Ladina's Garden

      Welcoming yellow and black petunias 

                 A picture inside the door

                  Flowers inside and out

       A photo tour 

     

      A beautiful day for a walk in the garden

              JoAnna, Maria and Ladina 

this crochet hook

This is the summer for crocheting book markers. I lost this hook two times and felt sad both times. It is an old friend. I could easily replace it but then it turns up again. This morning it was stuck safely in the top of the crochet thread. When we stopped at Casey's to get a bit of breakfast- poof - it was gone! I looked under the car seat. Beside the seat - everywhere I could think of and it was gone. I walked into the store feeling a kind of blue sensation because I wanted to crochet while we traveled.  

When I came back to the car with a couple pieces of pizza in one hand and a bag with cold drinks in the other there was the crochet hook on the ground right by the car door. Yeah! 

I crocheted while Evan drove and Mom rested in the back seat. And missed all the scenery as we whizzed by it on our way to a family reunion. 

Up north 

Doesn't that phrase send a delightful shiver down your spine? It's always a good day when you head north to blue lakes, green forests and who knows what kind of wildlife. 

Although there is plenty of wildlife just in my own backyard. Twin fawns with spots peeking at me as I drive in the lane. Wild turkeys prancing along in a row across the meadow. A skunk sneaking cat food out of the dish by the back door. A raccoon brazenly eating cat food in the same spot. We should have a dog at our house to chase away these creatures. 

Well, here we are beside the lake enjoying the scenery.

                  Flowers on the deck

                             Boating

                               Fishing 

         I need more pictures of the lake 
   Ellis and Deanne drove up later in the day

In other news these sweet babies are back in                 Allen and Krysta's home.

     They are running around on sturdy legs

      Enjoying a milk bath instead of napping

          Photo credits go to Rhoda Martin

I ran out of purple thread so I switched to cream. Then I can choose any color for the ribbon. 

Earlier this summer Ellis and I traveled to WI. I couldn't find my crochet hook that time either. I messaged my daughter in law (in a bit of a panic) asking if she had seen it. When we got back to Blooming Prairie I found it in Krysta's drive way. It fell out of the car when we were transferring luggage. This crochet hook has nine lives! 

It's a beautiful day in Minnesota!

Happy Happy Summer!

Jasper

     We went for a drive in the country after                    supper, Thursday August 10th.

Someone collects windmills and sets them whirling again.

In town the buildings were made of lovely stone

The quarry was closed to the public of course. So we said Goodbye to the little town of Jasper.

Tell me everything you know about jello

That's what my assignment was this morning! Warning: if you are squeamish you might want to scurry away to another post. 

I thought jello was made from bones but I  checked Google just to be sure. It says jello is derived from the skin and bones of animals. 

Wow! Did I  really want to know that? So it's not suitable for a vegetarian diet. Besides - it has lots of sugar and all the stuff that gives us the beautiful colors.  

What about that Knox Blox recipe everyone loves? It has a cup of milk and instant pudding stirred together until dissolved then wisked into your favorite jello flavor. Pour into a flat container and chill. Cut into squares and serve.

I remember grated carrots and crushed pineapple stirred into orange jello. My sister, Ladina, loved to take a spoonful of Miracle Whip salad dressing to eat on the side with this jello. I never tried it. I was not very adventurous when it came to trying new food.

On another note: I loved baked beans. After helping myself to a 3rd or maybe even 4th serving of Mom's baked beans specialty my Dad said, "Dawn, that is way more beans than any civilized person should eat!"

"Yes, but she's not civilized!" One of my sisters was quick to proclaim her observation on this subject.

Where did we get off the topic? 

Back to Jello

My mother-in-law, Florence, made lime jello with canned pears in it. She had a clear glass casserole dish that she served it in. When it came time to divide her dishes between our families we got that casserole dish.

We always made apple crisp in it. Dump two jars of apple pie filling into the bowl. Stir. Spread a crumb mixture over the top. Pop in the oven and bake at 350° about 1/2 hour or until the juice bubbles at the sides. Serve with ice cream and don't burn your tongue. 

Crumbs: 

one cup flour

one cup oatmeal

one cup brown sugar

one stick butter

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients then spread over the apples

One day Ellis made a pan of apple crisp for the neighbor who was going through some sort of crisis. We've never gotten the casserole dish back.  

