My two acres

Phil Day skating

2012-02-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

Everyone is weighing in on the six more weeks of winter thing since Phil the groundhog saw his shadow. And I have seen more than one post about how, at least up in the north country, if we have six more weeks of the weather we HAVE been having, we're all gonna be pretty happy.

You can't complain when, on the second day of February, you have to run to the outdoor skating rink to see if it is actually still iced up. Which is what I did at lunch-time today. The temperature is in the 40s, but because the sun is still low in the sky and the area is somewhat shaded, the ice, while a little on the bumpy side, is still ice. (I guess if Phil would have been at the rink, he probably would NOT have seen his shadow because of all the trees.)

Why did I undertake this unusual Groundhog Day

See, Cherub#2 (also known as Monkey) learned how to ice skate last weekend, and she has been determined to go again. In fact, she has been bugging me to go every day this week, which is kind of hard when you put in a full day of work and then try to get everyone fed, homeworked and ready for the next day by 9 p.m.

But I promised her I would check the ice today, and if it was adequate, I would take her skating.

Guess what I'm doing this afternoon?

I have skates. I haven't been on them in about 15 years.

Let's just hope I don't break a leg!

Dawn

I have found this to be true...

2012-01-31T17:06:00.002-06:00

Dr. David Buchanan shared this at the YF&R Leadership Conference recently and it struck me as so ENTIRELY true, I just had to share it. Farmers don't farm to get rich. They farm because they love it. How many people love what they do? I think it just goes to show you how unique and wonderful farmers really are!

Dawn

Origami love and holey blankets

2012-01-30T17:02:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure what to think. After spending the weekend away from home at a conference, I got this wonderful welcome home origami love packet from my daughter:

My son welcomed me with a hug and a kiss!

And the Springer? Apparently he was not getting enough attention from me, because while my son was showing me a funny YouTube video he found, Mr. Springer chewed a fist-sized hole in one of the nice throw blankets that I keep on the living room couch. He got kennel time for it.

It didn't matter.

Shortly after his release, and while I was assisting my daughter with a project, he stole one of my son's socks, hid under my daughter's bed (okay, his hind end was sticking out, so it wasn't really "hiding") and growled at me for what seemed like a full five minutes when I told him to let go of it. Actually, the command we use is "Give." And I did pull him out from under the bed by his hind legs when he started growling, so his little doggy mind probably perceived it as an "escalation" of some kind, when in reality, I just didn't want him to make a hole in yet another sock.

I asked my son if he had misbehaved at all before I came home.

"Nope," my son replied. "I think he's mad at you for leaving!"

So, while my kids give me hugs and little gifts after I've been gone, the Springer is an entirely different animal (Pun intended!). Apparently, he's a classic "negative attention" kind of critter. I don't know exactly how it happened, because I'm the one who comes home at noon and feeds him. I'm usually the one who lets him out when he needs to pee. I let him curl up next to me on the couch and I pet him while I'm watching television.

So, where DID I go wrong with this one? : )

Dawn

Reminders

2012-01-24T15:38:00.001-06:00

As one who is fast approaching the half-century mark, I am reminded frequently just "how old" I am.

Like this morning, a coworker (who is part of the half-century club and likes to tease me about how soon I will be joining the elite ranks) mentioned that another coworker was born a few days prior to me being hired. I'm old enough to be her mother!

I also noticed ANOTHER coworker was born a month before I graduated from high school. And to be honest, I'm thinking there my be a couple more that fit that category as well!

So why don't I FEEL that old, I keep asking myself? Oh sure, I forget stuff. I have achy joints. And if I sit too long I have a hard time standing. I sometimes think, however, that the age of my children is the gauge by which I measure how old I feel.

So, if I have a friend and her son is 3, and my youngest is 9, then by my internal math system (I totally stink at math, by the way, and had to have my son show me how to do fifth grade math again, and he's in the ninth grade, but that's a story for another time) she is only six years younger than me. Of course, this is not the case. I am old enough to be HER mother, as well!

Are you as young as you feel? Wasn't that a movie made BEFORE I was born or something? Apparently I am NOT as young as I feel, but I guess that isn't all bad.

Don't even get me started on how I feel about my age in dog years!!!

Dawn

A contest

2012-01-23T17:03:00.000-06:00

As communications person for North Dakota Farm Bureau, I am always looking for ways to bridge what seems to be the ever-widening gap between farmers and non-farmers.

There are a lot of voices out there that aren't very friendly toward modern farming and ranching. But we keep trying to connect where connections are bad or gone. So this year, for North Dakota Farm Bureau Week, we are holding an "I Am Agriculture" contest on Facebook.

North Dakota Farm Bureau Week is March 11-17, and the contest runs from now until March 1.The idea is for people to share a short (150-word) essay about the positive things agriculture does for them, and to include a photo that helps tell that 150-word story.

We have a few entries already, but we'd like to see a mess of them!

If you'd like to join the group, please go to the page and request to join! It could be worth $250 to the winner.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/204847432941374/

Dawn

Wait a few hours....

2012-01-19T17:13:00.001-06:00

Two weeks ago, I was posting pictures of my snow-free, never-got-autumn-work-done flower beds in 30+ degree weather.

This morning? -10, with a windchill that made it seem like -20-something. After -15, unless it gets down to the -40s, it just doesn't really matter. It's all cold.

What do they say again, about North Dakota weather? I think it's something like "You don't like the weather? Wait a few hours. It'll change."

Well, it took a little longer than a few hours, but when the cold moved in, it did so with impressive gusto.

But we still have almost zero snow. So it actually looks nice outside.

Oh, how deceiving those looks can be!

We like to think of ourselves as pretty tough in the north country. But when you have really warm weather for extended periods of time, you can, well, get a little soft. To be totally honest, I have become a cold-weather wimp!

Just last week, I was taking the dog out in my stocking feet. Now, I'm stepping into the boots, putting on a coat, and wearing my gloves. And I'm doing all of that just to put him out on a chain, which takes all of maybe 30 seconds to do.

Here's the really interesting part, however. At least as of this morning, the forecast is that we could get back into the 30+ area this weekend.

It's a roller-coaster, yes, but hey, it keeps us on our toes. Or more precisely, it keeps us from ever putting away our sweatshirts and shorts OR our winter parkas and boots. Because up here, if it hits 30+, we're wearing shorts and sweatshirts.

Hmmm! Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Ah! North Dakota weather. You just can't beat it! (Even if you wanted to!)

Dawn

Autumn art on a cold winter day

2012-01-18T17:07:00.002-06:00

I love leaves and will gravitate to just about anything that has a leaf pattern. So when my artiste daughter was bored the other day I asked if she would draw me a leaf picture. She started and then got mad because it didn't turn out like she envisioned. I told her to keep at it and a little while later, this is what she produced.

I feel pretty lucky that I have an artist who will create made-to-request autumn art on a cold winter day!

Dawn

Situational morning person

2012-01-17T17:05:00.000-06:00

Are you a morning person? I never used to be, but I think I have become a morning person...at least during the week. Well, I don't know if that makes me an actual morning person or a situational morning person, but as my daughter sleepily stood in the bathroom while I touched up the haircut I gave her last night, she said to me, "I don't know how you can be this busy so early in the morning!"

She's nine.

Going on 16.

But that's another story for another time.

I think I'm a morning person because somebody has to be in the house, otherwise nobody gets to where they need to be on time. And if nobody ELSE gets to where they need to be, I don't get where I need to be. So maybe it's not even "situational morning person" but rather "necessity morning person."

On the weekends, I do NOT want to get up early. I want to sleep until my back aches and my neck hurts and I have a caffeine withdrawal headache. So, if you get me up before 9 a.m., I just might give you a dirty look. Which is kind of dumb, really, because if I got up by, say, 8 a.m., I probably wouldn't ache and I wouldn't have a withdrawal headache. But there is something about laying in bed until you want to get up (or guilt sets in and you think you better get up) that is extremely attractive.

So if you ever ask me if I'm a morning person and I kind of seem non-committal, it's just because I can't decide myself!

Dawn

Little rowdy

2012-01-12T12:32:00.001-06:00

Ahhh, the wonders of the Internet.

I was thinking about my dad's mom, my grandma Carrie, the other day. She has been gone for several years now. I remember her as this little white-haired lady who baked awesome buns, had a perpetual smile on her face and talked to the critters on the farm in Swedish.

I never really understood what she was saying, but she'd call the dog -- and this is my best guess at a phonetic spelling: Lil-A BOO-sa -- which I always thought meant "little mutt" because that's what we always had around the farm: Mutts.

But for some reason, I just decided that I was going to find out for sure. I get these ideas in my head sometimes, and I just keep going until I figure it out. (I did want to be a detective at one point when I was a kid.)

Well, that's when I found this wonderful little Google tool called Google Translate. At first I typed in the word "lila boosa" thinking the way I remember her saying it might be the way it is spelled. Turned out that meant purple boos. So then I tried "lila buss." That got me "purple bus." So I was just going to take off the "s" and put an "a" when it said at the bottom "Did you mean lilla bus?"

So I clicked on it. And adding that "l" changed the word from "purple" to "little."

I was half-way there!

So I added an "a" to "bus" and up came the translation, "little mischief." When I changed the "a" to an "e" the meaning came up as "little rowdy." The "a" version and the "e" version of buse/busa sounded about the same to me when I listened to what it would sound like in Swedish.

In fact, when I listened to the Swedish pronunciation, it made me a little sad, because it reminded me so much of my grandma. But it also brought a smile to my face. Because here all this time, my grandma Carrie was calling the dog "little mischief" or "little rowdy."

That has so much more character than "little mutt" and really fits what I remember of my grandma's personality much better.

We have a "lilla busa" at our house and I think from now on in Grandma Carrie's honor, that's the Springer's second name!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Springer sitting

2012-01-11T16:49:00.002-06:00

He CAN sit and stay long enough to get a picture!!!!

The teal emergency

2012-01-10T14:11:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, I was talking to a coworker when a call came from my nine-year-old daughter. Her bookmark that she made had been besmirched by a water stain. I suggested she make a new one. "I can't," she replied, "because APPARENTLY the teal mark is all dried up."

"Just use a different color," I said unwittingly.

That's when she got really upset. "No!" she huffed.

Apparently (now I know where she gets her vocabulary) this was an artiste's (you add the "e" and pronounce it ar-TEEST when said artist is a persnickety one) creation, and no sorta-blue-green kind of colored marker would do.

So I calmly inquired what brand of markers she was using. She told me. I said I would stop by at the store on the way home to see if they had that brand.

"I highly doubt it," she said. "These markers are old. They probably don't make this kind anymore."

"We'll see," I responded.

At this point, I have to point out that we probably have so many dried up markers in our house, I could build an outhouse with them all. Nevertheless, I dutifully stopped at the store on my way home from work. And there they were, in all their glory: The markers in the 16-pack with that ever-important teal colored marker. It didn't just say "teal" either. It was like "terribly-tenacious-total-takeover-teal." (Okay, it wasn't that bad, but that's the way I felt looking for it!)

I got home and plopped the markers on the table saying something like, "Found 'em!"

She looked at them, nodded and continued doing what she was doing.

Apparently, the teal emergency just was not THAT much of an emergency.

I just turned around and said, "Thanks, Mom!!!"

A small, sheepish, "Thank you, Mom!" quickly followed.

And the new bookmark? Pretty nice. But to be honest, I thought the one with the watermark looked more "artsy." Shh! don't tell the artiste!

Dawn

Spring's work in January?

2012-01-06T16:06:00.002-06:00

Well here's something you don't see every day in the north land!

