The Baby Sprinkle held at our Son and Dil’s home on Saturday was a lot of fun. It was attended by us, Dil’s mother, and six couples and their children, the couples being family friends. Their children are all the same age, between Grades 1 and 4. .
The women spent the Sprinkle coloring funny pictures on diapers and onesies, while the guys were in the downstairs playing a new, baby-oriented Dungeons and Dragons game Son had developed. Many of the families have children who attend the same Boys and Girls Club daycare as our grandson.
It was really funny to hear the moms talk about their amazement at the vegetables their children eat at Club and not at home. The children have been coming home asking for “those crescent-moon shaped green beans” (lima beans) and the little cabbages (Brussels Sprouts) that they get at Club. Grandson declares he loves romaine lettuce as long as it has French dressing on it. He is a very picky eater, and the lettuce is a real surprise. He has never eaten lettuce at home prior to this.
These kids are eating vegetables because they see their friends eating vegetables! How wonderful! No amount of parental pressure could accomplish this at home.
What were your favorite and least favorite vegetables as a child? How were you positively influenced by your peers? Ever play Dungeons and Dragons?
A couple of weeks ago I was straightening up some papers in my “maybe I’ll scrapbook this” box and came across a bookmark advertising The 26th Annual Shepherd’s Harvest Festival”. It was in the box next to some other items that clearly came from the Eco Building at the state fair. I don’t remember picking it up but where bookmarks are concerned, I’m a little like a crow and shiny objects.
The festival was a week away and even though I’m not a knitter or wool person, it seemed like it might be a fun way to wile away a few hours. Just half an hour from home and only a $5 entrance fee. Dog herding demonstrations, sheep shearing, food trucks and a LOT of vendor exhibits were promised. It was the dog herding that was the top of my list.
When I headed off Saturday morning (a gorgeous day), my plan was to see the dogs, look around the rest of the festival and then maybe see the dogs again during their second demonstration. I never made it back to the dogs a second time because the rest of the festival was fascinating. I got to pet several kinds of sheep (including cashmere), got to watch two different sheep get haircuts (this goes much faster than I thought), listened to some music and had a Grilled Cheezey from a food truck.
And then there were the vendors. My oh my. There was one building with vendors doing classes and then an additional four buildings stuffed full of folks selling anything you can imagine having to do with wool Spinning wheels, combs, spools, drop spindles of all kinds and designs, needles, dye, hooks, stitch markers, patterns and, of course, wool. Wool straight off the sheep in plastic bags, wool in every color imaginable, yarn by the mile. I’m not sure how anyone who is in the market for wool goods can decide what to get. If I were a knitter, I’d have to back a u-haul up to the festival gates. It was a lot of fun to look at, but my pocketbook was really glad I didn’t have anything invested in this craft.
I did end up purchasing some fun soaps called “felted soaps”. They are made with sheep’s milk, brightly colored and fantastically scented – and they are wrapped tightly with a think layer of wool. It acts as a washcloth of sorts and shrinks down as the soap gets smaller. I can’t wait to see how it works out.
Robin was there on Saturday as well, although we didn’t have each other’s cell phones, so didn’t manage to run into each other. It would have been nice to have a “tour guide” but I might have held her back. Maybe next year.
Do you knit? How old were you when you learned? Or better yet, do you have any favorite woolens?
The church choir year is winding down for us, and I couldn’t be happier. We have sang and rang bells since September, and now have one more service to ring at next Sunday. Then we are done for the summer.
There are only eighteen active musicians at our church, plus two organists. Many of us perform in both the choir and the bell ensemble. We are a rather large congregation with around 500 members, but it is only we few who keep the music going. That gets a little disappointing and exhausting at times. The congregation is quite thrilled with the music we provide.
We were pretty tickled at choir last week to hear that a congregation member who is a rancher wanted to thank the musicians for all our work, and donated 100 lbs of ground beef from his own cows to us. It came in 2 pound packages and had been processed at a butcher shop in Belfield, a little town just west of Dickinson. It was a rather unusual gift, but certainly heartfelt. It was also a reminder that we truly live in the West. We will all be fortified to start in again after our summer off.
What are your experiences in music ensembles? What are your favorite bird songs?
We will travel to Brookings, SD early next month for a Baby Sprinkle, a smaller sized Baby Shower that is being put on by friends of our son and dil who are expecting their second child in August.
