Introducing.....

      It's been a busy couple of weeks for these lodge owners!  We became grandparents again!  Max & Sara & Will & Greyson welcomed Emerson Tate..."Tate"...to their family on 2/8.  We traveled down to the cities on 2/9 to meet this new member of our family and the pictures show the delight in this grandma's face!

      Then...my sister, Lisa, flew in from Mongolia and we picked her up at the airport when we went to visit Tate.  We brought my sister home with us for a few days and she got some much-needed R & R.  Her and I left last Friday to travel through the cities on our way to our Mom's house in Illinois.  We stopped and saw the boys and their families so Lisa could visit with them and meet the little ones born since she had last seen them.

      We drove to Illinois on Saturday and set about to do some "remodeling" for our Mom.  We got paint and supplies and started our project in the living room.  We stopped to visit with brothers, their wives and cousins who stopped by to say hi or help out.  My sis is staying in Illinois until 3/3, so she will get more of the "projects" done.  I left on Thursday 2/18 to travel home after being gone a week.  Mom appreciated us being there and giving her a freshly-painted living room to enjoy.  I couldn't resist the urge while I was there to re-organize her pantry and wish I had been able to find more time to help her organize the kitchen drawers...oh well, that can wait for the next trip!  Or...Lisa, Doug, Ben, Kim, Dave, John...feel free to dig in without me!

      The most important part of the trip was to sit and spend time with our Mom.  She's lonely since we lost Dad 8 years ago and it was fun to sit and share funny memories of Dad and Mom and growing up with 6 brothers and 1 sister.  I treasure the times spent with my family and hope we get a chance to spend many more years together.  Here's a picture of our finished project...

Salsa Cupboard is Stocked!

     Well, I'm sure you've been waiting with baited breath to find out what we've been up to here in the north woods...

      I just finished 28.75 jars of corn & black bean salsa!  Remember all those jars on the lodge shelves last summer?  They're gone!  Our children really appreciate me keeping them in salsa...this corn & black bean stuff is expensive in the store!  I made a batch and a half tonite...only took about 2 1/2 hours.  Now the lodge shelf is stocked again...until the children come to visit and stock their cupboards again!  It's okay, kids...you're the only reason I make it!!  Isn't it beautiful??

Chickadees

      Yesterday I was sitting at the dining room table, typing recipes for the Relay for Life cookbook in Bemidji...I'm a glutton for punishment...I can type fast and I can't stand it when someone tries to do something...and I know I can help them and get it done faster!  So...my quilts sit in my sewing room unfinished...sorry Daniel, Calvin, Nathan, Presley, etc....they will get done!

      I was typing and looked out the window and the chickadees were flitting back and forth to our feeder that's suctioned to our picture window...so I grabbed the camera and probably took 20 pictures, but caught them a time or two having a snack...one would land, eat, fly off...another would come and do the same.  They kept this up all afternoon...I should have stopped to think what that meant...a snowstorm is coming!  These outside critters have trained us to watch them instead of the TV weather to figure out what's going on...today the weatherman said a winter storm watch is coming tomorrow...and Sunday...those chickadees are pretty smart little guys!

      We have another critter who occupies our time...she stands at the back door, waiting patiently to be let out and then back in...about 6 times per hour...at least she sleeps through the night!  Tonight I was walking through the kitchen after capturing the lovely jars of salsa, when I caught her looking at me saying, "I just need to go out one more time..."  You see, every time she comes in, she thinks it's time to eat...she practically points to her bowl and then we have to remind her that she just ate.  She's NOT smarter than us, but she wishes she was!