Trying to UnHodgepodge

 

 Sunrise, from the porch

I was remarking to Mr. C. just yesterday during lunch in the screen room, that it really feels like August. I guess that shouldn't be surprising for the last day of July, right. Anyway, trying to give an account for my long absence from Blogland, I'll jump right in with an excuse and say that I was busy becoming a great grandma. And here is the darling Penny and her darling mama, not even 48 hours post delivery. I know it's not fair to take their pic so soon, but...

at 7 lb. 12 oz, and looks SO TINY!

I had forgotten that they came that small.

And a four generation photo

Mr. C. in the background,

our son, looking thrilled to be a grandpa,

Mama (our granddaughter)

and Penny, the great grand

No, they're not exactly worshipping this infant,

even though it might look like it. :-)

So just yesterday her mama posted this photo,

and I hope she doesn't mind that I swiped it to show you.
This is one very loved little girl.

***

Then there was the family reunion at William O'Brien State Park, Minnesota on July 21st - Mr. C.'s siblings and their kids and grandkids. Too many photos to show, but a couple:

Mr. C. and I with some of our family

These (son and three grandsons) didn't get in on the group photo of our immediate family because they had left by then. AND, a few people were missing because they were engaged in waiting and waiting and waiting for that baby to arrive!

 Daughter and one of her uncles

Son and his nephew (our grandson)

Two grandsons (no idea)

These two aren't so sure about a family reunion.

It certainly wasn't their idea of a good time.

***

Then there were the two weeks that I was visiting our daughter and family in Wausau (two weeks? divided by a week, I think. I don't know, it's all starting to run together in the timeline of my brain).

Grandson (in gray) starting to enjoy soccer

Made a goal while I was watching.

I'm sure I'm his good luck charm. LOL

Granddaughter, the littlest cheerleader

Working on that cartwheel

Taken in early July in Wausau

Doesn't that dark cloud on the right remind you of

Rizzo the rat?

Okay, maybe it's just me.

Mustn't forget the afternoon at the black bear sanctuary

in Wausau. It was an incredibly interesting place with an owner who treats bears right (I mean really, it's like those four bears living on his fourteen spectacular acres are his kids or something!) 

From the wisconsinblackbears.com website:

"The WBBEC is a refreshing change from the norm. (It) is one of the largest and most natural bear enclosures in the US. It puts to shame most of the bear exhibits in traditional zoos..." (quoting some guy from Canada)

I think all these kids, including my two grands, enjoyed the tour immensely

I know that I sure did.

The Wisconsin DNR has contacted the owner, requesting that he take more black bears, but he has turned them down, wanting to make sure that the habitat he has for them is adequate for the number of bears. I like this guy.

These two weren't invited to the black bear sanctuary or to the family reunion. At least they can console each other.

Last and probably least, I caught my water hyacinth while it was blooming its little heart out. 

From the garden pond

I'm hoping that I will be able to keep a Wednesday blog post going and possibly an Anglophile Friday and a Sunday post. I'll make a huge effort and we'll see what happens. - quoting Patrick in 'A Murder is Announced.' To be honest, however, I think my huge effort will have to wait until next week. I need a nap.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

***

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Henny Penny and Her Friends

I'm posting a few more photos from last weekend out at our son's family's home in central Minnesota, where we stayed after the graduation party for our granddaughter. It was lovely, and of course I had to see the chickens.

I can tell that they are quite fond of these chickens.

The chickens, Buff Orpingtons and Silver Laced Wyandottes, have a really nice chicken hotel (some would call it a coop) and a two-part run, one part with hardware cloth over the grass so that the chickens can't destroy the roots of the grass. Isn't that smart! Yeah, I thought so. Here's our grandson feeding them bites of his sugar cookie. They were pretty happy about that. Actually, I requested it so that the hens would turn towards the camera.

Our son chose these breeds because of their cold-weather hardiness, their egg production, and their nice temperament.

I wonder if the Orpingtons are jealous of the Silver Laced Wyandotte's beautiful feathers.

 Two of the grandsons tending to Jazzie during the graduation party

Panting (left) and Thinking (right)

This was a drive-by shot that I took on the way home, and would have been so much better had that sweet little spruce not been in the way. It looks like the old windmill has been turned into an antenna tower.

Have a great weekend, everyone! It's raining like crazy here, and I'm actually wearing a jacket in the house.

 Summertime

Wintertime

I like summertime better!

and I bet those chickens do too!

Linking to Mosaic Monday

***

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Hodgepodging a Lumber Baron Home of Eau Claire, WI

Our oldest son lives in south central Minnesota.

This is the sign in one of their windows.

I thought it was so sweet.

And this is the road that leads to the town they live in.

Lots of prairie with blowing snow and COLD temps.

More pics coming later.

Join Joyce and the Gang

for

She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them in to your own blog

and join in!

1. Share one thing that really makes your day.

Phone calls or text messages from our kids.

Ooooh, chilly view!

