

2010-05-29T05:57:00.006-05:00

This was an exciting week for our son James, he was commissioned an Air Force Captain. This is his fourth year in the Air Force. He first commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant when he graduated from the University of Utah. He is not sure how much longer he will stay with the Air Force though as his greatest desire is to fly and he has an interview with Cathay Pacific Airlines in July. Ashley was the first to make the announcement on her Facebook page. She is proud too.

As I laid in bed this morning, thunder rolled outside my window. There was blue sky to the south but gray west and north like yesterday. We had another 1.85 inches of rain yesterday. The fields have much water standing. The soybean field south of the farm site which hubby so quickly seeded and packed will definitely struggle to come to life now. Those little seeds must be so water logged and well ready to pop but when they many will probably die quickly due to all the rain that keeps coming.

I just hope the wheat can stand the assault we've had, it has never looked so good. Fungus is sure to be a problem though and spraying with Tilt more than just a yearly thing to do, it is will be a necessity. I have seen wheat that is not treated with a fungicide and if I put both the treated and the untreated side by side there is no doubt which one I want to eat, the one that was treated! The kernels are so shriveled and often have dark spots on them or a peach fungus when untreated.

The mother Killdeer sat over her eggs throughout the storm yesterday, even when it was hailing. The hail was only pea size but for a bird that must seem like golf ball size. I checked the nest when the rain was over and there were the four little eggs, still in the shell. She usually does not go off her next when I approach now, but I must have been too close to her as she did the broken wing act when I came about three feet from the nest. I see she is sitting on it this morning.

The internet is out now so I will finish later and just copy it to my journal.

I spent some time working on a quilt for Breanne this morning. It is going to be a long process but I believe it will be quite nice when completed.

I have been reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods; his memoir about a hike he and a friend took on the Appalachian Trail during the 1990s. His humor throughout the books is fun, plus he does a good job covering the flora and fauna, small towns along the way that cater to hikers and tourists, and the trail's birds and animals. It is an easy read, can be picked up and put down at will.

I need to write an article for next week's paper so better get started.

Thunder Storm!

2010-05-23T22:02:00.006-05:00

Starting at about 12:30 am last night, thunder storms hit our area and left us with one and three-quarter inches of rain. When we left for church at 7:30 am water stood all over in the yard and the fields had many flooded areas. By the time we got home at 1:30 the yard had no puddles and the much of the water in the fields had either headed for the ditch with the rest sinking deep into the ground to nourish our wheat, soybeans and canola. It may have been more than what we wanted but it disappeared in a remarkable fashion at home and on our south land. I wish I could say that for some of the other fields in our area. Some had too much water standing and ditches that did not drain to the river fast enough. Tomorrow morning will give a clearer picture of how quickly things can move down the ditches and into the Roseau Lake bottom or into the Roseau River.

Our Killdeer decided to adjust to us these past couple of days and today on my way to the house she continued to sit on her nest while I walked within six feet of the her sitting on the nest. Later I came out to take a photo and she sat there, which a close and cautious eye on what I was doing and where I was.I was able to take this photo which shows how easily she can camouflage herself among the grasses and rocks on the driveway.

We have been watching a Robin dash from her nest every time she hears the front door open. The nest is under our deck in what she considers a secluded place by a corner post. We have had Robins place nests on each corner of the deck some years ago and alternate using them. Then a couple of years ago I decided it was time to clean away the nests so they could rebuild new ones. No Robins returned to rebuild until this year. Hurray, I thought, now we will have the joy of seeing little Robins take their first flight again.

Here are those beautiful blue eggs just waiting to hatch.

It is seed time on the farm

2010-05-22T22:50:00.003-05:00

Today hubby begin the finishing acts for this years seeding, he rolled the soybeans with the packer. This will sure help when we start taking of the beans off. They are such a short crop and to get all the beans one must cut right on the ground. He also started spraying some of the crop. So far the crops look lush and are coming up beautifully. We will need rain on the soybeans though to see how they will do.
We have a Killdeer that has decided to have her nest right on our driveway. Hubby moved the pickup with hopes we won't forget the camouflaged bird will not get run over or stepped on. One has to really look hard to see her four eggs in the nest. Yesterday I had a meeting in Bemidji and after the long drive home was unloading the car which is parked right behind her nest. Needless to say I forgot it was there and walk right in the general direction one time. Thankfully the little eggs were not stepped on.

There is always endless work on the farm. I often dream of a weekend in the summer when I didn't have to mow the lawn. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to mow and then there is the dead grass to pickup with lawn sweep.

Started a new quilt project today. It turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. It will take me a long time to make a full quilt though as it has points and I am having a bugger of a time matching them and then starting the machine sewing them without puckering. The patterned turned out nice though. I will have to take it to the quilt shop and get some critiquing on it though. Tomorrow is another day!

Taking down Between Fences

2010-05-10T18:43:00.002-05:00

Today we started taken down the Between Fences exhibit. What a lot of work! Britt called in sick and then I ended up sick in the afternoon but stayed to work on the exhibit anyway. We did the intro down and the Border section down and some of the other areas started. Once we found out which tools were missing and replaced those, the job went much easier. Mickie came over to led a hand! Good friends are a blessing. We all felt like we had really accomplished a lot in the three hours we worked. We have already filled and rolled two cases out to the bay for placing on the truck. It is so wonderful to have great help! I hope it is nice when the fellow comes to pick it up so we can ask Polaris to come and help us load it on the truck.

