Freeze warning

It was going to freeze here but the frost did not happen and next week looks like it is going to warm up.  I covered everything and now the laundry process of this event starts.  I ended up with 5 loads of towels, blankets and sheets.   It is not just the dew that got them wet.  It was the rain.  I think that the rain is what stopped the freeze.  Well, not the rain, but the cloud cover.  The clouds were suppose to clear off then with it clear the temperature was to drop.  I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a clothes line.  I may have built a fense, but I am not going to build a clothes line.  

Walk with me as we age

I hope this poem has the same effect on you as it did on me............



WALK WITH ME BY THE WATER






This is well worth the read....................





A beauitful poem about growing older..............





Crap.............
I forgot the words.

Memorial Day Celebrations

My plate.  It was delicious.

" The history of Memorial Day, and its purpose, is steeped in tradition and meaning.

Following the Civil War, Americans recognized the military men and women who died in service to their country.

By the late 1860s, in towns and cities across the country, citizens gathered for tributes to fallen soldiers and decorated graves of Civil War veterans on May 30, for what was then known as Decoration Day.

During World War I, the U.S. broadened the observance to include fallen soldiers of all wars.

Gradually, honoring fallen soldiers annually became known as Memorial Day, and it became an official federal holiday in 1971. " This was quoted from the Bemidji Pioneer.

  I attended two ceremonies.  My first was the Greenwood Cemetery where my Dad and Brother are buried.  As you see in the pictures that my mom always gets a flag.  Dad decided when she was buried to have the same foot marker as he would have, excluding the service branch.  So when they put out the flags they don't read them they just see the foot marker and place a flag. 

My Dad and Mothers

My brothers

 
 

Be thankful for your freedom

It is the
VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.


It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.


It is
the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

Graduation -- the sneeze

It is the time of the year that many graduations are being held.  Bemidji High
School held their graduation yesterday at 10:00.  Where as I didn't write this I do think it is important enough to post.

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt.
Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements, not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

�

The speeches were nice, but they were routine until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened.

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED !!!!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said,

'GOD BLESS YOU'

And he walked off the stage...

This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland.

slugs

I just spread coffee grounds around my tomatoes.  How green is that?  It is suppose to keep the slugs away.  I think that they get all caffeined up and run away.  Maybe slide away is better description.  Maybe I'll have the only high caffeine tomatoes. 

While I was in the garden my glads are up about three inches.  I know they weren't there yesterday.  They look so brave out there all alone in that sea of soil.  Potatoes, onions, corn and glads are all up and not it's even June yet.   

I did some research on the Internet about coffee grounds and here is what I found out:
 

Gardeners who pride themselves on their tomato-growing skills often have tricks and strategies they use to increase yields and grow larger tomatoes. Many of these tricks originate in the kitchen with refuse that people usually throw away. Increase the nitrogen content of the soil around your tomato plants by using coffee grounds. When you sprinkle coffee grounds lightly around your tomato plants, you may be surprised at your sizable and bountiful tomato harvest.

Slugs and snails are more than just slimy, slow-moving creatures. They can suck up rows of seedlings while leaving behind a trail of slime. While you may introduce natural predators like frogs into your garden, if you want immediate results there are lots of organic substances you may use to kill slugs and snails. While salt is a popular and effective solution, it is risky because salt can damage the soil. Coffee, which is just as effective, also fertilizes your plants.

Introducing frogs in my garden isn't a problem as I have told you before that I live on any island in the swamp.  All of those creatures are available to me. If you would like to read more about my frogs, please read October 5, 2011.  The blog is called the Invasion of the baby frogs.

I find this topic so interesting, but now I am thinking that I put too much coffee on.  Hope not.      

PBVAC meets NCMC

Last night our car club went on our usual Thursday night cruise.  We meet at Cameron Park and then follow the leader to our distination.  We went out to the Nary area to an air field.  What a surprise for us.  The North Country Model Controllers were set up for their weekend event.  They have three meets a year.    Some of the planes run on gasoline, some are electric and some use a special formula high octane fuel.  I just could not believe what they could make those plane do. 

I did not drive my Buick as it isn't licensed yet and I should get it lubed and the oil changed first. 

We had rootbeer floats and bars in the food stand served by a club member. What fun.

Free Walleye Feed

Each year Paul Bunyan Communications hosts a free walleye feed.  They also give everyone that attends a gift.  This year a bath towel with Paul Bunyan's 75th  birthday and their birthday of 60 years.  The Bemidji Fire Department Fish Fry crew fries all the fish.  They serve 8 to 10 thousand people each year. 

This is the Year of the Legend--Paul Bunyan's legend.  Every event that Bemidji hosts can use the phrase the Year of the Legend.  This year I have personally worn more black and red plaid then I have ever worn.  

