Sunday, August 31, 2014

Lavender and Yellow

The Asters are blooming amongst the Goldenrod.

Field of Asters and Goldenrod

This CRP Conservation Reserve program) field.  It is not a Native Tall Grass Prairie…why?  Because I can recall crops in this field…Oats I think or Wheat.

Lavender and Yellow the colors of Fall flowers.   Fall is in the air, the nights are crisp and leaves are turning.  Leaves are finding their way onto the lawn…we have a few acorns but not many.

Cup Plant Silphium perfoliatum

The Cup Plant or Silphium perfoliatum is in bloom everywhere. One last sunny hurrah before summer is over.

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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Stuff

My parents had a garage sale on Thursday and Friday…I got rid of some “stuff.”  The rest of the stuff is packed away in totes in my garage.  I have some “stuff” that will be sold on EBay.  Being gone two days really puts me behind on our projects.

This week Far Guy and I fixed some antler handles on the built in cabinet upstairs.  When we built them we didn’t realized that some of the pointy ends could catch people me in the leg.  He took them off and I cut them on the scroll saw and sanded the cuts smooth.  It was a struggle to get the drawers fronts back on properly but we finally managed.  A  few words of “encouragement” were uttered.

It rained enough that I mowed the lawn one afternoon.  I weeded our tiny flower bed under the bird feeders.

I am working on cleaning the pavers on the patio.  What a yucky, filthy job.  I bought a pressure washer at a garage sale one day…it works great at flinging the moss and dirt up against the house and onto me.  Eventually I will have to put a little more fine sand onto the pavers and work it in. I have at least another day maybe two on that project.

I damaged a window pane (rock from lawn mower) and another window got “cloudy” so they have been measured and are supposed to be replaced.  The fellow was supposed to be here yesterday…but he was a no show.

We have to make a new list of projects.  The garage trim is still awaiting paint…it has been too damp to paint.  I had some primer tinted in town..I guess I got a little wild when I scraped the trim….I can see way more wood than paint.

I finally got some stuff from the kitchen cupboards and deep freeze donated to the area food shelf.  “Stuff” we didn’t like that perhaps someone else will.  Have you tried the Steamers?  I bought a whole bunch of those on sale…oh my we didn’t like them at all.

I am NOT doing anymore sweet corn, the freezer is almost full.

My desk is a mess, it has been the dropping off point all week long.

I am going to work on that list now and add some fun stuff too!

IMG_1593 My Mom’s Rose Wave Petunias

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Friday, August 29, 2014

Chance: Height of Land Lake

Hiya it’s me the blogging Border Collie!  It is my turn!  Border Collies rule!!

One fine day Far Side and I deserted Far Guy (he had company) and we met a gal that bought a bunch of special order carvings.   We met up at Height of Land…at the public access … Far Side can never remember the names of buildings but she knew you had to turn between the yellow house and the old deserted beer joint on the north side of the road.

Height of Land lake

Minnesota has many of these Public Access areas on lakes, you can launch a boat here and there is plenty of room adjacent to park a boat trailer whilst you are off on the lake.

Far Side had to check it out…and declare it safe.

The water was fine

I love the water…but only up to my belly!

This year some lakes have a yucky snotty looking blue green algae bloom.  If a dog laps up that water…they can die.  There was a news story not very long ago about a Golden Retriever that died right after playing ball in the water and drinking the water.  The algae carries a toxin that can affect dogs, livestock and other animals.

So dog owners beware!  Carry water in a dish for your four legged friends and if the water looks questionable…do not allow your pet in the water.

Land of Sky Blue waters

We do live in the Land of Sky Blue Waters…but you have to use common sense.

White Water Lily

Height of Land Lake has White Water Lilies ( Nymphaea tuberosa)

I thought Far Side might swim out to get a better photo…but she used her zoom lens instead.

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Barred Owl

The phone rang on Tuesday night just before dark.  My other baby brother said “Grab your camera and come see the Owl.”  He told me where to park and where to walk.

There were two Owls.  They had a eerie screechy call.  One was in the tree for a short time and then went hunting in the tall grass in the woods.  The other was perched in a tree.

Owl in a tree at Jodys

We didn’t know for sure what kind of an Owl it was.  I looked at my bird book and on the Minnesota DNR website and found that it is a Barred Owl.

Owl Closeup at Jodys

The Barred Owl is the only Owl in Minnesota that has brown/black eyes…all the other Owls have yellow eyes.

It was getting dark…but I was very happy to get these photos.

Later they moved from my other baby brothers to our yard.  Probably hunting for rabbits.  Chance was not the least bit impressed with them and was not real pleased to share his yard…yesterday he wanted to stay inside most of the day…a chipmunk finally enticed him outside.

