Making Lefsa

 Lefsa.  It is a process.  Jen and Andy cooked up the potatoes, riced them and put them in the fridge overnight on Monday.  Far Guy and I heard lots of commotion in the kitchen and wondered what they were doing.  Tuesday evening after supper Jen showed me how to mix the butter, salt, half and half and honey. Andy showed me how to mix the flour and riced potatoes.   So I was a mixer, Andy a roller, Jen and Far Guy were the flippers on the lefsa griddle.   It was a group effort.

Boys will be boys. 

Far Guy is feeling lots better today.  His appointments went well.

Oh yes it snowed and blowed around.  Our first snow.  The Interstate highway from Grand Forks to South Dakota was closed. 

Far Side

Three appointments

 Three appointments down..three to go..and Friday is a day off!  

Far Guy saw his Oncologist.  A different maintenance medication will be tried, as the present one has a number of bad side effects...think thrown into the deep end of menopause.  The cancer is all gone however  the Doctor would recommend three weeks of radiation treatments.  Due to Far Guy's fragile lungs and his heart function a specialist in Radiology must evaluate him. 

We met with Great Grandson Hey Mikey's third grade teacher.  A donation was made to that classroom in memory of Far Guy's sister Jan who taught third grade most of her teaching career.  The donation will go for books, a field trip and water safety! 

Jen removed the stitches from my forehead with only a little trouble because they were very tiny stitches...she consulted a You Tube Video at one point while I waited under her lit magnifying glass. 

Sadie came home from Daycare to greet us and Andy made burgers on the grill...delicious!

The next morning Far Guy had all of his staples and stitches removed from his chest.  He talked at length with his surgeon.   Far Guy is his career #3 man with breast cancer.  Regarding radiation the Surgeon said he would  trust the opinion of the Radiology specialist and that risk vs reward is a tough call. 

After that appointment we headed home.

I drove most of the way...Far Guy drove the last 60 miles so I could rest a bit. 

Cloudy skies in our area.  We had afternoon naps...in my case more of a sleep and for supper we warmed up some of the fabulous Pizza we made on Monday.  Leftovers can be a blessing. 

Minnesota weather: High of 56F or 13C  Low was 50F or  10C eh! 

Far Side

A birth and a death

 Life goes on, we are born and we die. 

First the birth a very happy occasion!  It's a boy!  I crocheted him a yellow baby blanket for his baby shower...not knowing if the baby was a boy or a girl!

This little fella weighed in at 8 pounds and 4 ounces on October 4th 2025.   He is the first child of our great niece Hailey and her husband Isaac, the first grand for Niece Stacey( Grandma Stacey is holding him in the photo)and the first great grand for my other baby brother and she who sees robins first! ( Maybe I am a double great auntie!)

Then a death:  Son in Law Andy's Grandma Ed died on October 3, 2025, she was 96 years old just 29 days short of her 97th birthday.  Her obituary says it all...Edna was called home by the one who loves her most!   She is the last Grandma for Andy and Jen  and the last Great Grandmother for our Grands Noah and Adam.  Grandma Ed lived a good long life, living in assisted living in her later years and then to the Nursing home for only two weeks, the last week on Hospice.  Our sympathy to all who loved Grandma Ed. 

I have a photo of Grandma Ed taken in about 2003...at Adam's birthday party.  Tall baby Adam had a good start and eventually towered over his Great Grandma Ed. 

Births and deaths the world keeps going round and round.  Happy and sad times all mixed together.

Far Side

To everything there is a season,

and a time for every purpose under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to break down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to count as lost,

a time to keep and a time to discard,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Busy days

 Puzzles, crocheting, woodcarving, enjoying time outside sitting in the sunshine and going out for lunch with Jen, Andy, my other baby brother and she who sees robins first who stopped by to check on us on their way back from Western North Dakota. Oh yes and going for a ride in the 1976 Corvette.  What a nice ride! AND petting Sadie..of course that is a great activity!

Far Guy is gaining strength and his appetite, now keeping him from overdoing is a concern.  He had a very nice nap after all the activity!

Far Side

Camera Ready

 All together now!

Happy Birthday Jen!  

She loved the birthday cookies from Hornbachers back in the day!  I believe she was about 4 years old in this photo in 1979.  Too bad I had her facing into the sun so she is all squinty! 

Her real name is Jennifer and mostly we call her Jen but sometimes we slip and call her Jenny! She prefers Jen.  She is our rock, she is always ready to help her elderly parents, we appreciate all that she does for us! 