I'll end with that Knox Blox recipe 

One big box of jello (or two small ones)

Dissolve with 2 1/2 cups boiling water

Set your timer for 1/2 hour

After a half hour mix together one cup milk and a couple heaping tablespoons of instant vanilla pudding. Make sure the powder is dissolved in the milk. I use a wisk. Then mix into the jello and pour in a flat pan. You can lightly grease the pan with Pam spray. The jello comes out easier when you're ready to serve it.

         this is Caddie Woodlawn's house

                       Menomonie WI

Get your pen and paper ready. Set your timer for ten minutes and tell me everything you know about making bread. 

You'll be surprised at what memories float to the surface of your brain.

what do I know about coffee?

wild black raspberries and tame red raspberries  - they made a delicious pie and I served it with coffee

Its aroma is better than it tastes I always tell Ellis, now that he has quit drinking coffee. It's no fun drinking coffee by myself so now our Mr. Coffee sits on the counter, rarely used.

Mom had a tall, stainless steel percolator with three pieces that went inside. A basket with holes in the bottom, a lid with holes in it and a tube that went up through the basket and lid to hold everything in place. Fill the pot with cold water to the fill line. Measure coffee into the basket then line up the tube, basket ensemble inside the pot and put the stainless steel lid in place. Plug the cord into the plug in and wait. As the water heated it went up the tube, splashed into the glass lid then fell back down over the coffee grounds inside the metal basket. 

When we raced downstairs in the morning we could hear the water gurgling and get the first whiff of coffee. When it stopped making noises Mom unplugged the pot and sat it in the center of the table. My sisters and I made faces at ourselves as we ate our oatmeal - we could see our reflections in the shiny sides of that tall, slender coffee pot. 

There's been quite an assortment of coffee equipment made since then. I'll admit, coffee shops are wonderful places to meet up with friends or to go there and be alone with a book or a computer or even a notebook and a pen.

Recently my sister put her hand on my forehead when I told her I don't drink coffee first thing in the morning.

"I'm just checking to see if you have a fever."

I'm not being a true Norwegian since I drink tea more often than coffee these days. I still have many conversations with friends and family when there is a tea pot in the center of the table. Pull up a chair and join us. 

 

"Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after."

- Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

practice writing

A white haired lady was pushing a yellow lawn mower outside my hotel window.  She wore a blue plaid shirt and navy blue knee-length leggings. Tenny shoes completed the outfit.  I wanted to be outside mowing lawn the instant I saw her. Instead I'm using a stick for support as I hobble down the hall toward the breakfast room. Arthritis caught up to me and the x-ray shows my right hip is bone on bone. Surgery is scheduled for October 9th. 

My girls suggested I use this time in between to write my book. Then Ellis was sent to Pipestone MN for a whole week, filling in for another manager that's on vacation. It's summer time. I don't have to ask the bus manager if I can take a week off. Instead, I can tag along and live in the lap of luxury and practice writing.  

Buy a cheap notebook and start in with the writing exercises this author gives. She says, "Too often we take notes on writing, we think about writing but never do it. I want you to walk into the heart of the storm, written words dripping off hair, eyelids, hanging from hands." end of quote  This sounds like Mark Twain to me. When I've read his books, especially the ones on traveling, it makes me feel like he just kept a running commentary of every thought that came through his head! 

It was fun to chatter away in my cheap notebook yesterday. I was surprised at how many memories rose to the surface just by watching someone mow lawn. All the way from dumping the grass clippings over the rail fence to our family cow - she was named Beauty and she gave a heifer calf once a year - to making ice cream, butter, cheese, and drinking quarts of chocolate milk at our round oak table in the dining room that was painted green. Grass green. A friend visited us for lunch and told us that dunking a toasted cheese sandwich in chocolate milk was delicious! I remember turning up my snoot just like you, my dear readers, are doing this very minute. Her persuasive personality soon had a bunch of us trying it and I, for one, found out she was right. It was delicious!

Yesterday afternoon I started looking through my blog trying to find some stories and essays I'd written. There was a story Krysta wrote that I was trying to find. After awhile it dawned on me - I've already written a book of essays and short stories. It needs to be organized into chapters and edited. How do I go about doing that?

I'll finish with a picture of these hydrangeas that are blooming like crazy in Mom's yard.

And pink phlox blooming in my yard. Even in the drought this summer the flowers are beautiful. 

I found Krysta's story written June 26, 2013.