I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
Chocolate Chip Bars
Quick Bars from Cake Mix
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• 1 box of dry yellow cake mix
• Add two eggs that have been beaten with a fork
• 1 stick of melted butter
• 2 cups of chocolate chips
Spray 9″ x 13″ cake pan
Mix the four ingredients until blended
Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the center of pan
Tiger’s Eye Sumac Seed Pod
Not only does the air feel like fall with a mild temp and low humidity, but the farmer’s market is going full bore with yummies. My cucumber plant has blossoms that are setting, but the tomato — not so much. One — one little tomato the size of a marble with no other blossoms evident. The farmer’s market is in the town square three times a week and it is amazing the following that the three vendors have. During this first of the season tomatoes I am treating myself to toasted tomato sandwiches on a regular basis for breakfast. I can get back to my Greek Yogurt and frozen blueberries anytime but getting those wonderful fresh tomatoes is in real time.
Dennis has been watering the gardens using water from the Koi pond. The watering can is filled by a good dip and then each individual plant gets a good dose. All of the great fertilizer can’t hurt. Several years ago I noticed that the larger green houses sold condensed liquid fish fertilizer at a premium. As I was toddling behind Dennis and checking out the backyards I couldn’t believe how the tiger’s eye sumac had sprouted their seed pods. This is the first year I have noticed them. Again, another sure sign of fall. The lime green with the contrast of red is very eye catching. Take care and catch ya later.
Oh my gosh. Sometimes events take place and I am tele-ported back in time. Forty nine years back in fact. In 1964 Orlin and I lived in a rental home in Riesel Texas. It was single-wall build and built on grade. We had mud daubers (harmless, but looking like wasps) that would build nests in our closets when we were not looking. Scorpions would hide in our bath towels and we wouldn’t see them until you were soaking wet and ready to come out of the shower reaching for that selfsame towel. The back porch was infested with termites but — it was our first home.
Orlin was so proud of finding a used riding mower at a great price that he couldn’t wait to use it in the backyard. He didn’t score the mower until late in the day but the head lights of the 1956 Buick Hearse lit the way for him to get that yard in shape.
Fast forward to 2013 in downtown Fairfax as son Kevin and his wife Kersten are making their mark in real estate. Everyone needs a weed whip to take care of less than desirable greenery. When the weed whip is acquired late in the day, why not use the headlights of a Ford pickup to light the way? Priceless!
Today was a day of catch up around the yards and house. There doesn’t seem to be a chance of any rain so Dennis and I did some tag team on watering the gardens. The smell of the wet dirt was great even if it was artificially induced. The plants looked great after the leaves had been washed off. Catch ya later.
Today was my last physical therapy appointment from the April 25th, 2013 reverse shoulder replacement. I officially received my degree to “go forth and enjoy life.” It was by no means two months of appointments. The first six weeks the arm and shoulder were held in place within a sling. Since that time I have seen Mike T. at the hospital’s physical therapy unit just once a week. Michael Tonsanger holds a doctorate in physical therapy. I have been in excellent hands. Today’s appointment took place in the gym of the hospital’s physical therapy unit. I was put through the drills of arm and shoulder strength and I can assure you that Mike had plenty of resistance on the bands that I used for pulling, punching and lifting. The entire while I was going through the drills Mike was hands on as he was checking to see how the muscles were firing. It has been a great surgical success and I love the ability for mobility without the pain of the severed rotor cuff. Great days ahead.
Rhubarb Crumble Dessert
Rhubarb Crumb Dessert
• Blend 2 cups of flour
2 cups of Oatmeal
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup of cooking oil
• Press 3/4 of mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking pan
• Add 6 cups of Rhubarb evenly on top
• 1 cup sugar sprinkled on Rhubarb
• Dot with butter
• Add remaining crumble on top
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour
As rhubard is best cut before July 4th, use frozen rhubarb or a large can of blueberry or cherry pie filling can also be used. Dessert can be served with whipped cream or ice cream.