Oh yes she loves to take photos.  And sometimes I catch her doing what she enjoys. 

Photographing flowers at Bergeson Nursery near Fertile Minnesota.

Jen and Adam at a beach near Hilo Hawaii

Jen and Andy waiting for the sun to set before heading to the airport from the Big Island, Hawaii

Jen admiring the sunset... camera ready

Jen is off on an adventure with Andy for her birthday, we went out for supper to help her celebrate early.

Happy Birthday Jen, love you always and forever!  

Mom

Biopsies

 Plural...yes more than one. 

Far Guy had to go to surgery on Monday to do a biopsy on the glands in his neck.   He did fine and preliminary results are good, next week the complete biopsy report should be back.  Our hope is that everything is benign.  He has a very sore throat from all the tubes and scopes they put down his throat. He also has a wound on his arm where the Charge Nurse who was called in to do his IV ...put such awful tape to secure his IV that when it was pulled off it took off his skin so now he has a very sore wound too.  I would show you a photo but it is awful looking. 

We both got to visit with Grandson Noah and I got to see Granddaughter Maddie while Far Guy was in surgery.  Jen made a wonderful meal for us on Monday night...pulled pork, eggs and potatoes topped with cheese.

Tuesday on the way home we both saw our Dermatologist.  Far Guy got the all clear and I had two biopsies; one on my forehead and one on my arm the results take about ten days. I also had two other spots taken care of one on my chin and one on my ear...cauterized and frozen for those.  

We are back home in the woods again.

We miss this dog.

She got a good amount of attention from us while we were there. 

Today is our day off.  Then Thursday and Friday three more appointments locally.  Far Guy says he is tired of Doctors. 

Minnesota weather: High 74F or 24C Low was 50F or 10C they say it was real foggy in the morning...however I did not get up that early on Tuesday. Nice Fall weather and some of the trees are showing some color especially the Fall Gold Ash trees and the Maples.

Far Side

Midlife

 Was it a midlife crisis that they both suffered at the same time?  Andy turned the big 50 in July, Jen will turn the same number in September...and what did they do in August?

It sure is pretty and now Andy can go to car shows! 

Not sure I could ever drive anything with a hood that long but it might be fun to try!

Far Side

Andy and Tilly

 Our son in law Andy took Far Guy's Desoto to the local car show on Saturday morning.  Far Guy did not feel good enough to attend.  However we are happy that Andy could go and show Tilly off! 

Photo by fellow blogger and neighbor Leah!

Andy reports that many people stopped to talk with him!  Some people he knew from Robotics too! 

We enjoyed seeing them all...Andy, Jen and Sadie.  Jen helped me do some of the hard housework...vacuuming, cleaning the tub and scrubbing the bathroom floor and helping me change the sheets on the bed.  So wonderful to have helping hands! 

It was a nice day in Minnesota the high was 79 F or 27C and the low 59F or 15C eh! 

We sat outside part of the afternoon visiting with Cousin's Bonnie and Wayne and in the evening with my other baby brother and she who sees robins first.

Far Side

A little good news

 Good news at the Oncology visit!  The tumor shrunk even more!   Dr B is very pleased and encouraged!  

The genetic testing came back...Far Guy has a gene for cancer.  It is the CHEK2 Gene mutation.  However this does not change his treatment.  He is also a carrier for MSH3.   The Doctor explained that folding genes get messed up...I don't understand it all.  I understood the Alpha One Gene Mutation better than this new gene mutation.

Treatment stays the same and in 30 days he will have a Pet Scan for exact measurements.  After that time we might be able to go to once a month visits...maybe.

We got to see Jen and Sadie, Brenton, Maddie and the girls and have pizza with them. Baby K is growing and is the new favorite baby at daycare:)

Peach on the right was just about ready to pull her sister hair in this photo.  The terrible 2's have begun. A bit later she grabbed a whole handful of hair and yanked on it.  It was funny/not funny. 

We slept in our own beds there...comfy as always. We left on Tuesday morning and returned home to the woods on Wednesday evening.

Happy Birthday to Son In Law Andy...he turned 50 on Tuesday!  He was at the Mall of America for a  Tournament.

Far Side

News all good

 This is a week of medical appointments...six of them.  Three were accomplished on Monday and Tuesday.  We made the drive Up North (2 1/2 hours) for a blood draw for Far Guy on Monday.   During the night a horrid UTI made it impossible to sleep...so I went to Urgent Care as soon as they opened...got meds and I will recover.   Tuesday Far Guy saw his Oncologist Dr B and the tumor has shrunk by 50% !!!  The cancer medication is being decreased in the hope that the side effects will be tolerable and it will still work at decreasing the size of the tumor.  We see Dr B every two weeks, he is very encouraged by the progress in just the last two weeks. We drove back home to the woods after the appointment.

