Happenings on the Homestead

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from South Dakota.  How you doing this 7th week of 2023? There wasn't any exploring done on the prairie for us again this week. We showed our house to a young couple that is interested in buying it.  We bought a house in Georgia & we're moving our homestead there.  This was my last week in the mid-west.  I made a photo book a couple years back about "That time we lived in South Dakota".  I'm transferring through my job that gets us closer to family & new places to explore. Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage & I'll tell you about a few other things that went on around my place this week, mostly involving last minute moving things, come walk with me...

Shelves & most of the walls are bare
as we prepare for the move.  Most
of the furniture will stay with the 
house since the house we are buying
is furnished.  

*  I had follow up blood work done after the yearly checkup I had a couple weeks ago that indicated I might have been a little dehydrated.  I've been drinking lots more water. The results the 2nd time around were good, no Fs for failed or flagged.

*  I did a little extra deep cleaning around in the house that included scrubbing the bathtub along with the regular vacuuming, tidying & laundry.  I wanted to clean the oven but didn't get around to it so I'm hoping Kevin will be able to get around to it before he heads south.  I gathered those important papers I'll be needing to prove who I am to get a new driver's license & such... marriage certificate, birth certificate... Kevin asked how he was going to prove who he was if I took our marriage license, well, hummmm, he has never had a name change that he would have to prove.  

Grand did some cooking making
 an authentic Jamaican food recipe
that had several ingredients
Daughter said she had never
 heard of.

                             

Happy Valentines Day!  I made the fudge, Kevin
provided the flower.

Rose noticed her football in the
trash, she snuck & got it out,
then wanted me to play.

We got more packing done than Kevin 
thought we would.  We got at it 1st thing
several mornings in a row before going 
to work.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how has your week been?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2023

Greetings from South Dakota! Kevin has been busy at the school fixing things & moving snow from around the school, around the house & around town.  I've been busy at the Post Office helping Santa get all the Christmas presents delivered. The mail didn’t move for days due to I-90 being closed due to a little dab of snow that was blowing around all over the midwest causing a blizzard. Snow around our place was 0 to 8 feet deep due to drifting.

The perfect gift for those (me) that
like to have picnics.

We had a restful Christmas Day at home due to the Sheriff saying to stay home. There were reports of black ice on the roads & no travel was advised along with wind gusts predicted of up to 65 mph making snow drifts.  A time or 2 the Sheriff put it like this “stay off the freaking roads”. We decided that was a good enough reason for us to just stay home instead of taking our camper out & going camping as we had originally planned. We had just came out of a blizzard that left traveling through families & truckers stranded in town for a couple nights. A shelter was set up in the Rec Center that accommodated about 40 people one night & about 60 people the next night. Santa was able to make it to the shelter for a quick little visit & give out goodies.

Our Christmas special cooking project was trying our hand at making an old-fashioned gingerbread cake to use up some molasses we had in the pantry.  Kevin remembers having a sweet bread when he was a boy, so he searched for a recipe online. The recipe he chose turned out pretty tasty with a serving of snow cream & chocolate syrup. We talked that we might make another cake using the same recipe someday soon to use up the rest of that molasses before it goes bad. 

We’ve done a lot of camping & exploring this year, going out every chance we got on the weekends & holidays.  In the spring & early summer we were able to have a few little campfires to roast hotdogs & make smores, then the weather turned too dry during the rest of the summer for lighting up.

Toney

We enjoyed having the Grandkids visit during the summer.  Austin, the oldest, is all set to graduate high school in the spring.  He is working at KFC & seems to like it pretty good.  He has a girlfriend & they have plans to move out on their own after graduation & take courses at a community college. The middle teen & tween boys are playing all the sports. The girls are doing cheerleading & dance.  The babies are growing so unbelievably fast.  We welcomed our 9th Grandbaby in October.  He was a little feller, weighing just under 5 pounds.  He had a little trouble at the very 1st wanting to start breathing & taking in oxygen, though he is healthy & fine now.  I went to North Carolina to be with the family & help out during the week of delivery & recovery.

Kevin got the garden all cleaned up just before the cold weather & snow set in. We were able to keep the deer out of the garden this season by putting up a netting fence around the entire garden area.  We planted a couple rows of sweet tators this year that produced a good crop.  We put the tators & onions downstairs where it’s dry & cooler.  They seem to be keeping good down there. We put the carrots in the crisper in the refrigerator & they are doing good in there. We like to make french fries with the carrots & sweet tators.  Mmmmmm!  We put squash & pumpkin in the freezer.  I made a couple pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving & we have a squash casserole recipe that is good

Kevin got a deer during hunting season. We ground most that meat for making sloppy joes & such. He took a shot at a deer with his bow to fill his archery tag but didn’t get it yet. Kevin did a little bird hunting too & brought in some doves, grouse & a rabbit or 2.  We went fishing quite a bit & have fish in the freezer that we’re still eating on. Kevin went on a little camping trip in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming & did some fishing over there. It seems a lot of our activities involves food of some sort.

