Musing in Minnesota

2009-11-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

2009-11-21T16:16:00.000-08:00

2009-11-03T11:17:00.000-08:00

I went to Camden State Park over the weekend to run away for a while. I took the dog and my digital camera with me. This was my favorite photo from the batch I snapped. The leaves are off the trees so this was a bit of color along the trail.

Camden has 'real' hills and reminds me of back home in Maine.

wow

2009-04-09T19:01:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in over two years!

I didn't finish the challenge to tat 25 motifs.

I still live in the midwest.

I'm in the process of divorcing.

I have a dog.

The flower garden has a few vegetables.

I'm still taking photos.

The boys are still cute, just older.

photos of the snow, cute kids

2007-02-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

The boys were out digging tunnels in the snow piles. Steve took this adorable photo.

It's been a very long time since I've posted!

Motif #6, earring 2a

2006-09-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

I finished a set of earrings. I'll add beads on my next version.

Snowflake #1a. I adjusted this from the original pattern - I added small split rings between the star arms. I had extra space to fill because I didn't attach the larger rings to the center chains properly. I like it, though. I want to make another one now that I understand the pattern. I like to have snowflakes on hand to use for Christmas gifts.

This pattern came from a book my friend bought. I had copied the patterns, but didn't copy the title page. I don't usually sell (or publish) my tatting, so I haven't worried about it until now.

Purple Glory

2006-09-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

The morning glories in the garden are just perfect. They like the cooler weather and this little purple pretty is outside the window of our breakfast nook. We see this with the bright red cardinal climbers. Hummingbirds come to visit during suppertime.

earrings #1c

2006-09-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

This is my third attempt at the earrings. I did one, and still don't like it too well. I'll use a freebie pattern from the internet for my next try. Thanks in advance to the nice folks who publish patterns online for us design-challenged people! :)

The current motif count is 5, including the bookmark.

I've been doing some snowflakes recently, to take a break from the beads. I'm working on a 5 pointed snowflake in white now. I made enough mistakes connecting the 'arms' to the center that I just made a variation to the pattern in the book. I hope to finish it this weekend, however it turns out.

Doily

2006-09-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

This was the doily I finished last fall - September. I wrote notes in my tatting book when I finished it. DMC Cebelica White Size 30. This pattern came from an old J.& P. Coats tatting book and it titled "Tatted Starlight Doily". It's about 8" across.

I entered this in the county fair and won first place. It was the only tatted entry - I'd love to see more tatted entries next year.

tatting projects

2006-09-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

I got my scanner working!

The yellow motif is from an older book - J.P. Coats tatting book from the 1920's. Yellow DMC size 80 thread.

I made the small white motif to use up some thread on a shuttle.

The cross bookmark will make a nice gift. I found it in my basket half finished. It DMC size 30 white. I forgot which book I got the pattern - have to look it up again.

tatting motifs, continued

2006-08-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

Motif 2 is a doodle; nothing fancy, just putting an edging together to make a thicker edging or border. My brother makes small wooden jewelery boxes and wants small designs to insert in the top of the boxes.

Size 30 DMC Cebelia

Earrings #1b redone in pink size 30 thread w/pink beads.

Size 30 DMC Cebelia

Earrings, Motif #1

2006-08-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is the first motif in the 25 motif challege for myself. I like the design, but I will be adjusting the size of the thread and beads and experimenting with colors. I want to see what a thicker thread looks like with that size beads. I don't have the earring posts yet. Ideas are welcome!

For tatters: I started with a ring of 6ds, p, 4ds, p, 4ds, 5p w/beads sep by 2ds, then 4ds, p, 4 ds, p, 6ds, close ring. Chain of 15 or 30 half stitches (depending on length) adding another ring like the first, more chain of 30 half stitches, another ring and then ending with a chain of 50 half stitches. Be sure to make the half stitch chains snug or they won't curl.

