Saturday, March 31, 2012

Dinner at Longlake




Tuesday night I was invited to a dinner at Longlake.  We had vegetable lasagna, cole slaw, bread baguettes, sherbet and cookies.  But the best part of the dinner was the bunny butters as seen in the above picture.  The evening started out with wine and hors duevers.  The reason that we were invited was to help to spread the word about the 3rd annual Bemidji Library Book Festival.  The Festival runs from June 11th to Saturday June 16th. The schedule will be posted later. 

I was excited to hear that Ann Bancroft will be the keynote speaker.  Ann is one of the world's preeminent polar explorers and internationally recognized leader who dedicated to inspiring women and girls around the world. 
Not only do I plan to attend her presentation I plan to attend William Durbin's  presentation Novels in Your Neighborhood.  Maybe I can get much needed writing tips.

That evening we were privileged to hear an unpublished children's book read to us by the author and got a chance to see the original art that will accompany this book.  It will be coming out soon.   

Friday, March 30, 2012

Quilters



I had two of my favorite quilters over on Tuesday.  Francis Malterud and Stanley Grdnch.  Never let it be said that he wasted any vowels in his last name. Francis had a quilting question and Stan was bringing me the quilt he wanted stipled.  This is a quilt that he made for his friends.  It is a log cabin with an artistic flare.  It is his friends' anniversary and he is the one who introduced them to each other.  We finished our meeting with a great lunch at the BBQ place called Dickies.  It is owned and run by my neighbor.   

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Quilts in the snow







Artist Simon Beck must really love the cold weather! Along the frozen lakes of Savoie, France, he spends days plodding through the snow in  snowshoes, creating these sensational patterns of snow art. Working for 5-9 hours a day, each final piece is typically the size of three soccer fields! The geometric forms range in mathematical patterns and shapes that create stunning, sometimes 3D, designs when viewed from higher levels.

How long these magnificent geometric forms survive is completely dependent on the weather. Beck designs and redesigns the patterns as new snow falls, sometimes unable to finish a piece due to significant overnight accumulations. Interestingly enough, he said, 'The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise. Spectacular art for the sake of exercise!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Gardening

This year I plan on having a vegetable garden. No chemicals or additives are my motivation.   The fresh taste will also be great.  I purchased the seeds, but I will wait to get plants for my tomato and cucumber plants.  Also I still need to get my potato and onion sets.  I just took the temperature of the soil and it still is too cold to plant the onions and the potatoes. Potatoes need the soil to be above 40 degrees.   Old wife tales says that you need to plant potatoes by Good Friday. There is still a chance as Good Friday is a week and a half away.


My garden is only by 20 by 20 feet.  I have two raise gardens from last year project.  They will contain the vines, pumpkins in one and cukes in the other.  Since I choose some vegetables that the deer like I guess I will be fencing it.  If I keep the ends with a portable fence that can be removed.  Then I can get it tilled professionally after the season or before next season at least.  I have purchased a small electric tiller which will be just right for tilling the weeds.  But not for the deep tillage it will needed to start up the garden again. I have owned two small gas tillers in my travel through life and they seem to work for two years then you have carburetor troubles.  The second one I took apart and replaced the carburetor only to have it not start so I sold it as a fixer-up at my garage sale. The soil where I live is sand.  The deeper you dig the finer the sand.  I am putting 8 bags of potting soil and manure on it before I plant.  These are guaranteed to be weed free.  Can't say that about what comes out of the cow.  I remember the chickweed that we had to pull when we were kids. Wish me luck and hope I still have a green thumb.



Pink ornamental grass will be planted on the south side of my house.





Last year I planted lilies, glads and petunias. This year I plan to plant them too, but add a pink foliage grass surrounded by purple wave petunias.


 


My electric tiller
 Potting soil and manure

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Tai Chi

 

The ancient art of tai chi uses gentle flowing movements to reduce the stress of today's busy lifestyles and improve health.


A class in tai chi is being taught at First Lutheran church.  We have done 2 of the 7 weeks of lessons.   Tai chi is sometimes described as "meditation in motion" because it promotes serenity through gentle movements — connecting the mind and body. Originally developed in ancient China for self-defense, tai chi evolved into a graceful form of exercise that's now used for stress reduction and to help with a variety of other health conditions.
Tai chi is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. To do tai chi, you perform a series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion.

There are more than 100 possible movements and positions with tai chi, many of which are named for animals or nature. Regardless of the variation, all forms of tai chi include rhythmic patterns of movement that are coordinated with breathing to help you achieve a sense of inner calm. The concentration required for tai chi forces you to live in the present moment, putting aside distressing thoughts.