I took these pictures yesterday of my backyard. It clearly shows that we have zero snow. It also clearly shows that I did not get done cutting down all my flowers last fall before the snow....ahem....flew. Well we MUST have had a little snow at some point a while back, and I'm pretty sure that's why this stuff is not cut down. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

You will note on the first photo with the St. Francis statue in it that there is a small debris pile in the lower right-hand corner. So I did actually start the job.

But why, you ask, am I not doing this clean-up work now since there is no snow? Well, when you have record-setting 59-degree weather in God's Country at the beginning of January, you don't spend it doing yard work. You basically just stand around and spend your time marveling at how warm it is outside! Or you run around the yard photographing your ineptitude when it comes to doing that fall flowerbed work.

To be honest, after all the floods and snow North Dakota had last year, I think this respite is actually much-needed. I know the pendulum is probably swinging from one extreme to the other, but you can't swing from one extreme to the other without hitting center, and I'm telling myself we're at center for now.

I'm sure soon enough we'll start worrying about how we don't have enough moisture, but for now, I'm happy with these sunny, warm My Two Acres days!

Dawn

The year in review...

2011-12-30T13:27:00.001-06:00

I have seen a lot of people highlight their most popular blog post on their blogs, so as part of my year in review, I thought I'd do the same....

My most popular post wasn't even something I wrote. It was a share from a Twitter friend, featuring a video of So God Made a Farmer, voiced by Paul Harvey. I just watched it again. It still sends shivers down (or up) my spine.

My next most popular blog post was how I couldn't comment on my own blog. I got a comment back from Sarah at The House Ag Built about how to fix it. It worked for me and apparently for other folks as well, because it generated the most comments, all saying, "Hey, it worked for me, too!"

So, thank you Sarah for sharing your wisdom and thank me for complaining! :)

Otherwise, what can I say about 2011?

One word: WET.

Snow and rain pretty much dominates my memories of 2011. Does that happen as you get older? Do you just spend more and more time thinking about and marveling at the weather? Or was 2011 one for the record books? Well, I watched a special on television the other night, and it would seem that weather made big news all over the place. So even though I'm getting old, I can pretend it was just that wild of a weather year.

It started in January. I happened to be in Atlanta when they got the mother of all ice storms. Pretty much shut down the city. Luckily, I was one of the few people who didn't have their flight cancelled or changed. I got back home without having to wash out a single pair of underwear.

We had snow until....well actually, I don't remember when until. But my post on May 18 indicates that things were growing, so it couldn't have been that bad. Why do I remember it being bad?

Maybe because everyone was bracing themselves for the Missouri River flood. Our home was never in peril -- we'd have to have a flood of Noah proportions for that to happen -- but we knew plenty of others who weren't so lucky.

Then in late June, the Mouse River flooded and many, many homes in Minot and in other cities along the river did not survive the devastation.

It rained so much farmers around the state couldn't plant their crops and I didn't have to water the garden -- that I didn't get planted until June 19 -- more than two or three times the whole summer. Despite all the rain, the late planting date meant the corn didn't mature and the carrots were few and far between (of course it didn't help that my daughter thought the carrot tops were weeds). But I did have awesome pumpkin crop. All these babies were from our garden....

Some time in late August, God must have realized the faucet had been leaking a little too much in this neck of the woods. Our fall was gorgeous and our winter has been unseasonably warm and without snow. And it sounds like we will be going into 2012 with nary a bit of the white stuff.

What do you remember most about your 2011?

Dawn

Yes, I'm getting older, but I'm doing it in style!

2011-12-29T14:34:00.000-06:00

The other day, when the cyber-bullies got my computer and it crashed irretrievably, the negative self-talk started almost immediately. You old buffoon, I thought. How could you not see it? You're getting old!

Then my mindset suddenly changed.

Well, of course, I am getting old, I told myself. It's part of the whole deal. We all get older with each minute. (Wow! That sounds all downer-like and stuff, doesn't it?) But I didn't think of it in that way.

Like Faye Zurcher says in this Minot Daily News story, it's not so bad because the older you get, the less people expect of you.

Or maybe we expect a little less from ourselves.

At least that's what I think is happening to me. Maybe it has to do with the fact that you realize you are getting older and you can't be expected to juggle as many balls as you could when you were 25.

Or maybe it's self-acceptance; the thought that, maybe, just maybe, you are okay, just the way you are. You don't have to be like somebody else to be somebody. And that maybe all this time the only one you've been trying to prove yourself to, is yourself. And you're finally satisfied with the results.

If that's what it means to get older, I'm looking forward to the rest of the ride.

Plus the extra nap time!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Crashed!

2011-12-28T15:19:00.000-06:00

My computer was wiped out by a virus. Totally. Suddenly, this is looking like the way to go!

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas

2011-12-22T16:03:00.000-06:00

It has been a few years since this has happened, but the ground will be brown at My Two Acres this year for Christmas.

At first I said I would be happy if we had at least a little of the white stuff for the holiday.

It is a woman's prerogative to change her mind, right? Well, I'm changing it!!!

I'm thinking no snow is the way to go. Especially after the abundance that we have had the last few years.

This is grass. Normally, it would be under at least a couple feet of the white stuff by now.

And as I hear it, it could be around 40 degrees on Christmas Day.

That's what I love about North Country weather. It's like watching a movie with the plot twist you never saw coming! Or like the guy that found a mountain lion in his house:

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/grassy-butte-rancher-kills-mountain-lion-in-his-house/article_1bb75bac-2ce3-11e1-a47d-001871e3ce6c.html

Keeps us on our toes!

Merry Christmas to all!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

2011-12-21T17:07:00.003-06:00

Hunk of Meat Monday: Slow-cooked pheasant

2011-12-19T16:17:00.002-06:00

I haven't made this recipe for a few years, but I did this weekend, and by golly, it's as good as I remember! The thing that takes the longest in the preparation of this delish dish is cutting apart the pheasant and searching for errant BBs!

Once it's in the oven, you can do all kinds of other things. (My daughter and I went shopping for a "girl" present for her class Christmas party.)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Ingredients:
Dried beef
Two phesants, cut into pieces
1 package low sodium bacon
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz of sour cream

Place a layer of rinsed dried beef in the bottom of a cake pan.

Wrap pieces of cut-up pheasant in bacon.

Mix 8 oz. of sour cream with one can of cream of mushroom soup.

Spread soup and sour cream mixture evenly over the bacon wrapped pieces of pheasant.

Cover and bake at 250 degrees for two hours. Remove foil and bake another hour.

Just getting ready to pull it out of the oven!

It's very rich, but it sure taste delicious. The pheasant stays super moist and it tastes great served over wild rice.

Dawn

Photo Friday: Snow dust

2011-12-16T16:53:00.001-06:00

A dusting of snow on my beat-up old watering can with some lifeless moonbeam coreopsis just to the right. Thought it was kinda purty!

Dawn

Clean kitchen psychology

2011-12-15T12:19:00.000-06:00

We started a new thing last week: Keeping the kitchen clean.

By that, I mean no piles of mail on the counter, no keeping art projects and crayons on the counter, no dirty dishes in the sink and no leaving clean dishes in the sink to air dry.

Now, I like to think of myself as a glass-half full kind of girl. I don't like to dwell on the negative. And I LOVE coming home to a clean kitchen after work.

There is a but....

When your kitchen is clean, you don't really like to mess it up. (Of course the "you" in this sentence is really "me" but I'm hoping that I get a few commiserators nodding their heads!)

But the messing up part is inevitable.

I made cookies one night after supper this week so my son could take them to a function the next evening. By the time I cleaned up after supper, messed up the kitchen making the cookies and cleaned up again, I was seriously starting to question this whole clean kitchen project.

I felt like my whole evening was spent in the kitchen, and truthfully, I guess it came pretty close. Because by the time I had everything cleaned up, it was time to start getting kids ready for bed.

Suddenly, I'm going, "I thought this clean kitchen thing was supposed to make me feel good!"

And that makes me crabby.

So, contrary to making me feel all happy and in control, I'm crabby because we have a clean kitchen.

I'm also crabby when the kitchen is a mess.

What have we learned? Maybe I'm just crabby!

Hmmm. Time for lunch.

Dawn

What's for supper?

2011-12-13T15:42:00.000-06:00

Do you and your family eat meals together often? I ask because I can honestly say that the only time we aren't eating supper together is when my kids are having sleepovers at other people's houses.

Oh, our supper might consist of nothing more than a frozen pizza and carrot sticks if we're in a hurry to get out the door for something. But my family and I, with our decidedly spoiled Springer drooling profusely next to the table, generally eat supper together five or six nights out of the week.

I didn't truly realize we are a mealtime anomaly until I ran across the following blog post...

Cooking for my family is, in my own weird way, my ultimate expression of love for them. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, it's just what my internal compass says is important.

Of course, that means that I am CONSTANTLY asking, "What do you want for supper?"

I said it was important for me to cook for my family. I didn't say I was very creative when it came to the kitchen.

I'm not much of a food experimenter. I find a recipe that generates a positive response, and I will keep going back to it until I hear the groans when I say, "I'm making beef stroganoff."

I do tend to use a few of those kit meals too. Buy two bags of the stuff, throw them in the pan and heat until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees! Supper in 15! Whew!

So I'm by no means a virtuoso in the kitchen. I'm just steady. And probably too predictable. But at least I can say my need to "meal my family" has some positive benefits for them.

Here all this time, I just thought I was being selfish!

Dawn

Thankful Thursday: I saw the word "Norwegian"

2011-12-08T14:42:00.001-06:00

I was scanning an email I received this morning and caught the word "Norwegian" and any time I see that word, I always have to stop and read it. I like to call myself a Swede, probably because they don't get as much grief as Norwegians, but I still carry a quarter of that Norsky blood in my veins. (That may explain a few things about me!)

But when I saw the reason for the article, I just had to smile...

Norwegians Dismayed by Butter Shortage

Reuters reports that citizens of Norway are facing a critical shortage of butter, thanks to a high-fat, low-carb diet craze sweeping the nation. The timing could not be worse, as traditional Norwegian holiday foods call for abundant use of butter and other dairy products. Retail prices have soared along with demand, with some shoppers now paying four times the typical price for butter."

Oh, I'm so proud right now! Seriously! I LOVE Norwegian holiday food. I LOVE Swedish holiday food too. In fact, I might get them a little confused from time to time because, well, with so many of both at the family gatherings, I was never really sure what came from where. And although the recipe link I'm sharing here isn't necessarily the same recipe my mom used for the cookies I ate as a kid, they look JUST like the cookies my mom used to make. And it even has "butter" right in the name!

http://www.food.com/recipe/norwegian-butter-cookies-265591

So on this Thankful Thursday, I'm thankful for my Norsky-Swede heritage and all those Norwegian/Swedish holiday treats. But I'm even more thankful for living in the United States, where there is no shortage of butter!

I can just FEEL those unwanted pounds, ready to pounce on me!!!

Dawn

I have this notebook....

2011-12-06T16:54:00.001-06:00

I carry one of those little 3 x 5 inch notebooks in my purse so I can write down important information in it, like what groceries I need to get when I run to the store over my lunch hour!

But the other day, I noticed that I had a few "surprises" in my book. They are courtesy of my nine-year-old, who just needs to pick up a pencil and draw every once in awhile. These little gems always bring a smile to my face!

This is one notebook I will keep!

Dawn

The dapper Swede and the "iffy" Scot

2011-12-02T15:41:00.001-06:00

Bless my mother's heart. Not too long ago, she made copies of a photo from my past and gave it to me. I look at it about every day and I can't help but smile.

The tow-head on the left is one of my younger brothers, who actually stands about that much taller than me now when I'm NOT sitting and at 40+ is STILL a tow-head. And, of course, the goof with the tam and tartan plaid who looks like she is thinking, "Do I have to have my picture taken" is none other than yours truly.

