My Favorite Photos - December 2021

It's hard to believe it's 2022. I remember as a child my dad said, "You'll be 34 in the year 2000." 34 years old. The year 2000. Both seemed unfathomable. 

Here it is 2022 and I'm 55...56 in June. Again...unfathomable. Where has the time gone? 

Looking back on the last month of 2021, there were many photos that I enjoyed seeing and remembering things about. 

The month started out with rain.

The rain turned to snow.

On December 6th, we saw a sun dog. I don't think I've ever seen a rainbow one - just a white one. The photo shows the sun and one half of the sun dog. Imagine that rainbow going up over the sun and going down on the other side. It was huge and such as surprise to see so early in the morning. 

Sophia performed in the Festival of Christmas again this year in the handbell choir. 

She's a junior now. Seems like yesterday she was starting college.

The Festival of Christmas had over 200 student musicians. As always, it is an impressive show.

I made two apple pies in early-December. The crust is a recipe from my grandma on my mom's side who was a baker. I gave one pie to a friend who I took a felted luminaria class with, and the other we kept for our family.

On December 11th, Olivia coordinated a service event where she received funding to get fleece blanket kits that will be donated to Solid Ground. The organization supports people who are escaping from domestic violence situations and restarting their lives. This is one of 13 fleece blankets that were made. 

Also on the 11th, the Lions had a bake sale. I made these brownie bombs (which were really good...a new recipe!) and about a half dozen other recipes. I was happy to see that all the plates of treats I brought were purchased. The proceeds help support the Lions. 

On December 12th, Olivia was St. Lucia at church. The pastor had said something funny which made her laugh. 

As a family, we made a travel blanket for Sophia for her trip to Thailand. The travel time from here to San Francisco to Qatar to Thailand is something like 21 or 25 hours. The blanket is one she can use to cover herself up with as she sleeps on the plane. 

Olivia picked out the floral fabric and I picked out the purple minky. Paige, Olivia, and I each sewed a part of the blanket together. We gave it to her on Christmas and she really likes it. 

On December 18th, Sophia moved out of her suite on campus since she will be studying abroad for spring semester. She wanted to go out to eat at Namaste - an Indian restaurant - which we did. It was nice to have one-on-one time with her. 

On the 19th, after about 20 photos, I finally got a photo with the girls smiling and dogs seated (or laying down) and mostly looking forward.

On the 21st, Sophia had to get some shots for her study abroad trip. On the way back home, we stopped at a new bubble tea place which we both enjoyed. 

On Christmas Eve, we visited Dan (Paige's stepfather) at the nursing home. We did the visit through the window so we could see and hear one another. It isn't an ideal situation - we would much rather visit inside and give Dan a hug. However, she can't risk getting COVID and not being able to go on her study abroad trip. 

That evening, we had our traditional pizza dinner and each opened one gift. Danny was guarding the  presents. 

We gave Sophia Thai money for her study abroad trip to Thailand which starts on January 4th...only 3 days away.

Scooby stood guard on the presents under the tree on Christmas Day.

We gave Sophia a purple hard-sided suitcase for her study abroad trip.

One of Olivia's gifts was a plate and bowl set. She likes the color blue...plus she was excited about the big bowl for popcorn.

Christmas Day was a quiet one with just our family since the study abroad program asked students and families to quarantine. Students need a negative COVID test in order to board the international flights. If they don't have a negative test, they can't participate in the program. The stakes are high.

We had a maple twist coffeecake for breakfast - a recipe that came to our family from family friends. 

For dinner, we had ham, baked potatoes, Brussel sprouts, cornbread, and fresh fruit. 

So, after dinner, we drove to Minneapolis to look at the lights. This is a church across from the Walker Art Center. 

We enjoyed seeing all the lights on people's homes, trees, and front yards. Wrapped tree trunks were popular this year. We liked this tree with the wrapped tree trunk and then bulbs hanging on the branches. 

Olivia did some sewing on Christmas through New Year's Day. She was one of the assistants at a 4-H sewing workshop and didn't have a chance to make the bag using the fabric that was provided. She didn't care for the fabric that was provided so she made another version with llamas and cute graphics plus made the squares and bag larger. 

