a little of this and a little of that

It occurred to me last week that this is the first time in my life that I am living alone. (you can't count the times when Lowell was on the road)

I had lunch/supper with two different groups of women in the last two week. Now it's great to have women friends but you know what - I discovered that I miss the company of men :)

I bought myself a another dog - I know- you think I'm crazy since I already have one. But I thought Ollie needed a friend. So Sophie, a mini dachshund, is now a member of my household. It has taken Ollie almost 2 weeks to finally realize this "thing" is here for the duration. It's fun to watch them chase each other.

And my new wood heater is up and running - David made a platform for it and Sharon and I cemented zbrick to it. Yesterday we got the heater up on the platform - connected the stove pipes and it works!!!! It has a glass front so I can watch the flames. I put a glider rocker and footstool by it so now it's really a comfy place. It will be even nicer when winter weather sets in.

My new kitchen cupboards are beautiful - white with blue countertop. In a couple of weeks my new kitchen windows will be installed.

I'm watching "Secondhand Lions" with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall. If you haven't seen it you should - it's great!!

Another chapter

A chapter of my life came to a close this morning. For most of our married life Lowell and I had horses. Actually they were more Lowell's than mine although I enjoyed them, too. Some were riding horses and some were work horses but a lot were "just horses" Would you believe that at one time we had 9 horses - how we accumulated that many I have no idea. Dick and Dan are Belgium horses, half brothers, that we raised and the last of all those horses. I knew that I could not (nor want to) take care of them, So this morning a man from ND - someone my daughter knows - came to get them. He has a farm, lots of kids and other horses. They seemed excited about getting work horses to add to their "family". So even though I was sad to see them go, I am relieved that I won't have to spend money on hay and take care of them when it's blizzardy out or very cold. Lowell would be happy they are going to a good home and will be very well taken care of. So after 40 years of living on this place there is no livestock except a couple of dogs and several cats. . . . . .and so another chapter begins.

He loved me!

It's been almost 2 months since Lowell went to Heaven - I really miss him. It seems like he should be walking in the back door at any time. The hardest days are Sundays - they seem so long. In church I can almost see him sitting in the pew and when I sit down from playing the organ I can almost feel him next to me. About 7:00 pm 2 Sundays ago I hopped on the golf cart and went up to Sharon's - I couldn't stand being by myself any longer that day. She invited me to watch a movie with them and it really helped - I'm so lucky/glad that she and David live so close to me.
In lots of ways I'm luckier than some women - I was used to Lowell being gone for a week or two when he was driving the truck and I paid the bills and took care of the insurance, ect. so that part of my life hasn't changed. But a couple of weeks ago it really hit me that he wasn't going to be coming home anymore. . . . . . . . . And so the next stage of my life begins.

Psalms 121:7 & 8 says:
The Lord will keep you from all harm
He will watch over your life
The Lord will watch over your comings and goings
both now and forever more.

And so I'm claiming that promise and look forward to whatever the Lord has planned for me.

I loved him!

If it sounds right, it's not

That's what some of the music in Stephen Sondheim's opera "Into the Woods" sounds like to me. Many changes of time signatures and sometimes 6#'s or 7b's along with groups of notes that sound wrong make it difficult for me to learn. But there are lots of pretty songs, too. "Into the Woods" is the opera the Northern Lights Opera Company is performing this Friday, Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. Then again on July 31, Aug. 1 and 2nd. It's a combination of children's fairy tales with a twist. I'm the rehearsal accompanist but we add a small orchestra for the performances. My favorite is the duet between Cinderella's prince and Rapunzel's prince called "Agony". It's quite funny. Besides adding much to the performances the orchestra covers up my mistakes :) This week we've practice from 6:00 - 10:30 each evening - I'm getting tired. Anyway if you can come you will enjoy!! "Be Careful What You Wish For"

Cd cover

This is the cover I designed for the cover of the cd of dad's tape that he made.
On his tape he did not talk about his football season except to say that he sat on the bench most of the time. He never mentioned the saxaphone that he's holding and I don't remember him talking about camping with his folks. So all of you who read this blog ask about the pictures you see of your folks or grandparents and WRITE it down. You'll be glad you did.

Father's day

My father was a good man and a good provider and I know he loved me but I didn't know him very well. He was a master electrician by trade and loved his work. He had lots of hobbies: ham radio operator, hunting, fishing and photographer. My brother spent quite a bit of time hunting and fishing with dad but I never did. Now I don't know if that was my decision or dad's. I don't remember him ever asking me to fish or hunt with him - although I remember one time I went out in the boat with him. He fished and I read a book. Maybe that's when he decided I probably wouldn't want to be a fisherman but I enjoyed being in the boat with him and I have always loved the water. About the time I asked him to teach me the morse code (I thought ham radio was fascinating) I became interested in Lowell --- so much for morse code. :) So even though I knew what my dad did I don't remember ever talking with him much as a kid. Not like my sons do with their children.

When I was a little girl and then as a teenager mom and dad didn't get along very well and since dad loved his profession - home didn't seem to be a priority. In later years mom and dad learned to appreciate their differences for the most part.

The winter before he died he made 2 45 minute tapes about his life. I wish I had been able to listen to those tapes before he died because when I did listen to them I had questions. But I'm grateful for those tapes. I had a friend record them onto a cd so I could make copies for my kids.

My blue bike

I loved my blue bike even though it wasn't new and it was a boy's bike. I rode it everywhere. No matter where I went - to Grandma's, to my cousins, to my Aunts, even to town where my dad has his electric motor shop - I had to cross a brige and go up a big hill. But such fun going home!!! down hill all the way.

We lived just a couple of blocks from the park where my friends and I spent a lot of time. It was and still is a beautiful park. It had 3 levels so going to the lower level was lots of fun because it had 3 curves and you could really pick up speed. But coming up was really hard work. Ramsey creek flowed through the lower level with a bridge made out of stone by the CCC or WPA (works progress association)in the late 30's or early 40's. The pavillion was also made of stone by the same group of men. Sometimes my friends and I would pack a lunch and spend the afternoon on Ramsey Falls. Now that I think of it I'm surprised my mom let me do that because it was quite a drop from where we would sit to the water with lots of rocks between. Maybe she didn't know we did that. hmmmm.