AFTER THE RAIN

The skies have been pretty cloudy all day, and we've had several rain showers.  This evening we had one of those showers, and as the rain ended, the sunlight behind the clouds caught my attention and I grabbed the camera and went to the backyard.

SPENDING THE DAY AT THE COFFEE SHOP

Yes, I love coffee.  And yes, I love good fresh coffee made from fresh ground coffee beans.  But I don't usually spend the whole day at the coffee shop!  This day, however, was different!

We have friends who farm west of here.  They also have a place here in town, prepared for when they retire from farming!  Someone in the family is finding it hard to give up his field time though, so right now they are kind of commuting between the farm and the small town where we live.  They were in town for a couple of days so Ernie and I had a date for breakfast with them at the coffee shop.  We had a great time, talking fast to fit in everything we had to say before they headed back to the farm.  After they left, and as long as were in town, we headed to the grocery store to get milk, the credit union to order a new debit card, and to the mall to walk a couple of rounds before it opened and filled up with teenagers out to buy the latest and greatest new clothes before school starts.  As I was walking through the book store I had a call from my sister who was in town and wanted to do coffee!  Sure!  Back to the coffee shop and the grins of the coffee shop staff who knew I had just left forty five minutes ago!  So my sister and I chatted away for an hour until Ernie came to pick me up.

Then I got a text message.  My friend who recently retired and who had spent the last month and a half traveling between her daughters' homes, was back in town, and she wanted to do a late lunch.  At the coffee shop!  So, of course, I said sure! 

The poor girls behind the counter really chuckled at my third visit to the coffee shop in the same day!  But hey, it wasn't all coffee.  I had an English muffin egg sandwich the first time, for breakfast; a cranberry, date, almond muffin the second time, for coffee break; and chicken tortilla soup the third time, for lunch!

Guess what?  I'm not very hungry for supper!

MY APOLOGIES TO PETE SEEGER

Where have all the people gone?
Long time bloggers.
Where have all the people gone,
who used to blog?
Where have all the people gone?
Gone to Facebook everyone!
Oh when will they return?
Oh when will they return?

I miss you guys (and you know who you are!)  Time for you to return!

SUMMER PICNIC

This is two granddaughters at the picnic we had tonight, daughters of our youngest and oldest kids!  We had a really nice time and good food.  And we were so happy to see the kids and grandkids that were able to come.  Let's see.  We had oldest daughter, hubby, 6 kids, granddaughter's husband, and grandson's girlfriend; then we had second daughter and her son; and then youngest son, his wife, and 2 daughters; and last but not least, hubby's brother and his wife.  So with Ernie and me there were 20 of us. 

A CATCH-UP POST

This is the field across from the park entrance where we spent the last two plus months.  When we got there at the end of May, the crops looked much different!  I love looking at a nice clean field of beans and the straight rows in the cornfield.  Very nice looking crops here.

Taken early in the morning, this is our campsite down there on the left.  The next photo is looking out from our driveway, across the grass in the middle, towards the camp office.

Okay, this is the current resting place for the quilt I finished up at the park.  I'm not sure if it will stay there or not.  There isn't as much blue in the quilt as I thought there was.

This is a table runner I made a couple of weeks ago.  I don't like sewing triangles, first of all, and this was a kit, and so the fabrics weren't quite what I would have picked on my own.  The layers are only pinned together right now, waiting for me to quilt it and put on the binding.  I doubt if I'll make another of this pattern.

This is the table runner I made last week.  I love it!  The fabrics are actually a Moda Christmas line.  It went together really easy...........

this is the back side to show how it's simple to do.  It's the three middle long strips, then a short strip across the two ends of that.  Add another strip on each side, and put another short strip on the two ends.  It's kind of like a log cabin or courthouse steps pattern.  It's waiting for me to layer it with the batt and backing, and then quilt it and put on the binding.  I think I'll make another couple of this pattern.

