Super Easy Cooking Tip

Did you know that if your pot is boiling over, you can simply blow on it and it will simmer down long enough for you to turn the heat down or remove the  pot?  I assumed everyone knew this but the last two people I've mentioned it to had no idea.  I use the trick quite often when boiling pasta or potatoes.   Rachel Ray lays a wooden spoon across her pasta pot to prevent it from boiling over.  I tried it and that works too!

Royce's Turkey

Royce sent photo's of his successful turkey hunt.  He said this was one of the nicer turkeys he's seen so he plans to eat it and mount it.  

New Teeth

Can you see Gracie's bottom teeth?  What a happy baby!  Thanks for the picture, Royce!

The Stock Yards of Fort Worth

This photo was taken strictly for my blog and fourth graders.  They wondered if the guy was Mr. Smith.  Seriously.  So I said yes.
Here I am with the real Mr. Smith.  The Stock Yards are a great taste of the wild west years ago where they used to round up and ship all the cattle and maybe other livestock? Lots of western shops, bars, restaurants, longhorns and cowboys.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and the weather was an absolute 10!  We found a wonderful Mexican restaurant here.
No, I did not dance here.  I missed my big opportunity to dance at the Love Shack, a little old place where we can get together....love shack baby yeah!  My favorite wedding dance song.
We missed the cattle drive but got to see this guy ride by on his "horse."
Mike and Dan enjoyed a Twins/Ranger game on Saturday night at the new Arlington stadium.  Twins won 12-6!!!!!  Thanks for the photo, Mike!!

Twins!

Lizzie has the round face and Alanna has the longer face so you tell me who is who?!  

Danette and I brought the girls to the carnival and they loved the rides!  I think Alanna is driving, am I right D??

Do you think we're tall enough, Alanna?

Gee, I hope so Lizzie!

We are!!!!

Luckily, the height requirement is the white tape at 37 inches not the green.

Texas Friends

The purpose of our trip was to visit our good friends Mike & Danette.  These are the folks who got us to travel to Ireland for their wedding!  Here they are 5 years later with their darling twins Alanna and Elizabeth age 3.  MMike and D have a great house north of Dallas.  We were amazed by all the beautiful brick homes(they're all brick due to termites/weather) and especially how huge most of them are.  I guess that's Texas!  The temps ranged from 70-80 and we really enjoyed relaxing in the sun near their pool or under the pergola.  They won't be living here much longer though.  Mike got a new job in Sacramento so that he doesn't have to travel anymore and miss his girls.  

Texas Barbeque

Ribs, sausage & pulled pork...mmmmm.  We wanted something unique and stumbled upon Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse a few blocks from Dealey Plaza on Market Street.    It was a not a place for vegetarians!

Can I eat now?

Pass the barbeque sauce!

Dealey Plaza-Dallas

Lee Harvey Oswald shot from the middle window on the 6th floor of the former School Book Depository building - Nov. 22, 1963.
The view from the infamous "grassy knoll" over looking the site where John F. Kennedy was fatally wounded.  If you click on the picture you can see a white x on the road that marks the exact location of his vehicle.

The grassy knoll and structure behind that was present in 1963.

As we left Dallas we passed by the somber X on the road and passed through the same tunnel that they took to exit the scene for the hospital.  You can see the x near the right hand tire of the black car on the left.  It's hard to believe that you are in the same spot where such a terrible and nation changing event took place.
Back view of the Texas Book Depository.  The museum is located on the 6th floor.  It is a self guided tour narrated by audio guide.  I would highly recommend it if you are ever in Dallas.  Nancy said that David went a couple of years ago while his parents lived in Dallas and thought it was very good too.  It was confusing to find since we were totally unfamiliar with the area but luckily Dan rented a car with navigation and it got us there.  It was handy all weekend!

Welcome Back to Mn!

We had a great weekend down in Texas and missed Friday's big snowstorm.  The snowplow left us a little extra snow so we had to shovel before we could drive in.  Dan managed a smile for this photo, what can you do?!  Supposedly we got a foot so a lot has melted already.  I said no more snow photo's but this was too tempting!  Stay tuned for more photo's from the weekend.

