Shed Progress

There are lots of things going on around here lately.  Bill has gotten his work bench built in the shed.  Looks pretty sturdy doesn't it?  Uncle Tim had the idea to put it out away from the wall so that they can work on both sides of it if they need to.  Good idea!  In the picture, you can see Bill under the bench.  He's putting in more electrical outlets on the bench.

He got his green vice installed that he already had.

This heavy duty one (below) he bought on EBay.  He and the seller had to find a way to ship something this big and heavy.  Leave it to UPS to drop it evidently and a piece broke off of it so Bill has ordered a new base for it.  He has not had good luck ordering things lately.  A saw he ordered came broken twice before getting one that was okay.

You can see where the piece broke off.

He got this bolt bin at an auction and had me use our label maker to label the sections.

This week he replaced all 109 sweeps on the field cultivator which has to be done every year before planting season.  They cost $7.95 each.   Sometimes one will get too worn and need to be replaced during the season.  You can see in the second picture how worn the one is next to the new black one.  He said he would keep a few of the better ones from the pile of old ones, but the rest will go in a scrap iron pile.

It's 65 degrees and very windy today.  The sun has finally come out.  Our first really warm day.

This afternoon I got a project done that I've been talking about doing for a month - got the garage freezer defrosted.  Glad to have this blog post done now too.  Now on to cleaning a few filthy windows and then tea party invitations!  
 
 

A Very Interesting Job

the Big Eagle

A couple of days ago, a long time family friend from where my dad grew up mentioned to me that her granddaughter is working on a yacht traveling all over the world and gave me her blog site.  Reading about her work on the yacht is soooo interesting that I wanted to share it with those that read my blog! 

People that work on yachts call themselves "yachties". It seems that most are young and only do this work for a few years.  Sometimes the owners of the yacht are on board for several days and other times it's chartered or rented by others.  (you'll see the cost of renting this boat for a week on the link below!)

They work very hard on the days that the owners or guests are on board and then will have a day off to explore whatever island they're anchored near.  Their yacht has jet skis, kayaks and other water toys they can use on their days off.  She is amazed at how happy island people are living with very little, and it's made her appreciate what she has had growing up.  

I am wondering lots of things like what is her typical day like, does she help the chef any or is that someone else's job, have they been in many storms (she does tell about one day with high seas that most spent the day in their rooms - probably praying!), does she serve meals and drinks to the guests, how much cleaning and laundry does she do, etc.  Not sure who does what.  

Check out Ellis' blog HERE and also lots of pictures and information about the yacht she's on, the Big Eagle Yacht HERE.  I'm really looking forward to reading more about her adventures!  They are going to be traveling soon to spend the summer sailing in the Mediterranean.  

What's Been Going On?

It's been a long time since I've posted.  Without much snow this winter, we've kept busy.  We've been to Las Vegas, the fish frys during Lent have started so we went to one.  Bill has finished his work bench, and he and Tim are hauling corn from the grain bins to the elevator and getting equipment ready for planting.  My mom and Glenn were just here for a visit.  

I went to a women's Bible Study at church and made some new friends.  One of them LOVES to make cards so she and I have really hit it off and have gotten together a few times already for lunch and to make things for others.  So I have taken lots of pictures since I last posted.

The weather was decent this year to go to the Emmetsburg St. Patrick's parade which is fun to see.  I took lots of pictures.   The first picture is of shamrocks with Hershey kisses and notes that Lacey and I made for her teachers.

There is an Irish Gifts shop open year round in Emmetsburg.  There was a steady stream of people going in and out - it was packed!

inside the store

always fun to see a green horse, pony & dog!

This nun on a Segway was sprinkling Holy Water on the parade route.

There were about 4 Shriners groups.

there were several area Irish families in the parade

silly clowns and their jalopy

Happy Valentine's Day !

We've had an interesting week.  I went to Bible Study Tues. morning and happened to sit by a woman looking for matchbooks she could decorate and put M & M's in for little Valentine gifts.  I told her I had a machine (the Big Shot) that cuts things like that out that you then just fold up.  I told her I could cut some out for her and get them to her.  She was thrilled.  After Bible Study, we talked more and I found out she LOVES to make cards - and other interesting things about her!  I think I've found a new friend!  She came over Wed. and we got her matchbooks made.

Yesterday and today Bill has had our tax appointment and his mom's in Algona - not fun.  We had snow this morning - 2-3" - then a sunny day at about 12 degrees. 

We usually don't go out for a Valentine's Day dinner due to the lack of nice restaurants around here (and sometimes the weather) so I picked up a couple of nice frozen lobster tails for tonight.   Having only boiled lobster tails maybe four times ever, I have to Google how long to cook them every time.  This time I found a great site and picked up some tips that really helped!

It said to salt the water (1 1/2 t. salt).  I don't think I had done that before.  The best tip was to put a wooden skewer through the tail before cooking to keep them from curling up.  That worked great!  It said to let them drain a minute in a colander.  Then I used kitchen scissors to cut the under side the whole length of the tail, took a fork and grabbed the meat at the tail end and pulled up.  The whole chunk then came out in one piece through the slit! Very nice!

Bill had a baked sweet potato with all the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon & melted marshmallows, and I had a baked potato.  Then I had looked up a copycat recipe for the cheddar cheese garlic biscuits like Red Lobster makes.  They were easy and not too bad.  

I had some red chargers for holiday meals so I got a couple of those out and used them with our white plates, lit the candles, turned on some nice music and we opened some Door County wine.  Very nice, relaxing dinner at home!  Hope yours, whether in or out, was too.   We realized this was our 10th Valentine's Day together already.  I said time flies!   (when you're having fun) 

Winter Continues

I had never heard of sun dogs until moving to Iowa.  With the super cold temps. this winter, I've seen a few.  Most of the time it's hard to take a good picture of them since they're usually not real close to the sun.  This week, they were especially pretty one night at sunset.  Not the best picture since I just took it from inside the house!

Yesterday the roads were good so we were able to go north to Blue Earth (MN) to watch our niece play basketball.   She usually does the tip off at the beginning of the game.  (below - Ryanne in the dark uniform #33)  Unfortunately, her team lost but it was fun getting to watch them play, and Ryanne does a good job!  Bill's mom went with us and brother-in-law Dave's dad and significant other came from Omaha to see the game so it was a nice size cheering section for Ryanne!   After the game, we all went out for supper before we headed home.  

Ryanne, #33

We got 1-2" of snow overnight and this morning.  It's 17 degrees now at 4:15  and the sun has been out, but going to be well below zero again the next couple of nights. 

 

Tahitian Dancers !

Back when I was 5 I think, my parents went to Hawaii for a Dairy Queen convention.  They brought back for me a little Hawaiian doll in a box and she was wearing a grass skirt.  They also had videos of the dancing at a luau they went to.   So when Bill and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon, getting to finally see a luau in person was a highlight for me.  

The first night on board the Ocean Princess, still docked at Papeete, Tahiti, the local dancers put on a long show for us with several costume changes!  Loved it!   This one was inside on stage in the lounge.

At every island where we would get off the tender, there was always a little group playing local music and usually a couple of girls in costume dancing.

at the dock at one of the islands

One of the last nights on the ship, dancers from the island of Raiatea performed on the upper deck also changing costumes and there were even little ones dancing!  These Tahitian dances were my favorite part of the trip, along with the beautiful water and scenery!

This guy was very good, full of energy and always smiling so I wanted to have my picture taken with him.   See all the sweat?!

They sold these beautiful and fragrant (gardenias!) flower crowns before the show - for only $5!  Mom got a lei and I bought a crown (good for bad hair days!).