Weekend Review, Last Week's Tornado, Grandkids

I hope everyone had a good weekend. The family was here, and I've got a few pics to show you. There are those who don't like the camera, so I'm not posting those this time, but the grandkids, that's another story. Oh my goodness. Everyone arrived Friday evening between rain showers, but it rained all day Saturday, preventing any outdoor play time or hay rides. Although the kids were able to play on the front porch a bit of the time, it was mostly Grandma's gymnasium with the running circle and other attractions, that kept the kids from going stark raving mad. It might have had the opposite effect on the grownups. :-)

Yes, I came upon the kids trying to give themselves concussions by riding (being pulled FAST) lawn furniture cushions down the steps to the living room. I finally had to put a stop to it, but they got several rounds in before I caught them. I can see that it's great fun, until somebody has to be rushed to the emergency room. I know, Grandma is SUCH A KILLJOY!

Upper right: Grandpa and a few kids taking a breather a.k.a. 'recharging.'

Anyway, it was lots of fun to have the family home. I always love it. 

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I realized that I hadn't shown my Blogger pals the aftermath of the tornado that ripped through (3 miles from our home) Barron County  last Tuesday. Here are a few pics to show you some of the storm damage. One life lost and so many homes demolished by this terrible storm. Along Highway O and Highway SS, the tornado snapped off 25 power poles. I didn't get a photo of the destroyed turkey barns and confused, wandering (or dead) turkeys. And the odd thing about a tornado is that either side of the path there's no damage. So one place will be obliterated and the other, just yards away, will be left intact.

Life can change in an instant.

'After' pic of what had been a beautiful little barn (shown below)

I took this photo in January.
This was before the barn was instantly turned into a pile of kindling on Tuesday.
(see previous pic)

 What's left of a mobile home park,
just 100 yards from where our son and his family live.
Their home was undamaged, but 40+ homes were destroyed.

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Bleeding heart, lilacs, and flowering crab in our back yard.
I think all the petals will be gone before we get another sunny day.

Such a minor concern.

A storm like the one that came through last week really helps put things into perspective.


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Hodgpodging April Showers

 Springing Beauties, photo taken yesterday on our walk.

The ditches along Fifth Avenue are loaded with them.

' But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.'
Matthew 6:30-33

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1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Has your April been filled with showers? Do you carry an umbrella, wear a slicker, or make a run for it? Besides rain, what else has filled your April? 

We've had many cloudy/rainy days in April so far, so I always at least carry my bucket (pronounced 'bouquet' of course) hat with me, just in case. I have unruly naturally curly hair which is a pain, especially when damp, so I never just 'make a run for it.' I either wear my rain jacket with a hood or wear my bucket hat.

2. What's something you could you give a 30-minute presentation on at a moment's notice and with zero preparation?

 Unfortunately, several grandkids are missing from that photo.

I could probably give a 30-minute presentation on cute grandkids or the life of General James Longstreet or training a puppy or what staple items to keep in the kitchen to always have a nutritious meal close at hand or homeschooling or theology or making bread or soapmaking, but I can promise you that no one will want to listen.

3. Share with us a favorite food memory from childhood.

 I have no idea where this photo is from

But this is a typical favorite childhood meal

(minus the cornbread muffin) 

A typical dinner today.
(I should qualify that: when I'm making dinner)
Balsamic Beef

Oven-roasted veggies

Green salad

(It never looked like this when I was a kid)

and I know that it's overcooked, but Mr. C.

has a thing about beef. 
'I don't want it to moo when I cut into it!'

When I was a kid, my favorite was roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn, all piled together on my plate with gravy over the whole thing. My mother hated that because it wasn't polite to put my food together and stir it up, then eat it like lumpy Malt-O-Meal. But it sure was good. And it explains my chubby fifth grade photo. And sixth grade. And seventh gr......

4. What's a song you thought you knew the lyrics to, but later discovered you were wrong?

'Love Potion No. 9'   I love singing that song with my daughter, but I think I had several parts wrong before looking it up. Sure is fun to sing.

I think this is the most recent photo of my daughters and me
(and Lucy)

November of 2015

The 'Love Potion No. 9' daughter is on the left.

5. According to one travel website, the most overrated tourist attractions in America are-
Niagara Falls (NY), Hollywood Walk of Fame (California), Times Square (NYC), Epcot (FL), Seattle Space Needle (WA), and Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market (Boston). How many of these have you seen in person? Did you feel like a tourist? Did you care? Tell us about a place (not on the list) you've visited that might be considered a tourist trap, but you love it anyway.

