Water Dogs

My nephew dog Jake loves water.  Since he is a "town dog" this love was just discovered this spring when he was at my parents' farm where a creek runs in front of the house.  Often, this creek is nothing but a little stream.  Some years (Oh, those lovely dry years!) it is completely dry and a mower can drive along the bed.  This year has been wet so the creek has been high, first with the water from melting snow, and then from the continuous rain that has fallen all summer.  If you throw a ball in that water he launches himself in like he is jumping off a diving board.  It is really funny!  I have some videos of this phenomenon but the giggling of me and my sister in the background is wayyyy to embarassing to share!  Haha!  I giggled all over again when I was watching them!  

There he is, cutting through the water like a champ swimmer while his equally water loving but less agressive buddy Wally wades around...As you can see in the photo the surroundings are not very green so that means it was early spring and that water was probably very cold but they don't care!

He doesn't stop chasing until the thrower stops throwing...

When I heard about a certain event at a local public pool I thought of Jake immediately...after the pool closes for the year they let people bring their dogs there to swim!  Check out this poster!  It is tomorrow!

http://www.ci.moorhead.mn.us/Uploads/2011%20Poster.pdf

Unfortunately, Jake's mom said he wasn't allowed to go!  Well...she is going to be out of town for work that night and I sure don't want to deal with him all by myself!  I've never even walked him on his leash!  Don't feel too bad...that dog gets plenty of attention and opportunities for fun!

This weekend we were at Upper Cormorant Lake and took a few leisurely boat rides around the perimeter of the lake where we saw a dog launch himself off a dock like a daredevil!  Animals are so funny!  It was a perfect weekend to be at a lake and it makes me sad to think that summer is coming to an end soon...

Mother's Day

Hello and happy Mothers Day to anyone reading this who is a mother!  Allan already called me and told me I was the best human mom he knows.  Ha ha ha.  Last year I made a very nice post with pictures of all the mothers in my family and nothing has changed since then so I will refer you back to that post for some nostalgia.

 I did see my mom, Justin's mom, and one of my grandmothers over the weekend. Saturday was our nephew, Blake's, 4th birthday party. It was held in Grand Forks at the steaming, sweltering sauna also known as the hotel pool area.  It was fun for the kids.  The party was at what used to be a Holiday Inn, and the pool area has a pirate/shipwreck theme and a pretty big waterslide, at least for a hotel.  Our wedding was at that hotel, almost four years ago, so it brought back some memories! 

The birthday boy after sliding down one of the small slides.  This picture is pretty bad but the rest were worse.  The lighting was strange and none of the kids I tried to take pictures of wanted to look.  I don't blame them.

Blowing out candles!

Cousin Cayson was in attendance. 

So was Cousin Jack!

I visited the farm over the weekend.  Andrea and Jake came on Saturday morning and it was a lovely warm day and I got to see Jake's newly discovered swimming skills.  Here is is getting ready to plunge into the water to get his ball!  When he jumps in he does this funny pouncing thing that is quite hilarious. 

He is a maniac.

He looks like a werewolf!

My dad's shop is progressing.  When I arrived on Friday there were trenches criss crossing the yard.  The time for wiring and plumbing has come!  I have to mention that there is a machine that makes those trenches...they would be hard to dig!  The were about 12-18 inches deep. 

Wally is a huge cling-on sometimes.  He loves attention!



Justin helped for awhile today while also entertaining Jake's never ending compulsion for play.  There is no end to the "fetch" that dog can play. 

Christmas Celebrations

Wow, it's over (well, not really...the 12 days of Christmas have just started) but the main event has passed.  Ours was crazy, as usual.  I can't believe it.  Last year I had several blog posts about my favorite Christmas stories and songs and memories that were long and elaborate.  I didn't really rise to the occasion this year, mostly because I have a job and in December last year I didn't!  So I did my best, I guess! 

On Christmas Eve we spend the evening at Justin's aund and uncle's house.  It is a night of excessive eating.  There is always a traditional visit from Santa!   

That is nephew Dylan getting his present from Santa!  It's so funny watching the kids and how astounded they are! 

I made Justin pose for a Christmas photo!

We arrived back at my parents' house around 11, where my extended family was still opening gifts!  I was glad to make it back so my grandparents could see us open our gifts from them. 

