MUSIC ON THE MISSISSIPPI

We had a fun day in the park but the wind was really blowing
here is the wagon rides. The little ponies were so cute. There

was a mobile petting zoo. Wish we had Hunter with us but

he was spending the day with his mommy.

Then I had to test one of the many cars they were showing. I gave up sports cars about 2 years ago and after sitting in that one I remember why. I like my mini-van..very spacious.

Then there was music in the park on the Mississippi River.. They will have a concert every two weeks in the sumer. This was a brass quintet. Very nice but also was very windy.

Here is my son Michael and his wife Karla, soon to have our fifth grandchild. They have rootbeer floats during the concert for a dollar. Very tasty !!!

WOBEGON NEWS

It isn't everyday your driving home and you see this. Winters are hard here in Wobegon but when you see what looks like a frozen horse on the back of a truck you really have to wonder.

It is storming and I can't sleep so I thought I would sit here a while. Living here in a small town in the mid-west has been a eye-opening experience for me. I truely have learned alot. I didn't realize how many cultures we have here in the good old US of A.

We will have to travel the US when we retire.

SHOPPING IN WOBEGON....

I went shopping today at the grocery store and look!!! A tractor....bet you don't see a John Deere at your market. The things you see in a rural community. Oh yes..this is one of the smaller ones. Sometimes while driving home you will see some

that your car could fit under. It has been a real learning experience living here in Minnesota. I should have quite a bit of knowledge next time I visit back home and some interesting stories to tell.

Strawberries were on sale and very good. I don't have a patch in the garden yet. I tried some when I first arrived here but they didn't do very well with the weather and critters who also like berries. There won't be a strawberry-rhubarb pie, just fresh berries this time.

IN THE GARDEN.....

The lilies are blooming.

I love lilies. They are so fragrant.

They seem to be doing well.

I guess I will buy more colors next year.

The doctor reports are slowly coming in,

dropped my cholesterol 23 points:)

Ultra sound wasn't to bad..

looks like I will make it another year Lord willing.

COOKBOOKS

I have a cookbook called "FARM RECIPES AND FOOD SECRETS FROM THE NORSKE NOOK" The author has a "roadside cafe" in Osseo Wisconsin. I love cookbooks with stories in them and this book is one of those. It is a variable delight of mid-west dinners and treats with a scandinavian flair. It is one of my favorites. It helps me to understand the mid-west way of life a little better. I am learning all about hot-dish (casserole) and bars( cookies in a 13x9 inch baking pan) . Well..now that I think.. there are alot of bars also ..a lot of activities are at the bars, even the church bazaar has a beer garden. It may be the German influence. When my son was stationed in Germany he called home to tell us you could buy beer at McDonalds if you were 16 or over. Coming from a strictly scandinavian background this was foreign to me. Coffee and sweets I understand. At our family functions ther was always a big line-up at the dessert table not the beer garden.
The book comes from a farms point of view so there are things I won't be making but it is an interesting read. The author( Helen Myhre) was on NBC news and David Letterman back in the early 90's. The cafe is about 4 hours from where we live. It was a fun day.

BAKING AND PRAYING

I do not like how these bluberry muffins turned out I used the wrong recipe I guess. Don't get me wrong they tasted pretty good . I just wasn't happy with the final result. I will keep working on it I have a few more berries.

Here are the brownies we were snacking on while waiting for the storm to BLOW through and I mean BLOW. We had 3 different storms. One would come through then a pause..then another but not as bad as the first and one while I was sleeping..yes I can actually sleep through some of them after 8 years. The lightening is constant and thunder also. There are no pics for obvious reasons..


