Category Archives: holidays

2024, Art, Family, holidays, Kids, Uncategorized

Bah! Humbug!

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Continuing with a Halloween theme today. I notice that the people around town who are really into Halloween have their yards decorated, their inflatables inflated, and their pumpkins carved. Then there are the houses like ours that sport no pumpkins or decorations of any kind, We typically don’t do much for Halloween. In any event, I will be away in Dallas on the 31st, Husband will be home with the dog, and we have decided that he will close the blinds, leave the lights off, and not hand out any candy. It would be too hard with only one person at home to hand out candy and manage a hysterical terrier whenever someone came to the door. We will be Halloween Scrooges. This weekend I plan to bake frosted pumpkin cookies and brown-butter maple muffins for the children next door. They always come over to trick or treat, and we will give them the goodies on Sunday.

Last weekend we saw the most gruesome, yet remarkable Halloween decoration in the parking lot at the grocery store. A really rugged looking guy drove up in a red pickup with an enormous skeleton taking up the whole bed of the vehicle. The skeleton was seated, and yet its head and shoulders towered at least five feet over the roof of the truck. The feet stuck out over the back gate of the pickup bed, and there were dog skeletons lying across the main figure’s ankles, looking as though they were leaping. A smaller, human skeleton lay draped over the big skeleton’s arms. The whole tableau was held in place by thick orange straps. The guy was driving all around town with this. It could have been a float in a parade, if there was a Halloween parade in town. I would love to know what prompted him to do this.

What sorts of Halloween decorations are you seeing? Do you decorate for Halloween? What kind of tableau would you imagine constructing in the back of a pickup?

2024, Food, holidays, Kids, Seasons, Uncategorized

To Corn or Not to Corn

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It’s another time of year for polarization.  Candy corn or no candy corn!  Hamlet said it best:

To corn, or not to corn, that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of autumn candy treasure,

Or to take arms against a sea of sugar

And by opposing end them. To gorge—to sleep,

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand sugar shocks

That taste buds are heir to: ’tis a corn consummation

Devoutly to be wish’d.

I’ve always loved candy corn.  I know that many folks do not – in fact really really do not.  It took me a few years after I became a vegetarian to realize that my fall favorite is not a vegetarian product; the Brachs autumn staple is made with gelatin.  So sadly at about the age of 22 I gave up candy corn.  

About 15 years ago I discovered a few smaller companies who make candy corn (and also the little pumpkins) with no gelatin.  You kinda had to hunt for it.  For the last five years I’ve been able to find it at Hy-Vee but this is dangerous.  I drive all the way to Hy-Vee and then can’t seem to just get the candy and go; I always spend way to much at Hy-Vee.

This year Target is carrying a non-gelatin brand of both the plain candy corn as well as the pumpkin mix.  Woo-hoo.  I got a container of each (and didn’t end up spending a small fortune on other items).

When I got home YA gave me grief about buying candy corn and disparaged candy corn in general.  But I’ve seen her dip her hand into the candy bowl more than once since then.  Guess she’s on team candy corn whether she admits it or not!

Do you have something you just can’t stand? (Besides VS hi-jacking Shakespeare to validate her yearning for candy.)

2024, Art, holidays, Mysteries

Sticky Situation

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You’d think I would know better.

Working on a holiday project today involving pieces of tile, pieces of cardstock and a spray adhesive.  I had everything set up on a big tray and headed to the back yard; I don’t like doing spray adhesive or sealant in the house. 

It’s a new spray adhesive for me and as soon as I sprayed the first tile, I had it all over my hand (the hand holding the tile).  In for a penny, in for a pound.  Since I figured it was already too late, I kept going, doing all 24 of the tiles.  If I’d used my brain I would have stopped after the first one, washed quickly and put on a plastic glove.  We have plenty of them. 

Instead I’ve now spent over an hour getting all the glue off.  Hot water and soap, Quik Clean (a waterless cleaner), more hot water, pumice stone with soap, polish remover.  And technically it’s not all off yet. 

When was the last time you should have stopped, but didn’t?

