The Crow's Nest - August 21, 2016
Wild weather has stuck around for another month. Goodness sakes, some areas in North Dakota and western Minnesota have been inundated with inches of rain, gales of wind and hail the size of round hay bales (that is a slight exaggeration), but hail has run the gamut from marble size to tennis ball size. I know just east of here around the Crystal-Hoople-Grafton area they have really been hard hit. I visited with Dale Sondeland yesterday and he said their crops up in the Milton-Osnabrock area are okay, but need to get off. The fields are so wet that farm machinery is easily getting stuck in the fields. It seems rain is in the forecast almost daily. O my, this is a summer that we will talk about in the future.
Well, “WELCOME TO OLD AGE AT IT’S BEST”!!! I am a total mess. I won’t bore you with details, but I was supposed to have knee replacement surgery last June. Due to a laceration on that knee it had to be postponed. That was not a good idea. I had to go off my rheumatoid arthritis medicine (Humira, methotrexate and prednisone) so that did my body in.
I finally cancelled my surgery, got back on meds and had a cortisone shot in the bad knee. Suddenly my world turned so much brighter. I could once again do my mandatory 5 mile morning walks – it is hard to be a Type-A person. Then pain started in my other knee and leg. Made a trip to have dry needling done by niece Jody Crockett who is a physical therapist in Fargo. That helped my leg immensely, but the knee kept hurting. SO, off to Doctor Johnson for a much needed cortisone shot in my other knee. Great, until I stepped up into sister Ruth & brother-in-law Greg’s house 2 nights ago. I felt a pop in the back of my knee. So now I am back to using a cane. Aren’t you all glad you asked about my health? It ain’t easy getting on in years.
Pickling season is in full swing along with tomato preservation. I know Vera Brandvold has been busy making tomato jam and bread and butter pickles. TJ Hall has come over to my herb garden for dill as he was making dill pickles. I have been making salsa, marinara sauce and pickles. I made a huge mistake by grinding up onions, green pepper and pimentos for bread and butter pickles the other night before I went to bed. I smelled that mixture all night long and even washed our sheets the next morning to try and get rid of the awful onion/green pepper odor.
It was so much fun having the “Nelon” family here last week. Mark and his wife Cheryl came from Texas, Diana and husband Rusty and Barbara came from Alaska and Patricia came from Wisconsin. I know I have said it before, but it is so comforting to see lights again in Bert and Marianne’s house across the street. And, most of all I love hearing the voices and the laughter that comes from the deck early evening. We were fortunate enough to spend time with this fun-loving group. Hopefully some will return in November.
Trinity WELCA sponsored a “Deli Day” last week where people could order pulled pork, macaroni salad and baked bean for take-out. It was a huge success as many people ordered either meals or different serving sizes of the individual offerings. I think this project is probably a keeper. Next comes the big, annual Turkey Supper at Trinity. This is a huge undertaking so we enlist the aid of many to help with this project.
It is great having Stephanie Gestson back in Edinburg. Stephanie is living at the apartments that are on the south end of town near the church. There is such a great group of ladies and couples that reside there.
I have to congratulate 2 of my grandsons on their recent engagements. Grandson Houston and his fiancée are being married this November in Joplin, Missouri and our grandson Lane just got engaged to Hope, his girlfriend of 8 years the day of UND summer graduation. I keep wondering over and over, “Just where do the years go?”
Have a great day and we will talk again later. A special thank you to Lois Mathiason for the wonderful, wonderful bedside manner she has at First Care Health Center. You are a gem!
