GYPSY WANDERINGS - UPPER PENINSULA - SATURDAY

Saturday was the wedding so we didn't have a lot of time for exploring.  We met up with Matt's sister Mitzi and her family and headed to Sault Ste. Marie to see the Soo Locks.  We had breakfast at a restaurant across the street from the Locks.  Matt tried their pancakes, which they claim are the best pancakes in Sault Ste. Marie.  He felt his flapjacks are better.

The Soo Locks is a way for ships and boats to get from one Great Lake to another. They have a wonderful observatory that has several levels to watch the ships go through.  It reminded me a lot of when I was in the Navy standing on the third deck fantail watching the ships go in and out,

We were very lucky that a ship, the Edgar B. Speer, went through while we were there. The ship was almost as wide as the Lock, I think there was like 6 inches difference.  You could hear the ship scraping the sides as it went through.

While we were waiting for the Edgar B Speer to get to the Locks, a small boat went through.  It was nice that they had a schedule for when ships were to go through. It was interesting to see such a small boat go through such a large Lock. I wondered how much it cost a boat this size to go through.

Before we headed back the guys insisted on going to the Soo Brewery to try out some beers.  The women went shopping.  I decided to tag along with the guys as I wasn't in the mood for shopping. The guys all got the sampler and several bought growlers to take back for later.  I tried the root beer, which was okay but nothing special in my opinion.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent at a beach wedding and the reception afterwards at the Wild Bluff Golf Course.  The food was delicious and we had a very enjoyable evening with Matt's family.  The reception was held under a large white tent next to the building.  It had a beautiful view of the pond behind.  Below are the beautiful couple.

GYPSY WANDERINGS - PART 2 - Friday

Willabee Hotel

I forgot to mention that we stayed at the Willabee Inn in Brimley while we were visiting the Upper Peninsula (UP).  The hotel is about 45 minutes from the airport in Sault Ste. Marie.  The hotel was named after the Russian Terrier dog that the original owners brought with them from Russia and the current owner still have a Russian Terrier that hangs out in the office.  

The room wasn't grand, but it was sufficient for our needs.  It was clean, the bed was comfortable, we had a small refrigerator in the room and was very affordable.  I loved that fact that the window could be opened, no stuffy hotel room.  The window was open to air the room out when we arrived.  It was a nice thought for the staff to air it out for us.  Matt's sister felt her room was damp but she was the only one of the family that stayed there that thought so.  

Our room was on the first floor next to the office and we had no problems with noise.  They had plastic lawn chairs outside of the rooms and we definitely used them and enjoyed sitting outside visiting with Matt's family.  There was also a dock behind the motel, between the restaurant and motel actually, that we used for a hang out in the evening.  Unfortunately the hotel was closed but they told us that it had just been bought and would be reopening again.  It would have been nice to have had breakfast without having to drive.  We typically kept our window open at night but after several nights of a group of dogs barking incessantly throughout the night we kept it shut.  It sounded to me like a kennel of some type.  Someone thought it was coyotes but it didn't sound like coyotes to me.

Dancing Crane Coffee House

I think everybody there would say that the Dancing Crane Coffee house was the best hangout place.  Each time we stopped there for breakfast we ran into several other people attending the wedding.  It was a wonderfully cozy cafe with games and books scattered throughout to enjoy as well as a nice variety of products to purchase.  Matt and his sister Bee played cribbage while we enjoyed a lazy last morning there before we flew home.  Everybody said the coffee was superior in quality.  As I don't drink coffee I'll take their word for it.  The wedding couple actually had a special blend roasted and gave away small packages of it for wedding gifts. They had fabulous cinnamon rolls.

Tahquamenon Falls

Tahquamenon Falls was beautiful!  We visited both the lower and upper falls.  Matt wasn't up to walking the 4 miles between falls and back again so we were wimps and drove.  This is a picture of the lower falls.  If I recall right there are 5 falls total.  The path to the falls is nicely done with timbers and made walking a lot easier.  There were several people in wheelchairs that were able to get to the falls due to the wooden paths.

