Update from August 2023 to May 2025

 The last time I wrote was August 2023 - two months after I became the Associate Director of Gammelgården Museum. Between then and now, I have become the Executive Director of the museum (since January 2024). 

These 21 months have been exciting, challenging, and rewarding. I've had opportunities to oversee the historic restoration of a 1930s building, revamp the way the museum presents exhibits, improve the way artifacts are stored, began the digitization of the museum's collection by using a collections management system that not only benefits the museum, but that the public can see on MNCollections.

We have had many major community events that have grown in size from a couple hundred of people in 2023 to over 1,000 people in 2024. Our Season Opening Day this year had over 960 people - up from about 250 last year. 

The number of staff and interns are increasing which enables us to accomplish even more. 

With all of the good, though, comes the loss of balance and free time. I have struggled with trying to find the things that I once enjoyed - photography, gardening, quilting, and having enough time to spend with my family. My goal is to get my life in better balance during the 2025 season. 

Below are some photos that I have taken recently. I've taken more photos on my camera which I have yet to download to my computer. There's not enough time it seems. 

At any rate, here are some photos that represent my life over the past year.

I have been photographing artifacts at the museum so we have a digital record of each one that staff and volunteers can use plus the public can see. Below is a courting candleholder. 

At the museum's Season Opening Day, we had farm animals from Little Blue's Traveling Zoo. This is Melvin. He's a Scottish Highland Cow. The stuffed cow is something that we bought for the museum as one of our mascots. This breed of cow is the only one that legally can be kept outdoors during the winter in Sweden. 

One of the things that is important to me is providing training opportunities for tour guides. Below is the meeting in April with our returning and new tour guides. It's in the classroom where the main exhibit is shown (which was still being installed at this point).

Scandia Fire & Rescue held a fire extinguisher training so tour guides and staff could get experience with using them. 

Here's another item in the museum's collection that I photographed. It is one of hundreds of Charlotte Weibull dolls in the collection. These are all handmade dolls, some representing different provinces in Sweden.

During January through April 2025, I was photographing and entering information about artwork and other artifacts into CollectiveAccess. This had never been done. Now, we have over 660 items in the collection that are in the database. This is just a fraction of what we have. I was told we had about 3,500 items. 

In doing this project (along with another co-worker), over 37% of the items entered were not accessioned prior to my start as the Associate Director/Executive Director - which means information about the item was never recorded. So, we have no idea how the piece was acquired or any history about it. 

In March, I drove to Kansas for an open-air museum conference which was informative and relevant to what I am doing now. One of the classes I enjoyed taking was about historic shoes. This is a sampling of shoes and tools that were used to make and repair them.

This photo shows how the soles of shoes were attached to the vamps/uppers - by pegs. These are all little wooden pegs that went around the perimeter of the shoe.

Another class I attended at the conference related to condiments used in the 1800s. 

During the conference, there was an opportunity to visit the Arabia Steamboat Museum which was a fascinating museum. This is one of the pairs of shoes that were restored and are on display. During our visit, we had the opportunity to go behind the scenes to see the restoration and cold storage areas. They are still working on the hundreds of artifacts that are in cold storage. 

 

Part of the open-air museum conference was held at Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop in Olathe, Kansas. It's a nice facility with well-presented exhibits. I particularly enjoyed seeing the farm animals, including this sheep. 

 

I also had the opportunity to visit the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. Not having ever visited a Presidential Library, I didn't know what to expect. The exhibits were fascinating and I learned a tremendous amount while there. 

Back at the museum, I was purchasing items for the current exhibit, including this print of a watercolor by a Swedish artist. 

In March, Sophia and I took care of my grandnieces for a couple of weekends. We had some craft projects for them to work on which they enjoyed doing. 

We took them to the museum. I was surprised to hear they had never been to a museum, so this was a good experience for them to see what one was like. Maya enjoyed the wool processing exhibit. 

We taught the girls how to make pancakes. Maya learned how to crack an egg which she was proud about doing.

We played games with the girls as the dogs, Danny and Ellie, wanted to be a part of the action. 

We visit the St. Croix River. There was still ice on part of the river (look to the right of the photo). Surprisingly, there were people already fishing on the section with open water.

In February, I went to Karpeles Manuscript Library on my way to Grand Marais. I had never been to this museum and it was well worth the stop. There were documents and images that have been collected by a family that are being shared with the public. This one was from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Karpeles also had a display about historic telephones. This one was an unusual one.

