IDOL Chatter

Last week I swore off American Idol after being a faithful watcher for the past 4 years. I just think it's a rather dull season and I can't stand the fact that Sanjaya still remains! He wasn't even in the bottom three tonight...unbelievable. I don't blame him, it's his voters who need their heads(or ears) checked. Last night, I missed the first 20 mn but caught the final 7. (I can't just go cold turkey!) Chris Sligh was voted off tonight and I wasn't surprised. At first, I thought he had the potential to go a long ways but the more I heard of him the less I liked him. He's still 100% better than Sanjaya! My favorite is Melinda~ Love her voice and personality.

Great Blue Heron

Now I know it' s spring! This morning on my drive to school, a Great Blue Heron, flew over the marsh at the end of Golf Course Road. I see them all summer, especially when kayaking along the shoreline. I can only get about 5o feet from them and they swoop away on their gigantic wings. They often perch on overhanging branches or at the end of quiet docks waiting for their next meal. Seeing the heron this morning was like seeing an old friend....a nice start to the day.

Summer Dreamin'

The kind of weather we had today is the kind that gets you thinking about setting up the porch and deck. Here's the deck from last summer. As long as the mosquitoes aren't out in force, it's one my favorite summer spots. We didn't get 80 here like the cities, but must have hit the mid 60's. By the time I got home from school it was only 55. We had a workshop today so it was a fairly easy day compared to teaching. A couple of co-workers and I took advantage of the nice weather and walked to get lunch. It was nice to get the fresh air and exercise.
On a gardening note, yesterday I saw evidence of the first perennial poking out of the ground. It was an Autumn Joy sedum on the south side of the house, one of my hardy stand-bys that seems to grow anywhere. I can't wait to get out there and start raking and poking around but it will be at least a couple of weeks....patience....patience.

The Cabin

Many of you already know that we bought a little cabin just down the hill from our house. We closed in November, so we've had all winter to make plans. I plan to post a lot of pictures this spring showing the transformation of the cabin into something that looks a little more like a cottage. We had a couple of nice weeks in November where we were able to do a lot of yard work so it's nice to have that ready to go. Yesterday was the first day that we actually worked inside of the cabin so that was pretty fun. Dan moved the old fridge and stove so work can start in there. We're having the cupboards refaced and we'll paint them. We're also putting in a new kitchen floor. The rest of the cabin has some kind of wood flooring that we have yet to identify. Here's a picture of kitchen cabinets I took this winter. It was hard to get a good shot as it's a fairly small space but it gives you an idea of what we started with.

Anybody care for a slice of watermelon?? The darling gas stove was almost totally rusted out so we had to replace that. We're going to put a lot of white wainscoat in this room to open it up and we're ripping out the upper middle cabinets to have 2 open shelves. The counter is in good shape and should go with our decorating plan so we're planning on leaving it alone. I like the porcelain sink too. We found a new faucet that we're hoping will not be to difficult to install.

Exterior plans call for a new roof/gutter, pergola, window boxes, some shutters and lots of flowers. We're thinking of being daring and putting in a red roof-light green exterior-white trim with some red accents. A tan roof would be our second safe option. What do you think????

First Robin of 2007

I spotted my first robin on Friday, March 23rd at school outside our classroom window. The kids were excited and they had fun identifying the birds devouring the fruit tree just off to the side of our room. They were cedar waxwings and there were tons of them. The third graders let us use their classroom to view them as they were right in front of their window. I have a big wall of Mn birds in my classroom right now and lots of bird books. The fourth graders have actually been reading them and showing me birds that they've seen. In the morning, I've been setting out coloring pictures/information about the birds that are returning to Mn so they'll be able to identify them when they see them. We did the kingfisher the other day and they were amazed that we actually have those birds in Mn. They are pretty exotic looking I guess! This is a fun time of year for bird watchers.

I Love SF

Dan is working in San Francisco this week. I wish that I could go along with him more often. The last time was the summer of 2004 when Nancy and I both tagged along. Part of the problem is that he doesn't seem to travel there in the summer anymore and that's when it's easiest for me to go along of course. Shari and Mom have gone along with us before and I met Carol W there once when she was living in CA. I have so many good memories of this city. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the 2004 trip.

Ah.....Spring

Here are some pictures of the good things to come. We're still a good couple of months away from anything like this but it's nice to think about especially on a cold, WINDY day like today. The wind is really whipping up a storm out there this evening. I hate it when it's this windy and it seems like we've had so much of it. I hope it dies down soon or at least brings us some warmer weather. Aren't you getting tired of your sweaters?

Happy Birthday, Shari!

Here's another cute couple for you...

Happy 30th Birthday, Shari!!! ;)

Happy Belated Birthday, Alex!

I've been a bad blogger this week so I'm making up for it this afternoon. It was our nephew Alex's birthday on the 15th. Here he is at Christmas with Tina. They make a pretty cute couple, don't they! We're looking forward to cheering for Alex at one of his baseball games this spring. When do they play Morris, Ted, Jen or Ann? I need to mark it on our calendar.

The house that Royce built...

We just returned from Royce and Lynn's place. They've been living in their new house for about a month and are getting all settled in. The woodwork is beautiful and they did a great job of picking out fixtures and color so that everything flows together. The house has a natural northwoods decor and has the feel of a mountain chalet. We felt like we were on vacation! I had some pictures of the living room, loft and fireplace but the bright sun turned the photo's all dark. I'll try another time when the stone is finshed on the fireplace. The bath and bedroom in the photo are downstairs. Kris, you will recognize the wedding quilt you made for them. It looks very pretty in that room.