They had some nice landings to take pictures.  This is part of the upper falls.  It was breathtaking.  We did wonder why the area wasn't being utilized for hydro power.

After all our walking we were hungry and thirsty so we checked out the Gift Shop and bought a light lunch.  We were a little disappointed with the gift shop as Matt found a tshirt he liked but they didn't have it in his size.  It takes a genius to put a brewery at the end of a hiking trail and Matt wanted to try  a beer at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery.  I tried their root beer.  He chose the blueberry wheat ale.  This ale had a really strong blueberry scent although a light flavor to it.  It smelled so good that I actually tried a sip of it.

Wilcox Fish House

After our adventurous day we were both hungry and wanted some fresh fish for supper. Another one of Matt's sisters and her family had arrived so we went out to the Wilcox Fish House for fish dinners with them.  I tasted Matt's whitefish and it was superb.  I ordered perch which was good but after tasting the whitefish I regretted not getting it instead.  Matt says you can't beat fresh whitefish from Lake Superior and I have to agree with him.  Matt and I both ended our meals with a piece of  warm strawberry rhubarb pie with ice cream. It was the perfect ending to the meal.  I haven't had a strawberry rhubarb pie since my grandmother made them when I was a child.  I think I may have to plant some rhubarb or raid somone's patch next spring so I can make some myself.  Every time we drove by Wilcox's I drooled just thinking of their pie.

And so ended the second day of our adventure.

Gypsy Wanderings - UP of Michigan - Mackinac Island

I finally got to do some gypsy style wandering. We just returned from our trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (aka UP). Matt and I attended his niece's wedding. In addition to attending the wedding we took day trips every day to check out the area. By the time we left I was praying for a rainy day to rest a bit.

Our first trip was to Mackinac Island. To get to the island you have to go by boat or ferry. We took a hydro boat which was about a 30 minute trip each way. There are no cars or motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Deliveries are done by horse and wagon. The only forms of transportation are walking, horseback, horse & carriage, and bikes. This was definitely not a cheap day trip although we definitely felt it was worth what we paid. If we were to do it again I'd like to go more prepared with packed lunches,our own water and probably rent or take our own bikes as you can bring them across on the boat for a fee. We did not eat on the island as the prices are pretty high. Fortunately we had a large breakfast right before leaving for the island so we weren't really hungry although we did buy ice cream cones at the Sanders Store as a treat. If you can afford to stay on the island it would be worth it to see things at night as well as having more time to explore.

Many of you may remember the movie Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. The Grand Hotel that the movie took place at is located on this island. The hotel is absolutely awesome looking. It's huge!  It has the longest front porch of any building. The grounds on this entire island are spectacular and even more so around the hotel itself. We paid to be able to go into the hotel but sadly it didn't really allow us to see much. We did go up to the bar at the top and that has a spectacular view, perfect to sit and sip a class of wine and enjoy. I did purchase some teas in the Tea Shop in the indoor shopping area. The views from the porch are spectacular as well and I could have sat in one of the rocking chairs all day reading and enjoying the view.

The Grand Hotel - Mackinac Island

beautiful shaped bushes on the lawn directly across from The Grand Hotel

Other houses along the cliffs on the island.

We took a carriage tour around the island. I thought it would be the best way to get an overview of everything and then we could go back and investigate areas that caught our interest. We did a combination ticket so we could get into the Butterfly Conservatory. The Butterfly Conservatory was breath taking. I'll admit I've never been in one before so this was my first experience. The cottage that the conservatory is attached to is adorable. I could die a happy girl in the gardens here. On our way back from The Grand Hotel we took a little alleyway and discovered a beautiful garden that had a sign The Secret Garden in it.  The flowers were so beautiful I can't describe it. I thought we'd taken a picture of it but unfortunately not.

Butterfly Conservatory

Matt kept telling me to hold still and I couldn't figure out why until he told me I had this fellow on me. Glad he took a picture so I could see it.