I am pretty sure my mom sewed that outfit for me because she was -- and still is -- very handy with a sewing machine. I did not inherit that ability. About the only thing I do is put patches on knees of jeans and sew buttons back on shirts. I did sew a comforter once. ONCE. It has been relegated to the bed in the camper, but I have to admit that, even after all these years, it still has a lot of wear in it. I am much happier buying my comforters, these days!

I don't remember for sure if this is an "after church" shot or not, but I'm guessing it is, because we are posing on the steps of the house that was my grandma and grandpa's house. We typically went to Grandma and Grandpa's on Sundays after church and they probably thought we looked so cute in our Sunday best that they needed to get a photo before we shed or filthied what we were wearing.

This house is actually my tow-headed brother's house now, and since he is a farmer/carpenter, he has done a lot of updates. The steps are no longer there (or if they are, they are covered up with a deck).

It's kind of funny how you forget so much until you see a picture like this. I will treasure it because it reminds me of all the wonderful memories of growing up on a farm and how much I love my family, even though the visits are short and few and far between.

Dawn

My last Focus

2011-12-01T13:13:00.001-06:00

After 26 years writing for and almost as long editing North Dakota Farm Bureau's official publication, which has been through more than one make-over, I'm letting go.

To be honest, it's about time!

I read a Dakota Farmer story not too very long ago with the headline: Your No. 1 Job - Replace Yourself. It was a story about one of Jolene Brown's talks, and granted she was talking about farmers, but I still think it is pretty good advice, no matter what business you are in.

Jolene said that if you want the farm to continue, and you are in your 50s, you better think about switching from being a manager to a mentor.

I must point out that I have a few months before I become part of the "in your 50s clan," but I have also been around long enough to know that no one is irreplaceable. And when an opportunity comes along to shake things up a little, well, it seems like you should take advantage of the opportunity!

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed every minute of writing for NDFB's publication. I was able to be a part of some changes and experiments -- Dakota Family, Perspective, Focus -- in the last 26 years. And for that, I am extremely thankful. But, at the same time, sometimes people need to change too. I'm at that changing place. So it was extremely cool that Joey Tigges came along. I'm totally excited to see what she will do to take Farm Bureau's publication in new and exciting directions.

Meanwhile, I'll be "focusing" on web, radio and video.

Dawn

Woot! I'm not a dinosaur!

2011-11-29T16:43:00.001-06:00

My daughter, who is nine, was telling me the other day some of the new words in the dictionary. I'm not sure WHICH dictionary it was, but the one that caught my attention was "woot." I don't actually remember any of the other words she was talking about because I was just so darn tickled that I knew one of them, my ears lost their ability to hear after "woot."

I was excited because, lately, I have been really feeling someone's age; someone who I figure is at least ten years older than me. I don't think approaching 50 is old. Heck, I don't think approaching 60 is old, actually, but I am just not ready for all the tired, achy and breaky feelings that I'm having at "approaching 50."

And I feel like I'm getting more and more disorganized every day. I used to blame my disorganization on juggling too many balls at once, but I have since dropped a few, and the ones that are still in the air are getting more slippery and more difficult to focus on.

Like on Sunday, for instance, I went all-out and made German comfort food like only a Swede could. I bought frozen knoephla, boiled it and made half of it into knoephla soup and the other half into whatever you call the sausage, knoephla and kraut concoction. And it took me 'bout all afternoon. It was delicious, but I was exhausted by the time we ate supper.

I try to exercise every morning at dark thirty, at least five days a week. I try not to eat too much. I try to get enough sleep. But none of it is stopping my slow progression into dinosaurdom.

So call me silly, but knowing the definition of "woot" BEFORE my daughter explained it to me just boosted my approaching 50 ego a little bit.

Dawn

What I am thankful for...

2011-11-24T10:30:00.000-06:00

I love my family, my friends and my job.

Yes, I love my job. Because I get to hang out with and promote the work of people like this...

And there are so many of them! This is just one example of all the people who are passionate about agriculture.

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: 57 in November

2011-11-23T15:18:00.000-06:00

'Nuff said!

Chocolate mice

2011-11-21T17:03:00.001-06:00

I just thought these were too cute. A coworker brought them to work and I just had to take a picture! Chocolate mice. Cherries dipped in chocolate with a Hershey's Kiss for the head, a couple of slivered almonds for ears and a few dollops of red frosting for the eyes and nose.

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Farm scene

2011-11-16T16:00:00.001-06:00

My monkey, at it again with farm scenes. This time, we are treated to the rear of a bull!

Writing goodbye

2011-11-15T17:07:00.001-06:00

You know, I'm not very good at saying goodbye. The operative word in that sentence is "saying." I tend to cry when I have to "say" goodbye. I guess that's one of the reasons I write.

Some people may find this an impersonal way of sharing, but for me, it's the best way to express how I feel. The words on paper say so much more about what I feel that what I can actually spit out of my tongue-tied mouth.

For instance....

I was interviewing North Dakota Farm Bureau president Eric Aasmundstad for a news release explaining why he decided not to run again. I think there were three times during that conversation (thank goodness it was over the phone) that I got a catch in my throat. I found myself having a hard time asking the next question.

But it is easy for me to write when I am emotionally invested in the story. And it seems like I do get emotionally invested in just about every story I write. As you can imagine, it can get kind of exhausting when the stories are of loss or injustice. That's probably why I tend to like writing happy stories about the good things people do.

I know happy doesn't sell as well as loss and injustice, but it sure keeps me in a better writing frame of mind!

Dawn

I am sad

2011-11-14T17:04:00.001-06:00

A week ago Saturday, the man who taught me how to drive, who taught me how to fish, who TRIED to teach me how to water ski, passed away.

His was my uncle. He had cancer.

Despite the fact that my uncle did all these things for me, once I left home, we didn't keep in touch. The only time I really saw him was when I went back to visit my parents and he happened to stop by the farm.

His wife died less than a month ago.

I went back for her funeral and he stood, with difficulty, greeting all the people who came to grieve with him. I gave him a big hug, wishing that I could say thank you for being such an awesome uncle. But all I could do was hug him.

That's the last time I saw him alive.

We buried both of them this past weekend at a small rural cemetery.

It was beautiful that they were buried together, and I know that my uncle is no longer suffering.

But I'm still sad.

Dawn

Does it pay to prefer present procrastinational proclivities?

2011-11-04T14:57:00.001-05:00

It's November 4. According to a recent survey by Rasmussen, 23 percent of those surveyed have started their holiday shopping.

If anybody would ask me that I would conclude that they have zero knowledge of my outstanding present procrastinational proclivities! Holiday shopping? Me? Seriously? I haven't even thought about taking down the Halloween decorations, or pulled out the winter coats, or boots or any of that stuff that we will all need when the snow starts to fly.

For a Northlander, it just doesn't seem right to shop for Christmas presents until you get a good foot of snow on the ground. So that winter that we actually didn't get snow until January? No Christmas presents at our house!

Okay, I'm kidding about that. But I did hold off until the last possible minute and didn't enjoy being amongst the frenzied husbands buying vacuums and towels for their wives' Christmas presents. Okay, I'm kidding about that too, because I don't actually remember any of it, because I was in a frenzy myself. But I do remember the date: December 23. I probably won't do that again.

But, when you have big holidays in the two preceding months leading up to Christmas, the point of being too enthusiastic about shopping for Christmas gets lost on me. I mean, I was fixing Halloween costumes 10 minutes before the kids went out the door. Those pumpkins the kids carved the DAY BEFORE Halloween? They're going to sit on the front step until they start to stink!

And even though nobody but the turkey gets "dressed up" for Thanksgiving, it's still a family thing with lots of food and plenty of visiting. Our tradition is to start asking at those Thanksgiving "stuffings" if anything really wants anything for Christmas.

And you know what? Seems like there are fewer and fewer wants or needs. It's a struggle to get a Christmas list out of anyone. When I was a kid, the Christmas list was a mile long. And we waited and waited for what seemed like MONTHS to get that Julia doll or the new Tonka truck. Now, if someone wants something, they go out and buy it for themselves. And sometimes they will purchase those things just days before Christmas, and I have to return the thing that I purchased for them that they decided to purchase for themselves...grrrrr!

So you see, most often it pays to prefer present procrastinational proclivities.

Other than the fact that "procrastinational" is not a word, that's my excuse for not being among the 23 percent, and I'm stickin' to it!

Dawn

Northern exposure

2011-11-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

I may have mentioned this before, but my daughter -- she's nine -- went through a phase where all she wanted to do was watch HGTV. She loved looking at all the houses and how they were decorated and trying to guess which house the buyers would ultimately choose.

Then she kind of lost interest. But last night, we snuggled on the couch and watched "House Hunters" on HGTV. Right before the 9 p.m. episode started, I went into the kitchen to get my daughter a snack so I missed the beginning, but my daughter called out, "Mom, what does 'trauma' mean?"

So I explained. Then I asked her, "Why?" I suddenly heard, "Fargo" emanating from the television. I ran back into the living room and said, "Fargo? North Dakota?"

My daughter nodded, like it was no big deal.

Well, of course it was! North Dakota houses featured on HGTV? And featuring super-cool houses at that? I was glued to the television!

And today, the headline of the Fargo Forum read, Fargo home makes HGTV.

I think North Dakota has arrived!! Not only are we getting national attention for all the jobs we have available in the oil patch, we are showing people that we have pretty classy homes full of history and beauty too!

What an awesome place to live! And by the way, happy 122nd birthday, North Dakota.

Dawn

Tenacious art

2011-11-01T16:41:00.002-05:00

Whether it's drawing cartoon characters or carving pumpkins, art is huge with my kids. My son was carving his pumpkin the other night and it was all detailed and creative and he was scraping and carving and it took him hours.

He said, while he was carving his masterpiece, "I'm never going to do this again."

I laughed.

He then said, "I bet I said that last year, didn't I"?

Smart kid! I laughed again and said, "Yep!"

Then the two of them (my son and daughter) got into a discussion about art. It was fun to listen to them discuss it. They sounded like a couple of adults.

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but it went something like this....

She: Don't worry if it isn't perfect. I don't get too bent out of shape when my stuff doesn't turn out perfect.

He: That's not true. You get mad.

She: Not really mad.

And then the really profound statement that stuck with me:

He: You have to be a perfectionist if you are going to be an artist. You have to notice the things you don't like instead of all the things you do like, otherwise, how are you going to get any better at it?

I had to admit that, although I am constantly telling them to not be so darn serious and have fun with their art, I just may have to change my tune. I mean, how can you argue with a statement like, "You have to notice the things you don't like....otherwise how are you going to get any better?"

Well, I still don't think they have to be perfectionists, just tenacious. It worked for my son!

Besides, "tenacious" sounds "artier" than perfectionist!

Dawn

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T16:35:00.000-05:00

Photo Friday: Sun, planets and stars

2011-10-28T14:49:00.000-05:00

My Monkey's drawing of our solar system.

Thankful Thursday: Inspiration from Beyer Beware

2011-10-27T16:16:00.001-05:00

A week ago, I favorited a blog post that I read from Leah Beyer about the things she has never done. I thought, "Wow! I haven't done a lot of the same things SHE hasn't done, and although I'm not twice as old as she is, when you compare our ages in dog years, well, I feel like I should have done a lot more by now!"

Leah has never owned a Ford. I haven't either, but my parents owned one and let me drive it when I was a teenager. I totalled it in a roll-over. On April Fool's Day 1978. On my way to school. On a Saturday.

Leah has never been sky diving. Neither have I. I don't know about her, but I intend to keep this particular item in the "I have never" list.

On the opposite side of the list, Leah has never had black hair. I have had black hair. I have had red hair. I have had slightly pinkish hair, the result of a teensy-weesny bit of miscommunication between my stylist and myself. (Is that the right word to use?)

