Elder Happenings

Tags

DIY, fun

So two significant Elders in my life have been keeping me busy in the last week or so…  First, Ada is 90!!

Our neighbor and local legend, Ada Windecker turned 90 this month and there was a big community gathering to celebrate her major milestone.  Ada is known as the Mayor, Sheriff, and Historian of Alida – the tiny town where we live.  When we first bought our land, the owner of the local Country Store, now defunct but hoping for a re-opening someday,  said to us, “Alida is population 16, 18 if you count dogs.”  It is small!!  There are now about a dozen folks who live right here within a couple blocks of “town” – basically the old Country Store building, a county maintenance building/defunct fire station, and the township dump.  And Ada’s house amidst them all.  She has raised her own five kids as well as many of the local kids as a Sunday School teacher (and superintendent too!).  The gathering had dozens and dozens of folks come out to wish her well.

Family and friends prepared and served sandwiches, salads of potato/pasta/jello, chips, salsa, coffee, punch and cake.  There were four sheet cakes in addition to her showy cake by which she sat greeting visitors.  You had your choice of white, chocolate, marble, or the ever popular red velvet.  Kids of all ages joined in the fun and just before the program started, about three dozen folks on 4x4s arrived to join the festivities.

The program consisted of much music, which, if you’ve ever met Ada, you’d know was a crucial element.  Mark, an old Sunday School pupil of hers, sang Footprints and then Don, a neighbor who also recently turned ninety, serenaded her as well.  Then two of Ada’s grandaughters, Kayla and Kylie (as I recall – both of Perry’s line – apparently the one which breeds good singers) came up and did a smash up of Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World.  They were outstanding!!  Several folks stood up to share memories and stories of Ada.  My favorite was Perry’s story about the tooty boat ride on Long Lake.  What a joy to hear these memories.  Ada herself spoke for a bit and even sang a little piece of a song for us.  She was overwhelmed by the day.  But the best was held for last.  Her grandson came up to share a song… and Ada’s secret superpower.  Apparently she’d been asking for him to sing and no excuse would do.  When he’d nearly run out of excuses, she turned on her sweet little tears and proclaimed that she simply must have him sing the Lord’s Prayer and boy were we all glad she used her super power to convince him to sing.  No one can resist Ada’s tears. 🙂

The other Elder keeping us busy is Anne Dunn, Anishinaabe storyteller and dear friend.  We have been on the project for over a year now as I believe the original dreaming meeting was at Esther’s house in 2017 with Esther, Anne, & Annie Humphrey, Patty Kakac, Dan and me scheming on what we could do to make Anne’s dream home a reality.  Now, with Anne having a lot, we have a foundation on which to build.  However, before we build, we must demolish! (Photos are from April 2018.)

 

 

The lot she has is full of debris.  Back on June 3rd, Dan and I spent the day with Anne breaking free one of the old trailers that was stuck in the dirt from being in place for so long.  We were able to remove the skirting and wood framing holding it in place so it could be pulled from its moorings and the attached porch could be broken down.  We had been preceded by Barry Babcock who had chainsawed much of an old tree to clear its danger and happily we carted off a truckload of wood for our troubles. We were followed by some strong ones who broke up the deck and got it in the junk piles.

Much of the scrap metal had been carted off – metal has some value for the entrepreneurial soul.  But much of the wood, wallboard, insulation and garbage (the stuff Anne hadn’t yet dug from the dirt) remained.  Some of the demolition work had been piled neatly but there was a large pile with wallboard that was breaking down.  Anne’s curious nature led her to investigate and she found that drywall can be placed on the ground and, as it breaks down, it can nourish the soil!  She began moving pieces of it to an area on the east side of the lot where she wants to grow later.

After some scheduling, Noreen Hautala, Anne, Dan and I were able to find a day that worked for us to tackle the job en masse.  We hoped for more volunteers but we knew the four of us could make nice headway.  We began by removing more drywall from the junk pile and making an even bigger gypsum garden for Anne.  We filled several large construction trash bags with loose debris and re-stacked boards and other large pieces making the material easier for pick-up.   Robert Saxton had said he could arrange to remove some of it with his trailer so we wanted it to look more approachable!  We did an excellent job.  Robert came by a couple days later and carted off much of the mess.

Anne noted an old fence that had fallen over along the road side of the lot and we decided that would be the base for a Hugelbed.  Hugelkultur uses wood, compost, soil, and vegetation to create a mound into which you can grow.  The wood retains water meaning there is little need for watering once the Hugelbed is established.  For Anne, this should also create some barriers to foot traffic at the road side of the property.

We attacked the pile of tree remains that had accumulated and created a habitat for birds and such by piling it at the back end of the property.  Dan also cut back some box elder to open up the fruit trees in the orchard area.  Noreen had a mission of getting the fallen roof structure out and WOW did she ever succeed!  She was REALLY sore after all that sledge hammer swinging!

For a bunch of old folks working for a day and a half, we were happy with a job well done. A video of the progress we made is posted at Harn Theory.  And good thing we did all we did as the new trailer arrived less than a week later!!  It needs much work but it’s here and we can begin the cleaning, repairing, and decorating so Anne has a lovely home before winter.  Lots more to do and we are grateful for anyone who has a heart to help.  You can follow the progress at Operation Crone Corner.

 

 

 

Pimentos, Old Stone Mini Golf, & Hamilton – Oh My!

Tags

fun, Hamilton, local art

What an amazing weekend we had in Minneapolis!  There are always so many people to see and things to do and this weekend we had some of the best of both!

We started with a trip to Northern Sun for some sign frames (we have new Water Protector signs to post) and some replacement buttons (Dan gave his “Jesus had two dads and he turned out OK” button away a while back and needed a new one).  Then we stopped for just a sec at a new community bookstore – Moon Palace Books, which had a terrific layout of books and a delightful cafe in back.  They also had used books upstairs but we left without tempting ourselves…  Some potential new reads I found were Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble & Die Wise, both by Stephen Jenkinson.

Then we headed to our friend Sadie’s place where we would spend the weekend with her roommate Alison.  They have an awesome place and we were greeted with an amazing Mona Lisa painting that Alison had just acquired at an estate sale.  After some relaxation, we decided to head to her favorite restaurant, Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, where we were able to hook up with Uncle Cam and Aunt Karen too!  So good to catch up with them and enjoy some really great food.  We tried the One Love combo bowl which included jerk chicken, jerk pork, beans and rice, slaw, and plantains.  We didn’t even try any of their sauces as the meat was so delicious with the other sides.  Alison’s boyfriend met up with us also – we’re making friends faster than ever!!