Butterfly that took a liking to me

The roof on this building caught my eye. I've never seen anything like it before. It looked like pieces of peeled bark with the the pieces of stripping across to hold them secure. Really unusual. This building wasn't open so I'm not sure what it was originally used for. It might have been a cottage someone lived in.

American Fur Co Retail Store

 This is where hunters and trappers could bring their furs to exchange for merchandise when the island was first settled. The furs were kept in another building.

This is the view from Fort Mackinac. I wish we'd taken pictures of the office quarters because one thing we both noticed was how grand the living spaces were furnished, especially for the time period. For a layout of the Fort please follow the link above. 

While on the carriage tour we went through Mackinac State Park and got to see the Arch Rock.  There are several theories on how this developed but I like the story of the Indian Princess and the Air God that our driver told. Unfortunately I can't find the legend online so briefly the Indian Princess fell in love with an Air God.  Her father didn't approve of the match so to prevent it he took her to this rock and tied her to it and left her there to the elements. She cried and cried and her tears washed away the stone until this arch was made. The Air God found her and saved her. It is said that the Air God went through the arch and became a human male. I'm a sucker for romantic endings.  As you look down into the water just past the arch you can see the picture below. Nobody knows who wrote it.  

Arch Rock

Live Life Valken

Weekend Ramblings August 16th

Menu:
Lunch: Italian on cibatta roll
Supper: Taco Salad with breadsticks

Wow has it been a busy summer! It doesn't feel like it's been that busy but I've been working on little things here and there and it adds up. I've also been in training at work which has added up time wise. Thankfully after the first week they let us train a half day in the office and then all the telecommuters were able to come home and work. Yesterday and today were super humid for North Dakota.  The low humidity here is something I really appreciate. I hear natives complain about how bad it is and can't help but laugh. Michigan's humidity was the worse of all the places I've ever lived and if they think this is bad they need to experience it elsewhere. Otherwise, our weather has been in the mid to low 80's with night temps in the 60's.

Today we had a nice storm pass through. It rained so heavily that the flash flood alarm went off on the TV and cell phones. I'm thankful that I took the pups for a walk before the storm hit. Matt wanted to go to the store and every time he thought it was starting to slow down it would start pouring again.

Water was so deep in the road that it went up over the sidewalk into the yard.  There's a drop down from the step to the road.  Water was up to the bottom of the rims on both our vehicles.

This was totally flooded over for a bit when it was raining the hardest. 

Unfortunately water was going under the skirting on the trailer.

This pitcher was empty before it started raining.

Crafting:

I finished the rug!!!! It was a great feeling when I finished it. I already have the loom warped and another rug started. For my fall project I've started a knitted sample stitch afghan with super bulky yarn.  I wanted something nice and warm to curl up in when it gets cold.

About a month ago we went to a Junk Expo and Matt found a spinning wheel for me. We picked up this beauty for only $75.  I'm not sure what brand it is. I think it might be a Jenny by Sleeping Beauty, which is no long manufactured.  She was dirty and I could tell she'd been sitting in a barn or shed somewhere.  I cleaned her up last week (finally) and hopefully will get her waxed this weekend.  I bought a maintenance kit and she got a tune up after her cleaning.  She's missing a dowel that the brake cord attaches to so Matt is going to fix that but otherwise she appears to be in full working condition. Now I just need to order some roving. The Lazy Kate that she came with is about $75 brand new so I think we got a pretty good deal.

Reading:

I've done a ton of reading.  My latest read was The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club by Wanda Brunstetter. I lucked out and got a Wish List fulfilled notice from PaperBackBookExchange.com letting me know that both it and the sequel had been posted. I will be starting the sequel, The Tattered Quilt, tonight. I find the books interesting in they talk about quilting and these take place close to where I grew up in Indiana. One of these days I'm going to visit Shipshawana.  It brought back memories when one of the characters talked about going shopping at the mall in South Bend, which is the mall we use to go to all the time. I miss the Amish restaurants that serve family style.

Gardening:

My tomato plants have started producing.  The poor plants have been stunted by this odd summer we've had and never got much above 2 feet tall and the fruit is small too.  My Roma tomatoes are like giant grape tomato size. I was getting ready to harvest my peppermint after moving it by the tomato plants when something ate it.  I'm wondering if it wasn't a bunny as I can't think of anything else that would eat it.

