Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sore back and apples!

Have been busy, and just haven't been in here writting.  My neck has been hurting and I have big knots in my shoulders!  Stephani had tried to work them out when I was down to see her, but they are stubborn, and think coming from a neck issue.  Yep - and now have had two appointments with the chiropractor.  Xrays of neck aren't good.  Instead of a curve to my neck, my vertebraes are straight and show that arthritis is present too.  I can't turn my head to the right at all, and little to the left, and the xrays also show that a couple of vertebraes are protruding out to the left side.  Ugh. So now we are going to take care of the problem, and not just the symptoms.   I was having trouble all the way down in my left leg.  Amazing how one thing can affect another area.  The adjustments have helped and I'm not in as much pain, but it will take awhile.  I can't remember the name/term that he told me and explained what I have.  Makes me mad that I didn't write it down, so now wait for next week when I go back to do that.  My pain level is a lot better, and that does help as I've been able to sleep pretty good that last couple of nights.
I've been busy sewing and crocheting and spose all that sitting and reaching forward hasn't helped.  But I have to be busy.
Saturday I even make some applesauce!  Had been given a bag of apples from a neice and they needed to be used.  The house smelled so good when I was doing that!!!!   Wish I could have bottled that smell up to use again later!
I wish I would have taken pictures of my whole process.  The apples were smaller, but a little larger than the crab apples.  The apples were kind of sour, so this turned out really good. 
Crockpot Applesauce
3# apples - you can mix the types of apples you use.  Peel and quarter.
1/2 c sugar
1 cinnamon stick (I used 3)
2 TBSP lemmon juice
2 TBSP unsalted butter (I didn't have, so used salted butter)  (seems to have worked okey)

Place apples, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon stick in small crockpot.  Cover and cook on high until apples are very tender; about 3-4 hours.  Keep checking, and stirring, because some apples are done sooner than others.  (mine only took 2 hours).

Remove cinnamon stick.  Mash any lumps with a potato masher.  Pour into storage container or containers.  Add butter and stirr.  Let cool and store in refrigerator.

(I hadn't read my directions carefully, and added the butter to the crockpot after making sure all the lumps were mashed up.- think worked out better, as I put my applesauce in small jars.  I think it would even taste good on toast!!!)

I had seen this recipe somewhere, and then in looking up homemade applesauce on line, other recipes added more spices.  I just know I'll do this again.  Really easy!



Monday, October 17, 2011

A quick note!

Steph's biopsy came back okey - benign!  Whoopee!!!  So now the doctor will watch to see if the nodule or growth grows.  They took nine samples and she was pretty tired after the biopsy was done.  She was to have given a horse riding lesson to a young girl that she canceled out of - she thought she'd feel better than she did.   She has been on medication and that seems to be helping so she isn't so tired.  Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers!  

It's getting chilly here in Minnesota!!!!  I've had to dig out my lightweight winter jacket!  Can't complain tho - we've had a very warm fall.   More later.   

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Nite out with Walter and the crew!

 Awhile ago, daughter Leah and Steve were over one everning, and they gave us a Christmas Letter saying:

Christmas is coming early this year.....

Do you need a hint:

How about ~
Jalapeno
Texas
Walter
Bubba
Peanut
Achmed

Any guesses?
Well - we figured it out right away!  I was so excited! 
  
 When the kids were over with the invite, we had to guess where we were going!  We figured it out, because with the puppets named above, you know right away that our early Christmas present was tickets to a Jeff Dunham show.  He came to Bemidji MN (about an hour away from us).  The kids and us went on Thursday evening.  It was a GREAT show and we laughed till our cheeks hurt.
We were in the perfect spot, the eleventh row, right in the middle!     Thank you Leah and Steve for a pizza supper and a great evening!!!!!!!!!


Leah and Steve - I had my flash turned off, and took a lot of pictures before the show.  You weren't suppose to take pictures during the show.  The following pic was up on the big screen before the actual show started.  I took over 90 pictures!

Oh, and Leah is such a funny planner and thinks of everything.  Dad and I each got a goody bag with
"Care Package" written on the outside!  Inside was some candy, a small package of kleenex, and an adult diaper!!!!!!!!   In case you laughed so hard that you pee your pants!!!!!!!     Funny Leah ~ she had such a great time planning our night out! 
Here's Jeff with "Peanut"  and in front of Peanut is a new puppet in the image of Jeff, and in his other hand, a little hand puppet in the image of a smaller Peanut.  That was Jeff's  last act for the evening.  I thought one picture wouldn't hurt!  Jeff is one talented ventriloquist!  His preshow was about him growing up and his love of his puppets.  That was very interesting.   He's been doing this since he was 8 years old!

