Sunday - Wednesday alphabet...I

I was wracking my brain trying to think of something starting with the letter I and while at work today, which happens to be Monday, Memorial Day and not Sunday, I thought of the cemetery where my Dad and Grandparents are and I thought of interment.

interment, or burial, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.


I thought that was pretty fitting for Memorial Day, and here are some pictures of my maternal grandparents, her parents, and my father. Mom's name and birth year are already on the stone, patiently waiting for the other year to be added.

Ihnet are my mom's parents...Babyak are my grandmother's parents.

My dad...waiting for my mom.

My great-grandparents.

My grandparents.

Check out my daughter's blog and see what her I looks like.

Linked 52 - Temptation

I'm late again...I am tempted by so many things, it's hard to decide on something.
 
I've said before that I haven't had chocolate in about a year and a half, so I'm only tempted a little. The smell of chocolate is harder to ignore than the sight or thought.

Now breads and baked goods just about kill me. I bought a sweet roll yesterday specifically to photograph (I did Not buy the glazed cinnamon croissants that I love, because I didn't think my will power was strong enough) and I ended up making my husband take it somewhere out of my sight.
 
I went to the Farmer's Market today and thought I could get some better photos, because the one I have is less than even ok, but everything looked so delicious that I didn't dare get too close. Going gluten free is waaay harder than quitting smoking, harder than giving up diet soda (never did like the real stuff), and so much harder than giving up chocolate. I keep poking the areas that have hurt the most (fibromyalgia) two months ago, and they really are much less painful. Good thing, because I could just snarf a cheeseburger, or real pizza, or a sweet roll. I'm going to give this a few more months and see how I feel, and if I still feel better, Then I will try making gluten free breads, for now I'm Okay without it.

So...here is one of my temptations, bad photo and all.


If you haven't already, check out all of these other obsessions temptations...

stacey

michelle

heather m

jenn

jessica

kristin

sara

janet

lesli

amanda

amanda k

naomi

rose

tracey

rhonda

carla

lena

heather a

veronica

heidi

Sunday - Wednesday Alphabet = H

Once again I am late, this is Thursday not Wednesday, tsk! Who cares anyway, Kira, do you?!

Today's letter of the alphabet is H...

I was having a hard time thinking of something that started with H, and by the time I figured out what I wanted to do, it was Wednesday evening, and a nasty storm was brewing, which means there was NoGoodLight, heck, there was hardly any light at all. I figured I would just wait till the next day and hopefully there might be a little sunlight. HA! No, it rained for a good portion of the day.

Fortunately, while we were out doing errands because it was too crummy out to garden, we stopped by Bachman's, after I got a medium, skim, pumpkin pie ice crema (with light whip) and what do you suppose I found there...

Hosta and Hydrangea and Hibiscus. Now, I have all of these in my yard, but, well, if I waited for the weather to cooperate, I would be posting this next Monday, and I had my trusty android phone with me, which I love, so I got all but one of these photos at my favorite garden center.

I probably have all of these hostas planted somewhere in my yard (I never kept the little tag that comes with the plants, so I have No idea what kind I have, I just know they look very similar)

This one above is my Hibiscus (I always call it a Hibiscuit because my mom's neighbor mispronounces words all the time, such as KMark instead of KMart)

This is my Hydrangea also.

So, I know Kira is also late with her H, but hop on over and see what she came up with!

Sunday - Wednesday alphabet...G

Today is Sunday, which means, the letter for today is G...


I found a few Gs while on my mini vacation this weekend in Madison, Wisconsin.

We went to the Henry Vilas Zoo (we always go to the zoo, always) an old, small, quaint little zoo that reminds me a lot of Como Zoo in St. Paul, MN. It is located right in Madison, with Lake Wingra on the south side and a neighbor hood with closely set homes on the north. Even if they wanted to expand, it would be impossible, there is NO room to do so, they are however doing some remodeling/renovation for the polar bears and their friends, which should be pretty exciting.
There were three giraffes in one exhibit, we figured one was Mom (she looked like she could have used a Calgon day) and two siblings (sorry, didn't look close enough to see if they were sisters or brothers). We figured they were siblings by the way they were acting (pretty much a been there, done that sort of thing). They were standing on opposite sides of a fence, and would take turns smacking each other with their heads. They weren't putting a whole lot of effort into it though, more like they were trying to see who would start whining first and get Mom mad. This one is just going in for the smack!

We had dinner on Friday night at Bunky's Cafe and started out with an appetizer of 

Stuffed Grape Leaves. They were stuffed with rice, tomatoes, parsley and the chef's secret spices (I wasn't overly fond of the secret spices, but David loved it), with a cucumber yogurt sauce. 

This place was so cute, with mismatched plates and utensils, silver serving dishes on the table with salt, pepper and sugar, one wall displayed assorted mirrors and another old matchbooks. It was really nice and they even had a decent gluten free menu. I would love to visit there again, but Madison has so many intriguing places to dine, that I would probably check out one of them first.