2024, Family, holidays, Uncategorized

Lake Life

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I grew up in Rock County, MN, one of four MN counties with no lakes. We have gravel pits that have been stocked with fish. Luverne has renamed a gravel pit in town as “The Lake” and is developing it as a city park.

My father loved to fish, and “going to the lake” meant a trip to Lake of the Woods where we stayed with my Great Uncle Albert and Great Aunt Ella in their rackety farm house near Baudette. It smelled of decay and mice. There were raspberries growing wild, and I helped Aunt Ella catch her cow and milk it right there in the pasture. Uncle Albert left southern Minnesota in the 1920’s after he and his brother Herman got into an argument over money and Herman shot at him. He didn’t live on the water but was close enough to lakes as well as the Rainy River for my dad to have great fishing.

Husband and I and our son and his family spent Labor Day Weekend in an Airbnb on the northern shore of Ottertail Lake, near Fergus Falls. It was lovely, and the first time I ever experienced “Lake Life”. Grandson caught and released eight bluegills off the dock. It was quiet and peaceful. It was fun to hear people in the stores compare the kinds of fish they caught and the bait and lures they used. People had pontoons, kayaks, speed boats, and paddleboards all over the lake.

I can’t imagine the amount of work and money it would take for upkeep of such a place and a boat or watercraft. After we move back to Rock County, grandson can catch bluegills in the gravel pits.

What are your Lake Life experiences? What is the first fish you ever caught?

2024, holidays, home, Kids, pets, Uncategorized

Fireworks!

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Guinevere is afraid of everything.

She is afraid of little dogs, big dogs, medium dogs, the vacuum cleaner, the Roomba, the lawnmower, the hairdryer, paper bags, squirt bottles, the dog gate, noises close to her, when you wave your arms around, outsiders, things touching her without warning (pillow falling on her, towel slipping off a hook, toy tossed at her when she’s not looking). 

But there are two things that Guinevere is NOT afraid of.  Thunderstorms and fireworks.  Unbelievable.  YA and I used to do a few fireworks out on the front sidewalk but we quit because my last Irish Setter, Rhiannon was afraid.  I suppose we could get a few things now that Rhiannon is no longer with us, but considering how many other dogs get scared, it doesn’t seem worth it.

So we’ll watch fireworks on tv and we’ll hear fireworks from the surrounding communities, with Guinevere snoozing at the end of my bed!

Doing anything fun today?  Any fireworks on the schedule?

2024, Food, History, holidays, Uncategorized

Never Down on my Chips

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I may have mentioned that I have a Sandra Boynton-illustrated calendar that lists many very unusual holidays throughout the year. 

You’ll be happy to know that today is Chocolate Chip Day.  (Not chocolate chip cookie day, which is in August).  I haven’t looked too hard so I’m not sure WHY there is a chocolate chip day.  1937 was the birth of the chocolate chip – you’ve probably heard the story – when Ruth Wakefield chopped up a Nestle chocolate bar and added the bits to her cookie recipe.  A couple of years later, she signed a contract with Nestle which is why her recipe is still on the back of the chocolate chip package to this day.  She received a lifetime supply of chocolate.  Personally I hope she also got a boatload of cash.

I’m thinking pancakes sprinkled with chocolate chips (I have milk chocolate and white chocolate on hand)  for breakfast but haven’t decided how else to incorporate them into my day.

Any chocolate chip ideas?

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, Fantasy, holidays, Mysteries

David Shepardson Day

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I like to think that I’m a fairly normal person but every now and then something comes up that makes me wonder if I’m just a few steps off the path.

When I was in the sixth grade, our school had a presentation by a troupe of presumably college students; they did some music and read some poetry – fairly classic late 60s kinds of stuff.  After the show, the students hung around so we could meet them.  I was with my two best friends that day – Linda and Kathleen – and we waited patiently for our turn.  The student that we met was named David Shepardson and he was gorgeous-looking to three sixth-graders, longish brown hair, little goatee, tie-dye t-shirt, sandals.  The full package.  I happened to be wearing a beaded necklace that day and David admired it; he held his beaded necklace up so we could compare and…. our fingers touched.  My girlfriends and I were all giddy.  I didn’t wash my hand for a day and a half and both Linda and Kathleen checked in with me about it.  They were both pea-green.

