Another Ramble

Things seem to be slowing down here in my little corner of the world.  Canning and dehydrating seasons are about finished.  I would like to dry some more frozen hash browns.  I just spread them out on the mesh lined dehydrator trays for drying.  No need to blanch and they keep forever.  To use them, I just soak enough for a meal in hot water for about 15 minutes and fry them up for a quick and easy addition to a meal.

It has been raining here for the last couple of days.  Not a steady rain, but more wave after wave moving through.  Luckily, we did not get the high winds that some in other parts of the country had to contend with.  Today is clear but cold - the temperature being 31 degrees about noontime.

The company that Oldest Son works for has ordered a new forklift for him to drive.  It comes with an enclosed cab that has heat and air conditioning.  Son stopped in last evening when he got home from work.  He surprised me with a treat of a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars.  Life is worth living if one has a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars.  :)  Anyway, he showed me his insulated gloves that were soaked clear through.  The roof on the forklift he now drives had kept him fairly dry and he was bundled up in several layers of heavy clothes.  But I think he will be really happy when the new forklift arrives.

Years ago I lived in northern Minnesota, near Bemidji.  That town has had statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox as a tourist attraction near the lakefront.  The Paul Bunyan statue is 18 feet tall and they have been there since about 1937.

Picture from the Bemidji C of C website.

There is a web cam there now and every once in a while I will go to their Chamber of Commerce website to watch the tourists taking pictures of themselves with the statues.  It is fun to watch the kids - they seem to have so much fun standing on Paul's foot or running underneath Babe.  I looked at it today and found that it was snowing heavily there.  Don't suppose it will take too long before the snow moves south and everything here will be covered in a blanket of white.

My family will get together on Thanksgiving at Youngest Son's home.  I always enjoy spending time with my family.  My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pies.  I may have to make some other treats for the kids.  It isn't often I get the chance to spoil my Grands.  I do have to be careful of the ingredients in whatever I make.  Maddie Mae has a peanut allergy, so peanut butter cookies are out of the question.  Maybe chocolate chip cookies.  I don't remember seeing so many kids with allergies when mine were young.  Maybe that's because so much food now is processed, where then most everything was made from scratch.

I'm off the get a couple of things done, like wash my kitchen floor (How one person can make such a mess of one floor, I will never know!) and put away the extra bottles of ketchup and cooking oil I bought for my food storage.  After a little supper it will be time to settle in with yarn and crochet hook.  Maybe I can find a good movie on Hulu to watch.  With all of the insanity going on in our world, sometimes it is nice just to sit back and enjoy a movie.  Even though I know that the terrorists are still flooding in and the perpetually offended are still causing more hate and discontent, and I know that the other shoe is apt to drop shortly, I still do rather love this quiet life for as long as it lasts.