Curiosity Lands on MARS!!!!

Whoda thunk it????!!!!!!!!

Thank you, NASA scientists, for your patience and brilliance!  Thanks, TaxPayers, for the experience! 

Congratulations, Earth!

An Atypical North Dakota Day!

We are under some kind of a witches brew of heat, humidity, and drought.  In town, it's uncomfortable and a nuisance, hauling water out to the garden, having to wear shoes because the grass is so scratchy, but people out in the country must really be hurting.  Full sun beats down out there plus the winds ... everything is more in rural areas - more fun, more open, more sky, more land, more wind, more 'not-rain'. 

BUT the good thing is that this is July.  August is a better month up here.  Typically, nights will cool back into the 50's.  And then I won't feel so foolish knitting on my wool socks or shawls or blankets! 

And then there's always February.  Not the coldest month up here but surely the most emotionally demanding.  January is the coldest but it's January and there is so much going on in January, including getting the seed catalogs.  March isn't really Spring but the sun is getting a little stronger and lasts a little longer.  February, though, is cold and dark.  Except for Valentine's Day when everyone who touches My World that day gets a kiss - a Hershey's Kiss!  (Everyone deserves a kiss on Valentine's Day.)  But the rest of the month is difficult; there's no novelty in snow or wind or snowsnakes or ice or just about anything else that's Winter. 

Today's blinding sun and heat is shifting into perspective. 

In the meantime, no Hershey Kisses today. It's hot.  And tomorrow I'm going to play with a bunch of fiber friends and learn how to drum card, flick card, comb, and blend fibers.  I'll make my 4-bean casserole today, refrigerate overnight then take it and warm it in the crockpot tomorrow.  Always better the next day.

Stay cool!

A Perfect North Dakota Day!

Today is perfect.  80' - low humidity - a nice breeze - gorgeous!  Bright and sunny, too.  Coolish night coming up but safely above freezing.  The perfect backdrop for a good life.

Small Dog Alert!

It's so windy in Fargo this morning that the radio station KFGO has called a 'small dog alert'. hahahaha.

Five minute day!

I didn't think we GOT five minute days down here. Five minute day as in we got an extra five minutes of daylight today. Amazing.

It's not noon and it's still mid-March, yet it's 65' outside. And humid. Ick! I had the windows open until I realized this place was getting positively soggy. Just not used to humidity here!

A batch of oatmeal/raisin cookies in the oven. I've been meaning to bake them for weeks now. The secret? I'm supposed to be cleaning the play room. Baking cookies won out. Interesting how that works.

Tulips are up - some perennials are creeping up, including lots of iris. Someone yesterday said they saw trees budding out. oh-oh. Someone in Bismarck mentioned snow in the forecast. Guess I'll spend a few evenings covering up plants. That's a minor payment for the great weather we've had so far.

Amazing!

ps - finished Jane Eyre. Now I'm on to Kidnapped. WWDD?

St. Pat's Day socks. oops

St. Pat's Day socks. oops, a photo by fiberbrarian on Flickr.

So close and yet so far. :-) Won't be wearing these green socks today. But I've learned!!! NEVER put the date on anything. St. Pat's Day socks...2012?...2013?...201?????

BIG day. ND Democratic party meeting this weekend - and Bill Clinton will be here! He came during the 1997 flood, got GF/EGF federal money (along with Dorgan, Conrad, and Pomeroy) - and now he can see how the federal government saved us. YES! The government stepped in and helped when it was too large a problem for the communities to solve. GOOD government. BIG government. I'm not afraid to love it.

And it's a stunningly beautiful day. We're all kind of waiting for the next blizzard to hit, but until then - it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Corned beef going into the crockpot - cabbage, potatoes, and carrots are involved, too. And a bit o'beer.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

WWJD?

017, a photo by fiberbrarian on Flickr.

I am (re)reading Jane Eyre, and I find her traveling with me in my daily life. "What would Jane do?", I wonder at times. She's so ... common...plain...analytical. I don't always agree with how she reacts to her situations but I appreciate her approach to the situation. No screaming, no hystrionics (sp). Maybe a little fainting when she finds out her almost-husband is already married to a madwoman living in the attic. (oops. Spoiler alert!) But then a deep breath as she decides how she will react to this life event. WWJD indeed.

In the meantime, it's snowing! Beautiful heavy snow with no wind. This picture is from 6pm tonight as the sun was setting. Walking outside, you could hear the snow melting already. The temperature tonight is forecast to be just below freezing, so we'll pay for this beauty in the morning as we drive to work. But that's tomorrow.

Today is Presidents Day. A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

A Thought to Ponder on This Lovely Day -

Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring, it was peace. — Milan Kundera

Happy Valentine's Day!

Unbelievable

Denhoff, North Dakota. February 6, 2012. NO SNOW. Nice but creepy, too. There is some snow in the RR Valley, but entire parts of the state are snowless.

We're also in the three and four minute day period of the year. We're adding three or four minutes per day of daylight. Ahhhhhh. Winter is losing its punch.

Invented design wall

Invented design wall, a photo by fiberbrarian on Flickr.

It works! I read somewhere that the reverse side of a plastic table cloth could be used as a flannel design wall - and that's what it's doing.

I sat out in the car tonight for a few minutes, listening to the rain. RAIN. We'll pay for it but the rain on the car roof was so great. And in fact, I just looked out the window and there is a smooth glaze over everything. We are gaining three minutes a day of daylight, so winter is grasping at straws, trying to hang on. Another 6 weeks (whatever the GroundHog predicts).