My Dad My Hero

Today is the day we honor our fallen and active military men and women and our veterans of all wars.  There is no mail - federal buildings are closed - many activities are planned. 

My Dad is a WWII survivor.  He quit high school to join the Marines when word of the bombing of Pearl Harbor spread throughout his neighborhood.  Many of his friends declared they wouldn't sign up to fight and possibly be killed.  There wasn't a moment's pause for my Dad to decide he would go to serve his country.

I grew up hearing my Dad tell stories of the war in the Pacific.  Many Dads didn't speak a word of their experiences.  I heard his stories many times.  He needs to talk about that time and he does to this day.  He is 86 and sometimes wonders why he has lived this long.  He still has much to accomplish and writes a newsletter his Marine Division.

As he talks I see him as the 17 year old high school kid whose parents wouldn't sign the papers so he could enlist and then wearing them down - they consent.  He completes his training and is sent off in a huge ship where he was almost crushed when transferring from the boat to the ship.  The ocean was so rough that as he climbed the chain ladders to board the ship the waves lifted then crashed the boat into the ship and at that moment hands lifted him up into the ship.  Then they sailed across the Pacific to land on unprotected island shores with snipers in the trees shooting at the young Marines running for cover holding their weapons above their heads to keep them out of the water.  Later when a fellow Marine was killed, he was told to pick up the large BAR weapon and carried it in many battles. He was wounded twice.

He isn't a large man but he is a huge hero.  His stories are detailed and he cries when he remembers the battles and the deaths of his friends.

We owe them.  We honor them.  I love him.

The Almost Completed PROJECT!

I read somewhere a while ago that people who constantly rearrange their furniture are not content with their lives.  I must be contented to the point of stagnation because I never rearrange my furniture neither do I repaint or redecorate. 

I'm feeling so out of character and this brings me to the project I began nine days ago.  Originally I wanted to freshen up the bathroom - the whole bathroom is different shades of off white - the walls, the tiles, the shower surround, the floor, and the ceiling.  I wanted to paint the walls a color.  

Only a week or so later:

1.  The ceiling is primed and painted cream.
2.  The walls are washed and painted Sedona Sand.
3.  The heat grate is sanded and painted cream.
4.  The bathroom is cleaned and the carpet is down.

Yay!!!  I think I'm done and it only took 8 days. 

Now the walls look so good that the shower curtain and window curtain don't thrill me.  They are made of many types of ribbons and trims in many prints and polka dots.  The curtain needs to be tied back or something but it doesn't matter - I will be looking for something different.  The project goes on...

 

Is this my winter of discontent because the scene outside has become so colorless?  Am I nesting?  Do I feel guilty because I don't change things?  Is this easier than cleaning the rest of the house?  Is this how I will clean the rest of the house by painting so it will be clean when I'm done?  Am I doing this because I really want to work on my mixed media/altered art?  Ugh!

I'm off to paint the hallway - only 5 doors and one doorway. It will probably take me 2 weeks because of all the trim.  But in the end there will be no confusing curtains.

I told the SO that he better keep moving or I might redecorate him.  Help me! Help me!

Take care,

Bonnie

Healthy Salad?

In my long standing effort to eat healthy, I put a few healthy items on the weekly grocery list.  Romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, Almond Accents, Brianna's Poppy Seed Dressing and Tyson's Chicken Any'tizers.  My SO (significant other) does our grocery shopping - he knows what a problem it can be if I go to the store when I'm hungry.  It does help the economy when I pull up to our local grocery store, however, and I like to do my part.

I do live in fear that I will have to calculate the calories in my favorite healthy salad some day.  I imagine walking into the local Weight Watcher's meeting where I am asked to record my meals in my food journal...hmmm...best not to start this week.  If a dish contains lettuce, it must be diet food...not so much I guess.