The next day started with a drive over to Laura’s where fresh, ripe plums awaited my washing.  Since they were SO ripe, I didn’t think they’d survive until I could get to processing them at the Harn so we decided to make cordial instead – way better idea!!  Lutz advised as I filled jars with plums, sprinkled in some sugar and added the vodka.  In six weeks, we’ll be able to see how it’s tasting.  I have big plans to get the rhubarb cordial started when I get home too…  This is fun.  And beautiful!  Will make some good gifts…

I grabbed a quick book from the Little Library a couple houses down as it was a 35th anniversary edition of a book I have been meaning to read for some years – it had an Appreciation in it by Maurice Sendak and I wanted to check it out.  Boy, am I glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed his words about this book.  Must get to it soon…

Then we headed to brunch at the Tiny Diner, a Permaculture-based diner with really good food, if not spectacular service.  I don’t know if our waitress hated her job, didn’t care, or just was off her game but wow was she NOT real friendly or helpful.  She seemed to try a bit harder after I’m guessing she heard me say to Laura as she brought her a spoon, “Maybe she’s having a bad day.”  Laura had to re-request said spoon after a delivery of sugar and stir sticks.  Good thing we got it as the sugar was really clumpy and had to be removed from the decanter with a spoon instead of pouring it from the spout.

I am always amazed by bad service when it seems to me there is a simple solution. If you’re a server having a crap day, say something!  Maybe, “Hey, I’m off my game today.  Not sure what’s up but please have patience with me if I am not as cheery or well-oiled as I normally am.” or “My cat died last week and I’m still feeling a bit blue so my brain isn’t firing on all cylinders.  While I’m doing my best to make your visit a good one, please let me know if I’m dropping the ball on anything as I could use a little extra help this week.”  I believe most patrons will be happy to accommodate and might even leave a BIGGER tip to try to help out your day.  I think most of us (those of us with a bit of compassion anyway) want to help others’ lives easier if we can.  But first we need to know you’re having a hard time, not just an apathetic grouch.

Dan said the biscuits and gravy was good – had a hint of lemon – and Laura’s egg sandwich came with pickled radish that was excellent.  I had the New Mexico Omelet with cheddar and pickled peppers – so delish!  The place had a lot of info about Permaculture, including a really rad pollinator housing complex.

Next we headed to Big Stone Mini Golf which was so wonderful.  Sorry no photos yet as we forgot our camera and I’m waiting on shots from my friend.  But check out their website for some shots.  The golf course is aged and has some rough edges that hang your ball so if you’re super competitive, you may find some frustration.  We were out for a fun day of artsy golf and got just what we wanted.  We definitely got out money’s worth on a per shot basis – the scores on a fourteen-hole course ranged from 60-80.  [Why, yes, I did win!!  But I was worried when I got an 8 on the first hole!!]

After the golf, we walked the grounds checking out all the sculptures.  From the IV/Walker statement on health care and the world of high art to the Shiny Mushrooms and Beans, to the Chains in the shape of a person on a large stone slab, there was much to make you think.  Oh, there was a Pig flying an Airplane and a giant Roshambo too.  And if you like pigs, there is also a free-range pig that wanders the grounds.  He keeps the goats and chickens happy – you can feed those guys if you like.

We got uber lucky when the artist who started all this wonderfulness, Bruce Stillman, was found walking the grounds.  I thanked him for creating this place and mentioned that he should let us know when he starts giving tours of the houses (there is a tiny house, a large home, and a studio).  Lucky for us, when Laura mentioned the studio tour, he gave us one!  We got to see his latest work along with some of his early things that he houses in the upstairs area of the place, including HIS Mona Lisa.  I was uber impressed with his latest concept of “Justice” and I’m hopeful to get a shot to add to this blog soon.

After golf, we headed to the city to meet up with a bunch of folks for an evening on the deck at Psycho Suzy’s.  I think I went through about 5 or 6 glasses of water as we talked and talked and ate good food.  We got to see the giant spider that comes out as the sun goes down and we saw bats flying around as it got even later.  What a lovely time with friends new and old.  Try the Thai Pizza – it’s really good.

Then it was back to the lovely old home for a good night’s rest – well, a partial one as we were up until almost 2!!  But I was up early enough in the morning to meet another house guest, Elsa, owner of Yoga One in Alexandria, who regaled us with stories from her previous evening – what a joy to meet her.  Hope to see her again when I’m back in Alex.  I had been meaning to check out that Yoga Studio…

The big event was yet to come… Hamilton!!!  Friends Sherry, Jamie, and Ann joined Dan and I for lunch at MacKenzie Pub before the show.  Totally recommend this place if you’re going to a show at the Orpheum as you can then sneak over to their bathrooms during intermission – and YES!! It’s WAY quicker than the line inside the Orpheum.  Three of us had the Caribbean Pork Tacos – GF and so full of flavor!  Sherry Ann ordered the hummus platter that had loads of kalamata olives and two kinds of bread.  Dan was disappointed to hear they were out of the Scotch Eggs but that just means he’ll have to get them next time…

So, Hamilton was just incredible.  I’ve seen large stage plays in the past, I saw musicals and operas in D.C. when Mom used to live there, but this was just beyond anything theatrical I’ve ever experienced.  There was SO MUCH going on all over the stage.  The choreography was excellent with the fast-paced and the stop-motion, the graceful and the blunt.  Every move was executed with precision and the singing was top-notch.  I cannot recommend this show enough.  I especially liked the T-shirt that said “Hamilton & Jefferson & Madison & Washington.  Burr.”  🙂

It was a wonderful experience in so many ways for me.  I will be listening to it on CD – especially Act 1 which had such a powerful effect on me.  Writing like you’re running out of time, indeed.  I just couldn’t help but see the links between what I’m trying to accomplish in fighting Line 3 and what Hamilton was doing in fighting to create a government for this newly birthed nation.

More on the Line 3 opposition next week…

 

Hope Comes to the Harn

Tags

communication, fun, hope, turtle

So this weekend we finally hosted friends from Alexandria.  Dan and I are members of a group focused on Deep Listening and, while we kind of take the summer off, we decided to do a mini-meet-up for the gang here at the Harn.  It was a wonderful chance for a few new people to experience what we’re doing here and it was great for us to get some more feedback on the place.

We spent some time cleaning up the place which included a thorough sweeping and reorganizing of the porch.  We typically do this clean once in the spring, as we begin spending time on the porch, and once mid-summer to enjoy a clean porch for the fall season.  It is so grand to have everything organized again, especially since Dan has almost finished the wall in the porch to assure no Asian Beetle infestations in the arctic entrance (like we had last year).  Sherry was the one member of the group that stayed overnight and, as the most frequent lodger in the arctic entrance, we’ve named it “Sherry’s Nest”.  It’s her favorite place to stay here at the Harn, this little 7′ x 7′ “nest” in the woods.  Next time, I think she’ll bring her puppy to enjoy it with her.  We think this was her fourth stay, so she’s edging in on Sadie, our most frequent flyer.

We also worked on making a bunch of food: Amish oatmeal, rhubarb/apple crisp, roasted beets and beans, zucchini noodles, and Einkorn bread.  In fact, I’m really glad everyone was an afternoon arrival as I had decided to also cram in canning of 4 quarts of green, yellow, & purple beans from Merry Gardens Farm that morning.  Happily I was able to get most everything done before eleven.  What a busy morning!  We did get to listen in on Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me, which was highly entertaining as usual.