On Christmas morning I woke up early, as I always do!  I admit I still love the idea of presents under the tree and in the stockings!  It is a remnant of childhood that I will always keep with me I think...

 Presents!  Haha.  I got some good ones, including a fancy sewing machine from Justin. 

I caught poor Jakey lurking outside the window.  I'm sure he could hear the commotion and wanted to be inside with us!

It didn't take long for the house to start resembling an episode of the TV show "Hoarders"!  Don't worry, those bags of trash were discarded in a timely manner!

Around lunch time more visitors came and we had another round of presents and festivities.  

 My aunt Kris gave me these very nice potholders!  I love them! 

My grandma surprised me with an ornament that has hung on her tree for about 26 years...it is a framed baby picture of me!

It was around the time when darkess was descending when an unusual event happened.  We were sitting in the living room and Justin noticed that something strange was running by outside the window!  It was a horse...and another horse!  And then more horses!  Someone's horses were on the loose and roaming the countryside.  They explored the yard, checked out Dad's new shop (it doesn't have doors yet) and finally got down to business grazing in the pasture (yes, there is a pasture although it hasn't been used for grazing animals since the 1960's!).  My mom called our neighbor who lives down the road about 2 miles and owns horses but no one was home.  The horses, although gigantic, were calm and not hurting anything so we just went back to our festivities.
 

They spent the night and continued to mill around the yard until the neighbor showed up the next day, most likely after following the trail these huge animals blazed in the snow.  Justin and I were celebrating Christmas with his family in Grand Forks (pictures of this will come later...there were babies there so I thought I'd give that Christmas a separate post) so we missed the action. 

He had a bucket of food and called out to them and the gathered around!  Then he started to lead them down the driveway!

Soon they started walking on their own toward their home!  I love how they got in a single file line!  They seemed like nice animals and made a very idyllic scene when they were calmly grazing surrounded by the frosted trees!  I'm glad their owner found them so they could get home!

Opening Weekend

This weekend was the opening weekend of deer hunting with a rifle (bow hunting is allowed for several months each fall and rifle season only lasts a few weeks).  Justin loves this weekend and he goes to his cousin's house for the weekend (although he doesn't only go there this weekend).  I usually go with for the opener although I don't shoot a gun or have Hunter's Safety certification. 

The first time I went hunting was when we were dating and I was 20 years old.  Opening weekend is always at the beginning of November and it is imopossible to predict what the weather will be like. That first year, it was very cold and snowy.  One year there was an ice storm that knocked down power lines and left us without electricity for the weekend and coated every fence and every blade of grass with ice.  It was very beautiful and also challenging!  One year it felt like summer and everyone hunted in Tshirts.  This year was very nice.  It was near 60 and the sun was bright during the day so walking outside was alot of fun.  Although I love warm weather, experienced hunters say that when it is warm the deer do not move around as much so hunting is usually not as productive. 

It is hard to see them in this photo, but Justin and his friend Aaron are pictured in the distance.  Justin is at the base of those two trees that form a V and Aaron is easier to see by the large tree trunk. They were wearing orange and were very visible in life! It is taken near Justin's family's farm (where his cousin lives and where his dad grew up).  There is a small river that runs nearby so there are areas with alot of trees where deer can be found.

This is our nephew, Dylan.  He is 6 and went out walking with use for awhile.  He got kind of bored with hunting but that is understandable for a young kid his age.  I'm sure his interest will increase when he gets older. 

This little house is a familiar landmark to me!  After all these years, I decided to take a picture!  It is a place where the person posting with thier rifle sits and waits for the deer to be pushed out of the trees and grass.  I believe it is an old dog house that was maybe intended for a herding dog. 

Usually the end of daylight savings time usually happens the weekend before this one but this year it took effect Saturday night/Sunday morning.  Justin and the hunters usually like to go out at sunrise to look for deer so that means we get up at around 5:45 am.  This year it was nice that sunrise didn't happen until around 7:00 am!  Also, it allowed them to hunt later into the evening.  On Sunday morning we were back to the old way of getting up at 6 and I snapped a few pictures of the sunrise. 

Our friends Aaron and Andy were parked about 1/2 mile away and saw my flash in the distance when I took the pictures!  Hopefully I didn't scare away any deer!