It was pouring rain at 4:30 and people lined up for the food, festivities, and the free gift.  I got my food and took it home to eat.  It was pure heaven.

corn

picture take May 22.

Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.  I have planted my corn in pots to get a jump on the corn growing season.  I planted them April 28th.  They came up May 9th.  Now they have to grown to around six inches to be transplanted in my garden.  You must be careful not to disturb the root ball when you transplant them.  I transplanted them into the garden on may 20th. Now with rain and heat they should be knee high by the fourth of July.

Is it a rock????

I thought it was a rock and almost picked it up.  It is a toad.  It is kind of evil looking, but I can have it living near me unlike the snake.  It is on my banister up next to my house on the front steps. It was gone this morning but he left me a present.  Toad poop.

It must be true  that I live on an island in the middle of a swamp.  With all the wild life that entire my yard.  My uncle said after he had flown over Bemidji "Which island do you live on?"

Pancakes for breakfast

Our breakfast group has grown by leaps and bounds.  There were 14 of us so they set the meeting room at the Senior Center for our breakfast.  It was Norm and Stan's friends and family.  We joked about the waitress getting our orders mixed up like the Cheerios commercial.  Every plate of cakes is the same.  Mary our waitress thought that was funny.

Ground breaking

We held the ground breaking for the Faith Build on Saturday.  First Lutheran Church will be helping with the building of the home July 12, 13, and 14th.  We got to see the floor plan and speak with the new owner for the home.  A pastor blessed the grounds and the people who were about to build and then asked God for their safety.  Then the new owner held a Native American ceremony with a drum and a singer and the burning of the sage. 

Lunch at a grocery store???

It was our last time to knit until next Fall. We are went to Laporte to eat lunch and then went to our pastor and his wife's home for dessert.  This made our final knitting session for the church really special.  We ate in a grocery store?? I wondered if we spilled something we would hear  Clean up in aisle seven. It was a great meal.  The part that made it good was the meat.  It was like old fashioned hamburgers.  They weren't processed over ground patties.  I had the bacon cheese burger and the bacon was thick cut and meaty.  I would go back again.  Then we were off to our pastors home and Jan had made a great dessert.  We laughed and told stories and talked of books that we had read.  What a great group of friends.  The word Sisu in Finnish means friend and I told them that that what I think of when I think of them .......Sisu ....friend.

Our group knits baby sweaters, afgans, and prayer shawls.  Most of these are for world relief and are sent to third world countries.  But the afgans are distrituted locally to families that are in crisis. 
The prayer shawl are distributed to people that are either in health crisises or a family member that is in crisis.  This is a very personal ministry. Anyone that knows someone or is about to visit someone that needs one can pick one out for them and send it or hand deliver it.  It is a very powerful message to send to someone in cirsis.  It tells a person that an entire church family is behind them and praying for them.

It is a small group ministry that has a big impact ---the First Lutheran Knitters.

Legion Testimonial Dinner

This dinner was held to honor Sharon Thiemecke.  She has been our 6th district president for the
American Legion Auxiliary.  It was hosted by The Ralph Gracie Post and the Unit 14 America Legion Auxiliary.  For her annual project she partnered with the 6th District Commander Bergstrom.  Together they wanted a project that would directly help veterans.  They chose the St. Cloud VA Medical Center's (VAMC) Mental Health Fund. The fund is used to provide veterans with things such as snacks, musical instruments, books, reading glasses,coffee and soft drinks.  The ST. Cloud VAMC annually spends over $11,000 from this fund.  Her motto was Clearing Fences for our Veterans.

Syttende Mai

The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 in the year 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent nation.  The celebration of this day began spontaneously among students and others from early on. However, Norway was at that time under Swedish rule and for some years the King of Sweden and Norway was reluctant to allow the celebrations. For a couple of years in the 1820s, King Karl Johan actually forbade it, as he thought the celebrations a kind of protest and disregard—even revolt—against Swedish sovereignty. The king's attitude changed slightly after the Battle of the Square in 1829, an incident which resulted in such a commotion that the king had to allow it. It was, however, not until 1833, that anyone ventured to hold a public address on behalf of the day. That year, official celebration was initiated by the monument of the late politician Christian Krogh, known to have stopped the king from gaining too much personal power. The address was held by Henrik Wergeland, thoroughly witnessed and accounted for by a Swedish spy, sent by the king himself.
After 1864, the day became more established, and the first children's parade was launched in Christiania, in a parade consisting only of boys. This initiative was taken by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, although Wergeland made the first known children's parade at Eidsvoll around 1820. It was only in 1899 that girls were allowed to join in the parade for the first time.
By historical coincidence, the Second World War ended in Norway nine days before that year's Constitution Day, on May 8, 1945, when the occupying German forces surrendered. Even if The Liberation Day is an official flag day in Norway, the day is not an official holiday and is not broadly celebrated. Instead a new and broader meaning has been added to the celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day on May 17.
The day focused originally on the Norwegian constitution, but after 1905, the focus has been directed also towards the royal family.

