Sisters

August 25, 2010

Well, my sisters came up late Monday night and it was wonderful to see them again! They got here around midnight, and we stayed up talking until about 2 am.

We took a nice long walk out to C via the bike path on Tuesday morning. The weather was cloudy and cool. Mira thought the walk was fabulous. We found some blueberries and blackberries, so we had a tiny snack.

I took a quick bath in the creek, then we headed out to Eagle River. They wanted to check out a little quilt store, which turned out to be not really little. The store, Karen’s Quilts, has a really fabulous selection of fabric and patterns. We all found some things we couldn’t live without. Margie is quilting some really cute things using hand dyed wool fabric and applique. I couldn’t resist a snowman pattern and a table runner kit. The people there do really great machine quilting. The samples in this store were among the best I’ve ever seen.

On the way there, we stopped by a pier company to check out the selection. We are going to put in a new pier next year. We all agreed on the size and color of it. Its decking is a composite material that won’t wrap, rot, or get icky in general. We will have it installed, since none of us want to do it.

We all did a little needlework in the afternoon, after a nice time in the creek. Margie was quilting, Karen was cross stitching, and I was spinning. I did get the llama/silk blend singles done before bed Tuesday, and plied, washed and have it hanging up on the porch right now. It’s looking pretty good.

We tried out a new restaurant that has been around for a while, but none of us had been there before. It’s called Marty’s and it is on 51, just a bit south of M. The atmosphere was very nice, the service was not rushed, the drinks were great, and the food absolutely delicious. We had the stuffed crepes for a starter. They were fabulous.

Over dinner, Karen and Margie started telling me about the barn quilts that they have seen and love. People paint big pieces of plywood in quilt patterns and then hang them on the barns. Some people paint the entire sides of their barns in quilt patterns. Karen wants to put one on the Creek House, and Margie and I thought that’d be a good plan. Ours in going to be 4 feet square. Each of us was going to design a square, and then one to represent Mom and Dad. We ended up deciding to each do a square based on the quilt pattern that Mom made us. So I will be drawing out a Grandmother’s Fan, 22” square. We are all going to sign our block, and then I have to mail mine to Karen. She and Margie will be doing the painting. We decided to do a pine tree block for Mom and Dad.

After dinner, we played three games of pinochle. Margie didn’t have such great luck. Karen got double pinochle in two of the games and I got it in the third. Very unusual! On hand I hand 66 meld! A run in diamonds, a roundhouse, and a double pinochle. That was a quick game. It was so fun to talk and laugh and just hang out with my sisters.

Today they took a much longer walk in the morning. I didn’t go. When they got back we went to Wolf Pack for breakfast. Those are some great pancakes! I have no idea why they are, they just are. Their motto is “Peace, Love, and Pancakes”.

Then we went to the hardware store to pick up some parts to fix the drain for the toilet, some things to create a lazy kate, and a coffee pot. For some reason, the old pot has disappeared from here. We had to stop three places before we found what we wanted, the aluminum percolator kind. They had one at Sayner hardware, but only one. And since Margie wanted one for her house, I told her to take that one home, and I will get one tomorrow when I go into the big city.

We took a few pictures of us on the pier at the creek. After much effort, I finally got one that had everyone sitting on the pier with nobody’s head cut off. Mira had her usual good time chasing sticks. We had a bit of a snack. then Karen went to Minocqua to pick up a picture that Margie found at a flea market, and Karen had framed. It’s a really nice picture of a big sister reading to her two little sisters. We hung it up in the living room. It’s really a nice picture, and it’s in a perfect place.

We spent a tiny bit more time on the porch, and they left around 5. I spent a little bit of time straightening things up, hunting for Margies missing earring and my missing tape measurer. I found my tape but not the earring. I think it may have been lost in the creek. I’ve uploaded the pictures and gotten them ready to post tomorrow when I go to town. I am going to put the tractor away, then we are going to have a bite to eat, do some knitting, and maybe go to bed early.

It was a really great two days.

And for today, an essay from the dog....

How to Handle a Thunderstorm

by Mira

First, if you are not alone in the house, make sure your mistress is awake to protect you from the scary thunder and lightening. This is most effectively accomplished at 4 am by crawling up to the pillows, leaning hard against her, and shaking uncontrollably without stopping until she wakes up to find out what’s wrong.