 Marriott Longwharf, Boston

No idea where the photo is from

It's the best hotel we've ever stayed in

and in a marvelous location,

just across the street from the New England Aquarium

I've been to Niagara Falls, Epcot, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. I especially loved Boston and would like to go again sometime. I don't think I necessarily feel like a tourist, although I guess I am, but feel more like someone who's interested. And no, I don't care if anyone thinks I'm a tourist. But I don't want to be an annoying tourist. I think that Gettysburg National Military Park has become more of a tourist trap than when we were there last, but I will always love it.

6. Your signature clothing item?

Blue jeans, t-shirt, and polar fleece jacket if it's cool. Obviously, I'm not a fashion maven. Did you know that clothing was rationed in Britain during WWII?

7. What's an experience you've had you think everyone should experience at least once? Why?

 St. Paul's Cathedral

from Millennium Bridge

(yes, I've posted this before)

There is nothing like the First Sunday of Advent at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  I try not to overuse the word 'awesome,' but the First Sunday of Advent service at St. Paul's definitely falls into that category.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm wondering if anyone else loves to hang sheets on the line to dry. It's one of the best things about springtime. I posted a short video on Instagram yesterday of the wind whipping the sheets, but I can't get it to translate to my blog. Anyway, I love the fragrance of country-fresh line-dried sheets. Nothing like it. Of course it does mean that you can't do it when the farmers have been spreading manure on the fields or when a dead deer has ripened in the ditch near your farm and the eagles and hawks can't keep up with the roadkill. Those are the days you dry sheets in the dryer.

One of my favorite features of springtime in Wisconsin


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Monday, Monday

Our barn

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Summer has settled in nicely, with temps in the mid-to-high 80s. Fortunately, we've had a nice breeze that keeps things bearable. I know, those of you who live in the South would love to see 80s so you could put a sweater on! And that reminds me of the time we were driving back to Wisconsin from Houston, Texas in January. When we stopped in Oklahoma, everyone was wearing parkas and shivering. We were comfortable in T-shirts.

The little sweetie you see above, along with his parents, is moving in with us for a month while they wait for the closing on their house. They've bought a nice house with wonderful back and front yards, beautiful mature trees, at the edge of a little village not far away. For now, we'll be living together and I'll get to see those unbelievably bright blue eyes every day! And since he's just beginning to walk, it will be an exciting month!

Just thought I'd take a few pics of the flowers around the yard. My echinacea seem non existent this year, and the rudbeckia haven't started to bloom. But it's such a lovely time of year. It's what we long for in February - warm weather, sunny skies, beautiful field crops of corn and beans, a garden that's growing like crazy, and pretty flowers in the yard.

I got 16 pints of strawberry jam and a few gallon bags of strawberries in the freezer from this year's garden crop. This is just the beginning of the canning season. With three rows of green beans and way too many tomato plants, I should get a lot of beans and tomatoes canned this summer too. I love that project!  Does anyone else love canning, or is it just me? LOL


Have a wonderful Monday!

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This post might possibly be linked to one of more of the following:

Mosaic Monday and Amaze Me Monday and  Roses of Inspiration and  Treasure Box Tuesday and Tuesday with a Twist  and  Tweak it Tuesday  and  Good Fences and  Freedom Fridays  and  Saturday Critters and  Vintage Inspiration Friday  

The Sandbox

After gathering some supplies at Menard's, Mr. C. (aka Grandpa) and I drove to our daughter's home where the ambitious Grandpa built a much-needed sandbox and filled it with sand for these two sweet grandkids (above). Why?

Because the last time we were there, this is what we saw.

A kid's gotta dig, right?

Grandpa and I are firm believers that every kid needs a sand pile - or at least a sandbox.When our kids were little, we had a dump truck load of sand brought to our home (in the country) and the kids had a blast with that huge mountain of sand. You'd be amazed at how quickly they got that thing flattened out. Our daughter was recalling how they would play in that sand pile for hours on end.

 Okay, it wasn't quite that big.
But close.

We still have a sand pile, though much smaller these days.

This was from the 2014 reunion.

Backyard photos

Lower left includes the ever-present nettle

Upper right is wood violets and silver leaf.

Silver leaf spreads like crazy. I started with 11 leaves.

Now it's everywhere!

