Pre Turkey Day Stuff

Wowzers has it ever been raining in Wisconsin! At least in our part of the state it is. To the north and west of us they are getting snow, but we are just getting rain rain and more rain.

Honestly, there is more rain built up in our backyard and huge puddles and ponds than there has been any time during the spring or summer.

Our friend Gary said once that freezes over we better get some ice skates and open up the Pfundtner Ice Rink!

Our morning consisted of a few odd jobs. The tiles are cut now for the last four spaces in the entryway and Steve has them mortared down into place.

Rented a tile saw from the local hardware store and got them done toot sweet in 3 minutes flat.

His next job is going to be a triangular closet in that section.

Steve made us up a late breakfast / early lunch. In the meantime I got a couple more rugs measured up and photographed and listed in my Etsy store.

https://kareninthewoods.etsy.com/

Speaking of rugs, the wonderful realtor that helped us buy this home happened to bring her daughter and sister-in-law over to see my She Shed.  They oogled and oohed over my rugs and knit wool socks. They did some very serious Christmas shopping and put a dent in my rug inventory! Thank you so much Amy and Angelena!!!!


Midday the temperatures started dropping and the raindrops were turning into snowflakes. I wasn't sure if we are going to get the snow amounts that were initially forecast. Towns just 50 miles to the west of us were getting measurable snow accumulation. But it seemed like everything here just melted or blew away. I think we missed the "Big Storm" that they have been warning us about for 2 days on the news!

Steve is finally feeling better and started measuring out and figuring out the parts to build the little triangular closet in the corner of the She Shed.  We already have the folding bifold door, brand new still in the wrapping, leftover from the sellers when we bought the house. We are not sure what he bought this closet bi-fold door for, there wasnt any coat closet for it to fit anywhere in the house? Maybe he was going to make a closet somewhere and never got around to it yet.

We really do need one near the back entrance into the she shed. That has become our main way to go in and out and need a spot to put our coats and boots and hats and mitts, and to hide away the Swiffer and the stick vacuum cleaner.

He is going to construct it right around the existing coat rack that little Claire helped me make:

 (if you had read that a couple blogs back)

link to blog post making a coat rack from an old mantle

Some holiday gift boxes arrived in the mail today from Florida. Mom & Lyle have a real orange tree in their backyard and it was time to harvest. They generously packed full a box to send up here that we can share with the kids and grandkids. If you leave the stems on the oranges, they stay fresher longer. Besides, I think they look pretty with the green leaves attached as well.

During the afternoon, I needed to put together a crock pot of my special calico beans. Once they were fully cooked through I can stow them away in the refrigerator until tomorrow. They always taste better the second day. I will warm them up in the morning and we will take them to our Pfundtner Family Thanksgiving in the afternoon. We are traveling to Menasha to Steve's brother Pete's and his wife Cindy's home for our family gathering.

CALICO BEANS 

**warning** I am a dumper kind of cook, not a precise recipe person!!!

first brown up some ground beef, bout half a pound, and chopped onion, and drain. 
then either fry up about 4 strips of bacon, and cut or break into small pieces
or use those great bags or small jars of Hormel real bacon bits already made up! 

now dump that and all this into a crock pot:

1 can kidney beans
1 can baked beans 
1 can black beans
1 can butter beans
a big squirt of ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
dollop of molasses
squirt of steak sauce
double squirt of BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Rays) 

season to taste
you can heat it up quick on the stove or 
let it go a few hours on the slow cooker 
yummmmmmmmm
some folks add grape jelly...
some folks add mustard... 
some folks add vinegar...