Thank you Leah and Steve for a great evening!

 


Sunday, October 9, 2011

Our Sept Renee Visit!

First picture after we got there, with Renee and the little pumpkin I grew.  Growing conditions were the greatest, and this is the ONLY pumpkin that grew!  But Renee didn't care!  She likes her pumpkin!
I'm so far behind on blogging that I don't even know where to start!?!?!  We had a wonderful trip south to see the kids and Renee and now have been home over a week and I haven't blogged yet ~ what's with me?  We've been so busy.  Steve is busy combining corn and working on  fall clean up, getting barns ready for winter, fixing ceilings and walls in one barn, and I've been busy too, but it doesn't seem like it has been such important stuff going on for me.  Cleaning house, washing floors; fall cleaning instead of what should have been done in the spring.  Only I know I've done some of this stuff more than once or twice this summer!  It's been so windy that it gets really dusty in the house ~ so it seems like I'm dusting all the time.  Have been out in the garden, putting decorations away, picking flower seed pods and still need to get the peonies ready for winter and dig the canna lilies.

From our trip I have some great pics of Renee that I'll share, and we came home a different way this time, drove East through Baton Rouge and up through Mississippi, to Memphis.  We stopped at Graceland on our way through Memphis, and spent 3 hours there.  A wonderful tour that we both enjoyed very much.  Elvis was such a musical icon to both of us and we still enjoy his music.  Stayed just north of St Louis that night and then got home the next evening.  Over 1400 miles in 2 days.

Renee helping Grandpa put together the antique 5 legged table that we brought with us for them.
They had a glass dinning table, and that now will be out.  It wasn't very kid proof.   This table has 3 12 inch leafs to make it larger for company, and will serve them good for many years to come.  The table is over 100 years old.

She is such great help!  Grandpa loved it!

We spent a lot of time watching volleyball, with Jessica coaching. 
We went to several Sugar Cane Festival events.  The livestock show to watch 4-H kids show their pigs.  Checked out all of the other animals there too.  Renee like the goats best.
We also went to the Friday night street dance and caught the tail end of the boat parade, saw the fireworks, and listened to great music for several hours that evening.  Jess and Floyd saw a lot of people they knew.  There were a LOT of people there.  Also went to the parade on Sunday afternoon, and then Sunday evening went to Mama and Papa's for supper and also cut out pumpkins early, so we could all be a part of having fun with pumpkins and Renee!  She sure liked the pumpkins!

Mommy and Renee did this one!
She sure loves the pumpkins!
I'm sure these are probably rotten by now, and they'll have to cut new ones when it gets closer to Halloween!

More trip pictures on next post. 
I need to get some crocheting done.  Have orders for hats and need to get them done.  Also working on getting some things done for a small craft show coming up.  Had not planned on doing any craft shows this fall, but this one came up and couldn't turn it down.  So now will be busier than I had planned on .  Oh well.  My plate seems to be getting bigger!!!!  Pile it on!!!!
I'm going to southern MN this week to send a couple of days with Stephani.  She is having a thyroid biopsy done on a growth on Wednesday.  Her thyroid counts have been all wacko, and hopefully they are getting things regulated so that she feels better.  She hasn't felt good for quite awhile.  But that hasn't kept her from the horse shows.  They are busy with them every weekend.  Talked to her yesterday and she did very well this weekend.    Hope you all have a great week and it's great to be back!   love ya, jo

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Evening projects!

In the evenings after whatever we've been doing during the day I usually sit for awhile and try to watch tv.  Starting a crochet project that keeps my hands busy, and not my brain!    I've been making these kitchen hand towels that hang on the stove handle.  Found some cute thick towels and have a bunch to make up to put a towel in with gifts.  I like to make my towels with the double thickness instead of cutting the towel in half like most people do, and I buy the good towels where the image is not just painted on.  Here's a few of what I've done.  I've already given some cute pumpkin ones away, forgetting to take a picture.  Have some other ones for Christmas that aren't included in the picture.  This will also keep me busy in the car on our trip this week.

The hardest part is to find the cute towels at a reasonable price.  But if you watch the sales you can pick them up for $3.00 a piece instead of $6.00. 

