Going Home

We had a great time this weekend. Well, M and I had a great time. A tolerated being at a "family" wedding where the only people he knew enough to be comfortable around were the people actively involved in the wedding (bride, groom, parents, siblings of all). I got to see all of the people I really like from my home town that still live there. I got to show off my beautiful daughter in her twirling "wedding dress" (thanks to Stefania for sending that at just the right time). She charmed just about everyone.

She especially took to the bride (I think it may have been the stunning dress and the fact that we talked about her wedding for days), and the mother of the bride. The mother of the bride is my second mom. The cool mom (sorry mom). She's the one I could talk to about stuff I couldn't talk to my own mom about. The funny part is, when I was about M's age, I really took to her too. I was the little kid following her around. Apples, trees, you know the rest.

We're back home, but M stayed up North to hang out with Grandma Tere (seen above). She is having a great time being entertained by all kinds of new people. Running around the property where I grew up. Getting in to trouble the bride's cousin's son. (who's dad was the resident troublemaker when I was a kid) Charming everyone she meets.

She has requested to not go home. Instead she would like Grandma to drive her right down to Nana & Grandpa D's. We're sort of hoping by Wednesday she'll miss us enough to come back here.

On the off chance that you ever find yourself in Fergus Falls, I would like to point out to you a couple of things. First, Falls Baking Co. Home of the best bread on the planet. No, not kidding. I've had a lot of bread, and Scott's can't be beat. Second, Stumbeano Coffee. I am a coffee nerd, and I'm here to tell you I had the best latte of my life on Sunday morning, at Cafe 116. Made by Greg Stumbo himself. I would like to bundle both of them up and move them closer to the rest of my life. In the mean time I'll settle for putting and order in with my mom for when she brings M back.

Whole Wheat Sour Dough, Oatmeal & a French Boule. I'd also like a pound of Greg's Espresso Roast. I need it ground, I can't do anything fine enough for my stove top Bialetti at home.

Busy Little Bee

What happens when you have an early Spring, followed by like five days of cold, rain, and maybe a little snow, then a super nice weekend right when the Minnesotan's should be planting?

Catch-up.

This weekends accomplishments include but are not limited to:

Got a new phone that allows me to be more connected, even when, ummm, working.

Going to the Mill City Market (OMG, how did it take this long for me to find this gem!!!) for the first time and partaking of some amazing Banh Mi from Dim Sum Street. We also had Indian Spiced Donuts from The Chef Shack. For later (read, breakfast tomorrow) I have two tarts from Queen of Tarts (who clearly need a website with a name that cool).

All of the above was thanks to needing to pick up our first meat CSA delivery from Brauchers Sunshine Harvest Farm. So far we have had some sausage patties, and they do not disappoint. We are having hamburgers tomorrow.

Hit Johnstock (part of the Art-a-Whirl activities in NE) and ran in to the always wonderful Andrea. Who I happened to know was at Crafty Planet (I was already headed that direction) thanks to mobile Twitter. Hee. We got M some pony tail holders that if she ever listens she will get to wear. I also got a new necklace and a Wonder Woman zipper pouch. Totally psyched about my cool recycled pouch.

Got a run in. (C25K Week 4 - Day 2, still alive, so it must be working)

Made my first trip to Home Depot to buy 32 board feet of 10 x 2's to build two new raised gardens, sixteen brackets to hold the boards together, and some compost & peat moss.

Built one of the new containers.

Added some compost to existing beds and planted 8 pepper plants, four cucumbers and two tomatoes. Oh, and some basil, parsley and rosemary.

Played around with the new phone some.

Worked Sunday morning including a trip to the office where M got to go with and watch HD PBS Kids in the break room (I will now quit mocking the need for TV's in the break room).

Made breakfast with the sausage from Brauchers, pancakes and a sauce made from local rhubarb we got at the market. Oh, and lattes too. Mmmm...

Made another container for the garden.

Went to Home Depot again for another 400* pounds of compost and gas for the grill (stinker ran out in the middle of grilling the onions Saturday night).

Finished filling the beds with compost & peat moss. Got a call from a friend who had extra dirt. Added some of that, and planted four more tomatoes, and from seeds, beans, peas, radishes, broccoli (why yes, I am crazy), beets, sunflowers and cilantro.

Mowed two thirds of the yard.

Made dinner, it was tasty.

Resisted temptation to reward myself for a busy active day and didn't have a beer or a coke (though I may still have the beer)

Went grocery shopping. (hate it when staples like bandaids, ibuprofin and tissues blow your budget)

Now, some laundry, dishes, and yeah, I think I'll have that beer. (good micro brew stuff from out East that we love, a special treat for someone like me who rarely drinks)

*If you count just the compost bags, which cumulatively around 500 pounds. I figure I moved each bag at least four times (Depot to cart, cart to car, car to wheelbarrow (easy slide to the ground) and then the finally dump in place). Which means when you figure in the wood, the extra dirt, etc, I figure that I lifted and moved around close to a ton and a half, maybe two tons this weekend. Holy bananas!!!

**Don't forget your sun screen. No matter how nice it is, if you're outside for longer than like half an hour, wear it. Just think of my fat red arms to remind you.

A Yard Full of Memories

Part of the fun of vacation for me is to take pictures. I am still chugging along with my little point and shoot, trying to justify the expenditure of a DSLR (and the macro lens I would have to have with it).

Yarrow is a natural bug repellent. When we were kids we used to rub it on our arms before a walk in the woods. Mostly, it is just beautiful with it's lacy leaves and simple flowers.


Fine, so I have no idea what these are. They are new from when I lived at home, but are surrounded by the ferns. If we still had a shade yard I would plant ferns in it.


This is part of a small rose bush that we gave my mom one year for mother's day. It has grown in to more of a rose hedge (8 feet tall and six feet wide) more than once and been trimmed back. It lines the alley just daring the kids to ride their bikes into it.



I've said I didn't want the Hollyhocks for my yard, but I know my mom loved them. I just fear their takeover of everything.

A weed to so many, I remember sucking the nectar out of cover petals when I was little. That is what you do when your parents won't let you eat sweets.

Going Home

I ran away from home. Not in the "runaway" sense, but more I left and I never looked back. I never attempted to have any ties to the place. I visited, but I didn't care about it. The only pull it had was that my family was there. Everyone else will come to my world, here in the big city.

My parents divorced, they left town, now only my brother remains. He's itching to go, and will be gone by next year, one way or another. It is too small for him, it just took him longer to leap away then it did me. We went back for the first part of our vacation to visit him, to go through things in the house, to perhaps see it for one last time. To take M to all of the places I remembered.


To play in the parks, on the same equipment I made myself sick on so many times.


To watch A and my brother show her how to ride a chicken.


To see my big girl tackle the big girl swings in the park behind the house I lived in from fourth grade until I left (that I came back to for those few months that one time).

I can look at it differently than I did before. I look at it like a tourist more than I think I ever have. It is beautiful, quaint, slow and enjoyable. There are people who know me there, but there is comfort in the fact that they don't really know me. My life is my own now, no longer something to be mocked or talked about behind my back. It felt good. It felt like a place I could go to visit, to vacation, without the baggage. It doesn't hurt that they have the best Taco John's ever (where the owners still know me and my favorite food). There is a yarn store now, a Ben Franklin that stocks the entire Melissa & Doug line, and Dairyland. They took out the car hop area and put in a Drive Thru (sic), but they still hire only the pretty high school sports jocks. They still make the best malt in the world. I would go back for that alone.