For Sale....cheap......giveaway

What a terrible day! Farve to retire say it isn't so!!!!! For sale 2 Farve viking football jerseys, preseason tickets , large amount of viking clothing. Tomorrow we will post a help wanted ad for a quarterback! Camp will be like a funeral tomorrow and we all know the Vikings Suck again!

Grains of the world ~ part 8

The barley is ready for harvest!

I researched how to cut it and cure it (although there is VERY little info out there for small batch operations, but I figured the large batch things would still apply), and then cut the bundle by hand. I tied it, and laid it in a dry place that got maximum amount of sun. Right now it looks perfect laying on a spare picnic table in the center of the backyard. I am considering keeping it for fall decorations... but I really want to get that loaf of bread! So off to research threshing I go.

Another thing that has happened in the last little while with the project is the millet has fruited!

I have no idea what this little grain will hold, as it is a good few weeks behind everything but the corn (which is not happy in this climate at all right now!) but we will see if we can add it into the bread making process somehow.

Knights and Samurai

This last week in history class, we had a couple of special guests. An English Knight and a Japanese Samurai from the late middle ages!

A friend's brothers had spent some time studying the era and had made costumes for last Halloween that were as close to the real thing as cardboard and spray paint would allow. They answered questions and showed the kids the different kinds of armor and weapons from the different knights as the other moms and I asked questions from the lesson that included things like; "So what was the Samurai's armor made of?" and "What was the code of conduct that a Knight had to follow to be included in the tournaments?".

The class ended with a nice long demonstration of the different fighting techniques. It was all talk of lances, long bows, which material makes the best arrow, what the pieces of the Samurai's costume were for, and how long it takes to get into a suit of armor. There was quite a bit of talk of cardboard armor construction too... but that was all part of the fun.

Then of course, we had to have a battle.

Some knights were more of the participating kind...

...others just looked on for the entertainment, but it was deffinetly a lesson to remember!

They are here

Let the craziness begin! A sea of purple and gold have rolled into town. We had to stop at Gander Mt. last night before heading home and the parking lot was full of Cadillacs,Souped up SUV and a lot of chrome. Stores are filled with players wives and children and lets not mention the fans. They camp out at stores hoping to catch their favorite player out shopping. It gives Mankato about 5 million dollars in tax revenue so come on into town. The crazier looking the better it just gives us something to look at. Tonight at 9 is player introductions followed by fireworks. Camp is free for everyone it is the vendors who get you. On every street corner someone is selling something. Hey we have the room come on down!

Lake Pepin

This week Darin is in Lake City doing a food audit for Cargill at the mill in Lake City,MN. So we took advantage of a quick summer trip. Ton's of antique shops, beautiful sailboats and bald eagles.

Colored Queen Anne's Lace

Food coloring always seems to end up as a science experiment in my house. It is rare that I actually use it for food, but we use it for science quite a bit.

On our way home from Fort Nisqually last weekend I saw this BEAUTIFUL patch of Queen Anne's Lace by the side of the road. It was late, my kids were tired, but we had to stop and pick some.

Before they went to bed, we colored the water, and set the flowers we had picked into the colored water to see what would happen in the morning...

They look like fireworks to me!

However, this one, picked at the same time the same way died by the morning. I am wondering just how deadly red 40 is at the moment. Makes ya think... huh?

The biggest picture in the world

I took Cyan and a her girlfriend to see Beezus and Ramona yesterday. It was a WONDEFUL movie! I was sad to see that they used most of the books as one story though... because that means that they will not be able to make more movies. The movie was mostly a mix of Ramona and her Father and Beezus and Ramona... but even some of Ramona and her Mother, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 were in it.

The dad in that series is just incredible. And the actor they picked for the role was perfect. I loved that he always wore his "dad" sweatshirt, even though it was really, obviously, kid made and designed.

We didn't have a roll of paper on which to make the 'longest picture in the world', but we did have a HUGE sheet of brown packing paper... and a TON of left over art supplies. We put them to good use when we got home.