While waiting for a table (it just happened to be Graduation weekend for all the colleges in Madison)

I noticed a wall full of framed reviews that you can read all about.

Saturday's dinner was at a pub called The Great Dane Pub We wanted someplace that had an outdoor patio and the reviews I read listed an outdoor patio, but when we walked up to it, the sidewalk was empty, so we were hoping there was one in the backyard. The noise level when we walked through the doors was deafening, but luckily they really did have a backyard patio and we were able to get seated right away. 

It was beautiful! Located on the lower level, it was L shaped and surrounded by two story brick walls covered in ivy. Our server Ashley was the BEST server we have ever had and if everyone else shows her that by leaving the kind of tip we did, she should be doing well. This place also has a gluten free menu, and insanely decent prices. I asked for the bartender to make me a fruity drink with dark rum, her choice. I was brought a luscious red/orange drink that was excellent. Ashley asked my name and I told her Janet, and she said they would name that drink after me. ( I'm really kind of doubting that, but it's nice anyway). This is one of their water glasses.

On our drive both to and from Madison, we saw lots and lots of varying shades of green fields, mostly farm fields and I absolutely love rolling farmland so I was mesmerized the majority of the ride. So you think we could have stopped just about anywhere and taken a Good picture???? Didn't even cross my mind, not even while I was trying to take some out of my window.

O, I have to add this, even though it does not start with G...we saw at LEAST two dozen dead deer on the sides and median of the highway, two live ones that were headed for traffic and decided at the last minute they would rather live to see their young grow up, several dead raccoons, a dead badger and something that we think was a dead coyote. All in Wisconsin, and one dead deer just as we crossed over into Minnesota (we figure he was a Wisconsin  resident that might have been trying to visit relatives over here in Minnesota!)


Now roll on over to Kira's blog and see what her letter G looks like.

Linked 52 - Angry

I was going to skip this week for two reasons,
1) I was going to be out of town
2) I didn't have the slightest clue what to do for this word.
I see most eveyone else was having problems too, but they were able to come up with something.
So, while on my minnie vacation and with David's help, we  thought of something that ends up making me extremely
angry...chocolate.
I know this sounds rather strange, but I have posted about it before, chocolate reacts with my system in a very negative way.
Actually, a big amount of sugar ( like a big sweet roll ), will have a similar effect on me, but not to the extent that chocolate does.
It's sad really, chocolate is so wonderful, but, well...I'm just not going there anymore.
This is a picture taken with my phone of what was left over from  large, very rich, chocolate cake that Molly bought for Steve's birthday (two co-workers of mine). It was sitting on the table just inches from me,  and I am proud to say I was not even tempted. Yay me!

Sunday - Wednesday alphabet

Wednesday is F.for.Farmer's Market...David and I went to the Big one in Minneapolis and on the same day, Kira went to one in Arizona.

I didn't take too many photos, because I still feel weird taking them in public, of public things and people. Maybe I should get over that, huh? Except for when I'm on vacation, then I guess I figure no one knows me, so I'm safe. Strange...

That same day, I heard there is a new Farmer's Market down by the Guthrie and Mill Park, they are supposed to have only home grown and hand made products. I can't wait to check it out.

Here are a few of the pictures that I did take:

Notice that there are actually a couple of Fs in this picture...see them up on the sign??

\

David HAD to buy some Stupid Hot sauce (that's the actual name of it!)

They sell a little bit of everything here.

I didn't get a picture of it, but someone was selling whiskey barrel, rain barrels. 

We bought one on-line the next day after we did a search on prices and decided that it was a steal.

You all come back now, ya hear?

Hop on over to Kira's blog and look at her Arizona Farmer's Market shots.

Sunday - Thursday Alphabet...

Happy Mother's day!

Word of the Day:  mama bear n.
(slang) A woman, especially a mother, who is 
extremely protective of a child or children.


Today we have the letter E, e, for elephant, egret, early, emu, eleven, eBay, egg.

Farm fresh, organic, free range beautiful brown eggs. 

I got my first taste of a free range, brown egg on a farm in Shaftsbury England, http://www.shaftesburydorset.com/ several years ago when we were on vacation. I searched for "family lodging" and found a bunch of farms that had cottages for rent. It was stunningly beautiful there and I really hope to go back some day, (check out the website and try not to drool)

Anyway, I had this bowl full of cracked eggs and proceeded to scramble them up with some salt and pepper with a little melted cheese on top. YUM! Those were the best eggs I have ever eaten (up until that time, now I have eaten better by people who really Know how to scramble an egg!) They were fluffy and light and produced at least twice the amount that I normally got when using white store bought eggs...amazing.

