All posts by reneeinnd

2025, Family, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Salty Water

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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?

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Adjustment

25 Comments

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?

2025, books, Movies, Science, space, Travel, Uncategorized

Sci Fi

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I have never been a big fan of Science Fiction books or movies. I like Star Wars and Star Trek, but I really don’t consider them real Science Fiction, as they just seem to be Westerns that happen hundreds of years from now.

As I was contemplating the recent 550 mile drive from Dickinson to Luverne, I thought about one of the few Science Fiction books I love from my preteen years, A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle, in which she describes people traveling through space using a tesseract, which is instantaneous travel by making folds in space and time. It would have been been so great to just roll up the Great Plains and get to Luverne instantaneously instead of driving eight hours! I suppose would have gladly accepted an offer from Scotty to “beam me down” to Luverne as well.

What are your most favorite and least favorite Science Fiction stories and movies? Where would you like to be teletransported?

2025, home, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather

Wind and Speed

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Monday was a terribly windy day in Dickinson. We were in a High Wind Warning, and the winds were a steady 40 mph, with gusts up to 60. It stayed pretty windy into the evening. It was cold and miserable, and we had to make a couple of trips to the landfill and drive to a little nearby town to pick up the dog from bring boarded. It didn’t get really windy until after the movers had loaded the truck.

Yesterday was fairly calm on our drive out of town until Bismarck. Then the gusts started up to 39 mph, and the winds were dreadful all the way to Sioux Falls. Husband was driving the pickup and I was in the van with the dog. I am thoroughly sick of wind.

Our mover told us that if it was too windy on Tuesday he wouldn’t be able to drive to Luverne until the wind died down. I passed him near Bismarck, and he appears to have made it to town and will unload today. I drove about 85 mph the whole way to Luverne pushed along by northwest winds. Husband drove about 70 mph and arrived a lot later than I did. We are heartily sick of driving, traveling, and wind. Now we will unpack. Whew!

What are your favorite songs and stories about wind and speed (even slow speed).

2025, animals, Music, pets, Uncategorized

Me And Puppy McGee

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Today’s post comes from Jacque.

 October 5, 2025 was puppy day.  Lou and I travelled to Kimball, MN to a small acreage outside of the little town where the kennel, Minnesota Country Corgis,  is located.  This is the same dog breeder as the one who provided us with our Phoebe.  He is her half brother (same sire). We had been there to visit ten days before.  At that time we were offered the choice of the last puppy left from a 6 puppy litter (mama Betsy), or to choose one from a 4 puppy litter (mama Annie).  The 4 puppy litter was an accidental pregnancy after the breeder’s husband mistakenly let the dam and sire “socialize”.  Diane, the breeder, was away from home that weekend.   Her husband reversed her instructions, so the Christmas litter was born in August.  Oops. 

We chose the last puppy of the 6 puppy litter, and named him McGee.  It has been a week now.  McGee is making himself at home.  He has gained 1 pound, survived a mild case of diarrhea after eating too much, and he slept almost all day on Wednesday.  He seemed exhausted by the adjustment to a new home. He is personable and loves to play and chew.  Watch the teeth. So now McGee is the best puppy ever, only rivaled by our other past dogs.  My son, the neighbor kids, and other friends have come to visit him and welcome him to the world. 

Our Baboon, Linda, in a rush of inspiration, wrote this parody of Me and Bobby McGee earlier last week on the pizza blog. It makes me smile about the puppy and at remembering Janis Joplin and Kris Kristofferson, great musicians. (The dental plate reference is about Lou’s lost dentures, which were restored to him and are safely in his mouth.) 

 
Sittin’ down in Eden Prairie, thinkin’ ‘bout a plate. 
Dentist’s office lost it in the mail. 
Puppy chewed a shoelace up, left me in a state 
And he just sits there waggn’ his little tail. 

Boredom’s just another word for nothin’ left to chew 
Nothin’, don’t mean nothin’ hon’ if it ain’t chewed. 
And feelin’ mad is easy, Lord, when Puppy chews the shoes. 
But feelin’ mad is never good for me…. 
Never good for me and my Puppy McGee. 

Here is the link to Janis’ version: 

What are your favorite dog songs? 

2025, Food, home, Uncategorized

Pasta

34 Comments

Being the efficient person that I am, I have been packing up any nonessentials as I have had time to do. Husband mentioned Tuesday that he wanted Fettucine Alfredo for supper. We had cream and everything else for it except fettuccine, since I had packed up all the dry pasta weeks ago. We settled for some nice fresh fettuccine from the grocery store.