More backyard photos,

including my poor old McIntosh apple tree

which froze out in the winter of 2013

There are only a few blossoms on it this year.

 This is what happened to my
baby McIntosh apple tree, the one we had planted as a replacement
because our other one was getting old.
And just when it was doing so well. :-((

Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!


This post is linked the following linky parties:


Mosaic Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and Amaze Me Monday and  Roses of Inspiration and  Treasure Box Tuesday and KatheWithAnE and Tuesday with a Twist  and  Tweak it Tuesday and Home & Garden Thursday  and Freedom Fridays  and Vintage Inspiration Friday

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Oh Look! It's The Flowering Hodgepodge!

This Week, In The Backyard

Flowering Crab

Join Joyce and the Gang for

She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Answer the questions on your own blog,

then click on the button above

to link your post.

1. When is your next big deadline? What's it for?

That's what's missing, a deadline!  I now know why it is difficult for me to get  housework and de-cluttering done (or started). I'm not working with a deadline. As one who works much, much better under pressure, I need to start setting deadlines for myself. Hall closet: Deadline Friday. Clothes closet: Deadline May 30, etc. etc. Knowing me, this will help a lot.  Thank you, Joyce!

2. May is National Barbecue Month. Do you prefer cooking indoors or out? What's the best thing about a barbecue? What's the last thing you cooked on an outdoor grill?


I love cooking outdoors, and we wait several cold winter months to do it. The best thing about a BBQ is the taste.  Everything seems to taste better on a charcoal grill. I think it annoys Mr. C. when I say that I like the taste of lighter fluid. He 'patiently' explains that it's the charcoal flavor I like. :-)) I think the last thing cooked on our grill was chicken.

 Grilled Cheese With Basil Pesto

I found this while searching for 'grill' in my photo files. Check out my recipe, from a previous post. It's an amazing sandwich, although I did not 'grill' it on the charcoal grill.

Note: Homemade white bread is best, of course.

On one slice of bread I arranged enough pepper jack cheese to cover every square inch of bread. We always have pepper jack on hand, for it's one of our favorites. On the other slice I spread the fresh basil pesto liberally (quite uncharacteristically, I might add). On top of that I arranged fresh, warm-from-the-garden tomato slices.
I then melted a little olive oil and a little butter in the skillet, turned it down to low, set the sandwich in the skillet, and covered it with a lid.
A few minutes later I flipped the sandwich over and covered it with the lid again.
Two more minutes maybe...enough so that the bread was golden (okay, a little past golden, maybe) and the cheese was partially melted.

3. What is one thing on your "never again" list?

Never again will I drag a carry-on suitcase through an airport or train stations or down sidewalks. If I ever travel again, I will use only a school-type backpack with a couple of changes of clothes in it. You think I'm kidding.

4. What's something that annoys you about people your own age? Something you love about your generation?

Nothing annoys me about people my own age. In fact, even when I was young, people my age (now) were always easier to get along with. People my age (then) always seemed to have something to prove. What I love about my generation is that most of us are more comfortable with life, know how to do things, know how to work, are reliable, don't spend our time keeping track of celebrities, and don't seek or expect wisdom from fools. Also, most of us have mellowed a bit and have figured out which things are truly worth going to battle. Uh, perhaps some of us have mellowed a bit more than others. :-)

5. Lilac, iris, hyacinth, pansy...your favorite purple flower?

I love lilacs and iris, my favorite being the purple iris that came from my mom's garden (or maybe my grandma's garden - via my mom.)

See those lovely roses? They're going to meet my favorite garden tool after they've bloomed this year - RoundUp. Those roses are a weed, totally invasive, and are beautiful for only one week out of the entire year. The rest of the year they are an ugly, thorny thicket that spreads to every surrounding plant and tries to strangle it.

6. Whats a song that always calms you down?

Probably my favorite album is 'Be Thou My Vision,' sacred music by John Rutter.

And, as far as one song that always calms me?  That would be 'The Solid Rock.' It often pops into my mind. And it is truly calming, knowing that regardless of my circumstances, God is in control and is trustworthy. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand!

  My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

  When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

7. What's the last thing you donated?

Clothes. Remember the ones I dragged around the airport in that carry-on? Actually, I have much more that needs to be donated.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Springtime is wonderful this year. The driveway is flanked by wood violets and dandelions, which I love and which look so pretty together.

The bleeding heart is in bloom.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, friends!

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