Locally in Bemidji Sons of Norway Walker and Bemidji Lodges will be holding a gala evening of a concert by world renowned Norwegian pianist Knut Eric Jensen and a dinner today. The celebration will begin with a 6 p.m. concert by Jensen with dinner to follow at Calvary Lutheran Church, 2508 Washington Ave. SE. Tickets for the concert are $10 each and may be purchased at the door.

Food Shelf

The post office held their annual food drive here in Bemidji.  People on the mail routes hung their food on the mailbox and some dropped it off at the post office.  I helped to weigh and unload and organize the donations onto shelves. The food shelf received over 4000 pounds of food from this drive.  It was our task to organize it so the shelves could be easier to fill the store itself  because they could find just the foods easier.  Those shelves are huge and they were filled to the top. This picture was taken in their new location in the Industrial Park. I got to tour the new facility and they will have more space.  I am still concerned about the distance they will now have to go to get their food. 

Graduation

Friday I attended the graduation at NDSCS.  The student I went to honor was the fiancee of a good friend's daughter.  This young man's grandmother died 2 days before so his Dad's family was not able to attend.  His mother did make the graduation.  He is a young man that will do anything for you if you need it done. He has a heart of gold.  He has in his young life saved peoples life that would have burned.  Saved an apartment building from burning completely to the ground and spreading to adjacent buildings.  The best story I have about this young man is the night of the fire I was sitting on a park bench watching the fire fighters fight the fire with the owner of the building whom soon will be his mother-in-law.  He came out of the building with a load of his things from his apartment and he came across the street with something for me.  It was the note he had written to me thanking me for the John Deere quilt I had made for him for his graduation from High School.  It was soaking wet.  He laughed and said I just wanted you to have the original.  When I gave him my graduation present yesterday, I said please don't give me another wet thank you card.  He really laughed at that and was telling people all about the first card.  When I arrived in Wahpeton I called my friend and she told me that I could attend the dinner that John Deere corporation catered for the graduates. So I got to see him get his plaque from the Diesel program. 

   

Then on to the NDSCS graduation.  Well, then graduation took off with an interesting turn. The bleachers we were sitting popped like a gun went off. When we stood for the graduates it swayed worse than any boat I've been on. The official cleared the bleachers on the North side of the gym and set up chairs. The faculty gave up their seats in the front for people and stood the entire graduation.

Graduation went on and was done in record time. 

He is the first of his family to attend college and graduate. It took the entire village but it happened.  What a fun day. 

Hyway 89 North

The PBVAC cleans Hyway 89 North for 2 miles.  This is something that I have always wanted to do.  Another items off my bucket list.  I found a roll of blue painters tape while cleaning.  We did this on May 10th.  After a successful cleaning we went the Pete's Place West and the club bought us pie.  We were up-dated on the Car show.

Mommy

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God: "How am I going to live on earth being so small and helpless?"
God replied, "Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."
"But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me ...to be happy."
"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy."
"And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language that men talk?"
"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."
"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"
"Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."
"I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?"
"Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."
"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."
"Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you."
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly:
"Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."
"Your angel's name is of no importance, you will call your angel: Mommy."

Legion Auxiliary Meeting

We had an appreciation dinner at our regular meeting of the Legion Auxiliary.  At our meeting the post commander Gabe Wakanabo up-dated us on the sale of the Legion Post Building to the 209 club.  They are in negotiations at this point.  The Legion Post has presented a counter offer. The selling price is in the 400 to 500 dollar range. 

We also had election of officers.  I was elected the second vice- president.  I really hope that doesn't mean that I will move up in a rotation to the presidents job.  I plan on attending the district convention in June at St. Augustav. 

Our President and Secretary

The post commander

What a classic

I made an appointment to see this car and take it for a spin.   I asked Rik my nephew to come along with me.  It so happened that Michelle his wife had a dinner to go to.  He gathered up the kids and met me to start this adventure.  We drove the car and it was a honey.  The things that are wrong are the headliner is coming down.  The air conditioner doesn't work.   The heater sprays antifreeze on the windshield.  Also Rik saw some seepage by one of the spark plugs.  He also saw some oil by the oil pan underneath.  So we are negotiating.  I give him my name and number and told him if he would ever consider my offer to give me a call.

Well it was supper time so we got a pizza at Papa Murphy's and I baked it at my house and we had supper together.  All in all it was a fun night.