MEET OSCAR

Ever since June, Iris, Elsa and I have been volunteering every Tuesday at the Vernon County Humane Society.  To say the girls love doing this is a true understatement...it is the highlight of their week.  They are real troupers at it, too, doing lots of loving and grooming and petting of animals, but also cleaning cages, feeding, doing laundry, sweeping, etc.  

There have been several animals that we have fallen in love with, of course, but they especially took to Oscar, a rescue kitten, found at about 3-4 weeks old beside a dumpster, frightened and emaciated.  He has been at the shelter since October.  He is one we feed, play with and love each week.  The girls have been on me to take Oscar home...Nonnie, you need a cat at home.  

Prior to my marriage to Freddie, I always had cats, often more then one at a time.  Freddie, however, has never been involved with household pets, that is until Iris and Elsa took Freddie on as their next project.  They wrote notes to him describing the plus side of having a kitten, brought him books on cats, found lots and lots of silly jokes about cats, among many other ploys to soften him.

I, too, began to push for Oscar.  Finally, though reluctantly, Freddie gave in and now

Oscar lives in our home!

Rightly proud of their endeavor...

...and I, of course, love Oscar, who, I believe loves me back.  He is a sweet, very mellow fellow, now about 4 and a half months old.  He has been with us a week today, and really is calm, sweet, and seemingly very, very good.

We (Freddie also, I think) are happy to have rescued him from life in a small cage, and he is so happy to live on Jug Creek.

On another note, in preparation for Christmas, as I have since our life in South Dakota in the 60's-70's, I made several Christmas Tea Rings to give to family, friends and neighbors.

Tea ring is traditional in our Christmas morning brunch.

On another no, every Sunday morning I make up a batch of bread dough for our Sunday pizza/movie night.  Recently I saw a photo that looked somewhat like the loaf below and I recreated it.  A braided loaf with pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese inside...which turned out to be absolutely delicious.

And on to more serious thoughts as Andy awaits his latest body scan on January 5th.  It is two years now since his diagnosis of cancer, two years of medical interventions, scans, radiation, and much, much more.  Andy looks marvelous and feels wonderful as I write this, and we are so grateful for his apparent good health all the while we are praying for good results on the 5th.

Andy is truly up there with the most amazing people I know, way at the top of the list, perhaps he even heads it, although I know he would deny it and be embarrassed by my saying so.  But truly he has led us all through this trying time in the most positive of ways.  He is such a role model for me, and for all as well.  I am so blessed to have this man as my son (in-law), for him to be my daughter's partner in life, and the father of my granddaughters.  May his coming days be filled with good health, blessings and be free from cancer.

I am so grateful to all of you out there who keep Andy in your thoughts and your prayers, I know it matters.

ON THIS MY 75TH BIRTHDAY

I awoke to a cool and foggy morning, though I pray the sun today, this my 75th birthday.  

I pray the sun today not merely to shine upon me, but the world as well.  How we need the sun, its warmth and its glory and its pervasive reach.  I love the sun.

Today I reflect on these many years that are mine, totally unable to relate the number 75 to myself...age and time are such tricksters.  

Blindsided

Right from the start

old age,

patient and knowing,

waited.

Lost in years

of youth and

vigor

I am startled

by this collision

and the truth

of myself.

Yet how blessed am I to have these years, my health, my family and the good earth, itself.  My life overflows with blessings, abounds with blessings, shouts to me each day the thrill of being.

Looking back over my life I cannot tally the blessings that I have nor the joys that have been mine...and those that grace my life today. 

My parents, my siblings, my daughter, my son (in-law) and my granddaughters, my husband adorn my life in ways I cannot describe.  They fill me with so much love and pleasure I sometimes feel that I will burst with it all.

My mother and my siblings...granted several (to put it mildly) years ago.

My mother Sarah

My father, Bart.

My siblings and me a mere three years ago.

My daughter Jonel and husband Andy.

Jonel, Elsa and Iris

My husband Freddie

There is so much that each of these folks have given me...

*my parents: my life and love unbounded

*my siblings: constant love, unending support, and joy and         happiness

*my daughter: so much pride in who she is, how she lives her life, how she parents, and all that she is

*my son (in-law) who, too, has given me so much pride in knowing him, one of the finest men I have ever met

*Iris and Elsa...for these two girls I cannot find the words nor would I have the space to enumerate all that they have added to my life...they are the true light of my later years

*my husband who is my prince charming in so many ways

*and I cannot forget the Earth beneath my feel and all that I have gained, over my years from its power and its spirit

Being of Things

My face, nestled softly in the dense

     moss, deep in the forest,

I could not help myself,

     child of the woods was I,

no different than the trees,

     the moss, the sweet air all around.

Only six, yet I was entered

     by the Being of Things

and ever after knew something

     I could not say.

Whatever God might be,

     I knew in some profound way,

yet all this life of mine,

     I have struggled,

sometimes darkly,

     to make Him more real.

6/22/14

And so I enter this day of my birth with such thankfulness and gratitude, love for all of you, love for this earth, and hopes that we, as a nation, as a world, will unite and grow towards goodness, truth and beauty.

TIME HAS FLOWN

It seems like a long time since I have entered a new post, and this one will be somewhat brief.

I spent several weeks preparing for a dinner for 82 people, for which I made the entire spread.  The dinner was a big success and although I did bring my camera, I failed (being quite busy) to take any photos.  