Lucy-Lou bag

Take a look at this neat hand-knit bag that Amanda brought for me last weekend! If you zoom in you might be able to see the pretty embroidered floral design on the part that the handle slips through. Amanda recycled the yarn from an old sweater(from an uncle or grandfather?) and had it dyed with Kool-Aid. After knitting it, she washed it to shrink it which is called "felting." (Yes, she is very talented!) It's a wonderful, unique bag that I am going to enjoy using very much. Thanks again, Amanda!!!!!

Clementine's

Here's a little flower shop in Stockholm, Wisconsin that I visited 2 summers ago on a fun summer getaway with a couple of friends. We all loved this charming little town. I bought 2 miniature violets here, one of which is still alive....barely! Amanda and I were talking about this shop this weekend so I thought I'd post my photo's today. The owner used to have a shop in France so I imagine this might be like one you'd see in France. I hope to find out for myself someday. If you are in this area, you need to check out the wine & cheese shop in Nelson, WI too. It's just south of Stockholm~great wine tasting bar.

Happy Birthday, Teri!

Teri's birthday was yesterday..March 10. Hope you had a fun day, Teri! Teri and Joe's wedding was in July of 2005. These are two of my favorite pictures from that day. I like how the sun illuminates Teri's face in the bottom picture. What a classic beautiful bride! That was one hot day in July. Seems like it was just yesterday!

Happy Birthday, Tim!!!

It's the big 50 for Tim today! Here he is....in one of his favorite spots. Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!

Bedside decor

I found this old red phone last summer at Honey Tree Antiques. It works and it blends in nicely with the shams & quilt. Remember the sound of those dials? I love that. The reading lamps (there's one on Dan's side too) are from MS Kmart. The shades were white and I just covered them with the same fabric as the shams. I think I paid $7 for the pair. It was a fun find. I use that lamp all the time, poor Dan has no bulb in his. I found a better table last summer that I repainted. It has a couple of drawers that are very handy. Good Night!

Barred Owl

Isn't this owl a beauty? He showed up in our yard one day last winter and stayed all afternoon. At first we were so careful in the house so that our movement near windows wouldn't scare him off until I got a good photo. After a couple hours I decided that he was scaring away the cardinal that I wanted my parents to see so I went outside and tried to scare him off. He just looked down at me and frowned in an owl-like way. I then began to wonder if owls ever attacked people and went back inside the house. He left in his own good time and that's the last we ever saw of him. We had some vole tunnels in the snow under the feeders and I think he may have been hunting them.

Bird Story and Quiz

Can you identify this bird? It's a little Red Breasted Nuthatch. We rarely see these birds in this area so it's a treat when they pop in now and then. The first time I ever saw them was when we were living in Morris. It was early winter and we had a pair frantically taking sunflower seeds from our kitchen window feeder and stashing them somewhere. We called them both Rusty. I could stand under the feeder and hold up my hand and they'd use my finger as a perch. It didn't bother them one bit. Later that winter we had a lot of snow plus a cold spell and one day I was so sad to see one of the little birds laying in the snow. Mn birds have a hard life in winter. Today in school, I was looking at a science website and came across these bird quizzes. Pick your level and try your luck. Just a hint, I was unable to pass the intermediate level...Joel S. could I'm sure. Beginner Intermediate Orinthologist

Great News!

Dan received the most excellent news last week...he was selected as a service excellence winner in the consumer deposits group and as a result he (and a lucky guest!) will be attending the annual sales and service conference which will be held in......Hawaii!! Shortly after it was announced, this cookie bouquet arrived at his desk. Isn't that the neatest thing? We've been slowly eating it and are down to just three cookies. We'll have plenty of time to work it off before we go in May. We have no other details other than the dates. Hopefully we'll learn more this week. I can hardly believe it!

Tasha Tudor

I found a couple pictures of Tasha Tudor. She lives in Vermont, not England. Her website says that she is 91 and doing very well, still painting & living on her own with her corgis.

Thrifty Books

Here are the books I found thrifting in Fergus last week. Most were .29 or .49 with the exception of A Brighter Garden, for which I paid $1.99. It's a hard cover and I love Tasha Tudor's illustrations. She is a lovely woman who lives in an idyllic cottage in England with her corgis. She must be close to 90 now. I'm going to see if I can find a good link to post more about her as I think many of you would enjoy that. This book will make a good bedside or coffee-table book. Okay, time to shovel...

Snow Days

Like most schools in the state, we did not have school on Friday. We kept waiting for the wind and blizzard-like conditions but they never came. On Thursday, I finished reading Kite Runner for book club. It was an excellent book but quite sad. I rented Amelie from the library anticipating the snow days and enjoyed watching that again on Friday afternoon. If you haven't seen it, it's a charming French film about a girl who finds happiness herself while trying to arrange it for others. Dan was working from home again so I didn't have access to the computer. I took these pictures on Saturday morning. I think the icicles are pretty. We are going out soon to shovel and blow some snow. The snow blower is running at 50% but at least it works. We'll have to get it fixed this spring. Then we are heading to Alex to check out the Home & Garden Show. We're meeting my mom and Ann there. No definite plans after that we'll see what happens. I've enjoyed our snow days but it will be kind of nice to get out of the house. It would be a lot of fun to have a snowmobile today!

Cozy

Hope you're all staying cozy!!!

No School

I got the call at 6 am that we would be two hours late. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I thought I'd might as well use the computer before Dan needs it for the rest of the day. The phone just rang a couple of minutes ago and we are now closed. It looks like we got about 3 inches at the most last night and there is no wind around here yet so it's quite peaceful. The chickadees and cardinals were singing outside the window around 6. Their feeders need to be filled again I'm sure. Dan is working at home today so I'd better sign off. Be careful out there. I hope we don't get the blizzard conditions they've been warning us about.