Chase's Projects

 

Now that we have been home for a couple weeks and no company or appointments (well, there have been a few), I've started on my HUGE list of projects - some of them almost a year old.

 

Chase wanted a desk for his room so I'm trying to convince dad to "give up" his old desk that we bought the first year we were married and now just holds a bunch of junk.  But if he has a desk, he needs a desk chair and I was going to get rid of my grandchildren chair from the dining room - yes, it was difficult to paint over it but it was just a chair.

 

Here's the before:

And the after:

I hope Chase likes it.  He helped me paint the granchildren chair several years ago.  In fact, we picked up the chair in a garbage pile.  We have rolling chairs, as you know in the dining room and Chase was always messin' around and one night he slammed his chin on the table so we had to get a non-rolling chair for him.  (This was when you guys were living with us.)  So you understand, the chair had siginificant memories for me and it's only right that it's going back to Chase.

This little dresser/end table I bought for Amy waaaaaay before she left home (back in Maplewood).  It was white and I can't believe how a little $30 chest could stand up as well as it has.  Since Chase's room is gray, red and black, I painted it black and then painted the handles silver.  I think it looks great!!  Dad brought it up there today since he's finishing up the cellar door for Kurt and Amy.

 

I finished another project today but will wait a few days to tell you about it.   I'm moving some furniture around now - going to put the dining room hutch in the living room and my radio/stereo in the dining room and the coffee table in front of the loveseat - at least I'm going to try to do it.

 

My gallery wall is almost completed.  Have to put the "H" up yet but we need to get dad's magic ladder in the house to do it and then we're going to take down the cob-web, dust bunny wreath.

 

That's it for today.  Oh yeah, I had a doctor appointment this morning and it went SUPER!!!

 

Love to you all,

Gramma and MOM

 

 

Almost finished..... just not tall enough

Dad is busy working on the cellar door at Kurt & Amy's so I had the whole day to myself.  I forgot to send the camera with dad - I wanted to see a picture of the finished door.  Amy, maybe you can send me a picture.

 

I worked on my gallery wall and got as much finished as I could reach.  Now I need to talk very sweetly to your father so he can help me with the rest.  I also found the missing picture that I really wanted to use.  It's been a good day!!!

 

I also put the first coat of black paint on Chase's chair and nightstand.  I'm anxious to see them all finished.  Will put a second and third coat on this weekend - it takes a lot of paint to cover white with black.

Have to stop projects now and do my Wagons West newsletter for November.  Have a super weekend.

Love to you all!!!!!
Gramma and MOM

OH NO!!! The white stuff is here!

 

Woke up this morning and Dad said, "Don't look outside, there's white stuff."  I put my head under the blankets but I finally had to relent and go to the bathroom.  When I came back out, dad was quickly making the bed.  He said, "I thought I'd make the bed quick so you couldn't get back in it."

 

 

Well, Aunt Susan and I are just going to ignore the snow and take her 4-wheel drive vehicle and go shopping.  Anyone care to join us?

 

 

DeAnn, just to let you know.  I did call your sister and she drove her 4-wheel drive Jeep into work and made it safely.

Happy day to all of you
Love to all,
Gramma and MOM

Happy Tuesday

Saturday night we took Grandma to Pipestone to help Aunt Helen celebrate her 80th birthday.  Here are the aunts and uncles minus Uncle Ed, of course.  These "older" people sure look good, don't they?

 Aunt Helen's children:
      Don, Kathy, Aunt Helen, Lori and Rick.  Jim lives in Texas now and was unable to come.

 Kids plus spouses - how many of them do you girls recognize?

 We had company over the weekend.  Marv and Judy came about 9:30 on Friday night and stuck around until Sunday morning.  It's always nice when they come to visit - not sure why Marv has his eyes closed and a scowl on his face, other than he didn't want his picture taken.  Too bad!!! 

 I'm making progress.  I have a couple of my pictures up and got a couple more copied today so I am making progress.  Need to put up a few more tonight or tomorrow morning.

However, I also have to get my November newsletter finished this week and to the park office no later than Monday morning.  I've started but need to go pull my files and book to make sure I don't forget to put anything important in there.  It's my understanding several of our friends are already at the park - some day we're going to go early too but not til the first of December.  October and first part of November are some of our favorite times of year in the midwest.