This was done in size 100 thread, DMC Cordonnet special, ecru.

tatting projects

2006-08-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have been doing more tatting lately. I will be uploading some projects I've done recently - including the doily that won a first place ribbon in the local county fair. My hardanger doily also got first place. More to come!

more wildflower photos

2006-07-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

2006-07-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

I planted a wildflower patch, and was pleasantly suprised at the variety of flowers I got from it. I didn't like the untidy look until there were enough blooms to make it worth it.

Next year, if I do decide to have another wildflower patch, I think I will use some small compact annuals (marigolds, pansies) as a border to define the area. It might look a little more tidy. Am I turning into a tidy Midwesterner?

red lilies

2006-06-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Red lilies. They were really this bright in real life, too! My uncle took some of these photos on my camera.

flower photos

2006-06-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

I took some photos of flowers in bloom at the university. Some photos came out pretty well. The daylilies were in full bloom, and the cactus flowered!

backyard

2006-05-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

This is just a photo of the backyard on a rainy day. I didn't think the the yard could look so exotic!

Tulips

2006-05-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

I went to the local university with my camera. I wanted to catch some of the tulips at their best. This is the photo that was nicest, although there were many different types of flowers. I loved the color of these!

birthday photo

2006-05-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is baby-face on his 7th birthday, last march. He was up at 6am, asking where were the party hats? Busy day - he still had chocolate frosting on his face.

spring

2006-04-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have photos, but no computer to upload them with. The computer software isn't working, and the Java software just isn't doing the job. I know it's not the hardware, anyway, but I just don't like Windows for doing this to me!

I have started seeds for plants for the garden. I think it's a long process to take photos of flowers, but should be nice when it's done. I have Canterbury bells (for next year; biennials), larkspur and maybe some delphiniums. Zinnas, sunflowers, marigolds, petunias, pansies and impatients. Coleus came very well from seed. I want lots of climbers: morning glories, moon flowers, cardinal climbers and black eyed susan vines. Should be really great. I have to find a rototiller and lots of peat moss, though.

The veggies should be great. Tomatoes and peppers, beans, cukes and zucchini. Herbs: cilantro, chives, thyme, spearmint and lavender. Everbearing strawberries! yeah.

Should be warmer in a few weeks, but maybe last night was the last frost of the season.

Birthdays

2006-03-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

I have more photos, will upload them soon, hopefully. My baby turned 7 on Tuesday. He's getting big. He got magnetics sets, a Trilogy game and a Battleship game along with some birthday spending money. He got lots of treats and we all had a nice time. Birthdays are a good way to take family photos, because you have the excuse of taking the photo of the cake, and just need to have people in the background.

cameras

2006-03-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

I had to admit my favorite camera - a point-and-shoot 35mm - is broken. I don't think it's worth the money to fix it. Steve found a clearance 35 mm camera for $70. I got that instead, and am figuring out how to work it. I'm still on the first roll of film, but am optimistic that it's a decent quality camera. It has some zoom, and lots of options. I think digital photography has replaced the film cameras and I'm seeing a lot of sales. The film cameras aren't lagging in quality yet, but there will be fewer choices soon enough. Digital camera technology is improving rapidly, and getting much more affordable.

I saw a bird at the bird feeder last week. The first of the season. The snow is almost all melted off, too.

mid-winter blahs

2006-02-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Come February in Minnesota, the winters start getting long. We've had a couple of warm spells this year, but we're all looking forward to spring. I start reading books to get my mind off things - this year I've been reading Harry Potter along with Caleb. He's brought home these huge Potter books and plopped down on the floor for an hour at a time reading. I figured that I better read them along with him. Harry Potter is more interesting in the mid-winter than it would be other times of the year.

getting settled

2006-02-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

Moving twice in one year is really disorienting. It's been 6 weeks since we've moved and I'm just now thinking of getting back to a normal routine. The boxes never end and I'm still hunting for things I need.

I hope to take more photos. I got out the cameras for Steve's birthday, only to find they were all either out of film or had low batteries. sigh. I figure I must be doing better if I'm noticing things I want to take photos of - 2am last night there was a great photo opportunity of the trees making shadows in the fog. The street light had just enough light to make it really interesting, with the tree outlines layered on each other. I was too tired to look for batteries, though.

