Riding lessons..

Today Brooklyn began some horse riding lessons at the wonderful Red Horse Ranch Arena.

I got to take a few pictures to capture the experience.

Here Brooklyn and her instructor are walking outside to get the horse she will ride.

His name was Pistol.

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They have some lovely horses.

Brooklyn learned all about taking care of a horse and she learned how to brush him with three different types of grooming brushes.


She even learned how to clean out his hooves!

Then it was time to get on to her horse.

She had the extra help of a step stool.

The training arena is a nice large size and Brooklyn and her instructor were the only ones in it this morning.

One of the first exercises was for balance - and learning to have your legs hold you on the horse and not your hands hanging on to the saddle horn. The instructor walked the horse around while Brooklyn held her arms up, or out, as the instructor directed.

And then it was time to learn how to hold the reigns - and how to say whoa!

Brooklyn told me one of the parts she liked the best was walking the horse all by herself like this.

After the lesson in the arena, Brooklyn walked Pistol back to the stall and assisted in removing the saddle and saddle blanket and brushing him down a little again.

I think she did a great job today! Good job, Brooklyn!

Another dig.. new digs coming!

After much planning, digging commenced yesterday for NEW DIGS for Norman and Martha!

They are building on a beautiful lot that is on the same river as we, however on the other bank.

In fact, it would be shorter (and quicker) for us to go visit them via the river then to drive since driving requires a round-about route in order to drive across the river!

They have a beautiful large oak tree on their property.

The building brothers at rest.


Starting the footings.
Stay tuned for frequent updates.

Homemade cream of mushroom soup

The internet is a good source for recipes. Here is a good recipe for homemade cream of mushroom soup - the great thing is that this homemade soup is free of msg and other preservatives. Since I so frequently come across a recipe that calls for a can of cream of mushroom soup and this recipe fits the bill. It makes about "2 cans" of the soup.

Start with fresh mushrooms. I used my food processor..

and I pulsed it just a few times to chop them up into smaller pieces.

Here are the assembled ingredients. 2 Tb butter, 2 Tb olive oil, 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour (yes, I ground it myself in my new grinder), 1 t salt and 2 cups milk.

Melt the butter and olive oil

slowly add the flour and salt and make a roux.

add the mushrooms and heat briefly. They soften up.

Slowly add the milk and heat..
Stir frequently.

Remove from the burner once it begins to come to a boil.

The mixture should have thickened by this point.

It looks and tastes just great.

Divide into two containers and store in the refrigerator.

(I don't know how long one can store it.)

What do you think?

Hanging out with grandma...

I enjoyed some play time this afternoon with these three precious grandchildren.

(Mommy had a Doctor appointment - soon there will be another member of this family!)

I thought I would try to get a picture of them together...

seems as though the boys want to be silly when they see a camera..

...just like old times..

But I did get a few cute pictures of them...

I do love this little face.

Our little blond hair...

blue eyed cutie.

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I wonder who the new member of the family will resemble.

Time will tell.

Going green.. and blue...

One of the nice perks at the Minnesota State Fair were the free bags given out at various booths. I was happy that I came home with a nice number of bags (since Wally, John and Sara gave me their bags) so that I could try to be more environmentally-friendly when I grocery shop. However, I really wanted nice bags in nice colors, so now when I grocery shop I have these great lime green and aqua bags.

I feel quite fashionable.

And to tell you the truth, they hold a lot!

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The funny thing is that I also got 2 black bags from at the "Eco Experience" where I had to "pledge" to reuse bags. They were sponsored by the MN Grocer's Association and the Mn Pollution control agency.

Guess which bags ripped RIGHT AWAY at the grocery store?

The "eco experience" ones.

Go figure.

They should have considered quality control as well as pollution control.

My new toy!

I am so excited to own a serger! It's a nice little basic serging sewing machine and it is perfect for edging cute fabric for tablerunners and under table centerpieces (mostly for church.)

It is not the easiest machine to understand and I took some time watching and re-watching the CD that came with the machine. Then I read and read again the instruction booklet. Finally I decided I could do it - thread the machine!

There are 4 threads; two of them are called "loopers" - the "upper" looper and the "lower" looper. Who knew?

Now I do.

Here in the picture above is a close-up of the 4 thread basic stitch that I am using.

Want to see my work area?
This counter works well for the serger.


Across the room is the regular sewing machine.

Notice how I prop up the table side of my sewing machine table these days?

The extra support is helpful.

(The hinges had come loose a while back and, though they are repaired,

are not as strong as they once were.)

Here is some of the really cute fall fabric that I have cut and serged.

This fabric is cut into about 16" squares and is nice for the center of a round table.

I made 16 of these.

And this cute fabric, designed by Debbie Mumm, is a table runner; a long rectangle.

I made 9 of these to go with some I made last year (without the serger.)

These will be on the tables on Sunday when we have our church breakfast.

So fall! I love fall!

Lastly, I thought I'd show you the great washer and dryer we bought about a year ago.

If you have a laundry room on the second floor of your home (and not on a basement concrete floor), these Maytag bravos are great.

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I love my sewing room!

Stocking up

I did not grow up with picking berries, canning or even knowing what a chokecherry was.

In fact, my first taste of a chokecherry was when W offered me one, picked right off the chokecherry bush. AGH! There is a reason the first part of the word is "choke"...

BUT... if you add a lot (emphasis on a lot) of sugar... it sure makes a

totally delicious syrup!

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So, I try each year to make a batch of chokecherry syrup.

I have to admit that this is the one domestic task that makes me feel

out of my comfort zone...

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Apparently, that is not all that bad.

Here are my jars all labeled and ready for the coming year.

Pancakes, watch out!

I'm all about cute labels, by the way.
I had fun designing these.

Such a crowd

I know I posted some pictures of the state fair, but I thought I'd add a few more.

John thought that last Monday would not be crowded at the fair; but he seemed to have misjudged the enthusiasm of Minnesotans! (Plus, it was senior day and children's day to boot!)

So... everywhere you looked there were people....

Lots and lots of people!

And some were really quite cute..


I guess the photographer wanted to be sure to get the baby in the picture...
sorry about that John...

One of our first stops was to see the giant pumpkins.

How did they even get these big guys to the fair??

Here is the winner!!

I just love seeing the vegetables.

And, since fall is my favorite season of the year, pumpkins and all the fall goodies were such a pleasure to see!!

Oh, doesn't it just make your mouth water???

We also visited the horticulture exhibit where I photographed lots of beautiful flowers.

Here is just one of them.

We also enjoyed seeing the horses and the livestock.

The birthing center, which was quite crowded, was wonderful too -

we saw some newborn calves and piglets.

There is a fine art exhibit as well.

Here below is a famous painting you might recognize..

I think we should call it Minnesota Gothic...

Happy Birthday Brian!

Happy Birthday today to my brother-in-law Brian!

I hope you will have a delightful day enjoying a good meal with family and friends!

Bon Appetit!

One down, one to go...

Two pregnant ladies a few weeks ago...

Jennifer on the left

Meghan on the right..

And now there is only one!!
Congratulations Jennifer, on the birth of little Sylvia Catherine!
Just a few more weeks until Sylvia's playmate arrives..

State Fair Foods galore!!