Had a quiet Mother's Day. Went to church, came home and took a nap, read some and generally just relaxed. Felt wonderful. Everyone called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. I do wish I was in LA with Brian though. He went up to Santa Barbara. The last time I was there was with my brother and wife when James was about 5. Wow, that is over 25 years ago! Next time I go to LA I am taking the rental car up the coast and staying at a couple of places and eating out, walking the beach and eating out, antique shopping and eating out, quilt material shopping and eating out, general window shopping and eating out. Gosh that sounds like I plan to find a lot of cool places to snack, doesn't it?

Robins in our yard

2010-05-08T11:48:00.004-05:00

We had a migration of Robins in our yard about a month ago when the weather started to turn nice. Over a 100 birds flew in to gobble worms as they rose to the top to escape the cold dirt underneath. It was such an uncommon sight I had to take photos to put on the web. Can you count how many there are in the two photos? Share your numbers on the comment page.

We finally have a beautiful day which means I will be mowing our very tall grass. I will have to wear a winter coat and gloves to stay warm though as it is only 45 out. This is quite a contrast compared to what April was like with its 60s and 70s. I have worn gloves to work most mornings this past week.

Time for Six for Saturday

Six things I am thankful for

My new Janome sewing machine.
Figuring out how to operate the many features on the new sewing machine.
A sunny day!
The green leaves on the trees.
Rain on our wheat and canola fields
Having the Minnesota History Contest test almost completed!

And now it is time to mow!

My Janome 3160

2010-05-07T08:02:00.012-05:00

About three weeks ago I stepped into Quilt S'More in Roseau to check out the fabric and visit with Leanne who works there on Wednesdays. She and Judy, the owner, were busy setting up the new Janome 3160 machines that had come in. My machine was purchased following our home fire back in 1988 and sure didn't have the digital qualities this machine had! The machine was $200 off to boot, so at $598 was something to consider. It really didn't take me more than 5 minutes of watching them set up the machine to convince me that this was the machine for me at this time.

Some of the qualities I appreciated were the ability to set the stitch width and length so easily and precisely, the needle threader (I love this!), the ease of filling a bobbin and the thread cutter. It has several design stitches which I probably will not ever use but then who knows what one decides to do in the future.

My new daughter-in-law will receive my other machine now. In fact, hubby just took it out to the car and I will mail this today. Another thing for your home, Ashley, I hope you enjoy it.

Quilting is an enjoyable pastime and over the years I have purchased different fabrics with the intent of quilting but have only made three quilts. Leanne and I went through the fabrics about a year ago and picked out the following, which are now cut and ready to quilt.

I think these colors will make a quilt that will brighten a bedroom in either one of my children or grandchildren's home!

Two great programs in one day

2010-04-29T23:07:00.002-05:00

I went in a little late today because we had our last Between Fences program this evening, but was there in plenty of time to attend the Lunch with the Library Amazon program. Two of my friends went on a trip down the Amazon River during Christmas this past year. They did a great job narrating and the photos made think of what fun that must have been. Was interesting to hear them talk about the foods they ate, like grubs and Parana fish, the hospitality of the natives, the lack of so many things in the villages we take for granted, such as school supplies, no running water or electricity. They went with World Tours and had a great time. Said their boat was even air conditioned. Some of the facts, the Amazon is 200 miles wide where it enters the ocean. It is the largest fresh water river in the world. One does not swim in the Amazon as it is too dirty. All I can say is coodoos for a great program!

This evening, the Minnesota Geography expert, Professor David Lanegran presented the final program for Between Fences. His topic was the U.S. - Canada border and how it ended up as it has. The border is the longest straight line border in the world, but when it comes from the west to the Lake of the Woods area that all changes as the controversy about where it should be, changed the line about 3 or 4 time. He discussed the Dawson Road, which is till visible on the eastern side of Lake of the Woods, as one attendee spoke of snowmobiling on and how the wagon wheel tracks are still visible. It was an excellent evening and I learned several things that I didn't know before.

Only one week until the exhibit closes. Now that is sad!

Spring Field Work

2010-04-26T11:50:00.004-05:00

This year will go down as one of the easiest and earliest years for seeding a crop in Roseau County. We completed seeding the wheat last on April 17 and the canola was seeded on Saturday. All we have left is the soy beans now. We are anxious to receive a little rain now to assist in getting everything growing.

Last night our home teacher came over with his wife and family. We so enjoy their visits and love their little children. I pulled out the colored pencils, a maze and some reading books to occupy the children while we visited. I ended up with lots of pictures to hang on the fridge. It always brightens my day to see their talent.

Today I pulled out one of my quilt pieces and worked on it. I am getting use to the new sewing machine and the fact that I don't have to use a presser foot to make it go, just move a toggle slide from side to side. I experimented with lengthening my stitches, one of the things I am really pleased about is the digital qualities of the machine. I found some more quilt material I had purchased several years ago so now I have enough to make three quilts.