In Grand Marais, I took a class about Swedish embroidery. I was impressed with this 3D installation that was done by various art/education instructors - each depicting a different craft or skill taught at North House.

My hotel room faced Lake Superior and one morning there was smoke coming off the water. It was beautiful.

During the embroidery class, we made pouches that could hold embroidery tools - scissors, needles, pins, and a small project. My project is on the far right - the purple one. 

One of the projects that I am happy about is the non-lending resource library that we created at the museum. There were literally hundreds of books that were never accessioned into the collection. If they are not historic or fragile, they were put in this library for the public to browse and read. Some of the books are in English and others in Swedish. 

I also created a Board and Card Game Library - something that is new to the museum and community. People can come to the museum to play a game. The goal is to get away from technology and do something fun with friends and/or family.

Here's another piece I purchased for the museum. It is over six feet tall and is all hand-felted. It's two birch trees which are significant to both the Ojibwe and Swedish immigrants who lived in this area. 

Winter always seems to offer stunning sunsets. 

This is Ellie with the girls at Christmas 2024. She is our newest dog after multiple and unexpected deaths of pets from 2022 through 2024 (Scooby - November 2022 from some type of weird bacterial/viral infection that got progressively worse; Aspen - December 2023 went in for surgery to remove three masses. When she was recovering from surgery, she was anxious and doing a lot of panting, and - to make a long story short - developed a twisted stomach which was too far along by the time we got her to an emergency hospital, and Cooper January 2024 from Hemangiosarcoma - a type of cancer that only dogs get. No one knew he had it - us or the vet).

On a more positive note, this is what the museum's second floor looked like at Christmas. This exhibit had lots of different mini-themes that showed what the holidays in Sweden look like. The tables are set for the Luciadagen breakfast that was served after the program in the Old Church. 

From August 2024 to March 2025, we had kitten - Juniper - who we rescued from being outdoors. She was by herself, tiny, and hungry. She lived with us and had an active and full life until the last week in March. She developed a neurological condition that would have severely impaired her life. Her condition appeared almost as if she had a stroke. The emergency vet said she would have had seizures for the rest of her life, be unable to walk steadily due to issues on her left side, etc. It was devastating. 

The girls and a couple of their friends doing the annual puzzle competition at the museum.

Sophia brought Olivia her birthday cake to celebrate her 22nd birthday.

Sophia helped serve food for a volunteer and member appreciation event at the museum in January 2025.

My sister and nephew were at the volunteer and member appreciation event. 

This was Juniper at Christmas 2024. She received gifts...just like everyone else did. She loved playing with the crumpled-up paper.

Danny was intrigued with the gifts at Christmas. His favorite gift was the one for him: dog treats!

Sophia helped at the coffee parties at the museum. I appreciated her help during the busy holiday season. 

Just a final photo of Olivia with Maya and Emma plus Melvin the Scottish Highland Cow who, interestingly, was afraid of the stuffed Scottish Highlight Cow. 

And...there we have it. An update from August 2023 to May 2025. Certainly this didn't include everything that happened, but it was a glimpse into this period of time. 

Waymaker - Book Notes

The local library had some new books displayed in its entry including Waymaker - Finding the Way to the Life You've Always Dreamed Of by Ann Voskamp. 

I started reading the first chapter which interested me and then - by the second chapter - I could see that the book was going in a direction that didn't feel like it was the right fit for me. It had a religious focus which wasn't what I was expecting. 

That being said, there were a couple of parts that I found interesting. I just wish the rest of the book would have built upon the concept of finding and creating one's dream life, but in a secular way. 

Here are some highlights: 

- We may think we know what we want, but what we really want is to be known. Heard, Seen. Safe.

- How do you hope to find a way out of all that's going wrong in your one and only life? 

- Life is never made unbearable by the road itself but by the way we bear the road. It's not the hard roads that slay us; what actually slays us is the expectation that this road isn't what we hoped it to be.

That's where I left off...at the end of the first chapter. I wish the book addressed this last quote - especially as it relates to more aspects than love and marriage which seems to be the focus of Waymaker. 

Having gone back to work after homeschooling my daughters for about 18+ years, my job isn't what I was anticipating it to be. In many ways, it is a huge disappointment after having had the opportunity to have the best job in the world - being a mother and homeschool educator to Sophia and Olivia. Nothing...no job...will ever top that one. 