On December 26th, I saw 2 coyotes in the pastures. The woven wire fence is the only thing separating that coyote from the backyard where the dogs go out. There was some debate on the Facebook pages I posted this and other photos on about whether this was a coyote or wolf. It's a coyote because of the pointy ears and snout. Wolves have wide snouts/muzzles and rounded ears. 

The coat on the coyotes was gorgeous with a combination of cream, tan, brown, gray, and black.

I was super excited to see a pileated woodpecker in the backyard. This one looked for insects on the pine tree and visited the suet feeder. 

They are such large birds compared to other woodpeckers we see around the farm. These two photos show the size difference between a downy woodpecker and the pileated woodpecker on the same suet feeder. 

The feeders have been busy throughout December with goldfinches, woodpeckers (downy, hairy, and pileated), dark-eyed juncos, blue jays, cardinals, and black-capped chickadees. 

We left the native plants up in the garden as a food source and shelter for the birds and wildlife. It has been neat seeing all the tracks around the plants.

There are still some seeds remaining in the plants that the birds pick out and eat. 

On warmer days, the dogs have enjoyed playing outside. 

I love this photo of Cooper. He was jumping up and down at the gate as he watched me come in from garage. 

Our next-door neighbor cut down tree limbs that were hanging over the field next to us (his property). It is rented out and the farmer who uses it had said that the limbs were growing too far over the field and he couldn't plant the whole thing. 

So, he aggressively cut down the tree limbs and then cut them into woodstove/fireplace size. I stacked the left side and he stacked the right side. There's A LOT of wood! The next step is the split it all and then we will divide it. We'll both be set for a while. 

During December, I finished five quilts that my mom had started, but never completed before she died in 2015. I've had the quilt squares in a bin in my home office. Finally got around to sewing the squares together. Earlier this summer, the girls and I picked out fabric for the backing of the quilts. I had plenty of batting on hand, so it was good to use that up. 

I gave 2 quilts to my sister on December 26th (the 18th anniversary of the death of her husband who was only 38 years old when he died, making her a 35-year old widow raising two young boys). Another quilt Olivia chose. Two quilts were offered to my brother and Sophia, but both said they had enough quilts. Maybe someday they will change their mind. 

On December 30th, we celebrated Sophia's 21st birthday. Because we have to quarantine for her trip, it wasn't exactly how she or we envisioned spending it. However, we did get curbside food from a local restaurant that we hadn't yet tried, had cake, and opened presents. We also surprised Sophia with a Zoom call with her friends and family. 

On the Zoom call, I shared a PowerPoint presentation I made that showed photos of Sophia from infant to as recent as a day before her birthday. She was shocked and so happy. She is taking the recorded version of the Zoom call and a copy of the PowerPoint presentation with her to Thailand so she can watch it whenever she wants to.  

My Favorite Photos - January 2020

During January, there were some special occasions we celebrated, the trail cam captured more images of wildlife, and we enjoyed ordinary days. Below are some photos from January.

We went out on January 1st to celebrate New Year's Day as we normally do. We went to the Chinese buffet that we have gone to in the past. 

We had mixed reactions. We like going here because of tradition. However, after going to some restaurants to celebrate the girls' adoption days in  November and tasting some very well-prepared Asian food (Chinese and Japanese), our meal felt a bit too "American buffet like" and less like authentically-prepared Chinese food. Regardless, we still enjoyed spending time together.

A few days later, one of Sophia's friends from college flew back to Minnesota from being in California. After picking her up at the airport, we went to a Hawaiian poke restaurant and had a delicious meal with bubble tea.

On Sunday, January 5th, we went to see a huge snow sculpture. This is in someone's front yard! They create a different sea-theme snow sculpture each year and raise money for clean water in Africa. This year they raised over $62,000! It doesn't cost anything to visit the snow sculpture. This is money they collect from people wanting to make a donation.

One afternoon, I saw a flock of wild turkeys in the cornfield near us.

I love how three of the dogs rest in the bathroom with me when I take a bath. The floor is heated (which may be a factor why they like to be in there). They each have their own rug or towel when they lay down.

I moved the trail cam to different parts of the property. One night, there were two deer that walked by the trail cam.