But rather than compare what Leah and I have and haven't done, I thought I should make my own list. So with thanks to Leah Beyer's infectious funny bone, here is my, "What I Haven't Done," list:

I haven't:

1. Eaten a Rocky Mountain Oyster (and I never will).

2. Slept in an igloo.

3. Flown an ultra-light. (Although one did fly over our house not too long ago, and I felt a teensy bit jealous!)

4. Watched an entire Halloween movie (because I closed my eyes at the scary parts).

5. Showered with my clothes on. (I actually don't know why I thought of this!)

6. Refrigerated my glasses (the ones that go on my face, I mean. Although I have mistakenly refrigerated cereal and canned goods in the past).

7. Read any of the Harry Potter books.

8. Taken apart an engine.

9. Put an engine together.

10. Learned to play the guitar.

11. Made cherries jubilee.

12. Actually done a scientific "science fair" project. (Oh, I did projects, they were just pretty lame!!)

13. Played in a hip-hop group (although I do have the rock and country group thing covered).

14. Sung the national anthem at a ball game.

15. Caught a greased pig. Come to think of it, I've never chased one, either.

16. Taken my dog to a groomer.

17. Told my kids to become doctors or lawyers.

18. Invented anything.

19. Flown across an ocean. Any ocean.

20. Eaten sushi.

21. Watched It's a Wonderful Life without crying.

22. Watched Toy Story 3 without crying!

23. Planted zucchini.

24. Driven a tractor, or combine or any other farm implement. (My brothers always got to do that, darn them!)

25. Balanced the checkbook for, well, a really, really long time.

26. Envisioned my life 10 years from now. When I was two months from high school graduation, I couldn't picture myself actually graduating. When I was a month away from graduating from college, I never imagined what life would be like after college.

Overall, I'd have to say that NOT doing these things hasn't made my life any less fulfilling. In fact, some of the best things have been happy accidents.

So, I guess I'm just taking it all one day at a time!! Hey, that's something I HAVE done.

What haven't you done?

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: National Pumpkin Day

2011-10-26T14:50:00.001-05:00

Last year's pumpkins...

What will these become?

Comfort roast

2011-10-25T17:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a day to share Hunk of Meat Monday recipes, and while I did have a hunk of meat, I didn't include the recipe for it because I figure everyone knows how to make a crock pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions.

So rather than share the recipe, I'm going to share how that old roast makes me feel.

It's straight-up comfort food.

Seriously.

I put the roast and all the fixings in the crock pot yesterday at noon and when I got home from work last night, the house smelled like, well it smelled like comfort, for lack of a better word.

And after I chopped down all my peonies and put the protective cover over the entrance to the septic system (managing to get my gloved hands pretty cold in the process) I was ready for some nice, warm comfort food.

There is just something about a roast and all the fixings on a cold fall day that boosts the spirits.

When I went home at noon today, the faint smell of roast and onions still lingered in the house.

It actually made me smile. (And salivate a little too, I must confess.)

The other wonderful thing about crock pot roast is it tastes just as good (maybe even better) than it did the first time. It even tastes good warmed up in the microwave, which is not something I can say about a lot of the foods I cook.

Crock pot comfort roast. Hmmm. Has a nice ring to it. (And an even better taste!)

Dawn

Meat, milk and eggs

2011-10-21T16:48:00.002-05:00

I go grocery shopping nearly every day. I'm not very good about stocking up and it seems like I'm always running out of something. And I know if I don't have the three staples: meat, milk and eggs, we are either going to go out for supper, or I will be making another trip to the grocery store.

I was watching a video today from the Center for Food Integrity on making ethical food choices and I one of the statistics they presented was: From 1960 to 2010, the land required to produce all the meat, milk and eggs for each person the the United States declined by roughly two-thirds.

When you think about it, that's pretty amazing. Farmers and ranchers continue to do more with less. It is the efficiency and technological advancements that have made this possible. In fact, it makes me pretty darn proud of our farmers and ranchers.

The video also included a quote by Norman Borlaug from 2000 which really made me think. "The world has the technology to feed, on a sustainable basis, 10 billion people. The pertinent question today is whether farmers and ranchers will be permitted to use this technology."

I work for North Dakota Farm Bureau, and one of the biggest things we have undertaken since I started here is to initiate a petition drive to safeguard modern farming and ranching in the state. The committee sponsoring the petition drive is called the Feeding Families Committee.

I have heard people say this isn't needed in North Dakota. That the language is too broad. That this is just a way for farmers and ranchers to do whatever they want, to the detriment of the environment.

I beg to differ. I encourage you to go to the N.D. Feeding Families site and check it out. (The entire Center for Food Integrity video is embedded there.) We believe modern agriculture has made all our lives so much better, but there are those that think we need to limit proven technologies. The petition drive isn't about letting farmers do what they want, it's about letting consumers CONTINUE getting what they want: affordable, safe good. And the best way to do that is to make sure farmers and ranchers are able to continue using modern practices and technology.

Meat, milk and eggs, anyone?

Dawn

Cheese whiz and green olives

2011-10-20T13:01:00.002-05:00

The occasion wasn't a happy one -- an aunt's funeral -- but the get-together afterward with family and Cheese Whiz and green olive sandwiches reminded me of the precious gift we have called life, and that happy memories are so important.

I get busy. I think I need to be supermom, superwife, superworker...super, super, super.

But when the uncle who taught you how to drive and TRIED to teach you how to waterski loses his beloved wife, you stop and realize that it is those family moments, sometimes noisy, sometimes quiet, that are the real stuff of this life.

You haven't lived until you have eaten a Cheese Whiz and green olive sandwich. It was a staple at church and Swede-family get-togethers when I was a kid. In fact, I don't think I have eaten one since I was a kid. My cousin, bless her heart, made them for the potluck. The first bite brought back an unexpected flood of happy memories of growing up on the farm.

They were so yummy, I had two.

Dawn

Not as bad as we thought

2011-10-18T16:03:00.001-05:00

We often joke around the house that our dog (who is a completely spoiled, shoe-stealing, sock chewing Springer Spaniel) is a bad dog.

Last night, my daughter and I were watching a program called "Bad Dog" on television, and by golly, Springer is an angel, compared to that dog!

Nevertheless, I have managed to catch Springer in a couple of bad dog moments.

A dragging blanket chew!

A shoe chew (shoes are his favorite)!

A devil dog glove chew (although the red eye is only from the camera, I swear!)

A chew on the "lift" I use in my shoe because my left leg is shorter than my right!

Cute, isn't he? And a semi-bad dog, I guess!

Dawn

Hunk of Meat Monday: It ain't pretty, but it sure is yummy

2011-10-17T16:08:00.001-05:00

I never thought I would share a recipe that included SPAM, but I'm here to tell ya' that this is a pretty good "pizza burger."

That's what we call it at our house anyway.

It's super-easy, as long as you have a grinder. I have one and the only time it sees the light of day is when I'm making these pizza burgers.

The recipe:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

1 can low-sodium SPAM
1 SPAM-sized hunk of Velveeta
1/2 an onion
1 can chili, no beans

Cut the SPAM and Velveeta into chunks. Dice the onions. Place all, alternating between the three for better mixing, into a hand grinder. Add chili and stir.

Put mixture onto buns and place in oven until cheese melts (15 minutes or so).

Serve.

That's it. Easy, and everyone loves them. (Hubby and son usually add healthy dollops of hot sauce, but they do that with just about everything anyway!)

We usually get a couple meals out of this, and I usually make about 10 open-faced buns at a time.

Enjoy!

Dawn

The pumpkin harvest

2011-10-14T15:41:00.001-05:00

I could wait no longer. Against the backdrop of a very ominous looking sky (but it had already moved past My Two Acres), I harvested our pumpkin crop.

It was very hard work....

Okay. It wasn't hard at all. Not with only five (#5 is there, merely hiding) to harvest.

As you can see, some of them are still a little green. They have already been through a frost (I did manage to cover them because I knew the frost was coming, thanks to Twitter updates) and covered numerous other evenings due to fear of frost.

For some reason, last night was different. It was cold and rainy and I had this feeling of impending pumpkin doom. So I took my son's wagon that we got for him when he was three (now 14) and headed out to the punkin' patch.

I loaded the pumpkins in the wagon, then wheeled them into the yard and took their picture.

Then, I wheeled them to the door of the garage. It was locked. So I went inside through the back door of the house, fully intending to go into the garage, unlock the door and bring in the pumpkins.

I was immediately distracted by something else. And forgot all about the pumpkins.

The wagon, full of pumpkins, sat outside. All night. In the cold.

But not too cold. Turns out, the low was 38 degrees.

I was outside, however, at 5:30 a.m. wheeling the pumpkins into the garage.

I think they are just going to stay there until carving time. My poor brain just can't take any more of the dreaded feeling of impending pumpkin doom.

Especially since this is the best (well, first) pumpkin crop I've ever harvested since planting ourselves on My Two Acres!

Dawn

Thankful Thursday: Sunrise, moonset

2011-10-13T16:09:00.003-05:00

There is something awe-inspiring and calming about the beauty of North Dakota's big sky! Yesterday morning, I was able to witness a beautiful nearly full moonset, so I stopped along the highway and snapped a quick photo. This morning, I was treated to an equally awesome sunrise. So I ran out of the office and quick snapped a couple of photos. By the time I got out there, the pinks had turned to oranges and the sun was just peaking from the horizon.

My photos don't do either justice, but there is no better way to start the work day than with a little brush with beauty! I love living in North Dakota!! (Remind me I said that when it is 30 below zero!)

Dawn

Mums the Wordless Wednesday!

2011-10-12T16:42:00.001-05:00

My mums are bloomin'!

Hunk of Meat Monday, (on Tuesday) part two

2011-10-11T09:31:00.001-05:00

The nameless recipe, as promised...

Brown:
1 lb. ground beef, add 1 packet of taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water, simmer

Mix:
2 cups Bisquick mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 tbs butter

Mix to a soft dough. Gently smooth dough into a ball on a floured surface. Knead. Roll dough into a rectangle. Spread browned hamburger over dough. Sprinkle with sliced black olives. Roll up, beginning at narrow side, and cut into 1-inch slices. Place in a greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Cheese sauce:
2 tbs butter
2 tbs Bisquick
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
pepper to taste

Melt butter over low heat in saucepan. Blend in Bisquick and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add milk. Bring to boil while stirring. Stir in cheese and heat until cheese is melted.

Pour cheese sauce over biscuits and serve.

I really liked this (but I got a thing for cheese sauce!). And my family did too. It's basically tacos using biscuits instead of taco shells.

So here are the names I came up with....

Cheesy taco loaf
Better n' caramel, taco rolls (okay, this is probably not true because caramel rolls are very, very yummy, but that's what they kind of they reminded me of when I was making them, only they're outta meat.)
Shocko Taco
Looks bad, tastes divine

If you have anything better, please share.

Here is the photo of the finished product, once more, in case that might help in the naming process!

Dawn

Hunk of Meat Monday, in two parts

2011-10-10T16:11:00.001-05:00

Well this is embarrassing! I have all these photos uploaded for my Hunk of Meat Monday recipe, but no recipe. Must be in my other pants! :)

If you feel adventurous, you can make it from the photos. Two of the ingredients are burger (as in "ham") and Bisquick. Or, you can "tune in" tomorrow and I promise I will find the recipe and post it. While you are waiting, use the photos to help me come up with a name for this. I used a recipe that I thought sounded kind of good and changed it, so I really shouldn't use the original name. What does it look like to you? (Or maybe I shouldn't ask!)

It may look a little gnarly, but it actually got some thumbs up from my family.

Until tomorrow!

