December is Done

We have had a really nice month 
until this morning, December 14th 

Survival of the fittest---

Texas bluebells still standing! :-)

We drove to Minnesota on the 16th 

and had time to share with the kids

and have supper.  

Just in case you can't figure out who is who...

Cecelia, Bob, Claire (back), Lydia, Ana, Corey

Bob looks like he's falling asleep....

must have eaten too much spaghetti :-)

Gramma had made

a plastic-wrap discovery ball, so we

watched the kids and grandkids

uncover some surprises.

Since we arrived a day after Claire's birthday,

Grampa explained that he would get a

birthday bounce for each year when he

was a kid.  So, Claire, 12,

and then Cecelia, 9,

and Lydia, 9, had to be bounced, once

for each year.  Later, Ana took us to the

motel near the airport.

We flew to Harlingen, Texas, on the 17th,

and after renting a car, we headed to La Feria.

Our first stop was the DQ where we discovered

the latest treat--had to send this one to

Trina and Sara. RJ's response,

"Seriously, why do they call it DAIRY Queen?"

When we arrived at our park, our friend Dennis

was pretending to be the "Fiddler on the Roof."

Actually, he was the scrubber on the roof.

Our Minnesota friends have a lemon tree

next to their mobile home, and said that

we could pick the lemons since they were

not planning to come to Texas this year.

Their lemons were bigger than the grapefruits.

I have a gallon of lemon juice now!

After Bob installed our new

water heater, he decided to build

a Christmas tree.

This idea came from Corey and Ana.

But Bob added his own 

personal touch.

Bob and his "Dinkfather" shirt

Beware of Grandma

Tom & Trina's crew all dressed up :-)

Annika

Caiden

Jett

Ariana

Sara and Doug's finery

Cecelia, Ana, Lydia, and Claire

try out their cross-country skis.

Jimmy & Kelly's kids

with matching gifts?

Cool gift from the kids! :-)

Bob carried the ladder over to 

Ron and Charlotte's, so I could pick 

more lemons. But he decided that

he didn't want me "going up"

in the world, so he picked them.

The tree was "loaded" above my reach.

This is after Bob had picked some.

All in all, I "juiced" 200 lemons and froze

most of the juice. Gave away two gallons

and several lemons. I still have a couple

dozen to give away.  Yes, I have an electric

juicer thanks to Pat and Pierre.

 

Nutty November News

                                                

BN took our train away last month,

so we were "un-trained"

They apparently overestimated their need,

so now our track is being "re-trained"

Getting ready......

Kelly's birthday cheesecake

the night they arrived at our farm

was the only way we could surprise 

her--two days early!

This little "bug" was crawling on my carpet.

Luke "caught" the "bug"

Thanksmas/Anniversary Zoom

with the Fritel gang

 

Matthew and Jimmy warming up

for the ping-pong tournament

Matthew and Kelly in Round 1

Andrew was determined to beat his dad

twice in the double-elimination contest.

P

They faced off several times,

but age and experience prevailed.

Playing with two balls at one time

presented a needed challenge

Later they unwrapped the plastic-wrapped

gift ball...which looked more like a cylinder.

Even Dad and Mom got in on the fun.

Mary Kate loves the tub

Surprise metal sculpture from the kids

for our Christmas gift.

Not sure why Bob wanted two photos 

with two different hats, but I was just

happy that he didn't need to pose with

all 100 of his baseball (I mean, farmer's) caps

Wanda made this card for us...

the photo is  blurry 

because I enlarged it.

Nov. 30th...50th Anniversary dinner

We had prime rib (takeout from The Ranch

in Devils Lake) and a bottle of 1941 

Chateau Moulon Rothschild wine from 

Donna that the kids said we should have sold. :-)

October Occasions

Jimmy's hired man from South Africa

shot this photo of Bob unloading wheat

into the grain cart that Andrew operates

Bob spent a lot of time in Killdeer

helping Jimmy with harvest

I think this was at the Big Iron show

in Fargo where Jimmy and his hired men

met Bob for a day.

When Bob went back to Jimmy's

to get the camper, I finished

the bathroom wallpaper

and painted the wall and vanity.

They are supposed to be two

shades of gray (not 50). :-)

Another bathroom view...check out

the towels---made by a neighbor for me

about 20 years ago--never used them

Lots of wind lately....

this Kochia weed "tumbled" 

into my flowerbed

This shirt is from 1978....the first

year that we planted sunflowers

Trina wanted some Fritel shirts

to make a quilt.....

so I found these at Kelly's...

the kids had outgrown them :-)

The ladies at church wanted to buy

a robot vacuum, so  I ordered one

and tested it in my kitchen. 

It looks like a big bug.

The railroad has been storing cars on our track

for several years because they didn't need them.

This year they are expecting a lot of business,

so they have already pulled over 300 cars

past our farm.

Now that Andrew is 14, 

he could hunt and shot this doe.
A milestone in a young kid's life!

Bob found some plum trees on the 

east side of the garden shelterbelt.

The trees south of the garden 

had no plums this year.  This

is step 2 of jelly making!  Step 1

was washing the plums. :-)

This much from only half of the plums.

I added strawberries...yummy!

 

Another milestone! Jett turned

14 and now has a driver's permit.

Blue jay in the flowering crabapple tree.

Not a good pic, but we have not had blue jays

for at least ten years...is there a big

weather change coming??

On Monday, the 12th, we went to Esmond

to get the lamb we bought from Jay B.

The butcher shop is on the right.

Heading home from Rugby on Sunday,

I ran into a "traffic jam" of cattle

Made a few of these to practice

before teaching a Lebanese kid in Rugby

Fall sunset

My new best friend :-)

Keeping Bob in stitches :-)

😥😥

I put "Frosty" together again,

but then the sun came out.

20 degrees and 50 mph winds...

but I had to get the mail! :-)

Guess Who's coming to dinner?

Mullet man and friends?

Superwoman :-)

Is black a color, too?

Star Wars, Mother hen, and chick :-)

Happy Halloween!