All posts by reneeinnd

2026, animals, Food, pets, Uncategorized

Snacks

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Yesterday I finished cooking a large pot of brodo, a turkey/beef stock from The Splendid Table cookbook. It calls for 9 pounds of turkey wings that simmer for 14 hours with lots of vegetables and 4 pounds of beef shank. I get about 3 gallons of stock from it.

I get my turkey wings from a butcher shop that gets a case of them for me directly from the meat packing plant. They are enormous and meaty. After simmering for 14 hours, however, there is not much taste left in the meat. I can’t make myself throw them away, so I freeze the meat in small bags for our dogs. They get a few pieces of the turkey in their daily kibble. They love it.

They also get roasted butternut squash and beef protein sprinkles every day in their kibble. I roast the squash with our Turkish olive oil brushed on it. At least once a day they get gullet strips, and they have collagen chews to gnaw on. Yes, we have terribly spoiled terriers. They get so excited it is hard to stop since they seem so happy.

I think we spoil our dogs with snacks because we spoil ourselves with good food. They don’t seem to get fat on these snacks, but they are busy, active dogs who race around and burn off lots of calories. By the end of the day they collapse and sleep soundly all night.

What are your favorite snacks? How do you spoil the people and creatures you love? How are you spoiled?

2026, Family, History, Radio, Uncategorized

A Matter Of Grave Importance

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Today’s post comes from Occasional Caroline.

My great grandfather, Oscar Elmer, was sent as a missionary to start a Presbyterian church in Moorhead, MN in 1871. In May of 1874 his brother, John, came to visit from New York. Unfortunately, John Edger Elmer fell into the Red River and drowned. The normal procedure would have been to have his body returned to New York to be buried in the family plot in a cemetery in their home town, but John’s body was not recovered from the river until nearly a week after he disappeared and had deteriorated past the point where it could be shipped East. The town did not have a cemetery and the typical burial in Moorhead at the time would be on the property of the deceased’s family. Since Oscar did not own property he recruited some men from the town to help him bury his brother in a temporary location between two trees, with a rope tied to the trees to mark the grave.

The lack of a proper burial site prompted Reverend Elmer to organize a committee of residents to establish Moorhead ‘s first cemetery. In 1875, a railroad company was persuaded to sell a 5-acre parcel of land to the city for $1 and the cemetery came to be. John Elmer’s body was moved from the tree-marked grave and re-buried in the new cemetery.

Fast forward to 1971 when a 29-year-old man from St. Paul was giving a poetry reading at Moorhead State University. While walking through the town the next morning he happened upon Moorhead ‘s Prairie Home Cemetery. He had been trying to come up with a title for the radio program he was planning, and Prairie Home caught his attention. He changed Cemetery to Companion and the rest is history.

The photo of John Edger Elmer’s gravestone was taken by my cousin’s daughter on recent visit to Moorhead. She is a genealogist and John Elmer’s great great grandniece and Oscar Elmer’s great great granddaughter.

Any family cemetery stories? Where do you want your final resting place to be?

2026, animals, Fitness, Health, Uncategorized

Chair Yoga

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Despite the limitations due to my wrecked shoulder joints, I continue to attend my twice weekly exercise class. I adjust the arm movements so I can at least approximate them. I try to put more emphasis on my core and my legs. I feel it is really important to keep moving.

I have some pretty stiff leg/hip joints. My doctor recommended chair yoga, and I finally got around to printing off some exercises. I tried them yesterday and my are they difficult! I think they will be pretty helpful through the winter if I make myself do them daily.

Boommate dragged me up to the high school the other day to get a pass for walking the school hallways in the evenings once cold weather hits. I think that will be helpful, too. We can walk from 6:00-8:00 pm any day school is in session.

I noticed that there is a place in Sioux Falls that offers goat yoga. I think goats are a lot of fun, but I don’t think I would want one to jump on me while I was exercising or to nibble on me. I would probably trip over one and break my hip!

Ever done an exercise class with animals? How do you keep physically active? Any experience with goats?

2026, Food, holidays, home, News, Seasons, Uncategorized

Anyone’s Guess

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Well, it is that time of year when people try to predict how severe or mild the coming winter will be. Winter is coming, you know!

Our Arikara Indian friend from Twin Buttes, ND likes to use buffaloberries for prediction. Buffaloberries, aka Shepherdia or Bulberries, are a pictured in the header photo. They are tasty, tart, native berries that grow on shrubs that make lovely jam, jelly, and pie. You can order plants for your yard. Deer, elk, and bison love them. Our friend Bruce says the more productive the buffaloberries, the harsher the winter. I haven’t had a chance to ask Bruce what he has observed as yet. I trust his judgment, but it may only be relevant for north central North Dakota.