Ramblings - Our July Lake Trip

We just returned from a 4 day trip to St. Mary's Lake in Minnesota.  A buddy of Matt's invited us to come and visit him at his cabin.  It's about 5.5 hours from us so a bit of a road trip.  I wish we could have taken our time going because there were so many thrift stores, thrift markets, and interesting sites all along the route that we didn't have time to stop and check out.  On our return trip we did stop to get pictures with Paul Bunyan.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Matt because the batteries died in the camera.  We took the furkids with and they had a blast.  Tip spent a good portion of the trip laying in the shallow water on the beach.  Lacey even let Matt coax her in up to her back and she never goes more than a couple inches in.  Oreo enjoyed sunning herself the whole weekend. They all enjoyed chasing chipmunks up trees all over the yard.

CRAFTING:

I finished up the rectangular rug and discovered that some bright pink jute had gotten woven into my natural jute and is clearly visible.  I'd hoped that it wouldn't be noticeable. I think the only way I'm going to rescue this is to totally dye the entire rug pink.  Maybe I can sell it to a glamper that loves pink.  It's frustrating to say the least that this occurred.  I may write to the manufacture and lodge a complaint because either I would of had to cut the huge section out and would have ended up being short to finish or dye this to match the colored jute that was woven in to it. It's much more visible then it looks in the picture below.  Otherwise, it's a nice looking rug.

I've made some progress on the twined rug also.  I have about 5" left to work and it will be done.  I have learned a lesson not to be cheap and use yarn for the warping threads.  I'd read an article where the woman said she used her leftover yarn from projects and I thought aha I can finally get rid of some of this yarn I have.  Wrong.  I've had 3 threads break so far and have had to fix them by knotting yarn into the space as best I can to replace.  I'll know from now on to use thinner strips of fabric for my warping.

 I also got some cross stitching time in on the trip.  As my rug supplies were to big to fit, my cross stitching project was the perfect size.  I don't think I've worked on it since my my was here the end of April. I think I spent a good portion of Friday working on it.

GARDENING:

The lettuce is popping up already. I was amazed to see little green shoots 5 days after I planted it.  Got to love lettuce for a fast growing crop.  I'm looking forward to some fresh cut lettuce instead of the store bought.  Tomatoes have a lot of fruit on them.  I noticed when we got back that I have rotten bloom rot starting.  I researched and it appears I need to add some lime to the soil.  From what I read apparently container tomatoes use up the calcium in the soil quickly and need supplemented.

WEEKEND RAMBLINGS JUNE 28

SATURDAY MENU:
Lunch: turkey sandwiches on 12 grain bread with pepper jack cheese
Supper: Grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob

We have been having wet, rainy weather of late and have not been able to get much done outside or do much outside.  I try to get walks in with the dogs between fronts.  I'm watching the radar screens more than the TV shows some days so I can plan accordingly. Matt was telling me that they have a ramp that trucks back down into so they can use a forklift to load and unload.  After one of the intense storms this week he said the store manager told him the ramp was flooded up to the electrical socket and they were going to have to manually pump the water out of it.

Jordon hasn't found a job yet.  I'm amazed that Walmart hasn't called they're in such desperate need of people but if I recall right it took them about 2 weeks before they called me after I put an application in there.  Hopefully soon because he's getting bored sitting around the house all the time.  He has been running on a daily basis to get in shape so that's a good thing.

Firework madness has started and poor Tip is cowering and panting heavily under my computer desk as I type.  I need to give him another dose of Rescue Remedy.  I need to order more, between the thunderstorms and now the fireworks I've nearly used all the bottle I have.  I found it on Amazon for about $8 less than I paid for it here in town so I'll definitely be ordering it online.

