Many Thanks to "Far Side..." and Some Meanderings

Hello, everyone (I write as if I have this huge following)! I wanted to say a big Thank You to Connie at "Far Side of Fifty" for sending me a "snowstick" prize. I received this nice wood-carving of a little gnome house and a really neat hand-made card on Friday. It means a lot to me. If you want to follow a fun blog, please go to http://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/ and enjoy a true-blue Minnesotan as she describes her days. I often think we have lost some of our traditional characteristics here in Minnesota, and it's refreshing to visit her and witness pride of family, generosity with time and talents, love and care for animals, and a slightly wicked sense of humor. You have to be special to regularly take your dad to bingo! Here are the nice prizes. I will be framing the card and put it with other lady's slipper items I have.

This past week has been a bonus week for animals stopping by. A big tom turkey has been visiting daily with several hens. He stands guard in all his regalia while the hens and young toms scratch through the leaves and find all sorts of good things to eat.

The deer seem to have fared well through a long hard winter. They've resumed their saunter through the farm, using the same path as last year. They've been walking through just before sun-down.

Yesterday I noticed the rhubarb is peeking up through the white pine needles. The red nubbins are such a vibrant red. The time will fly so fast and soon I'll wonder why I didn't cut more rhubarb. 

The porch needs a major scraping and re-staining, but I like the little growth of moss on the doormat that I forgot to take up last fall.

Time for coffee.

Have a good week. 

Phil

Celebrating Birch Trees

What a glorious day! There is a lot of beauty in our world. The winter is leaving us. I don't like to say anything negative about winter here in Minnesota. Winter has given us a lot, including appreciation for adversity and the patience it teaches us. I don't think we would be who we are if we didn't experience the most severe and the most beautiful season. Today I appreciate the gorgeous birch trees.

These trees are at the root of my existence. My grandpa Holum was an immigrant from Norway, and the birches connected him to his homeland. Now, they connect me to him, my grandpa "Pa." He planted them wherever he could, and talked about the white birch "legs." To Pa, they were our connection from season to season, and generation to generation.

Today I worked on some planting in the house, and I thought about my mom and dad and also of "Pa" and felt so full of a heritage that they passed down. It was a good feeling. I wonder if we don't all have this heritage, and could we all appreciate it a little more? It doesn't take a big sacrifice. In their way, they all saw the beauty of winter passing into spring. These old Norwegians used the word "cozy" so liberally. So and so was "cozy." Aunt Josephine or Aunt Annie were "cozy."  They spoke of "visiting" someone and saying they were so "cozy." They would say, after a busy day, let's just get "cozy" tonight. Coffee time was a time to be "cozy." I'll never forget it. We all need to be more "cozy."

It was kind of exciting to get some of the dahlias started in the house. Normally, I haven't done this, but it seems the growing season gets shorter and they don't bloom until the latter part of August, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I hope this works. You can see I like sour cream and ice cream.  I also started some canna roots and they're doing well. My sister gave me a Christmas gift of herbs and I hope they progress well. Oregano, rosemary, cilantro, and basil. Always hope for the best.

As you can see, there is a long way to go, the garden still has a covering of icy snow. We'll see what the week brings. I'm in no hurry. But the presence of some paltry canna sprouts in the house is a nice reminder to be "cozy" and appreciate what we have.

Everybody needs a little sunshine

I'm sorry to be gone so long, but I've been in a winter funk, and have turned into a real slacker. I haven't had much to post. I want to say thank you to new followers Flowerlady Lorraine, Mama Pea from Homegrown Journal, Sharon from Morning's Minion, Henny Penny, and TC Goatldi.

We've had a lot of snow out here in the toolies, and the temps have been pretty brutal. Maybe they just seem brutal for this time of year. I have to say, I have no memory of a colder Easter or post-Easter week.

The birds have really been going through the sunflower seeds like it's going out of style!

The squirrels have been hangin' in there too!

This grey squirrel hanging on the feeder in the last frame is the first I've seen here for a long time. Normally, only red squirrels have lived here on the farm for years.

I hope we can get some sunshine tomorrow. It makes all the difference in my outlook. Have a good weekend! 

Phil

Sleepy Sunday

Today was a quiet day here on the farm. Normally, I would go to church at 8:30, but felt I've had good luck so far avoiding a cold, and didn't want to take a chance. So I stayed home and watched the televised Catholic mass. It really isn't much different than my own denomination's service. The sun was out and the skies were clear and blue.

