What-re You Looking At?

Someday in the future, we hope to replace our old hollow core doors with nice solid "real" doors.  But the one in this pic is starting to feel like it lives here.  This is the face we've discovered in the grain of our bathroom door - fortunately it faces the hallway and does not gaze into the bathroom.

A little further down the hallway, we have this to look at:

An overcrowded jumble of "little-girl-about-to-become-teenager" mess!  We've been talking and compromising on some redecorating ideas for some time now and are determined to start (and finish) during the fall months when we can open the windows to crisp clean air for purging and painting.  We have had our eye on a little sofa at the local consignment shop and whe I received a Labor Day sale email this morning, we raced up there, hoping it hadn't yet sold.  It hadn't.  We bought it!  (plus a deer picture that John wanted for at the river)

So, stay tuned for updates in our mother vs. teenage daughter redecorating project as well as a blow-by-blow on the logistics of buying a sofa to add to an overcrowded room!  It'll work - I just know it will.

Highlights of the State Fair

This is always such a crazy time of the year; back-to-school-shopping, re-acclimating bedtimes, and all the while cramming in as much last minute summer fun as possible.  And then there's also the Great Minnesota Get-Together.  The Midway is a favorite for the kids and we had such a beautiful day to be outside.

This sculture was made entirely of debris pulled from a Minnesota river.  Sad reality but beautiful art.

The animal barns - who knew there were SO many different rabbits - wow!
And last but certainly not least - the food.  I had the presence of mind to snap a shot of the cookies while they were still overflowing.  I remembered to snap a pic halfway through the cheese curds, jalapeno/cheese/bacon wraps, and bbq sauage meatballs.  The turkey leg and fried green tomatoes were gone, however, before the thought of taking a photo entered my mind - sorry!

Bulgogi and Beer

When John celebrated his first communion two years ago, I wanted to make a big Korean meal for the party.  A friend of mine (fantastic cook!!) met with me during the months previous to the party and taught me how to cook a few korean dishes.  I was very proud of the meal and John really loved it.  And then I kind of stopped practicing the cooking.  This week, I pulled out the recipes my friend gave me, marked all up with her notes, hints, and (priceless) advice.  Korean cooking is very time consuming, however, and I had a very busy week.  So,...I "americanized" the bulgogi by using the crockpot.  Technically, bulgogi is marinated barbequed beef.  Galbi is also marinated beef, but specifically beef spareribs.  I used spare ribs, slicing them thin, but I didn't grill the meat (used the crockpot) so maybe it doesn't count.  But when John and Kate walked into the kitchen, they both immediately asked, "What smells like bulgogi?"  The next day's lunch was a fight for the leftovers.  The is the basic original recipe (although my friend adjusts the recipe, by taste, every time she makes it)

2 1/2 lbs thinly sliced beef
1 Tbsp water
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
 1 1/2 Tbsp Mirin (sweet rice cooking wine)
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup Coke (or Sprite/ 7-Up)
minced onions
minced kiwi or pinneapple

Add water and sugar to beef and mix.  Combine remaining ingredients and mix into beef.  Place on grilling sheet and barbeque on the grill.  (Better if you let marinate overnight first)


August Minnesota Beer of the Month picks are from Boom Island Brewing Company in Minneapolis, MN and from Big Wood Brewery in Vadnais Heights, MN.

Monsters, Memory Care & the Great Escape

Have you read The Monster At the End of This Book by Jon Stone?  Another one of my favorites.  It's a really fun book but I think I like it most because of how it so tickled my brother every single time we read it as children.  Don't you love certain things simply because of the joy they provide to ones you love?  I just reread this book and realized...huh...we are our own monsters, aren't we?  Often times, we are what is keeping ourselves from ourselves.  Pretty deep, I know.  That's what happens when you start reading books starring lovable, furry, old Grover.

Cicero was the first to say Man is his own worst enemy and it is still true.

My Grandma is moving into a new Memory Care Facility (only 20 minutes from our house - yay!) and the kids and I were there today, helping to ready her rooms.  All of the doors leading outside are locked, of course, for the safety of those living on this particular wing of the building.  When John went to open the outside door for my Dad (who was carrying boxes in), a lady followed right behind and asked John to hold the door for her.  He is a gentleman of a boy and did so graciously.  She handed him her toothpick (which he politely accepted and then tossed!) and took off down the sidewalk in a slipper shuffle.  Fortunately, my Mom was watching from the window and said, "Isn't that the lady from down the hall?  Do you think John just let her out?"