I never heard the term Baby Sprinkle before, but I gather it is now the term for used when someone already has had a child and doesn’t need as many things as first time parents do. Son and dil are pretty well stocked with equipment from the birth of their first child seven years ago. We are so happy for them.
I have some baby afghans crocheted by my maternal grandmother from when our children were born and I plan to bring them, as well some other things I have in a cedar chest like family christening outfits. It will be fun.
What are some new terms or phrases you have encountered lately? What would you bring as a gift to a baby shower or sprinkle?
Barbara said last week (Where in the World is VS) that there was a book festival in Viroqua the weekend before. Did anybody make the connection?
The first weekend of March I spent some time with my friend David, who lives in Viroqua. His cousin lives in the Twin Cities, so I do get to see him several times a year. In March he mentioned that this year he was the chairperson of the Ridges and Rivers Book Festival – he’s on the “board” and this year was his turn. Is this right up my alley or what?
I put the festival on my calendar and then got busy reading. There were about a dozen presenters and I tried to get ahold of the book that they were featuring; if not, some other recent book. I volunteered to go down on Friday and help set up as a thank you for David putting me up. There were a LOT of volunteers so it was actually short work. I checked out the Viroqua Co-op for dinner – very big and nice for a small town.
On Saturday, the day of the festival, I had five presentations to go to. The first was Keith Lesmeister talking about the EastOver Anthology of Rural Stories. Very compelling speaker.
Next up was Maggie Ginsberg, whose first novel Still True won some awards in 2023 – she spoke well but quickly, maybe a bit nervous?
After lunch it was time for Erica Hannickel who has a fascinating book about orchids – her presentation was really well put together and included a great powerpoint with lots of pictures.
The fourth author was William Kent Krueger in the Historic Temple Theatre. WKK hasn’t been my favorite author; I actually realized on Saturday morning that all of his books that I’ve read have been his standalones. After listening to his talk, I decided to give his Cork O’Connor series a try.
The last author of the evening was also at the theatre – Michael Perry. I’ve read several of his books but have never heard him speak. He was SO funny. His presentation was over 2 hours and all of us in the audience were just howling.
In between presentations, I walked through the book vendors and author tables. Bought a handful of items – that was a foregone conclusion. Had Fried Sweet Potato Swirls for lunch from a food truck and fabulous gelato from a coffee/gelato shop in town. Really the only downside of the entire day was that I couldn’t expand time to see more of the author presentations. Oh and the very scary 30 minute drive back to David’s house in the dark. Geez, it’s dark in the country.
Had breakfast with my godson and his family on Sunday morning before heading back to the Twin Cities. I will definitely go again next year!
Here’s what I read in preparation:
The Fastest Drummer: Viola Smith by Dean Robbins. This is one in a series of great kids books that feature women. Great illustrations as well.
Forty Acres Deep by Michael Perry. Not his usual funny stories but a remarkable look at depression at a farmer struggling with depression. Absolutely 5 star material.
Halloween with Morris and Boris/Morris and Boris at the Circus by Bernard Wiseman. These kids books came out in the 70s. There are twelve of them altogether. Charming and funny.
We Could Have Been Happy Here by Keith Lesmeister. Short stories, heavy on the theme of missing parents (literal and figurative). Very nice.
Still True by Maggie Ginsburg. Two women in a small town – one in an unusual marriage, one in a more traditional marriage. Both have secrets that could rip their lives apart. Really intriguing.
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger. This is his latest standalone – and it’s actually my favorite of all that I’ve read. A not-well-liked character is found dead by the river. Lots of secrets uncovered as the death gets solved.
Driftless Gold by Sue Berg. This was my least favorite read for the festival, although it wasn’t bad. I think this slots into the cozy mystery genre a bit, although the main character is a male – solving a mystery involving some lost gold treasure. This is part of series.
Orchid Muse by Erica Hannickel. Fabulous look at our fascination with orchids, including some history, some art, some individuals who’ve made orchids their life’s work. No mention however of Nero Wolfe!
EastOver Anthology of Rural Stories. Enchanting collection of short stories having to do with rural life. I’m not always a fan of short stories, but these were all excellent. The anthology was curated by Keith Lesmeister and I think he did a great job.
