Politics

Today, John McCain announced his running mate. In a bold move to show there can be change, he chose Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska. She is young, 44 and is the current governor of Alaska. She called herself a "hockey mom. I am a bit sciptical but will wait to pass judgement on her and her credential. She has 5 children, the latest of which has Down's Syndrome.

Uncooperative Weather

This past week has been a week of uncooperative weather. It rained the night after we started combining and has done so several times since; not a lot but enough to stop harvest.

Ardmore headed to Steinbach yesterday and picked up another fan for a bin, then he and the guys installed. In the afternoon, after much encouraging from the guys and I, he broke down and ordered an electric heater for one of the bins. It won't heat as well as propane but should help dry the grain a little faster without the risk of fire.

I went into to pt again yesterday. My therapist instructed me on using a stationary bike and the elliptical machine. My range of motion on the tkr knee is not functioning to the degree that I can pedal on a bike yet. They want me to go to the top of my range of motion without going around and then to reverse the process until I get to the top of my range of motion. the other direction. The elliptical machine went well. After pt I did my usual workout and added the elliptical to the mix. No one told me how long to work out on the machine though and I ended over working and had an awful muscle spasm in my right hip afterwards. I massaged the area and iced it when I got home and now I feel fine. I did call my therapist and she gave me instructions on how long to do on it. The bike I will do at home on my stationary bike.

Brian came in with me and went to the school to work out. Afterward, we did some shopping and headed to Badger. It is interesting to hear Brian's comments after he has lived in the city for so long. He couldn't help be comment on the size of the town. With a population of only about 1,000 it really is small.

We enjoyed a supper of grilled salmon, Mediterranean vegetables, and apple pie.

Odds and Ends

We are a busy home right now.

Before I picked up the guys, I did a little shopping in Winnipeg. They have an outlet store area on 90 and I went to the Liz Clayborn outlet. I saw several things that really caught my eye but were not available in my size. I did purchase a brown and green top though. I had planned on going to the bulk food store but q fire destroyed an area of the shopping center where Scoop and Save was located and it was not rebuilt there. I have no idea if it is around at all now. I will have to look for one on line now.

I love to go to the Greek Market on Corydon and so I bought several items so we could go to Assinabon Park for a picnic before we headed home. The food was delish and the guys were happy. We even went back for more to take home.

Yesterday they tried to combine the wheat. They took off about 600 bushels but stopped because it was too wet, about 18% moisture. Our aeration system does well with 16% but not higher. I would like to see us get heater that connects to the fan system and blowshot air into the bin to dry the graun. Ardmore is not ready for that yet, then again, I have a friend lost 5.000 bushels of when in a bin fire last year due to faulty heater. Was a very costly experience. One thing I hope is that the wheat is ripe enough in a few days that they can take it off before the guys head back to LA. I would love to see the wheat off.

Brian is here until the third and James goes back on the fifth. It is never long enough and I anguish over them leaving from the time they arrive.

Michelle and Dave are now in their new home. Their phone is now connected we haven't contacted each other yet. I think she starts school next week.

Thought for the Day
You already have every characteristic necessary for success if you recognize, claim, develop, and use them.

Zig Ziglar

Fish Fly Hatch and Olympic Closing Ceremony

This evening I took my walk to the Roseau River bridge and back accompanied by thousands of Mayfly fish flies. Two young men were fishing when I got to the bridge and one commented that he had been fishing the night before and there were hardly any fish flies. I had walked almost to the bridge last night and didn't see any either. I think they are the White Wulff as they were totally white and so fragile looking. When they came too close to my face I would blow them away. They reminded me of little angels. James will be excited to see them.

They reminded me of our summer vacations when James and I would head west to see Brian and Michelle. We often would stop in Montana so he could fly fish. He had a couple of places he liked to fish at. One time we went to three different rivers, including the Yellowstone River so he could fish each one. Our favorite place was the Gallitin River along 191. He would fish and I would head up to Big Sky to do a little shopping. Our favorite snack was Focaccia bread with mozzarella cheese and grapes. Yum, I can taste it right now!

One time we headed up a mountain to a campsite called Snowbank. It is about 15 miles south of Livingston and was so high that there was snow. An elderly couple had been camp hosts every summer for several years. It was so beautiful with a small stream (Mill Steam) running through the camp ground. We have some wonderful memories of those times when we went to visit the family.

Today I stayed home from church because the check engine light came on in the Merc when I was about 3 miles from home. Ardmore always goes early as he is executive secretary and they have early morning meetings, so I have driving myself.