Dawn

5 Ws and an H

2011-10-07T17:08:00.003-05:00

How can a trained communications person (although most days I feel more like a "communicatingbytheseatofmypants flying person, and no, that is not a typo) who deals with who, what, where, when and why at least five days out of the week, NOT do this when I get a request from my son? I mean, shouldn't this stuff be just oozing from my pores after all these years?

Case in point: My son (who) says, "Mom, I need some old piece of technology for my class that I can take apart," I say, "Okay. Like what?" And then he tells me. And then I say, "Okay, I'll think about it." And then?

I promptly forget about it.

So when he asks the following morning where his piece of technology is, I'm thrown into a panic. The bus is coming and we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to find an old piece of technology that he can take apart.

"I didn't know WHEN you needed it! You should have told me WHEN you needed it!" I'm hollering as I'm looking through drawers and boxes.

Why (oops, the fifth "W") didn't I ask more questions? How (oops, the dreaded "H") could I totally space out his request?

I'd like to blame it on the fact that I have so many "Ws and Hs" swimming through my brain at any given moment that it is impossible to keep them all straight.

In reality, I think I'm just getting old.

WHEN did that happen, anyway!?!?!?!?

Dawn

So I saw this sign

2011-10-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

I was driving back to work this afternoon, after letting Wild Springer out to pee, when I saw a sign that said, "No Interest for Five Years."

It made me laugh.

Because all I could think was, "I think I would give up if I didn't get any interest in five years."

But then I thought about it some more. And it really made me think.

One of my jobs is to get people interested in agriculture; learn about it; understand it; not jump to conclusions about it because they don't know about it.

And I have been doing this for a lot more than five years. More like 26 years.

Suddenly, "No Interest for Five Years," takes on a whole new meaning for me; a gargantuan leap from buying a sofa (or couch, depending on where you live in this great country), which is what the sign was for in the first place.

When I started working for Farm Bureau, my job was relatively simple: Tell stories about farm folks and what is important to them in a magazine.

This was before Al Gore invented the Internet (I KNOW, it's a tired old saying, but it still makes me giggle) and computers were these little boxes that did little more than word processing.

It has all become infinitely more complicated. Now, I monitor and manage websites and "tweet" and "facebook" and "youtube" and write and photograph and tell stories and share links and, and, and....

And even with all this technology and accumulated "wisdom," every day, I still feel like a newbie writing her first story.

I read a blog that makes me cry, and vow to write with more heart.

I watch a video that really tells a great story about farmers and ranchers, and it makes me want to do a better job telling stories about farmers and ranchers.

I read a comment from someone who has never been on a farm or ranch pass judgment on farmers and ranchers in a spiteful, almost hateful way, and I wonder what has happened to our appreciation for the farmers and ranchers who, despite the grumbling and negativity, continue to provide so much to all of us.

And I got all that from a "No Interest for Five Years" sign.

Imagine what I can come up with for "Depressed Wheel Tracks."

Dawn

Background backyard

2011-10-05T16:11:00.000-05:00

My blog background is leaves, and my backyard Amur Maple leaves!

Gorilla my dreams

2011-10-04T16:48:00.000-05:00

I am a messy person. I mean that in a slap-dash, always in a hurry kind of way. I tip stuff over. I run into chairs because I think I am skinnier than I am.

So this past weekend, my wicker-look front porch furniture was unraveling. (That supposedly tougher-than-wicker stuff that doesn't stand up to N.D. extremes) And I decided that I was going to fix it.

And here's a question. Why do unravel and ravel mean the same thing? If it is unraveling, shouldn't raveling mean that it is being put back together again? It's another one of those frustrating deals with our language.

But I digress.

I was rewinding the fake wicker stuff and adhering it with that wonder-glue commonly called Gorilla Glue*.

But before I knew it, the fake wicker (hereafter known as fwicker) was breaking under the stress of my rewind and unraveling/raveling again, which meant I had to touch the GG'ed* fwicker, which then meant that GG was getting all over my hands.

And, true to form, I was in a rush because I needed to saute some onions and mushrooms for the Juicy Lucys (stuffed hamburgers) we were having for supper.

Did I mention that GG was all over my hands. Yeah, I did, but I'm restating for emphasis. I mean ALL over. So I slapped some masking tape over the GG'ed fwicker and went into the house to try removing the GG.

I was not successful. I tried soap and water. I tried rubbing alcohol. I tried cooking oil. Two days later, and my thumbs still have a funky sheen to them.

So, for all of you out there who tend to be messy in a slap-dash, always in a hurry kind of way, be forewarned. Before you get your hands into the GG, read how to remove it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4777329_remove-gorilla-glue-skin.html

Or just wear some disposable gloves! Or stick with real wicker?

Dawn

Hunk of Meat Monday: BBQ Pork Chops

2011-10-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

I am a pork fiend. Yes, the "r" is missing on purpose. I love pork sausage, pork chops, pork roast. Pork. Pork. Pork.

It was always a real treat for me (growing up on a cattle farm) to get pork. Don't get me wrong. I love t-bones and big old hamburgers and beef roasts too. But pork, that other white meat, really tickles my tastebuds.

Here is one of my all-time favorite pork recipes:

8-9 boneless pork chops

1 medium lemon

1 small onion

Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup Worchestershire

1/4 brown sugar
2 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp chili powder

Tabasco to taste

1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pork chops in shallow roasting pan. On each chop, place slices of unpeeled lemon and slices of onion. Roast for 30 minutes.

Combine sauce ingredients. Bring to boil and pour over ribs.

Continue baking at 350 degrees for about an hour. If sauce gets too thick, add a little water.

Serve over rice. Yum!

Dawn

Leaf loony

2011-09-29T17:09:00.000-05:00

I realized yesterday that I am a little leaf loony. In just my kitchen and dining room, I have leaves all over the place. See for yourself...

My towel rack

My rug by the kitchen sink...

These are my dining room and kitchen curtains...

The Dollar Store and Hobby Lobby teamed up to create this leafy centerpiece on my dining room table.

And even my sliding door window is decorated with "leaves" thanks to my daughter, who "gets" how loony I am about leaves!

Dawn "The Leaf Loon"

Wordless Wednesday: My silliest post yet

2011-09-28T15:18:00.000-05:00

+ =

ROCKHOUND!

(I warned you!) But isn't he just the cutest Springer you've ever seen?

Dawn

Not on My Two Acres

2011-09-26T17:09:00.001-05:00

I was reading something a while back that said a family of four could grow enough food on two acres to keep the family fed for a whole year. The graphic is here: http://1bog.org/blog/live-off-the-land-2/

Not on My Two Acres.

Now, I'm not saying someone couldn't do it. I'm saying I would never do it. I grew up on a farm. I know that no matter how good you are at something, it's rarely, if ever, perfect.

I wouldn't put all my eggs in a two-acre basket.

Too much rain. Not enough rain.

Too many bugs.

Diseases.

I got my pathetic little garden planted on June 19. And the first freeze took out all my corn. And you know how many carrots I actually harvested? Enough to fill one of those quart-sized zipper baggies. Okay, maybe fill is not the right word. It was more like put enough in that clear plastic bag to give it a little color!

Seriously, in the last several years that I have planted a garden, it has never gone off without a hitch. Yeah, I'm very happy about the five pumpkins we have this year, particularly in light of the severe pumpkin shortage in the nation. But growing all the food for my family to live on for a year on two acres? That is not a risk -- or a time committment -- I am willing to take or make.

Think about it. Someone would have to pretty much do that as their full-time job. I may be an introvert, but I'm not THAT much of an introvert. I enjoy the friendly smile that I get from the cashier at the local grocery store, especially since I pretty much seem to make a daily trip there!

So while two acres may sustain a family of four, I am here to tell you that I don't ever want to work THAT hard to feed my family! Just figuring out what to BUY at the grocery store so I can make supper is a big enough task for me!

Dawn

Fall is my favorite

2011-09-23T17:03:00.000-05:00

You can probably tell by the background on my blog that I have a thing for fall.

I am not sure exactly why I like fall so much. I mean, I'm always itching for spring to come so I can plant flowers and dig in the dirt. And I LOVE the long, long days of summer.

Maybe it's the colors. They are all warm and cozy and just make you feel like snuggling up under a blankie and sipping hot coffee on the front porch.

Do I ever DO that? Not very often. In fact, just about never. But it's the THOUGHT of being able to do it that apparently stirs my senses.

The other thing is, fall is usually full of the smells of harvest, which I love, but don't get to experience very often anymore.

They combined the flax field not too far from My Two Acres a few weeks ago. I actually opened my window just to get a whiff. I wasn't disappointed!

So, happy fall, ya'll! Enjoy it while it lasts!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: A 9-year-old's "do-over" wisdom

2011-09-21T16:09:00.001-05:00

Erase mistakes with a smile!

I don't know how they do it

2011-09-20T16:23:00.001-05:00

We covered our pumpkins last week to shield them from the freeze, but the corn was only beginning to produce ears, so I decided not to bother trying to cover it all up (besides I didn't have enough old blankets).

I was so worried about the pumpkins and making sure they made it, I never really thought to look at the corn. Until Sunday. When we checked on it, I could see that everything was looking a little on the "shriveled" side.

Then, today, I read an NDSU Extension news release that said, and I quote, "Corn is killed when temperature are near 32 F for a few hours and near 28 F for a few minutes. Corn can be damaged when temperatures are slightly above 32 F and conditions are optimum (clear skies, low humidity, no wind) for rapid heat loss from the leaves."

Just cemented what I already knew: There will be no corn from the garden for us this year. But I kind of didn't expect it, anyway, so I'm not crushed. My daughter felt kind of bad, and she can't even eat corn (but she does like to help husk it, which I am more than happy to let her do). But, it will make for a nice arrangement around the mailbox in time for Halloween.

I am going to have to be extra vigilant about keeping those five pumpkins that still need to lose their green and get some orange, or my daughter will never forgive me. Okay, I know she will, but she won't be very happy! She has been out there, helping me cover them, and she would be a little miffed if, after all that covering, we missed one and they froze.

But from what I read, it's best to keep them on the vine as long as possible.

So I'm diligently checking the forecasts every evening and even if it looks like we'll dip below 40 F, I'm covering them up. Today, it's raining and only 51 F, but the reports indicate we'll stay around 40 F for an overnight low.

But all this brings me to my point (after seven paragraphs!): I'm worried about five pumpkins. Can you even imagine how a farmer feels when he or she loses an entire field (or more) to a freeze? That's probably one reason I'm not a farmer. I don't have the stomach for the whims of Mother Nature. But I admire the heck out of those who do. That's why I'm so very proud to work for farmers and ranchers and help them tell their stories.

I don't know how farmers and ranchers do it, day after day, year after year. But I'm sure glad they do!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: One last photo before the freeze

2011-09-14T16:40:00.001-05:00

With temperatures expected to dip below freezing for several hours tonight, I figured I better get a few photos of my flowers. And flowers are nothing, compared to all those farmers out there who still have crops in the field that can't afford a heavy frost. Good luck to you all. -- Dawn

Volunteer cosmos I didn't have the heart to pull up.

Varigated fountain grass, vounteer moss roses and alyssum

My new rose bush with a new bud.

Summer went by too fast

2011-09-12T17:16:00.000-05:00

Where did the summer go? I didn't make it back to the farm I grew up on -- and where my mom and dad still live -- all summer. My son usually spends a week up there, but he didn't get to do that this summer either. To be honest, I don't have any idea what kept us so busy. I know we were, but I couldn't tell you with what.

Isn't that the way it goes, though? You spend all your time rushing from this to that, and when it's all said and done, you don't remember most of it. (Or maybe that's just a sign of my advanced age! ; )

I remember when I was growing up on the farm how often I thought it was all just too boring. Now I would love to just spend time walking the pastures and sitting by the coulee on my favorite rock like I did when I was a "bored" kid.