While at Quilt 'SMore the other day, I picked up a CD with quilt block patterns and a 501 block book. Went through the book last night with post its and marked the patterns I liked. Now I need to decide when I am going to really start! Our daughter, Michelle makes little quilts. When we all got together for Christmas, she gave me one for my desk at work. I put my digital photograph frame on it and it looks just great. I always marvel at how she finds the time. She teaches piano, is a full-time music major, play the piano for her church choir and is a new grandmother, and some how still finds time to quilt.

Today, I made a few more phone calls to individuals for the Aerial Photo exhibit at the museum. We have over 15 definite responses now which means we are well on our way to a successful exhibit. Our goal is to have 36, which will be one per panel. If we get more, so much the better. We narrowed the time period of the photograph to 1975 to 1990, with a main focus on the mid 1980s. So far so good. The exhibit should be in place by the end of May. It is so nice to have a goal and a plan!

Red Hat Ladies

2010-04-13T21:26:00.006-05:00

This was a busy day. At noon we had Roseau River Watershed Director Rob Sando give a very informative presentation on the Roseau River and the tributaries. It always amazes me how when one know the rivers in our area usually run north to the Red River and then on into Lake Winnipeg, some rivers end up going south and draining into the Roseau River. Two of these add a bit too much water into the Roseau River during flood years. Several interesting developments were brought up by Rob. I hope they accomplish what they are expected to do.

As usual I worked late and at 5:30 had a telephone from the Red Hat ladies from Warroad. I think everyone forgot they were coming tonight as when the crew left they locked the door and turned off the lights. Thank goodness the gals had their cell phones and could call us and that I was working late. I think they enjoyed the Between Fences exhibit. Their cameras were flashing and laughter was heard into my office.

I purchased a new sewing machine on Saturday. It is going to be my retirement sewing machine for quilting. Don't ask when that will come to be. I did some minor sewing with it on Saturday evening...It is sweet. I may just have to clean out the office and rescue my sewing table from everything that is piled on it. Well, I haven't retired yet so there is no hurry.

Things to do on Sunday

2010-04-11T22:01:00.003-05:00

The wind was at my back when I headed down the road to the bridge today, and it was stiff from the nw. I got two telephone poles down and turned around and headed home and walked around the inside of the grove. Much easier to handle. There was definitely an advantage in living in Hoyt Lakes.

The town was pretty much surrounded by trees so the wind did not have the opportunity to take your hat, your coat and your breath quite so easily. My brother told me he and his wife walked to Fisherman's Point on his day off last week. That would be about 2 miles round trip from his home and would have been about 2.5 from our home. It was common for the kids and I to hop our bikes and head out to the Point after stopping to pick up a can of cold pop at the gas station. We enjoyed watching the ducks and feeding them bread if we had taken any. The trails were paved and ran right through the forest so it was cool on a hot day and kept the wind off during during a cool day.

One year we had a family reunion on my dad's side of the family and most of the family camped at the point with a few of us staying at the only motel in town, the Country Inn of Hoyt Lakes. Very nice with an indoor pool and a whirl pool, continental breakfast plus gave us time to pull three tables together in the morning and reminisce.

I really enjoyed living in Hoyt Lakes. We were about a half mile from a life guard beach. The kids and I would head there (if it wasn't raining) at 10 in the morning and stay until 3. They had a concession stand where candy and some fast food was sold. We usually took a lunch or would head home for a quick lunch and bike back down to finish swimming all afternoon. The kids loved to jump off the dock and swim out to the raft and dive into the deeper water.

My friends and I would get together for "coffee", one of my friends and I had a thing about popovers and would make them every once in a while. Yum! Not many of my friends still live there but one of best high school friends still does, just a block from my brother in fact. We don't see each other much, but with the cell phone we talk at least once a week, sometimes more. We even had granddaughter's born on the same day, our granddaughter Keira and her Amelia were born on March 26. We thought that was very special. Life is different now, but good in a different way.

Today was lazy day, I napped, visited a neighbor, and watched an episode of Wind at my Back on the BYU television network. It is one of my favorite shows, lasts about an hour. It must be a CBC program as it reminds me of CBC programs. It is always on at 8 pm on Sunday and is a good way to end a Sunday.

Five things I am thankful for this week:

1. Less stress now that Woman's History Month is over and we don't have to design those exhibits.

2. Several days of sun

3. My new sewing machine.

4. Talking with little Damen on Skype yesterday and seeing his little sister.

5. Ardmore and I being able to listen and watch Michelle play the piano and visit on Skype tonight.

Catch up time

2010-04-10T09:58:00.006-05:00

Last evening we went to church for a Friendly Friday activity. Ardmore joined everyone in the rain to clean ditches, while I stayed inside the chapel watching movies with the children. We watched a Vegie Tales movie, cute but I had to ask a friend if her children really understood what was going on. She didn't think so, neither did I. We had a great potluck dinner following the work project. It did quit raining and the kids played games outside. When we drove home, we reached an area that didn't receive any rain and from there to the farm it hadn't rain. Go figure?
Breanne and Josh went visiting last night so Michelle had Damen for the evening. He and I had a giggling match on Skype. He is getting so big. Not being closer is hard but being able to see him on Skype helps. He is not 28 months. I can't believe how fast time goes by. He was quite enthralled with Michelle's cat and decided that talking to me on the computer had been enough and it was time to go play with the kitty!