Hats off to my parents, Raymond and Lena. When chores time was rushed or busier than usual supper still needed to be on the round oak table when all six of us stuck our feet under it. The schedule was that young stock, hogs and chicken chores needed to be done when Mom yelled that supper was ready. The summer staple for a fast meal included newly dug potatoes boiled with the skins on. Sliced cucumbers and almost equal number of sliced onions were smothered in a sauce made up of mayonnaise, a bit of vinegar, a bit of sugar and a bit of cream. The creamed cucumbers were then served over the hot mashed potatoes right on each of our plates. Wham, bam, thank you Mom and it was then off to get the Holstein dairy heard milked. My Mom was involved in all the chores as well as milking and what she put on the table for us was always outstanding and oh so tasty. It was yummy then and it was yummy tonight as that is what Dennis and I had for a supper. Catch ya later.
Oh my Gosh. Stauffer Avenue is just the sweetest place in the whole world. It is not often that Dennis had to have an appointment at the Veteran’s Clinic and Hospital in Minneapolis but today was the day. The old 18 wheeler never leaves anything to chance and is on the road far earlier than I would imagine is necessary. The appointment was for eleven this forenoon and Dennis had the car in the driveway at 7:15 and off we were off on our 129 mile trip. In my mind I could see us getting to the VA early enough to grab a cup of coffee and maybe even glance at a newspaper that always seems to be in abundance in the waiting rooms.
We don’t venture to the metro very often so it is interesting to see what has changed in the landscape in regard to additional buildings as well as checking out the crops. Farmers from another time need to check out the crops and revisit tales of “remember when.”
The traffic really began to get heavy about the time we were on Highway 169 at the Canterbury Downs exit. We were at that area at 9:00 a.m. It is approximately 10.1 miles to the 494 East ramp. We arrived at 494 East ramp at 10:35. It was the most maddening experience either Dennis or I have ever had. The two lanes of traffic merging into one and often times at a total stand still was beyond belief. I kept wondering when one of the 18 wheeled semi drivers would go ballistic and take a lot of us out as he started shifting down the gears and let it rip. Anyway, I know darn well the turtle would have won the board today — hands down.
We arrived at the VA parking lot a bit after 11:00. Getting out of the vehicle we must have looked like two people that had been folded up in a cardboard box, aka: stiff in all our joints. On the way home we stopped to see Megan and Nicholas for a bit and that made the trip very sweet indeed. After this road trip I can honestly say that Stauffer Avenue is indeed the most wonderful place to be.
Can’t you almost smell it? The combination of kettle corn being hawked next to the vendor selling cotton candy means only one thing and that it is county fair time. I will admit that I knew that the fair was going on no more than one mile from my home and I did not attend and I have not attended for the last fifteen years. I have vivid fair memories that I can play back at any given time with just the closing of my eyes as I am sitting on the patio with a cup of coffee.
My Mom and Dad allowed me to be in 4-H during our my pre-teen years. It was not an easy sell as there really was no time for foolishness on the farm. After all, we had work to do. One night as we were eating supper Corrine Ewert called and ask if they could pick me up and take me along to the District 34 schoolhouse as that is where the Boon Lake 4-H club was holding their monthly meetings. I begged and begged and Dad agreed after I had finished with the milking chores. I was done and cleaned up, sitting on the house steps when Corrine and her folks came for me.
Of course I got to join and in time my Mom became an adult leader for sewing and baking. We enrolled in projects and that enrollment was complete with record keeping as we worked towards the end goal: taking entries to the McLeod County Fair in Hutchinson in the fall of the year. You cannot believe how kids with no other social outlet other than attending rural School District 34 could get so excited about sewing an apron or baking a loaf of bread. Saturdays were high drama in the kitchen as I went about soaking my cake of yeast in just the right temperature for a batch of bread. The goal was perfect domed loafs with no crack on the sides that would indicate it had not risen equally and I had not shaped it correctly.