Microfiber-Good deal!

Some of you know that I attended a Norwex home party and bought some items that were a little overpriced but are very effective cleaners.   They are microfiber cloths and many from Norwex have a metal thread inside each tiny fiber which makes them (supposedly) kill 99.7% of bacteria and only need water or can be used dry to dust/polish.  In THIS week's Target ad. I noticed that they had packs of MFcloths in the car section for $5.99.  

At Target this evening I happened to remember and went to see if they seemed/felt similar and they REALLY do.   For that price I bought a 8 pack of the 16x16 orange cloths and a 12 pack of the 12x12 blue and whites.  That is practically free compared to what I paid for just one Norwex cloth.  Granted, it doesn't have the metal fiber but if those tiny fibers grab the mess, that's the main thing.  Isn't a little bacteria good for us anyway?  The normal price is $6.99 so if you miss the sale you're only out $1.  

When I got home, I compared labels and the Norwex label says 70% polyester 30%polyamide made in Norway.  The Vroom label says 80%polyester and 20%polyamide made in China.   So they are fairly similar.  (Microfiber was invented in Norway)

This post is getting too long but I should tell you some good uses for microfiber.  It will clean your stainless steel with just drops of water like you won't believe.  It's great for smooth top ovens.  It's supposed to be wonderful for Granite or other stone countertops-I wouldn't know but they say granite is hard to keep from looking streaky-kinda like stainless steel.  You can wash and dry dishes, wash your face, perfect for tvs/computers, awesome for streakfree windows and they even sell window polishers.  I paid a LOT of money for a Norwex polisher.(I am too embarrassed to tell you.)  Vroom sold many other microfiber cleaning products too.  They have a bigger towel that would be perfect for a hair towel or baby towel as it absorbs so quickly and is super soft.  It must be good for cleaning cars too!

You should definitely check out the car section in Target!  End of sales pitch.

What are you waiting for....get to Target.

Love This....

I love this look.  Images are from Cottage Living.

Ice Report

This is what the lake currently looks like.  It's getting very slushy looking and is open around the shore.  You can also see that it's a fairly gray day.  Where is all the sunshine they predicted earlier?  I am not very impressed with the weather forecasters lately.  We were hoping to work in the sunshine this afternoon but have resigned ourselves to cool and gray.    I am going to rake a little in the flower beds, look at this....

The sedum on the south side of the house is coming up nicely.  I need to remove the old heads.  The irises are about an inch up too.  Well, I'd better get out there and get to work.  And do I see a ray of sunshine??  Yes, I think I do!!!!

Just returned from about 4 hours working in our yard  and doing a little spring cleaning in the cabin.  What a difference a year makes down there!  The sun finally worked it's way through the fog and it was very pleasant out.  A cabin neighbor said Saturday was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and calm all day.  We're getting set to grill so I need to go season the steaks.  We have a lot of rib steaks left so we're trying those on the grill this evening.  Dad will be butchering another cow soon so we need to make room in the freezer.

Sunday project

While waiting for the sun to come out, I stayed inside and worked on these little bags instead.  They are going to be gifts.  I bought a couple yards of this fabric at JoAnne's.  I love the pastels against the brown.  The ric-rac is from the Bargain Bazaar, vintage buttons too.

Alex's Game

We had a very nice afternoon watching Alex's BB team (Bethany Lutheran) beat UMM down in Mankato.  It was a triple header.  Score of the first game was 13-1 and when we left towards the end of the second game it was 7-0 or something like that.  Alex plays centerfield and pitches.  He had some nice hits.  I'm so glad we got to see him play.  He's a senior(engineering) so we were running out of time.  As you can see from the photo's, Ted, Jim & Darlene were there too. It's only 90 mn for them to drive to his home games so that's nice for them.  Weather was rather chilly and cloudy, unlike the sunshine that was prevalent in the western part of Mn.  As we were driving home, we caught up with the sunshine around Sauk Centre.  Looking forward to basking in the sun while doing yard work on Sunday.  