I love to make my own fresh pasta and I look forward to being able to make it more often after we move. I have made tortellini, homemade lasagna, ravioli, and taggliatelle. Spaghetti is hard to make with our crank pasta maker. Grandson says that buttered noodles, which includes actual noodles as well as any kind of pasta, are his favorite things to eat. When I was his age it was a treat to have Chef Boyardee canned spaghetti. I don’t think I had spaghetti out of a box until I was in college.

I was lucky to have as a landlady in Winnipeg a woman who had immigrated to Canada from Calabria, and she helped me choose a crank pasta maker from the local Italian grocery store and taught me how to use and care for it. I remember her husband, also from Calabria, lamenting how awful the spaghetti was at a spaghetti dinner sponsored by their very English Catholic church (They had left the Italian Catholic church in Winnipeg due to a conflict with the priest). The spaghetti was really gluey and overcooked.

What are your earliest memories of spaghetti? What are your favorite pasta dishes?

2025, education, Family, Gatherings, sports, Uncategorized

Bowl

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I see that today in 1520 is the anniversary of Henry VIII ordering that a bowling alley be installed in his palace at Whitehall. I imagine it was an outdoor lane for lawn bowling, but even so it reminded me of my bowling experiences.

I noticed last week as we were driving around Luverne that the bowling alley was still a going concern, although it is only open Thursday through Saturday these days. I never belonged to a youth bowling league, but the bowling alley was a place to go to have fun when I was in high school. I don’t remember it serving anything but snacks and simple beverages. My mother belonged to a bowling league, and I remember how heavy her bowling ball seemed to me when I was a child when I would take it out of its bag in her closet.

The bowling alley in Dickinson is a really busy place that doubles as a bar and restaurant. There are very active bowling leagues for adults and children. It also is the stop for the buses that run east and west across the state. The police have their hands full there. A work colleague’s husband was attacked and robbed in the parking lot by a couple of Montana guys recently who he met bat the bar and had a couple of drinks with.

One of my high school classmates had a dad who was a professional bowler who seemed to earn a living bowling competitively. I remember seeing him on TV in bowling matches. I don’t think that is a thing anymore. What a way to make a living!

When I started as a freshman at Concordia College in Moorhead. MN, we had to take two semesters of physical education. I opted for bowling for my first gym class. It was taught by Sonny Gullsvig, the college basketball coach, at a local bowling alley. I will never forget Coach Gullsvig instructing us in his coaching voice as though he was in the Concordia gym ” FIRST YOU TAKE THE BALL AND TOSS IT DOWN THE ALLEY….” I skipped class a lot and ended up with a “C,” in the class.

What are your bowing memories? Ever hang out at a bowling alley?

2025, Family, Gatherings, Kids, Travel, Uncategorized

Old Town, New Bottle

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It has been interesting being in Luverne this weekend as I get to know the place again. When I grew up here I never bothered to associate street names with places or landmarks, so when I am told that City Hall is on Luverne St., it means nothing, but when I am told City Hall is in the old hospital, then I can find it no problem.

There are more coffee shops now, as well as a Mexican grocery store. I ran into a couple of people who knew who I was after I introduced myself, although their memories of my dad are fresher than their memories of me. I recognize familiar faces but don’t have names for them yet.

Two people stopped by the new house when they saw we were parked in the driveway. One was a neighbor who I knew from high school, and the other was the former owner. Both told us they had been keeping an eye on the place until we moved in. The former owner was able to tell us the garage door code and said her husband would come over to help navigate the very complex sound and video system set up throughout the house. We feel very welcome.

Last evening we ate at a very fine Italian restaurant in Sioux Falls with our daughter, son, grandson, and daughter-in-law. It was at the hotel we are staying at this weekend. We struck up a conversation with the waitress, a young woman in her late 20’s. She grew up in Luverne, knew my dad, and went to high school prom with my Cousin Jack’s son. She was going to drive to Luverne after work to visit her parents. She said she visits there a lot and would see us around town. I feel connected with new and old.

What are positive and negative changes over the years in your community? When have you experienced old wine in new bottles?

2025, animals, Business, Uncategorized

Junkyard Cats

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We have made several trips to our local landfill lately disposing of lots of stuff. Our landfill is set up so that you drive onto a scale, they weigh your truck, you empty your stuff in the appropriate bin, then you drive back onto the scale and get weighed again. It costs $3.00 for every 100 pounds.

The people who weigh the truck and calculate the cost are in a sunny office where we frequently see at least one of the three cats who live at the landfill. They have soft beds and full food dishes in the office. Sometimes they sleep beneath a sunny window on the workers desk. One cat has only three legs, and that is the cat we most often see running around, prowling , and sometimes taking a nap in a sunny space. They are very well loved cats and they make going to the landfill a more pleasant experience.

What are your landfill experiences? Where have you unexpectedly run into resident animals at businesses?