Category Archives: Gatherings

2024, animals, books, Gatherings, Kids, Uncategorized

Llama Llama Day

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You all know I have a co-dependent relationship with my local library.  Nothing new about that.  One of the things I appreciate is that it’s on the right-hand side of the street, heading south from my house.  This means that I drive by it on almost ever errand I run so stopping to return books or pick up something that is on hold is incredibly easy.

Two Saturdays back, returning a couple of books was the first item on my to-do list.  As I was putting the books on the return belt I noticed that there were a bunch of Llama Llama signs along the garden side of the building as well as a massive banner across the front window. 

I might have talked about the Llama Llama books back when I discovered them but in case I didn’t – they are kids books, a long series of them, about a young llama and his family.  They’re quite cute.  This is the first one:

Anyway, I texted YA as I got back in the car that they were having a Llama Llama reading.  As I headed south from the parking spaces in front of the library, I saw that the parking lot was blocked off with some kids games.  Then I saw a couple of tents.  Then I saw the llamas.  At the light I texted YA again that there were live llamas at the library.  Her response… “You’re going around the block right now, aren’t you?”  Aaah, she knows me well.

I know the head librarian so after I had waited in line (the only adult without a kid in tow), we chatted a bit about Llama Llama Day.  This was the third Saturday in a row that one of the Hennepin County libraries had hosted the llamas.  Apparently there are a few more scheduled over the summer.  I asked him if the library system was moving the Llama Llama books around so that there were plenty to check-out at each library who was having the llama party.  He was surprised that I knew that; I reminded him that I’m an event planner by trade.

I got to pet all of the llamas before I returned to my list of errands.  Later when I got home, I pulled my Llama t-shirt out and wore it the rest of the day as I considered all the various events that I might have planned if I’d been a library planner instead of an incentive travel planner.

What book do you think would make a good library event?

2024, Farming Update, Gatherings, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Playing Catch Up

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Today’s farming update comes from Ben.

We’ve had 5.5″ of rain since May 1. They’ve all been pretty decent, gentle rains I thought. And then I was out picking up some rocks and there are some wash-outs in the fields. It doesn’t take much slope, and especially right now with so much bare ground, a hard rain for few minutes will wash. 

Farmers do so many things to try and prevent it. Obviously we don’t want to lose the top soil; it’s how we make our living too, and it really hurts my soul to see a field wash like this. Thanks goodness they’re not deep ruts. On the rolling hills like our farm, they’re hard to avoid.

I had picked up rocks before planting too, but there’s always more. 

I finished at the college on Tuesday. 

I finished lighting the play at the Rep on Tuesday, and Wednesday evening I cut some grass. Got rained on, which led to a beautiful double rainbow. 

Still trying to catch up on mowing. 

We let the little chicks out. They’re not so little anymore. Luna was very interested in them. She never bothered them, she just had to investigate really really closely. 

Daughter had her 29th Birthday. Four girlfriends from PossAbilities took her out to eat. I sent them a note of appreciation; it seems like such a small thing, but for her, that’s a pretty big deal! She doesn’t have the opportunities for those little things, like lunch with girlfriends. These four are pretty cool and we’re all lucky for the people that come into our lives. 

I put away the last of the 2023 receipts that were in a pile hiding in a desk drawer. Seriously, I’m going to get going on 2024 bookwork soon. SOON! 

I really want to get going on the shed again. I also need to get the roadsides mowed in the forecasted week without rain, so that should be the priority. And there’s a fence along the road that I want to rebuild. It’s embarrassing to drive by and look at every day. It’s just wore out. Been there a lot of  years. I’ve fixed it a lot, but it’s time to be rebuilt. Which means mowing the grass in there first. And since it’s 3′ tall, I need the brush mower. Which needs four bolts holding the gear box on replaced before I use it again. Need to cut / grind them off and replace. And I should do that soon, so they guys can get the cattle in that pasture.