OK, so you’re saying to yourself, how is this unusual?  Lots of pre-teen girls are a little wack-a-doodle.  Here’s the difference.  56 years later I still have “David Shepardson Day” noted on my calendar on April 16.  

And since, by coincidence, I met my BFF on April 16, 41 years ago, I do often celebrate a bit.  This year I found a nice bunch of dark purplish flowers and took them up to her house, had tea and chatted for a bit.  I usually send her a card as well to commemorate.  During the visit on Wednesday, Sara and I realized that we’ve been celebrating David Shepardson Day a year longer than she and he husband have been married.

I often wonder how David Shepardson’s life turned out.  Did he end up pursuing music or literature?  Did he marry?  Have kids?  Travel?  Does he have “Sherri Carter Day” listed on his calendar every April 16?

Do you celebrate any holidays that yours alone?

2024, animals, Family, holidays, Nature, Uncategorized

Up Close And Personal

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One highlight of our trip to Tacoma was a side trip we took to the northern part of Puget Sound to Orcas Island to see. . . orcas!

We took a ferry to the island and stayed in an Air B and B that was up a single lane, vertical dirt road to a place that was lovely and that afforded a gorgeous view of islands and the Sound. Vancouver Island was quite close.

The crew of the whale boat were three marine biologists who loved their work and who loved to tell us all about the animals. There were about 30 people on board, including some very lively children. We were very lucky to encounter a pod of seven orcas, including a young orca. We saw them chase a harbor seal, but we didn’t find out if they caught it. At one point the pod divided into two groups and we had orcas on both sides of the boat. The marine biologists somehow knew the lineage of the pod, and showed us the pod family tree going back to the great grandmother. We were also thrilled to see the largest and oldest orca in that part of the Sound, a huge 62 year old with a notch in his dorsal fin, probably from the bite of a Stellar’s Sea Lion.

With regard to the sea lions, they were the only animals stationary long enough for me to get a photo. They were lying on a large rock, grunting and bellowing, and roaring. You can see them in the header photo. They smelled terrible!

The orcas leaped and swam but were too fast to catch on camera. So were the otters. It was nice to just sit and watch with my eyes and put my phone camera down for a while.

What are some memorable “up close” wildlife encounters you have had? Did you ever want to be a marine biologist?

2024, Family, Food, holidays, Mysteries, Seasons

Eggs-tremely Envious

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Every year I am jealous of Renee.  Her daughter always tells her she wants an Easter basket and tells her what to put in it.  No guesswork, no trying to figure out what might appeal to a grown daughter.  SO JEALOUS.

As I mentioned a couple of times, YA likes the traditions of Easter but doesn’t like to admit it.  I’m not sure why; it’s the same with some other things.  So every year when I ask her what she wants in the basket, she says “Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs”.  That’s it.  Well, you all know me – it’s hard on my nature to fill up her basket with just one item.  Every year I get carried away and every year she enjoys it. 

This year was the same.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.  I spent a few days thinking and routing through her room before I headed out to shop.  I wandered through Target and Walgreens and Cub – oh, and the Dollar Store (which really needs to be re-branded since everything is $1.25 these days).  I ended up with a handful of skin and hair products that I know she likes.  One Lindt chocolate bunny.  Amy’s Bunny Grahams.  Ghiradelli caramel bunnies.  Little bag of Garden Veggie Chips that are egg-shaped and in spring colors.  A lambie toy (this is technically for Guinevere – I tied an Easter ribbon around it’s neck).  Two Apple giftcards as YA is saving for a new computer – safely ensconced in spring giftcard holders that I made.  Cheddar bunny snacks and, of course, Reese’s PB eggs. 

It’s a glorious looking basket and even without the Apple cards, surely the most expensive basket I’ve ever assembled for her.

Why did the Easter Bunny get its job?