So, my challenge is to figure out how to make this next phase of my life more bearable, to deal with the loss of no longer homeschooling the girls, and to figure out how to identify the positive points of my job each day. This, ultimately, will be a key to getting through each day. Each week. Each month.    

My Favorite Photos - September 2022

This month has been a challenging one as I've returned to the workforce after homeschooling my daughters since 2003...over 19 years. It literally was the best and most rewarding position I have ever held in my life. I was truly privileged to have such wonderful daughters who loved to learn, challenged themselves, and wanted to be leaders - especially in 4-H and the community. 

So, as I now have almost the first month of being a special education paraprofessional under my belt, I am so grateful that I took these photos throughout the month of things that sustain me, bring joy to my life, and provide the much-needed balance to working in a public school where the majority of the students are making me question if I made the right job decision. Time will tell. Right now, I am still reflecting on whether this position is right for me.

At any rate, here are the photos that are my favorite ones from the month. On September 1st, I coordinated a pontoon boat ride for the Lions club I'm a member of, and we saw this eagle fly right by our boat.

We continued to see more eagles on the boat ride on the St. Croix River. Here's another one.

This is a section of a bridge that spans from Minnesota to Wisconsin. The posts are open because people were wanting as much of the view of the river to be open and not blocked by the bridge.

This is an osprey that was flying rather low along the St. Croix River. 

I was seeing so many monarchs in our backyard, with 10-15 of them being on a single plant. At night, they would rest in the trees, especially the ash tree near one of the flower gardens, and then spend time in the morning eating and fueling up for the next part of their journey south to Mexico. 

Interestingly, I have not seen a monarch since the middle of the month. Yet, when I was writing this, I took a break and looked out the window. Within a short time, a monarch flew by, heading south. 

The hummingbirds also were migrating south. By mid-month, we no longer were seeing them.

Olivia competed at the state level for 4-H. This year she entered her Self-Determined project about painting The Girl with the Pearl Earring. It was a semester-long study she did for her Art Appreciation PSEO course she did in 2021-22.

While at the State Fair, I saw this quilt that had a fabric 3D frog. There also were 3D lilies on lilypads on this same quilt. 

Olivia was a good sport at the State Fair and sat on this chair filled with $1.7 million of shredded bills.

She especially liked the Harry Potter display in the Ag-Hort Building at the State Fair.

One of my favorite parts of the building is the floral kaleidoscope which is planted with colorful flowers in a base.

When you spin the base and look through the kaleidoscope, different arrangements are formed, like this one below.

Olivia and I also went to the Fine Arts building. This was a stained glass and paper display.

There was a painting of a cat which I thought was fun...plus the background was in one of my favorite colors.

This was an unusual art piece. It was a piggy bank.

Olivia has settled into life at college and enjoys her private room. It is on the small side, but she is fine with it. The most important thing is that it is her own room.

On Labor Day, we visited Sophia and Olivia who are both attending the same college. We brought Aspen and Danny to visit them since they are the two dogs who are having the most difficult time with both the girls gone now. We had a nice time spending part of the day together.

The sun is setting earlier. I like how it highlights the clumps of native grasses in Olivia's garden.

Something unusual that I saw at the hummingbird feeder was an Antlered Flutter Fly. It's not a great photo, but this insect is rare - although widespread throughout the United States. In Minnesota, it can be found in a handful of counties. So, I feel lucky that I saw it.

The hostas still have blooms on them. The hummingbirds like these flowers, so I'm happy to see that there are still some blooming as they are migrating south.

The asters are now in full bloom and a few roses are still blooming. We have a variety of types of both, so it's nice to see them adding color to the gardens and yard.

  

Even the Mallow is still blooming. This plant has taken over half of one of my gardens. I need to figure out what to do about it next year.

During early-September, there was a trio of Great Northern Owls. This is one of the trio who landed on our garage room. It's not a great picture, but I like the memory of it there and around our farm. The owls called out to one another which I enjoy hearing.

On NextDoor, a woman was giving away perennials. By the time she was done going through her gardens, she had filled the entire back part of my car, One of the more unusual native plants she gave me was this cactus. Who knew that cacti could grow in Minnesota? 

 

During the second weekend of September, there's a local festival that our Lions club coordinates. I'm in charge of the vendors - businesses, non-profits, crafters, artists, farmers, and food trucks. Sophia and one of her roommates, Nessa, came up for the weekend which was fun. Enjoyed having them at the event again this year. 