HOME AGAIN

We are home.  The temps were up to 90, and the humidity was high also, so the unloading was rough.  Ernie carried most of it in and I was putting it away and feeding the washer and dryer. He had the worst of it!  My part was in an air conditioned apartment, his wasn't.

Now I'll fix a quick supper.  It was really smart of me to have a container of spaghetti sauce in the freezer!  All I have to do is warm it up, cook some noodles, and cut up a bit of romaine.  Instant supper!  I can't wait to get in the shower and then sleep in my comfy bed, but first I have an important thing to do.  I need to call some kids and find out when I can see the grands!

It's good to be home.

GOING HOME

I know one thing for sure.  I will be glad to go home in two days for at least one reason.........I should be able to connect with Blogger easier!  I can usually get to my dashboard, and sometimes even to a new post, but more often than not I can go no further.  I can try for fifteen to twenty minutes to upload ONE picture, and it doesn't load.  I often can't get anything to publish, so I hit cancel.  The cell phone signal just isn't that strong so I get nowhere.  In fact, I see that this post is also in danger of not publishing as I've lost the signal.

Oh, now it's back.  Anyhow, we are only here for two more days.  We leave for home on Sunday morning.  It's been fun and we will be back next year if they'll have us.

I will miss the Fabric Warehouse, but I will probably save a lot of money!  I actually had to make one last trip there today.  And I picked out eight nice soft pink, aqua, cream and soft brown fabrics for a  quilt.  I took pictures and tried to post one, but after twenty minutes I gave up.  I can post a photo when I get home.

I'll miss our little park.  And the birds.  And the trees.  And the silence.  And.......oh, maybe I should stay!
 

REDECORATING

I played around with a couple of new templates today, and I think I like this one.  What do you think?  And what about the photo?  I thought the sign "Minimum Maintenance" road matched the "roads less traveled" part of my title, so I made Ernie stop and let me get out to take a couple of pictures.  He told me that if a farmer saw me taking pictures of a dirt road with a minimum maintenance sign they would wonder if I was all here or not!  Well, I like it so I don't care what the farmers think.

Are you wearing Skechers fitness shoes, Shape-Ups?  I bought a pair today, and I think I like them.  My brother has been wearing them and his back pain is gone.  My sister-in-law just bought a pair, and thought she was going to like them, so I decided to try them also.  I needed new walking shoes as my last pair has not been comfortable since the day I bought them.  And if they aren't comfy, I won't walk.  I think I like them, but it's too soon to tell.  I got them for 25% off because they were last year's color.........as if that makes a difference to me!  I took a picture of the clodhoppers, but after waiting for 20 minutes for it to load, I decided to just forget it!  Besides, they sure do make your feet look huge!  I got a kick out of reading the information included in the box with the shoes:  Wearing these shoes may make your butt firmer, may firm your thighs, may firm and tone calves, may tighten abs, and may improve posture!  How about a guarantee, guys?

DONE, FINISHED, ENDED, COMPLETED!

I finally finished the quilt that I started this past winter down in Corpus Christi.  While we were there I put the squares together from the two triangles.  I laid it out and put together the rows going across.  When we got home I kind of put it aside for awhile and made a few purses and totes.  Then I put the rows together in May.  When we came to the park I put the top, batt, and back together and worked on the quilting.  On Saturday I put the binding on and it was finally done.  That's too long to spread out a project!  You kind of get tired of it if it takes too long. 

I think it's going to reside in  my bedroom.  Our bedspread is that pretty blue, just plain.  I think I could fold this across the bottom or put it on a trunk at the end of the bed.  I'll post a photo when it gets to it's place!

IT'S GOOD TO BE QUEEN

This morning I had to run to town........no that's a lie.  This morning I wanted to go to the fabric warehouse.  I really needed nothing, but they advertised a nice big sale so I thought I should at least look.  I found two pieces for purses, the tan and aqua paisley in the upper left of the photo and the dark black and green and blue swirly fabric in the middle.  The four fabrics across the bottom are soft cuddly flannels in soft yellow, green, brown and white.  (the colors are really off on this photo!)  I thought just in case anyone in our family would ever happen to have a baby..........................