We start out with Temple exersises. Prayer wheel, picking fruit and crane flaps its wings to name a few.  These movements imporve flexibility, balance leg strength and concentration.

Then we go to our routine.  So far we have learned preparation, bow stance, combing the horses mane and one I can't remember the name for but it is my favorite.  I catch my self doing it a lot at home. 

Then it is cool down both standing and sitting in a chair.

Tai chi is the most popular exercise in the world, it is something that nearly everyone can do and mental stimulation of learning the art encourtage a person to continue this ancient art and exercise as part of healthy lifestyle.

Do you remember Road House, the movie.  Patrick Swayze was doing tai chi in that movie.  It was the scene next to the river where he was staying.  What woman wouldn't like to watch Patrick work out on the big screen.

As perusual I am not good at it but it surely feels good when I do the moves.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Circumcised

 A teacher noticed that a little boy at the back of the class was squirming around, scratching his crotch, and not paying attention. She went back to find out what was going on. He was quite embarrassed and whispered that he had just recently been circumcised and he was quite itchy. The teacher told him to go down to the principal's office. He was to telephone his mother and ask her what he should do about it. He did it and returned to his class. Suddenly, there was a commotion at the back of the room She went back to investigate only to find him sitting at his desk with his unit hanging out. 'I thought I told you to call your mom!' she said. 'I did,' he said, 'And she told me that if I could stick it out till noon, she'd come and pick me up from school.' KIDS ; DON'T YOU JUST LOVE 'EM!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Old Feed Sack Quilts


This quilt I purchased the top at the flea market in Grand Rapids.  I finished it.  It is made from actual fabrics in 1930.  The white is feed sack muslin and the flowers are flour sacks and clothing.





The Dresden plates were made by a friend of mine.  They are made of actual 1930 flour sack fabrics.  They are hand stitched.




These grandma's flowers were made by unknown quilter in Beach, ND.  They are authentic fabrics from the 1930. I got them as the individual flowers.


This is a quilt made from replica 1930 flour sacks.

The following four quilts are from Don and Janet Haugan's family.  They are authentic and have been lovely used.

Made from tapestry cloth.  It is beautiful and a heavy quilt. It is done with a log cabin pattern.


single wedding ring pattern

Front made from old coats


Army blanket from WWI for the backing of the above quilt.


Crazy quilt.  This quilt was used until just recently.

A big part of the history of quilts.

Feedsacks bring to mind poverty of the Great Depression but at the same time there is a romance to the idea that women could make something beautiful from something so mundane.

In truth feedsacks were used for sewing well before the depression and for several years after. The evolution of the feed sack is a story of ingenuity and clever marketing.
Initially farm and food products were shipped in barrels. Between 1840 and 1890 cotton sacks gradually replaced barrels as food containers. Many of the logos on the flour sacks were circular, a legacy from the time when these logos had to fit on the top of a barrel. 1 Women quickly discovered that these bags could be used as fabric for quilts and other needs.
Cotton had been king until the period of 1914 to 1929 when the price dropped out of the cotton market partially because synthetic fabrics like rayon became popular for dresses and undergarments. With the drop in the price of cotton even more companies began using cotton sacking as packaging.

It took a while for feed and flour sack manufacturers to realize how popular these sacks had become with women. Eventually they saw a great opportunity for promoting the use of feedsacks. First feed sacks began to be sold in colors then around 1925 colorful prints for making dresses, aprons, shirts and children’s clothing began to appear in stores. Manufacturers began to paste on paper labels making it far easier to remove them.
By the late 1930s there was heated competition to produce the most attractive and desirable prints. Artists were hired to design these prints. This turned out to be a great marketing ploy as women picked out flour, sugar, beans, rice, cornmeal and even the feed and fertilizer for the family farm based on which fabrics they desired. Some sacks displayed lovely border prints for pillowcases. Scenic prints were also popular. Manufacturers even made pre-printed patterns for dolls, stuffed animals, appliqué and quilt blocks.

Those who found they had more feed sacks than they could use were able to sell them back to the store where they were then resold. Chicken farmers went through a great many sacks of feed so the sale of feedsacks became a side business for some of them. Feed sacks were even sold by itinerant peddlers giving country women who lived far from town a chance to pick and choose from a variety of feed sack colors and prints. Women also traded feedsacks in order to get patterns that matched fabric they already had or for colors and prints they wanted. They were most creative in finding ways to get the varied fabric they wanted for their feed sack quilt.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Dumber then a preschooler

I already knew I was dumber than a fifth grader...but now it's the preschoolers.