2. Lots of these kinds of lists out there, but one found here says the fifteen most colorful places on earth are:

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy~Burano, Italy~Havana, Cuba~Rio de Janiero, Brazil~Chefchaouen, Morocco~Balat, Istanbul, Turkey~Menton, France~Jodhpur, India~La Baca, Buenos Aires, Argentina~Guanajuato, Mexico~Capetown, South Africa~Valparaiso, Chile~Wroclaw, Poland~San Francisco, California~and Pelourhino, Salvador, Brazil.  

Of those listed which would you most like to see up close and in person? Of all the places you've seen or traveled in your own life, what would you say was one of the most colorful?

The one I'd most like to see up close and in person (and accompanied by our daughter who is fluent in Italian!) is Cinque Terre, Italy. I've seen her photos, and they're wonderful.  The most literally colorful place I've been is probably Mexico City and particularly, the Ballet Folklórico de México. It was spectacular. But that was a long time ago, so it would be nice to see it again.

 One of the old lumber baron homes in Eau Claire, WI

and a few more shots, also in this blog post.
When our daughter was visiting over New Year's, 
we drove around the neighborhood where there are many of
these huge homes. We decided we'd buy this one
when our piggy bank is full.

3."Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield  In general, would you agree or disagree with that statement? Why?

It sounds good, doesn't it. But really. What do I fear? I fear getting too close to the center line on the highway. Just the other side of fear is a head-on collision. So really.  I do think that fear of many things keeps people from enjoying life like they were meant to do. But, with that in mind, I think that Everything you want is on the other side of Jesus. What I mean is that Jesus, the real historical first-century Jesus of Nazareth is the Doorway to all that the human spirit longs for. As God in the flesh, He alone can give us real Love, Joy, Hope, Relationship, and a Future. Ignore the Door, and life is a continuous frustrating search for satisfaction and fulfillment.

4. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and dessert appears...what do you hope it is? Do you ever struggle to remember which spelling is desert and which is dessert?

No struggle here. I got dessert and desert straightened out a long time ago, fortunately. I think the ss makes the word look like it's got a couple squiggles of Reddi-Whip on it, so that might have been why it was so easy for me to sort it out.  Anyway, my favorite dessert would be lemon meringue pie like my mom used to make. Although the meringue was pretty, I usually scraped it off to get to the fabulous lemon underneath. P.S. And now, because of Reddi-Whip, you may never again get dessert and desert confused. You're welcome.

5. What song almost always makes you cry?

It's been a long time since I've cried from hearing a song, but it was probably the song, 'Before the Throne of God Above.'

 VERSE 1
Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea A great High Priest whose name is love Who ever lives and pleads for me My name is graven on His hands My name is written on His heart I know that while in heav’n He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart No tongue can bid me thence depart

VERSE 2 When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free For God the Just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me To look on Him and pardon me

VERSE 3 Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless Righteousness The great unchangeable I AM The King of glory and of grace One with Himself, I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is hid with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God With Christ my Savior and my God
©1997 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).

6. January is National Soup Month.  Everything from soup to nuts, in the soup, thick as pea soup, souped up...which saying most recently applies to your life in some way? Explain.

I think it would be 'soup to nuts,' because there's so much different stuff going in this month of January. I know it will fly by, so I'm making plans for February.

7. Write a two word note to your younger self. What does it say?


TODAY MATTERS!!!  (Sometimes I just have to yell at myself.)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

On Sunday, we brought one of our grandsons back with us from Minnesota.  On Monday, he helped me remove the tacking strips from the stairs after Mr. C. ripped out the old, worn, Plum Frieze from a lifetime ago. I'm serious. He and I made a lot of racket getting them out, but boy is it nice to have the job done and that ugly carpet GONE.

He likes being busy.

I need to find another interesting project.

I did discover that baking banana bread was not going to be

one of them, so I baked and he ate. :-)

 ***

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Vintage Minnesota Kewpie Doll and Loon Trinket Box

Vintage Kewpie Doll and Loon Dish

from Minnesota

When I was probably about 7 years old, my grandma spent some time in the Brainerd, MN area, Lake Mille Lacs, and brought back this little kewpie doll for me. For years, I kept it on a shelf in the bedroom I shared with my sister, and it's moved with me everyplace I've gone - I think it's the only childhood keepsake I have, and it's in remarkably like-new condition!

I've always liked the cute little beaded leather clothes and moccasins of the doll. He also has a really cute feathery mohawk. (I had to risk deer ticks to get that birch bark from our woods, I want you to know! Oh the lengths to which a blogger goes to stage a photo!)

The little highly-glazed ceramic trinket dish is something I found at a thrift store recently, but it must be from the same era - mid 1950s?  It looks like new. It was probably donated to the thrift store by someone my age who had kept it since childhood and decided to clean out.

The loon button on the top is like a picture covered with resin or something. Very pretty. If you've ever been to a northern Minnesota lake in the summertime, you've undoubtedly heard the hauntingly beautiful call of the loon at dawn and dusk.

***

What they're really saying, of course, is...

'Marco...'

'...Polo.'

***

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