quick trip

Last week Mike and I had a less than 24 hour getaway.  Considering I can't even recall the last time we went anywhere alone, even a short trip was a good trip!

Ostensibly the plan was for Mike to speak at UMD, we found out at 10 pm the night before we left that the meeting had been canceled.

What to do?  We already had made arrangements for Charlie to stay with a friend (thanks Kate and Jonathan!).  It was too late to cancel our expensive room reservation.

What the heck, we went.  In the rain and snow. 

We love Duluth, one of our favorite towns.  The place we were engaged.

Mike's aunt Lorraine lives in Duluth, in an apartment with a gorgeous view of the bridge and harbor.  We took her to lunch and spent the afternoon catching up. 

She is 88, and full of wonderful stories and memories. 

Mike is on a misson to photograph the amazing albums she and her sister Eileen put together about the family. 

Such detail!  What a great picture of Mike's dad.

It had been too long since we were able to catch up.

We checked in to one of our favorite spots, the South Pier Inn, and enjoyed the hot tub and fireplace on a very cold Duluth night.

Up and out in the morning, a Scandinavian breakfast at Takk for Matin, a quick stop at Aerostitch, and we were back on the road.  In the snow.

So long Duluth, we hope to be back soon!

it's okay that spring is late

Did I really just say that?

In all of our longing for warm sunny days, and green, and color in our lives, we tend to forget what else the new season brings.

*  Cleaning out the flower beds.  Yes, it's fun to find little green things coming to life, and seeing the worms wind their way through the soil (sorry Tracy), and smell the earth.  But in my case, it's a LOT of work.  And my back doesn't let me work too hard  for very long.  So that makes a project that I used to be able to do in one day, take one month.  I realize this one is my own problem, I could let the gardens go back to grass.  But the people who specifically walk by my yard to check things out would be sad.

*  More things to sweep.  In the winter, it's just basic everyday floor junk.  Now, it's stuff that is tracked in from everywhere, as well as keeping the steps, sidewalks, and patios swept.  Ugh.  Have I mentioned I live on a corner?

*  More laundry to wash.  In the winter, we huddle in our polar fleece and wool, and rarely work up a sweat doing anything.  Today alone I had two full changes of clothes due to gardening.  And I can't even explain washing dirt bike clothes.

*  A dirtier house.  Daily, they 'groom' the baseball field across the street from our house.  And the dust from that special dirt nearly always seems to find it's way through my window screens.  Why do I even bother washing my windows?

* Noisy people.  In the winter, our house is sealed up and people scurry from place to place, afraid to talk much while they are outside or their throats may freeze shut.  It's very quiet, and the snow muffles sound.  Now that our windows are open at night, we hear every motorcycle, loud bass, and garbage truck that goes by. Not to mention the damn birds that start singing at 4:30 am, on the dot.  (at first I loved them, now they are just annoying....)

* Whinier animals.  Claude knows it's nice out, and now everyday he cries by the door to go outside.  He is VERY persistent, and way too old to be let outside.  (I am nice and take him out every now and then, but I have to be by his side the whole time so he doesn't go on another adventure....)

* Too many fun options.  This weekend, shall I go to rummage sales?  Plant sales?  The Shepherd's Festival?  The Festival of Nations?  Farmer's Market? A picnic by the river?  A trip to Stockholm, Wisconsin?  And soon, weddings and graduation parties.  To think of all the winter weekends where I had to find things to do.

*  Too many precautions.  While it can be a pain to pull on boots and find a matching pair of gloves to keep away the winter chill, now we will have to start thinking about sunscreen, and bug spray, and trying to remember the last time we shaved our legs.  And our toes will need extra attention if we plan to wear sandals.

See?  Winter doesn't seem so bad now, does it?

Whomever called them the lazy, hazy days of summer must have been a man.

recipe box Wednesday-Easter Edition

I realize Easter is long gone,  but I am still catching up...

For the first time, EVER, in the 19 years of living in our home, my family came for Easter!

It all started because of the tradition of always spending the weekend after tax day with my sister and mom, which this year happened to coincide with Easter, and we talked my dad into traveling south.  Which was not at all easy to do.

They arrived on Saturday and I was the shopping guide for my mom and sis:  Homegoods, Gordmans, and other favorite spots.  Saturday evening was spent snuggled in to our little house, with a Trader Joe's appetizer buffet: 

soppresetta, bruschetta, six kinds of cheese, caramelized onion dip and crackers, 3 layer hummus and mini pita bread, veggies and dill pickle dip, wild mushroom/truffle flatbread, mixed olives, and more!  Groan.  We watched "127 Hours", really good, we viewed the amputation part through our fingers.

Sunday dawned sunny and warm!  How lucky were we?  I turned on the oven and produced mini croissants, cinnamon rolls, and chocolate croissants.  Charlie was in charge of the sausages and sugared bacon, and a giant bowl of fresh fruit rounded things off.

A neighborhood walk followed (working off those calories),

and then my family settled in to our sunny back yard while I got Easter dinner ready.  Charlie and Riley had fun with their Ripstix.  Here is my sweet nephew:

It was a mostly Ina Easter:  Virginia Baked Ham, Potato-Fennel Gratin, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and Roasted Asparagus,

along with English Peas, Spinach Strawberry Salad with Brie and Pecans, and a Honey Bunny loaf of bread.  To find Ina's amazing recipes, just go here and search:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/barefoot-contessa/recipes/index.html

The table was set with my great grandmother's china, and chick Peeps in macaroon nests waited for each diner:

Tummies full, we later found room for Lemon Meringue Pie and Sour Cream Raisin Pie courtesy of the Clearwater Bakery (they had picked it up on their way down, oh my).  The day finished with a rousing round of rummy. 

