A Farm experiance...

A few months ago my sister and I arranged to take by mom and my Rochester Grands to a "farm", but it's not just any old farm, read an excerpt from the website below...

"Nestled in the beautiful hills of the St Croix River Valley, Rusty Bucket Acres offers a must see and visit, farm experience. You won’t find anything like it anywhere else. A visit to the farm will fill your bucket with hands-on animal interactions, educational and historical lessons and a renewed energy.  All the animals at the farm are completely socialized and want to share time with you. Experience the farm, learn about its transformations and make memories". 

My mom (a farm girl)  lit-up and loved all the animals, a the end of our time there it was hard to pry her away!  She still talks about the experiance...she loved it.

The goats love people, the feeling is mutual.

The donkey giving Carson a hug

The cow having some lunch

The goats loved my mom's walker

So much fun for these two!

A Horse, cow, pig, alpaca's, chickens, ducks, dogs, donkeys, sheep and goats,

 they are all male(except the dogs) and have human names. 

There is time to sit in the pasture with the animals, they love to be loved-on, you can not escape them, but then why would you? This is a very fun experiance and I hope to take mom again some day. 

Click on the highlighted wesite above to read about the farm, you wont regret this experiance.

 

Mothers Day 2021

As I get  a little older I realize how incredible lucky I am to still have my mom! 

Many of my friends do not.

 I see the pain they experiance during these "times to remember" our mom's... 

like Mother's Day. Wishing they could still hear their mom's voice and give that big hug.

When we are younger we are busy and wrapped up with our own growing families. 

We're pretty sure our mom will be here for a long time, but time moves along...

Here's to my friends who have lost a piece of their hearts, your mom 

My momma...

Our last year photo...we pretty much are unchanged  :)

I took my mom out for dinner Friday night to celebrate "Mother's Day"

We decided to stop by Brianna's for a little visit, 

it seemed fitting to take some 4 generation photo's

Gotta get Carson in their as well.

For my sweet ones, who call me Mom

Brianna, Brice and Gavin... I love you 

I'm so thankful for the mamma's of my grand kids.

God chose them wisely and knew just the right mom that they needed.

My daughter Brianna and her babes 

She is strong, determined, loving and has abilities to 

manage, reason and accomplish much to care for her family. 

 I love you sweet daughter, I'm so proud you are mine, 

you have taught me more than you will ever know!

Your babies are blessed to have you for a mom.

My daughter-in-love Jenny, and her babes

She is strong, loving, and encouraging!

A stay-at-home, home schooling mamma, who is patient and caring.

I'm so glad Brice Chose you! I love you.

My boys, 

It makes a momma's heart glad to know they grow into adults and become more than brothers,

They are friends too.

Brice took this photo of him and Gavin on a camping trip they took last weekend. 

I love my boys.

 

Aren't Moms the best...

 I'm glad this ones mine!....

Thanks for putting up with me all these years, I'm glad I still have you to call when I wanna talk or ask about which ingredients go in a recipe, to walk around and look at your flowers, you are the best mom for me that's for sure.

Me and my Mom

There are several other ladies in my life that ARE mom's that mean the world to me....

Rick and his momma

What can I say, she's been my 2nd mom for 38 years and I miss her!

 During this "COVID Mother's day" she will not be visited by any of her kids as she is in
a Nursing home. I miss her, we all miss her. 

I hope she knows how much she is loved by her family!

My Daughter-in-love, Jenny

I love this one like she's my own, she is a sweet, patient mamma with 2 adorable littles.

I know God chose her for my son Brice!

My grandbabies are lucky to have a mom like you Jenny,

Love you!

This  one is my heart, walking outside my body...

The one who made me a mom first. You have taught me much sweet Brianna and I am so proud of you. I thank God he chose you for my grandbabies, they are blessed to have you for their mamma.

I'm blessed by these 3, they call me Mamma, Mum and Mom! 

I am so proud of them and they bring me great joy!

My Blessings! 

Big skies and green pastures....

I have always loved "country"

Cows in the pature,

gravel roads,

big Skys, and green pastures.

I grew up in the country!

When I was a kid living at home, I used to walk across our back yard, 

cross-over  County Rd 11 and lay in the ditch to watch the cows.

We didn't live on a farm but the cows were practically in my backyard.

Both Mom and Dad grew up on farms, we visited grandma's farm often as a kid.

Today mom and I took a little drive down the gravel roads in Amish country near Utica, Mn

 Where the chickens roam free....

 Where the Amish buggies line the buildings

Where Horse lead buggies cross paths on the gravel roads

Can you see them....pretty little! 

 We visited the "Yoder Farm/ country greenhouse.

 Amish plants are inexpensive and always healthy.

 I had mom pick our a hanging plant for Mother's Day :)

I may post that photo hear in a few days.

Memorial Day traditions....

My first thoughts of Memorial Day... 

The men and women who have served our country and gave their lives doing so. 

The cemetery in (Old) Concord MN lines it gravel car path with American flags,

each flag is tagged with a veterans name and the war he/she fought in.

This National holiday was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, (three years after the end of the Civil War), it was first observed on May 30th 1868. 

Flowers were placed on the graves of Union and 

Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

Originally, it was designated only for placing flowers on soldiers' graves, though people later expanded it to include placing flowers on all loved ones' graves.