Healthy salad in my world is an oxymoron...me being the moron for thinking I can lose weight using my version of healthy recipes.  My rationalizing begins early on in the food making process in my kitchen.  I have the basics down in my brain - lettuce, onions, green pepper, mandarin oranges and a lower caloric dressing...saving on my carbs.  This is where the meal goes viral...the almonds are good except for the sugared part, the chicken is good except for the breading, and then the portion size becomes problematic.  My intentions are usually good but I fall off the rails when I begin adding the things I really like to my healthy salads.

The concept of losing weight is pretty simple...exercise more than you eat.  I'll be off now to run around the county - again.

Take care,

Bonnie

A Woman's Rage?

"You know, years ago, a magazine writer called me and asked if I used humor so much because I was a woman and therefore needed to disguise my rage under something less threatening."  - Gail Collins, NY Times columnist

When I read this statement in the NYT, it made me smile.  Only a woman would be asked this question.  Then I asked myself -  am I one of those almost raging women???

I use humor frequently to amuse myself, to make a point and just because its fun to see human reactions to it.  You might guess that my humor is sometimes, might I say, sarcastic or aggressive.  Hm...can humor be aggressive?  Yes, I think so.  I voted yes and I won.

On one of our flights on our trip I sat next to a woman I had just met.  During the flight when  things were going to you-know-where-in-a-hand-basket - where did that saying come from? - she asked me if I was always so jovial about everything.  She took me by surprise with her comment.  I mumbled something through my embarrassment.  (Why?)  My grandson had just told me that I laugh a lot.  It sounded better coming from him.  He's seven.

Well - she soon discovered that my sense of humor didn't last forever.  At some point after missed flights and being herded through the airport from one end to the other, my humor wore thin and the rage began to bubble under the surface.  It took some time for this to happen but throw in being tired and the high anxiety of travel overseas these days and you have humor losing its disguise and threatening to slip into rage.

As I've aged/matured, I think I have mellowed somewhat. I do try to contain my opinions when not asked for them - this takes lots of energy.  I guess that's why I'm so often looking for a place to nap. 

It does help that I live in the middle of no where and like it here.  So I socialize on a regular basis, keep it light and as stress free as I can.  At this point in my life, I like to choose my battles carefully and using my sense of humor helps me do that effectively - mostly.  I'm not looking for perfection in life or in others anymore so I try to lighten up on my own self criticism too.

Laughing is like love...you can give it all away and it just keeps replenishing itself if you cultivate it.

Smile all the time - it drives people crazy!!! 

Take care,

Bonnie

A Project is a Project is a PROJECT!!!

So why is it when you decide to do a project - like simply painting a very small bathroom - it turns into a major, time-consuming, money pit, anger producing, energy draining PROJECT????

All I wanted to do is freshen up the bathroom...its small with white ceramic tile circling the room higher than chair rail height.  So one quart of paint will more than cover the walls with extra left over to paint the shelf so it will look coordinated. 

Because I like my hair to stay in place all day, I know I will have to really wash the hairspray off the walls with TSP.  So I get the white enamelware dishpan out - fill it with hot water and dump in a TBSP of TSP into it.  I get on my rubber gloves that come with my hair color and begin to wash the walls. 

Our house was built in 1949 and a cool, albeit, troublesome detail is that the tub sits in an alcove.  This produces steam that doesn't escape and creates moisture problems within this area.  The SO (significant other) periodically paints the walls and ceiling above the tub surround with cement paint and that takes care of this problem for a while.

I haul in a stool that is too short to get the top of the wall but has allowed me to see the ceiling.  The previous owner has committed the ultimate bathroom sin - they sprayed the ceiling so it is rough and is stained from the moisture.  Now I have to decide whether to continue washing the walls or stop to handle the ceiling.  Darn!  So I get the floor cleaning deal with the disposable pad and soak the ceiling with a cleaner containing some bleach.  Doesn't cure the problem...and I have ceiling dodo allover the whole bathroom sink, tub, floor, my hair and face.