Sadie was happy to see us, Jen and Andy made supper for us on Monday night...burgers and corn on the cob and then Andy made lunch for us before we left.  Andy and Jen are so good to us we are blessed to have them in our family! 

We also got to see Maddie and Baby K for a bit! 

The Clinic where Far Guy had his blood draw. 

Keep praying for Far Guy as all the prayers are working!! He has been so sick the past ten days.

The three remaining appointments this week...two are virtual and then on Thursday Far Guys usual Infusion appointment. 

Far Side

Pineapple

 Everyone is back safely from Hawaii and Sadie is thrilled that they are back! Far Guy and I are happy too! We missed them!

They brought back pineapple and it is delicious. 

Far Side

Sharks and a shoe thief

 Jen, Andy, Adam and Courtney are safely in Hawaii they had an adventure yesterday in a shark cage. 

Probably not something I would do but Jen said it was not scary at all.

Back at home. Someone is stealing my Crocs so I cannot leave.

She loves us so she is not too lonely. Noah was over to check on the elderly and have some pool time with his dogs and Sadie. Then after supper Far Guy threw her pool ring a few times until she dropped it on the other side of the pool and would not retrieve it…I think she had enough of the pool for the day.

I had more pain yesterday so I had a long rest and then a nice nap. I might have walked too much the previous day. Far Guy woodcarved.

Far Side

Sunset and Snow Report

 We had a nice sunset what we can see of it here in town.

Here there are houses in the way and back at home there are trees in the way.

Another warm day so the dirty snow melted even more.

I frogged a crochet project that was not as pretty as I envisioned...frogged it as in rip it rip it...wind it all back into a ball and begin again.  The new beginning was and will be worth it in the long run.  I watched most of Forgotten Love on Netflix in the afternoon and plan to finish it soon...I highly recommend it.  The kids have a recliner down in the movie room that I really like sitting/napping in...I plan to order one for back home.

It was a quiet day, Sadie was real tired after her day at doggie day care yesterday...that and one of her favorite people is gone again to a robotics tournament.  Jen is working double hours as she ended up filling in for a colleague that was dismissed....picking up someone elses classes half way through the semester is not easy.

Far Side

Cool

 Andy and Jen just retuned from a getaway in Saint Martin.  Sadie missed them while they were gone but as you can guess she was in good hands. 

The kids said it was 100 degrees warmer there than in Minnesota....who knows with our -30F to -40F windchills it could have been more than that. 

We are in the deep freeze for a few more days.  

In other news...Peach now has step throat as Cee Cee shared the germs...so far Hey Mikey is okay.

I have several Doctor appointments this week; one with the Spine Clinic and one with the Pain Clinic.  I have more Doctor's appointments than Far Guy...that rarely happens. 

Stay warm!

Far Side

Year in Review 2024

 It was a year!  Why is it as we age time seems to go by faster and faster?

Our oldest daughter Trica lives in Duluth Minnesota, we saw her one time this past year and that was at Paige's wedding. 

Our youngest daughter Jen and husband Andy still live in East Grand Forks Minnesota and we spend the Winter months with them.  They have a Golden Retriever named Sadie.  Jen teaches at Northland Community College and Andy teaches at the University of North Dakota.

Savannah is doing well with her Lash business in Bemidji, Minnesota.  She has two dogs Chewy and Kalila.

Maddie is a Dental Assistant, her husband Brenton works at Bobcat. They live in Grand Forks, North Dakota and they have "The Greats"  Hey Mikey, Cee Cee and Peach.  With a new baby due in June!  They have a very busy household...two dogs Sam and Koda and a cat named Doug. 

Paige married Cole in October.  Paige is a Dental Hygienist and Cole works for a Irrigation Company. They live in Bemidji Minnesota. They have a dog named Rosie.

Noah lives in Grand Forks, North Dakota and works at Simplot, he supervises the cleaning of all the machines and the chemicals used.  Simplot processes potatoes.  Noah has a dog named Aurora. 

Adam moved to Dickinson, North Dakota. He works at Menards in the plumbing department and will attend Dickinson State University this next semester.  Adam's gal Courtney is also a student at Dickinson State University, if all goes well they will graduate about the same time. (2 years from now) Adam has a cat named Phoebe. 

