My Favorite Photos - September 2019

This month there was a shift in our activities since Sophia is now at college. For 13 days this month, Olivia was sick with an ear infection and pneumonia. We also found out that with the medications that she was on that she is allergic to penicillin. So, it has been a challenging month for different reasons.

I started out the month by completing the top (minus the border) of the Mystery Quilt that I've been working on since January.

We tried to keep some of the annual family traditions that we've done in the past even though Sophia is away at college. So, we went to Dairy Queen for a meal and dessert on Labor Day - the day before homeschooling began.

On the first day of 11th grade, Olivia requested pancakes for her special breakfast. In the bag are some gifts for the upcoming year.

I asked Sophia for a photo of her on the first day of classes at college. I was happy to see the photo she sent with her big smile...all ready for starting this next phase of her educational journey. 

 About a week after Sophia was at college, I put together a care package for her with a "We think the world of you" theme. It was fun to put together and it had about 20 items from a variety of different countries.

We continued to release butterflies throughout the month. At the beginning of September, there were still flowers on the butterfly bush. The butterflies loved the flowers and it seemed to give them the energy they needed before their flight to Mexico.

Sophia sent Olivia a package in the mail. She was SO excited to get a postcard with a message from Sophia on it, a box of Skittles, and a little stuffed lion keychain.

We loved releasing butterflies almost every day during September.

Sometimes we would release more than one butterfly a day which was exciting!

One of the highlights of the month for me was leading a group of volunteers from a local church in making about 20 shoe kits for Sole Hope. The kits are sent to Uganda where seamstresses and cobblers take the pattern pieces and make them into shoes for children who have jiggers.

We also created 20 health care kits that provide the supplies necessary for the children and families to do at-home care after they are treated for jiggers.

It makes me so happy to think that jeans that would have been discarded can be transformed into life-changing and - in some cases - life-saving shoes for children.

In early September, we had a visit from a black bear who bent one of our birdfeeder poles and smashed the birdfeeder to eat the birdseed.

I spotted a tiger salamander (also called a spotted salamander) on our driveway. These are Minnesota's most common salamander and they can grow up to ten inches long. They actually move quite quickly when they sense danger.

On the 10th of September, I took Sophia to the oral surgeon since she was having continued challenges with her wisdom teeth removal back in mid-June. Her face is still swollen due to persistent infection on both sides of her lower jaw. We enjoyed lunch together in the dining center at college.

Olivia and I had fun looking at the big costume head at the store. I liked this unicorn head. It seems super large on Olivia's petite frame.

Sophia had another follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon. This time after the procedure she needed to do an oral rinse. The antibiotics she's on cannot be mixed with any form of alcohol. It was very challenging finding a mouthwash that doesn't have alcohol in it, but Sophia found one!

On the 13th, we went for another visit. This one was a fun one because we played ping pong. None of us are great ping pong players, so the experience was one filled with lots of laughter. It was a great time together!

Olivia and I went to the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. There was a beautiful display of marbled items and murals.

Olivia released the last butterfly in the middle of the month. We felt so happy that we raised and released close to 40 monarchs!

My sister, Olivia, and I went to a fall festival that we had not been to before. The Wildlife Science Center was there and we enjoyed seeing the screech owl.

We enjoyed a lunch served by the Lions.

Olivia chose a duck from the duck pond. She said that she had never done a duck pond before. I never realized that. So, it was fun to explain what to do to a 16 year old.

We watched firemen use equipment to take apart a car - showing what would happen in an extrication.

I took Olivia on her first Parade of Homes tour of a few homes. She made herself comfortable at one home.

She really liked the room with the large stuffed animals.

There were cute chairs to sit on while you watched t.v.

I loved seeing the monarchs on the flowers. They liked the black-eyed Susans.

On the 17th, my friend, Karen, from pottery class came to visit our horses. She had a friend visiting from out of town (Beth) so she and Marilyn came with Karen to see the animals and have lunch together.

Danny and Cooper really liked spending time with Karen.

Olivia and I took another leather crafting class. Olivia made a leather bowl and learned a new stitch.

I've been trying to get a lot done before my upcoming spinal surgery on October 10th. As I was resting, two of the dogs and two of the cats were resting with me.

Danny misses Sophia. He is sleeping in her bed, probably hoping she'll come home soon.

Olivia and I went to the Marine Art Fair. These little purses and backpacks are made by a Hmong craftsperson. Sophia has the blue cat as a little purse. We were surprised that there is a backpack too.

Danny got a new sweater to keep him warm.

One of the things I've been wanting to do is get rid of a lot of stuff in the barn and small shed that we no longer want or need. We also had some items outside - like woven wire, bent t-posts, and plastic garbage cans from the previous owners - that I wanted to have cleaned up before the winter. We filled about 3/8 of the truck (there were things in the truck already from a previous job). It felt so good to get all this out of the buildings and farm.

My sister and I went to a booya at a church in a nearby community. I used to take the girls there when they were little. Last year, Sophia and I went to the booya. This year, they had an apple dessert, roll, and coleslaw along with the soup. It was a hearty meal (it was both my breakfast and lunch).

My sister was a good sport and put her face in the cut-out drawing of the grandma with the pot of soup.