Now its time to have a meeting in the bathroom to decide what to do.  It's decided that "we" meaning ""me" will paint the ceiling.  I picked up the wall paint this morning.  Now tomorrow I will have to find ceiling paint either in the basement where the leftover paint resides or I have to go to the store to get ceiling paint.  Me thinks while I'm there I better get trim paint to repaint the woodwork and door. 

I started out in such a good mood - SO was away for the day at the doctor and doing other errands - and I was going to wash the walls and then paint them and be done by supper time.

It's going to be a week long project and now I'm Mrs. Crabby Pants.  So I decided to share my whining and write another addition so you can empathize with me.  Is it working?  I'm feeling better I think.  Even if you don't care - I will be updating you on this project.  I did take a before picture so we'll see if its an improvement or not.

How was you day?   Start any new projects???

Take care,

Bonnie (alias Mrs. Crabby Pants)

Darn! Maybe not in a tree...

After doing some minimal research. I might have to alter my tree house plans.  Other than the fact that I really don't like heights, building one in the tree I'm thinking of isn't going to be feasible.  I guess I'm more pragmatic than I thought. 

So my new plan is to follow through on something I thought about while in Norway last month.  Those intelligent Norwegians built these little house like structures (stabbur) for food storage.  They put them on piles of rocks and some on stilts so the rodents couldn't get at their stockpiles of food.

This must be the logo for Sons of Norway but considering my picture through the window of the bus in Norway didn't really turn out - I'm sure they won't mind if I show you my idea for my stabbur.

So we have an old chicken coop or small granary whose sides are bulging and begging to be restored.  Part of the floor is cement that has heaved in the frost our winter/spring bring.  This floor issue has stopped all discussion of rebuilding plans because it seemed like so much work to move huge pieces of cement weighing tons.

Now - my idea is to take the small building down - piece by piece.  My sig other has a planer that I could learn to operate I think.  I know we couldn't selvage all of the wood but selvaging some would be so satisfying.  If we saved some of the boards, we would have fewer boards to purchase.

If we use timbers outside each corner of the existing footprint site for footings, we can build over the cement that is too bad to use as a floor.  Raising the floor deck by - say 24" - might be the trick. 

So now I would have a new place to hide - or - create and we would be using the old to make the new short tree house type shelter.  I will have to choose the appropriate time and mood to approach my new plan.  Actually I introduced this idea in Norway but I'm sure someone was banking on me forgetting the idea.  No such luck!

Huh?  The SO (significant other) wandered in and I went over my new idea...so we're in research mode.  He will stop at Menard's tomorrow and get some prices on a metal building that will look like my Norwegian idea - red with white trim and maybe grass on the roof?  or not.  I'm still holding out for a wood structure but I'm pliable.

Go figure!  I might have to make his favorite for supper tonight.  Woo hoo!  An idea might become a reality in a different form.  I'm good.

Take care,

Bonnie

Invite 'em to Lunch and Sneek in the Slide Show!

I have to laugh...I love to laugh so its not such a burden to laugh but we just spent a few hours with my Dad and Brother.  What a hoot!

It was an invitation for lunch and the 250+ pictures of Norway and Sweden.  Sounds like a fun afternoon - don't ya think? 

I didn't get as much straightened up as I had wanted to yesterday and this morning I was wanting/needing just a few more minutes/hours of sleep.  I'm usually a list maker but I was flying by the seat of my pants this morning trying to remember what needed to be done and in what order to maximize my time.  Swede sausage (the last one in the freezer - time to make more) in the oven on parchment paper - good thought - no icky pan afterwards, peel the potatoes, micro the corn, chop the ham and onions, and unwrap the frozen buns to thaw.  Should I make chowder or hotdish?  Hotdish it is but par boil the potatoes then dry my hair, and throw hotdish together and put in the oven after dialing down the heat so the sausage doesn't overcook.  Whew!