But look at the fabric in the upper right.  It's a Mary Engelbreit print, and I just had to have it!  All the cute sayings are about being a queen: It's good to be queen, the queen of everything, and best of all, the queen has quilted!  I will be making something out of it.....don't know for sure what, but it will be in my sewing room somewhere!  The bright yellow (it really is bright yellow!)  print with the blue and red matches it, so it will give me some options. 

I LOVE YOU, MOM

Two years ago Jesus took mom home.  I miss her so much.

AN INVITATION TO ALL

 Dear bloggy friends,

You are all invited to campsite number 20 at the Minnesota state park where we are living again for the next few weeks.  We are hosting a sauna, right here at our campsite.  A sauna is a small room or hut, heated and used for bathing or mental and physical relaxation.  The sauna is Finnish, but has close relatives in other cultures: the Russian banya, the Native American sweat lodge or inipi, the Turkish hamam, even the Japanese onsen.   (My info for the proper names of these steam baths came from  http://cankar.org/sauna/)

 We just decided that temps in the 90's and humidity in the 80's should be good for something, and we decided a sauna would be the ideal activity.  However,  everyone is to be clothed.  No nudity allowed! BYOBST.  ( Bring your own beverage, soap and towel!)  The sauna will be right in the great outdoors of site 20, no hut needed,  or fires to attend......just sit and sweat.

And, if you get too warm, we just had the air conditioning fixed in the trailer, so we can come on inside to cool off and relax.

Hope to see you soon.

Marge

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

I

Oh my!  I didn't realize this picture was so blurry!  Sorry about that, but I can't redo it as all the stuff is unpacked and put away.
I went to the Farmers Market today and we are going to eat like kings and queens this next week!  I was so excited to find these treasures:

I have: Green beans and Romaine, green and yellow zuchs, new red potatoes, beets, and a loaf of  honey whole wheat and a loaf of sunny oatmeal bread.  Whoo Hoo!  Fresh veggies!  My favorite meal is a bunch of fresh veggies grilled in my holy bowl (bowl with holes in it) with a bit of olive oil and dill sprinkled on it.  Nummy!  Guess what's for supper?  You got it!  A pork chop and grilled fresh veggies.  And maybe a little slice of honey whole wheat on the side!

We have had plans change a couple of times because of weather and other things, but now the plan is to leave tomorrow morning to go back to the campground for the rest of the month.  They are expecting severe storms up there tonight so we saw no need to hurry back for that!  It may be stormy tomorrow too, but we'll wait until it passes through the area where we need to travel.  I am really looking forward to going back for a few more weeks.  It's a nice little park, quiet, peaceful, and certainly a pleasant place to be.  So the next update will be from the campground through my cell phone connection.  See you then!

OUR WEEK AT HOME

 

We've been busy this week we were home from the campground, and now our time here is coming to an end and we're ready to head back to camp.  Ernie and a young mechanic are installing the new air conditioner as we speak.  Yes, new.  The old one was not reparable so we had to spring for a new one.  Didn't really plan on spending that kind of money, but what ya gonna do?  Can't take 90 degrees and high humidity in a small trailer so we really had no choice.  I'm sure we'll appreciate it the next time the temps soar.

On Thursday we ran out to a nearby lake where Ernie's brother and sister-in-law have a small cabin.  Neil took us for a boat ride on the quiet lake, and then he had to take a few casts before we went out to dinner 

 at a nearby restaurant.  We enjoyed our visit and hope to get out there again this summer.

On Friday morning my sister picked me up, we then picked up another sister, and we headed off for our weekend in Brookings at the art festival.  We met the other sister and her husband, and our brother and his wife there, and we had a very nice weekend.  See all those white tents in the background?  There were over two hundred vendors in those tents, selling jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, wooden items, metal items, and other art objects.