There were a few others I would have like to have gotten to, but couldn’t get them in time. Maybe next year I’ll start earlier!!
The Badlands Opera Company staged Into The Woods last weekend at the local college auditorium. It was a fantastic and absolutely professional production. Costuming, special effects, and tech were superb. The cast was comprised of all local folks, and their voices were fabulous. The director/ Cinderella’s Prince was a 30 something local man who had made good as a theatre professor in another state. This was his directorial debut. About half of the cast are members of our Lutheran Church.
The oldest member of the cast was our church organist. She played Jack in the Beanstalk’s mother. She is a feisty 76 year old with a huge soprano voice, wonderful acting skills, and a sharp tongue. Most of the other leads were in their mid to late 30’s, and I realized I have watched many of them grow up through church and school productions. We were at the infant baptisms of the Baker and the Witch! Cinderella’s parents are wonderful ranch people who I have known for years and worked with when they were foster/adopt parents. We sat with them at the Friday night opening and talked and joked. It was wonderful. Little Red Riding Hood’s dad is Husband’s real life barber!
When we got home from the performance I took a look around our home, a pretty modest home for the most part, and saw the family mementos and possessions we have, and thought about the relationships we have built over the decades, and I considered how priceless they all are. They wouldn’t be priceless in the marketplace, but they are irreplaceable to us.
What are the things and memories and relationships that are priceless to you? What is your favorite scene from Into The Woods?
The robins have been snowed on twice now. Once more and we should be good to go. I see the turkey vultures have returned, we’ve seen and heard sandhill cranes, I’ve heard there’s rhubarb coming up, and we’re starting to see hints of green in the lawn and in the rye that I planted as a cover crop. Spring is coming. Oh, and nettles are growing. Why do the weeds always get the upper hand?
One day last week I found both the lost pen and pencil from two days before, and a water bottle from about three weeks ago. The water bottle was in the office at our Townhall. I remember stopping there to look through some files, would not have remembered that I had a water bottle with me, I just knew that there used to be two in the refrigerator and now there was only one. And I was pretty sure I had put the pen and pencil in my pocket one morning, but that afternoon they were gone. Three days later I found them in a box I had bent over to pick up. There’s always, usually, almost always, a rational explanation for missing things.
Last Saturday, Governor Walz held a Townhall meeting in Rochester at the largest high school auditorium we have in town. Three days before, I got an email asking if I would be free on Saturday to work lights and sound for this event. Details were still being ironed out, and on Thursday I found out they were asking about various locations at the college, as well as various high schools in Rochester. Buried in an email someone said they were not expecting a very big crowd. I had to laugh at that. I don’t know why anyone would’ve thought that. A few years ago, yeah, small crowds, not these days.
One of my jobs is doing technical support for community education events, or anything that’s not school related, in the public school auditoriums. So it’s pretty basic lighting and sound. We don’t do anything fancy, I don’t do video, but I can get him a microphone and turn on the stage lights.
I train in college kids to do this job and then ideally they can cover many of these events, most of which are dance recitals or various meetings. I keep the interesting things for myself. Like governors. But I did bring along a college student to train.
The large high school was finally selected and we did a walk-through there Friday afternoon with security and the governor’s staff. Saturday morning we were there at 7:30 AM and I observed this meeting of security personnel out in the hallway:
It sounded like this crew was searching purses and bags. I hope the big guy got to do more than search bags. I know the local police department was around, and I’m sure there was other security person that went unnoticed by me. From my position up in the balcony I really couldn’t see much.
I worked an event for Governor Walz several years ago at the college and it was much more low-key than this one. As we finished up and were leaving, we saw the black SUVs with the tinted windows.
Some of you know Governor Walz would stay and take questions all morning if he could. He was only scheduled to speak for an hour, and they had started to make some indications they needed to wrap up. Shortly after the one hour mark, his wife Gwen, who had been sitting on stage, approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Governor Walz finished his thought and quipped, “You can see who holds the real power around here.“ and gave her the microphone. She spoke, she got the crowd up and on their feet and cheering and they both waved and exited. What a perfect way to wrap this up. The governor never had to say he had to go, no one had to cut them off, nobody plays the bad guy. Just smile and wave. Smile and wave. Well done.