No time to make dessert so ice cream and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies it is.  In the "just found"  Halloween take out containers, toss some cookies in cool Halloween baggies, add a few small candy bars and close the top!  Now it's almost time for the guests to arrive...just get the coffee on and set the table.  They're here!

Both are in a good mood and we settle down to eat.  Whew!  The only thing wrong is burned buns..the Hawaiian kind...methinks its the sugar that was the culprit.  Oh well...1/2 are ok and the other half we'll just cut off the tops and eat the bottoms!

The slide show was quick - should have slowed it down but I can't remember what all the buildings are anyway so we looked at the beautiful scenery, the buses rainy windows prevent perfect  shots but the buildings are gorgeous so who cares if its the Parliament or a museum.  I have to organize and identify things before I totally forget where I was. 

My Dad

Today was fun - with both guests trying to talk at the same time.  Got in some real belly laughs...Honey and Norma Jean got lots of extra petting time so they are happy too!  Yay!  and the house is a little cleaner too!

Take care,

Bonnie

10 Things About Me...

Today I'm going to record 10 random things...

1. I procrastinate doing the things I love to do.  Is it the guilt programmed into my head that I must do the things I hate first?  Yes - I suspect that is partly the reason.  The other part might be that I've started so many other projects that I think I need to complete those things first.  So beginning tomorrow I will spend time on things I don't like to do (ie. housework), things I've begun and not finished, and a new altered art project that I've wanted to try.  I bet I will be up early and to bed late!

2.  I do like to cook but not difficult recipes...just simple ones that come under the heading...comfort foods.  It's great creative fun to find things in the cupboard/refrig and create something wonderful - like meatloaf, chocolate chip cookies or potato dish of some sort.  Now if only I like healthier food and less of it.

3.  I want to build my own tree house out in the middle of our driveway that circles around to our barn.  I want to create/find the building plans, buy the supplies and put it together with my own tools.  I'd like to do it in the spring so I can hang out and write and see things from above.  Looking for some plans will be my next step...or should I design it myself.  Hmmm...

4.  Driving is a passion of mine.  I love the freedom and the power of getting into the car, turning the key and leaving for anywhere.  When my adventure is over - usually exercise, coffee with friends and errands but also my 200 mile round trips to a bigger city for real shopping - I really like driving back home into the driveway and finding my husband, cat and dog waiting for me.  Everyone updating me on their day and me updating them on my day.  My bright red Chev HHR makes me smile when I see it outside waiting for me to power her up and go again.

5.  The hunt for things I think I might need for my altered art or to repurpose and sell for our two sales is a thirst that is never quenched.  My mind races as I look through my favorite magazine thinking of where I might find baby shoes or old vintage lace.  Should I make the thrift store route again or a garage or estate sale or ???  How can life ever be boring?  I cringe when people say they are bored.  I have a million things to do - buy - make - sell - write!  How can I share that passion with those people or do I want to?

6.  If a relationship becomes too difficult, I can usually walk away.  I wonder if this is a weakness I have or because I've hit the senior discount age I just don't have time to invest with those who make life too difficult or dramatic or competitive.  I'm not sure I like this part of me.

7.  I love my dog but there is something about a cat on my lap that melts me most days.  It must be the unconditional and haughty part of a cat that is satisfyingly comfortable to me.  It also means fall and colder weather which means I'm usually reading or knitting or crocheting while she naps.  Sometimes it means that my hubby will get my coffee out of the microwave where I forgot it.  I like that part too.

8.  My kitchen studio and fabric room are a mess and I really prefer working in that atmosphere.  I know it would look better when others peek into my room where my fabric appears to be falling out of the cubes where they used to be color sorted.  I like digging through the stacks of whatever to discover a long lost piece that will work just perfectly in what I'm making.  Ha!