In time to come the challenge was to enter “Silent Bread Baking” and ‘Silent Pie Baking” 
competitions at the fair that would be preformed in front of an audience. The preparation included having all the ingredients measured out beforehand. From the words “Time begins now,” all the steps needed to be done in sequence. I had practiced over and over at home to make sure I kept the mixing area tidy and didn’t forget any of the ingredients and executed the steps with ease and grace. The judges sat right in the front row and had their check lists and the outcome was not known until the bread or pie were out of the oven and had been tasted. It was a great challenge for self confidence. Who knew that in time to come as a county assessor I would draw from that ability time after time to be in front of a group to state clearly the information I would present.
About the same time I was a card carrying 4-Her, my sister Elvera gave me a photo album for Christmas. At the time I thought it was just the most fantastic thing that came out of Minneapolis’ shops as it had my name on the front cover. Within it the ribbons that I won at the fair over the years found a home. At the bottom of the cedar chest in our walk-up attic the ribbons are still safe.
I learned at an early age how smart my Mom was. She taught other girls in our 4-H club her wonderful baking and sewing secrets so they, too, would be proud ribbon winners. In the end, how could my family go wrong? Every Saturday and even days in between I was trying new recipes or working my whiles at the sewing machine, mending clothes for my brothers and my Dad. Sometimes the boys even got new pajamas from some feed sacks with funky looking prints.
My 4-H years never went to waste as I began a family of my own. I believe even if 4-H had never come into play I would have been expanding what I learned at the elbow of my Mom. She always inspired me to try something new. At a time when we had moved to Watonwan County and I missed seeing Mom as often as when I live just several township sections away from her I began working on sewing quilt tops. One of the patterns that Mom shared with me spurred me on to make a quilt for Kevin. Orlin helped me to put up a quilt frame in the dining room of the house we were in at the time and I slowly buy surely began sewing my first hand-sewn quilt. The pattern name was Jacob’s ladder. In 1979 I again found myself entering an exhibit into the local county fair, not in Hutchinson for the McLeod County Fair but in St. James for the Watonwan County fair. We were new to the area and this was a step out of my comfort zone. Once I stepped into the registration office with my quilt it brought back some of the same butterflies of the silent bread baking days.
The 1979 Quilt with the Jacob’s Ladder Pattern
I am here to tell you all that there may be times when we feel we could have, should have, and might have done differently with our time on God’s earth, but we do what we can when we can with all the abilities that God has allowed. When Orlin and I went back to visit the fair and all it had to offer a feather could have knocked me over when I saw what was attached to my quilt. Agnes Randby had been the championship winner of hand sewn quilts for many consecutive years at the Watonwan County Fair. In the calendar year of 1979 my quilt had won the highest ribbon of the fair in the “Pieced and Hand Sewn” category. I found out later that Agnes spent a lot of time at the fair trying to catch a glimpse of the person that had won the honors that year as my name was virtually unknown to the quilters of the area.
The Sweepsteak Ribbon for the 1979 Jacob’s Ladder Quilt
Since 1979 I have continued making quilted items of all sizes for many family members. As I enjoy each and every one that I make, my heart goes right back to my Mom and what she taught me in my life. My Mom is my hero. Fairs are in the air and I can sit back and so appreciate the butterflies that continue as many bring their wares in for their product to be looked at. My absence at fairs only drives home the fact that I am just so darn content here in my home on Stauffer Avenue. It’s a good thing.
Dinner Plate Size Anna Bell Hydrangea Blooms
This kind of weather is what I really like. Less heat makes me just want more days such as these. I know, I know – be careful what you wish for. It being July 27th I am confident that the mid temps will not last. I don’t mind hearing the forecasts that mid eighties will return next week after having a great break this weekend.
After the 2/10 of rain earlier this week followed by cooler weather the gardens seemed to respond with foliage standing straight and tall rather than wilting trying to protect itself. The Anna Bell Hydrangea is one of my favorites this time of the year. They give the illusion of giant snow balls waving in the breeze. With the help of the rain shower and the cooler weather the garden soils have all been turned. The hot drying winds with no rain for a substantial amount of time left the surface of the soil crusted and hard. The next rain that we enjoy will actually have a chance to soak in rather than run off. Yup, life on Stauffer is good.