Guests started arriving in early afternoon with Susan and Mike arriving first – bringing fresh bread and hard cider, quickly followed by Sherry with Surly and sugar-free soda.  Lee and Reed were delayed by a turtle rescue near Itasca Park.  Said turtle was nicked by a passing driver, breaking the back end of the shell.  We quickly fixed it with, of all things, duct tape, and set the turtle into the yard to explore.  We named the turtle Hope and Hope found shelter in the shade and took a little snooze.  Hours later, as we headed out for a forest walk after a fine meal pulled together with watermelon and hummus from Lee, and we found Hope had headed off to new adventures.  We anticipate seeing the turtle again as we welcome this woods becoming a new home for Hope.

As I said, these friends are from our group that practices Deep Listening and I’d suggested that if we wanted to have a session, I thought Hope would be a good topic.  Our fearless leader, Lee, had looked for a topic and found one that seemed good, though not exactly Hope.  When she went to print out the quotes and discussion questions, the book magically opened to a study guide for Welcoming Hope!  Five of us enjoyed a lively, thoughtful, and thought provoking discussion of this topic.  Here are some of the things I gleaned from it:

• One member suggested that the seeds of hope are planted in times of strife. As I thought on this I realized that, indeed, when one is faced with “enough” of any negative situation, it does instill action with a sense of hope that things must improve.  I think about the Black Lives Matter movement and #MeToo.  These people were like, “This is enough, it’s time to stand, no matter what.” And look at the differences that are being made – slow progress, maybe, but progress nonetheless.  [I did hear that there is potential that Michael Brown’s case may be brought up for review in Ferguson and, investigating that realized that his mother is running for City Council – yahoo!  Here’s MSNBC coverage, Wesley Bell comes in about 5:35 to speak about his reasons for running and his victory.  Another win for The People!!]
• One shared simply that hope is an attitude that, when held, makes every day more happy, even if all that is hoped may not materialize.  It is my experience that, when I am hopeful, I am happier.  Hopes being dashed is difficult.  But I believe hope held is a most critical aspect of continuing to move forward in working for a cause.
• I commented on my current waning hope in the fight against Line 3 but was encouraged by one sharing that hope is perhaps more importantly about intention and motivation than it is about goals and outcomes.  The hope is in the process, I do see that.  I noted that, while we lost at Standing Rock in that the DAPL was built, we made huge progress in opening the eyes of many and, just this past week, a federal judge was set to rule on whether the DAPL line would need to stop pushing crude.  It seems that since the permits were issued without a proper review of the environmental impacts, the situation warrants reconsideration.  Here’s MPR’s coverage. The ruling was expected by August 10th but has been delayed until month end.  It seems some remain skeptical based on the last comment in this article.  Watching current events as those in power continue to side with corporations and rather than citizens, who can blame them?  But my realization was that, even my current work that may result in Line 3 still being built in Minnesota, is important work and I need to get back on the horse and continue to ride forward.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.   ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Brosius After 5 Years

Tags

family, fun

So this past week, Dan and I have been at the (reportedly) “#2 Family Camp in the U.S.A.”, Camp Brosius in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  I don’t know about all that, but it’s a fun place where we have friends we’ve been seeing since 1993 and we hadn’t been there in 5 years.  That last visit was the summer Tom was a counselor at Camp Brosius.  Lots of good and bad stories from that last time.  And good and bad from this time too, though we’ll stick with the good.

We were proud to arrive first, ten minutes early and about 9 minutes before the next car arrived, carrying the Sirotas!!!  These are good family friends with Tom and Karina growing up in the same group of campers through the years.  We were happy to see them and it had been so many years that their youngest looked about as old as their middle child was last time we saw them!  I kept thinking I would call him by his brother’s name!  He did teach us later in the week about Zombie Dice, which was awesome.  His mom won the first two rounds but he finally beat her in round three.  We also played Exploding Kittens.

We also had fun with all our Annex Friends.  Scott and Vickie, Rick and Mary, John and Rosalba, Andrew and new friends too!  We completed three, yes, 3, 1000 piece puzzles!  And we read some good books, more on that later…  We even won the Euchre tournament!  Great prizes provided by Mary were shared by the top teams who split them making both teams happy campers!

Met new friend Kathleen and while we did not prevail in the Brosius Euchre Tourney or the Cornhole Tourny, we can say we held our own in the Cornhole arena.  And we were playing young men.  We thought we didn’t have a chance but held the lead for multiple rounds!  In the end, they took us.  But we had a nice long game tossing the bags back and forth.  Also did some macrame with the craft group.

We ate a lot of great food and swam in the lake.  We saw Elkhart Lake (the village), ate at the Mexican place in Plymouth (El Sombrero) – great food and staff, and shopped at Fleet Farm – discovered Dried Peas!!  We did it all.  Dan read more than me: On Tyranny, Hiroshima, Howard Zinn Conversations on History and Politics, and A Nation of Immigrants by Kennedy – all currently relevant.  He’d read this last one in 7th grade and it’s eerily relevant.  I read the first and half of the third books above.  I was too busy puzzling for much more reading than that.  But I was impressed with the On Tyranny so watch for a Book Review on that next week.

It was a good week of relaxing, not worrying about anything but chatting, enjoying the breeze, and eating with friends and family.  Even took a nap one afternoon.  It was lovely and we are grateful to Aunty Reetz for providing such a wonderful opportunity.

Next year, maybe we’ll get Tom there…

 

Rec Lab 2018

Tags

fun, Rec Lab

Another Rec Lab has come and gone and it was again, full of fun and lovely people, most of whom I only get to see once a year but who I love dearly.  The amazing thing this year was the cohesiveness of the entirety of Rec Lab.

Typically we have a Discussion Leader that talks about one thing, a Monday Night Celebration that is usually a theme of a different sort, and Fireside evening programs which are quite diverse as well.  But this year was somewhat magical in the way that Discussion Leader Connie Nunemaker’s talks, focused on Gardening and including our friends the pollinators, was carried through in the Monday Night Flower Power celebration and the Fireside talks which had a number of links to butterflies and stories from the beautiful garden of life.  Even the donated items for the Fundraising Auction were linked in many ways to gardens with plants and floral handmade items.

And Tea Time was fantastic with its garden theme.  Barb Benson outdid herself with an organized, well-planned, and beautiful set-up for each afternoon’s refreshments.  She included a focus on sustainability that I really loved: For every time you brought your own mug, you got an entry into the drawing – for one of her husband Jewitt’s artistic cards.  [And there must have been a lot of us participating since I didn’t win once! ;-)]  I am hopeful that Barb’s efforts will continue to guide the Tea Time committee well into the future… until someone comes up with an even better way of doing things, once again.