We don't have internet from the house. I am using library computers for now.

warm for Minnesota

2006-02-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

It feels like April in Minnesota, or February in Georgia. The snow is melting off. I'm thinking about starting my seeds, but it's a month too early for that.

The sump pump is running more often - just doing it's job.

Steve's birthday was yesterday. He had tapioca pudding, angel food cake and a nice dinner of baked fish, asparagus and sweet potatoes. Busy day for us, but he's still another year older.

still here

2006-01-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

It's time to collect seed catalogs and decide what to order for the garden. Since we have some space to garden this year, I"m looking forward getting some new seeds to start. I want to get a bleeding heart bush for the front yard, too, instead of just the green shrubs that are there now. Climbing clemantis is on my list, and some berry bushes. Steve is deciding what kind of apple tree to plant.

I haven't been able to connect to the internet from home, so I can't uploaded any photos. We moved into the house before Christmas and have all our boxes in one place now.

I'm tired. I have doubled my thryoid meds and I still don't feel any better. Since I have all the same symptoms, I don't think I'm overdosing. I'm frustrated and wish I had more energy to do more. End of whine.

Boys

2005-12-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

We suprised the boys with the house after we closed. We handed them the keys.

The boys had a piano recital last Sunday. They did very well with their songs. There were only 3 boys in the 10 students at the recital, but I was glad they didn't seem to notice that. We were notable because the boys were so full of energy - they bounded up to that big piano and jumped down the step on the way. They raced off after it was done, and just barely made it through the half hour without exploding from sitting so long.

Toby is 8 years old now, and we were pleased to have our friends baby born on his birthday - their sixth - named Elias Lincoln Twitchell.

Leaves

2005-11-07T06:24:00.000-08:00

I would have thought the kids wanted to jump in piles of leaves for fun. Instead, they found their own 'stuff' to do. Hanging a rake from the branches was their choice of fun. Crazy kids.

When they weren't doing that, they were rolling old tires through the woods.

Radon

2005-11-03T07:19:00.000-08:00

Radon Update: the mail away tests for radon in the air (of our house) gave results very close to my electronic meter results. I was pleased the results agreed. I'm more comfortable with the accuracy of both testing methods seeing these results. As a former chem. lab tech, I like being reminded that I still understand sample collection, too. :)

I continue to be amazed at how few folks understand radon. This area of SW Minn has such high levels of radon in the air that it's truly unusual. Hubby says that 1.2, 1.5 pci is the national average. There was house that the realtor sold recently w/19pci before remediation. wow.

grain

2005-11-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

Maynard, MN. Grain is the industry in town, not counting the bars and cafe. There were three tractor trailer trucks waiting in line behind the one you see in the photo.

It's a good year for corn; high yields, though I don't know about prices. When we were driving to Maynard, we saw huge piles of corn outside. The grain bins were full, and the extra corn was in huge piles (the size of an apartment building) outside. Wish I could have stopped along the side of the road to take a photo of them.

The photo is at an odd angle, I know. I was walking over the rail tracks and messing with the camera at the same time. Sort of interesting, I think, although I wouldn't use it as an example of a 'good' photo. Good thing I don't try to walk and chew gum.

little leaves

2005-11-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

cute. What can I say? Digital cameras are great. I wouldn't have taken photos of all this stuff if I had to pay for film.

more views

2005-11-02T07:27:00.000-08:00

Prickles we found in the woods. Scary enough for Halloween weekend.

November

2005-11-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

I took along my camera this weekend. Some photos were decent, as photos, and others I liked because I want to remember the view.

This is the view from inside a pile of leaves.

Blue flower

2005-10-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

I printed this in 5 x 7 as part of a 3 photo set for my living room wall. I especially liked the crinkles in the tips of the petals, but I liked the color and how the leaves curled around the flower, too. It's interesting how one photo can turn out so well, and others are just blah. I took many photos this summer of my Mom's garden flowers. I have another set of 4 photos from her garden that I put over my kitchen sink - lilies. Very nice, and hanging in 'my space', too.

the house and radon

2005-10-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

We are very close to owning a house. The radon test results were the last hurdle to clear. The radon meter we have gave a reading in the cellar of 2pci, short term. Good enough for us to close. I sent off the mail-away tests from the public health department, too. Those will come back later next week.