A drizzly Sunday morning here.  Yesterday I was cleaning out the area under our basement steps.  That is an area that has been a catch all of left over paint cans (so they don't freeze in the winter months) and luggage keeper, old toy catch all and storage area for seasonal clothes.  There was a big tub of Christmas stuff still there too.  Went through everything, and now the paint cans will be moved out to the heated garage, and the Christmas stuff I went through and tomorrow I'm taking a load in to be donated to our local business that accepts donated stuff for resale. 
It feels good to get down to the bare bones of that storage area.  Now I'm going to have Steve put in some permanent shelves instead of the metal shelving that's in there now.  We need to  reinsulate a little and put up sheetrock in one area by the fuse box to cover the insulation there.  Another project for when we get home from Jessica's. 
Tomorrow, (Monday) I'll be packing, as we're leaving for Louisiana on Tuesday for a week.  We're driving down, so should see some nice trees turning color.  I enjoy our two day drive.  We get a lot of talking done!!!  Have too, as we're both STUCK with each other for a full two days!  With no one to referee!   hee hee!

Have a blessed Sunday, Jo


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Cars and Bad Guys!

Growing up as a child in a small town, we lived on the 600 block of Main Street.  My parents had a business in the first block of our towns' main business area.  We never had new cars that I remembered, but as I grew older, I remember one I especially liked.  We got this different newer car, because the car we had  was stolen.  It ended up on the reservation, having been taken at night from in front of our house.  It was wrecked by its joy riders and so the next day or so Dad brought home this little red and white car.  I loved that car.  It was so cute - red, with a white top, and a white wide stripe on the sides.  The seats were leather and this was a a big step up from the old one, even if it was a used car.  I'm thinking I must have been about ten years old at the time.  My sister will correct me if I'm wrong!

I had to go on line to find a picture ~ you'll have to visualize that on our car, the blue color is red, and the top and stripe over the back wheel is white like this one below.  I remember our car also having been a 2 door hard top like this one.  The seats were white leather!  Wow!   Made me feel rich even though we weren't.  I remember how smooth that leather was, running my fingers up and down each seam in the seat!  Sure do wish I had this car now.  Isn't it cute!!
Found this picture on line, for sale now for $23,000.00.  All redone and just
like new.  Wonder what this car sold for new in 1954?  I couldn't find any pictures
of us near this car in any of the pictures I have, so I suppose there
aren't any to be had.

The next memory I have of this car is that it was also stolen.  I remember my mother being especially upset, as it took the police several days to find the car, and it too ended up on the reservation.  This time tho, there were people hurt.  There had apparently been a fight with the chains that were in the trunk and some wrenches, as the windows were all broken out, and there was blood everywhere.  I remember seeing the car and the dried up blood ruining the little car I liked so much.  No more going for Saturday ice cream cones at the local DQ after taking the garbage to the dump in our red and white chevy.  The next car we got, must not have impressed me, as I don't even remember what it was or looked like.  I'm sure it was a Chevy tho, because I remember my mom always saying they got all their cars from Enfields in Osage! 

Hubby has been gone a few days to a national hog show, the Austin Barrow show in southern MN, and a neighbor comes over and does the farm chores in the mornings and late afternoons.  When he came on Monday, he asked me if I'd heard the news of the neighbors car being stolen!  In fact there were several vehicles stolen recently in this area, and I hadn't heard that.   Anyway one was stolen in broad daylight in our little bird of a town of Osage.  A young man was visiting his mom and dad before he was leaving at 3 in the afternoon to head to ND to the oil fields for work, and when he went out the door to leave, his pickup truck was gone.  The joy ride and ruin of the vehicle ended north and west of town, with the pickup demolished (that would be about 2 to 3 miles north of  us as the crow flys. Then shortly after, another vehicle was stolen from the yard of a neighbor.  They must have walked or been picked up and given a ride to this second place.  You can't see the house or garage from the road, so it makes you wonder how these people case out their victims.  This car ended up northwest on the prairie about 10 miles from here, also ruined.  

I have heard we have some young gangs in the area and this worries me.  Are we turning into victims of their gang initiations?  I hope not, but you never know.  Probably just out partying and one thing leads to another.  This can happen ANYWHERE.  You don't have to be in a big city.  Apparently these two vehicles aren't the only ones, as I've heard of another vehicle and 4 wheeler having been stolen within the last 2 weeks.

We live so close to the road that it kind of scares me.  While hubby was gone I locked everything up at night and even had Odda sleep in the house.  Just like the feeling of having her with me, as she would be alerted if there was something going on outside.  I would like to think that she'd growl or bark if something aroused her, and then that would alert me.  She's such a lover that I haven't seen a mean side of her, but you never know what your dog would do if confronted by complete strangers at the wrong time of day or night.   We've had other dogs that by their breed, you know they are protective, but Odda's is such a lover that she'd probably just lick the bad guys, giving them kisses, and then (as if she could) probably hand over the keys to them!  

As I write this hubby is now home and went to bed dead tired!  I bet a tornado wouldn't wake him up ~ wonder if I should go let Odda in again!

Until next time, hugs, jo