I was so happy that Connie Nunemaker agreed to speak for Rec Lab as she was a delight and a thrill for many who gushed about how much they enjoyed the Discussion.  She truly had something for everyone.  From soil science to flower bombs, the language of flowers to free plants for your garden, she led informative talks where everyone learned a little something.  One of the more interesting points was about rainfall and how one of the reasons it greens everything up is because, as rain falls, it gathers nitrogen from the air (which is about 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen) and puts it into the soil.  Nitrogen is what makes plants greener.  So after a rainfall, everything looks to have greened up significantly for good reason!

But as is the case with any large event, there were shortcomings.  And these are a chance for us to learn, though I sometimes wish that I could learn more easily.

What I learned through my failures this year is that, instead of working on how to proactively prevent issues, I should focus on how to reactively deal with what I foresee as potential problems – though this year I failed on both counts for the main concern I had.  Maybe that’s why I got to hear from those hurt most in the debacle.  It’s a penance I’m willing to pay though I wish I’d had the foresight to prevent the issues in the first place.

I struggle with the concept of letting things happen as they will… simply “learning from them for next time”.  Some may feel that it is only through failing that we learn… or maybe that we learn best through failure.  I can agree with the latter but not the former.

My dad often said, “Experience is a dear school.  A fool will learn by no other.”  Perhaps it is because I heard this so often that I am the way I am… constantly looking to make things better, constantly evaluating and dreaming of the next best iteration, always looking for the group to discuss ideas in hopes that, together, we can avoid pitfalls and find our best success.

I’ve seen many groups come up with amazing solutions… things one person alone would have never developed so quickly.  I have always thought that was the purpose of a Board ~ to develop ideas as a group, to keep each other on task and on target, to assure we are moving forward as a full team for our best effort.  I’ve helped many groups, often with non-aligned end goals to find win-win solutions so I know it can work.  It was one of my favorite things to do as an engineer in the steel industry.  Perhaps it’s just that I lack the skillset to do that like I once could.  Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s Minnesota.

A friend recently shared with me, “Board work can be soul sucking.”  I can see through my experience on many boards that this is often true.  I have seen success stories and had many good experiences, but it seems that it’s often some of the most trying work I’ve done.  Maybe it’s because it’s voluntary work!

But I believe it’s more because I care too much.  Dan told me as I struggled this year:

Very few are capable of going ALL IN like you do. Many have fears that hold them back from a full commitment to something. Most Americans worry more about their own image.  When we let that go then we become empowered to truly help others.  You have a gift and the freedom to share that.  This scares those who cannot understand it.

Maybe.  In discussions prior to the spring Board meeting I had the encouragement of multiple Board members in bringing up my topic of concern.  However, when I brought the idea to the floor, I stood alone.  I was immediately accused of “stepping on the toes” of another committee.  I guess I thought we were all on the same team!  Instead of being seen as an idea to discuss as a Board, my idea was seen as an attack on multiple fronts.  And instead of fighting for it, I just let it die.  Being off-site for the meetings doesn’t allow as much personal interaction or reading of body language in the room.  Perhaps this is part of the reason I seem to lack the capability I once had in business, and even on other Boards.

And I do jump ALL IN.  But I’m finally learning that it just isn’t worth beating my head against the rock.  [It always seems to take me longer than others to learn this… I’m pretty tenacious.  Or maybe just not so smart…]

Another friend recently advised, “When you feel like you’re caring too much, think to yourself, how much will this matter in five years.”  I’ve revised this down to five months or even five weeks.  And sometimes, it’s only five days to realize that most of life is really irrelevant in the grand scheme.  In reality, it’s all just an experience here on Earth.

I believe I am finally at a place where I can let go this year, my last as a Rec Lab Board Member, and fully enjoy the event without becoming consumed with trying to assure we’re thinking of everything, avoiding all the pitfalls, making everything awesome!  I am doing well so far to not need to correct any typos in the minutes, to not need to address any actions during the meetings, to not feel a need to put in my two cents.  OK.  Let me be honest.   I FEEL the need to do these things.  I’m just deciding to not do them.  I’m letting things be as they are.  My input is not required.  Nothing is really critical enough to necessitate my involvement.  It’s an idea I contemplate frequently these days.

And I am hopeful that, at next year’s Rec Lab, I will not be a detriment to my friends and roommates – who BTW did a wonderful job of encouraging me and helping me through this year as I struggled.  I thank them for their caring compassion.  It meant the world.

For Rec Lab 2019, all I need to do is assure that the Art Show is prepped for displaying the created works next May.  [Sorry, Laura, I’m taking the easy gig this year!!  Though Discussion turned out to be pretty easy too so I hope you enjoy it instead.]

And there were plenty of things for which to be grateful and proud.

• Watching the fun at Monday’s celebration unfold was hilarious!!  All those women with low hanging balls!  And seeing the creativity of costumes was wonderful.
• Watching as so many people took time to care for others ~ helping them learn, sharing experience, and being creative ~ was inspiring.
• Hearing the Fireside stories was heartwarming, funny, and challenging.  Tina shared a story about assuring you don’t live life too quickly and instead enjoy the moments, even the tough ones, as they are often the ones that bring you closer to each other.

I guess my painful moments gave me a chance to let others care for me and I am so grateful that they were there for me.  And it allowed others to give me insights that helped me see where I need to go from here.  Though some of those insights were painful, they turned out to be the most informative and helpful.

It’s hard for me to take a back seat and “not care” (as I put it).  As with any experience, I am hopeful that the growing pains will bring good lessons that lead to improvement.  And, in all reality, most of the downfalls were not enough to ruin what is, by and large, a wonderful event at a happy place.

Here are some of my favorite things…

Redneck Life with Laura Burlis, Ann Hippensteel, and Jill Featherwolf (thanks, Jill!); my polymer clay time; June’s collaborative switch plate (this is the heart of Rec Lab to me – working together to create something beautiful); my upcycled thrift shop finds ($4); Tracy Gulliver’s “star” talk (love it when a first year attendee jumps right in to participate!); Laura, me & Lutz ~ Hippy Time;  Mother Nature – Connie Nunemaker (this year’s Discussion Leader); more of my polymer clay and Jill’s Owl – love him!; and me – Happy (jacket before photo).

I also loved Laura Burlis’ Glacier Trip presentation – FABULOUS!!  Another example of why we shouldn’t rush through things… she spent almost an hour on this – AFTER Fireside – and had a HUGE audience.  And my most favorite time is Art Show where we can see all the wonderful work from our week together.  Here’s a video.

So Lucky in Our Life

Tags

DIY, fun, local

So many blessings in the last couple months!  I don’t even know where to begin and I’m sure I will leave out several of the most wonderful things…  But I am starting to believe that some of the wonderfulness is because of our gratitude.  We are continually saying, “How lucky are we?!?”  It’s like good things just keep coming our way.  And I will keep giving thanks for it all, and hope it keeps delivering.