Now, I revel in the few minutes I have to lie (lay?) down in the backyard in the grass, arms outstretched, as the sprinkler watering my flowers gently "wets" my outstretched arm every once in awhile. Which is what I did yesterday when I decided the weeding could wait for another ten minutes.

Even that ten minutes went by too fast.

Dawn

Don't you hate it when...

2011-09-08T16:46:00.003-05:00

...You think you are done with a job, then realize you have to do it all over again, because you did it wrong the first time?

...You think you your are done with YET another job, then realize you have to do it all over again, because you did it wrong the first time?

...All week lonng it has been warmer outside than it is in the office, so on the third day, you bring a jacket to work, but then, while you are wearing the jacket, the air quits working and you don't need the jacket any more?

That's kind of the way my week has been going. Good thing it is a short week!

Here endeth the complaints!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Pink sunrise

2011-09-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Pink sunrise, green trees. Ahhhh, don't you just love September?

Not ready for snow

2011-09-06T14:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, while we were driving around the countryside, enjoying the early September scenery, my daughter said, "You know, I've been hoping for snow."

Snow? In my book, particularly the last few years, "snow" is synonymous with OTHER four-letter words that you just aren't supposed to say.

Yes, I got a Christmas catalog already, and told my daughter that I am definitely going to order a cute little outdoor hanging thingy that has a solar panel to light it up the bulbas at night. (Hopefully, we have enough sunlight in the winter to charge the solar cell.)

So maybe it's my fault. But I never told her I was in a hurry to see the white stuff. In fact, I may be actually starting to get snowbird syndrome.

I say this because I used to really look forward to every season. I realized the other day, however, that I wasn't ready to start cutting down flowers. In fact, I was wishing that I could plant a few more. So I did.

I bought some mums and planted them, just to get a little fall color (and technically, it's not even fall yet!)

Maybe it's because the seasons haven't been very balanced the last few years. It seems like we have had substantially more winter than spring, summer and fall combined!

In fact, I'd rather keep the snow and snowmen to lovely little drawings like the one below, rather than the real stuff, until about December 20. Then it can snow, just in time for Christmas and melt again in mid-January! (I know that is a completely unreasonable wish, but I can dream, can't I?)

Dawn

Sometimes being first on the list isn't good

2011-09-02T16:54:00.001-05:00

As I often do, I used my lunch hour to go to the grocery store to buy much-needed supplies for my family.

For two days, we have been out of paper towels. In fact, that was the first thing I put on my list. And the list was only five items long:

paper towels
pizza makings
contact solution
bags
Press n' Seal

Guess which item I forgot to buy? Yep: Numero uno! Apparently, since I didn't list each of the "pizza makings" items, I was all distracted by the items I needed to make said pizza. "Do I have black olives? No. I better get some. Hmmm. Should I make it with sausage and pepperoni or sausage and Canadian bacon? Canadian bacon. Let's see, how much sausage should I get? I always sample it, so I better get more than a pound, but not too much more, or I will sample way too much."

And by the time my mind got wrapped around all that pizza stuff, and thinking about how much I was going to enjoy sampling the sausage, it was no longer interested in what was above it on the list.

In my logical, orderly -- ha! -- mind's defense, once you have moved on to the next item on the list, you must assume that the previous item has been placed in the cart. Right?

When I was younger and more organized, I actually wrote things on my grocery list in the order I would find them in the grocery store. That all fell apart about the same time I gave up trying to balance the checkbook. I don't know what happened that year, but it must have been HUGE.

If I still used that strategy, the paper towels would have been second to last on the list, because they are at the totally opposite end of the store from the pizza making ingredients. The chances of me actually remembering to purchase the paper towels would have been, while not guaranteed, exponentially higher.

The worst part is that it wasn't until I got home -- with just enough time to let the dog out and put the groceries away before I headed back to work -- that I realized my faux pas.

"Expletive!" I yelled. "The expletive paper towels! That's why I went to the expletive store in the first place!

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the dog was starting to cower because I was yelling at myself (he doesn't care who I'm yelling at, just that I'm yelling). So I quit, turned to him and said in my best baby talk, "It's okay, puppy-boy. Do you need to go outside? Do you need to go potty?" (Yes, I actually talk like that to our dog. I spoil him rotten!)

So that's how the moral of this little story became, "Sometimes being first on the list isn't good." (At least it wasn't "Expletive paper towels!")

And guess what I'm doing on my way home from work today?

Dawn

Thankful Thursday: At least I had a freezer to defrost

2011-09-01T12:01:00.001-05:00

If I would have posted a Wordless Wednesday photo, it would have been the completely frosted over freezer that I had to defrost last night. But when this stuff comes up, your first thought isn't, "Gee, what a GREAT Wordless Wednesday photo." Rather it's, "Oh CRAP! I HATE this job!" And then panic sets in as you dig furiously through the freezer to see what can be salvaged.

I don't know how long the freezer door wasn't completely closed, but half of the turkey was thawed, and other half was still rock hard. And, unfortunately, the newest meat, was at the top of the freezer (it's one of those stand-up ones, rather than the chest type) and that thawed first (the whole warm air rises thing we all learned in fifth-grade science!).

So, I threw away about 20 pounds of newer meat and kept many more pounds that maybe should have been thrown because it was just getting downright old. (Think 2006.) But I just couldn't throw away all of it. I suppose it was some kind of meat security withdrawal setting in or something.

Not more than two weeks ago, my son said, "You know Mom, there is a lot of old meat in that freezer." I responded, "Yes, I know. I really need to clean it out one of these days."

But if you are like me, you always find plenty of reasons NOT to do that kind of thing. And then something like this happens, so you have to.

My son said, "Do you know how many starving people this meat would have fed?"

I said, "I know, but I wouldn't want to give them spoiled meat either!"

Right then, I quit feeling sorry for myself for having to defrost the freezer. I mean, at least I have a freezer to defrost.

Dawn

Significant events in agricultural history

2011-08-30T16:45:00.001-05:00

These events are once again, taken from American Farm Bureau Federation's Farm and Food Facts booklet. Editorializing, by me, is in italics and should not be construed as anything but goofiness on my part.

8000 B.C. - Animals and grain domesticated in the Middle East - the birth of agriculture.

1493 - Christopher Columbus brought calves, goats, sheep, pigs, hens, citrus, melons and many kinds of vegetables to America. Good thing he decided to come here, because we needed that stuff!

1731 - Jethro Tull introduced the horse-drawn cultivator and seed drill to English farming. It was not called the Aqualung.

1793 - Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. Gin in this case is not short for gin and tonic, but rather "engine."

1850 - About 75-90 hours of labor are required to produce 100 bushels of corn with a walking plow, harrow and hand planting. Yields were around 40 bushels per acre. And if you have been following this blog, you know that an acre is about the size of a football field.

1900 - The amount of labor needed to produce 100 bushels of corn is down to 35-40 hours. Yield remain about the same as they were in 1850. An acre is still about the size of a football field.

1940 - One farmer feeds about 19 people annually with what he/she produces.

1945 - Commercial fertilizer use helps increase yields to 50 bushels per acre, and one farmer now works 10-14 hours to produce 100 bushels of corn. An acre remains about the size of a football field.

1960 - One farmer feeds about 46 people annually.

1980 - One farmer now feeds about 115 people annually. And it is probably the same farmer as it was in 1960, because farming tends to stay in your blood. And he probably STILL hasn't taken a vacation!

1987 - It now takes less than three hours of labor and yield are at 100 bushels per acre. By now, the farmer is using a tractor, 5-bottom plow, 20-foot tandem disk, planter, 20-foot herbicide applicator, a 12-ft. self-propelled combine and trucks. And yep, you guessed it, that acre is still about the size of a football field.

2009 - Each U.S. farmer produces food and fiber for 154 people annually. And you know how important fiber is these days! Especially for the elderly like me!

And the best news of all? They are producing more food (like 262% more) with fewer inputs than ever before.

Bottom line? American agriculture rocks!

Dawn

Gopher stare down

2011-08-29T16:53:00.001-05:00

I was pulling up to the office a few weeks ago, when I looked out the passenger window, and here was this gopher, checking out the 'hood. Thankfully, I just happened to have the camera with me that day, so I rolled down the window (okay, I pushed a button and the mechanism that I really don't understand or know anything about rolled the window down for me; and when you don't actually have a rotating handle to get the window down, are we really "rolling" the window down?) and made a couple of faux gopher chirping noises. It sat there, so I slowly brought my camera up, zoomed in and took a picture. Then, I tried to move to the passenger side of the vehicle, and it just scampered off. At least I got one shot.

My all-time favorite gopher encounter (if there is sucha a thing) happened last summer. I was sitting on the front porch of my house just contemplating life. I must have been pretty quiet, because all of a sudden, a gopher popped its head out of one of its holes, not more than 10 feet away from me. I must have made some kind of sound that alerted it to my presence and it froze. So did I. We each sat there, motionless, for what seemed like an eternity. Actually, it was probably all of five minutes. But you know how it is when you realize how silly something is? And then you start to giggle? I started to giggle and down the hole it went.

What have we learned from this? That I can't even beat a gopher in a stare down.

Dawn

Bubbling over!

2011-08-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

Mr. Bubble is getting "his" own day!

I think this is totally cool! I remember as a kid loving Mr. Bubble commercials. And I had no idea at the time Mr. Bubble was from North Dakota. Some people probably still don't, so it's a nice way to create a little more recognition, particularly since Mr. Bubble is still #1 in bubble bath sales.

So, North Dakota is #1 in the production of 15 crops, and #1 in the bubble market.

What better reasons to be a proud North Dakotan!

Dawn

Pumpkin wrap rap

2011-08-25T16:57:00.002-05:00

I traipsed out to my Father's Day planted garden the other night. The kids weeded it, and I needed to check their work. (Besides, I hadn't been out to the garden in about two weeks -- it's amazing how you just don't think about it much when it's out of sight and you have weekly downpours to keep it watered.)

They did a good job weeding what was there.

It's not very much.

I counted three onion tops, nine carrot tops, one basil plant, zero oregano plants, enough corn plants not to bother counting...

But the pumpkins!!!

Pumpkin vines were crawling up trees and wrapping themselves around corn stalks. And there were several actual pumpkins on those vines.

Photographic evidence....

Despite the fact that I am very sad about my carrot crop, (There is nothing better than carrots pulled from the garden after a light frost to sweeten them up!) I have to admit I am tickled about the pumpkin situation.

In fact, I am so tickled, I even wrote a rap (and I use the term V-E-E-E-E-E-R-R-R-R-R-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y loosely) song about it. And here is where the disclaimer goes that says this in no way is an indication of what REAL rap music sounds like, just an old lady's attempt at silly humor. To all real rappers, I apologize profusely.

The pumpkin wrap rap
So I walked to the garden.
Checking out the situation....

The carrots were few
Not much carrot vegetation...

A couple of onions and
A lone basil plant...

I could've been mad
I could've started a rant...

But then I took notice
Of all the pumpkin vines

So I wrote me a rap song
It's tough to make it rhyme..

The pumpkins are growing
Like weeds I must say..

So I'm gonna let 'em go
To keep 'em growing that way.

The pumpkin wrap rap
It's where it's at at.

The pumpkin wrap rap
It's where it's at at.

Yes, I am officially off my rocker. I even put it to "music." But I don't know how to add an mp3 to my blog yet, so I guess you'll have to wait for THAT treasure! : )

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Beauty and the butterfly

2011-08-24T10:40:00.000-05:00

While resting in the shade on a hot summer afternoon, a monarch landed on my daughter's foot.

Dawn

Precision, precision, precision

2011-08-23T16:59:00.000-05:00

I'm stealing this information directly from American Farm Bureau Federation's new "Food and Farm Facts" booklet, mostly because I don't know much about it. You see, they didn't have all that new-fangled technology when I was a farm kid 30-some years ago. And since I don't have an opportunity to spend time in the fields, I can only marvel at what is being accomplished today compared to what was happening on the farm back in the "old days."