I was so impressed that the county public health departments sold radon test kits (testing air quality, but not water) for $4 or $6! Up north, public health departments sold them cheaper. But, everything was included in a postage paid envelope.

The photo is from the realtor's website. I should go in to take some photos of my own, but haven't taken the time yet. I guess it will wait. The kids will be excited - but we haven't told them. I think we will close, then bring them over to show them afterward. They have been through too much moving already, without waiting around for the closing. It has a big yard for the area, too. yeah.

Marshall is a 'hot-spot' for radon levels. We are so suprised that so few folks know about this. It is interesting to see the health statistics for the area, as well. The epi people don't see high levels of lung cancers here that would normally be associated with radon levels like this. Folks are pretty healthy here to begin with, we suppose. I know people use their basements for living areas and fix them up to make bedrooms, too. Go figure.

I suppose I could be out writing a grant to get more houses tested for radon levels. There are opportunities, I'd guess. I'll be busy sanding down hardwood floors and painting walls for a while, anyway. Packing boxes, again, too. . . . sigh.

sunset

2005-10-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

This is what I see of the sunset; sitting at the computer.

Advertising

2005-10-17T02:46:00.000-07:00

The boys love this. It was at a fundraiser for hurricane victims yesterday.

Park photos

2005-10-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here's more photos I took from the park. I was wandering around w/a camera while the boys played in the sandbox. The sandbox is the size of an entire house lot! They can spend a long time there. So, here's the result of me with some free time and a camera.

I guess I like red right now. The yellow leaves in town are slowly turning to red. I saw these chairs from the park.

In the park

2005-10-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I like this photo of cattails, but the vertical lines are interesting, and I like the browns and greens. There were cat tails by the fire pond when I was growing up in Maine.

Rosa's Stuff

2005-10-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Another tatter w/some of her tatted projects published.

Rosa's Stuff

odds 'n ends

2005-10-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

I made this doily from a tatting book my mother's mother owned. 1920's, maybe?

I'd like to adapt the outer edges of it to make a sweater collar. Wishful thinking, probably, but I put that idea on my list of 'things-to-d0-someday'. It's a long list, but I have two different wish lists. One list is of things that are smaller goals: specific tatting projects, learn more advanced tatting techniques, finish quilts for my boys, sewing fancy hats for my neice, photograph the red trees in town, build up my skimpy wardrobe, bake better bread more often, eat more whole food and less processed foods, learn to treat my low thryoid to feel well.

My second wish list is reaching further: learn the technical aspects of photography, learn to use Adobe Photoshop to it's full potential, photograph old barns on the drive from Minnesota to Maine (or make photo journals, each with a specific focus), teach the men in the family to pick up after themselves more, get a fulfilling part-time job making scads of money, get a car that's fun to drive and use it for fun.

I have this mental image of myself driving to Maine one last time to do my photo journal - I'm old and widowed and my grown kids are upset at me for doing something so irresponsible as driving so far by myself just to take photos. At least the cameras will be good enough by then to copmensate for my shaky hands and poor vision! I'm laughing at myself, now and then.

I did go out one day last week just to take pictures of the area. It was a grey, rainy morning and I was out in the little pickup stopping by the side of the roads, camera in hand. I thought I did well to get back without being squashed by huge farm equipment during harvest.

This is an ethanol plant in the area - I don't mind seeing it because it provides good jobs in the community. I'd like to see more of these scenes in Maine; then it would be easier to make a living there. Steve's truck runs on the ethanol - E-85, but you wouldn't know it's an environmentally friendly thing just seeing the plant that makes the stuff. The truck doesn't get as good gas mileage on E-85. The only time I ran out of gas was with his truck running on E-85.

odd

2005-10-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

Another building (in town, though) that I'd love to know about. It's probably nothing, but what in the world would this tall building be used for? I saw it driving through the industrial part of town. Sort of sinister? odd? I don't know.