Grocery Budget:
I went over my new weekly food budget ($100 wk for the 3 of us) by about $20 but I also had over $20 worth of cleaning/non-food items.  I still need to go to Hugo's and pick up a whole chicken (or maybe a couple) as they have them on sale for $4.98 per chicken.  The cheapest Walmart had them today was $9.98 for a whole chicken so definitely worth picking up a couple for future use.  They also had pork loin chops on sale at half Walmart's price.  I'm noticing that buying for 3 people is a lot more difficult, either things come in packages of 2 or family size.  I had $6.05 worth of coupons.  They do not put coupon flyers in the papers here like they do most places on Sunday so I have to print any I can find off the internet.  Now that I'm feeding three of us I need to watch my food budget big time especially with several trips planned in the 18 months.

Gardening News:
The one good thing about the weather is that our tomatoes are starting to produce baby tomatoes.  There's probably over a dozen baby tomatoes on it and a bunch of flowers yet.  Our 2 plants should produce a nice harvest for us this year.  Aren't the baby tomatoes adorable!

 Bad news is something is destroying my basil.  I tried moving the planter but it doesn't seem to be helping. I've looked frequently and can't find anything on the leaves that could be eating them either.

Chives are doing well, I need to get a larger plantar for them as they're quickly outgrowing the small watering can we used to plant them in.  I made mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives in them last week and it was so nice using some of my own chives.  The baskets of flowers we put around the deck railing are blooming beautifully.  Matt's made frequent mention of the fact that it's pretty interesting how after we put out planters and did some yard work all of a sudden several neighbors went out and bought flowers and planters too.  It can only be a good thing for people to be growing things in my opinion especially food.

Weekend Ramblings Jun 21-22, 2014

Saturday:
Lunch: Taco Bell
Supper: Grilled pork chops and scalloped potatoes

Sunday: 
Lunch: Bacon Sandwich with leftover pasta salad
Supper: Pizza Burgers and salad

I can't believe I have been so busy that my last post was about Mother's Day weekend.  Many things are going on here in our home.  Most important of which is that my youngest son Jordon has moved in with us. He was ready for a life change and couldn't find another job in Michigan so he decided to come out here and see if he can get work here.  I'm sure he'll have something soon since everybody is hiring.  He arrived Tuesday afternoon after a 24 hour bus ride which he says he'll never do again.  Apparently having some guy he didn't know sleeping on him for 8 hours was a bit disconcerting and the roads are in such bad repair everywhere that it was impossible to sleep.  He has recovered nicely though.

To celebrate his arrival we took him to the shooting range Saturday and shot for most of the day.  Both him and I got burned and I ended up with a little sun poisoning even with sunscreen on.  With the crazy weather we've been having I haven't been able to get out in the sun much and I paid the price this weekend.  Jordon went running the day after he got here, only about 2 miles, and just that short amount of time outside he was sunburned. Matt also got the four wheeler working today so they were able to play on that a little bit this afternoon. I imagine they'll be out in the next weekend or so playing on that and Matt's dirt bike.

Matt is getting itching feet and wants to do some traveling so we have a trip to Italy planned for fall 2015!!!  I'm so excited!  Matt has been there with a group of friends but would like to take me there to see it.  I'm reading books on Italy.  We're still looking for a good package deal and have decided a guided tour would be best.  I started a savings account to start saving for the trip.  I'm thinking November might be good as it will be our 7 year anniversary of our first date, makes it romantic.

We've been doing a lot of yard saleing and finding some neat things.  This weekend we thought we'd have some luck considering how many sales there were but really found almost nothing.  We did find a glass gallon jug that we bought for 25c to put mead in when we get ready to rack it.  Last weekend I found a Kindle for $50 at the pawn shop in town.  I use the Amazon Kindle App on my tablet but they won't let you borrow books unless you have a Kindle of some type.  With Amazon Prime you can borrow one book a month to read and then return it at no cost.  Not all books can be borrowed but there are a lot I would like to read but doubt I want to buy so it's a great deal since I have Amazon Prime anyway. The one advantage to the Kindle is it has Whispernet which allows you to download a book anywhere.  I need WIFI access to download with my tablet so it can limit but typically isn't an issue.