I had a request for prayer from my sister-in-law so I did a little baking today. I am able to pray with out ceasing so to speak and grandpa helped with Hunter,(he likes carmel corn grandpa not Hunter) I put in some good time with the Lord I hope it helps. It is so hard to see the bigger picture in life when things seem to be going so wrong. I am sorry to say I have many times asked God if he really knew what He was doing. I suppose the closer your are to Him the less these thoughts are in the forefront. I believe I am getting better at it all though the trials don't seem to be stopping anytime soon for me. I am trying to get a better grasp on the bigger picture and let God do his job. Living here in Minnesota has been extremely difficult for me but I am pretty sure this is where God wants me right now because all the doors have closed to be able to go anywhere else. It is teaching me to be content, which has been a bit of a problem for me. I have also realized you have to be close to God in order to really hear and understand your purpose. I don't think he shouts. I have also learned so much while being here about people and myself..I am wired very differently then your average girl:) ( and it is OK) I think when we are the most desperate or maybe the lowest, we hear God best. well.. maybe not for everyone but for some of us. When everthing is stripped away and it is just you and God, He comes in pretty clear then. You just have to remember He has a plan and somewhere in there you fit in..NEVER GIVE UP...even when things don't make sense. Two books that helped me are TRUSTING GOD EVEN WHEN LIFE HURTS by Jerry Bridges and WHEN GOD DOESN'T MAKE SENSE by Dr. James Dobson . Oh yes...The BIBLE is a very good read ...

STORMING IN WOBEGON

Well we just had a good storm blow through. Dime size hail thank goodness because if it was any bigger it would have surely broke the windows on the northside. It blew the furniture off the porch, the basketball hoop over, limbs off the trees and even the backside of the arbor came up, oh yes.. and my little gnome blew over as well. ( poor little guy) The sandbox area flooded as well as most of the yard but it absorbs fairly quickly. I am glad we were home. The plants seem to have done well, just a little water logged. Maybe all the bugs went away?? Well I can hope can't I? During all of this Little Hunter was taking a nap but when he got up he fell against the coffee table and got his first fat lip..I forgot to take a pic...it was kinda cute. He has been standing on his own but loses his balance easily.. he really wants to walk but just isn't quite there yet. My sister just called and said my dad was going into sugery ( for his arm-sholder) I some how forgot it was today. We have tornado warnings all night so not sure if I will get much sleep tonight. I did make some brownies and Paul and I were enjoying them with a cup of coffee waiting for the storm..we thought it was going to be more north. We miss a lot of the bad storms so I really am thankful. I have to remember to take pictures..the storms are quite awsome but those of you who live in that part of the country know what I am talking about.

GOOD NIGHT FROM WOBEGON COTTAGE

VACATION????

Not the best picture of my daughter Mary and her son Hunter.

After the dentist we stopped by the mall and visited a bit. Mary is the store manager for THINGS REMEMBERED (Hunter was so happy to see his mommy) We haven't accomplished much on this vacation. I hoped for so much more but with a baby you can work mostly during nap time. The humidity has started to climb this week which means mosquitos and bugs. The warmer temperature has been good for the garden,things are popping out of the ground.

Yesterday was a bit cooler so I made cauliflower-cheese soup, one of our favorites, but forgot to take a picture...sorry. I am also trying to make a meatless meal once a week. I tried a macaroni with spagetti type sauce and lots of fresh mushrooms, a little green pepper and sweet onion, also a few of the usual herbs and spices.
I saw on a cooking show where mushrooms can be a good replacement for meat, it did taste pretty good.

The air conditioning started to work but i am still having the repairman come out, otherwise it will surley go out when it is over 90 and 100% humidity. That will probably be in the next couple of weeks. I have two more doctor visits and one more dentist which will be in the next two months and hopefully will have a clean bill of health.

We will be heading to Nebraska on July 10 to visit Pauls' brother and family. His sister will be visiting from California and sense their mother died 2 years ago we have been trying to get together at least once a year. July will be a very busy month for visitors and visiting, I enjoy both.

AROUND THE COTTAGE......

New garden shoes. They are comfy and very handy.
My son gave them to me for my birthday










I so enjoyed all the blogs I am following and their pretty porches so I am working on mine.
A quiet little spot to reflect on the day or to prepare for the day ahead. I am trying to figure out how to change that paint color on the table without painting the glass. I will probably have to take it apart to do the underside legs.










They really are both very happy, not sure why they look so serious. Grandpa and Hunter, maybe because half of our vacation has been spent at the dentist and doctors visits.