Thursday, the museum had the Between Fences Charlie Maguire program at the Badger School. Charlie worked with Kelly Grahn's 4th grade class teaching them how to use the mouth harp. He does such a great job! That afternoon Charlie and the students gave a program for the elementary. He gives such a great presentation. The students really were into the spoons and the singing.

On Thursday evening he and the students performed for the public. We had about 150 in attendance. It was also our annual meeting. Not the usual number of people attended the meeting but that was alright, next year is a new year. People really did miss a great program. The sixth enjoyed the afternoon program so much many of them came back for the evening program and invited their and seventh grader friends, which was wonderful to see. This time, these young people were able to participate and received spoons too. They really got into the singing, one could tell they really enjoyed it.

New Great-Grandbaby

2010-03-31T08:49:00.009-05:00

We have a welcome new comer to the Haugen family. Little Keira Dawn Sahner was born on Monday, March 22. She weighted in at 6pounds 4 ounces at 5:08 am. And yes, her namesake is Keira Knightley.

One of my closest friends from high school and I were both expecting grandchildren during this time. Both women were over due. Carol's daughter-in-law was scheduled to be induced, which she was, on Monday, March 22. Breanne went into labor on Sunday night and had the baby Monday am. Now how many best friends can boast of something like this happening. Need I say, we feel pretty saucy! I must say, having not seen Carol's granddaughter I have no trouble saying our great-granddaughter is the cutest!

What is it about the birth of a new born that causes us women to go all soft? I just was reading how in some countries the birth of a daughter is not the occasion it is in the United States. In fact some are put to death immediately following birth.

The scriptures tell us that we are to multiply and replenish the earth. How is it that one can have such little sanctity for life that they would put a child to death?

"Behold your little ones." The Savior said. "Let the little children come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Look at this adorable baby, can one imagine the family without this beautiful child? She will bring such joy to all of us. Welcome to the world, Keira!

The sun always shines in Roseau

2010-03-18T06:06:00.008-05:00

When the two older Haugen kids were young and living at home. We made frequent trips to the farm at Roseau from our home in Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The contrast between the two areas we very evident. Hoyt Lakes is located on the Iron Range of Minnesota, called such because of the iron ore that was discovered there in the 1800s. Many iron ore and later taconite mines were developed in the area and are the main source of employment for the people who live on the Iron Range. We consider the eastern Iron Range to run from the town Hibbing to Hoyt Lakes. The area is dotted with lakes including Lake Vermilion, which is the fifth largest lake in Minnesota. We lived one block from White Water Lake and a half mile from Colby which had a manned life guard beach the entire time our children grew up.

When would travel to Roseau when Michelle and Brian were young, hubby would always comment, "The sun always shines in Roseau." We drove under the clouds or in the rain many times and we would always think, sure, it is going to shine in Roseau, in a very doubtful way. We would be almost to Warroad when we would see that the cloud bank seemed to have a clear horizon in the west and sure enough, very often, by the time we reached Roseau the sun was shining and kids always enjoyed being outside.

The sun does not always shine in Roseau, we have rain and we have snow. This past month was very foggy. Finally the fog began to clear out . We woke up on Monday to a clear and sunning morning, something that we had not seen for about two weeks.

Well here is the latest photos that show how quickly things change in northern Minnesota near spring. We had about two weeks of foggy weather and suddenly during that time, it turned warmer and things started to melt last week. We went from this:

The shovel was so necessary about two weeks or so ago.Snow was still piled against the shed when the wind blew.
And one didn't want to walk out to the trees in the 12+ inches of snow.

But it slowly melted.

The time for winter outside sports is over!
Like Frog told Toad, Spring is just around the corner!
You snow birds can think of packing up soon and head back to the beautiful spring and summer in the north.

Women in Military Exhibit and Program

2010-03-12T06:14:00.010-06:00

The women in military exhibit WALL is slowing coming together. With 54 out of 147 women bios on the WALL, it looks great but we have another 93 women without enough info to exhibit a bio and usually we don't have a photo either. The names of the women are in our newsletter which can be found on the newsletter website. We've listed all the women in military and put stars before the women that we minimal or no information on. Hopefully we will get the information in the future. So many of the names, I am familiar with but don't know who to contact or just plain don't have the time to contact them. We will continue to work with the Women in Military committee as they seek information on these woman.

The committee includes (FR, l-r) Jean Vatnsdal, Verna Grafstrom, Patty Vatnsdal, Judi Aronson; (BR,l-r) LaMae Lundbohm, Donna Magnusson, Ann Novacek, Delores Walsh, and Delores Desrosier, missing is Sheila Olson and Ruth Stukel.

One of the major projects the committee members and our staff worked on was going through the newspapers from the 1940s to the present time looking for the articles on both the men and women. That project is not complete yet but perhaps over the summer, we will be able to finish the newspapers and receive biographies on at least half of the remaining individuals.

The committee includes (FR, l-r) Jean Vatnsdal, Verna Grafstrom, Patty Vatnsdal, Judi Aronson; (BR,l-r) LaMae Lundbohm, Donna Magnusson, Ann Novacek, Delores Walsh, and Delores Desrosier, missing is Sheila Olson and Ruth Stukel.