One of the first signs of spring are baby lambs and goats.  Our friends at Split Oak Farm have both.  Their lambs were rescued triplets from a local farm that keeps the best two of a litter and these sweeties are so small!  I never knew a lamb could be as little as a cat!  And this is at some days old.  I happened to be going for a visit with friend Connie who was helping Angie make an apron from an old linen tablecloth.  That tablecloth never looked so good as when they were finished.  A beautiful upcycle.  Anyhow, the lambs had arrived earlier that week and they were so adorable.  A few days later, Connie and I had a trip to town and so we stopped by the Farm on our way home.  Good thing!  Angie was just bringing out milk for the little lambs and we got to help!  We also got to see baby goats – four of them at the time – two new born and two a few days old, all adorbz!  Connie and I got to play farmer as we helped move two ewes to a birthing pen and relocate a momma and baby that had gotten into a wrong space.  Those goats are sneaky little devils!  All in all, I’m glad we don’t have livestock at our homestead… but I’m sure glad to have lots of farmer friends who do. 🙂

Another farmer couple, Jill & Randy at Merry Gardens Farm, are remodeling their kitchen and we (mostly Dan) are helping with the project.  They pay us good… in food!!  Every time we visit, we end up having a meal and it’s always, in part and sometimes almost in whole, harvest from their land.  We’ve had pork liver and onions, roasted potatoes, beets, and Brussels sprouts, pork chops, and Thai cabbage salad.  Yes, Thai food!!  Jill is an amazing cook and on a recent visit we had both the Thai cabbage salad and Thai noodles.  It was like a dream in rural Minnesota where most of the food tends toward the white and bland.  Her recipes for the two sauces were very similar – a mix of Liquid Aminos (GF soy sauce), garlic, peanut butter, chili sauce, oil and honey – but just different enough to give a nice contrast.  Oh, just yummy!!  And she also makes several varieties of mean tapioca pudding – my favorite.  We never leave their place hungry.

Winter at Merry Gardens is quiet in the fields but we also get to see baby piglets.  These Red Wattles are SO SWEET!! I just love their sleek ruddy coats and their sturdy little frames.  They are really manageable for the first couple weeks and then they are past the cuddle stage.  But they are still fun.  Their market pigs were cracking me up as they ran through the fields rearing up and taking off for no apparent reason.  And even the older sows and boars are wonderful.  Most of them are talkers and they are like little dogs the way they play with Jill when she steps into their pen.  They have some Mangalitsas which are like a velcro pig.  When they are little piglets, they look like sheep in their white fuzzy coats.  And maybe my favorite is Moses, the big boar who, when I call his name, comes running out to meet me like a big kid.  He has the best smile.  And he knows when I call his name I usually have food!  But his real buddy is Randy, as this video shows.  I don’t know who is cuter, Moses or Randy.  Merry Gardens Farm really love their pigs.

But it’s not all fun and games.  The market pigs require castration to prevent “boar taint”, an unfavorable smell or taste caused by the sex hormones testosterone and androstenone.  Though Randy had asked me to help last season, daughter Molly ended up being available.  But this season I got my chance to help.  It was a not difficult process and Randy made it very quick.  I had Danny film us and hope to eventually get a video posted for informational purposes.  Though it may take me a while because I realized it is much harder to watch (a requirement for video editing) than to do the actual castration.  In the moment, I was focused on trying to assure the pig was still for Randy’s process and comforted… as best I could.  Randy says it’s the hardest part of raising these guys.

Crafting has been magically happening in my life as well.  Neighbor Connie and I took a Craft Day to attend the Creative Spirit Fiber Festival and visit Anderson Fabric Outlet.  It was a wonderful event followed by a huge sale.  SO MUCH Creativity and Imagination!! My favorite gal at the fair was Lisa Jordan of Lil Fish Studio. You should check her out. She’s super fun. https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=193090157396798&ref=content_filter

And all that fiber watching ended up being a good inspiration for a project that came about due to Connie mentioning “making puppets”.  Turns out my friend Steph’s son Rook LOVES Boss Baby and I had the crazy idea that I would make him a puppet for one of the characters from the movie.  Steph said Tim was his favorite character but I knew I would have to also make a Boss Baby puppet too.  And we did!

How does the Fiber Festival factor in?  Well, when it came to hands and shoes, I decided felted wool might be the easiest option.  And it sure was… with Char’s help.  Char (of Char’s Yarn Basket just down the road from me) is an amazing artist and I knew she’d be able to help me with my project.  Sure enough, we got it done.  I believe my favorite parts of Tim are the jeans and shoes.  And his head is the best of the two puppets (Connie did the paper mache work on it).

All in all, we are truly blessed.  Even the icky stuff that seems to happen ends up having a positive impact – lessons learned, relationships strengthened.  I hope that you are feeling blessed in your life too!

Storyteller Michael Venske

Tags

fun, storytelling

I knew I’d likely be going to see Storyteller Michael Venske in the Farm by the Lake Storyteller series and, after reading the report on his event in the Farmers Independent and on FB, I definitely knew I wanted to meet this guy.

Michael… spends his (time) on projects that help the greater good.  ~ Michael Venske Event Promotion

From recordings for Hazelden, teachings on de-escalation techniques for individuals in mental health crises, HIV awareness videos, performing environmental comedy shows, and working with First Witness Child Advocacy Center teaching law enforcement how to conduct forensic interviews with victims of childhood sexual abuse… this guy has spent a lot of time working on the greater good.

And he spent three years in China teaching English.  I was anxious to hear his reporting as compared with what Tom had shared with us years ago after his trip to China.  Michael seemed the kind of guy who’d be up for adventure. So what did I do?  I reached out to him!

I sent him a message and, as I expected, he immediately responded.  He ended up calling the house and we chatted about the possibilities of meeting, deciding that he’d come for a meal with us during his visit to Clearwater County.

Michael came by our place for lunch prior to the Library gig and we chatted for a while and then had a nice local food lunch including pork roast from Split Oak Farms along with pickles and green beans from Merry Gardens Farm that Connie and I canned this past fall.  We ended with some warm tapioca with a bit of coconut added – this is becoming a great go-to dessert for me of late.

We shared a bit of our story with him and Michael noted, after being introduced to our Rocket Mass Heater, that his story today would include a fireplace aspect.  I was impressed when he mentioned his “Rumford” fireplace.  Ah, a kindred spirit…  We told stories all through lunch and then Michael and I headed to his gig while Dan wrapped up at the Harn.  It was endless back and forth during our ride to Bagley.

We had a good crowd at the Bagley Library where Dawn Loeffler and Marty Cobenais from Farm by the Lake had prepared a wonderful place for him that included a fake fireplace!  The story went up and down, from dramatic and compelling to hilarious (yes, I was laughing out loud – a lot!).  It pulled us all forward and then circled back and then wrapped up with a warm and comforting close.  The crowd was very happy with his performance.  Lots of laughs and a few good things to ponder.  We had a lovely Q&A session at the end and I was surprised by several questions – these people knew a few things about Michael’s work – what a prepared audience!!