  On Sat morning, I wanted Dan to check out Costco and we ended up with a new tv for the cabin and a membership, not to mention new towels, laundry soap, pasta, bread, milk, etc.....  We decided that it's a handy spot for Dan to hit on his way back from the Mpls office. So we'll try the membership thing for a year and see how it goes.  Nancy introduced me to Costco this winter and I was pretty impressed.  I forgot to mention that I also bought a big tub of flowers for the deck.  I couldn't resist.  I'll post a picture of them later, they're safe inside the garage for now.

Grade level change

I was informed this week that I will be teaching first grade next year!  I wasn't really surprised as there were 2 first grade spots they needed to fill.  In a few years I might have an opportunity to go back to fourth if I'd like to.  I enjoy teaching first grade but it is mentally and physically exhausting most days. I think my batteries are recharged after a nice 3 year stint in 4th.  I have missed using my puppets,  fun picture books and the satisfaction of watching their writing and reading progress so dramatically.  I will have a fun teaching partner too. I have always been lucky that way. Change keeps life interesting.  So, back to first I will go....

Just for Fun

This photo comes from the Star Tribune Pet Photo's.  I was going through them and ran across this one.  The story is that this dog loves cats so they got it a kitten that happens to look just like the dog.  Notice how similar the face markings are?  I bet they are a fun pair.  Aren't pets wonderful?!

Thrifting/Calendars in the classroom

I purchased some old Lang calendars to use for bulletin boards at school.  If you have old calendars that you would like to donate, I will gladly take them!  Besides decorating, they can be used for writing & made into books or be used as art inspiration.  Nature, farming, pets, almost anything works.  It's a great way to recyle them.  Christmas/Birthday cards are things we can make good use of in the classroom.

Last Snow Pictures of 2008

I took this photo on Friday morning.  It's the window box on our garage.
These are the hydrangeas near the garage and they looked like big snowballs.  So, it may snow again, you never know, but I will not be taking any more pictures of the snow.  This is it.  

Eastern Phoebe

Joel & Amanda were up this weekend.  Amanda and I had fun checking out the two thrift stores in Fergus and two stores that were new to us.  We found a few goodies at the thrift stores but were very pleasantly surprised by the Central Market (not sure on the name) gift store and Meadow Brook Farms which is a natural foods and spices shop.  It's been there for 25 years but I never knew where it was.  Now that I know, I will go there much more often.  It's only a couple miles out of Fergus.  The guys were happily watching the Masters on TV and later that evening we watched Into the Wild.  Pretty sad but a good movie.   We have it if anyone wants to borrow it sometime or watch it here.

Joel and I went on a birding walk  this morning and spotted the Eastern Phoebe.  We were looking for kinglets but could only hear them.  It was fun to be outside and I always feel inspired to do more birding after being around Joel and Amanda. 

 Lots of snow has melted here and I hope that by tomorrow at this time most of it will be gone.  Down at the cabin is another story.  There's still about an 8 foot drift just off the deck.

What....more snow?!?!?

The weather channel says 6-10 inches for us on Friday!  I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, so true!

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day

When the sun is out and the wind is still.

You're one month on in the middle of May 

But if you so much as dare to speak.

A cloud comes over the sunlit arch.

A wind comes off a frozen peak.

And you're two months back in the middle of March.

~Robert Frost

Now this is SNOW!

I stole this picture off of Shari's blog.  You really have to click on the picture to get the full impact of all the snow they got.  You can click here to see other snow photo's on her blog.  I wonder how long that will take to melt?!  Oops!  I guess you have to click on the photo on her blog to make it nice and big which you really should.

Two Hours Late

We were finally 2 hours late today and this photo shows why.  What a nice way to start the week with a leisurely Monday morning!  It's our first snow delay of the year.  Last year, all of our snow days (2) came in April too.  On Saturday, I pulled this chair out of the porch and put it out on the deck so I could talk on the phone and enjoy the warm temps.  We had the patio doors open too.  What a difference a day can make!  Did I hear another storm is coming on Thursday???  This is getting pretty crazy.  Shari reported 28 inches, we only had about 6.