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No births this year or new pet additions. 

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Deaths...we had a few. 

Far Guy's Cousin Bill Weeks  January 25  age 78

High School Friend Cyndi 

My Mother Madeline February 11 age 94

Neighbor Cheryl  July 13 age 70

My Cousin Diane August 13  age 68

My Cousin Patsy September 15 age 72

Far Guy's Cousin Tom's wife Linda October 4  age 78

My Cousin Kathy October 11  age 75 

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One of our bestest Winter friends Little Elvis died September 27, 2004 he was almost 15 years old.  He had a good life.  I miss him sleeping on his bed near the foot of my bed and as old habits are hard to break I look for him automatically when I get up during the night.  I miss him.

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Far Guy keeps busy; he woodcarves, fixes on his old car and occasionally he goes to a car show.  He is my best sous chef and helps readily in the kitchen.  His lung function is about 19% so we limit our activities to outdoor gatherings as much as possible.  He rarely goes into a store because of perfumes, aftershave and cleaning products that people/stores use. 

I keep busy, I have many crochet/craft projects in the works at all times.  I am still struggling with pain from all my ritises  I do daily exercises and should have bought stock in whoever makes Tylenol.  One day at a time. 

There you have it the big wrap up for 2024.

What will 2025 bring us?  A new Great, time spent with those we love...both humans and dogs!

Happy New Years Eve!  We have not stayed up late enough to ring in the New Year for a number of years.

Far Side

Fun and not fun

Fun!  We got to see a Grand and the Greats in between medical appointments.   Peach was especially friendly showing me her stick horse and her turtle dolly.  She even sat with me for a bit. 

Peach is a doll.  

Not so fun;  I had the MRI and will be seeing my Ortho PA soon to discuss the results.  That MRI is not a fun test 25 minutes and nine rock and roll songs...one of which was "I wanna get outta this place if its the last thing I ever do." I had to do some real controlled calming breathing...because I wanted to get out...what if the gals left...what if there was a power outage...what if there was a fire...thank goodness that song was number seven and I was close to getting pulled out.  Next time I will not be brave and I shall be in a medical induced coma medicated.  I am too old to be brave.

Okay might be fun. My Primary Care Dr is pleased with my blood pressure and I will have some more tests in January. 

FUN!  Going out for supper with Andy and Jen.

More fun!  Sadie!  She still loves us.

Fun.  We drove back home and voted.  

Two three more medical appointments scheduled this week. 

Far Side

Our grandsons

 The wedding was a good time to spend some time with our grandsons Noah and Adam...and of course their parents Jen and Andy.  Jen and Andy rented a large enough place for all of us to be comfortable.  Far Guy and I just stayed one night. 

Our oldest Grandson Noah, he took a vacation day from his job at Simplot in Grand Forks ND to come to the wedding.

Our youngest grandson and the baby of the entire family...Adam.  

Adam has a gal named Courtney, we like her too!  They both live in Western ND where Courtney is attending school and Adam is working at Menards and planning to go back to school Winter semester.  

 A wonderful group photo! 

Time always goes too fast when you are around the people you love most in the world.  We get to see Noah quite often...Adam not so much since he moved. 

Far Side

Up North

 We had a combined 5 Doctors appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday Up North in Grand Forks, ND  2 for me and 3 for Far Guy.  All is well, other than we are aging...no cure for that. 

We went out for supper with Andy and Jen to a new place (Helix). My steak was good....my only complaint was they make their own steak sauce and I like Heinz 57.  Far Guy did not eat his crunchy green beans and I thought they were delicious.  This new place rivals Harry's and they have mostly gluten free options. 

Sadie was great company...she woke me up in the morning...first she jumps on the bed and lays down on top of you and licks your face, then your hands covering your face all the while her tail wags 90 miles per hour.  That is Sadie for you. 

Someone bought her a new toy.   She likes it.  

Pet Co is a great store.

We are back home safe and sound.

A few trees are beginning to change color.

Far Side

Jen and Andy did "a thing"

 A few years ago, daughter Jen and Son In Law Andy bought a piece of furniture from an older couple who were downsizing some furniture, the kids thought it was just the cutest house with a great location just a block from "The Ralph"...then the house came up for sale...so Andy and Jen bought it.  They cleaned and painted, decorated the entire place and filled it with nice furniture.  Andy built all new kitchen cabinets, they replaced flooring and updated a time warped bathroom in the basement.  They built custom loft beds for a bedroom in the basement.  They had a very successful Airbnb for a number of years.  