While we were on vacation recently, my husband talked to his phone and asked it to give us directions to a particular place. The autmoated lady voice then told us exactly which turns to take. I giggled because I thought it was pretty cool. Then on the way home, we tracked a storm that was in our path and managed to miss the worst of it, thanks to GPS.

But farmers use even more precise GPS technology. In fact GPS technology in agriculture is often within a few inches, or less.

AFBF says that about 50 percent of U.S. farmers and ranchers use precision ag technologies. "GPS and auto-steer guidance systems are two types of precision agriculture used to increase crop yields, lower costs and reduce chemical use, which benefits the environment. The two types of technology work together, helping farmers identify precisely where to plant seeds (and how many) and if needed, apply variable rates of pesticides and fertilizer."

AFBF also says that farmers started using satellite technology in 1994. That is less than 20 years ago.

Isn't that cool? I mean, I was totally impressed by the automated lady voice who told us which roads to take on our vacation. Imagine how awesome it is to have an even better system giving you details that help you plant the right stuff in the right place at the right time! It's yet another way that farmers and ranchers are doing more with less.

And then someone tries to tell you that modern farming is bad?

I'm just not buying that one!

Dawn

Already, it starts

2011-08-22T10:50:00.000-05:00

I noticed today that I had 25 messages in my email junk folder. Sometimes good stuff accidentally gets put there, so periodically, I check it out.

What did I see today? Not one, not two, but THREE emails screaming, "The Face you had 10 years ago....Get It Back Now!"

And the email was from those Lifestyle Lift people that have those info-mercials on at dark thirty in the morning, when this old woman is getting up to exercise in a vain attempt to keep that youthful appearance that I had ten years ago (the no spare tire around the middle, the decidedly thinner thighs, etc.)

Considering that those extra pounds and inches are stubbornly staying where they landed, and I'm getting the very jowels that these women say the "lift" helps them get rid of, I guess I will have to admit that my regime just isn't working.

Even though the emails weren't directed at me as much as my age, it still stung a little. I might feel and look my age, but I really don't need an email marketing campaign sent to me that REMINDS me I look my age. I mean, where's the love, man?

I am amazed at what can be done to alter someone's appearance through surgery. And when I see my sagging jowels, I think, "Wow, I bet I would look better if I had that done." But then I ask myself, "Would this really make me FEEL better about myself?"

"Oh, maybe for about a week," I answer myself. "I know how I am. Once the 'newness' of it all had worn off, I'd be back to the same old me." (The one that has conversations with herself -- sometimes even out loud -- and tends to be a people pleaser and an introvert.)

Maybe that isn't such a bad thing.

The whole point of this journey we call life is supposed to be about learning and growing, and yes, growing older. I figure I've earned every wrinkle, every sag and every conversation with myself.

So, even though I am amazed at how good those ladies look after their "lifts" I'm just going to let nature have her way with me.

Dawn

How does your garden grow?

2011-08-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

I wish my gardens looked this weed-free!

Dawn

Glub, glub

2011-08-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

What a way to end the work week! The last two Fridays nights have included torrential downpours at My Two Acres. This past Friday, however, caused a river to run through our yard, bringing with it dirt from our tree rows. How do you get two inches of dirt out of your grass that's not supposed to be there? You rake it. And rake it. And rake it. Then haul the mounds of raked dirt back to the six-inch deep gullies in the tree rows.

Here, the "river" emerges from the trees... (all those white spots on the photo are raindrops)

It also went over the driveway and was inches from going over the road...

It was over my feet too! (Okay, they aren't the prettiest feet in the world, but they get me where I need to go!) I'm standing in the grass, next to the "flash river"...

While it was amazing, I'm hoping we are done with the gully washers for awhile. Oh my achin' back!

Dawn

Flower anomalies

2011-07-29T16:52:00.000-05:00

So over my lunch hour, which was really just half an hour, I went home to let the dog out to do his business. While he was doing his business, I walked around the house and noticed a couple of flower anomalies.

When I think of the word "anomaly" I'm usually thinking about celestial stuff (meaning stuff in space, and lingo in Star Trek) but that is the first word that popped into my mind when I saw these two flowers.

Right in front of the window well on the south side of the house, no where near any pansies that I ever remembered planting, was this lone purple pansy.

I gently weeded some of the clover away from it to give it a fighting chance.

And then, as I rounded the corner of the house, what do I see snaking out from under some of my alyssum but a single moss rose.

I didn't "weed" the alyssum to give the moss rose a fighting chance like I did the clover for the pansy. I figured they could figure it out between the two of them!

I love flower anomalies. I like to think it's a message: When the growing gets tough, the tough get growing!

Happy Friday!

Dawn

Bread and beer basket

2011-07-28T14:17:00.001-05:00

Earlier today, I tweeted a fact about wheat and barley production in North Dakota, calling our state the bread and beer basket of the world. Okay, maybe "of the world" was a little strong. But we're definitely number one when it comes to the production of wheat and barley, in these United States.

Statistics from that National Agriculture Statistics Service North Dakota Field Office pegs our barley production at 24 percent of the nation's production and hard red spring wheat at 45 percent.

According to the Beer page on Wikipedia, "Beer is the world's most widely consumed^[1] and probably oldest^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea."

And according to the Wheat page on Wikipedia, "Wheat was a key factor enabling the emergence of city-based societies at the start of civilization because it was one of the first crops that could be easily cultivated on a large scale, and had the additional advantage of yielding a harvest that provides long-term storage of food."

I don't know about you, but that makes me feel pretty darn proud of our North Dakota farmers.

And don't even get me started on the amount of durum our North Dakota farmers produce to make the oodles of noodles on our grocery store shelves. (Okay maybe just a little -- our North Dakota farmers raise 62 percent of the durum grown in the nation!)

I raise my beer glass, my garlic bread and my Rigatoni to you, North Dakota farmers!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Moonie juxtaposition

2011-07-27T13:55:00.001-05:00

My moonbeam coreopsis and my glow-in-the-dark moon garden thingy.

St. Francis and the flower miracle

2011-07-22T12:48:00.000-05:00

My family got me a St. Francis statue to put in my garden for my birthday this past spring. My husband placed it in a spot right next to an ash tree in my flower bed. I thought it was a good spot, because I wasn't having much luck with the blanket flower and coreopsis I had planted there a few years before, to grow. The ground in the area was pretty barren and I thought a statue might draw attention away from the fact that there were very few flowers.

Until now.

If you are unfamiliar with St. Francis, learn more about him on Wikipedia.

In a nutshell, St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and the environment. It isn't uncommon to see his statue in garden settings.

He sure did my garden a world of good. Look at them now!

The flowers sprang up everywhere around the statue, and in glorious shades of yellow and orange. And this was even after the ground got a little overspray on it when my husband was spraying for dandelions.

I hemmed and hawed this spring about what to plant there, so I didn't. These all came up with no help from me. In fact, when they first started coming up, I thought they must be weeds, because nothing had grown there for a couple of years. But, since I didn't have any ideas about what to plant, I decided to leave them.

The only explanation I have is divine intervention; this little flower miracle on My Two Acres.

Dawn

A flax view and a thank you!

2011-07-21T15:28:00.001-05:00

It looks like water from a distance...

But when you get closer....

You can see it is a field of flax. Awesome, isn't it?

What is flax used for? Learn more at this Flax Page link from NDSU. And more on Wikipedia.

This wonderful view is just down the road a piece from My Two Acres. We also still have a couple of cattle producers to the south (and a little east) of us. But the city keeps growing, and I suspect that, in time these little dots of rural living will give way to urbanization as well. I really can't fault people for moving to the outskirts, because I am one of the guilty.

I grew up on a farm, and although I went through that, "The farm is so boring, I need to live in the city" phase, I really started to feel the need for a little space between me and the next guy once my husband and I started raising kids.

What I will fault people for, however, is moving to the outskirts and then complaining about the dust or noise or smell from a nearby farm.

Combines kick up dust.

The south wind brings the smell of cowpies into our yard.

If the weather is right, the seeder or the combine WILL be running at dark thirty.

They are all necessary, basic parts of the whole farming process.

I'm just thankful that there are farmers out there willing to take the risks, put in the long hours and weather the elements to put food on our tables. Hope you are too!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Dragonfly still life

2011-07-20T11:41:00.000-05:00

Life gets in the way

2011-07-19T15:54:00.000-05:00

Isn't it funny, how sometimes life just gets in the way of blogging? That happened to me this past week. I had stuff to say, but I had other stuff to do, and the doin' got in the way of sayin'!

I would not be blogging today if it weren't for the fact that my jury duty, um, duty, got cut short. I reported at 8:30 a.m. along with my other fellow jurors. But when the judge came in at 9 a.m., he said that, because some new information had come to light, the trial would not be held, so we were excused.

On his way out he said, "So now you can enjoy this wonderfully hot day," or something of that nature. Well, I'm not really enjoying it, because I'm inside, but since the building's air conditioning is still out, it is not much cooler inside than it is outside.

It's 93 outside....

It's 86 inside.

And I'm really thinking an air-conditioned courtroom listening to prosecutors and defenders do their thing would be a much better way to spend the day.

But I'm a stubborn, old Swede, and I don't like to take my work home with me, so while everyone else is working from their homes in (hopefully) air-conditioned comfort, I'm running a fan and trying to make small movements, so I don't break out into a huge sweat! (Oh, what the heck, it's just me, anyway! I can sweat and still no one will see me sweat!)

I have to admit that I'm taking a certain amount of joy in being the last "man" standing! On days when I have a migraine, or my joints ache, or my right knee keeps saying to me, "Not today, you old fool!" I feel like a tired out old woman. But sitting here, doing my work in conditions that even men in the building have deemed "too much" makes me think that I am stronger than I thought I was, and I have more resilience than I expected I would.

It kind of reminds me of that line from Pooh's Grand Adventure, when Christopher Robin tells Pooh, "You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

Except when Pooh tries to give his Hundred Acre Wood buddy Piglet a pep talk, he tells Piglet, "Just remember, you're bigger than....a big leaf."

Sometimes, it seems, life getting in the way is a very good thing. And sometimes, I'm bigger than a big leaf!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Knick-knack paddy whack, give the dog a bone

2011-07-13T17:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes happiness is just as simple as a good rawhide bone to chew on!

Dawn

Rake bonding

2011-07-12T17:03:00.000-05:00

We have had plenty of moisture this summer, and it seems like the rains come about the time the grass at My Two Acres really needs a trim. So when it finally did get cut, the clippings all over the lawn were pretty thick. We don't have a bagger for the lawn mower, so the cherubs ended up raking for a couple of hours during the day, and then my son and I raked some more in the evening.

I gotta tell you, there's nothing like a little time behind a couple of rakes to help you bond with your teenage son!

In fact, it was probably one of the best times I have had in a long time. We talked about family, about summer jobs, about how he doesn't have a cell phone or get to do as much stuff as friends his age get to do, federal regulatory creep on farmers (I' m not kidding!) and all kinds of things. And after we were done, we sat on the back step with the dog and just kind of hung out and jawed about how goofy our dog is.

It's one of those rare moments that I'm going to remember for a long time, mostly because I really felt like I was listening to him and he was listening to me. And it was all good.

With a teenager, I don't know how often that happens.

But I'm grateful for it.

Dawn

After a rain

2011-07-08T14:23:00.001-05:00

You know, it's not like we need a lot of moisture in North Dakota right now, but there is something so wonderful about the smell of the outdoors right after a rain. It smells a little like dirt, which just reminds me of growing up on the farm, which makes me feel right as rain, which...I think you get the picture.