A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE
PROVERBS 17:22

(I will keep this in mind while waiting to see 2 specialists next month)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I woke up this morning to find my husband quietly stirring cake batter and trying to make breakfast for my birthday. He didn't want to use a mixer because it would wake me up and you only have to stir 300 times. I pulled out the hand mixer and helped him along. He wasn't able to find any Bisquick so he tried to make waffles by scratch...the picture to the left is the result
I quickly mixed together the ingredients for sour cream biscuits and had him scramble some eggs and fry some hash browns. He was trying so hard to do something special and I didn't want him to be disappointed. It all turned out well as you see in the next

picture. The sour cream biscuits are really good. I think my dad might have some competition.

Hunter wanted to help grandpa frost the cake but he is still to little so he licked the beater and was very happy with that task. He did

a very good job.

SUNDAY IN WOBEGON

This picture is on the trail..not like today.

It is a cold and rainy day here today. So much like the weather back home, it dampens my spirit.

It was nice to come home from church and smell the roast cooking, just like when I was a little girl. Life is so like an unfamiliar path, ever changing never knowing what is ahead. All the experiences make us who we are and for that I am thankful.

This priceless treasure we hold, so to speak, in a common earthenware jar--to show that the splendid power of it belongs to God and not to us. We are handicapped on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone: we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out!

This is the reason why we never collapse. The outward man does indeed suffer wear and tear, but every day the inward man receives fresh strength. 2 Chorinthians 4:7-9, 16 , PHILLIPS

"TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY WITH NO MISTAKES IN IT"

I think that comes from Anne of Green Gables

IN THE KITCHEN...

Here we are once again in the kitchen. This morning, while it was still cool, I made my signature sour cream coffee cake. It is soooo good with a cup of coffee in the morning, ok anytime really. My sister(Judy from Chicago) gave me the recipe. The only changes I have made are how I mix it together and a bit more vanilla. You may add pecans or walnuts or not...it is wonderful any way you make it. I plan on serving it If I ever open a bed and breakfast.

Then there is the Caramel Apple French Toast. Sometimes we like to have breakfast for dinner so tonight was one of those nights. The baby(Hunter) didn't cooperate so it isn't as pretty as I would like. I was expermenting with a whole loaf of french bread and the crust on this particular loaf was a little tuff. I won't be using that bread again. If you like something sweet for breakfast and quite rich this hits the spot. I really like to make it if the fall but every so often I will try something different and now was a good time. My daughter, her husband and 3 children will be coming in July and so I have been fooling around with some recipes. I have always wanted to have a bed and breakfast and so I sort of treat them as guests and practice on them just in case that dream ever comes true.

Yes... and then there was the fruit. I have all this fresh fruit I bought and it doesn't last as long so I cut it up in hopes that I will eat that instead of all the goodies I could choose from. I would really like to loose 10 pounds. I have my physical next week and it would be better for me if I stayed on my eating program.

GARDEN NEWS...

Here is the only flower so far. There may be some later in the season not sure yet. I hope it will come back as the summer progresses. I am going to take extra precautions this winter to protect it. It reminds me of home (washington state). I have been told that they were never able to grow them here before (minnesota) . A lot has change in the plant world and they are making hardier plants so I will keep trying. The arm is a little better today. Just hope to be back to my old self by the weekend.

IN THE KITCHEN

Today was going to be a baking day. The weather was cooler so I could use the oven. While I was watering the garden and plants outside this morning, I tripped and fell. OUCH!! My arm is stiff and sore. So all I was able to bake was a new cake I tried to invent:Raspberry-Lemon Cake

lemon cake mix, raspberry jello, a lemon glaze and whip cream Easy and pretty good.

Feeling a little sorry for myself I decided to revert to some comfort food for dinner. Turkey gravy over mashed potatoes.

This meal has very fond memories of my childhood days in elementary school(not the beets) It use to be my favorite . The other school lunch I loved was chili. They served cinnamon rolls with it and to this day I make cinnamon rolls to go with my homemade chili.

It isn't the prettiest of foods but very, very tasty. I had made a Strawberry-Rhubarb sauce to go with it earlier in the day but forgot and served strawberry-banana fruit salad instead. I will have the sauce for breakfast maybe...