Every Memorial Day, my sister and I take my Mom to the Concord Cemetery 

to place flowers on her parents and grandparents graves.

My maternal Grandparents Lee & Gertrude Thomas

I never knew my Grandpa, but I'm quite certain he and I would have connected and there would have been tractor rides, and stories about when he was a boy, and talk about the 

generations of farmers in my family.

"Grandma's farm" as we called it, is only a few miles from the cemetery.

The farm that I have fond memories of growing up. Playing with cousins, running around in the hayloft avoiding the giant hole in the floor.  Chasing the chickens, climbing the giant trees, making willow whistles from the willow tree branches and Holly Hock dolls from grandma's Holly Hocks.

What's left of the farm.

(Mom, me, niece Jensen and sister Jodi.)

The man who's owns it now was out, so we pulled in the driveway and had a chat. 

He was happy to see us and invited us back anytime.

The farm house has long been gone, and a new house built. I miss that slanted kitchen floor and Grandma's enormous pantry, there was the wood burning stove, the forbidden upstairs, the laundry basket full of old toys, and that phone on the wall.....so cool!

Photo from Google images, similar to grandma's phone

 It's kinda sad to see the decline of this old structure.

 The man who lives at grandma's farm now said that several years ago 

a straight-line wind came and took the top off the barn right off.

 The fields nearby the farm that my Grandfather used to plant

The corn is coming up!

As part of our day together we have lunch

a favorite is the County Seat in Mantorville

 and then a pedicure

That's my foot on top. 

  This year we added an ice cream cone at Flapdoodles 

( a local parlor in Rochester that makes their own ice cream)

How did you celebrate your Memorial Weekend, what are your traditions?

The Waiting game...

Today was a full day of appointments for my mom. 

We were at the clinic from 8:30am - 4:00 pm.

These follow-up appointments were related to a stoke she had 3 weeks ago.

She has not been cleared to drive yet and things are still a little fuzzy in her head so, 

I was with her for support and to hear what all the people had to say,

I've been a nurse at Mayo Clinic for 35 years, so it's strange for me

 to be on the "other end" of things... the waiting game.

 

Waiting is never easy but I refuse to complain!

 I know for a fact that the waiting is not because the staff is 

eating bon-bon's behind the desk or just sitting around picking their noses.

I Know how busy it is at the clinic and how things don't always go as planned for the thousands of consecutive appointment that the clinic manages a day.

So we are grateful for this top rated institution that is right here in my home town, 

with expertise and abilities that some will never know. 

I'm always amazed at the grateful hearts of the "out-of-towners" who verbally acknowledge and appreciate Mayo for all that it has to offer...they just seem to get it. 

Perhaps they have seen the alternative, and therefor can appreciate the difference?

(not to say Mayo is the only great medical facility, I know there are plenty of others in the US)

 While waiting for mom to exit from an appointment, 

I stood looking out the window on the 17th floor of the Gonda building. 

I am not thrilled of heights and this was just a little to high for me...gulp

While waiting for another appointment, 

mom was glad to see that her favorite soap opera was on in the waiting room. 

 I remember her watching this when I was a little girl, 

some of the characters have not changed.

Next appointment.... cardiac monitoring

The Body Guardian, 

a little strip of tape equipped with electrodes and gel, with a small transmitter attached which transmits mom's heart beat to a smart phone which in turn sends to the Mayo Clinic.

It's a little intimidating for my momma, but after a few days she'll have the hang of it.

The doctors still haven't figured out what caused mom's stroke. So the last ditch effort is to have her wear a monitor for 30 days to see if they can "catch" a heart arrhythmia which may have caused a little clot to form and break off, and then go to her brain.... we shall see.

and most importantly.... My new earrings

Have you ever left the house without your jewelry on?

This morning I left without the essentials.  

I always feel naked without my earrings and wedding ring, 

so while waiting for another appointment to finish, 

 I went to the hospital gift store and bought me some new earrings, 

I decided I would be patient and just wait till I got home for the wedding ring  :)

After all I had been "waiting" all day, what's another few hours  

My mom...my sis...and I

Mom's birthday was yesterday ...

 My sister Jodi and I both had today off so we decided to meet 

at a half-way spot to have lunch and celebrate our mom's birthday.

I didn't have my selfie stick so this is the best picture I could come up with.

Northfield MN was a perfect half-way spot and a lovely little town to explore.

We hit-up an antique store, a couple of gadgety stores, had lunch at a place called Rueb 'N' Stein's, then found a bakery for a little sweet something. 

It was fun to celebrate mom and have her all to ourselves!

Anytime I'm on a road trip in the country there almost always is a 

little country church and a cemetery that calls to me.

 This one snuck up on me as I drove right past it. 

That's ok, I don't mind pulling over, making a u-turn and returning to checking it out.

My heart starts to race as I walk up to the door, hoping I can explore the inside of the church

 The exterior door was open, but sadly the interior door was locked.

I loved everything about this door, the knob, the hanging chain, the weathered wood, with a somewhat new coat of paint on it.

 Around the back was a water pump, of course I had to try it out!

It was fully functional.

Overlooking the graveyard was an eagle carved out of an old fallen tree.

Such a detailed work of art. 

The eagle sits upon a wooden cross, an extension of the tree stump.

Check out the eagles face...so sad

Do you think the artist meant for the eagle to look sad?

I just find it interesting, your thoughts...