I love this picture!  Guys usually avoid my efforts at group photos but I caught them! 

Meanwhile, back in my hometown, opening weekend was also in full swing.  My dad and my brother and brother-in-law hunt with a big group of guys and on Saturday evening the local fire department holds "smoker".  If you are unfamiliar with smokers, they are events that traditionally have been held for men and involve drinking, smoking and heavy gambling with the proceeds going toward community purposes.  This specific one is held in the firetruck garages.  It is now acceptable for women to attend and smoking is no longer allowed in the fire department but the spirit is the same I guess!  I was sitting in the local bar with Justin and his cousins when I looked at my phone and saw that I had recieved this photo message...

That's my mom holding a shotgun!  At first I thought she was just being silly but I found out that she won that gun in a drawing!  The gun is from Scheels and she can either pick it up after passing her background check or take the value in store credit.  Since it is a gun intended for bird hunting and no one in my family does that she will probably take the credit instead.  That could buy alot of shoes for running or a nice new ski outfit! 

I left after lunchtime on Sunday and, of course, Justin got a buck and his friends got a buck and a doe.  No one shot a deer the whole time I was there (well, there were shots fired, but no success!) and as soon as I left luck started to change!  I hope they don't banish me from hunting from now on!  I don't have the photos of his buck on my computer yet so I will show it off later if he wants me to.  It is a 5x6 if that means anything to any of you!  It's severed head is in my garage right now but I will spare you any pictures of that.  I don't really relish the sight myself.  My dad's group hunts more for meat and population control so they don't really worry about size or racks but I heard they got three bucks.  They process it themselves into jerky and pepperoni sticks which are delicious.  My family usually doesn't eat the roasts but if my mom gets any unwanted ones she cooks them and uses them for pet food which I think is a good use.  Justin gets his meat processed professionally at a local butcher and they make delcious summer sausage and pepperoni.  We eat roasts sometimes.  I prefer them after being cooked in a crock pot for several hours!

I stopped at the farm after I parted ways with Justin on Sunday just in time to trudge through the woods around the house to push out two bucks that Pete and Kirk (my brother and brother-in-law) had seen run in there.  They came out but escaped to live another eay!  I feel bad for the deer during hunting season but I also agree with the concept of population control to reduce starvation and disease.  Also, I know alot of people donate the venison to charities and homeless shelters so I think alot of good comes from deer hunting.  Not to mention, it is a good time to spend time with friends and family doing a wholesome outdoor activity!

Change of Scenery

The farm that I refer to often is where I grew up (at least since 1991) and where my parents still live has looked pretty much the same since that time.  When I was in high school my dad built a new machine shed and the year I graduated he added a sunroom/mud room onto the house.  About a month ago I learned that my dad had a builder over to make plans to build a new shop!  There is already a building that we call the "shop" which is where my dad keeps his tools.  That shop is prohibitive because it is not big enough to pull a truck or tractor into.  Also, it doesn't have heat except for an old wood burning stove.  There are also a few machine sheds but they don't have heat or electricity and one has a gravel floor.  This new shop will have a concrete floor that is also heated!  It will have elecricity, heat, and plumbing!  "Plumbing" includes a bathroom!  He will be able to work on projects in this nice warm shop all winter long.  It will have windows and various doors.  This is going to be fun...

It is progressing quickly.  Dad excavated the sight with his bulldozer in preparation for the build.  One afternoon I was talking to my mom on the phone as she was driving home and as she drove into the driveway she said something along the lines of  "Oh, what has he been doing?!"  He had gone to town on the area and tore down an old elecrtric pole (the wires are now buried). I arrived today soon after noon and the builders had poured the concrete and were smoothing it with big electric trowels.  By the time it gets too cold the structure should be up and ready to be finished.  He plans on doing the interior work himself, including the insulating, wiring, and plumbing. 

I saved my photography for after the workers had gone home so they wouldn't think I was crazy!  Who would want a picture of cement drying?  I am actually pretty amazed by this cement...it is fast drying so it could already be walked on today although it is not ready for heavy use.  Building will start on Monday if weather permits. 

 I carved my name for posterity!

Wally is mildy interested in the project.  Fortunately, the builders didn't seem to mind a clingy dog visiting them throughout the day.   There is going to be a dog door for him so he can take shelter on cold nights. 