A really fun day of meeting a new friend.  I was thrilled to learn more about this amazing guy.  He’s worked on some wonderful projects, one of my favorites of which is training police officers on de-escalation practices for interacting with people with mental illness.  I had some ideas on how we could really use this training to help improve our law enforcement in Minnesota.  But I’m most looking forward to sharing more with him on one of my favorite subjects, which as he was wrapping up the day I found also interests him, Death.

Dan and I have decided Michael can come visit us at the Harn any time, especially if he brings his pink robe!  And Athena.

Photo credit: http://michaelvenske.com/about/

C&C with C&A

Tags

DIY, fun

What a week of fun!!  Cooking and Crafting with Connie and Angie.

I am feeling so lucky in many of the new friends we have up here in the North Woods and two of the best are Connie and Angie.  Luckily for me, Connie lives close enough that we’re talking about biking to each other’s homes… once summer comes ’round again!  And even though Angie is farther away, she has cute bunnies and goats and the best cat ever, Helga, so I get there too.  Both of these ladies have something that I do not… a real kitchen with stoves, ovens, running water that doesn’t go into a bucket. 😀

But the other thing they have is a love of crafts.  We started the crafting venture with Wire-wrapped Pendants and now we’re on to Driftwood Art, which uses some of the same techniques.  While Connie focused more on the bead creations aspect, Angie and I both made a Driftwood piece.  And we all chatted and chillaxed and created.  Here’s our work: Angie’s, mine and two for Connie.

So much fun!  I am loving this creative outlet.  It is amazing to see where it all goes as it’s a natural process and came sometimes turn out different than you expect.

So this was the second day this week for creation at Connie’s as she and I had done cooking too.  We worked on a few Gluten Free (GF) recipes and had good luck with all though we thought we’d only had luck with about half.  So, we started with a GF Beet Chocolate Cake… I KNOW!  It sounds weird.  But it’s really good.  I wasn’t sure but I really ended up liking it a lot.  Even Danny liked it!  So.  One success.

We had some weirdness along the way like a hard boiled egg in with the regular ones.  But we tried three different cracker recipes with mixed results.  The Sesame Seed crackers were the best of the three – nice and flaky, crunchy and tasty.  The Corn Puffs did not really puff – and while these were the third favorite, they were too salty.  This lead to several ideas on how we could improve on the recipe and we plan to implement three of those ideas by making a few more batches for the Super Bowl Feast.  The least workable was an Almond Flour Flax Seed cracker which we didn’t use Almond Flour to make.  Yeah, maybe most of the problem.  The substitution flours were likely too absorbant and we ended up with a VERY crisp cracker.  Too dry.  But the spice blend was good and Dan declared them “good”.  So, we can claim 4 victories… of sorts!

We’ve got lots of crafting and cooking plans so I’ll keep you posted if we have more fantastic adventures to share with you all.  Hope you are having your own successful creative endeavors as well.

Love Water Not Oil Tour 2017

Tags

activism, fun, local music, Women

What a fantastic weekend we had in Duluth!  We headed over to hit the Honor the Earth 5th Annual Love Water Not Oil Tour featuring Nahko Bear and Annie Humphrey among others.  We decided to go over Saturday and get oriented and see town before the Sunday concert.

We arrived in the afternoon and headed to the AirBnB in Hermantown.  When we arrived, Josh, our host, was building a pergola on the large patio deck.  They have a private entrance space with a living room, dining area with refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave, bathroom and three bedrooms each with a queen bed.  It’s a lovely and simple space with a nice bed and enough pillows.  Super clean and quiet.  We really enjoyed relaxing in this space late in the evening but first, we headed to the Canal Walk.

We found tremendous traffic at the Canal Park.  We finally found a parking space under the solar panels near Sister Cities Park and the Lakewalk.  We enjoyed rock spotting and seeing the wide open Lake Superior as we walked the shore but it was dirtier than the North Shore – a little too industrial for me.  There were a bunch of young men enjoying The CRIBS, also referred to as Uncle Harvey’s Mortuary, a large concrete structure of varied legend.  Like little crabs, the boys scuttled along the thin walls of the structure, occasionally jumping from the heights.

We headed inland toward the Dewitt-Seitz Marketplace, recommended by friend Anne Paulson who once lived in Duluth.  We found the Blue Heron, like a compact Crate and Barrel, to be full of lovely spices, sauces, cookware, tools and table coverings. A really fun space to explore.  Just across the way is the Art Dock, full of fun treasures.  We didn’t have time to head up to J. Skylark  but their lower level window display looked really enticing.  We were out of time and had to head to our parking space.  From there we headed up to Downtown and stopped after finding a back alley parking spot (free!) to the Electric Fetus.   It was like going back in time and I took some time to listen to the top albums – none of which was familiar and only one of which made an impression.  Sammy Brue might be worth a listen if you’re into young upcomers.

We decided to head to the neighborhood with the Co-op grocery on 4^th Street – neighborhoods with co-op groceries are usually pretty great.  We found some good stuff – raw cashews for more Ambrosia, some quick packs of Indian food for dinner, cheese curds (hey we are super close to Wisconsin here – they gotta be good!), and some organic tortilla chips (not very good but cheap).  At the checkout, we asked the guy if there was a good place for a little picnic lunch.  He directed us toward Canal Park and we said, “No, no… that’s too People-y.  You know any place less People-y?”  “Ah,” he says, “Lester Park.  There are nice waterfalls.  It’s a little hike in but worth it.”  So we put it in the Google Map and head toward 51^st and Juniata.  We get there and it’s a pump house. 😦  Just to the left, there appears to be a small parking area… and we see a Butterfly Garden (sorry no pic as we were super non-plussed) which had a couple benches among some sparse wildflowers.  We found a short trail and hiked over the flora finally stumbling upon a small creek.  We decided this could NOT be the right place – no waterfalls.  So we checked again and Google said we need to be at 61^st and Superior.  Ah, yes, this is the place!  We drove up in search of a parking place and find the entrance to The Deeps at the top of the hill. If you go in at the trail at the purple circle, you will hike a mere 20 feet and find yourself at an amazing space in the middle of town.  There are 30’ falls that pour into what is called The Deeps – a deep hole into which the locals cliff dive.  Above this space is a rolling rocky creek with smaller falls where Dan took this photo.

We lounged in the water, climbed the rocks and explored for a bit before heading back to the AirBnB taking the Seven Bridges Road ~ we’ve traveled it now!  We took Skyline road up to the top and saw the Hawk Ridge Reserve though no migrations are scheduled until fall… mid-September looks like prime time, though you’ll want Halloween time for seeing the big Eagles.

We actually watched some TV at the AriBnB – Red Green.  Nothing really worth watching on that black box.  Don’t miss TV a bit.