I tripled this for a larger crock pot for a gathering of about 20 people

~~~~~~~~~

We made up some homemade beef minestrone soup for supper. On a cold windy damp snowy rainy icky day, it hit the spot.

Now it's a cozy evening during down in the she shed. We have the fireplace going, and I am planning to do a little weaving once I finish up this blog.  Working on some flannel and wool rugs in amazing color combinations.  I really like how they are coming out.

In closing, may everyone have 

a thankful 

and wonderful 

and safe

and thoughtful 

Thanksgiving Day! 

No Camping Weekend- instead a Copperfest Celebration with family

 

 

Our tiny town of Oconto, Wisconsin,  hosts a big celebration every year, called Copperfest.  I took this excerpt from the Chamber of Commerce website:

 

Oconto has a rich historical past, mainly because of its location along the west shore of the waters of Green Bay.

Approximately 5000 years ago an archaic people, later called the Copper Culture, hunted, fished, and buried their dead on the banks of the Oconto River near the bay. The French Canadians came here in the 1600's to trade for the fur of beaver, muskrat and fox, canoeing by way of Mackinac and down the bay.

Early settlers arrived by steam powered boats traveling on the Great Lakes. Of those, a Norwegian community grew on the bay shore and began fishing commercially, sending barrels of salted herring, whitefish, and trout to eastern markets.

Beginning in the 1850's lumbering was the primary focus. Logs were floated down the Oconto River where they were sawed into lumber at one of seven mills in Oconto and shipped out by boat to large growing cities on Lake Michigan.

Today we tend to rely on highway vehicles to carry passengers and cargo. The rivers, lakes, and bay fulfill the recreational needs of fishing boats, canoes, pontoons, kayaks, sail and pleasure boats. We still hunt, fish, snowshoe and ski just as people did long ago.

The city of Oconto has thirty-three structures on the National Register of Historic Places. A visitor can take a self-guided tour of the city, walk the Historic West Main Street District, and in the summer tour the 1890's home of wealthy George Beyer located on Park Avenue.

 

 

Sooooo any excuse for a celebration, the whole town gets into Party Mode and has a great time!  Some of the years in the past, we had family come down from up north and park multiple travel trailers, tents and fifthwheels in our yard.  We combined the Copperfest party along with each of our graduating teens parties.  Whew those were some long nights and full houses!

In town, there is always a lot going on:

Featured Events were Amateur Lumberjack Competition, Truck Pulls, Adult Horseshoe Tournament, Mens, Womens and Youth Flag Football Tournament. Hamburger Eating and Pie Eating Contests.  Regional Wrist Wrestling Competition.  Pie and Ice Cream Social.  Fireworks.  Childrens Inflatables games, Trout Pond, Street Market. Poker Paddle Run, Duck Races and more.  Entertainment featuring Kenny Ahern, T. Texas Terry, Randy Petersen, Mr. Billy, Jay Merline.  Music performed by Ravyn, Vic Ferrari, Gringos, Rivertown, Sonic Circus, Rocker, Midpoint and Aaron Socha

 

For more information on the Copper Culture People:

Copper Culture State Park, Oconto, Wisconsin

 

This year, our daughter, Erin and her husband Mark (along with little Chelsea)  live in a huge Victorian home, just one block off Main Street in a Historical District.  So they hosted our family gathering at their lovely home.   I whipped up a pot of Calico Beans for a dish to pass, plus we brought along burgers and wine and a pan of gooey brownies that didn’t bake right.  My kids will eat anything, so I brought them along.  LOL

I have given this recipe before in my blog, but I will repeat it here:

*warning** I am a dumper kind of cook, not a precise recipe person!!!
first brown up some ground beef, bout half a pound, and chopped onion, and drain.
then fry up about 4 strips of bacon, and cut or break into small pieces
now dump that and all this into a crock pot:
1 can kidney beans
1 can baked beans
1 can butter beans
a big squirt of ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
dollop of molasses
squirt of steak sauce
double squirt of BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Rays)
season to taste
let it go a few hours on the slow cooker
yummmmmmmmm
some folks add grape jelly...
some folks add mustard...
some folks add vinegar...

 

 

Our other daughter Heather, with Jesse and Jameson made it in time for the parade, but we were still waiting for our son Dan, his Heather and Allegra.  They were not sure they could leave their house in Green Bay in time, because there was a big event there, called the Bellin Run, which blocked off all their surrounding streets of their home to traffic, and they were not sure what time they could cross the lines to get out in their vehicle to come on up.   They hadn’t shown by the time the parade was to start, so we figured they would just come later.

We got ready and headed down the block to the parade… 

 

(YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO MAKE THEM LARGER)

 

 

 

Our parade was wonderful, with hometown businesses and the local high school band, some horses, tractors, dogs and fancy cars…  plenty of candy was thrown, and Jameson collected a full bag of treats!

 

 

 

 

 

Jameson seemed particularly interested in the cheerleaders….

 

 

Even little Chelsea had a great time at the parade, her very first one!

 

At the very end of the parade, whoooo so we see?   But a green Saturn SUV following the fire trucks?  None other than our son Dan and his family!!!  LOL  It was so funny, the seemed to be in the parade and carrying up the rear!  

 

Back to  Erin and Marks house…. we got busy with food, family and fun… the kids got lots of cuddling!    Mark made brats and burgers on the grill, Erin had the kitchen under control and we hung out for the rest of the day.

 

 

 

Mark’s dad Tim, and Mark’s niece Kylee came for a visit too.

 

 

 

 

The little grandchildren found lots of things to do or look at….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jameson has never gone on a slide before, so this was quite a process to learn about!

 

 

 

and.. he … did it!!!

 

At dark, we watched the fireworks that were exploding over the Copperfest grounds at Ner-Park, which was only a few blocks from Erin and Mark’s home.  So we could sit right out on their deck with the kids and watch in comfort and beat the crowds!

Later on,  the young parents all wanted to go out to the live music, attend the street dance and hit the bars.  Well, what else are grandparents for???  We babysat the three sleeping tots while the grownups went out on the town till midnight.  Glad they were up to it, we sure weren’t.   

So we did our thing, diaper-changing, pajama-ing and bottling the babies, and Jameson konked out on the couch with a story from Granfaddah.  The kids fell asleep fast after a day of fresh air and excitement.

 

 

And I went to bed after midnight, with Visions of Granmuddahood dancing in my head!

 

 

.