Here, however is a copy of the menu.

The girls and I continue to volunteer each week at the Humane Society, and they continue to love it devotedly. 

Here the girls are sorting the laundry, organizing the laundry shelves, and emptying out the dryer.

One of their favorite kittens.  There are many, many cats at the Humane Society, and we try to take each one out of their enclosure and play with it and let it run around a bit.  It is not always possible to get to every one of them, however.

A new, very sweet and loving puppy arrived last week, and the girls were so happy that Ruby was still there, despite they would love for her to go to a good home.  (They keep trying to get me to take her home.)  We walked Ruby out doors and then brought her into the playroom where she would venture after a toy but immediately bring it back to one of the girls lap.  This puppy is really beautiful, and we decided that she....

looked very much like Elsa...beautiful dark eyes and dark, dark brows.  Elsa loved that she had a 'twin'.

These girls are truly dedicated to helping out here, and will do any job that needs doing or that is asked of them.  Last week we cleaned, organized and straightened out the very messy garage.  I am so proud of them and their selflessness.

NATURE'S DISPLAY

This post needs little in the way of words.  Last night just outside our door the display of nature was stunning.  These photos are not edited or touched up at all, they speak for themselves.

It was like another world here on Jug Creek.

FINALLY A SUNDAY HIKE

A beautiful Sunday and although we wanted to do an single track mountain bike ride, the bike/horse trails were closed today due to the abundant rain of last week.  So we decided to take a hike on the Hoot Owl trail.

There are several stunning rock outcroppings along this trail.

The hiking guide master himself!

All of the rain made the fungi prolific and beautiful.

Mushrooms of all colors and sizes abound.

Rock nooks and crannies everywhere.

This fungi appears to me almost like a melody.

The sunlight mottled the path and led us out.

A lovely afternoon, now I just hope we did not pick up any ticks!

WINE A LOT, YOU'LL FEEL BETTER!

Friday night found this group of friends seated around a large round table in the window of the Hillsboro Brewpub, laughing and having a wonderful time...drinking wine and having some of the best fish tacos around.

Janet, Marcia and Geri

Joan and Joan

me, Sharon and Joan

We have been dubbed the Wine hags, and although I doubt any of us feel like 'hags', we really don't mind the moniker.  We get together somewhat frequently (although we'd all like to make it more frequent I am sure) over wine and food and prove how wonderful the woman-bond really is!!

On another note, Freddie and I took both Saturday and Sunday for day trips, a kind of mini vacation.  On Saturday we went to a lovely old hotel, the Trempeleau Hotel, overlooking the Mississippi River for lunch.  There is a lock and dam nearby and we drove around it only to discover this narrow gravel road, which Freddie wanted to explore.  It was simply beautiful.

Both sides of the road were like this, water right up to the roadside, and lots and lots of green growth...it was like going back in time into a primordial period.

You can barely see it in this photo, but there is a bright red flower in the center.  There were countless numbers of these beautiful flowers along the road.  My camera's battery failed or there would be more photos of them.

We drove as far as we could and then came to this.  Luckily there was a tiny turn around to the left...

Sunday we went to the Great River Folk Festival and heard some great folk music.  All in all, a good weekend.

TOMATOES AND MORE TOMATOES

I know there are only a very few of you who follow this blog, but to those who do, my absence has been mostly attributed to being so busy with the garden produce, among other things.  Today I decided I would update, while not shirking my garden duties.  I have roasted/canned pizza sauce; made tomato ciabatta bread; blanched and frozen green beans; and made and froze three batches of pesto, and also 'cleaned' the house.  I am soon ready for a glass of wine....

Despite my garden having been taken over by weeds this year, it is doing very well.  The zinnias are magnificent, their colors so vibrant and their varied shapes almost unbelievable.

Today I have spent much time in the kitchen, and although I am a bit weary I have truly enjoyed it.  

Sauteing onions, black olives, garlic and some tomato paste...

...when cooled add to yeast flour mixture to make a really wet dough... let rise a couple of hours

using lots and lots of flour shape and plop onto parchment paper and slide into a very hot oven...

after 25 minutes some of the most delicious ciabatta you can imagine.

On to the baskets of tomatoes...today roasting pizza sauce to can.

...cut up tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil and add salt, pepper, oregano and a touch of sugar and roast until it is as thick as you like...

out of the oven, and into hot sterile jars, process (along with powdered ascorbic acid) for 30 minutes...

on the basement shelf.  I have now canned enough pizza sauce for about 75 pizzas, plus a few frozen containers as well.

At the start of the gardening season I hunted around for some straw to mulch between the rows and was never able to find any.  My garden is not small, and this not small garden, without straw mulch has been taken over by weeds.  I have managed, in most instances to keep the area directly around my plants weed free, but everywhere else is densely packed with quack grass, purslane and lots of other unwanted growth.  (Still, I often think to myself weeds are plants, too, and they are unaware that they are 'weeds'.)  Still, when I go up to my garden I always feel a bit depressed as my garden, every other year, has been kind of an artistic endeavor for me.  I loved the beauty of the clean rows filled with colorful and plentiful produce.  This year it lacks that clean-cut beauty, but it doesn't seem to mind, as it is producing non-stop.

I love my garden and all that it gives.