This was the food area.  We had tacos in a bag, egg and sausage wraps, kettle popcorn, mocha smoothies, strawberry smoothies, lemonade, donuts, etc.

These two little sweeties were walking in front of us when we left yesterday morning,  I got a kick out of their hats!

We stopped at a beautiful flower garden on Saturday night.  The skies were turning pretty dark as there was a hefty thunderstorm on the way, so the lighting was bad, but I had to snap these gorgeous lilies.  Aren't they lovely?

This teeny tiny cottage was just as cute as it could be.  I could see it sitting in a huge yard of flowers, and being used as a fun little hideout furnished with a couple of comfy chairs and bookshelves and a coffee pot and some lovely china cups!  Or it could be my quilting room!  It would not be appropriate as a hunting shack or an ice fishing house which I'm guessing my hubby would have suggested had he been with us!

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

Monday evening we headed out to attend a major league great sporting event.  You know, the famous 10 year old going into fifth grade baseball league was having a game!  An out of town game at that!  So we braved the coming storm, and

drove the few miles to the stadium ball diamond to watch grandson Nicolas play.  First of all, he really looks cute in his baseball uniform!  And secondly, he did a great job!  Here he is, getting a nice hit,

and here he is, scoring a few minutes later.  After about four innings the skies opened up and the rain dumped on us, and they called the game.

Nicolas has another game tonight.  Storms are expected.  We'll see if we can make this one, too. 

HOME IS WHERE THE LAUNDRY IS

We are home.  Oh, we're going back to the park, we're just home for a week to get the air conditioner on the trailer fixed.  Saturday afternoon when the temperature hit 94, with the humidity almost as high, we were told we should just leave then to get the air conditioner fixed.  We were going to come home today anyhow, so we just pulled out a little early.  Ernie has been on the computer, researching replacement parts for the ailing cooling device which he hopes to have fixed before we head back up to the park next Monday.

And I am sitting in my chair, reading blogs and totally ignoring Mt. Washmore piled in the corner!  What a luxury to have a washer and dryer in my own home!  I've spent the last month having to transport each week's worth of dirty clothes to a laundromat where each load cost me a half a month's Social Security check to wash.  Today I can cook as I do laundry, I can clean the house as I do laundry, or I can actually leave as I'm doing laundry!  And my clothes will actually get clean, and the hot commercial dryer won't ruin them!  Or, I can sit here and continue to ignore the mountain of sweaty stinky clothes......no, on second thought, that's not an option.  Best I put this laptop down and start scaling the heights of that eyesore in front of the laundry closet.  I am home, but so is my laundry.

TWO MEALS AND A PRAYER

We had a garbage can dinner last week when my sisters and brother-in-law came to camp to visit us.  This meal is Ike's signature meal, and everyone overeats every time he fixes it!  What you see here is only half of the meal.  He puts corn on the bottom, and then whole potatoes and onions.  He adds carrots and often green beans, then tops it off with ring sausage.  Cook over the fire for an hour or so and serve to the ohs and ahs of all the dinner guests.  Oh, and serve the left overs cut up and fried in a big cast iron skillet in the morning for breakfast!  Ummmm, good!

So then the next night we fixed this meal.  Pork tenderloin chops, asparagus, potato slices, and carrots in the foil package.  Another ummmm good!

Now the light has gone away

Father, listen while I pray,

Asking Thee to watch and keep

And to send me quiet sleep.

Jesus, Savior, wash away

All that has been wrong today.

Help me ev'ry day to be

Good and gentle, more like Thee.

Let my near and dear ones be

Always near and dear to Thee.

O bring me and all I love

To Thy happy home above.

ELH 570 1-3

I'M STILL HERE

I have been trying for the last fifteen minutes to post a couple of pictures of our recent campfire feasts, but the connection is too weak to do so.  I'll just have to put them up next week when we're home for a few days.