Those orange tubes run under the concrete to heat the floor .  This is where the bathroom will be.  I've always thought we needed a third bathroom!  Maybe I will start sleeping in the shop when we have alot of guests!

I think it is so crazy that this cement dries so fast...it still looks wet but is solid!  The view will be quite a bit different soon, but in a good way!

Oh, Allan!

I was just about to start writing about something else when I heard a noise in the kitchen. At first I thought the scrubber in the sink had fallen over but then I remembered...I had left a little tealight canlde burning on the counter. I got it as a free sample from a PartyLite saleswoman and was supposed to burn it and then answer some survey questions. Candles have proven to be a bad choice around Allan in the past because he stares at the flame and his whiskers get singed (seriously) so I haven't burned one in months.

Well, he got into this one and now there is wax splattered on the counter. I don't care about that, though. The poor kitten has wax on the bottom of his paw and I think he might have burned himself! And of course he won't let me hold him long enough to try to remove it. He is just sitting in the corner, licking obsessively. I'm sorry, kitten! You didn't know wax was hot! :(

Today was my uncle Gale's 55th birthday! Happy birthday! I thought I'd mention it because 55 is a mini-milestone birthday, and also because I have this funny picture in my stash. I mostly like how that cat is sitting and looking like it is running the show. There is a whole series of the "Skjo Bros." taken on this day and they all have this cat who is just draped over their trikes and in their arms. So cute!

I'm not sure when this was taken...probably in 1958?



Oh, look, kitty! A baby Tim!
My dad has always talked about his favorite cat from his childhood. They called him Harmon Killebrew because he would stand by 1st base when he and Gale were out playing baseball in the yard on the farm. He was white with dark "cow" spots and he must have been a good coach because they both became good players. Tim became a regular high school home run hitter and Gale pitched at NDSU after high school. I just researched the real Harmon Killebrew online and he was, apparently, a very kind and quiet guy even though he was a huge star. If that was the case, he would probably find this story amusing and cute like I do.

The Increase

Af few weeks ago I was at my parents' house and I noticed this field that is right across from our house. I always have intentions of taking pictures of wheat fields but I always miss the opprotunity because once they are gold they don't last very long! This one wasn't quite ready yet. Well, It was ready on Friday and now it is nothing but stubble!
This weekend was looking like a boring one. Justin decided to go fishing at Devil’s Lake and I, lacking plans of my own, ended up at the farm on Friday night. Harvest has commenced and my parents are really busy.

On Saturday morning I thought it would be a good idea to go visit my cousin Katie and her husband. I haven’t seen where she has lived since she got married and moved to northern Minnesota. Soon, my plans changed, however. My brother had to work at his bank teller job until Saturday afternoon. The problem was that conditions for combining were perfect and there were two combines and three trucks but only two drivers! (My dad and my grandpa who is almost too old to climb into machinery and plants himself in his combine at the beginning of the day and doesn’t move. My mom was around but had other work to do as well.) I knew the situation must have been desparate when my dad said “You want to drive combine?”

Now, I haven’t drove a combine in almost 10 years and the one I used to drive was older and much smaller than my dad’s new one, which has a 30 foot header and satellite guided automatic steering. As soon as I agreed he immediately started having second thoughts. I’m sure he was imagining me running into the truck with his new 30 foot header or missing the truck while unloading the grain. I insisted that I wanted to, though, so we went out to the field and he supervised me while I became familiar with the combine. For those inexperienced, the actually driving isn’t the hard part, even with huge machinery. It doesn’t seem as big when you are behind the wheel. Also, the autosteer means that the only time you have to do anything but watch is at the end of the field when you have to lift the header, change speed, and turn all at once. I was most nervous about unloading because 10 years ago I never was responsible for that part. I did it! Yeah! There was a lot of unloading, by the way, because this was some dense, good quality wheat. We had to unload after every round. (It also was very dry with high protein content. . .all good!).
After a few rounds in the cab with Timothy, and after a hilarious display of him imitating my brother’s surly, text messaging auto steer posture, and after several exclamations of “Maren! Are you paying attention to what I just said!?” he left me alone, just me and the field, while he took off with our full truck. No disaster ensued! Then my brother showed up and we moved to a new field, where my grandpa was combining, and he supervised my driving and we made fun of the nonsense my grandpa spewed over the radio as he tried to tell us what to do. Soon, I got bored sitting there because autosteer was doing everything so I bailed and left Pete to the combining and went to visit my cousin.