Also, purchased the fabric for Holly's valances so need to get started on them.  Aunt Sue and I are going shopping on Thursday for fabric for another couple of projects - lots to keep me busy.

Have a super week!!!!  Amy, I'll see you tomorrow night for all of that delicious soup.  I'm going to sit right next to Kurt so we can compare the various kinds.

Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

Time with Kurt & Amy



Dad and I spent Thursday and Friday at the farm with Kurt and Amy.  Amy had a couple of days off so we did some painting, some curtain hanging, some cleaning and a little of this and that.  It was a very productive two days and fun because we got to spend it with two of our favorite people.

 

Here's Kurt with his Kitty - he says she's going back outdoors as soon as she gets a little older - actually I have to see it to believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kitty's got you hooked, Kurt.

 Amy and I came up with the brilliant idea of putting up a bunch of hooks in their entry way for them to hang their coats.  It looks great.

 Amy cooking - she's an excellent cook - much better than her mother - she wouldn't turn around for me to take her picture.

 A long time ago, my friend, Linda (same one that made me the Dutch windmill hanging) gave me a hunk of Dutch lace that she had left over from something she did.  I used it for a while in my kitchen in Maplewood; then Amy used it in her townhouse in Maplewood and now we've put it up in her kitchen.  Looks very nice.  Thank you, Linda!!!

 This is the "Elite Escort Group" that works Monday afternoons at Avera Hospital.  They are some of the nicest people you would want to work with and three of them are related to me.

That's it for today.  Have to hit the shower - we're going to Aunt Helen's birthday tonight.  We're taking Grandma with.

Have a good Sabbath tomorrow.  Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

Auntie Denise

 

Today I drove to Sioux Center to have lunch with a VERY special lady.  Denise has been such a special person to my Washington family .  We all feel very blessed that she has taken on the role of a special Grandma to our Washington grandkids, especially Holly.  (Sorry I noticed I used "special" three times in three sentences so hope you got the general idea.)

 

I told her we should go to Culver's since that's one of DeAnn's favorite midwestern places to go.

 

 Recently I learned from Jan that if you order the kids meal, a small scoup of ice cream comes with it.  You can also order a Snack Pak which is the same size as the kids meal but you don't get the ice cream, so just to prove how smart Denise and I are, we ordered the kids cheeseburger meal.

 Sorry, DeAnn but the ice cream of the day was "Butter Brickle" and it was wonderful.  You know, I don't really like chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups anyway.

Thank you, Denise for spending the afternoon with me.  It's always fun to sit and visit with you.

 

We are off to Kurt and Amy's tomorrow for a couple of days.  Sure hope Amy has a list for us.

 

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

 

Love to you all,

Gramma and MOM



Happy Birthday, John boy

Just for today, this is our

#1 Family Member!!!!

 

 

Happy, Happy Birthday JOHN!!!

We're so glad and thankful that DeAnn decided to bring you into our family.  Hope your day is a good one.

Love you!!!
MOM & DAD

A Productive Week

Some people might look at this picture and see the garage next door through my kitchen window.  When I look at this picture, I see a beautiful, spotlessly clean window - so clean you can't even see the window.  Friday morning dad and I washed all of the upstairs windows, except the computer room.  I did the windows in and out (those I could reach) and dad scrubbed all the screens for me.  What a huge difference - too bad they don't get done more than once and maybe twice a year.

 When I washed my kitchen window, I took down this beautiful lace hanging.  (I put it right back up aafter the window was washed.)    My dear, dear friend Linda made it for me when we lived in North St. Paul which makes it at least 36 years old.  I have to be careful when I touch it because the lace is starting to disintegrate but I LOVE it as much now as when I received it for my birthday.  Thank you, Linda!!  I think of you often when I look through my window.

 This was my big project for the week and I have just a wee bit of stitching to do and it's finished.  I would like to get a few more patches from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota for Miss Katie but if I don't, then her mother will have to get them next summer.  It was a fun project to do.  One Christmas project finished but a few more swimming around in my head.

 This is my this week big project - to "fill in" my gallery wall and replace the newspaper pictures with actual pictures.  I need to paint some picture frames and even get a few more pictures enlarged.  Can't wait til it's finished.