Next Saturday, March 20, is the big day to honor the Roseau County Women in Military.We will have a luncheon for the women who have served at 11:30 am in the Roseau City Center. The luncheon is RSVP so the women need to contact the museum if they are attending.

At 1:00, a public program in the Roseau City Center will honor these women where they will also receive a certificate for their service. If a family member is deceased or unable to attend, the family may accept the certificate. It is our desire that all women will be able to attend, but know that is not possible.

Roseau County "One Woman 21010" City & Township Select

2010-03-08T00:40:00.003-06:00

I have been a bit busy lately and need to tell who the Roseau County cities and townships selected to represent their area in "One Woman 2010."

Badger Minnesota: Oline Erickson/deceased
Dieter Twp - Alma Lee/deceased
Falun Twp - Marie Comstock
Greenbush - Selma Rigstad
Huss – Lucille “Lucy” Wiskow
Jadis Twp - Gertie Hetteen Carter/deceased
Malung Twp – Christine Nelson/deceased
Moranville Twp – Joy Phillipe
Palmville Twp - Marie Oslund
Roseau – Clarice “Kelly” Falk
Stokes Twp – Alma Anderson Lind
Unorganized Townships – County Board selects – Brenda Yanok, Clear River Township
Warroad - Ruth Stukel

It was exciting to see these community minded women receive recognition for what they done in community service, to see the many talents and abilities they have. They are truly deserving of the title "One Woman".

Grand Opening Women's History Month - One Woman

2010-03-01T07:30:00.014-06:00

Can I say I am exhausted? After working the last seven days I decided to sleep in this morning. Went to bed at 10:30 and ended up waking up at 6; oh well, sleep will come back.
Yesterday was amazing! We had about 200 individuals who attended the One Woman ribbon cutting event.
Thirteen women from across the county were recognized for their community service. It went so well and the program music was a wonderful addition. Britt's signage was great, her work is always outstanding. I had so much to talk about in our closing message, I forgot to give her the credit she deserves. She is outstanding in all areas.
One person told me that the Wall needed to become a permanent part of the museum. I am not so sure I am ready to redesign the Women in Military signage just yet for that. I will need to decide on where they can be placed before that. Our staff did a wonderful job putting the military exhibits together. The Women in Military program is March 20 with a luncheon and program honoring Roseau County women who have served in the military. The committee meets tonight to organize the last of it.

The focus will now be on Between Fences, completely.

So much to tell...

2010-02-19T20:22:00.010-06:00

Last week was such a wild week! Hubby and I flew to LA on Tuesday, his suit in hand, excited about James and Ashley's wedding. James took us to his home immediately and then we went to Brian's. Brian spent the afternoon, coloring and cutting my hair as he was heading to Las Vegas to do makeup for a Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit promotion. I am always to pleased when he cuts my hair.
The Wednesday, Brian's friend Cliff who does wardrobe for commercials, movies, etc. went with me shopping for a wedding dress. It wasn't too hard to find but does anything look good one a woman who needs to lose about 50 pounds? I don't know what the photos will look like and am anxious to see. As we walked through the Grove I noticed a TV commercial was being record for the Cooking Channel. After checking out the set closely, I saw the commercial was with Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis, which was quite exciting to see. No, I didn't take a photo!
That evening the bride's family, who had arrived from Taiwan and James, Ardmore and I had dinner together at a Marina Del Ray restaurant and got to know each other a bit. The next day we were up at 7 to pick up the flowers in the wholesale flower district and then off to the church to decorate.We had a great time and were so hungry when James brought us two very large pizzas from Costco the they were devoured in minutes. The nicest thing was that the balloons were still good when we got to the reception on Friday evening!

We were exhausted when we finally arrive home but content, everything was decorated except for a few last minute things that would be done by volunteers the next day. A big thank you goes out to those volunteers, their last minute touches added wonders to what was done on Thursday.

I picked Brian up at the airport on Friday at 8:30am. That morning, he styled my and Michelle's hair and did our makeup, then he was off to the temple apartment to do Ashley's hair and makeup. She was a beautiful bride!
We went to the temple for the wedding at about 12:30. The wedding was family only so it included Ashley's parents and brother, and Ardmore and I. It was such a beautiful experience.

Here is a photo of them when they came out following the wedding. Ashley and James looked so happy. I believe she will be very good for him and visa versa.

The reception was held at the Rowland Heights stake following rush hour traffic and the Gps we set to not take the freeway. It took us a "little longer" that expected but all went well. The evening went by way too soon with about 200 attending the reception. One of the highlights for Ardmore was seeing an buddy that he went to Alaska with when they were both 19.

It was a late night when we finally got to bed, 12:30 am and then we had to drop off the rental car and catch the Allegiant plane to Fargo. 4:15 am came way to soon and boy did the bed ever look inviting when we arrived home!

Wasting time

2010-02-06T18:25:00.005-06:00

I am really wasting time right now. I have been spending the day working on the exhibit signage for the Women in Military exhibit but right now I am watching Throw Down with Bobby Flay and writing on the blog.It is so seldom one see Bobby Flay lose in a Throw Down but this time he lost to a "Waffle King"! Now I wish I noticed where the Waffle King was worked.