I could really get known as someone weird if I went around asking as many questions as I'd like. Wonder if I could bribe my first grader into asking about these things? First-graders look clueless and can get away with asking lots of crazy questions.

Downtown small towns

2005-10-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

This is from the downtown of Ghent. It was a block from the grain elevator and gas station. I'd love to know the story behind this building. Beyond this are nice neat houses with lawns, flowers and trees.

Notice the sidewalk is new?

Harvest

2005-10-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is outside Ghent, MN. A post-harvest field can look well groomed. Contrast this to corn fields that often have a couple of inches of stubble left in the field to keep the dirt from blowing away.

In the winter these fields will have small snow waves created by blowing wind across the wide open space. It does look like a rough ocean of snow when you drive by.

Small towns

2005-10-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Small town Minnestoa. The grain elevator is in the center of town. I drove out today (as a special trip!) to take photos today. I'll post them over the next few days, I think, since I have errands to do before the weekend.

Minneota is large enough to have a K-12 school. I've driven by it and the school is a nice new brick building. Very nice. The nursing home and assisted living center is across the street, and just as nice. I had to be careful to dodge the very large tractors driving down the main streets, though, as I'm gawking. I wasn't squashed like a bug in the little S-10, so it was a successful trip.

Ghent, Minnesota. The small print says "Rolle Bolle Capitol of the World." I can't verify their claim. I think Rolle Bolle is a sport, though.

Ghent is a very small town, with just a catholic school in town. Their kids are bussed to surrounding towns. The town has a new housing development with some nicer new houses (cookie-cutter-houses) that folks are buying to save money over buying in the town 6 miles down the road.

Red Tree

2005-10-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is the tree with red leaves that we can see from our driveway. I didn't get outside to take the photo before a lot of the leaves fell. I know it's not a great photo, but there aren't many red leaves around town.

I think the owners of that blue house would be really embarrassed to find a photo showing their garage needs paint. . . .

The second tree I found with red leaves is in a downtown park. I'll have to find it on my bike to take the photo, I think.

I know there are much better fall foliage colors in New England. I don't miss the fall leaves in Maine, really. I do like being settled into the fall routine and having everyone busy with school and work, wherever we are.

homeschooling

2005-10-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

My kids are in school (public school) this year. I like the idea of schools and don't understand homeschooling. There are parents who are very well qualified to teach their own children at home, and they are good at it. We have good friends who are very committed to homeschooling and I know they are comfortable with their decisions. I think the kids are missing something. Personally, I enjoyed the variety of other kids I met in public schools, and liked the wide variety of subjects offered. Growing up, my world at home was pretty small. I would not want to be responsible for the bulk of my child's education, and appreciate there are professionals who are hired, with my tax dollars, to help with this.

There are many drawbacks to public schools, yes. I've heard them: bullying, not challenging the bright students, leaving the poor students behind, behavior problems and many other issues. I would guess that this would improve with smaller schools and more involvement of parents and teachers. Less administration wouldn't hurt. There are reasons that homeschooling has become popular.

My kids have been in private and public schools and there are pros and cons to each. I suppose there are situations where I would consider homeschooling, but not many. There are many times I wish my well-qualified homeschooling friends were teaching in a small neighborhood school where they could teach my children as well.

Culturally short-sighted?

2005-09-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

My husband has been reading a book (something about economics) called "The World is Flat". His comments have been that it is a very New York City view of the world, and trendy. Well, do people get culturally short-sighted? everyone - not just the people who write books to sell.

I know when I go home to Maine to visit family, I can tell I've adapted to Minnesota. It's common to re-think your priorities when you have kids, for instance, but how about when you move? There's a high emphasis on community service here in Minnesota. It's important for everyone to stick together and work together to make a better community. I know that folks in Maine suport their community, too, but it's a different mindset. Both places have volunteer fire departments, where folks will organize themselves and raise funds. That's similiar. It's the non-essential 'stuff' I notice the differences. When I see a high school marching band in the midwest, it's often a very large proportion of the entire student body. In Maine, a high school marching band will usually be smaller and made of kids who are interested in music for reasons of their own. The idea that you support the band because it's important to do so isn't much of an issue in Maine. Both areas have very good bands, so it's not the quality that differs, or the quality of instruction.