I hoped that the Owls would return again last night but no such luck they must have been just passing through…and at least one bunny rabbit escaped!

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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wistful Wednesday: Roots Part Seven

I have just a few more things to share because they were shared so graciously by Verniel.
Concerning my Great Grandmother Margaretta :
Mike Yliniemi  Gretashalf  sister Tilda Granroos and Joe Yliniemi.
My Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Tilda Granroos (Margaretta’s Half sister), My Great Uncle Joe ( Mike and Joe were my Grandfathers brothers.)
My Great Grandfather Isak built a cupboard for Margaretta.
Cupboard Isak made for Greta
I will assume that this cupboard is still in existence and some part of the family has it…most likely Great Uncle Bill’s family.
There are not very many photos of Margaretta. I think she was pregnant in this photo most likely with her last child Uncle Bill.
Cupboard Isak made for Greta
Erkkilas and Grandmother Margaret
My Dad said the other day that I look just like her.  He remembers her fondly, she used to give him coins when he visited.  Sometime just a penny or two but sometimes a nickel or a dime.  That was a lot of money to a youngster.
Margaretta or Greta died in 1944.  My Dad was 18 years old.
Margarteeas Deathj Certificate
The newspaper obituary has Yliniemi spelled wrong…something that has plagued the name all of my life.
Margarteeas Deathj Certificate
Warning: Casket Photo
Gretas funeralOn the right is Wilbert Yliniemi August Yoki and Walter Yoki Ida Salmonson is standing on the right On the left is Oscar and then Erwin a Funeral director and Mike Yliniemi Center is Faye Salmonson and Ike Yliniemi a
Three of my Dad’s brothers were pallbearers…Oscar and  Ervin on the left and Wilbert on the right.
We know from the death certificate that she died of Liver Cancer and from the obituary that she was ill for two months before her death.  She was 76 years old.
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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Pin Cushions and Pants and Tattoos

I bet you cannot tell what is on my mind?

A young man walks down the street with the crotch of his pants to his knees…with various colors of underwear showing and his hat on backwards.  I bet he doesn’t have a job.  He probably has some of those black do hickeys stretching out his ear lobes too. 

Why is it that the younger generation likes the pin cushion look?  Holes and earrings in their eyebrows, noses, navels, lips, tongues and only the good Lord knows where else.

Then the tattoos.  It used to be only men in the Navy got tattoos and they were heart shaped wreaths of flowers on their upper arms with a banner that said “Mother” or “Sweetheart”  or anchors with names.  I never dated a boy with a tattoo.  Then it became popular for anyone in the service to have a tattoo…often they were acquired after a night on the town being in a drunken stupor. 

Now everyone seems to have a tattoo…we saw a kid in line at Wally World and someone who was not very artistic hacked up the back of his leg with ink…it was rather comical. Far Guy asked me what it was…I turned my head every which way to try and decipher it…with no luck. I should have just asked “Which tattoo artist botched up your leg and what was it supposed to be?”

We saw some of these pin cushioned, tattooed, saggy pants persons tossing a baby in the air the other day…I mean way in the air…Far Guy and I both shuddered. Remember that old game called “Hot Potato” ?  Must be a new game called “Hot baby”…it was one time I did not have my camera along.  

Kids have too much money and too much time on their hands and parental units that are off in la la land IF they have them..if they live with them.

I wouldn’t want to be a parent now a days… I never had to worry about beaus with saggy pants…I would have pulled up the pants and drawers in one fell swoop and then called his Mom or Dad.  The girls each had their ears pierced when they were about 10 years old… they would be able to tell you exactly when.  If they would have come home with more piercings I would have grounded them for months…and a tattoos well those were for men and hoodlums and not for proper young ladies.

Lately I am seeing beautiful young brides that are only beautiful until you see the tattoos going up and down their arms…uffda…some of them look like they could be in an old side show called the tattooed lady..only there is no admission.

Times are a changing…but not for the better.

I do have one question…if you have one of those nose rings and it is 40 below zero and your nose starts to run..does the snot collect around the ring and then drip off when it warms up?  I bet it would hurt if someone accidently pulled one of those suckers out too.

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Monday, August 25, 2014

Corn

The Sweet Corn was ready, my cousin Todd called and tried to tell me I ordered fifty dozen… I knew he was pulling my leg.  He delivered six dozen freshly picked ears.

It took about five hours to husk, wash, cook, dispatch the kernels from the cob and mix up the mixture in which they will be frozen…they are bagged in two cups serving size freezer bags…about four of those bags will find their way into another freezer bag and then they will be stacked in the right side of the freezer all ready for winter.  We got 37 bags out of 77 cobs.