Things have really come together with our Women in Military program. I am amazed at how things are working out. The women meet last Monday and we hammered out the program and the luncheon. We also decided to do two movies. We will show Farewell to Arms on Tuesday, March 9th and South Pacific on Tuesday the 16th at 7 pm. I was so surprised to see how well they came in on the projector. We had some problems with our laptop and county came up with one that will do what we need. We have also found several good things to place on the SMART board to tell about Woman's History Month and Women in Military. I am getting excited. Lots to do though and now I am going to be gone for several days.

STS was in on Friday and did their thing. They took down exhibit things, put away the other exhibit things and just did a great job helping us come together. What would we do without our STS crew? Our crew chief is very personable and always does a competent job at whatever they tackle.

Will we escape the snow is the question? We fly out on Tuesday and there is talk of snow for the next two days. It was suppose to snow today too, but that hasn't happened. Can we have a few prayers from our friends that it doesn't snow so we will have safe driving when we head to Fargo?

Flying to our son's wedding Tuesday!

Bed by 8

2010-02-05T02:31:00.003-06:00

Winter in Minnesota allows for so many things. When it is dark at 6 one can feel ok about going to bed at 8. That has been the case for the past three days. But you know what happens when you go to bed that early, you wake up at 1:30, 2:30 or 3:30 raring to go because you now have had 5.5 hours of sleep. That is my story.

I have been on a licorice kick. Usave has this wonderful licorice, the package says Australian Style Gourmet Black Liquorice, it really is packaged in Perham Minnesota. Don't ask me why the deception, but it did catch my eye the first time I saw it and have been hooked ever since. About twice a year for two to three weeks I will purchase a couple of bags, then I have my fill and move on to another candy or not.

Avatar is now showing in Roseau. I really want to see it a second time but don't know if I will. I asked a friend but she has no desire and my hubby wouldn't even think of going to any movie, much less this one.

One my memories from my high school days is attending movies at the Tacora Theater in Aurora with my girl friends. This was a given every Saturday or Sunday night. We saw such movies as Oklahoma, Singing in the Rain, and many other musicals. Then there were the scary movies like The Blog, the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers, like The Birds or Psyco. Movie stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Kirk Douglas were the ones to see, and, of course, the Elvis movies. Good thing we have NetFlix to order the favorites on, and many are available on demand, how great can that be!

We are getting close to getting everything ready to install for the upcoming exhibit. Hopefully we will make sense of this year's exhibit. So much to do all the time and so little time to do it in!

And then there is the wedding. I am so looking forward to the day.

Weekend retreat

2010-02-01T08:47:00.005-06:00

Whereas work last week had been challenging, the weekend was reviving.

Working four days a week has its rewards, I took Friday off, started to reading the book Becoming Olivia in earnest, went swimming at AmericInn in the afternoon, and attended Bridget's 14U hockey game.

Saturday I decided to finally take those two very dead bananas that had been haunting me on the corner and look for a banana bread recipe. I found the best one in the Roseau County Historical Society 75 Anniversary cookbook. The recipe by Audrey Bergan really is so delicious. I added some additional fruit to the recipe and voila, the best bread I had ever made came out of the oven! Thanks Audrey! I will look for a few more of your recipes.

The recipe:
Banana Bread by Audrey Bergan (and me)

1/2 cup butter or margarine (I use butter)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 medium bananas, mashed
1/2 cup cultured sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts, I used walnuts
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cranraisins
1/2 cup dates, chopped

We do things a little differently here:
Preheat oven to 350 and spray 2 medium bread pans with Pam.
Place the raisins and cranraisins together in a 1 cup water and microwave about 1 minute and drain. Do the same to the date only nuke for 30 seconds.

Cream butter and sugar, eggs, banana and vanilla. Add cultured cream, then flour, salt and soda. Mix in the raisins, cranraisins, dates and nuts. Divide between the two pans and back about 35 to 45 minutes. Check often.

This was breakfast all by itself with some peanut butter on it!

This along with Becoming Olivia and the second series of the DVD a Garden of Herbs made my weekend very enjoyable. Oh, if one could always find contentment so easy.

I hear from James and Ashley, that the wedding plans may change. The San Diego Temple is going to start putting up scaffolding on the 8th. What a bummer! I wish they would have been told when they arranged their date with the temple.

Woman's History Month Update

2010-01-29T12:47:00.006-06:00

Yesterday the main committee had a Woman's History Month meeting. So much was discussed I wish we would have taped it. Our major focus was publicity and event criteria. Our Grand Opening with the ribbon cutting is on Sunday, February 28 at 2 pm. At this point we have 13 women that have been selected. I will post them on the Roseau County Historical Society website this coming week. Our events are starting to come together. One can see it is getting close when we start looking at press releases!

The hubby just started my car, it was about 15 below this morning so it will need to warm up a bit. I thought I had all the groceries we needed, came home to find out that there were no eggs and I don't go back to work until Monday. That just will not do.

I started reading Becoming Olivia by Roxanne Henke yesterday. I can see this is going to be a good as After Anne. It is so rewarding to find a good author.

Exciting News!

2010-01-26T22:46:00.002-06:00

Yesterday the museum received a notice that the Oral History Grant that Aaron Nelson and I applied for through the Minnesota Historical Society Culture and Heritage area of the Legacy Amendment was accepted! Whoo-Hoo! We will be able to purchase equipment for the military project he is working on and hopefully we will also be able to interview some of the women who have served during in the military. This will open so many areas for us to do oral history projects, I am very excited.