This week is going to be a bit busy - something almost every day but all fun things or things I enjoy doing.  Monday is work at the hospital; Tuesday is spend time with Jan (even if it is a doctor appointment); Wednesday is lunch with my dear friend, Denise and then Thursday and Friday are reserved for my favorite #2 daughter and Saturday night is a birthday party.  Awesome week.  But then it's special too because it's someone's birthday on Tuesday - hopefully I can get a blog in about this special person.

Have a good, productive week!!!  Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

Happy Tuesday

 

Really haven't much news so will put a couple of pictures of Dad's flowers on today.  I LOVE this picture with the apple tree in the foreground.  Dad says that with the hard freeze we received over the weekend, he thinks a lot of his mums were touched.  His potted plants were in the garage so they were fine.  He said this morning he's just going to put the plants out and when they freeze, they freeze.  He's tired of putting them in and out and besides, I have a "honey-do" list for him.

 This last weekend we went to Milaca to see Aunt Jennie.  Dad said he was really glad we went - she's not looking as spry as she has in the past.  She looked very tired and weaker than we've seen her in the past.  Brought her some almond patties, which she loved.  DeAnn, I bought her some peppermints at the East Grocery in Lynden and sent them to her - she was thrilled with them.  She said they "hit the spot".  It's difficult finding something to hit the spot for a 90 year old.

We stayed overnight in Milaca and woke up to this white stuff on the car.  It was VERY cold when we stepped out of the motel door.  I'm not ready for this cold and especially not for the white stuff.  Makes Arizona very appealing.  The last couple of days have been a little better - just heard on the radio that we may get some rain today - GOOD!!!

Well, that's it.  Not much but better than nothing.  DeAnn, I loved Sam's story.  Amy's right - it sounds just like Sam. 

Have a super week - I plan to work on some of my fun projects this week.  Figure I'll clean in the morning and do fun things in the afternoon.  Last night we had pizza with Eric and the rest (at least some) of the family.  Had a very nice time.  Mark's sister and brother and parts of their families were there also.

Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

PS:  I have a book here on Alaska folklore - does it belong to either of you?

Back Home

We were home just two weeks and this lovely young lady and her mom came for two weeks.  How blessed we were that they were able to stay so long.    Miss Katie is no longer a princess, but a cowgirl.  She is such a special blessing to this Grampa and Gramma.  She said she didn't like Grampa all the much and kept saying, "Grampa's a girl,",  I don't know where she got that or exactly what it meant, but she sure liked teasing him.

 

 This is Katie and Kitty - Kitty is Uncle Kurt's baby.  Katie loved Kitty and hauled her all over.  One day we peeked in the tv room and there she is watching a movie with the kitty beside her.  However, I'm not sure if Kitty really wanted to be there but Katie's little hands were around holding her tightly.  Poor Kitty couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to.

Anyone that knows my daughters and myself know that DeAnn is the organizer of the group; Amy and I are both a bit more lax about things.  We are also savers while DeAnn is not as much.  She always says if you LOVE it, keep it.  Otherwise think about donating it to someone else.

Here DeAnn and Amy are "going through" boxes that Amy had not opened since she moved to the farm.  We all spent a couple of days up at the farm working.  Amy did an awesome job of going through and purging.

 One of my two favorite sons-in-law is showing us how to dry dishes.  There was a big discussion going on between DeAnn who was washing and Kurt as to whether you use cold or hot water to rinse dishes and why?  Any comments?

 On Saturday morning, we had to stop working for a bit to go watch #64.  I still don't understand anything about football but it's fun to see Chase "do his thing".  I do not like it, however, when he's opposite some big kid and that kid is running into him.  He says, it's OK, Gramma, they're supposed to do that.  It doesn't hurt.  Yeah, right!!

 These two stopped on their way home from their first "retired" vacation out west to stay the night with us.  It's amazing how with good friends, you can always pick up right where you've left off visiting and talking.  Gary & Nancy, we loved having you visit - come back again soon!!

 Couldn't resist putting in a picture of dad's flowers by the deck.  They are drop-dead beautiful.  He put these mums in this spring and they are one mass of color.  I'm afraid with the temperatures we're supposed to have this weekend that most of his flowers will not survive - good thing that mums are so hardy.