We had three days of absolutely wonderful weather, sunny cloudless skies, a slight breeze and temperatures in the 70's.  Now that's what I call a beautiful summer day!  Yesterday was nice, but a bit on the warm side, and today is hot and humid again.  And guess what!  We're going to get storms again!  Sounds like tomorrow and the Fourth will be a bit soggy, possibly clearing late in the afternoon of the Fourth.

We had company this week for the gorgeous weather.  My middle sister Ruth and her husband Ike and my youngest sister Lois were here for four days.   Seems all we did was eat.  Or plan what we were going to eat next.  We did a little sightseeing in the area, but for the most part we sat and visited around the fire, or hiked the trails here in the park.  We had a good time, and I'm so glad they came up!

Monday we will pack up and head home for the week.  Ernie has to get the air conditioner fixed.  Yes, we could have used it today!  Then next weekend I am going to Brookings, South Dakota with my siblings and a couple of spouses to an Art Festival.  Ernie isn't into art and culture too much.  He gets his culture from Ice Road Truckers or The Deadliest Catch!  I'm looking forward to the trip and to spending the weekend with my siblings.  Then the next Monday we will head back up here for the rest of the month of July.  We've grown to love this little park and are looking forward to the second half of our summer job!

SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS STORMY

I have tried three times to post pictures of our storm last night, but Blogger doesn't want them!  Same camera, same computer, same me, but they won't load.  So I will just tell you about it.

We spent quite some time in the shelter late yesterday afternoon.  Us and everyone else from the campground.  I shared a small room with thick stone walls (thanks CCC!) with a mom and eight little kids.  I don't know if they were all her kids, but there were eight.  Ernie was in the big room with several other people, and two vans and a pickup truck were parked right alongside the shelter, the occupants ready to jump out and hide with us in the shelter.  The rest of the people were in the two restrooms.  By looking at the mud which I cleaned up later, most of them were in the showers and stalls of the sturdy stone building.

The hail pounded the roof and bounced off to the ground, covering the green grass with white jawbreaker sized ice balls.  Some of the hail was approaching golf ball size.  I have never seen such large hail!  The rain came down in sheets, quickly creating lakes in every little depression or low spot in the park.  It didn't last too long, thank goodness, and we had no damage.  There were a few small branches and lots of sticks and twigs and leaves scattered all over, and many new lakes,  but there was nothing serious.  Thank God. 

One young couple had been out in the canoe, and they paddled for shore when they saw the storm approaching.  Just as they hit the shore, the hail started.  They pulled the canoe up on shore, and a good Samaritan who was nearby gave them a ride up to the shelter.  They looked like drowned ducks, but they were safe.

Soon the storm was over, moving on southeast towards The Cities where they received torrential rains, and a lot of wind.  Southern Minnesota was under a tornado watch for hours, and there was quite a bit of damage, just one week and one day after tornadoes had devastated the same area.  My sister said her little town looked like a war zone and there was damage in the town where we live.  We here in our little park were so lucky.  Again.

And guess what?  It's raining!  There are severe T-storm warnings for the whole southern half of the state.  Again.  However, there is relief in sight.  The weather folks are saying that the next week should be dry, sunny, and beautiful!  Thank God!  All we have to do is get through tonight!

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY

Tuesday night was all about the pink and blue sunset, or as my grandpa used to say "sky blue pink."  Funny how the clouds and atmosphere make the difference from gold, to silver, to pink and blue.  I love sunsets, in case  you didn't notice!

Now today the skies are gray.  And dripping.  Actually, this first band is only thunder showers, nothing severe.  However, tonight we are under warnings for possible storms again.  I get nervous when we have these alerts because a trailer is not the place you want to be during severe weather.

Looks like we'll be full at the campground again this weekend, then on Monday two of my sisters and a brother-in-law will be coming for three days or so. And my brother and his wife plan to come over too.   Looking forward to having company.  Actually I'm probably looking forward to the garbage can supper  that brother-in-law Ike will be making for us!

The rain and thunder continue so I will sign off for now.