There I am, at the control panel!

Approaching to unload. Or maybe not. . .the auger is on the left, not the right!

Such a majestic sight! That's Pete in the cab.

Back to the visit to MN. . .I was especially excited about this visit because they have kittens at their house! They live in the country and they have an energetic but nice border collie that I haven't seen since he was a puppy (his name is Walker which is short of Walker Texas Ranger) and several barn cats (Rusty, Miss Kitty, Jackie Boy and Quonset Kitty) and cute little baby kittens! We had dinner, made by Katie, and made plans to go to the vintage drive in movie theater in Warren. We packed a cooler and bought some offsale but when we arrived at the theater the lot was empty and the owner told us that the amplifier was broken. No movie tonight! We got gift certificates though. Then we went to the bar and ended up “roadtripping” like high school kids until we ended up at one of Adam’s old friends’ house where a dying party was going on. It was pretty fun, actually. Very silly.

The next day I met Justin in Larimore and we went back to the farm so Justin could satisfy his combining urge. This meant that my brother had to join my dad in the filthy world of truck driving. Haha. You can’t text and drive those beasts! My mom and I walked to the neighbors’ yard because they always let us pick their sweet corn. Holy crap! They didn’t just have corn. They had a huge garden! And of course, all of their plants were about three times the size of the ones in our garden. I might have sneaked an onion out with the corn because it looked so delicious! Next year I am going to smuggle a truckload of RRV pasture soil to Bismarck so I can have a garden with tomato plants that are 5 feet tall and pepper plants that are up to my waist and onions that actually grow

4th of July Again!

I returned home yesterday after being "home", as I refer to the area where I grew up, for almost one week. It was a very fun 4th of July weekend. On Friday Justin and I went to Upper Cormorant Lake to his parents' lake cabin that they purchased recently (well, almost two years ago, but that is recent in cabin years, I guess). It was pretty hot out so it was a good place to be. I spent most of Saturday sitting in a lawn chair reading and looking at the water.

What a nice view! They have a huge stretch of beach. I got out of my chair to play with my nephew who had a new inflateable turtle. I pulled him around, cringing at the weeds under my feet that increased with depth (I have always been mildly uncomfortable with aquatic plants in lakes and rivers but just suck it up because I am also uncomfortable with people who whine about things like that and let it ruin the fun. I also overcame my issues to an extent after swimming in Golden Lake, the greenest lake in America, as a child). He kept "tricking" me by pointing off into the distance and saying "what's that?" and sliding off the turtle when I looked away. Sneaky, sneaky! This went on until he got bored with me and went to play with the neighbor girls.

That turtle was pretty sweet until it got a hole in it and only the middle chamber would hold air!

On Saturday evening we went to Hatton to attend the annual street dance, parade and demolition derby. This has always been a favorite weekend of mine, and I have enjoyed it more over the years since I have reached the age of majority and my relatives have started joining us for the weekend. It was still in the 90's with about 99% humidity when we arrived and the house I grew up in isn't air conditioned due to the age of the house. It is heated by a boiler and big, metal radiators so it is not possible to install central air without prohibitive cost as it is in some other old houses. It felt like a sauna in that place! It even got to my brother and sister and myself, and we are used to it!

We had a dance to get ready for, and we ladies were completely wilted! Getting "fixed up" was a huge drag because as bad as it felt downstairs, upstairs is usually much hotter. As you can see, Andrea and I went with the natural look and our hair was taking over the whole room. (Behind Andrea you can see a window air conditioner. . .we have two and one is in my brother's room because he is there during the summer. We chose our sunroom to cool and that is where everyone sat for most of the evening.)

Fortunately, while the dance was in progress, the "front" finally moved behind some violent weather in Minnesota and the house had cooled considerably by the time we went home to sleep.

The next morning we watched the parade in town. We sat across from the newly finished and opened swimming pool that I wrote about a few weeks ago!

It looks very good and inviting, I think! The sight makes me so happy! I love seeing kids in town riding their bikes or walking in that direction with their towels once again!