A PRE-SCHOOL TEST FOR YOU

Which way is the bus below traveling?
To the left or to the right?

Can't make up your mind? Look carefully at the picture again.Still don't know?

Pre-schoolers all over the United States
were shown this picture and asked the same question.
90% of the pre-schoolers gave this answer.
"The bus is traveling to the left."

When asked, "Why do you think the bus is traveling to the left?"

They answered:
"Because you can't see the door to get on the bus."

How do you feel now?

Friday, March 23, 2012

Pussy Willlows



Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus Salix when their furry catkins are young in early spring. Before the male catkins of these species come into full flower they are covered in fine, greyish fur, leading to a fancied likeness to tiny cats, also known as “pussies”. The catkins appear long before the leaves, and are one of the earliest signs of spring. At other times of year trees of most of these species are usually known by their ordinary names.

The flowering shoots of pussy willow are used both in Europe and America for spring religious decoration on Palm Sunday, as a replacement for palm branches, which do not grow that far north.
Ukrainian and Russian Orthadox, Ruthenian, Polish, Bavarian and Austrian Roman Catholics, and various other Eastern European peoples carry pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of palm branches. This custom has continued to this day among Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Ruthenian Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, and Polish Catholic emigrees to North America. Sometimes, on Palm Sunday they will bless both palms and pussywillows in church. The branches will often be preserved throughout the year in the family's icon corner.
Pussy willow also plays a predominant role in Polish Dyngus Day (Easter Monday) observances, continued also among Polish-Americans, especially in the Buffalo, New York area.

In my family we have always picked a bunch and placed them on the table.  They are the first signs of spring.  Another sign is the robins singing and hopping in the yard I am ready for spring to be here.  Rebirth and regeneration.  Bring it on.    

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Glazed and Amused

Art washes away the dust from the soul.  Glazed and Amused is a pottery shop in Bemidji.  When my kids where here for Dave's funeral we had a few minutes with time on our hands  so we went to the pottery shop.  Natalie and I each made one piece.  First you must decide on which piece you will make.  Then comes the hard part painting it three times to make a nice and dark glaze when it is fired.  Then we sign it and she fires it.  I made a three section bowl which I tried to match my temptations dishes.  Natalie made a spoon rest for here kitchen.  She matched the colors in her kitchen.  She had her kitchen dining room living room painted at Christmas.  I can't wait to see it.  As I have said before there are many things to do in Bemidji.




This cup appeared in our order when I picked it up
Thank you Stan.




Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Casinos



I went to the casino, the palace in Casslake recently.  As per usual I lost.  But the friend I was with won $150.  The  place was so smokey that I doubt I will be back anytime soon.  I was there 5 hours and the next day I felt like I was hung over, but it was the leftovers of the smoke. I really like the penguin machine.  It is just entertaining to watch hyperactive penguins attacking the screen.  The game I have pictured I never truly understood.  It did not hit enough when I was playing it to even help give me an understanding of why it took my money again.

But casino are part of the north land and are there to entertain.  But after I lost all the money I had planned to I decided to watch people.  Not a good idea.  It looked like most of the people in there are going hand and mouth with their money.  They could not afford to lose any of it.  They were looking for the road to easy street.  but I am afraid they were looking in the wrong place.   What a cross section of people. 

Noise was another interesting part of the casino.  All the machines were active at the same time.  It seemed like the more noise they made the more they attracted customers.  I think it is funny how the manufacturer of the slot machine needed to make the machine sound like it was paying out quarters, but in reality it was just giving you points on the machine. 

Well, we had a great meal anyway.  I would recommend the restaurant. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Carnegie

The city council voted last night unanimously to save the Carnegie Library and use it in the new park plan.


Sunday, March 18, 2012

American Legion Auxiliary Preamble

 

 

This is why I have been a member of the Auxiliary for over 11 years.

 

Preamble to the Constitution



FOR GOD AND COUNTRY WE ASSOCIATE OURSELVES TOGETHER
FOR THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES:

To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America;
To maintain law and order;
To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism;
To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars;
To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation;
To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses;
To make right the master of might;
To promote peace and goodwill on earth;
To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy;
To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Why I moved back to Minnesota




Aesthetic beauty has alway been important to me.  The first picture was taken one morning when I was picking up my brother to go to dialysis.  It is looking east from the entrance of Nielsen Place.  Minnesota gives one many photo opportunities just like this one.  I marvel of the beauty that is created by God just for us.   I wonder if those people that go speeding by me each morning ever slow down enough to enjoy what is right before them?  I took the second picture outside my front window.  Thank goodness for telephone cameras that can take magnificent pictures.  I took these pictures with my phone.