My tiger lilies looked pretty awesome after the rain, so I just had to take their picture!

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend!!

Dawn

I talked with a flooded rancher

2011-07-08T09:03:00.001-05:00

I did an interview with a rancher who lives along the Missouri River. This rancher has has been ranching and farming for 40 years, starting when he was just 13.

Thirteen! My son is 13.

But this farmer, this soft-spoken entrepreneur and self-described "crazy man" who was planting 22-inch row corn way before it was cool, who has been reading, studying and learning for the last 40 years, to be the best rancher he could be, could lose it all if the Missouri River doesn't recede pretty substantially before freeze up.

Here is just a portion of the interview I did with Keith Suchy of rural Mandan. His home pasture, the place where he winters his cattle, has been under at least four to five feet of water since May. He is hoping he won't have to liquidate the herd, but if he does, he says simply, "I hope I can find a home for them."

I'm hoping things turn around quickly for Keith, and many others like him, who have lost so much in this summer's flood.

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: Sundays

2011-07-06T16:30:00.000-05:00

From the mind of my 9-year-old. It's always something new!

What do you do?

2011-07-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

It didn't occur to me until I read an article by Jason Jacobson in Prairie Business magazine this morning, that I don't have a good answer for the question, "What do you do?" I have, on many occasions, been asked, but my sputtering response was probably pretty boring. And if I remember correctly, there weren't many follow-up questions to my sputter, and the conversation kind of died. (And since I'm not a very good conversationalist, I can use all the help I can get!)

The concept is simple, really. In the article, Jacobson relates an encounter with a chemist that really made an impact on him.

And the way the chemist helped him get it was through a simply understood analogy. It's definitely worth reading. Most importantly, Jacobson points out that every story is interesting. You just have to tell it in a way that everyone can understand.

So I'm going to work on that. I would love to hear how some of you describe what you do, to others.

Dawn

Things you do on the first day of the month

2011-07-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you do this kind thing too, but instead of new year resolutions, I realized not too long ago that I was subconsciously making new month resolutions. I guess for someone who really hates -- and subsequently refuses to make -- new year resolutions, this is the next best thing. Smaller time frame, less chance for distraction, that kind of thing. And instead of once a year, I get to "start over" on all the resolutions I failed to keep every month. For people with short attention spans, and lots of "do-over" needs, I highly recommend this approach.

So, in honor of it being the first day of July and all, I brought all those subconscious resolutions to my conscious mind and I thought I would share them with you....

1. I am going to lose those five pounds that somehow glommed onto me in January and decided to take up ("they" think, anyway) permanent residence. I was thinking of taking them on a drive, and then accidentally leaving them somewhere so they couldn't find me again.

2. I am going to be more patient when I think I am in a much bigger hurry than anyone else could possibly be.

3. I am going to spend more time outside. (Now that we actually have had a few days that are above 50 degrees and not rainy, I'm thinking this is one I will DEFINITELY be able to keep.) And I am going to cajole my children into spending more time outside as well. We might just have to sleep outside.

4. I am going to laugh more easily. Since I'm not a brain surgeon, I don't need to be so serious all the time. And maybe, just maybe, brain surgeons are really funny people when they aren't performing brain surgery.

5. I'm going to be more helpful. (This goes back to #2's "I'm in a hurry" patience thing.) Instead of saying, "I don't have time to do that," I'm just gonna do it.

Whew! I'm exhausted! (Okay, not really. Maybe my #6 should be: I'm going to be a little less overly-dramatic!)

Do you have any new month resolutions? If so, I'd love to hear them!

Dawn

Hawk show

2011-07-01T10:13:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I complained about not seeing my hawk friend. Today, I got quite a show!

As I was approaching the intersection that has the light pole, he/she landed. I quickly turned onto an approach and photographed it...

Then, as I started driving again, it took off from its perch, swooped across the road and down to the ground and grabbed its prey. I was like, "OH WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME!"

But, I couldn't stop because cars were coming, so this is the best shot I could get. The circled blurry spot is the hawk, sitting on its prey. It looked right at me as I drove by, almost as if to say, "Here you go! Take your best shot."

Sometimes, it helps to publicly complain, eh? I only wish my shot could have been better!

Dawn

Mr. Hawk

2011-06-30T16:24:00.000-05:00

One day, while driving to work, I noticed something perching atop one of the high mast lighting poles illuminating the highway.

I didn't think much of it until I noticed it again, the next time I drove by.

This time, I looked much closer.

There sat Mr. Hawk (Or maybe it was Ms. I don't know for sure because I'm not sure how you even tell the difference between a male and female hawk, and he/she was pretty high.)

Over the next several days, I noticed the continued presence of Mr. Hawk. I also reckoned that he/she was spending a good deal of time there, because there was substantial hawk poop directly below the pole.

It got to the point that I would smile and wave to it every time I saw it. Of course the hawk was oblivious, but somehow, it made me feel better.

It hasn't been there for several days, now. And for some reason, it makes me feel a little sad.

I keep looking for it every time I drive by. I even put my camera under the seat of my Jeep just so I could take its picture.

You just wait. The minute I take the camera out of my Jeep is when Mr. Hawk will show up on the pole again.

But at least I will be able to wave and shout hello!

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: The aliens are coming!

2011-06-29T16:34:00.001-05:00

This slowly rotated over our house June 18.

We all stood outside and gawked (and took pictures and video).

But that's how we roll in Nodak!

Dawn

I can't comment on my own blog

2011-06-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

You know you are toe lint when you can't even comment on your own blog!!!
Last week, I was going to respond to a comment made by someone who was kind enough to comment on one of my blog posts. I couldn't. First it told me that I have to sign in, when I'm already signed in. Then it showed that I'm "Anonymous" making a comment. And I suppose that, since I don't have "Anonymous" as someone who can comment, it just dumped me right back to the sign in page. Again. And again. And again.

Why did I keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result? I guess because when you get that focused on what is wrong, you CAN'T see any other way to do things.

Finally, today, it hit me. Why not blog about how you can't comment on your own blog? (No one ever said I was a rocket scientist!)

So, Katie, thank you for commenting on my beef kabobs. I hope they were as good as I made them out to be! (We really do like them around our house!)

And, I'd also like to take this time to thank every one of you who have subscribed or visited my blog. This is nothing more than random thoughts from an introvert who doesn't have a lot of friends but just needs to "talk it out" once in awhile (because writing is much easier than face-to-facing it), share a good recipe, a small laugh, and maybe every once in awhile, a deep thought. (But most of the time, they probably tend to skew toward the Jack Handey variety.)

So, what did we learn today?

#1. I am toe lint because I can't comment on my own blog
#2. I am an introvert
#3. I like beef kabobs
#4. I am not a rocket scientist
#5. I am very appreciate to all of you who take the time to read my ramblings!

Dawn

P.S. And if any of you can tell me how to fix my "comment" problem, I'd be very appreciative.

Now THIS is summer

2011-06-27T15:55:00.001-05:00

Climbing trees and playing with the water hose! That's what summer is supposed to be about! And thankfully, my cherubs had an opporunity to do just that over the weekend.

And would you just look at those wildflowers! Despite the encroaching common yarrow, so far, so good!

Ahhh! It's nice to have summer, finally!

Dawn

75 percent of the earth is water

2011-06-24T15:39:00.000-05:00

And right now, it seems like 70 percent of that 75 percent is flooding North Dakota homes, businesses and leaving families homeless. The flood waters in Minot are now exceeding the all-time record set in 1881. And it isn't just Minot. A photo from Rob Port of Minot shows a home in Burlington, a city to the west of Minot, barely peaking above the water. (http://yfrog.com/h812jnpj)

You just have to pray that everyone will pull together and help one another get through this difficult time, both physically and emotionally.

And, if you can help, please donate to the North Dakota 2011 Flood Relief Fund. More information at http://www.ndcf.net/flood/.

Stay safe, everyone.

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: TOO much water

2011-06-22T14:41:00.001-05:00

There are no words for something like this

(KFYR TV video of house falling into the Missouri)

Dawn

Rain, water and small potatoes

2011-06-21T16:15:00.000-05:00

I made my family help me in my personal futile exercise.

We planted our garden on Sunday.

Sunday, June 19.

I don't remember ever planting a garden that late. I know that, for the last three years, it has been in June, but never June 19.

No. I don't have high expectations.

But I figured we had the seeds, we had good intentions, so we may as well take advantage of the time between the rain showers and get some seeds in the ground.

We planted onions, carrots, peppers, oregano, basil, pumpkins and corn. I will be happy if I have some carrots to harvest.

My daughter said, as she was reading the instructions on how to plant corn, "Well, Mom, it says to plant in late spring. It's STILL late spring!" (Always the optimist, she is!)

So today, it's the first day of summer. It's cold and raining and there are flood warnings all over the place. People have lost their businesses, their crops and livestock, their homes. And it just keeps raining.

My heart goes out to everyone who has had to, and will have to continue, weathering all the water that Mother Nature is throwing at us. Your strength and courage is admirable.

So planting a garden that doesn't grow is pretty much small potatoes.

And I didn't even plant those.

Dawn

Hunk of Meat Monday: Beef kabobs

2011-06-20T13:54:00.000-05:00

The original recipe for this came from a flier I got from the Beef Commission. I have tweaked it a little and made it my own, based on what my family likes. But this is definitely worth the prep time cutting up the veggies and meat, especially if you get your 13-year-old son to help cut up those nasty onions! (I'm sorry, son! I really didn't mean to make you cry!)

You will need wooden skewers for this, if you don't have metal ones. (We use wood all the time, soaked for just a bit, but not so long that they start splitting when you put the meat and veggies on the skewers, maybe about two minutes.)

Beef Kabobs
Marinade:
4 Tbs vegetable oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs water
4 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 Tbs oregano
1/2 tsp course ground pepper

Kabobs:
1 1/2 pounds of top sirloin

1 small onion
1 medium red pepper
1 container fresh mushrooms
1 can large black olives

Combine ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl. Set aside.

Cut up sirloin, onion and red pepper into bite size pieces. Slice mushrooms in half. Drain the black olives.

Dump the sirloin in the marinade and stir to coat evenly. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and coat evenly. Put in refrigerator for about an hour. (You don't have to, but really helps to soak up the juices.)

Place a piece of meat, an onion slice, a red pepper slice, a fresh mushroom and a black olive on a skewer. Repeat until the skewer is about full.

Repeat until you have used up all the meat. Typically, there are more veggies than there are meat pieces. Guess I should buy bigger sirloin! But I use the extra veggies to make, usually one more all veggie kabob, just in case someone wants more veggies.

Here is a plate-full of kabobs, ready for the grill! This recipe makes about 9-10 kabobs. Grill for about 7 minutes a side (less if you like your meat more rare).

It's just enough for a family of four, when you have a daughter who won't eat them anyway, so really, it serves three, if you also serve a side of cheesy broccoli and rice (I use the packages of rice with the dried cheese and broccoli already mixed in because that IS something my daughter will eat) and a bowl of grapes, with a promise of a yummy specialty ice cream (Bison Crunch) for dessert. Still....don't expect leftovers!

Dawn

The terror of tiny race tracks

2011-06-17T16:04:00.001-05:00

We laugh at our Springer a lot. He is a food stealer, a glutton and an opportunist.

He is ALSO one of those dogs that will chase reflections from your watch, pots, mirros, you name it (including flashlights and those little red laser lights).

We used to have a wind chime my son made out of spoons hanging on the back deck, but he would stand in the dining room, lunging at the reflections for hours on end, and my husband was worried he might go loony. (GO loony? I think he's already there!)

So when he became The Terror of Tiny Race Tracks, we just had to get it on video!

My daughter loved every second of it. (That's her giggling!)

Hope it makes you smile too!

Dawn