I make a show file on the lightboard for these events, and I have a ‘general’ file, which I then created a sub folder, ‘Walz’. Hence, GENERAL WALZ, which sort of made me giggle.
On the farm front, I didn’t get much accomplished this week on the farm. I hope to clear a down tree off the field on Friday, before it rains and gets muddy again. And I’m hoping to get some straw spread where I had the dirt work done last winter so that I don’t get any more erosion from the snow melting and spring rains. Still sorting bolts, but I am just about done with that, they don’t quite fit back where they were so I’m still figuring it out as I go.
Electricians should be there on Monday to get the electrical done in the shop. I picked up the electricians scissor lift and will get the lights mounted on the ceiling prior to their arrival.
I’m looking forward to having a door opener installed, plus some exterior lights and more outlets in the shed.
And then I really need to stop spending money on this place.
The chickens followed me to the barn one day, eager for corn. And they got a drink while they were there. The ones with their head up are swallowing.
During my other book club yesterday, we got to talking about movies = what we like, what we don’t like, the benefit of seeing things on the big screen, etc.
I was mentioning that I had really enjoyed seeing Conclave on the big screen (although to be fair, I have watched it a couple of times since it came to my tv). This led to the first movies we remember seeing “on the big screen”.
My family did drive-in movies when I was a kid; How the West Was Won may have been my first. I barely remember it. I clearly remember seeing Gone With the Wind when I was about 7. For some reason I have a very clear memory of the last scene from the swing set that was on the playground right below that huge screen.
The first couple of movies that I saw in a movie theatre were Disney. Bambi was traumatizing to me. Losing his mother in that fire left me bereft; I’ve never seen it since. The other was Fantasia. I adore Fantasia and have seen it many times. I love all the various bits, although the hippo ballerinas and the Arabian dance/fish from the Nutcracker rank right up there. And I am very fond of Night on Bald Mountain that blends right into Ave Maria. I have watched Fantasia 2000 a couple of times; Firebird is wonderful but I prefer the original Fantasia the best. Even on the small screen!
Most people probably don’t feel this way, but all the prep going into a big party is actually a gift to myself. The confluence of making lists, organizing, cooking and then being with the people of my life makes a big party a perfect experience for me. I’m pretty sure that if there was such a thing as a glow-meter, I’d be off the scales during my gatherings.
I often get asked what guests should bring to one of my parties. If you’ve done this, you’ve gotten my standard answers. “Bring yourself.” “Bring your appetite.” Occasionally I will tell someone if they have a particular beverage that they can’t live without, they might bring that.
It’s a testament to how our society has changed that everyone goes under the assumption that every party is potluck and you have to pony up. A friend who has never been able to come to my Pi Day festivities (but has always stopped by the next day for tea and leftovers) showed up with a strawberry rhubarb pie. She was a little worried and left it sitting on the dining room buffet but it was just fine and I put it out. But it is a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle when you bring pie to my Pi Day. LOL.
Folks brought flowers (all of which are doing nicely and safe from the cat) and, of course, wine. My people do seem to be wine people. Lots of empties into the recycling after the party was over!
And for those who aren’t local or couldn’t make it, here is a list of this year’s pies: Blueberry, Dutch Apple, Peaches & Cream, Macadamia Coconut Caramel, Crack, Chocolate Chip/PB Whoopies, Banofi, Pear Croustade, Key Lime and Butterfinger Cream. Oh, and let’s not forget the Strawberry Rhubarb!
Do you have a go-to dish that you take to potlucks?
A couple of Sundays ago, Husband and I arrived at church to play bells with the hand bell choir and found, upon reading the bulletin, that there was to be a baptism. That wasn’t at all unusual, but what was unusual was the name the parents chose for their son. Yes, we were to participate in the baptism of a little boy who had been named “Tarzan”.
Of all the names to hang on someone, Tarzan isn’t one that immediately pops into my mind. We have had some unusual names for baptisms lately, like Coven, pronounced like cove and not like the name for a group of witches. Tarzan, however, really takes the cake. What would you call him for short? Zan? Tarzy? Tartar? Zanzan?
I really can’t imagine what could have led people to choose that name, and I can foresee a rough time for the child once he starts school. We didn’t get to see little Tarzan as the family all had the flu and they cancelled and haven’t rescheduled the baptism.
What are some unusual names that you have run across? If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
Trail Baboon 