Woolybears. The caterpillars that develop into Isabella Tiger Moths. Well, if the black stripes on them are near the front end of the caterpillar, winter will be early. The more black stripes, the more snow and the harsher the winter. The more brown stripes, the more mild the winter. I wonder through, what if the woolybears all have different stripe allocations? Which one do you believe?

I think I have a better source of prediction. Saturday we noticed a house down the street that was having a Christmas light service install their lights. I had no idea such services existed. Humbug Christmas Light Services was on the job. We don’t put up Christmas lights, but how nice for people who want lights but who can’t manage ladders. I think the earlier the lights go up, the earlier the first snow.

What do you think we should use as winter prediction? Be creative. Do you put up outdoor Christmas lights?

2026, animals, Government, home, News, Technology, Uncategorized

Dirty Little Secrets

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I was quite amused this week to read that the Federal Communication Commission is worried about our robovacs as threats to national cyber security.

Thats right. Along with certain routers and drones, the FCC has banned the importing of many robovacs unless they meet certain criteria. This means there will be fewer robovacs on the market, and, of course, prices for the government approved ones will rise.

We have a Shark robovac that we put to good use on our upstairs wood flooring. We named her Good Clean Bess, or just Bess, for short. Shark products are included in the current government ban, although already purchased or other units currently on the shelves haven’t been banned. She is parked in the dining room on her charger. Now, when I walk by her I wonder “What is she telling foreign spies about me and my home? What does she tell them about the dust and dirt she collects? Our cat ignores Bess, but what about cats who like to ride on robovacs as they travel over our floors? Do we need to worry that our cats are sharing State secrets ?

I know I am being a little over the top about this. I can understand concerns about routers and drones, but vacuums?

What would a hostile foreign government learn about you and your home from your vacuum? What would you do with a drone?

2026, Family, Government, Uncategorized, work

Unlicensed

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As always happens the first week of October, the email from the ND Board 0f Psychologist Examiners arrived reminding us that it is time to renew our licenses. Husband has been licensed since 1991. I have been licensed since 1994.

This year is different for us, since neither of us is renewing our licenses. We are retired. We no longer live in ND, and we haven’t accrued the 40 hours of continuing education over the past two years necessary to maintain our licenses., which formally expire January 1, 2027. We plan to email the Board office this week to let them know we aren’t renewing. Husband will also step down as the Board Investgator of ethical complaints against licensees on January 1.

I have mixed feelings about all this; happy to be retired and not having to pay for relicensure, wistful about letting go of a huge part of my identity. Husband notes with great irony that the Board is trying to enlist two licensees to do the complaint investigations that he did all by himself.

I was the Board president for 8 years, and I remember hearing from the Board office about people who initially decided to let their licenses expire when they retired, who then decided at the last minute to renew, and needed an extension from the Board to complete their continuing education hours. That will NOT happen for us. Done is done, but my, I will miss it.

Did your employment or some other aspect of your life form your identity? How has your identity changed over the years? Ever file a complaint against a licensed. service provider?

2026, books, Family, Gatherings, Uncategorized, Words

Reading Aloud

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Husband and I read aloud to our children countess hours when they were little. We were both really good at expressive character voices.

I was a little disappointed realizing that our new church here in Luverne had a much reduced music ministry compared to our ND church. The choir sings only perhaps once every couple of months instead of every Sunday. We have found a new and fun niche, however, in being readers of the scriptures, Psalms, and prayers during services. The pastor reads the Gospel passages.

Our fellow church members really like the way we read. Husband says I speak very clearly and read expressively as though there are children listening (which there are). Some people who had my mother as a Grade 3 teacher or knew her well tell me my voice is just like hers. They seem to find it comforting. When Husband reads you can tell he understands everything he is reading and imparts that meaning. Last Sunday I had to read a selection from Isaiah in which the writer had God speak in a really pissed off voice. I used that sort of voice as I read. People were very appreciative and complimentary.

We have choir rehearsal twice in the next two weeks for the Reformation Day service later in October. We only read in church about once a month. Now if we can only figure out how to get more reading time in with our grandchildren.

How would describe your reading voice? What might you like to read aloud in public if you got the chance? Who read to you when you were a child and what were your favorite things to hear?