It was good to do some new things this month as well as continue doing some things that are family traditions. I think as we navigate through this year, we'll seek out other new experiences and activities which will help us create new memories. It will be a healthy way of helping us cope with the changes and transitions that are happening as our daughters are getting older.

My Favorite Photos - February 2019

As I look back on February, these photos and memories stand out for me:

Sophia, Olivia, and I took a hand-sewing leather course at the art center. The girls each made a purse.

I made a tote bag.

I visited my sister at the end of February and took some photos of her cat. This is Juliette. She's a Flamepoint Siamese cat.

This is Buttercup. Check out those blue eyes!

I saw the first robin of the year during February. The birds like the apples that have been on the tree all winter.

There's a White-Crowned Sparrow that's been hanging around our farm this winter. Normally we don't see them in the winter. So, this is a real treat!

We have a flock of pheasants that have been hanging around as well. There is a group of six of them. The one below is a male - he is more colorful and has a white ring of feathers around his neck. He also has some interesting eyebrows. It's always fun to find one of the long tail feathers in the Spring.

This is four of the six pheasants in the driveway. They use their feet to scratch up the snow and uncover seeds and grain. They are looking for corn that I put in the driveway for them.

This is a blue jay that's approaching the feeder. I wish it were a better photo. However, I like the wing span on the bird and its target: the seeds.

We've had so much snow in February this year...an excessive amount. It was the snowiest February ever recorded in the Twin Cities - in all of history!

Indoors, the pets are being patient until there is more area for them to run around outside. This is Aspen.

This is Scooby. He's getting bored with being inside so much.

Another class I took at the art center this month was papercutting. This is an example of Notan - a Japanese form of papercutting that explores negative and positive space. You start with a square piece of black paper and do free-form cutting from there. 

After doing that exercise, we worked on another papercutting project. All the parts have to touch one another (including the border), otherwise it is considered collage. The size is about 8 1/2" x 11" to give a size perspective.

During the month, Cooper has enjoyed watching the birds at the feeder. He likes the small ones, but - for whatever reason - does not like the big birds at the feeders, like the mourning doves, pheasants, and pileated woodpecker - all of whom have visited the feeder he's looking at in the photo below.

We've enjoyed visits by a large number of cardinals this year. We have multiple families here which is great!

This is a female. Her feathers on her head are standing tall meaning she is on alert.

This is a black-capped chickadee who chose a peanut to eat. She (or he) will fly off with whatever nut or seed is chosen and eat it in a tree.

We had a lot of challenges with icicles this month. This is not a good sign when they are this big since it shows that we have poor insulation between the ceiling and roof. These all were removed and the roof raked in mid-February. We have to do this again in early-March before it melts otherwise we could look at water damage in our home again, like we had a few years ago in three rooms.

Olivia and I drove out to Paynesville, Minnesota, in mid-February so she could do a 4-H retreat. It's for teens who are interested in nature, photography, and leadership. On our way back on Sunday morning, we stopped in Monticello, Minnesota, at Swan Park. There are thousands of trumpeter swans, Canada geese, and mallards on the Mississippi River. They are fed each day around 10:30 a.m., so we were able to see the tail-end of the feeding session.

We drove through a small blizzard to get to St. Kate's where Sophia was invited to attend a special reception and program for scholarship finalists. We found out later in the month that she won one of the top three awards!

For Valentine's Day this year, we celebrated it twice. Once was on the 14th when the girls and I had heart-shaped pizza and garlic bread plus red pop. Not terribly healthy, but it was a tasty treat.

I decorated the windows with some stars and heart-shaped cut-outs I had made.

We also celebrated it on the 15th when Paige was back in town from a business trip. I made a recipe I saw on Pinterest that I adapted. It used two types of tortellini/ravioli (cheese filled as well as meat filled), spinach, mozzarella cheese, and spaghetti sauce.

Another class that Olivia and I took at the art center was how to do peg loom weaving. The loom is small, yet you can weave rugs on it which is interesting. It took a bit to learn, but once I got the hang of it, weaving went quickly. This is Olivia's rug:

I'm participating in a Mystery Quilt project through Minnesota Quilters. Each month, you get a clue about how to sew together some pieces that you cut in January. These are the squares I made in February. I should have waited to see how people cut them because for the square on the left, the yellow should be half of the square; and the pink and purple the other half.

My only complaint about the directions are that they assume that people have a lot of experience with quilting and cutting squares. I don't, so it's a bit of a challenge.

Another sewing project that I coordinated was sewing diapers for newborns from t-shirts for Global Health Ministries. The diapers are used for incentives for women in developing countries to get prenatal care.

It was part of a larger service event that I coordinated on February 12th for our local Lions club. We had 21 people there - despite the snowy and icy roads.

We visited the girls' step-grandfather (Paige's step-father) in a transitional care unit. He is getting stronger now that he is getting 24/7 care. He will be moving to the nursing unit now that is part of the graduated-living community where he lives. It is an exceptional facility; and he is getting very good care.

One last photo that summarizes how the month felt.

Literally we feel buried in snow, it's so high we literally have to trudge through parts of non-shoveled parts. Cooper was looking for something in the snow...thus, his face is covered in snow. 

We are looking for Spring. Hopefully it comes soon.