                                                                                       

 We look forward to seeing what 2023 

has in store for us, Karen & Kevin.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?

Lists & other March Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakoka.  How you doing?  I traveled to North Carolina mid-month to visit family & friends.  There were signs of spring down there with the daffodils & Bradford pears blooming.  I heard frogs crocking while I was at a ball game.  Let's see what else happened in March as I join others & write a little something about each of my days, wrote in one long drawn out sentence or 2.

Spring in NC, daffodils are one of my favorite flowers, these were in bloom
at Moma's Sister-in-Law's place.

* Celebrating the 1st - Went on several outings in February & had a few picnics despite feeling down & out most the month, got most things finalized for my trip to NC, Yay!

* Wed 2nd - Scheduled for 3 hours work, worked on fine tuning family activities & menus while messaging with Daughter, made a list of things to add to travel bags at the last minute - lunch, meds, house slippers...

* Thurs 3rd - Folded laundry, found a load of forgotten laundry in the washer, Opps, cleaned the bathroom & vacuumed, balanced books, made an online grocery order for Daughter to pick up, coffee & popcorn on the top of the list, scheduled to work in the late afternoon, got a certificate & pin for accumulating 2500 hours of sick leave,

* Fri 4th - Made a grocery list for Kevin, he wanted to shop at a different store after dropping me off at the airport, boiled eggs, Kevin fried fish & figured out how to make hushpuppies after all these years, Grand gave us the idea to use a small sauce pot as a fryer, so simple yet never thought of it.

Week 10

* Sat 5th - 3 to 4 inches of snow forecasted for the weekend while making preparations to head to the airport, set foods out for Kevin to pack his own lunches, printed boarding pass & list of events for the next 2 weeks.

Delayed due to weather.

* Sun 6th - Headed to Daughter's at 6 am, 1st flight was delayed almost an hour, connecting flight was already boarding when got to the gate, Daughter & Son-in-Law along with the Grandgirls scooped me up at the airport drive thru, stopped for bathroom & ice cream, Grand threw up several times, stopped for a clean-up, late when we got to their house, happy to see all the Grands.

* Mon 7th - Spent the day with Daughter helping out in her daycare, took kids outside for a walk to look at the daffodils, helped do a butterfly art/craft project, picked a different sick Grand up at school, drove down & picked Grand's up at their bus stop due to the pouring rain.

A fun & cute project to do with the kids.

Painting butterflies using
 butterfly noodles.

* Tues 8th - Went to Moma's house to spend a few days, Sister cooked us delicious meals, went to the cemetery where Moma's parents were buried, visited Moma's Sister-in-Law & looked at some of the quilts she had made.

Found out Moma has the same
birthday as her Mother.

Laughing, trying to get a picture of
us down by the river.

Spring at Moma's house.

Go Chandler Go!  He's the one
wearing black & gold.

* Wed 9th - Had lunch with Friend at the Mexican restaurant, she had just got back from a trip to Colorado, she talked about their skiing adventures & troubles with high altitude, went to Grand's track meet, it was so cold. 

* Thurs 10th - Went dollar store shopping with Moma, made a flower arrangement for Kevin's parent's grave, back to Daughter's before Grand's got home from school, Evil elf showed up.  

Happy Birthday to Grand Jemma.

Invited guest to the birthday party,
Oh No!

Taking a walk down the street
with Moma.

So many flowers to choose from.

 

* Fri 11th - Went to Grand's baseball game, had a family cookout with Daughter's In-Laws.

Smash burgers, cowboy beans - Yum!
Everyone had a feline time...

He scored 2 runs during the game,
Yay, Colton!

Elfis, the good elf, came to save the
day, Elfis brought baby elves, the same
number of kids in the house, WAIT, 
there are 9 little elves, announcement
made that we'll be expecting
Grand #9 in the fall.

Week 11

* Sat 12th - Daughter & Son-in-Law went on an extended weekend get-away while I was there to stay with the Grands, had to reschedule the planned pizza picnic in the park due to the cold & snow, Grands did some cooking & helped take care of the littlest one.

It was cold, they didn't stay out long,
then there was hot chocolate.

Helped take care of the dogs too.

The parents enjoying a ride
during their get-away.

* Sun 13th - Went to Moma's for a family cookout, Sister cooked burgers & hotdogs on the grill, Neice & her family came to visit, more Grands sick with a stomach ache, throwing up & no appetite.

* Mon 14th - Remote school day, helped youngest school age Grand's do their paperwork, older Grand's logged in to do their schoolwork or to at least make their presence known, had our postponed pizza picnic in the park, took a walk along the river, older Grands played basketball, Sister sick with the stomach bug, helped one of the frenchies deliver her puppies.