We might get another four dozen so we have plenty to share with the girls.

Right now we are tired…the kitchen was cleaned thoroughly except for the floor…if we are going to get more corn then there is no sense in doing the floor.

My new stainless steel stock pot hold lots of ears…22 to be exact but it takes forever to boil. All corn is boiled ten minutes…that is the way we like it.  Then it is plunged into ice water…Far Guy cuts it off the cob anchoring the cob to a piece of wood with a nail sticking up to hold the cob in place. High Tech!

I taste tested the sweet corn on Saturday night.  I put one ear of corn complete with husk into the microwave for three minutes and then sliced part of the cob away…and pulled the tassel and husk away from the corn…but boy was that ear hot…I had to let it cool a long time before I could eat it.  For one or two servings doing a couple of cobs in the microwave is perfect.

Corn

Field corn not to be confused with sweet corn.

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Sunday, August 24, 2014

Changing the Flags

We have been going to the changing of the flags since 2008, I first wrote about it that year.

One Man’s Dream

In 2009 I called the blog post

Bunker Hill

In 2010 my Dad helped raise the Army Flag

Vietnam Memorial on the Prairie

In 2011 my Dad lowered the Army Flag

The Flags of August

In 2012 Far Guy raised the Air Force Flag

War Memorial

In 2013  Far Guy lowered the Air Force Flag

Bunker Hill

Yesterday was the day.  The flags would be changed again.

The rifle salute

The Marine Color Guard group called Star of the North giving the rifle salute.

Far Guy and his Uncle Archie lowered the old Air Force Flag and raised the new one.  It was a cool cloudy day with rain threatening.  So what if we got wet…soldiers through the years have been wet, cold and tired ..so what is a little rain.  I am not sweet enough to melt.

Lowering the Air Force flag

 

Between these two men they have over 50 years of service.

raising the Air Force flag

During the ceremony one of the Marines became ill. A couple of nurses in the crowd took care of him.  He is going to be okay.

Carsonville Fire and Rescue was on the way.

Carsonville Rescue

Bunker Hill sits up on a hill and you can see for miles.

The flags were burned this year, last year it was to windy to burn them.

Burning of the flags

Once again Trudy prepared a wonderful lunch…you name it and it was there homemade buns with turkey, ham or hot turkey, pasta salads, baked beans, cole slaw, fruit salads and desserts…every kind of cake imaginable.

We met new friends Lani and Connie from Laporte there, they are new to the area and Lani is a Vietnam Vet. Lani said the ceremony brought some old feelings to the surface…not all good ones.

Those memories of war is what built this memorial on Bunker Hill, something good that came out of bad memories of young men in a horrid war.

We should never forget.

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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Sit a Spell

How long is a spell anyway?  Half an hour or half a day? 

Red Pelargonium

Red Pelargonium

Ack red is horrible to photograph.

Red is horrid to photograph

Most of it is best left as an impressionist painting.  All photos are from Bergeson Nursery August 2014.

Twig Chair

We had company this week…Alaska Guy spent an afternoon with us. It required sitting for a spell.  Alaska Guy is doing well and will retire in February, it seems the United States won’t allow pilots to fly commercially after their 65th birthday.  He still isn’t married but he has a gal.  I knew him before I knew Far Guy…so I have known him practically forever…since I cannot remember when I didn’t know him. ( We lived near each other growing up) He loves to fly and related to us how his first flight was with his Dad and Neil Chilton with a take off in a nearby field …Neil was an Air Force Pilot with his own small plane.  Alaska Guy said “ When he banked over the lakes it felt as if I might fall out of the plane.” Any normal kid would have been scared to death…not so much Alaska Guy.

Sit a spell

Far Guy’s Uncle Archie visited one afternoon too.  He is back living at the farm full time.  He is always busy cutting wood and tending the garden during the summer and helping out his adult children.

I hope you had time this week to sit a spell and visit with some special people in your lives!

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Friday, August 22, 2014

Old projects

I have been busy working on the imaginary list that is in my head. 

We finished the Christmas Ornaments!! Yeah us!  Done in plenty of time for Christmas.  I even send a bunch with my brother and sister in law to deliver to their kids and their grands.

We finished the special order Lady Slipper and Christmas Ornaments and all were delivered this past week!

I have some other carving projects that have been almost finished for a long time.

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IMG_1112

That red fish still needs something…perhaps I will make him plaid or polka dots.

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The long pointy Santa was a class I took a long time ago that my cousin Chuckie gave.  The fish is from another class, it was a practice piece.  At one time I thought that the snowman could be a Christmas Ornament…too many hours in him for that.   The bark spirit became a Santa with a really funky beard.