That's all for today.  My 16x20 picture of our family by the barn arrived yesterday and it is nice!!!!
Thank you, DeAnn, for arranging to have them taken.  Now, I just need to get it hung up on my newspaper gallery wall.

Have a good weekend.  Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

The end of our "Going Home Trip"

The last night out of our trip we spent with these two great people.  We got to Del & Judy's in time for spaghetti casserole lunch which began a LOT of conversation with very good friends.  After lunch we took a long drive - went out to the lake home they built and sold before moving into Crookston, then we had a dinner at a little country restaurant and took a driving tour of Crookston.  Del showed us the sugarbeet museum where he spends a lot of his time.  They were going to be having a sugarbeet festival in a couple weeks so they were busy getting their museum ready.  I would love to go some year - sounds like a fun thing to do.  Back to their home for lots of good conversation, coffee and ice cream and finally off to bed.  Judy cooked us oatmeal for breakfast and we left - Judy was off to her volunteer job at the hospital and who knows where Del was going.  It was a wonderful visit and yet we could have visited another day, at least.  Thank you to Del & Judy for being such great hosts!!!!

After leaving Crookston, we went to Waupaton, ND/Breckenridge, MN - two towns across the river from each other.  Had lunch with nephew Ben at his college and then spent a half hour driving through the campus and area.  I didn't take my camera in to the restaurant so missed getting Ben's picture.  His hair has gotten a bit longer and soooooooooo cute - it's curly like his dad's was before it all fell out.

 

Back on the road down Highway 75 in Minnesota - did lots of stopping to see interesting little areas, such as this old gas station and this old country school.  Amazing what tickles our fancy.  I know you girls wouldn't appreciate all of these things but dad and I remember them well.  I went to a school very similar to this one for the first 5 1/2 years of my schooling.  In fact, I was so smart and the country school was so good that I did not go to Kindergarten - started right off in first grade when I was just five years old.

 Since Highway 75 goes right through Pipestone, our last stop of the trip was to see this handsome young football player.  He even gave his Gramma a big hug - actually a big sweaty hug.  It was another amazing trip home with my very favorite man!!!

 Hate to end on a sad note today, but I must.  Mr. Tiger is gone.  He just kinda melted away in the wind and rain and snow of the last couple of years.  My tree is so lonely without him sitting up there.  I may have to find a new friend.  Sam, I put Mr. Tiger up in the tree for you a couple of years ago and he has protected Grampa and Gramma well. 

That's it for today, folks.  See you next week.
Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

North Dakota

Greetings, my dear family.  I decided that I hadn't quite finished telling you about our trip home from Washington and I wanted to document it in my blog so you will have to put up with two more days of travel pictures.

 

This is a refinery just east of Williston, ND.  I talked to Paul and he said that some of the refineries have these fires on the ground and others have a smokestack with the fire coming out the top.  They are apparently "burning off" some gasses that come up with the oil.

 In western North Dakota, they have what they call "Man Cities" - various types of housing for the men who work in the oil industry.  Most of them look very new, which they are.  Some look like tractor-trailers with holes cut in the sides for windows.  One of the camps looked like the storage containers that you see on trains - they just stacked them one on top of the other, added some steps and a couple of windows and wala - a house.

 Saw lots of these trucks on the road hauling oil.

I have always wanted to see a field of sunflowers.  North Dakota had lots of them.  Wish we could have seen them a month earlier when they were still yellow.  Most of them were pretty dried up.  Very interesting crop.

We were driving through a small town in North Dakota (I think it was Stanley) and we passed by a cemetery.  I had seen this monument and told dad we needed to stop and investigate it because it looked like it had two sky scrapers on it.  Upon inspecting it a little closer, it was for a victim of the World Trade bombings.  Very unique - had the poem below on the other side.  Very interesting what you see when you're just looking out the window.

That's about it for North Dakota.  We stopped about midway through the state and visited with a friend from Arizona.  Had a great time with him (his wife was in Oregon with their granddaughter).  Ended the night in Grand Forks, ND.  Off to see Del and Judy in the morning.

 

 I have loved looking back on the pictures of our trip.  Maybe I'll even do another book for dad about "our trip home".  He really liked the last one I did - he says it jogs his memory about the fun times we had.

 

Have a GREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT Week!!!

 

Love, Gramma and MOM