I’m a little hesitant to build a fence again. I figure I need to dig holes for 11wood posts, plus put in 100 steel posts. That was hard work when I was younger. And I know this a rocky area (because it’s all rocky on our farm) Digging a hole is hard work involving a 6’ iron breaker bar, and the manual post hole digger. I don’t know anyone with a tractor mounted one. Kelly said I should I go rent one of those ‘Dingo’, motorized post hole diggers. “Do it for me so I don’t need to listen to you moan and complain.” A pretty compelling argument. I’m working on a summer helper again. I’m not sure they’d come back after a day of this.

I cut down some dead trees, and planted 6 oak seedlings. They were given to school kids for Arbor day. A friend is an elementary school teacher, and she got a bag of seedlings, but many kids are in apartments, so I got 6 of the left overs. I could cross those couple things off my to-do list.

Spent Wednesday riding in big trucks and directing the drivers applying dust control on the township gravel roads.

You know, this happens every summer: more on the list than I can get done. This is:

WHAT EVENT WOULD YOU DO AT A RODEO? OR HAVE YOU ALREADY?

2024, Gatherings, Kids, Music

The Recital

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My neighborhood has kids in it.  This may not seem remarkable to you but for several years, there were no kids, YA being the youngest of the previous bunch.  But now there are four girls and two boys spread among four households.  It’s fabulous.

Just next door are Minnie and Marie (names changed to protect the innocent) who are 9 and 5.  Both a bit on the dramatic side (compared to YA at that age anyway) but very entertaining.   As with most kids these days, they have lots of activities; both their parents are music teachers, so music and dance are pretty high up on the list.

Last summer Minnie did a drama camp for a couple of weeks and at the end they put on the musical “The Little Mermaid”.  At one point Minnie invited me to see the show although I’m not sure she really expected my attendance.  YA and I both went and had a fun evening.  Lots of little kids playing undersea critters, including Minnie who was a crab.  She sang and danced in three numbers.  Both her folks were extremely grateful that YA and I attended.

So it wasn’t a surprise when Saturday afternoon, as I was heading to pick up an order at Target, Minnie called me over to the fence and asked me if I wanted to go to her piano recital.  I said “Sure, when is it?” to which she replied “2:30”.  As in 2:30 that same day, in fact, just 45 minutes from right then.  Yikes.  I told her I’d try my best.  Luckily not too much traffic to Target and back however I did need to change as I was wearing the dirty shorts and t-shirt that I had been gardening in earlier in the day.  I never changed so fast in my life.  If you’d been my other neighbor looking out the window at 2:20, you would have seen me pulling a shirt over my tank top as I was heading across my backyard to the car!  But I made it with a couple of minutes to spare (music school is just 5 minutes from the house – phew)!

It was a typical recital.  A couple of kids for whom this was their first public performance.  Mostly pianists but there was one guitarist and two violinists.  I would say most of the kids were between 5 and 10, although the last girl to play the violin was probably 13 or 14 (she was very good).  Several of the students had the teachers doing a complimentary part with them so no one seemed too nervous and nobody flubbed anything noticeable.  Minnie played a piece called “My Dream” and did a nice job.  I really enjoyed clapping and whooping it up for her and all the other little reciters. 

Minnie’s musical this summer is “Annie”.  I can’t wait.

Any memorable recitals for you?

2024, Family, Food, Gatherings, pets, Uncategorized

Cookies Galore!

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I’ve been in cookie production mode for a couple of days.

A dear friend of mine lost her husband in January; it was expected but still quite sad.  Al loved my sugar cookies.  For the last couple of years while he was in his decline, I made cookies for him every few weeks so that he could have cookies but my friend wouldn’t have to bake.  I made different kinds but the frosted sugar were always his favorites.  So for his Celebration of Life I am making them in his memory.

At the same time I am doing my spring bonnet sugar cookies for a shower this weekend as well.  My oh my – everything always falls at the same time.

I figured I’d be safe with six batches of the dough.  I made that, two batches at a time, on Wednesday.  I laid everything out ahead of time so I could whip through – only took me about 25 minutes.  The dough does need to chill for a while; that’s why I made it on Wednesday. 