The next morning, we headed into Superior, Wisconsin to hit the Anchor Bar and Grill – Yep, Sunday is a busy day for this little dive.  Their menu is hilarious!  I highly recommend this super cheap burger joint.  Fresh fries and good burgers.  Dan had the Bacon Cheeseburger and I had the Cashew Burger (cashews and swiss – yum).  There was another couple looking for a quiet table – the Elvis was blasting.  Since we’d done the same thing minutes before and had room at our table, we asked them to join us.  They were waiting for their friend, “Crazy Nancy Nelson” (who did turn out to be a HOOT!), and we had room for three so the two sat.  Julie and Joey Sando turned out to be a splendid addition to our party.  She soon mentioned they were seeking driftwood for her art.  Art?  What kind of art does she do?  Stained glass.  And driftwood???  Well, you should check out her stuff – it’s pretty awesome. I forwarded her info to the Rec Lab Creative Activities committee because she’s seems like a lot of fun.  Looking forward to seeing her again sometime.  So glad we invited them all to join us as it made our brunch a super fun time.

After burger breakfast, we headed to the Bayfront Festival Park for the Love Water Not Oil show.  Arriving early again, we walked directly into the venue and found the Honor The Earth organizers who asked if we were volunteers.  So I guess we could have volunteered and got in the show free but we’re happy to send funds to HTE.  We ended up volunteering anyway and were assigned the vendor gate.  This was a happening place and I only got one F-Bomb from a lady who was really pissed she had to walk to the north entrance to enter with her ticket after walking all the way to this vendor gate already (like 100′).  It wasn’t that far a walk (maybe 100 paces further?) and I’m hopeful her day ended up going better.  The rest of the day I thanked the people we kept directing to the ticket entrance for not F-you-ing me and it gave us all lots of laughs… and perspective.  I guess that was payback for all the F-yous I’ve dished out to customer service people on the phone over the years!  I’m better than I used to be but still a work in progress.

So, the big perks of being at the vendor gate?  Got to see:

• Corey Medina ride out on his motorcycle for some wind in the hair before the show started.
• Friends Nicolette, Sarah & Keri from HTE coming in to set up tables and Cedar heading in and out for lunch.
• Greeting Winona LaDuke as she came in to begin the festivities with ceremony.
• Saying hi to Don again – he remembered me from the Futurists conference where we first met!  {Dan says I’m pretty unforgettable.  Aw, ain’t that sweet?}
• The arrival of the Teepees.
• Nahko Bear driving into the venue – AWESOME Groupie Moment. 🙂
• The adjacent and handy port-o-potties! We let several folks in to pee before they headed to the ticket entrance.  It was a super laid back show and fun to be a part of it all.

I was impressed with the ceremony that opened the show.  There were some prayers and songs and the elder that did ceremony for Winona spoke of the importance of honoring women – how we treat our women is how we treat the Earth.  So true.  It’s time for change.  She challenged us all to bring respect to how we allow others to treat us as women and to protect women assuring safety and respect for them all.  Maybe if we can find love and respect for each other, we can start to heal this planet in a big way.

The teepees were also inspiring.  They had the Keystone XL teepee and the teepee from Standing Rock.  Dan got some good shots.  The musical line-up followed:

• Elizabeth Jaakola & Family – Fond du Lac Musicians who sang great original songs with my favorite probably being Covfefe, which consisted of a bunch of mush mouth, jive talk and a perfectly understood chorus of “Covfefe”.  😉 I’d heard them doing this one at sound check and had chuckled my way to the vendor gate as I listened.  http://www.firstpeoplesfund.org/elizabeth-jaakola/ Nice songs about standing up for Mother Earth, being strong as Indigenous, and having fun too.
• Thomas X from the Red Lake Tribe – really nice Rez Rap. https://thomasx.bandcamp.com/  His tunes are all available online.  Support him if you can – he had a sweet little baby on the blanket with him when I stopped by to give him props.  Welcome to the Rez is a nice mix and I had my fist in the air for Standing Rock.  TOTALLY love this dude after giving more of his albums a listen today.  Check him out.
• Two for One – a South Minneapolis hip hop rapper. Couldn’t find him online anywhere but he had some good lyrics and seemed like a nice kid.
• Maria Isa, a self-described SotaRican, rapped her way through a set. I thought it was a strange sound – kind of all over the place – couldn’t really get into it before it changed into something else.  https://www.facebook.com/pg/iammariaisa/videos/?ref=page_internal
• Two short stints by the Sunshine Boys and a guy from California – both presented indigenous songs from their traditions – really nice stuff.
• Annie Humphrey – first time FINALLY getting to see her play live. What a powerful woman!  Here’s a great video perfect for this Love Water Not Oil show which is all about celebrating riding horses against the flow of the proposed pipeline… in case you didn’t know, Horses can Kill Snakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6wsVgWoUI  It’s so interesting to see her perform – she is such a blend of her mother and daughter, both of whom I know better than I know Annie, that it creates a wonderful feeling inside me.  Thomas X mentioned that he first saw Annie perform when he was 13 and her performance brought him to tears.  I can definitely relate.  Beautiful voice, lovely music.  Definitely find your way to listening to some of Annie’s work.  Here’s Edge of America.
• Corey Medina and Brothers. FANTASTIC.  Great blues/rock sound.  Dan kept watching them thinking they looked really familiar… until we decided Corey reminds us a lot of Alex Crankshaft.  Here’s a Tiny Desk Concert they did (though the two cats with Corey in this one are much younger versions of the two on stage this weekend, Gary Broste & Eric Sundeen).  Ah, here’s one with them playing Want it All at Rail River Folk School.
• Nahko, AKA Nahko Bear, leader of Medicine for the People.  This was the artist that brought us to this show.  He spent most of the afternoon hanging out with the crowd… giving bear hugs, taking photos, chatting.  I was astounded at the variety of people coming out to see him.  I expected the hippies, the water protectors, the Indians but not the young white moms, old white ladies, three older white dudes from the Cities.  All ages from toddler to seniors, all colors.  I guess the only ones not represented were oil men and dumbass rednecks.  Dan and I were grateful to be the final photo op before he headed in for some lunch and pre-show preparation. And he remembered me as the one who welcomed him at the gate!

Definitely check out his music.  Here are a few videos:

• Love Letters to God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPVhnlZaZWs
• One of my faves… Vultures of Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__iE8ISF5c
• And this one… super fun!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd1CHFfym1s
• Well, I just don’t think there’s any better ending for the blog than that.  Unless it’s this…  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHMsOXgSb9o

Rec Lab 2017… and We’re on the Radio!

Tags

DIY, fun, Rec Lab

Well, Rec Lab 2017 was another wonderful week of seeing people I love and making Polymer Clay art.  But a big thrill mid-week was listening to the Call of the Wild show about the Harn.  https://beta.prx.org/stories/203798  What a thrill to hear how Milt Lee made a beautiful show of the much longer time we spent interviewing and touring at the Harn back on April 7th.  In 8 minutes, he covers a lot about our place.