I got a small bonus from work so I decided to use it to buy a twining rug loom.  Actually I bought the deluxe package which has the rug size frame and a placemat size frame and then you can combine the sides from the rug frame with the tops of the placemat frame to get a table runner frame.  I quickly realized that I was going to need an easel to keep from having a lot of back pain after working on it so I bought a cheap $20 artist easel at Walmart and Matt added a board to it to support the frame and I have a working easel.  Here's a picture of the rug I'm working on.  I've gotten double this amount done.  Unfortunately we've been so busy I haven't had much time to work on it.

Ramblings - Mother's Day Weekend

It's hard to get into Mother's Day when none of my kids are in the area.  I did get a wonderful phone call from my youngest son.  I'm sure my oldest son was with his mother-in-law celebrating.  Otherwise it was pretty much another Sunday.

It's been a wet and rainy weekend.  I had hoped to take the dogs for a short hike but the weather wasn't cooperating.  Yesterday I sat curled up in my chair wrapped in a blanket most of the day.  I just couldn't seem to get the chill out of my bones.  For supper I made up a batch of my Sausage Tortellini Chowder and we ate the last of the french bread with it.  Wednesday I was in the mood for some fresh bread so I baked 2 loafs of French bread.  We've been munching on the first loaf since.  I used the second loaf yesterday to make Italian sandwiches for lunch.  We finished off the last of the chowder today for a late lunch.

Saturday I did manage to get a few things done.  I ripped up 2 more sheets for the next rug project.  I also started cleaning out the fridge.  I took out the fruit and veggie drawers and let them soak in the bathtub while I washed down the inside of the fridge.  Hopefully I'll get to the shelves this week.  I plan on ordering a lazy Susan for the top shelve that we keep a lot of jarred items on so it will be easier to find things. I was out of laundry soap so I made a double batch this time.  The house smelled wonderfully peppermint-y afterwards.  I also took the Jeep through the car wash and gave her a bath!

Matt finally decided to upgrade his phone and get a smart phone.  We decided to bundle our phones instead of keeping separate accounts.  I guess it's about time.  Hopefully we'll have our new phones by Wednesday.  I've been needing to switch phone carriers but hadn't decided on which one or what type of phone I wanted.  Sprint service in our area is horrible!  Verizon and AT&T are considered the best in the area.  Matt has AT&T already so we just added me and upgraded him.  As much as I liked the idea of downgrading my phone and saving money, the reality is I'm use to all those extras and they do come in handy when we go into the larger cities.  Coming back from Minnesota last weekend I used the internet search to find a home brewing store to stop at to pick up supplies.

To end our evening we made up 2 batches of mead, a 6 gallon carboy and a 3 gallon carboy.  Matt had been able to get some local honey recently for us to use.  We're excited to see how this batch turns out but won't know for months.  We used a different yeast for these batches and I'm a bit concerned how it's going to work.  It didn't seem to activate like I thought it would.  If it's not performing like I want I'll order another type and add it in.  We will wait until we rack it to add anything to it.  We plan to do the 3 gallon as a blackberry mead from the blackberries I got from the Bountiful Basket and froze several months ago.  I'll probably buy some more from the store to give it a nice flavor.  I may get some vanilla beans and do a vanilla mead with the 6 gallon.  I have a couple months to figure it out though.

Ramblings Runestone Museum

When I checked a map to see how far away Alexandria, Minnesota was the first thing I saw on the map was the Runestone Museum.  Matt and I have an interest in Norse history and runestones so we were both excited to finally get to go there.  We've heard a lot on various shows about the Kensington Runestone that was found not far from Alexandria and have wanted to visit the museum.  We had an enjoyable afternoon at the Museum before heading back home.

For those that might not know what a runestone is Wikipedia defines a runestone as typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century, and it lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones date from the late Viking Age. Most runestones are located in Scandinavia, but there are also scattered runestones in locations that were visited by Norsemen during the Viking Age. Runestones are often memorials to deceased men. Runestones were usually brightly coloured when erected, though this is no longer evident as the colour has worn off.  