Then yesterday morning I rolled out all the dough, cut all the cookies and baked them. 206 fluted squares, 16 large bonnet bases, 16 bonnet cops and 20 llama/alpaca shapes (new cookie cutters that I just got a couple of weeks back).  Took about 4 hours from set up to clean up.  No burned batches and no dog sneaking cookies off the counter, although I did have to keep a close eye on YA every time she wandered into the kitchen.

This morning, while you are reading this, I’m doing the icing and sprinkles.  All of Al’s cookies will have white icing but I’ll use a variety of sprinkles (I have plenty!).   I’ll be setting up in the living room on the card table so I can sit and watch tv while I work.  If I have time, I’ll do the llama/alpaca cookies and hopefully the bonnets.  I used a flow icing on the bonnets so they’ll be last.  If I run out of time I’ll finish the bonnets Saturday morning before the shower.

Phew!

Why couldn’t the Cookie Monster make his bed? 

2024, Gatherings, Health, Music, Uncategorized

In Poor Taste

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Last weekend our local Opera group held a gala evening of a lovely meal and selections from various operas.

We have a surprisingly active opera group here, and they host a summer youth musical camp, as well as operas and recitals during the rest of the year. Our church choir director and her husband are very active in the group.

We didn’t attend the Gala, but heard plenty of comments about it the next day. An acquaintance of ours and her husband attended the Gala. She is a former piano instructor at the college. She and her husband also attend our church. Just before the end of the evening, our acquaintance’s husband collapsed and had to be resuscitated with CPR. He was taken to the hospital. There were several medical professionals in the audience who saved his life.

The final selection to be performed at the Gala was from one of the last acts of Carmen, in which Carmen is stabbed to death by Jose’. Our church choir director was to sing the part of Carmen. They decided that Carmen being stabbed to death just after Larry, the piano teacher’s husband, was hauled out on a stretcher would be in pretty poor taste, so they quickly ended the show.

I am happy to report that Larry survived and the Carmen selection will be performed at the next recital in the fall. This is just too much drama for our small community!

What are your favorite and least favorite endings to operas and musicals

2024, education, gardening, Gatherings, holidays, Uncategorized

Puff

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Well, our bell choir played for the PEO sisterhood on Saturday. It all went fine, although dragging the tables, bell cases, and all the equipment we need from church was a lot of work. We played in a huge facility the public school district purchased from the Haliburton Oil company for middle school and high school technical education. Culinary arts students prepared the meal. They also teach building trades, health sciences, all sorts of practical technology training, large equipment operating, business methods and marketing, and agriculture training. The complex is almost brand new and is enormous, with multiple buildings. The facility and the training are amazing. It is located on the outskirts of town on the major road north to the oil fields.

We played in the lunchroom. Everyone was very appreciative, and we played well. I couldn’t help thinking, though, how silly Puff The Magic Dragon is. I thought it was silly when I was a child, too. To make the situation even sillier, Saturday was 4/20, National Marijuana day. Here we were, middle aged and older people playing a song long associated with marijuana use for a bunch of very prim and proper middle aged and older women. No one else in the bell choir realized the symbolism or association of the song with the day, and we all got a good laugh out of it when I reminded them after the performance. There is a push to legalize recreational cannabis use in our state. Who knows, maybe they will add training at the technical institute on how to grow and market recreational pot!

What was technical training like when you were in high school? What is the most ludicrous performance or presentation you ever were involved in?

2024, Family, Gatherings, Music, Uncategorized

Groupies

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Next weekend our hand bell choir is performing at a ND State PEO convention in town. One of our ringers is a PEO member, and felt that they would appreciate our music. Instead of our usual sacred selections we are playing My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, Ashokan Farewell, the Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and Puff The Magic Dragon, just the sort of selections retired teachers would appreciate.

A couple of years ago our bell choir director volunteered us for a State Eastern Star convention in Jamestown. She is a leading light in the Eastern Star. That was a pretty weird experience. It was also a 400 mile round trip hauling all our bells and equipment. At least the PEO convention is in town.