There were geese & ducks in the river, the weather
was so nice & warm, what a difference in the temperatures.

* Tues 15th - Another remote school day, played outside, went exploring in the woods, blowed bubbles, Daughter & Son-in-Law back from their get-away, went to Grand's baseball game, woke up during the night with a stomach ache.

* Wed 16th - Put the homemade flower bouquet on Kevin's parent's grave, visited Kevin's brother & Sister-in-Law, Sister-in-Law made a delicious chicken pot pie for lunch, ate a large helping even though didn't have much of an appetite.

Found a little something for
each of the Grands - games,
puzzles, t-shirts, flip flops...

* Thurs 17th - Made sure everyone wore some green, last day at Daughter's, went thrifting, tried a different BBQ place for lunch, still didn't have much of an appetite, had lots of ribs leftover, Moma & Sister come down, tacos & Easter smores for supper, one Grand had a baseball game, one Grand had a track meet, stayed up late to give bear hugs & Nana love kisses to all.

Oldest Grand talking about going
to college next year, majoring in
computer science, along with
his girlfriend. 

Daughter, Sister, Me, Moma.

Made it to the gate with plenty
of time to spare, lots of folks
going thru security, the line
went down quick even though
I was in the wrong line to 
begin with along with a
lot of others.

* Fri 18th - Up at 4:15 am to head home, all flights on time, had some stomach churning turbulence in the air, maybe it was just me still with a queasy stomach, Kevin picked me up at the airport, stopped at Culver's for supper on the way home.

25 piece nesting doll on display in the Atlanta
airport, I have a 15 piece set that has the littlest
 one missing so now I guess mine is  
actually a 14 piece set.

I got a window seat on one of 
the flights.

Week 12

* Sat 19th - Back to work, bingo night, didn't get a bingo though come close several times.

* Sun 20th - Put the patio table out on the deck & had a snack in the warm sunshine with Kevin & Rose, worked on arranging cots for Grand's visit, added some things to the activities list, went for a ride in the truck, a beautiful sunny day for the 1st day of spring.

* Mon 21st - Made attempts to get back into the mundane daily routine, didn't go to Club meeting with Kevin due to an aggravating head cold, watched episodes of The Handmaid's Tale, ate a bowl of cereal in bed for supper.

* Tues 22nd - Worked in one of the other offices, nice sunny drive out of town, Kevin fried shrimp & hushpuppies for supper, watched episodes of camper living.

* Wed 23rd - 2 days scheduled off work, set the stove timer to get stuff done between blog writing & reading, washed clothes & hung on the line to dry, dusted in the living room, gathered up camper stuff, organized in the utility room & the pantry, added things to the shopping list for when I go pick up my glasses, made spaghetti for supper along with the leftover shrimp & hushpuppies.

* Thurs 24th - Drove up & got my new prescription reading glasses, wind gusts whirled the dust & tumbleweeds, did some spring stock up shopping at the dollar store, got me salad mix, got Kevin coleslaw mix, put gas in the car, folded clothes & put them away, relaxed on the couch with Rose.

* Fri 25th - Full day of work, worked on knocking out yearly training modules, boom chick a pop salted maple flavored kettle corn watching episodes of The Handmaid's Tale & Naked & Afraid.

1st game of the season for the Rec League 
Grands & Coach Son-in-Law.

Opening Day ⚾ - "So we'll take this
 opportunity to announce that we stayed
 busy during the off season." - Grand #9 

Week 13

* Sat 26th - Finish another training module at work, helped Kevin hook the camper to the truck, got inside of the camper ready to go camping, made up the bed, Kevin changed a light, ended up changing all the lights because it was so much brighter, will add water to the tank later, still having freezing temperatures.

* Sun 27th - Went for a ride in the side by side, took several good little walks, had a picnic.

It's officially Spring in SD!
Found some crocus.

* Mon 28th - Gathered decluttered things for Kevin to sale at the Vender Show. 

* Tues 29th - It rained, it'd been so long, gathered a bowl set to donate to the Club's kitchen, decluttered several things into the trash, cleaned tops of the fridge & freezer, went to dentist appointment for a teeth cleaning, rain turned to snow, driving was sketchy at times.

* Wed 30th - Got a little snow, shoveled the sidewalk at work, didn't take long, gathered  things to sale on local buy/sale group.

For Sale: Used this vanity & seat as
 a nightstand, Grand's pictures were in
the frame, the mirrored door has hooks
 inside for hanging jewelry & such.

* Thurs 31st - Gas pumps bagged, new management taking over, got groceries, picked up a pizza for supper, stopped in the bank, Kevin got a refund for an overpayment of a medical bill.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?