Wikopedia also defines runes as letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets, which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter. 

The Runestone Museum had a short video about the Kensington Runestone and the family that found it.  So sad that their lives suffered so much from it.  They had items from the family and their home including an old sewing machine.  I didn't realize it was at first until I looked closer to the needle and presser foot.

The rest of the Museum were displays about the settlers of Alexandria who were mostly Norwegian or Swedish in origin.  They had several buildings outside of the Museum that had been moved there representing life when Alexandria was being settled.  There was a General Store, cabin, church, smokehouse, laundry house, school, barn and the stage coach stop/post office outside.  They also had farm machinery next to the barn.  

2 room cabin with loft bedroom

stage coach stop and post office with loft for sleeping

Snorri 40' Viking ship displayed in barn

Snorri's Rutter

1964 Arctic Cat Snowmobile displayed in barn

I also enjoyed the school room.  They had a huge number of books that would have been used that I could have stayed for hours and looked at.  There was an embroidered map of the US with the state flower embroidered inside that was impressive.

embroidered map

embroidered map showing state flowers for North Dakota and South Dakota

Ole Olaf statue across the street from Museum in a park

Ramblings May 5th

As much as we love for our friends and family to visit, afterwards we always have that sigh of relief that we have our home to ourselves again.  We are hermits somewhat in this aspect.  My Mom was visiting the past week from Pennsylvania where she is living now.  It was a nice visit and hopefully she enjoyed it.  Thankfully I was able to take time off and spend with her this visit.  She definitely got a dose of North Dakota weather while she was here with everything from snow to rain to a day or 2 of sunny weather in the 60's.

Matt thankfully was able to get the flooring done a couple days before she arrived.  Matt thought I did an excellent job on the room redecorating it, he called it Comfortable Country.  I found the comforter and throw at a thrift shop.  I put the green rug I'd crocheted on the new floor next to the bed. and I also replaced the sheer valance with thermal curtains.  Matt's sister, Bee, gave us the Bentwood rocker several years ago.  With my new desk set up in my office area there was no room for it so I decided it would make a nice addition to the guest room.  The walls will be our next major upgrade once we get a home improvement store in town.  We plan on taking out all the paneling and replacing it with drywall throughout the trailer. Once I get the nasty wallpaper taken down and the drywall up I think I'll do this room possibly in a cream color or a maybe a light green.  I need to get some decorations for the walls now.

Before

After

Matt's birthday was Friday so I took the whole day off.  We had planned initially to go to Valley City antiquing and thrift shopping but the weather was forecast better for Thursday so we went Thursday instead and stayed home on Friday.  I found a really nice top at one of the thrift stores for $1.  Mom had asked for me to make meatloaf while she was here but then changed her mind and wanted a spaghetti dinner so that was her supper the last night.  She enjoys home cooking so we mostly stayed in although we did take her out a couple times.  Friday I sat and watched movies with her and crocheted a jute rug.  It worked up really quickly and is so nice.  I have it outside at our entry door.

Saturday we took a road trip and met one of my sisters in Minnesota so Mom could stay with her for the rest of the time she's visiting.  I'll give more details on that trip in another post.  We met her in Alexandria, Minnesota which is about 3 hours from our home.  It made for a little bit of a long day but the weather was beautiful and sunny although winds were gusting and the temp was only in the 40's so it felt a bit chilly.  I had taken a light sweater with and realized by the time we arrived in Alexandria that it wasn't heavy enough for me to be outside much so we stopped at Fleet Farm and I was able to pick up a fleece lined zip-up sweatshirt.

Sunday was catching up on cleaning and laundry and then kicking back relaxing.  We prefer to do our birthdays privately so we waited until Sunday to celebrate Matt's birthday.  He requested my homemade pizza (no surprise there) and a cake so I made a dark chocolate bundt cake with coconut almond frosting.  I always have a fear when I make bundt cakes that they'll stick to the pan and not come out.  I thoroughly coated my ceramic pan with coconut oil before pouring the batter in.  I forgot to flour it as the instructions called for but it came out great.