All posts by reneeinnd

2025, Family, home, Media, Music, Technology, Uncategorized

Surround Sound

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The former owner of our home runs a satellite communication company that provides TV and entertainment systems to health care/senior living facilities and hotels nationwide. His office is right on Main Street. He and his wife insisted that the three televisions in the home had to stay when we bought the house. They are hard-wired into a myriad of cables that run through the walls and from upstairs to downstairs and out of doors. They also left us several DVD players and stereo receivers.

There are six speakers upstairs in the ceilings of the kitchen, dining room, and living room, along with three speakers in the garage, and two attached to the house in the backyard. The ceilings in the basement bedrooms and family room also have speakers, and another huge room in the basement has several speakers in the ceiling and walls.

The header photo shows the main controls for this sound system. It resides in a cupboard in the kitchen. One can choose what part of the house you want to have sound from the radio, TV, DVD. CD, computer, or any other media player you can figure out how to hook up to the main system. The former owner graciously came over last week to show me how to operate the system. I gave him a package of lefse. It is complicated. I am a successful trial and error button pusher, so I think I will figure it out. eventually.

When did you get your first sound system? What did it consist of? What music do you think we should play on the outdoor speakers?

2025, Family, Food, Gatherings, Uncategorized

Soaking Up The Ambience

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We have been in our new home for almost a month, and find the community and people friendly and accommodating. We spent the last almost 40 years living among ranchers, oil workers, and people descended from a Black Sea immigrants. The latter are somewhat short and Roman Catholic. Now we live in an area settled by Germans, Norwegians, and Dutch immigrants. There are lots of Lutherans and Dutch Refomed here. There are lots of tall, blondes here. The Lutheran Church we attend and that I grew up in was founded by Norwegians. It was surprising when we attended last week to hear the loud and intune singing from the whole congregation. The local high school here had to start a new men’s choir this fall since so many of the boys wanted to sing. This is a very musical community.

Husband and I are amazed how often the city puts out street sweepers and machines that suck up piles of leaves that people have raked into the street. We usually just ignore the leaves. Husband felt compelled to rake since everyone else was doing it almost every day. He blames the Dutch influence for this street cleaning obsession.

Husband was excited to find Aquavit in the local liquor store. It was impossible to find out west. He went full Scandanavian by getting lingonberries and pickled herring, both easy to find in the stores here. We also have a local brewery that makes a German type beer that Husband likes. We rolled and fried 75 sheets of lefse last Saturday, so we are ready for a SW Minnesota winter. I draw the line at lutefisk.

How are you influenced by your neighbors? How comfortable are you singing aloud in church or other public settings?

2025, Family, Food, home, Uncategorized, Words

Cooking With Gas

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One major adjustment to living in our new house is relearning how to cook with a gas stove. My parents had a gas stove until I was about 18 when we moved to a new house and they had a glass topped stove installed.

My mother instilled in me a fear of gas stoves. In her mind they were just bombs waiting to explode. I know there are lots of safety features in these stoves now, but I still am anxious. With a glass stove top, spilling liquids or having drips from lids that are slightly askew is no big deal. On one of my first forays into using the new stove last week I spilled a very small amount of water near a burner and it wouldn’t ignite, just clicked with no flame until a few minutes had passed and the water evaporated. We are being much more careful as we cook so we don’t spill on the stove top.

It is hard for Husband to hear the igniting clicks if he doesn’t have his hearing aids in, so I find myself surreptitiously monitoring his stove use. I hope I can relax as we get more experience with this stove. It cooks things really well and we seem to have more control as we cook and bake. The phrase “Now you’re cooking with gas!” was a marketing slogan to encourage people to switch from wood or coal burning stoves to gas stoves in the 1930’s. It then became a general idiom to indicate the someone was doing really well. I hope we can “cook with gas” as we learn to cook with gas.

What are your experiences with gas stoves? Any favorite idioms or sayings?

2025, animals, Fantasy, home, Media, Uncategorized

Optical Illusions

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Earlier this week I thought of this song as I watched our dog navigate the space in our new home:

How much is that dog in the credenza?

The one with the beard that is grey.

How much is that dog in the credenza?

Why won’t he come out and play?

Kyrill hasn’t had much opportunity to look into mirrors until now. We had this curio cabinet with a mirror that we kept in the basement in our old house. The new house has more space upstairs, and we could move the cabinet upstairs. Kyrill saw the dog in the mirror, wagged his tail at it, and spent much of a day peering into it. He really loves playing with other dogs and wanted the dog to come out.

Kyrill’s breeder told me that his show Ceskys love to parade back and forth in front of hotel room mirrors. I wonder if they know that it is them or think it is some other dog?

What are your favorite optical illusions? How have your pets reacted to mirrors?

2025, animals, Family, Health, home, Uncategorized

Billows

34 Comments

I couldn’t find the cat yesterday afternoon, so I looked in our bedroom and found her snuggled in the down comforter we keep on our bed. She had been there for hours. You can see her in the header photo. She looks pretty comfortable, I think.

We have twelve very nice goose down pillows for the three queen size beds in our home, plus down comforters for each bed. Our friend who will live with us is allergic to feathers, so we bought two non-down pillows for her when she visits. The dog sleeps with us and also expects to have a pillow for his head at night. We are a spoiled bunch.

Husband’s allergies are so much better here. He is very allergic to cats and dust. There is very little dust compared to western North Dakota, and it seems the cat is shedding less now, probably because the humidity is higher. Our friend’s four cats will stay in the basement after she moves in, but I think we will get an air cleaner or two to mitigate any upward cat dander migration. I just had a Shark vacuum delivered that is especially good for pet hair, so I think we are covered. The dog doesn’t shed.