I have a bag that holds all my unfinished smaller carvings…I have more upstairs…in a huge lard tin and in pretty little boxes…oh well if I don’t get them all carved they can be firewood.

I got the trim around the garage doors scraped and washed and they are drying out now before I prime and paint. 

My garage has finally been restored to normal and awaits the big project of ripping down some white Styrofoam insulation that we stupidly hung on the ceiling years ago.  I will be really happy when that project is done.  I am trying to figure out how to get it all down without using a ladder.  You wouldn’t believe the contraptions I have designed in my head.

I have the 2015 Christmas Ornament designed in my head…now to draw it all out and do a few prototypes. Busy Busy!

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Thursday, August 21, 2014

Wildflowers

Ahh-choo it is the yellow and purple time of year.

Liatris

This is Liatris pychnostachya or Prairie Blazing Star.  It blooms from the top down. 

Butterfly and Rough Blazing Star 

This is Liatris ligulistylis or Rough Blazing Star.  It looks like little bouquets on a stem.  I just happened to catch this Monarch Butterfly by happenstance.

Liatris both types are tall grass prairie plants that are native to Minnesota.

The Goldenrods are blooming everywhere.  There are many different varieties this year and more Goldenrod than I have seen in years.  It must have been all the rain and cool weather in June.

Stiff Goldenrod  or Solidago rigida

Solidago rigida or Stiff Goldenrod

Goldenrod

I am unsure what the REAL name of this Goldenrod is… I hope I have good enough photos of the foliage to identify it…if not I will have to go back to Ashley’s Road!

Far Guy is still struggling with a cold..it is an on again off again relationship...he started taking his allergy pills again.  He finally got his at home oxygen and uses it when he exercises or whilst he cuts down Tansy…a beautiful yellow flower that has taken over the wild gardens.  He first got a sore throat after a long trimming session.  He uses the oxygen at night too…we don’t know if he needs it at night or not yet…they have to run some more tests.  He wears it at night but invariable rips it off…he says some nights the tubing almost strangles him.  His oxygen tank supply gal is a real crank…even worse than me.  Her customer service skills are lacking….you can tell she doesn’t like her job.  She rolls her eyes and shakes her head when you ask a question and says “I don’t have time for this.”  I don’t think she will last long.  Just for the record I have not complained about her yet.  BUT one of these days she might get on my last nerve.

I am feeling better, almost normal but still tired…I was low on potassium so now I am taking a potassium tablet and trying to eat potassium rich foods.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wistful Wednesday : Roots Part Six

We all have relatives who we don’t know.  I have lots of them since my parents are both parts of large families.

These are relatives note the photo

Who are these people?  What year was it? Where are they at?  Is this spot the foundation of a home in French Lake MN?  Why are they standing near a photograph of my Great Great Grandmother Briita Liisa and her third husband?

Leinonens

These are relatives note the photo

Perhaps they are all Leinonens…cousins!  Someday we may know.  I got a nice email from Ardelle one of the Leinonen relatives who offered to give us a tour of the French Lake and Annandale areas where most of the Leinonen’s settled.

At the end of the month I will attend a genealogy seminar.  I have some more research I would like to attempt.

I urge you all to drag out your old photos and make sure they are marked with the Who? What? When? Where? ...perhaps you should put it on your to do list this winter!

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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Bergeson Nursery Gardens

If you are from Minnesota you have probably heard of Bergeson Nursery.  It is a wonderful place in the middle of nowhere near Fertile Minnesota.

I have been there before and I am always amazed at the gardens.

Bergeson Nursery

Bergeson Gardens two

Parsley  Red celosia and vertigo Grass

This was one of my favorite flower beds.  Parsley, Red Celosia and Vertigo Grass. There was another non descript plant along the bottom but the Parsley overshadowed it.

Mother of Pearls Rose

Mother of Pearl Rose

Sunshine Daydream

Sunshine Daydream Rose bud

Sunshine Daydream Rose

Sunshine Dream…I give this one high marks…it had great foliage and beautiful blooms!  That and yellow is my favorite flower color.

They have more roses than other years.  They also have trial beds of petunias and containers filled with flowers everywhere high and low.

Petunias Everwhere

It is fun to see what is looking good in Minnesota in August…if it looks good then you have it made!  The Bergeson family takes great pride in their gardens as they should! 

Since my background is in horticulture I enjoyed seeing all the new cultivars.  Most everything is well marked and a map of the gardens is available for self tours.

There was a very nice gentleman there who I believe is the new owner who has taken the reins from his brother who is running for political office…he is running for State Representative District 1B….not our district but if he is as hard working for the people of Minnesota as he was in the Nursery Business then he would get my vote.  

It was a fun afternoon!

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