I had so much to do I don't think I could have gotten it all done. I had slacks to hem, a bed needed bedding washing, and some other odds and ends. I wouldn't have time to be ready for the commissioner meeting if I hadn't stayed home. Plus, I hadn't had time to exercise and really needed to do that also. I decided to try the stationary bike today. I was able to cycle which made me feel pretty decent. I haven't been able to do that in about two years. It wasn't pretty but it is a beginning. I am thinking about buying a 5 speed or having the 5 speed worked on. I loved to ride bike, perhaps I will be doing it again soon.

Olympics and Cleaning House

Today, being Saturday and knowing that our sons would be here on Monday, I decided it was necessary to clean the house. Now don't get me wrong, I clean often enough, I alternate between the upstairs and the downstairs. Last week I cleaned the downstairs and vacuumed the upstairs. this week I did both floors and changed bedding on all beds but mine. I plan to do mine tomorrow.

I wanted to clean the window in the upstairs spare bedroom but didn't think I could handle the wooden step ladder so went to town to purchase one of those two step ones with the larger top step, that worked perfect. Now if the guys will help me clean the outside windows when they are home, I will feel great. My outside windows don't get cleaned very often, we live in a split level and Ardmore is always too busy to bring the tractor so I can clean them. I'm going to hope the guys will help me when they are here.


Every once and a while today, I stopped to watch the Olympics. It was a thrill to see our two US men come in 9 and 10 in the marathon. that is such a grueling race, and to even finish is wonderful. My heart went out to a fellow from Ethiopia who was in third place in the Bird's Nest, he just couldn't run any more at the end and another partner from Ethiopia over came him and came in third. He can be proud to have come in fourth but he must be struggling with the loss. A Kenyan took first and bet the former record by almost three minutes. The women's and men's basketball teams and the US women 4/100 team took gold also. I watched the endings of several of the Olympic coverage games. The highlight of the day was seeing US Olympian Bryan Clay win the gold in the decathlon! That is the most grueling event of the Olympics. It is hard to believe that tomorrow will be the closing ceremonies, well it has probably already taken place.

I have had some tough times with my back in the recent weeks since I had my knee replaced. This am was very bad, but after I did some cleaning it managed to move into place and stop hurting. I wish I knew why it is doing this. I hope it will be ok after my knee has totally healed. My inner knee is also sore where it was sore prior to my tkr last month. I will have to ask some questions about that. I am wondering if I had spurs that should have been removed when he removed part of my knee and he wasn't aware of that. Sometimes, it is very painful.

Michelle and Dave moved into their new rental home this past week. I happened to call her house today and they were moving the last of their things. Leah will be in a very bare home with only a tv and a few other things. I hope her renters are good and take care of things for her, and pay when they are suppose to. She starts school in a couple of weeks now. This must be her last week at the credit union.What a change this is going to be in her life.

I am getting excited to see Brian and James. I hope they aren't expecting too much from me. I tire easily and know it is going to be hard to handle everything that needs to be done without some help from them.

I wish the wheat would ripen and they could harvest it. It is going to take a lot from me if I have to help with the harvest this fall also. The soybeans look marvelous although they are very green and don't look anywhere ready to turn. Ardmore started cutting the canola on Wednesday, then it rained an inch and 1/4 Thursday. He did go out and cut all day today. He had to change the reel on the swather as he couldn't cut the canola as it had lodged and was laying too close to the ground. He said it went very well today.

On Thursday, I received confirmation from the Minnesota Humanities Center that my application for the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit Between Fences was accepted. We will be displaying the exhibit in March through May of 2010. I am very excited to be able to host this exhibit. It is a perfect exhibit for a border county next to Canada. I feel very honored that we have been chosen two times now to host these exhibits.

On Tuesday we go before the county commissioners to request our allocation for 2009. It is always a nerve racking time for me. I am pleased I will be able to tell them about Between Fences.

Thought for the Day:
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Hip and Knee Replacements

I can see that my hip and knee replacements are going to improve my life tremendously. Today at pt my knee flexibility ratio was 113. PT will be having me climb down stairs this week so I decided to try it on my own this weekend. I found it went better than anticipated. I need more to do it comfortably, but I was able to do it easily without much pain.

Beautiful day again so I mowed the lawn late this evening. It seems our grass doesn't know when to slow down this late summer. Usually by now we are turning brown, not this year. Just when it looks like the weather is going to be too dry, we get a shower to keep it growing. The hot weather we have been having this past week has really helped our crop to work toward maturity. Hopefully when the guys come home we will be able to combine something. Yesterday when we took the truck south we drove past our canola field, that is turning also and will be ready to be swathed soon.

I added a new page to our Roseau Co. Historical Society website. What Minnesota Means to Me. It will probably keep me busy if it catches on.