On a totally different note, it really cooled down last night. It was 5 below this morning with some wind. Not the wind we had yesterday, about 30 and up to 40 mph gusts. Thank goodness it isn't going to get any colder.

I've decided, I am going to have to put some of our new employees to work typing up some of the military info. The Wall won't get done if I don't. I have been working on the final report of the SMART board. I would like to get that one out the door as soon as possible. I need to write the final report of the Polaris grant also. Seems there is never an end to administration!

Beautiful with about 4 inches of snow

2010-01-23T22:47:00.004-06:00

It snowed most of the day but the temperature was very mild, about 36 degrees so we did not have any more ice. Hubby cleaned most of the ice off of the sidewalk and vehicles before it did freeze so we won't have to contend with any more snow.

Speaking of book recommendations, I have not received any of the Nancy Pearl podcasts for some time to decided to check out her website, Book Lust. Her recommendations are always excellent.

Winter raindrops on the screen door!

More Six Word Saturdays!

Rain in January?

2010-01-22T23:20:00.004-06:00

We have been having this wonderful March weather in January, today it was 36 above. Now we are paying for it, it is raining and starting to freeze. It is predicted that we could have up to six inches of snow over the next two days. That on top of the ice, will make for some very treacherous driving.

Then I have a Snow Bird friend who is in Arizona and told me it was raining there and the desert had pools of standing water. How I wish I was there in about two weeks to see the beauty of the flowers. I hope she takes lots of photos and posts them on her blog.

I just finished reading Roxanne Henke's book After Anne. The book caused me to refleck on what type of a friend I am. Roxanne Henke is a North Dakota author from a small town like Roseau. She proves that one can live in a very rural area and find wonderful things to write. I picked up a second book, Becoming Olivia, by her at the library on Wednesday. I have no doubt that I will enjoy that one also, when I get around to it.

Took the time to watch A Garden of Herbs today. This DVD was recommended by a friend some time ago and I finally received this week from NetFlix. It was excellent, now I have to order the sequel.

I've had the flu this week. Hubby had it first, and then Wednesday night I was miserable. I don't think I was out of bed except for bathroom breaks for about 36 hours. My iPod was my best friend. I couldn't even concentrate on reading.

I love the various book podcasts and download CBC's The Next Chaper with Shelagh Rogers, Writers and Company with Eleanor Wachtel, Canada Reads, and Between the Covers, a 15 minute chapter a day podcast. My favorite story I listened to on Between the Covers was on about 4 months ago. It was from the book Roll Over; a story about how one's body could be rolled back to a 25 year-old through a scientific method. The repercussions were very interesting to say the least. Fiction can go in any direction and often we come up with a different opinion than what we thought we would have. NPR Books is also very good to listen to. One does not have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast, they can be listened to on iTunes anytime, you just have to subscribe to them.

It will be interesting to see what the morning brings, more rain or snow.

Motorola white screen of death

2010-01-12T11:55:00.007-06:00

Came in from the car and went to make a long distance phone call and notice I have a white screen on my cell phone. What to do! I called up my local store and asked what had happened. They told me it was the screen of death and that I should call Verizon Wireless and they would send me a new phone. I went to the internet for the phone number and noticed someone had asked that question on a forum. What the heck, check out the forum, right? After reading several I came across a forum where the person said it had happened to them and they smacked their phone and it came back on. Sure, that would correct the problem, right? But the phone did have this screen of death so I figured I wouldn't be out much if I did hit it. I WORKED! I wonder how long it will continue to work? I am going to use it until it quits but back up on contacts so they aren't lost. Hurray, a problem solved without spending any money.

This and that, did I cover it all?

2010-01-10T23:01:00.004-06:00

Last Monday was "hi-ho, hi-ho, it's back to work I go' after having that great Christmas in the land of the sun. It meant banking, writing for the newspaper, updating and checking on where we are on projects. This coming week will be working on projects, attending Women in Military meeting and breaking in a new temporary employee.

About three weeks ago we lost a wonderful gal who worked at the museum under a temp grant program when she made a decision to move to Montana. She will be sadly missed. The hard part of having temp employees is that they give us some wonderful service, we get to know them personally, and then they are out the door. I just hope we can teach them some useful things.

I have been down to four days a week for about a year now. I am getting use to having three days off a week although I do find I spend some of the time working. For instance, this weekend I spent several hours working on the Women in Military exhibit signage. We have about 80 individuals who have submitted information and all of this is being readied for a Women in Military Wall" in the museum. Just one of things to do for the exhibit.

Ardmore fell on the ice coming from the mail box about two weeks ago and tonight I checked his bruises and the thigh area is now clear but from his knee down he is red, black and blue, and yellow. He said he has done some massaging on his leg; it really shows how much massaging helps, as he was not good about 3 days ago. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it.

James and Ashlee have about 30 days to put together their wedding and I could hear a little stress in his voice today when he called requesting some ideas on what they could do and where they should have a reception. I hope I was helpful. It has to be very hard when you have no one to help you because they all live at least 2000 miles away in Minnesota and Taiwan. Wish I or they were closer so we could be of some help.