9.  I miss my Mom every day.  She died almost 16 years ago.  I have a million things I would like to ask her about when she was young and growing up on the farm where boys were more important than girls.  I want to know everything she knew, everything she learned about life and what should I do today about this and that.  I would hug her more even though she wasn't a hugger.  I would do that for me.  How did she survive her mother dying when she was 15...was she scared about going to "town" and being a nanny...where did she learn to be so self sufficient.  I want to know what she knew.  I talk to her but she doesn't talk to me.  I miss my Mom.

10.  I need my Dad to live longer than I do.  I love him.  I don't want to be an orphan.  Period - the end.

Long were you a dream in your mother's sleep...

and then she woke to give you birth.

- Kahlil Gibran

What a beautiful baby - don't you think?

We welcome our new great grandgirl, Audriana Marie, to our family and our world!  Mom Bailey and Audriana are tired but are doing fine.  Gram Alissa is almost recovered too.  Auntie Gabby and Brooke are so proud along with Great Aunt Jen!  What a joy to celebrate this new little life!

Great Gram (me) just spent the last week at two different quilt retreats making a quilt and diaper bag for this great event.  I just finished the binding on the quilt last night so hopefully I can deliver the gifts and hold her soon.

The back of the quilt is the same pink fabric of the diaper bag.  The diaper bag closure is made from a metal tape measure so it snaps closed.

 

I hope Audriana will take a nap or two with my Crawling Baby quilt.  It was so much fun to make...lots of love sewn in those seams.

When I got home from my retreat, I cut my roses again so the blossoms wouldn't freeze.  There are still buds out there...imagine roses in October in northern Minnesota.  We've had a beautiful fall and with the birth of our newest family member it is quite a memorable fall at that.

 

Take care and hug your kids!

Bonnie

Ok - now for the gorgeous Norwegian scenery!!!

Ta Dah!!!  It's time for me to reveal some the dramatic scenery that we experienced on our Scandinavian Tour.  

First of all this is a map of our path beginning at Oslo...because of weather and other unfortunate happenings, we missed the Copenhagen leg of our tour.  We travelled about 2000 miles on a tour bus with the greatest driver ever!

Most of the following jaw dropping scenes were taken - some out of the bus window in the rain - on our journey from Oslo to Bergen which was up the mountains to the tundra and down to Bergen.

I believe the mountain in the distance is actually a glacier...funny thing about glaciers, they actually move.  Scary to me!!  but so beautiful and mysterious.

One of the ferry crossing we made on the bus!



Loved being in this scenery!!!



 These homes were on the tundra - just rock and very little else.



Lakes, fjords and mountains - God's wonders!

A couple real good bus meeting bus, bus meeting semi stories - I'll tell you when I see you!

Waterfalls and tunnels define Norway!

Troll marshmallows everywhere!!!



I took a million pictures out of the bus window trying to capture these bags filled with grasses and seeds for cattle.  I thought they were wrapping bales of hay or straw but they are actually bags.  I had this great story for my grandkids about troll marshmallows.  It was creative in my mind...because you know that trolls never want to be seen and if they are, they turn to stone!

Well - I have so many more pictures so I will be carrying around my laptop and cornering friends...beware! 

Take care,

Bonnie 

My Discovery of Norse Ships

Archeology 101:  Can you imagine finding this Viking ship?  

Discovered in Norway in 1906, the Oseberg ship (above),
the best preserved Viking ship ever found,  reveals its Norse
shipbuilders' graceful construction style. - PBS site

The Viking Ship Museum displays the large Viking ships Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune, as well as founds from the chief grave at Borre in the Vestfold district. The three ships are the best preserved Viking ships known, found in royal burial mounds in the Oslo fjord. As burial ships, carrying the dead over to “the Other World”, the ships were equipped with unique treasures such as wagons, horses and especially textiles which are seldom preserved from the Viking age, now on exhibit at the museum.