Now I buy cage free, brown eggs from the grocery store and pay twice as much as white eggs, but my children have guilted me into it. (I guilt very easily) 

I would really, really like to have a few chickens in my own yard (they would need to be caged, but they would be in a very large area), BUT my city (Brooklyn Center) does not yet allow chickens or ducks or geese etc. Minneapolis on the other hand, does allow them, and they are the next city over. So does St. Paul, so BC, get with the game!!

Until the laws are changed, I guess I'll have to make due with store bought.

Kira is playing the alphabet game too, check out her E.

Linked 52 - Up...

I think UP in the sky is a pretty obvious take on the word UP, but I think there will be only a few of us
who chose it.
I find it very interesting that there are so many differing opinions on a word or phrase and I can't wait to see
what everyone else thought of UP.

I went with my first thought, which was taking pictures of the sky on subsequent days of the week. I had
fun and I only wish the storm that blew through at the beginning of the week would have been worse so I could have gotten a more creepy looking sky.

But, it is what it is!

 

Well, these last two aren't exactly UP in the sky, but they are UP from low down, ha!

stacey
michelle
heather m
jenn
jessica
kristin
sara
janet
lesli
amanda
amanda k
naomi
rose
tracey
rhonda
carla
lena
heather a
veronica
heidi
amy
andrea
liza
jean
kristi

Sunday - Wednesday Alphabet...

Wednesday (on Thursday) is the letter D...

I was thinking of Dogwood bush, or Dhole (Asian wild dog), or doors - I saw some really great doors at
Mayo Clinic, but that seemed a bit far to drive for a picture, then I thought of daughter...I have a daughter,
a daughter that is doing this alphabet photo challenge with me. Perfect!

Here is my letter D = Daughter

These were all taken from the scrapbook I made for her (I'm keeping it safe until she has a home of her own) with my cell phone. I purposely scratched a lot of the photos, so the quality isn't too great...I like them this way.

Hop on over to my daughter's blog and see what she looks like now...oh yes, take a look at what

her D looks like too!

Sunday - Wednesday Alphabet

The third letter in the alphabet is C...for me this is for Columbine

This is a Columbine that was here when my Grandmother owned this house and I don't think it's possible to kill it...I've tried.
There are places in my yard that this pretty flower is growing like weeds (and when a flower is growing where you don't want it, it can officially be called a weed).
I have some of the more 'modern' colors too...purple, white and purple/white, but this one is very pretty with its' red and yellow and peachy pink.
Tomorrow though, I'm getting out my garden claw and going after a patch of these because they are growing where they do not belong, I just might add some Round-up to the plan. hahaha!

Bugs (my daughter) is joining me for the alphabet game, hop on over and see her C.

Linked 52 - Mother...

December 12, 1920 was the day this woman was born.
The world was just a bit different then than it is now.
When I think of all of the changes she has lived through, it sort of boggles my mind.
There were streetcars back then (we live in Minnesota, where there are no streetcars), rotary dial phones, party lines, no television, radio shows, stockings with seams, dresses, even in winter. Things cost a lot less, and they made a lot less. Here are the prices of just a few things...

1 pound bacon:  52 cents
1 pound butter:  70 cents
1 pound bread:  12 cents
1 pound chicken:  39 cents
1 pound coffee:  47 cents
1 dozen eggs:  47 cents
5 pounds flour:  41 cents
3 heads lettuce:  25 cents
1/2 gallon milk:  33 cents
1 pound peaches:  17 cents
5 pounds sugar:  97 cents
1 pound watermelon:  2 cents
10 pounds potatoes:  63 cents
1 pound round steak:  40 cents

Fortunately for me, (God willing) my family has longevity on it's side. My maternal grandmother was 94 years old when she died, my maternal grandfather was 80. My paternal grandmother was 96 and my maternal grandfather...I am not certain, my dad grew up with a stepfather, but I kind of think he was in his 70's?  My father died at age 60 from pancreatic cancer, and he was the youngest and the first of his siblings to die, and I think he was the only one that had cancer.
My mother is 92, and she has nothing wrong with her...except that her hearing is pretty bad. My oldest sister lives with her and complains All the time about her inability to hear (she hears me just fine, but I look at her when I talk to her, my sister, not so much) she tells me it's because Mom likes me better!
hahaha  hmmm  maybe

The thing that really scares me is the fact that when you get to be 92, your time is very limited. None of us know when we are going to die, but the younger a person is, the less we tend to think of it.

 My Mother is a beautiful woman.

She is sweet...

       Kind.................................................Loving......................................................Supportive

 Very shy........................................Hates having her picture taken............................but did it anyway...

for me!

I love her!

Check out the following talent, see what they came up with!


Rose, Jenn, Michelle, Heather, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Kristin, Amanda, Amanda, Lesli, Sara
Rhonda, Tracy, Carla, Lena, Naomi, Heidi, Veronica, Heather, Liza, Amy, Jean, Kristi