This is the second one. She must have heard something behind her. There wasn't another deer - so perhaps she heard the horses in the barn.

One day we were having a snowstorm. Who should be out, but Hoss (the miniature horse) who was having a run time galloping through the pasture. I think he knows where the camera is because there are an awful lot of photos of him.

We celebrated Olivia's 17th birthday. She had hoped to get her ears pierced, but - after driving 50 minutes to the tattoo parlor (which also does piercings) - we found out they needed a birth certificate since she was a minor. Since they are regulated by the state, we needed to prove she was who she was and that we were, in fact, her parents.

She wanted to eat at Burger King for lunch, so we did that. We wanted to do something special since there was a big snowstorm that day and it was limiting what we could do.

Olivia asked for a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for her 17th birthday. Her birthday banner is hanging in the background by the woodstove.

She blew out all the candles.

We ate at college with Sophia with a couple of times in January. There's a stir-fry section in the dining center which you can never go wrong with.

The snow lingered on the trees because of the cold weather and no wind.

The crabapple tree still has some fruit on it for the birds who will be migrating back to Minnesota next month.

Hard to believe, but in a few months the birds will be looking for birdhouses and places to nest.

 On January 25th, Olivia and I taught 4-Hers how to make suet bird feeders. The warm suet/birdseed mixture was poured into cupcake holders and had little yarn holders so they can be hung from trees.

Olivia and I taught an iris folding class after that to some of the 4-Hers at the winter workshop day. This is my example of iris folding. It's a simple pattern.

Olivia did a more complex one with more papers. I helped her cut out the design and the tiny part that marks the division between the body and tail broke off. Of course, I put the tape on the wrong side of the project. (You work from the backside of the paper to create the design.)

Olivia took a cupcake decorating class after that.

When we got home, an eagle was in one of the trees next to our driveway. The St. Croix River Association was having a Bald Eagle Count that day which we were participating in. We didn't see any other bald eagles - except this one right at our home!

It didn't stay too long. When we came back out of the house to get some photos, it flew off. It's hard to see, but its gold talons are right under its tail.

We went back to the tattoo shop a week later - in the afternoon of the 25th - to get the girls' ears pierced. Olivia had hers pierced when she was much younger. She went to Claire's where they use the ear-piercing gun. The back of her earrings ended up getting covered with skin and they had to be surgically removed. She debated if she ever wanted her ears pierced again after that. She did some research and found out that piercings are done differently at tattoo places and she wanted to get it done that way instead.

Ended up that the holes from the previous piercing was already there, so they just had to be re-opened. Much easier.

Sophia had a second piercing done in each of her ears. She actually had to have them pierced so it was interesting to watch the difference in procedure from using an ear-piercing gun.

Afterwards, we went to a new Chinese restaurant in the University of Minnesota area to celebrate Chinese New Year. We enjoyed the meal and had plenty of leftovers!

The next day, our friend the eagle came back. We were able to capture one photo of it before it flew off. It flew across the cornfield and towards the trees where at least a dozen crows started mobbing it. They did not want the eagle around their trees and territory.

The flowers from some of our flowering bushes stay on during the winter. They turn a tannish color (from being white with a hint of pink during the summer).

The suet feeders are on the tree. The birds - and squirrels - love them. The chickadees and smaller birds sit right on the feeder. The larger birds, like cardinals, sit on a branch and eat from there. The squirrels...well, they do everything possible to eat and take down the suet feeders.

All is not lost if the feeders end up on the ground.

The cardinals will quickly eat up the suet.

I placed the trail cam in some new locations. This time I placed it near the ground and got a lot of squirrel photos. This one makes me smile, with the squirrel looking like it is hopping over something. No...it's just the way they run.

Scooby celebrated his 13th birthday on the 13th. He picked out one special flavor of food for the dogs to share. Danny is practicing his pointing so he can pick out a flavor of food on his birthday.

The girls and I went to the salon on Friday, the 31st. They had their eyebrows waxed and I had a massage (a gift from Christmas). It was a special treat before we were coordinating a major service event the following day.

On the evening of the final day of January, Sophia was home and the pets were excited to see her. Here she is with five out of the seven indoor pets. All the dogs are in the photo. We're just missing two cats.