What kind of pillows do you prefer? Do you let pets sleep with you? If you have allergies, how do you manage them?

2025, Family, Food, Gatherings, holidays, home, Kids, Uncategorized

Thanks

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I have purposely chosen to not write about Halloween today, as it seems to me we have enough horror and fear around us. Instead, I wanted to let Baboons know what I am thankful for right now.

First, I am thankful to all the Baboons for putting up with all the posts I have written over the past several months about moving. I am sure they were getting pretty tedious to read. Moving is over, and now we are getting settled and organized. Not much more needs to be said about it.

I am also thankful for the increased time with our son and his family. We saw them yesterday in Sioux Falls and I got the best smiles from our 3 month old granddaughter.

Thanksgiving is four weeks away, and our son has requested a particular brined turkey ala Alton Brown, homemade French bread, and various other side dishes. Son and family, along with my best friend, will spend Thanksgiving weekend with us. I am so excited to cook in our new kitchen.

Finally, I am thankful that the court hearing Husband was to testify remotely at yesterday was settled on Wednesday afternoon. He had done a parental capacity evaluation on the parent in hot water with a central ND county. Now he is officially done working.

What are you thankful for these days. What are your Thanksgiving plans?

2025, Family, home, Kids, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

Crimson and Scarlet Trees

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Our son and daughter loved listening to Rabbit Ears productions of children’s stories narrated by famous actors accompanied by wonderful musicians. One of their favorites was a story about Paul Bunyon narrated by Jonathan Winters with music by Leo Kottke. It was funny to hear Paul Bunyan talk about the assignment he got from the president to clear off all the trees from North Dakota. We could certainly relate, as we had a dearth of trees in our region.

Husband has really enjoyed walking the dog and seeing all the crimson and scarlet maple leaves in the neighborhood. We didn’t have these kind of maples in ND. He said the last time he lived in a place that had maples like this was 46 years ago in Madison, WI. The trees in Dickinson were mainly Green Ash and Cottonwoods. Their leaves were pretty blah in the fall.

We have a maple and an oak in the our front boulevard. We also have a Birch in the backyard, along with a Blue Spruce and a Flowering Crab. There are also all sorts of Arbor Vitae. We are well set for trees and bushes. The header photo is a tree across the street from us

What trees do you have in your yard? Any favorite Jonathan Winter or Leo Kottke creations?

2025, Family, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Salty Water

57 Comments

Unless you got your water from a well back in Dickinson, no one needed a water softener. Our city water came from the Missouri River, and had just the right amount of minerals and wasn’t too hard. You didn’t need a special tap and faucet for drinking water

I had forgot that back here in Rock County, everyone has a water softener, as the water is very hard. The people we bought the house from were kind enough to leave us several bags of softener salt. The kitchen is plumbed so that our drinking water comes through the refrigerator door/icemaker. It is going to be tedious to fill up the tall pasta pot with water from the fridge door. I also have to get used to feeling as though I didn’t get all the soap off when I take a shower.

There were two guys in town with the same last name of Frakes who both were friends of my dad. One ran the Culligan franchise, so dad called him “Softwater Frakes”. The other was a building contractor named Marion who was married to a woman my dad called “The Devil’s Grandmother” due to her fussy and irascible temperament. I think of them now every time I drive passed the Culligan shop.

What are your favorite songs and stories about water and the sea. Anyone who you know who could be the Devil’s Grandmother?

Uncategorized

Adjustment

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Our dog no longer trusts us. Prior to our move he was a happy boy who excreted and ran around outside happily. Now he is clingy and doesn’t want to let us out of his sight. We are crating him for the first time since he was a puppy as we don’t want him to chew up the new furniture in his anxiety if we both leave the house. We had to make two short trips to Sioux Falls this weekend to get provisions, and he woofed his displeasure at us when we left and returned.

The cat, on the other hand couldn’t be happier. She is nestling under the bedclothes and exploring every inch of the new house.

Husband’s food anxiety was considerably diminished yesterday as we found a place in Sioux Falls that had exquisite imported cold cuts and cheeses that he eagerly purchased. They had wonderful brats and imported sausages and cheese. He says we need to go there at least once a month.

My anxiety continues to surround getting services set up and paid for. It is truly going well, but I will be so relieved when I can just sit at home and have everything set up.

What has been your hardest adjustment? Are dogs or cats better at adjusting to new environs?

2025, animals, Family, home, pets, Uncategorized

Hello, Fritz!

27 Comments

Since moving into the new house, Husband and I have been visited by a very cheeky Boston Terrier/Miniature Poodle mix named Fritz. He lives next door with a calico cat who also frequents our yard. Our yard is currently unfenced, but we have arranged to have it fenced in early November. None of the people on our block have fences, and animals seem to run at will.

Fritz’s person told us that he was a frequent visitor to the former owners who worked from home and often let him into the house and even into bed with them. (I don’t see that happening with us.) He also enjoyed playing with their hunting dog. He appears to view our house as an extention of his. His owners are fine with us putting up a fence. I hope that he and Kyrill can hit it off. Kyrill is currently being boarded at the local vet along with the cat, so he and Fritz haven’t met yet.

The movers unloaded our things on Wednesday, and with the help of our son we have unpacked a great many boxes. We have a lot left to do, but we were able to sleep in the house last night. We find ourselves strangely exhausted despite having had more sleep in the past couple of nights than we have had in months. My anxiety level has dropped precipitously. It feels very good to be here. I even like Fritz.

Any stories about your neighborhood pets? How do you introduce your pets to other neighbors and animals?