2026, animals, Food, holidays, Nature, Uncategorized, Weather

Winter Is Coming

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i don’t know what got into me this weekend, but I fulfilled one of my priorities and did all the ordering for my Christmas baking. It involved ordering:

Glaceed orange peel, glaceed lemon peel, glaceed cherries, and glaceed citron, 4 lbs of pecans from an orchard in Georgia, my yearly purchase of 10 lbs of a really nice chunk of parmesan from Italy (it is cut from a wheel and lasts for a year), eight 2-cup containers of leaf lard from a Pennsylvania butcher shop for pie crusts and lefse, Swedish pearl sugar, sliced almonds, black currants, golden raisins, Danish marzipan, and a gallon tin of Turkish olive oil.

Now I will be set for any baking needs for Christmas and for the year. Then I started to think about other winter preparations. I filled the water softener with salt and changed out the furnace filters. We have two furnaces in our home due to an addition to the house a few years ago. Did you know you can get furnace filters with small batteries that will alert you when the filters need changing? Husband did some yard and flowerbed clean up yesterday. I heard from a foster parent I know from western ND who told me she had to scrape frost off her truck windows Sunday morning. The bison at the park here are getting furry. Winter is coming and I couldn’t be happier.

What winter preparations do you need to complete? How good are you at changing furnace filters? Watch Game Of Thrones?

2026, Fitness, Health, holidays, Uncategorized

We Didn’t Want THAT To Happen!

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Last January I started going to an exercise class for old people (SAIL-Stay Active In Life). It is a well researched exercise program and is sponsored by a very nice county agency that organizes services for seniors. It meets twice a week and involves strengthening most muscle groups, improving balance and flexibility, and encouraging socialization.

There are many upper body and arm exercises which I heartily participated in. We are encouraged to use the hand weights provided by the class for the arm and upper body exercises. I used the two pound weights.

In May I noticed pains in both my upper arms, particularly when I would stretch to get laundry out of the washing machine or try to reach back to secure my brassiere. I am a side sleeper, and any pressure on my upper arms really hurt when I tried to sleep.

I finally went to my doctor in August. I know I have osteoarthritis in my lumbar spine. My doctor ruled put Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus, and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. He took x-rays of my shoulders. There ought to be a pencil width strip of cartilage between the top of the upper arm and shoulder socket in which it rotates. I have none. It is bone on bone in both shoulders. It is mainly due to osteoarthritis. The surgeon was rather astounded that both my shoulders were so bereft of cartilage simultaneously. We figured I was a good candidate for this, and the arm exercises in my SAIL class sealed the deal. I need both my shoulder joints replaced.

I will have my first surgery in January. I will do the left arm first. It involves securing a titanium cap on the arm bone to replace the cartilage. I said I had to wait until after the Christmas baking was done. I need both arms to for that. Boommate and daughter-in-law have offered to help roll lefse.

Ever had joint replacement? When has something considered good turned out to be bad for you? What are your priorities these days?

2026, Family, Gatherings, History, Uncategorized

Men In Kilts

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We are just back from our family gathering in Colorado. We stayed at a hotel in the Highlands Ranch area of Denver, close to Littleton, where Husband’s stepmother lives. As we were getting out of our taxi when we arrived at the hotel I saw an older man in full Scots regalia in the parking lot, including a kilt and bagpipes.

The Colorado Highland Games were held September 26th -27th here, and our hotel was the center of activity for a meeting of the Clan Hay Society. There was a load of older guys in kilts walking around the hotel lobby and eating in the dining room. The dining room had to be closed early on Saturday as the cook became overwhelmed by all the Clan Hay members dining there. We had to order out. We also saw several women in long dresses, fancy bodices, and animal skins around their shoulders.

Sunday and Monday saw the kilted guys again. Many were eating breakfast or just socializing. We even saw Lord Larry Hay, son of the current Scottish chief the Earl of Erroll, in the lobby. He was dressed in a suit. Husband’s sister in law is a Campbell with grandparents who were born in Scotland, and she was quick to introduce herself to Clan Hay members. She acknowledges the Campbells were simply awful people, but none of the Clan Hay members shied away or denounced her as a traitor. (She once had a Scots store clerk in Portland do that. )

The Clan Society members all appeared to be in their 60’s and 70’s. Many had long hair in ponytails. They looked so proud in their kilts and I got the impression they wore those kilts as often as they could. I imagined them going through airport security in their kilts on their way home from the meeting, and wondered what the TSA agents would make of them.

If I were to dress in traditional ethnic costume I suppose it would be Dutch, with Klompen and a pointy lace cap, and full skirt with a close fitting top. I certainly wouldn’t want to walk around all day in the wooden shoes, though.

How did your ancestors dress? What ethnic costume would you wear in public? Ever had to wear a uniform?