We ran down the hall, out the door and led her back inside, explaining to those in charge.  No harm done, everything's fine but we're probably gonna get my Grandma kicked out before she even moves in!  "Be good", she always tells us.  "Stay out of trouble."  I guess we need the reminders!

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."  

-- George Bernard Shaw

I'm not quite sure I agree with this philosophy but I do think...stop being your own worst enemy monster.  Be your own superhero!

Here's my kitchen tree in the summer, with the sun going down and a storm rolling in:

Back-to-School Shopping and Bleach T-Shirts

This is me in my new back-to-school clothes, probably first grade, with my name and pertinent information pinned to my groovy hip jacket.  Notebooks under my arm and envelope with official documents in my other hand.  Wow - the patterns of the 70's!  There are cuffs on those slacks!  My mom made this outfit - honestly, pretty impressive matching of plaid at the seams.
We've been doing back to school shopping around here; clothes and supplies.  (No, I haven't been busy sewing.)  Kate spent much of the afternoon organizing her supplies.  And remember those Muppet Band-Aids?  Well, Kate found a whole new use for them - her classes are now "Muppet-coded":

My favorites are 1) the Swedish Chef on her Chinese folder and Animal on her Math folder (her exact personality when it comes to math homework!).
We had Kate and John's photos taken today at a Target portrait studio.  For half the cost of two school portrait packages, we got multiple individual shots of each, as well as, pics of the two together - turned out really, really cute - so happy with them!
During our stay at the lake this summer, we made this cute bleach t-shirts, using bleach pens on solid t-shirts:

One-Eyes and Another Week on the River

Growing up, my Dad would often make breakfast on the weekend.  Our favorite of his specialties were One-Eyes.  (I've heard other people call them One-Eyed Jacks or Cowboy Eggs.)  We spent last week on the river again where we tend to have fuller breakfasts.  So, one morning I made One-Eyes - big hit!  This was the only photo I got since the others were not completely supportive of waiting on breakfast while I fetched my camera for a blog pic!  They are simply pieces of bread, buttered on both sides.  Using a drinking glass, you cut a circle from the middle and place the bread on a griddle.  Crack an egg in the centers and let fry, flipping once.
After a large breakfast, it feels good to work outside or go for a hike.  One day we ventured further down river to these falls--

Along the bank was this towering pine tree.  I had to take a photo.  Here is this beautiful magestic tree with lush green branches reaching higher and higher up above.  But down here on the ground, the river has been washing the soil right out from beneath its roots.  If something doesn't happen to replenish it's foundation, everything is going to fall.  Don't you just feel like this tree sometimes?

Another marvel of nature are these beaver dens we come across near the logging roads.  This is as close as I could get to this one without getting my feet wet.

Diamond Willow Buttons

When the kids were younger and we were spending a few days at my in-laws, Kate wanted to work with her Grandpa in the garage.  I had been crocheting a sweater for her and was grateful for the extra quiet time when my father-in-law took her for a walk in the woods in search of diamond willow branches.  They selected the perfect branches and removed the bark.  Then Kate watched, with her way-big safety glasses on, as Grandpa sliced the branch into little coins of varying thickness.  Having decided to make buttons for Kate's new sweater, they started experimenting with drilling holes in the delicate slices.  I remember it took quite a few tries before they could drill four holes without the button cracking.
I finished the sweater that weekend and varnished the buttons when we returned home.  They turned out so cute.  Unfortunately, Kate outgrew the sweater far too quickly.

Embarrassed to Even Share

About a month ago, a very dear high school friend was in town with her children and they spent one night at our house.  While all the kids were scooted outside to pick raspberries, she and I had a drink while I prepared supper.  I am terrible at designating jobs.  When someone comes into my kitchen and offers to help, I'm at a loss.  It might maybe be that I'm a little tiny bit of a control freak but I am really trying to get better.  So, to prepare myself for a "spontaneous" chore designation, I found a recipe on Pinterest, printed it, and bought the ingredients.  When my friend offered to help, I pulled out this recipe for homemade caramels and said, "here, you can make the caramels."  Okay, probably not what she thought she was signing up for but, actually, they are very easy.  I got to keep control over my menu prep while she made these delicious sea salt caramels.  They are not health food - at all.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I've made these three more times!  If you have a similar lack of control, don't even open the link.
If you do decide to try them, here are a few reminders. Wax paper is not the same as parchment paper.  I knew they weren't the same but remembered (incorrectly!) that I'd used wax paper last time. NO - use parchement paper.

