Bird watchers? Advice needed...

Today during lunch we noticed a large bird fly and land on a tree quite a distance from our home.

We looked at it for quite some time using our binoculars and are undecided about just what kind of hawk (or other large bird) this may be.

I did grab my camera and did the best I could capturing a still shot of it, but I needed a much more powerful telephoto lens to really take a good photograph.

Even so, you may be able to see him in the middle of the above picture.

It is a very large bird and it was sitting far away.

Here is the best I could do.

Our guess is a red-shouldered hawk and we would be on the outer fringes of its breeding territory.

Anyone out there familiar with this bird? We'd love to know.

Happy Birthday Luke!

Our handsome grandson turns 6 today!
He is full of life and keeps things interesting for everyone!

We are so proud of you, Luke, and can't believe you are already 6!

Have a Happy Birthday!!

Spring. Snow. Soup.

Right. Spring.

Wrong. Snow.

Good. Soup.

Easy. Easy.

Tasty. Healthy.

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My Mom's Vegetable Soup:

Brown 1 lb. of ground beef and drain

Add

4 cups of water

2 cans (they are about 15 oz.) of stewed or crushed tomatoes

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 envelope of dry onion soup

2 teaspoons sugar

2 lb bag of frozen mixed vegetables.

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Simmer. 30 minutes.

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ENJOY.

SOMEDAY

Someday ...

Someday this lawn will be green.

Someday the tulips will line this walkway....

Someday this garden will be lush....

Someday flowers will line this driveway...

But it won't be tomorrow.

Binocular buddies

As you know, we love the nature outside our windows.

And we love that our grandchildren have developed an interest in watching.

Or maybe it's just the fun of trying to use a pair of binoculars that is the most interesting...

Someone was quite proud of himself looking for our deer...

We have up to 8 deer that inhabitant some of the woods beyond our window. As we watch, we can identify some of their behaviour patterns. For instance, there are two younger deer that hang out together. Sometimes they come by themselves looking for food and sometimes we see them chasing each other just for fun. (Well, we think it's just for fun..)
Then there is a group of 5 deer. Seems it's always 5 together - when one comes out from the woods to feed, sure enough 4 more follow. And sometimes the 2 join the 5, making, of course, our usual 7 deer.
And then there is the lone deer, "gimpy", who limps along because one of his legs is injured.
So, when he is able, he joins the group to feed in our front yard too.
Sometimes he's there. Sometime's he is not. Maybe he comes alone at times we don't notice.
Poor guy.

They come out from the woods in the back and through our backyard and around the side of our house, which is when I captured this picture.

The goal for them is the cracked corn that is in buckets in our front yard.

I thought this fella was very cooperative for a picture!

I was in the living room and he looked right at me - and then he decided he didn't feel safe and he left before he got anything to eat!

However, he came back later that evening with his friends.

The food was waiting.

Happy St. Patrick's day..

Happy St. Patrick's day ... I made some cute cupcakes today and remembered that it's

Saint Patrick's day!

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And, because we are going to celebrate someone's birthday,

and she has Irish roots, I added a candle!

Made for each other...

Happy Birthday to my sweet daughter-in-law, the girl who married our youngest little boy!

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We think you were made for each other!

Happy Birthday, Meghan!!
We hope you have a day as special as you!

Here's looking at ya...

A pair of brown eyes make me melt...

a pair of blue eyes make me swoon....

A smile captures my heart...

And a laugh brings me great joy!

Here's looking at ya!

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Another perfectly lovely ordinary day at grandma's..

yum yum

I had company Saturday evening and again Monday evening.

I made the most of the Mississippi roast from Saturday ...

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I had actually put two roasts, tightly, into the crock pot for Saturday and we only ate one of the two roasts.

I refrigerated the remaining roast in the crock pot..

(well, actually in the cold garage, which we refer to as our "walk in freezer" during the winter months - very convenient!)

and then I skimmed off the fat that had congealed on the top.

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I reheated and shredded the remaining roast, placing the shredded beef back into the crock pot, which still had a nice amount of juice from the roast recipe. Delicious flavors too!

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I also baked some fresh buns.

yum yum

Then, for Monday's supper we had the tastiest shredded beef on homemade buns.

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I was quite pleased with myself.

Smiley faces

This afternoon we had a grandson visit ....

He was happy about it; so were we..

and so were his in-town cousins!

These boys are getting to be great buddies!

This little girl doesn't want to miss any of the action lately..
she's a busy person!

And this sweetheart is all smiles for grandma's camera too...

Happily, our grandchildren love books... and I continue to add to my collection, just to encourage their interest...

Auntie Sara enjoyed reading one of them herself!

She had a good audience.

And closing out the evening before bedtime, Grandpa and his sweet grandson enjoyed some quality reading as well.

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Night night.

Step. back. from. the. jar.

Note to self: buy this again at your own risk.

Note to you: this stuff is really good....

Note to hubby: sorry, I didn't share....

A grandma day

Today I had a sweet little visitor - all by herself, no siblings to tag along!

She was as good as gold, had a lovely lunch and a nice refreshing nap.

Then some fun playtime with Grandma and before you knew it, momma and the sister and brothers were here!

I don't think she even missed them...

Sentimental

When my mother-in-law passed away in 1996, our eldest son mentioned that he would love to have the footstool.

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THE footstool.

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It had been a gift from my father-in-law to my mother-in-law and is now lovingly cared for by their grandson and his loving wife....

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It was a sentimental thing, I'm sure.

It's a rare, one of a kind footstool...

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I just thought I should take a good picture of it and give it a blog post.

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The other item, that so many of us probably remember something similar when we went to our grandparents home, was THE candy dish.

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I love seeing this candy dish when I go visit John & Sara.

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I think the other item that many of the grandchildren remember is the button tin.

(I think Cherie has the button tin.)

Did your grandma have a button container?

Knoephla lesson

Last weekend we were at our eldest son's home. My daughter-in-law made some wonderful soup that is popular in North and South Dakota especially.

It was brought to this country by the German immigrants.

(Apparently my grandmother in Brooklyn also made this!)

It is called "knoephla" soup. You pronounce that "nef la."

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The soup is a combination of pieces of potato and pieces of knoephla in a creamy chicken base.

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I learned how to make the knoephla.

And I took pictures for you.

The dough is shaped into long thin "ropes" about the size of your small finger.

Then they are cut into small pieces.
In the German dialect the word knoephla (the spelling may vary) meant little knob or button.

They look like little pillows.

The knoephla was cooked briefly in boiling water and then transferred to the soup pot.

After everything was heated through, it was time to eat!

You have to trust me on this...

it was delicious!