Yup, a new "daughter" even though she is a daughter-in-law is going to be very nice. She is a very lovely woman and I am glad I was out there during Christmas to get to know her a bit prior to the wedding. I am excited about next month!

Three for Thursday

2010-01-07T23:12:00.003-06:00

It is a good day to rejoice in the three things that make a winter day livable in Minnesota

1. an electric mattress pad . . . nothing is more cozy when it's cold outside and you just can't seem to warm up, like a warm bed.

2. electric floor heat . . . stepping onto a warm floor when you come in from the cold with just your socks on is another cozy feeling.

3. an electric heater that circulates the antifreeze in the radiator of your car, when it is colder than 10 above F . . . especially when it is -35 F. It is called a block heater, and yes you do plug it into a receptacle.

Pleasant dreams.

Relief Society Visiting Teacher Conference

2010-01-07T08:04:00.004-06:00

Becca picked me up last evening at the museum and we headed to the chapel in Swift for a visiting teaching seminar. It was such fun! We examined ways we could enhance our visiting teaching. We all made three improvement commitments. One of mine was to be more consistent in doing my visiting teaching. Then we played games and laughed and laughed. To end the evening we had homemade beef stew and chicken noodle soup, fresh baked buns, and chocolate chip cookies. What a fun and spiritual activity!

At the museum: We have been working on exhibit designing for the two upcoming exhibits. One will be open for Woman's History Month and the other is for the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, Between Fences. Author Harl Dalstrom recently sent information on a border incident that will add to the border info display.We need to really work hard to get all of our exhibit ready. I spent some time looking at microfilm records of the 1937 Roseau Times-Region for more data.

One of things I enjoy about my job is doing research. I found several other items that were non-related that I copied and placed in files in the research center. One referred to a school district 93 fire which I added to the school file. There is an wonderful source of information in old papers.

Time to make some oatmeal and start my car before I head out to work in the -2 F weather. One nice thing is that the sun is shining!

A cold and crisp sunny winter morning

2010-01-02T09:23:00.005-06:00

When today dawned, it dawned as the coldest day of the year at 36 below F on our farm.Yesterday am it was about 20 something below so we are no strangers to intense cold weather. The snow crunches under foot, the house bangs as it expands and contracts, the windows may have ice form around the base when the moisture settles, but... the sun usually shines, the wind doesn't blow, and a good book is a friend to have.

Last night, we received the news that James and Ashlee are now engaged. I wanted to so much to ask James when he was going to pop the question when I was in LA but we were never alone. He told his dad that he had purchased a ring so I knew the day was close. My question was answered last night when he sent me a text message saying they were engaged. I am very happy for them both. It was so nice to be able to meet her and then spend so many hours in her company while in LA. I now will have a second daughter. Congratulations James and Ashlee! James announced that they will get married in February.

It is so neat to see that each of the guys James hung out with most of his younger years will all be married now.

Roxann and I braved the bitter cold to go to the movie The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock in Roseau last night. On a scale of 1 - 10 I would give it an 8.5. A true story, it is a wonderful faith inspired movie. I highly recommend it. The service rendered in this story shows the goodness of ordinary Christian people and how they can turn the life of an individual who is in a sad situation into a positive situation.

Church tomorrow. I hope it won't be as cold as it was this am.

Charleen

Falling on ice...

2009-12-30T14:09:00.007-06:00

Well, hubby has no broken bones but is very bruised and sore. He is unable to sit and can hardly stand so is mostly bedridden. The fall happened so fast. He blames it on his his shoes, he wore a pair of boots he hasn't worn for a few years and claims they were too smooth. No matter what the reason, it happened. I am just hopefully that there are no long-term repercussions.

What can one say about friends when you are in need? Groceries for Ardmore were delivered and I was picked up at the airport yesterday. Thank goodness the flight from LA to Fargo is only 3.5 hours and I didn't have to sit in the cities for any length of time. I love it!

I took on a 6 am flight which is pretty frightfully early considering that I needed to go through the scan for my hip and knee replacement, but I always request a wheel chair with an assistant because it can be a long way to walk. I don't know if I can handle the walk with the extra carry-on items. When one takes a wheel chair the assistant pushing brings you right to the front of the line at the security point, brings the totes and helps you with everything. You go though the scan and get checked by TSA. The wheel chair assistant picks up all of your totes, brings them to you, helps you get everything organized again (they will even help you get your shoes on if needed), and then deliver you to your gate. Well worth a generous tip! It is such a relief and I don't have to worry about being late or getting lost. Fargo is easy, of course, one doesn't need any help there but Vegas and LA are something else! I highly recommend anyone who had hip or knee replacement to consider going this route is flying through a major air port.

Now about the snow that greeted me in Fargo! It was quite a surprise to see the amount of snow we had, the cold I expected, but that is still a shock. I remember when a friend brought her children here one winter and they ran to go out the door and stopped dead when it opened, totally in shock about how cold it was. Then there was our granddaughter when Michelle's family visited one Christmas. She seemed to never warm up during their whole visit. Thank goodness the year's fall was warmer than normal, all the way through Thanksgiving. We can handle two and a half months of cold weather!

Time to go buy some groceries and get some pain pills for hubby!

Charleen