Last Friday they closed on the sale of their Airbnb in Grand Forks, ND.  Earlier in the week, they moved everything out and we got everything ready for a garage sale at their home in East Grand Forks, MN.  It was a great team effort...but exhausting for both Jen and Andy....so much was happening over just a few days plus they are both teaching full time.  

(The last guest checked out on Tuesday so I went over and helped pack up the kitchen, Wednesday I got things ready for the garage sale and went with Far Guy to his appointment. We had the garage sale from Thursday through Saturday at noon...we got rid of lots of stuff...lots of my stuff included!  Far Guy picked me up on Saturday and we all went to lunch before driving back home.) 

Jen writes on Facebook 

"We closed on the sale of our Airbnb today. I am happy/sad and sad/happy, but I might be more sad than happy.

Owning an Airbnb isn’t glamorous; it’s hard work. We could have hired people, but we did not. In fact just within the last month we found someone reliable to clean. Otherwise my husband started laundry before and after work, we spent evenings, weekends, and an occasional Hail Mary to flip the house in one day… cleaning up after the one guest and getting the house ready for the next, and letting people check in early and out late as allowed.

Making beds went better with two people. 2 kings, 2 queens, 4 twins. Our two boys helped in exchange for their part of the phone bill. Niece Maddie worked when she could.

If I had to clean alone, which was rare, it took 4-6 hours, but if the laundry was done 3-4 of us could be in and out in a little more than an hour. Winter’s were great because my mom took care of cleaning the kitchen.

98% of the time we rented to great people and I enjoyed providing a service… a clean, warm, safe, comfortable home for families to mourn together, celebrate together, or get away together. We hosted robotics teams, dance teams, tennis teams.

2% were shitty guests, who let’s be honest we’re probably shitty people too. One reservation left drugs and burn stains into the bar top downstairs.

We provided what anyone could wish for: a Kitchenaid mixer, Ninja air fryer, crockpots. Our welcome gift was usually chippers from Widmans or Dots. We provided bottle openers on both floors, yet the bar and countertops were used to open bottles and broken and damaged. One house rule was “please take off your shoes” yet the dried mud clumps left behind in the bedrooms arrured me guests didn’t. “Clean the out grill” if you use it — I hoped would dissuade use, but there I was elbow deep in grease cleaning up after another person. We brought items people forgot from our own home, we came to let in people who locked themselves out even with a passcode for the lock.

On Airbnb we had a score of 4.98 stars. The two? One guest left five stars for all individual items but four overall — that didn’t make sense. Oh well. The other? The guest said “too many stairs, it was too cold, and we didn’t get money back for leaving a day early”. Stairs are in the description and photos, and visiting North Dakota in December can be cold. They didn’t say the house was cold, and yes we did provide heat. No, no refund for leaving early — I couldn’t have replaced the booking in less than 24 hours.

We only had one group we needed intervention from the police for having a loud party and disturbing the neighbors. The guest turned around and made an “unsafe” claim against our business, resulting in a one week suspension for us from Airbnb. Airbnb did not help us when we requested damages from the same group: Alcohol dripped from walls, floors were sticky and so bad you had to vacuum before you could walk through the house… we had to repaint ceilings, replace bedding, broken glass, damaged flooring, even though we had before and after photos.

I handed over the key to the new owners today. They said, “You made it too good of an Airbnb”. With a puzzled look on our faces they explained: they had rented the house twice in the last year “what a neat place to live” and “I wish we could stay forever”. When they discovered the house was for sale, they said, “No way!” An end of one story is the beginning of another."

Who knows what their next adventure will be...but after this week they need to just rest for a bit.

Far Side

Looking up and looking down

 The garage sale has been a success, lots of items found new homes. Most of what is left will be donated.

I was stung by a wasp in the morning, but he barely got me so no huge reaction just a little owwie and some swelling. Granddaughter Maddie spent the morning helping me with the sale. Jen and Andy helped on and off throughout their busy day. 

Here is my looking up photo..  Little Elvis is looking up but showing his age and is more senile than he was a few weeks ago. I have told him it is okay to just slip away in his sleep, but of course he cannot hear anymore, can hardly see…but his nose is still good. 

My looking down photo is a plate of steak that my talented son in law grilled for supper last night with salad and corn on the cob…it was all excellent. 

These were the left overs resting.  Nothing better than a great steak! 

I believe Far Guy will be coming to get me sometime today, then we will head back home together. 

Far Side