A perfect day spent with family.

selling the goods

A couple of weeks ago I schlepped all my goodies to the Carlson Towers.  It was SNOWING, and traffic was horrendous, but I finally made my way to the loading dock.  I made friends with Earl, as soon as possible.  He was a kindly older gentleman who had worked in the building for years, and helped me find my way through the labyrinth of tunnels to the Rotunda.  He even got me a cart and unloaded my car for me!  Above and beyond the call of duty.  I only wish I had thought to have my camera with me so I could have snapped his photo.  I was more concerned with having enough change and bags.

The Rotunda of the Carlson Towers is extremely beautiful.  Full of marble and flooded with light from the enormous windows.  When I arrived to set up someone was playing a grand piano up on the second floor.  The fountain was sparkling, very classy!

I set things up in time to explore the other vendor's tables, and settled in for a day of selling!  Mike stopped by to take some pictures, since I wasn't smart enough to remember my camera.

I met some amazing people, the women to the left of me were selling candy, and giving out free samples all day.  I resisted until the end of the day, thank goodness.  They make all of their fudge, caramel, and toffee on antique candy equipment that has been in their family for generations.  You can find out more about them at http://www.sweetpromotionsmn.com/.

Melissa makes all natural crayons.  She is delightful and has a sweet Etsy shop, check it out!  I bought her bunny crayons to give for Easter gifts. http://www.etsy.com/shop/earthgrowncrayons?ref=seller_info

Jennifer lives in West St. Paul, she found me on-line before the show.  We connected and I ADORE her handmade books.  She has a lovely smile, and I look forward to seeing her again.  Check out her Etsy shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/jenniferinspired?ref=seller_info

Erin is a fellow jewelry artist, I ordered a couple of pieces from her.  She has a gallery in Excelsior, and also an Etsy shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ekate?ref=pr_shop_more

Of course I ordered St. Paul, and Bemidji.  Too fun!

A woman I went to grade school with came to shop.  She had heard about my things through my cousin Shelly. What a neat surprise.  Hi Holly!

Deb Maki came to shop too, she is part of our dirt bike family.  So good to see hear, we started planning Mike's big surprise that day.  Hi Deb!

And dear Paula, the woman who hosted the boutique I participated in last fall, came by too, and even brought me coffee!  What a treat to connect with her again.  Hi Paula!

I had some wonderful customers, sold all kind of things, and was happy to be there.  We donated 10% of our proceeds to the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

And sweet Earl came by and hauled all of my things to my car for me.  I felt like a very lucky girl.

of dirt bikes and birthday cakes

Mike hit the 50 year milestone yesterday.  Thanks to everyone who sent him birthday greetings-he was completely overwhelmed!

The day was spent in Monticello, at the first dirt bike event of the season.  Perfect timing!  He said there was nowhere else he would rather be.  His dirt bike friends are really his second family.

Charlie's race was first up, they left the house sleepy eyed at 6:45 to arrive in time.  Here his bike is getting sound checked.  A very big deal at these events.

I wasn't there for his race, I was running around delivering May Day baskets and picking up his dad's surprise cake.

He made it!  It was freezing cold, very windy, and snowing off and on. 

Later on he enjoyed his other form of transportation.  And to think at this event last year the trees were already leafed out, we had to make sure we put on sunscreen, and shorts were everywhere.  This year they had a roaring fire going for people to warm up by, and hats and mittens were absolutely essential.

The kids races are such fun, the whole family sometimes comes along to offer support!  This little boy was racing for the first time, his brothers (who also raced) and baby sister (4 months old) were there along with his mom and dad.

A dad giving last minute advice:

Young  riders eager to race:

Another rider was celebrating his birthday on Sunday, which one is 40 and which one is 50?

Deb and Bob Maki had put together a huge birthday card for Mike, and had everyone they could find sign it. 

They presented it to Mike right before the awards ceremony-so cool! 

And Deb kindly helped me cut the cake, even though her fingers were frozen from working the race all day.

I snuck up a giant cake, which we shared with everyone there.  It was so cold, I think it was semi-frozen.  I know our fingers were trying to cut it!  (notice the tracks in the cake?  there were little dirt bikes running through it....)  And it said "Happy Birthday Mike-Over the Hill and Enjoying the Ride".

Unfortunately, Mike was unable to race as his bike betrayed him.  Instead he spent the whole day taking lots of pictures. 

But when you look at these pictures, perhaps this was a good one to miss out on!

An event like this takes lots of volunteers, and everyone did an amazing job on a really cold day.  Some of the helpers, smiles on their faces!

Here was the big winner of the day, with his proud kids:

We arrived home last night, tired and cold and ready for some Grampa Tony's pizza to finish the day.  And yet another birthday cake, four layer chocolate with fleur de sel caramel filling and chocolate ganache, that I had whipped up on Saturday.

Mike spent quite a while reading all of his birthday greetings, he loved hearing from everyone!

A very happy birthday, indeed.