My father belonged to the Masonic Lodge. My paternal grandfather was an Oddfellow as well as a Shriner. I have little patience with these groups and their rules and secret handshakes. I know the PEO and service organizations have good intentions. The PEO supports women’s education. I was the recipient of a PEO scholarship as an undergraduate. It just amazes me that these groups can continue.

What fraternal or service organizations have you or your relatives belonged to? Propose some new groups that you might find interesting.

2024, Family, Food, Gatherings, Kids, Travel, Uncategorized

How Do You Know

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Husband and I don’t travel very much. Twice a year I have to go to a conference in various destinations in the US or Canada as part of my work on a regulatory board, and Husband sometimes goes along. If I didn’t have to attend the conferences we wouldn’t travel as much. We are just too busy with work, gardens, and family pets to leave home very often.

This week we are visiting our daughter in Tacoma, WA. It is so nice to travel without an agenda or meetings to attend.. Wednesday we drove to Gig Harbor to a wonderful bagel shop and cooking store that Daughter loves, and walked around in the marina. We also saw a very strange tree.

We then had a lovely evening with Daughter and two of her dear friends, a married couple, at a wonderful Italian restaurant. Of course, we had to have a sampling of Washington wines masterfully curated by the friend’s husband.

My Husband asked this morning “How do you know you are on vacation?” To him, it means that someone else is letting the dog out, or else he is by a large body of water. To me, it means that I have no access to work emails, and someone else does the driving. Daughter has curated our trip nicely, planning visits to lovely restaurants and time with her friends, along with some great sightseeing. Yesterday we drove north of Seattle, stopping off at the Tulip Festival in Mount Vernon, then driving farther north and west to Anacortes, where where we got the ferry to Orcas Island and a B and B way in the middle of nowhere.

We were advised to travel there in the daylight, as the road there had so many switchbacks. It is a beautiful place. This is the view from the front room.

Today we go whale watching. By Saturday we will be back in Tacoma for more luncheons with Daughter’s friends, and an appointment at a candle making studio. Monday we go home.

How do you know that you are on vacation? What are the best and worst vacations you ever had?

2024, Business, Food, Gatherings, Mysteries

End of an Era?

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I saw on the news that the last Hooters in West Virginia closed last month with a large candlelight vigil prior to its demolition.  The local news mentioned it ahead of time and several hundred people showed up. 

The vigil part of the story didn’t surprise me but the fact that there are still Hooters was the shock to me.  I haven’t heard anything about Hooters and I never see them anywhere but a quick search reveals that there are over 400 worldwide, including one right in my backyard – at the Mall of America.  Guess that’s what happens when you only go to the Mall of America once a year (to redeem birthday coupons at Auntie Annies and Cinnabon).  Since I’ve never eaten at a Hooters (just seems a little too tasteless of a gimmick to me), I can’t say whether all of West Virginia franchises closing is a loss or not.  But I know the chances are slim that I would ever go to a candlelight vigil for one.

Is there a restaurant that you’d consider attending a vigil for if it were closing?

2024, Gatherings, Music, Songs, Uncategorized, Words

Musical Ear

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We have a new assistant pastor at our Lutheran Church who is working out rather nicely. She is good with youth, preaches good sermons, and is fitting in well with the congregation. There is only one problem, and that is her lack of musicality.

Our pastors sing much of the of the liturgy, and to do that the they have to know to listen to the note the organist gives them to start on the chant. Our new pastor can’t carry a tune in a bucket. No matter how emphatic the organist is in giving the note, the new pastor invariably starts on a pitch three notes below where she should start, and can’t seem to read the intervals between the notes to sing the chant correctly. The liturgy is such that the pastor sings, then the congregation comes in on a pitch based on where the pastor leaves off. We now have to listen for a prompt from the organist to know what our pitch is.

It would be fine with me if our new pastor read the liturgy instead of singing it, but I guess in Lent things need to be sung. We are all suffering through these forty days together!

How are you at singing a capella? What are your favorite metaphors and idioms?