It is hard to see, but that plane is pulling a banner that says Happy 4th HMC. (HMC stands for Hatton Men's Club). The same pilot flew around above the derby later that afternoon and did some pretty crazy stunts!

This was a funny float! It is a bar on wheels.

Hopefully there weren't any fires in the area that morning because all of the fire trucks were in the parade!

YEAHHHH!

After the parade, we went home to eat lunch and get ready to go the the demolition derby. I've heard people speak of events like a demolition derby with distain, as something that is "red-neck" or "trashy". Well, I don't think of myself or my town that way (I think the swimming pool efforts prove that). The derby raises around $10,000 every year and the money all goes to community improvement and good causes involving youth. I can think of countless fundraisers that don't do nearly as much good or are anywhere close to as fun so I guess I don't think that is trashy either. However, it can be fun to embrace the stereotypes and my cousin brought a pack of cheap fake tatoos for us to wear!

We snuck up to a guest room to get inked! My aunt decided to highlight her bicep. I put some weird goth looking cat on my ankle.

Getting parked is pretty intense, and they don't let people park until 7 am on the 4th. Well, maybe HMC members might be allowed to sneak in early ;) We had two pickups and they ended up being "boys" and "girls".

"Boys"

"Girls"

In the photo above, the two black cars are stuck together! They couldn't get unstuck and had to remove themselves from the action before they even had a chance to hit anyone! They were not too happy about the decision, but they had another chance. There are 6 heats, then several "last chance" heats for any driver who can get their smashed up pile of crap to still run after losing their original heat, and the championship. There is a professional referee to keep things under control, and the fire department is on the premises. There are HMC members standing around the ring with fire extinguishers and flags to stop the action. Drivers can't hit each other on the drivers side. The concept of a demolition derby seems dangerous, but I have been watching it for about 15 years and have never seen an injury or a serious fire that wasn't contained in seconds.

That is my brother in law and my cousin trying to squeeze between the pickups! It was pretty tight!

This is my mom and myself with David, my brothers best friend from childhood. His family lived near us and he and his younger brother used to have sleeping bags at our house because they slept over so often. He was a distinguished member of the fire department and decided to really play it up! (This was after it was over, so he was off duty! Haha.)

Awww, reunited. . .

This is me and my dad after the derby having a quick happy hour cocktail.

We went home and hung out in the yard. Justin got down to business building the fire. My dad gathered logs, while he doused them in flamable liquid.

Soon the logs went up in flames!

What do you call this game? Monkey balls? Norwegian Golf? Indian Golf? Polish Golf? Any kind of ethic slur combined with golf? I call it Monkey Balls.

Jake loves coming to the farm and might have had the best weekend of his life. He loves being around alot of people who play with him.

Wallace had fun too, but was still his usually clingy self. As you can see, the heat got to him and he was swimming and rolling in dirt.

We did some fireworks when it got dark. I love sparklers. When we moved to ND when I was 7 I had never had a 4th of July where I didn't watch a professional fireworks display. I didn't know what we would do when I found out the town didn't have one. My mom told me we could buy our own, which seemed crazy. I had never even done a sparkler! That first night on the farm we children just stood there with our sparklers and my dad thought we didn't "get it" so he grabbed two sparklers and went running across the yard, flailing his arms around and making sparks fly. I was hilarious and I remember it with clarity.

It looks like my sparkler decided to quit early! Sad!

I have a "Fireworks" setting on my camera so I had to try it. It didn't work that great for the airborn fireworks, but this one looks OK. . .

We were all tired and wrapped up the weekend soon after the display ended. Swilling beer all day in the hot sun can lead to such a result, I have learned! Every room of our 6 bedroom house was full of people, and my cousin even slept in the hallway on a mattress. I think the house, if it had feelings, would be very happy on weekends like this! Old houses, with there many bedrooms, were built that way! Although, it seems that huge families in "the old days" didn't wake up having to piss really bad in the morning because one bathroom for five bedrooms (the other bedroom is downstairs, and the bathroom is attached to it) isn't the most enjoyable way to live. Ugh. Trying to use a bathroom this weekend was like trying to speak to a living person at the Wells Fargo Student Loan call center. For anyone who hasn't experience it, it takes forever.

Happy birthday America! Even with all the problems we have (the wretched mess of an oil spill, to name one) I still feel that the 4th is a day filled with optimism.