There are plenty of people who don't move from where they grew up. I know people who don't travel far from their homes I didn't expect I'd move so far from where I grew up. It's not that the cultures of Maine and Minnesota are all that different - many folks come to the US from very different cultures around the world and do just fine. Maybe because it's similiar enough I notice the smaller things.

autumn

2005-09-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

I was out in the country, about 30 miles from town today. It seems that the traffic is different the further from town you are. Folks drive faster, but slow down more for the little towns. The roads are straight, so it's fun and relaxing to drive.

The winters are so long and cold here that we notice perfect days like today; 70's, clear and crisp. The leaves are starting to turn yellow around the edges of the trees. Driving past fields I like to see the shapes made by the rows of corn. Local folks like to see their crop rows straight, just like they like to see straight lines of telephone poles down the country roads. Is it a reaction to being at the mercy of the weather so much? We work around the winter storms all winter and the bugs in the summer.

Almost all the houses in town have immacuate yards. The small house next door has perfectly straight mower lines in their freshly mowed yard - diagonally. I want to take a photo showing this uniformity created by people, but I've never really known how.

I'm fussy about different things - lacemaking and my kids speaking proper english. I'm not fussy about housekeeping, lawn mowing or staking tomatoes neatly.

Tatting

2005-09-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

This is a tatted collar for a sweater I have. I finished it yesterday. I'm curious if anyone will notice it, and if they will know it's handmade. I've had the interesting experience of wearing sweaters my mother has made for me, but folks think they are made commercially.

I like tatting, but it's slow. Crochet is much faster, but less unique. I have tons of colorful varigated thread, but I don't know what to make with all of it. I've made bookmarks with varigated thread, but they seem pretty wild when I'm done. The same pattern in white thread is just classic, but the colored thread changes the entire look.

2005-09-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

This is my kid's un - intentional self-portrait. He was using his camera to take pictures of the flash in the mirrors. It took me a while to figure out how he did this: it's the way the mirrors in the bathroom are set up. The medicine cabinet mirror swings out to give you different angles to see the big mirror.

I like the little face so intent on his project. This bean is 6. I wonder (and worry) what he'll be doing at 12.

The kid's camera is an AGFA camera I found in a bargin bin at a computer store. It's the perfect carry-along camera for the picnic bag. I find I grab it when I'm running out the door instead of a disposable camera.

2005-09-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

Flowers

This is the YMCA's lily. I liked it because I have taken photos of other lilies in my Mom's garden this summer, and this one made a matched set of four photos I can use on my wall. I also like seeing the patterns on the flower petals.

I'm always suprised how well digital cameras take photos - even on the auto settings. Imagine what you can do if you actually understood cameras and photography? Does having a camera in your hand make you look at things differently?

I bought my kids a old style digital camera and they love it. They can snap off 36 images ( with low resolution on such a basic camera) and download them all to the computer just for fun. Maybe they are learning to look at things differently, too. Maybe they are just capturing how they see their world.

new blogger

2005-09-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

I'm a native Mainer. I followed my husband to the midwest for his job almost 10 years ago. Sometimes I find it amusing that we landed here, other days I just don't understand the midwest. I knew we were damn Yankees when we were in Georgia for college, and that we didn't like the south. Minnesota doesn't have cockroaches, and I'm used to the winters, anyway. So, here we are.

I'm taking photos for fun. It's been something that I've liked doing, but only since I've had kids have I been working to take better photos. I'll try to upload a photo I took in Maynard, MN. I took it while I was waiting for the kids to load into the van after visiting their friend.

P.S. The metal things in the background are grain bins (or grain elevators). They dwarf the main street of the town! The rail lines are behind them. The kids think they look like space ships.