It sure was nice to have a piece of home during Rec Lab.  The week at Lab is SO FULL of activity that I had to listen to half the interview before Tuesday’s Write Your Bio session and the second half just after class.  The Write Your Bio Fireside presentation of stories written during this Creative Activity session was just beautiful.  One of my favorite parts was when Ann read her story about her Uncle Galen (a long time Rec Labber who is sweet and funny) and she became so overwhelmed that another classmate came up to finish the reading for her.  Mimi started out strong but within a couple sentences, she too became overwhelmed.  Both finished their portions of the reading in tears but it was one of the most beautiful moments when they hugged at the end of it.  It was a wonderful example of how the beauty of writing can not only help us retain our stories but also find connection with each other.  This seemed to be a strand of continuity throughout this week at Rec Lab.

Our opening night of Lab included a Fireside of Stories giving various perspectives on how Rec Lab has impacted our lives.  Among the speakers were Lynn and Rhoda who spoke on the origins of Rec Lab, Gretchen on how a class can affect you by reading an A-Z poem she wrote during a previous Lab, Jane on how being a great creative artist is not a requirement for attending Lab, Mike on how we receive help and offer help to each other, and Katherine on how we can find acceptance just where we are in our lives.  I think it was a beautiful representation of the many ways that Lab brings us joy.  Colleen’s Joy for the Journey theme for Fireside this year made for many lovely nights spent in contemplating our joy before we headed to bed.  Or… as a brief, quiet respite between dinner/dancing and MORE CRAFTING!  I spent most nights in the Polymer Clay room continuing to work on my projects.

One of my favorite projects this week was a Fairy Door made for friend Char’s new Yarn Basket shop.  This photo shows it prior to baking and before I got the “knitting needles” (two little straight pins donated by BJ) in place.  I loved the mixed color I got with the lavender and metallic blue clays, the wood grain effects I copied from an example on Pinterest, the sweet roses, and the little yarn balls as a door decoration which were a perfect addition for a Yarn Shop Fairy Door!

Laura Burlis is an excellent instructor and helps each of us learn new techniques that we can use to continue instruction with people when we head back home.  I’m looking forward to having some friends over to make some lovely little turtles, ladybugs and other fun charms.  This year many made fairy houses and little gnomes and wizards as well in Polymer Clay.  This class is so fun that we often have visitors who stay to watch our work or check out our progress through the week. You can read more about Laura here: http://lolaartistsmn.blogspot.com/2014/07/laura-burlis-turns-polymer-clay-into.html?m=1

The one project I didn’t bring home was a Bottle of Hope.  The Polymer Clay Guild Laura belongs to does a project where they gather empty chemo vials and decorate them with clay, returning them to the hospital for patients to take home to brighten their days.  I used my favorite colors to decorate a whimsical jar that I hope someone will love.  The photo with me and the bottle was taken with my instructor and friend, Laura.  I also included a photo of Gretchen who made a lovely gift for her friend Alan along with a beautiful fairy house.  Everyone’s projects turned out so lovely!

Here are some photos of Friends’ work (Jenny’s painting and Will’s Clay and costumes by Jami, Christine and Tina):

There were lots of new things this year at Lab and some were a great success and some I know will be improved even further in 2018.  We had a LOT of information on classes prior to arriving at Lab and, once at Lab, had lots of info on where/when classes would take place.  Our implementation of Craft Talk (in previous years we did a Craft Walk) was OK but we hopefully will make that better next year.  Opening Night “Northland Derby” was tremendous with amazing food, games and decorations.  And the theme made for a laugh-filled Closing Night presentation created by Laura Burlis with loads of improv by the many Labbers in the show.  This show is our chance to poke some fun at the new Instructors and Discussion Leaders for the year’s Lab.  I really loved the bit on Paul’s Fly Tying class by Mike and Russ and the sister act of June and Gail on the Nature Pendants (by Kim) and Nature Hikes (by Dianne).  Ryan brought levity with his documentarian role (his REAL LIFE job).  The Basket girls (Amy, Hailey & Heather) were hilarious as were Lutz, Nick and Jacob as the “Horses” on their brooms and vacuum cleaners.  But my faves were likely Tina and Jenny who depicted our Energy Discussion Leaders Tina Simonetta-Samuels and Christine Simonetta.  They had me rolling on the floor, as were Tina and Christine!  You can see more about the Eden Energy Medicine the Discussion Leaders shared here: http://www.innersource.net/innersource/

Funny things I learned this year at Lab:

• There is an uncanny a resemblance between Jane and Nancy. (Also between Linda and Anita and apparently between me and Krista and Heather…)
• Lots of people enjoy dressing as poop collectors. (There were 6 of us at the Derby party – no fancy hats for us!!  Poo Crew from Iowa, me, Alan and the Discussion Leaders all donned our worst and swept up the Chocolate Bit-o-Honey poops!)
• Earthworms are BAD. (They eat all the duff – leaf matter – leaving nothing to protect the little seedling trees!)

Our week ended with a display at Art Show.  I will say this was a quite nice part of the week.  This had little to do with it being my committee and more to do with the many hands that jumped in to make it wonderful and, of course, the stunning array of art presented in the show.  There were several folks who helped set up and host the event (Mary L, Jewitt, Hailey, Jenny, Mary R, Vanjie – and whomever I forgot in all the hustle!) and the music truly made us look professional with Harp by Jacob and Keyboards, Guitar, Violin and Singing by the Jam Session crew (Jean, Jewitt, Marti, Nancy and Rhoda).  Thanks to Marti for getting that all in place for the Show.  I was so tickled with how it all fell into place.  I hope to get a video up soon of the event but editing my footage is still in process.  Watch for a link in next week’s blog…

There is just never enough time to do all the crafts you’d like.  I spent most of my time in Polymer Clay with a couple days in Write Your Bio and Yoga.  I also got in a Nature Walk with Dianne that taught me much about spring flowers, birds and worms.  A Naturalist by training, she gives a professional take to this Creative Activity!  And I made one of the two Book Group sessions as books are a BIG love for me.  I only taught a one-session class on Vision Boards / Dream Pages, but with First Day and Bulletin Board work, as well as Art Show and Tech Support, it seemed I didn’t have time for as much Creative Activity as I’ve smashed into the week in the past.  I wish I’d been able to check out the Jam Sessions with Jewitt and Marti, the Loom Weaving with Hailey, Paper Crafts with Amy, Heather and Paula, Cooking with Gail, Caning with Kathy, Silverwork with Alan, and Woodworking with Gerry and Abby.  I LOVE lathes.  But there is the Notebook (done this year by Heidi and Katherine with photos by Paul) that gives details on all the Creative Activities so I hope to be able to try some of these things on my own.

I hope you too are busily creating as we make our way through Spring.  Us Minnesotans are mostly still just waiting for the snow to stop…