Although this looks great, when you pour the boiling hot caramel into the pan, it kinda melts into the wax paper.  Use parchment paper (or you'll be licking caramel off of wax paper 'cause you can't bear to throw it out)!
When the caramel hardens, lift it out of the pan, laying it flat on a cutting board, and cut into little squares. (Looks kinda like chicken.)  Then, they are ready to be wrapped. 
So bad for you but they taste SO good!

A Visit to Quilts from My Past

It was my intention this summer to visit some of the quilts I've made.  As I am usually finishing a quilt in the last few minutes before I wrap it, I have very few photos.  So, I also planned on collecting photos to record here.  But, now it's August and I only have this one.  Will try to do better in the following months!

In the early 70's, when my mom was home with three kids under age 5, she cut these pieces of wool into perfectly even squares - kind of mental health therapy, I think.  The wool came from a handful of old family wool coats, from a previous generation, that had been saved in a box in the chicken house at my great grandparents farm.  My mom disassembled the coats, removing the lining, seams, collars, buttons, and pockets. After washing the fabric, she trimmed out these thick wooly squares and stacked them neatly in a box.  After my brothers and I left home and my parents moved into a newer house, she asked me whether or not I wanted the box of squares. 
Well, you can't just get rid of them, I said. 
So, yes, I'll take them.

The box sat in the closet of my first house.  Then those squares sat in the attic of that first house when I rented it out and moved to California.  They moved to the basement of that first house when Mark and I moved back into after being married.  We moved the box of squares to a newer house when John came along and we needed more space.  (Isn't my husband patient with my weird fabric collection?) 

Now we would like to fix up the basement here, in our "new" house (10 years later!) and I must do something with these boxes!  For our adult gift exchange, at Christmas, my family draws couple names and must make homemade gifts, as a couple, for the couple whose names we've drawn.  Last year, Mark and I drew my parents' names.  Voila! - I had an idea - I decided to give back the squares!  Not just stacked up in the box; that would be silly (funny though!).  So I made this quilt (while Mark kept the kids out of my hair - that's the "couple" part!) for their cabin.  There were also some very pretty light blue squares but they didn't quite go with my design.

So, here is my first visit and photo-op of a quilt from my past.

July's Beer and Cool Finds

Oops - I'm a little late with the announcement of July's Minnesota Beer of the Month selections. 
July's selections were (1) Ring Neck Braun Ale from Brau Brothers BrewingCompany in Lucan, MN and (2) One-Eyed Pike from Brainerd Lakes Beer in Brainerd, MN. 

This morning, while John was at camp, Kate and I shopped for school supplies - blahgh!  As a reprieve, we also stopped at the thrift store and found some great stuff.  I have been looking for this kind of cheese grater for a long time - seriously!  I know it just looks like your basic old cheese grater and I guess it is but you cannot find these in stores anymore - good find!  And the plates match a set my mom has started collecting as cabin dishes - can't wait to surprise her with them.  The painting - Kate and I both fell in love with.  It will go on a bedroom wall up at The River.  I don't know who Bill Rasley is but I like his painting - it's like an illustration from a book - love it.

A Month Away

We're back from a month spent on the water.  No internet access (unless we drive into town for breakfast and linger over coffee and the laptop) and somewhat sketchy phone signal makes for a very relaxing getaway!  I refrained, even, from packing any fabric or yarn - no projects. 
But books?  Of course, we brought books!  I am caught up for my August book club meetings and even got through three "just-for-fun" books; The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - all three truly wonderful stories!  We spent hours on the porch rocking chairs -- reading.
And, of course, fishing off the dock:

Playing football (who knew it was Rocco's favorite?!):

We spent one afternoon canoeing down the river.  Having packed a cooler with sandwiches, chips, cookies, and sodas, we decided to get halfway through the 4 hour trip, and past the rapids, before stopping to eat.  As we approached the rapids, however, a swarm of horse flies worthy of a truly frightening horror film descended on us, making it impossible to navigate (well, nearly impossible).  Mark paddled safely through and quickly deposited John into the water before he was devoured by the tyranical little pests.  Kate and I, however, were lodged upon a rock in the rapids.  Frantically swatting flies and paddling to nowhere must have slowed my thinking process as it took several minutes (and Mark yelling "get out!") for me to realize I needed to hop out of the canoe and push us off the boulders.
Then...it started to rain.  Just nice soft rain at first and then...real, straight down rain.  So, we paddled on...and on...and on, until we got home tired and hungry, but happy.  Well, most of us anyway.  Okay, half of us; the "adult" half.

Mornings were spent sipping coffee, listening to the loons (when we were on the lake) and watching the otters play along the shore (when on the river).  Favorite evenings were those spent on a sunset pontoon ride around the Big Island.