A turkey
Earlier this year, a fire destroyed our hobby shed where we stored all our holiday items. Thankfully, one of the bins of Thanksgiving items was in the basement. The little ceramic turkey was painted by Olivia when she was just beginning to learn how to pain ceramics (Kindergarten or first grade). There are a few other things that the girls made that were in the bin. We have such a feeling of gratitude that these reminders of their projects from their early years are still with us.
The other turkey is one that I bought this year. It reminded me of the paper decorations my mom had when I was growing up. I was always fascinated at how the flat pieces suddenly become three-dimensional decorations.
Something wet
On the Saturday over Thanksgiving weekend, we went to Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls. There are some intriguing rock formations at the park. Some of them were made by lava that was in the area back thousands of years ago.
The rocks below are wet in some areas. Although it had rained earlier in the day, it doesn't make sense why sections are wet and others are completely dry.
During our time at the park, we went on the River Trail which is a new trail that we had not explored. We walked on about half of it and turned around since we weren't appropriately dressed for the chilly weather on the overlook. The views were spectacular, though, of the St. Croix River that divides Minnesota and Wisconsin.
When we were exploring Taylors Falls on Saturday, we went to the historical museum at the train depot. In all our years of living in this general area, we had never been to the museum.
There were some interesting exhibits about skiing in the area. There were skis from different decades. One pair - from the 1930s - was close to seven feet tall. The base of the ski poles had a circular metal base about the size of a small dinner plate. (In comparison, the bases are now smaller than one's hand.)
Something that was outdated - by nonetheless cute in its own way - was this statue of a tomten.
Something clever
Olivia and Sophia took a sewing workshop through 4-H earlier in November. The workshop focused on making earbud cases and teaching the youth how to incorporate a zipper into a project and how to sew in a circle.
The cases use small pieces of fabric and batting; and can be made as any size circle by tracing everyday objects in one's home - a plate, bowl, cup, or food container. It's a great way to use up fabric scraps that you have on hand.
The zippers were much longer than the finished cases. The girls learned how to make a long zipper into a functional shorter one which was interesting. I didn't even know that could be done.
Something good to eat
I tried a new recipe for turkey soup. It has two containers of chicken broth, 3 cups of shredded turkey (leftover from Thanksgiving), 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 can of whole kernel corn, and 1/2 cup of salsa. The corn tortilla strips on top were baked in a 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes.
The soup tasted bland despite the salsa. We added some spices - like onion powder, chili powder, black pepper, sea salt, and red pepper flakes to give it more flavor. It was much better that way.
It was a good way to use up some of the leftovers in a different way than what we've done before.
1 comment:
Olivia's ceramic turkey is so cute! Glad you have some mementos that have survived.
It is so beautiful along the St. Croix River.
Those are clever little round cases--yes! Don't sound easy to sew!
Sounds like you jazzed up the turkey soup so it was better. Nice!
Have a marvelous week. :)
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