Then, once she is positively awake, hop down to the floor and try to crawl under the bed, even though you don’t fit under it. Make a bunch of noise with whatever is under there. This is more effective if she has no idea what is under the bed, then she will have to get a flashlight and investigate. This will assure you get more time to shiver and gain more sympathy.

Then hop back up and try to wiggle under the covers. If that doesn’t work, hop down and try to squeeze behind the headboard. If your mistress starts to get cranky, jump back up from the floor and back again a few times to let her know you aren’t upset with her. Then jump back to the floor and find the tiny corner next to the dresser to sleep through the storm. It helps to make a lot of noise by scratching the carpet for a long time to get the nap just right. The floor will be a safer place than the bed because you can’t see the lightening as well, and so you can totally ignore it.

Because you know she will be awake for a while to make sure that nothing bad can happen, you can now safely go to sleep.

Update from Up North

August 19, 2010

A quick update.....written at the Sayner Laundromat, which is a fair use of time if I do say so myself.

Let’s see, how shall I sum up the last 10 days? Fabulous, wonderful, relaxing, quiet, green, with a decent amount of thunderstorms, not too many deer flies, and mostly really nice weather.

We’ve played in the creek, messed around with yarn, fiber and needles, gone for walks on the road, washed the kitchen floor, purchased fudge at Dan’s, groceries at Red Owl, and postcards at Pastimes. I may actually write them sometime. The bat did make it’s way out of the house. We saw a huge wild turkey. It’s body was bigger than Mira, and she weighs 40 pounds. It could have fed a big bunch of hungry Thanksgiving guests. I haven’t seen it since. Maybe it knows I have the shotgun loaded. I also haven’t seen a single deer. Lots of chipmunks and a few little squirrels.

Things I’ve realized so far: a front loading washing machine really gets your clothes clean (and it’s way more fun to watch than mine), 25 cents to dry a load of laundry for 9 minutes seems a little steep (good thing we have a dryer at the Creek), I read really fast, my dog prefers her sticks to be thrown in the deepest part of the creek, spinning on the porch makes your yarn more even than at home, I like the farmers market in Woodruff better than the guy who sells veggies by the road in St. Germain, listening to my Mom’s voice on tape describing the old photos can make me cry, and that not working with the wood stove for so long makes you forget how to keep it from smoking up the house.

I have my sisters coming up on Monday which will be really great, and then Dad and Betty coming up the week after for a few days. It will be wonderful to see them all again. The roofers are also coming, but I didn’t think they would be of general interest.

I may try to post some pictures, but I really haven’t taken that many, and the hummingbirds are not cooperating. There are 6 or 7 of them around the feeder, but they go away when I pick up my camera. Tricky little things. And just so nobody is surprised, you won’t see any early morning pictures. They are too hard to take when asleep.

Up North

August 9, 2010

Got to Creek House yesterday around 6:30 pm. Started on Saturday, just Mira and I. Drove to Prairie Rose State Park in Iowa and camped at a really nice little spot. It was hot and humid.

The cruise control was broken, but the air conditioning was not, which was a blessing! I unpacked the car and went in the creek. It was wonderful! The creek is high, and wasn’t too cold. The mosquitos had not realized I had arrived, so the creek time was absolutely perfect.

After that, I got my stuff sort of organized and put away, read on the porch and went to bed. Mira has had a great time running around in the woods, playing in the creek, and napping on the porch.

I was woken up at 5 am by a BAT flying around my bedroom! It brushed my face and freaked me out a little bit, since we all know how much I really hate those creepy things. I heard it out in the main room, so I shut my door and went back to sleep.

I got up at 9 or so and looked around for the stupid bat. Couldn’t find it, so I started opening the windows to get a breeze in the house. When I opened the kitchen window, there it was. It flew out of the valance above the sink, and tried to get out of the window, but was stopped by the screen. Eeewwww, creeped me out!

So I quickly slammed the window shut, trapping it, and tried to think about what to do next. I went to the garage to look for a fishing net or something to catch it in so I could let it go outside. There was no net, but I found a little bait bucket that I thought I might be able to use.

When I went back into the house, it had disappeared. That was not really great, since there was no place it could go! So I looked closer, and saw it had tucked itself up in the window track way up at the very top. I opened the window, very carefully so it wouldn’t fly back into the house, then opened the screen so it could fly out. I’m waiting to see if it figures it out. Until then, I am keeping the window shut. And no, I am not taking a picture!