Sunday, July 05, 2009

Put some more wood on the fire

It's winter, and I'm so glad we have a wood burning fireplace. The cats like to warm up during the day on a pillow in front of the windows. That's Latte on the left and Jazz on the right. I had to move this table into the back room to put my new sewing machine on it. It's a nice sunny room, but it's separated from our lounge and wood burner. I've put an electric oil heater under the table to keep warm while I work.I bought this because my mom encouraged me to (well she paid for it). I'm short and I'm always needing pants hemmed. It's been a learning experience. I did a little bit of sewing as a kid, but I'm a total novice. This machine does a lot of things for you, but I've made plenty of mistakes already. I'm taking the "learn as you go" approach. It's really flexible, and does 70 different stitches. I started with trying to make a dog bed, but that was a bit too much. I had a lesson last Friday and learned how to put in a zipper. When I tried to do it myself, it took 4 attempts and about 4.5 hours. I did get the zipper installed in a pillow finally. It has been rainy and cold, and I didn't have anything else on my agenda, so I made this cat pillow this morning. I got the felt cat applique from the website Felt, which sells all sorts of crafty stuff in NZ. Latte approves.Jazz is in the hospital, and might be able to come home tomorrow. He's been at the vet's for 6 days now, and has been catheterised 3 times. He has Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), and had a blockage in his urethra that caused some tissue swelling and stricturing. So even though the stones seem to have been cleared from his bladder, and he's on anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants, Jazz is still having trouble passing urine. He had this problem twice in 2004, and I thought I had it fixed by feeding him a meat only diet. To read about the disease and diet is an exercise in frustration, because the biology is complicated. One of the vets who talked to me said that there's no evidence that the raw meat diet is any better for pets than the commercial foods. This is true, but it doesn't mean that the commercial foods are better, it just means that no one had the money to pay for the research to compare raw or homemade pet diets to commercial pet diets. I'm considering a veterinary nutritionist consultation, if Jazz comes home and recovers.

Since the weather has been so cold, I've been watching a lot of movies. I love horror movies, and finally rented Planet Terror, by Robert Rodriguez. This was really great, I was totally screaming and laughing in my lounge. Darin even watched it. I also saw a NZ film, Second Hand Wedding (good), The War Within (good, sad), and watched Hellboy (the first one) again (great).

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Yay, Fargo! Further updates on my visit home

Ok, this photo is actually taken in Minnesota. It's close anyway, and prettier than North Dakota. My sister Teresa (on the left) and I made a cardboard cutout and put a photo of our sister Barb on the head, so Barb could be virtually at our parents 50th wedding anniversary party. Barb also lives in Auckland, and wasn't able to be in Fargo because she'd been back less than a year ago. Our brother Bill is in the front, looking really good- training for some triathalons. Way to go, bro. He also saved my dad's life when he had a heart attack awhile ago, so he's my hero (even if we don't agree on politics).
Ribfest was happening while I was in Fargo. Of course I had to go. That's my niece Stephanie in the photo above. We stood in line for a long time to get some lunch, and it was really good. Too bad a cold wind was blowing. It was just wrong, eating ribs in the cold. I associate ribs with sweat, humidity, and cold beer. We had an awesome rib lunch on another afternoon at Famous Dave's. Darin and I ate buffalo wings as often as we could stand it.
Oh, so much food! We ate so much, we regularly felt bad afterward. I became a new Pepcid user.
That's Teresa at Ribfest- can you believe they deep fry s'mores? No, I didn't try one. Can you believe, Kiwis don't know what a s'more is??? The reason is you can't get graham crackers here.
On the subject of weird food, I just HAD to get a picture of these bars that someone made for the Justesen family reunion. They are made I guess like Rice Crispy bars, only using Fruit Loops cereal instead. They pretty much distilled the essence of the midwest.
Ok enough about food.
We enjoyed a visit out to Darin's cousin's home on a lake in MN, not far from Fargo. I loved the long twilight in June. We went out for a pontoon boat ride after dinner and watched the loons. One of the boys caught a largemouth bass right from the shore. I haven't seen one of those in years, but we used to fish for them every summer. They are pretty good to eat. So what did I read on my holiday? A few people had recommended Freakonomics, and I had a paperback copy of it, so I read that. It was pretty enjoyable, and I really liked the argument that the legalisation of abortion explains the drop in crime rates. I also started reading the graphic novel version of Studs Terkel's Working, and found that very good. I read The Ten Cent Plague when I returned home, and that was good too. It's about the history of comic books and censorship. Now I'm reading Escape, written by a woman who left the FLDS. It is SHOCKING and I can't wait to finish it.
Darin and I had a 9 hour layover in Los Angeles, so we hopped on a bus to a shopping area north of LAX. We saw the movie Drag Me To Hell, which I really liked, directed by Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame. After the movie, we ate burritos at Rubio's, our old favorite taco shop in So Cal, then wandered into one of the many Ralphs grocery stores. I took this photo of the CHEAP black beans, because I fell in love with them when I lived in San Diego. I can get them here in Auckland, but I pay about $3.80 a can (NZD)- that's sad. But worth it. We also paid about $9 for a big can of green enchilada sauce. Also worth it. So if you come to visit us in New Zealand, pack your suitcase with green enchilada sauce and black beans. Actually, just email me, because I have a list. Heh heh. But really, I'm not kidding.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Yes I'm from Fargo, ND


The interior of an old house at Bonanzaville in West Fargo, above, and my husband Darin with my brother-in-law Richard, the deputy Sheriff (and his dog Lucky).
Darin and I are Fargo natives. We recently returned to visit our families, because my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary, and Darin's mom's family had a reunion. My siblings and I hosted a party for our parents at the refurbished Hotel Donaldson. It was supposed to be on the roof, but the weather was cold, so we moved it inside. We had relatives come from Florida (former Montanans), Montana, and Washington state. I was really pleased that everyone seemed to have a good time at the party. Mom and Dad got lots of cards.
The city has done a nice job of restoring the old buildings downtown. The Fargo theatre is one of my favorites. No, make that my #1 favorite. The old Fargo train depot is below. I cannot comprehend why this lovely building is not being used. The train office that's in use is in a boring square building next door. Darin and I departed Fargo by train to Minneapolis to catch our morning flight at 3 am. Amtrak train was really quite roomy and comfortable; affordable even. They just don't make bells like this anymore. Maybe that's a good thing, I just don't know.The above photo was taken at Bonanzaville. I talked my old friend (from Longfellow grade school in North Fargo!) Sonja into going out there for a bit of old-timey, dusty entertainment with her two kids. Don't try to tell me Bison are uncool! Bison rule and that's final. Bonanzaville is a bit of a relic, in need of a big monetary infusion, but it's comforting how it hasn't changed at all. There's still the creepy jar of teeth in the old dentist office.

Yeah that's gross, but what parent doesn't save their kids' baby teeth? How is this any different? I guess the worst part is that you can see the roots still attached on these teeth. Ouch! Makes me glad I live in a time of anaesthesia and antibiotics.