There's a firefighters' waterball competition that is fun to watch.

Minnesota Armored Combat also was there and they had "fights" with different swords and axes. It was quite the show.

The Boy Scouts serve thousands of tacos at the event each year. This is the first year that Sophia had tacos there. 

The last event of the day is a parade. Many of the people on the floats and in vehicles toss candy to those watching the parade. Nessa and Sophia enjoyed that.

The next day, my sister and I went to another parade. This parade - in Osceola (WI) was about 90 minutes and, by far, is the best parade I've ever been to year after year. One of the floats had a Mexican theme. Even the dog got in the spirit of the day!

One of the parade units (a local church) gave free hotdogs to people watching the parade. Between that, popsicles and pop - in addition to the candy and other freebies - people leave happy after having a meal and treats!

Although this wasn't a favorite part of the month, I do like the flowers on my step-father-in-law's casket. He died on September 6th...the first day that I started my new job. I was going to visit him that day after work. Unfortunately, he died in the morning and missed that opportunity to see him and spend time with him before he died. The funeral home encouraged people to take some flowers. Olivia took some to bring back to her dorm room.

  

After our time at Fort Snelling (where he is buried), we went out to eat as a family.

On a more positive note, one of the things we inherited from him was this piece by Simon Bull. It's one of 450 pieces in the Brushstrokes series. The image is printed on canvas and then the artist hand-painted over it to enhance it. The majority of the canvas is covered with paint, so he put some time into this one.

The apples on the tree by the driveway are prolific this year...the best year yet.

The deer have been loving our front yard now that the pears and apples are ripe. Almost every night (and sometimes during the day), one or more deer walk through our front yard. This one is eating pears that have dropped from the tree.

  

On September 17th, my sister and I went to a fall festival that a local arts organization coordinated. They had sheep herding there.

The local history museum was there and showed some shoes that were worn in the past. 

I also watched how caning is done. 

Afterward, we went back to my home and we talked for a long time. It was good to get caught up. 

On the 18th, we went to our church's 150th anniversary. After the service, they provided fried chicken and the congregation brought salads, baked beans, and lots of desserts. There was even an opportunity to paint a piece of pottery which was fun. As we left, these autumnal flowers in a neighbor's yard captured my eye.

  

With the weather cooling down in September, the dogs and I have gone on some walks. Saw this Leopard Frog on one of our walks. It jumped across the road.

At my job, one of the boys likes nature, so we went on a walk by the school one day and saw this orange hawkweed. It's a pretty flower, but not native to the area. 

Towards the end of the month, someone in a neighboring community was offering a free dog pillow since none of her dogs liked it. I was the first one to respond, so now Danny has a new pillow to rest on. He loves it!

I have taken the dogs into the west pasture which is fenced so they can run and explore. Aspen is resting after running around quite a bit.

A variety of bees are visiting the fall flowers. The bumblebees seem to be slowing down, but are still out there even on cold days.

The pods of the swamp milkweed are dried and opening now. I take some of the pods and open them, letting the seeds travel and land where they want. Hopefully, there will be more swamp milkweed plants next year.

 

I have loved seeing the deer using our farm for a safe place to spend time and eat. This deer was eating grass and leaves along the driveway.

On September 24th, we went to the NAMI walk in Minneapolis. We could only stay for a bit to accept the scholarship Olivia won because we had to get a photo for the church directory on hour away. We enjoyed meeting the family who offered the scholarship in memory of their son. The mother is holding the puppy and the father is to the right of her in the photo. Their daughter is to the far left.  

Sophia and Danny spent some time together before the church directory photo session. 

As the month came to a close, it seemed like I was noticing more sunrises and sunsets. On the left, is a sunrise and, on the right, is a sunset.

Same thing with these two photos...the sunrise is on the left and sunset is on the right.

  

On September 30th at 1:40 a.m., there were two black bears that walked through our front yard, onto our driveway, and then went over the woven-wire fence (breaking it and pushing it down on their way over). On the left, is the first bear who walked onto our front doorstep; and, on the right, is the second bear - most likely a sibling - who followed along.

  

This is one shot of them from our Ring camera video. We don't typically see black bears in our front yard or driveway, so this was pretty exciting!

That wraps up the month. As I look back on the photos, I realize that family, nature, pets, and art sustain me. I just need to make sure that these elements are always a central part of my life.