A crisp, clear day really brightens the spirit.

Over time, I've noticed that February is the month when the moon and sun make their appearances together later in the afternoon.

Birches are my favorite.

This pileated woodpecker appeared. They are so skittish and seem to detect the faintest sounds from the house, so it is unusual to get a good picture.

The later afternoon sky had some good color.

It was soon time for a snooze.

Have a good night.

Phil

Exploring the Small World, A Spice Drawer to Clean

Good Evening,

I want to welcome new followers at Simple Living, Leigh at 5 Acres and a Dream, and Lorraine B. I hope you enjoy your visits.

Today I've been looking through a drawer of older spice containers that were my mom's, and my grandmother Thompson's when she lived here,  and even a few from my grandfather Holum's cottage on Gull Lake years ago. There were several old tumeric cans, including a Red Owl brand from the 60's or 70's. There is a much older Flavorite can, which would have been from the Super Valu Store in Brainerd during the 40's or 50's. Note it is priced at 12 cents. The last one is a Nash's brand by the Nash-Finch Company, which was a grocery distributor in the middle of the 20th century. They might be around yet. I would estimate this one as a late 1940's can, but I'm not sure.

The next two are older cans of McCormick's whole nutmeg priced at 15 cents and a Durkee's curry powder. I like the metal pull-off tops.Both of these cans are probably 40's era, because Durkee's started the slide top in the later 50's I believe. Not sure of that.

Both of these are Standby brand Poultry Seasoning and Pumpkin Pie Spice marked 16 cents. They have an older style slide top.

I'm not sure when Durkee started using cardboard for some of their spices. I think they used it mostly for whole spices. The blue-ink stamper would put them in the 60's or early 70's. The Watkin's flavoring was ordered by my grandma when the Watkin's man would make his rounds around the farms here. She would also order salve and maybe "nectar" concentrate for a summer drink at "dinner" which nowadays would be "lunch." 

I remember this blue food coloring bottle as a very small kid in the late 50's, early 60's. There were 3 others in red, green and yellow.

I did get the drawer cleaned and hope to display these old spice containers in the kitchen. I think I'll have to plan a little cabinet, maybe with a glass door. Will see. 

While I was busy, the kitties were trying to keep warm. Annie and Josey in the stairway.

Byron up high.

Have a good night.

First Attempt at Yeast Dough

I wanted to make Julekage (Norwegian Christmas bread) before Christmas, but didn't manage to get that done. Today I tried something similar. The recipe for Julekage was too complex for me and I was having trouble reducing it for a smaller quantity. I'll work on that later, and make both loaves and buns.

You see the Julekage recipe at the bottom of the photo. Instead of that, I chose a Hvite Bollar (white rolls) recipe at the top, cut it by half and added cardamon, dark and gold raisins, and cherries. This type of cardamon bun usually calls for citron, but I didn't have any, so I soaked the raisins in a little orange juice.

My cousin in Wisconsin gave me a gently-used mixer for Christmas, and I like it especially for mixing. However, I decided to knead by hand, since this wasn't a very big batch. I'm thinking next time I won't let the raisins get so wet, since that made the dough somewhat difficult to shape into nice smooth rolls. Anyway they are a little rough looking and not too uniform. So I have to learn by doing better next time. The quantity was a cake pan of 12 and then a small round pan.

The cardamon and orange zest had a good flavor and overall, I am satisfied for now.

And throughout it all, Big Boy Byron didn't even come into the kitchen!

Have a good day. 

Phil

Amaryllis in Winter

I like amaryllis in the wintertime. I always buy the bulbs too late for Christmas blooming, but then I justify it by thinking that I need the color in January during the dead of winter. There are snobs who don't like amaryllis but my feeling is that's not my problem. The Red Lion is what I planted this year.

I also like the variegated types. I try to keep them over the winter in the basement, but usually they are not as dramatic when they bloom the second time around. I don't mind. They are usually smaller. But still beautiful.

Another amaryllis. I'm beginning to wonder who appreciates all this on this blog. I'm just beginning, so suppose I should be more patient.

Sometimes I'm doubting what to do, and thinking folks would rather just hear a lot of misery, from what I've read for at least nine years following them. I hope I don't ever resort to that. I'd rather fail. I choose to post positive, happy aspects of my life, and if folks want misery, they will have to look elsewhere. I hope you have a good night. Peace be with you.