- http://www.norway.com/directories/d_company.asp?id=671

Our guide said that they found evidence that this ship, built around 800 A.D., carried the remains of a woman with her textiles amongst other items displayed in museum.  For more detail on the items found in this ship:

http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/Oseberg/textiles/TEXTILE.HTM

Buried in cold water and silt, the Oseberg ship was reconstructed with very little new wood.  They restored it using the pieces that were found at the site.  The craftsman were just that master of their craft.  It is beautiful and majestic.

It was difficult to get a full view of the ship even though there were balconies to take pictures.  I found this museum so interesting and if you want more information, here's links for more Viking history. 

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/ships.html

http://www.khm.uio.no/utstillinger/oseberg/indexE.html

Take care,

Bonnie

Lovely Norwegian Buildings

I love old buildings and so do Norwegians!  Norwegian buildings are so colorful and old!!!  They keep their old buildings - they don't tear them down like we have done to so many of our lovely old structures.

The green of this building in Oslo was so beautiful - of course, I love green but it was a sage green and the masonry trim around the windows made it look like a giant gingerbread building.

This building had murals painted at the top...unique!

This was The Grand Hotel in Oslo, I thought it was grand!  There was another Grand Hotel in Stockholm equally as grand!

Such a great picture even if I don't know what it was used for!  On our trip I found the buildings of Norway and Sweden so interesting.  They were almost like gingerbread but with lovely colors and lots of masonry detail.  Not only the buildings in the cities were unique to me but the homes in the countryside were such different and wonderful colors.

These soft pastel beauties caught my eye.  Except for this delivery truck, I believe this was a pedestrian walk...Karl Johan's Gate.  There was usually one of these areas in each of the larger cities we visited.  It helps when you don't have to worry about cars and trucks when you are gawking upwards at the great sites.  My new friend, Mary Kay, is doing just that!

Look at how the houses were crowded together in the distance and of course the wonderful building in front.  Houses were so close together that I wondered if they planned the windows accordingly so you wouldn't be looking directly into each other's homes.

I'll get back to you on what this building is but I guess it doesn't really matter because I thought it was so stately and lovely sitting at the end of an area of gardens and statutes. 

That's all for today - only 260 pictures left to show you - just kidding!!!

Norway is the land of my ancestors - it just felt good to be there and enjoy the people and the culture and the buffets!!

Take care,

Bonnie

Back Home - Yay!

Imagine our surprise when we arrived home from two weeks in Scandinavia to roses on the table, lasagna in the refrigerator, apple cake on the counter along with a beautiful card and lovely necklace!  I celebrated my birthday in Stockholm but what a wonderful surprise awaited me at home!  John and Addy picked out the roses - I love them!

Jen searched through my old pictures to make copies to use for my card and in my necklace!  I love the old pictures, the flowered sofa my Mom and me are posing on and the horse I'm sitting on (made by my Dad for me!)  My necklace has a picture of me too in all my pudgy glory! I can't wait to find a new outfit to wear with my new accessory!  It's made on a glass slide with a handmade tiny flower with pearl center and it says "My Mother".  I do love handmade gifts - don't you???  So thoughtful and creative.

My daughter and her family took great care of our dog, Honey, and our cat, Norma Jean.  It was wonderful not having to worry about our furry "kids" at home.  Norma Jean caught two mice while we were gone much to Jen's surprise!  Norma had never hunted them down before so this was a very good thing - except to those who found them...(better her than me!)

While in Sweden, I commented that I would make spaghetti as soon as I got home after living on fancier food while traveling in Norway and Sweden.  But I didn't have to cook when we got home - we had a great meal of lasagna about 30 minutes after we arrived home.  It was a wonderful trip but it is nice to be home and in touch with family again! 

We had a hard frost last night so I cut most of the roses off the bushes that my son in law, John, has given me for past Mother's Days!  So beautiful to have all these roses in my house!  Yay!

We are feeling less jet lag so I will post some of the 265 pictures I took in future posts.  So many waterfalls, mountains, and fjord scenery I'd like to share with you...a few at a time so I don't shut blogger.com down!

It's so good to be home!

Bonnie