WOW!! can't believe it's been almost a month since I wrote on this. Been busy. I should be busy tonight but I've just lost my ambition.

Lots going on with deer hunting and craft shows and making wreaths. Went to Steph's for Thanksgiving weekend.

I know I've been busy but as I sit here and try to think of things to write nothing comes to mind so it must of been useless stuff I was doing.

We didn't do as well with deer hunting as in years past but did better than lots of people. The guys were whining one morning when they were deer hunting and never saw anything and they could hear the duck hunters shooting away on Round Lake. They were wishing that they had went duck hunting.

This morning in the popple river I saw about 10 swans again. Some were mature but there were some still in their grey plumage.

Of course the Monday after deer hunting ended I saw 4 deer hadn't seen any in the last week of deer hunting.

There are still alot of grouse around. I heard that it was a pretty good year for them.

My puppy is growing like a weed. He is really a mellow puppy I hope he stays that way. His mother is very jealous of him so she has tore up her pillow and destroyed all his toys. They are spending a couple of weeks down at Steph's. It seems funny not having them in the house at night.

Hard to believe only 25 days til Christmas. I have a few presents to wrap and a few more to buy.

I hope this finds all of you in good health and spirits.

Take care all,
Julie

November events.

November 11, St. Catherine Ladies and Centennial Lutheran Ladies will again have the community supper at the community center from 4:30 to 7. They will be featuring wild rice this time. Come and join and visit with your neighbors. All proceeds go to Fresh water for Life.

November 15, Centennial Lutheran Ladies will be having a Chili Feed/breadsticks, crafts, baked goods, white elephants items, fresh wreaths both balsam and princess pine starting a 11am and going til 1pm.

Hope to see you all at these events.

Hi everyone,

I hope that everyone is doing ok since the last time I posted.

My sympathy goes to Nancy Shaw and family. I was notified yesterday that EK Shaw had passed away on Friday night. I haven't heard any funeral arrangements but when I do I will let you know. Nancy's address is Nancy Shaw, 6 Larchwood Court, Newton IA 50208.

Tomorrow I go to Park Rapids and have the varicose veins done on my right leg. My left leg is doing so good that I decided to have the other one done.

Deer hunting hasn't been too good at our place. Finally last night they got 3 for 7 hunters. Rochelle (granddaughter) who's 11 got her second deer last night. She was really proud. Randy (son - in-law) and Adam (grandson) each got a doe. Someone called me last week and wondered if I was mad at the son-in-law because I always wrote the son-in-law so from now on he's going by Randy. He's a good son-in-law.

I know I've been really busy but tonight when I'm sitting here trying to write something it's like I haven't done anything.

I did make a new recipe tonight. It was porkchops with apples. It turned out pretty good. I'm not much on mixing fruit with my meat.

Pork Chops with Apples

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 13 min. Serves:4

4 - 1/2" thick bone-in pork chops
Salt
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 large Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1. Sprinkle pork chops with salt. Place flour in a shallow bowl and dredge chops on both sides.

2. Warm 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chops until browned, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.

3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, shallots, and apples to skillet. Cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add jam, vinegar and broth, cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits on bottom of skillet, until sauce has thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pour over chops and serve.

Ok, so I can't make a recipe just the way it's wrote so here are my changes. I used garlic salt and added a little pepper to the chops. My chops were thicker so they took longer to cook. Then I didn't have any apricot jam so I used plum jelly and I don't have shallots so I used finely diced onion. I used Braeburn apples instead of Granny Smith. It took longer than the 1 or 2 minutes for my sauce to become thick.

All in all I would give it a 7 on a 1 to 10 scale. The chops were really good and moist, it's just that I usually don't eat too much fruit and usually only by itself. It did look nice on the plate. I served them with baked sweet potatoe and brussel sprouts. The only one that complained was me, the others thought they were good.

We started making wreaths this weekend. The orders aren't as large as last year but I'm glad as I've got alot to get done and I have a couple of craft sales coming up. Too bad I have to work because it sure interfers in what I'd like to be doing.

Hard to believe that it is only 47 days til Christmas. I'm going to have hernia surgery on the 10th of December so that will slow me down for a while. Hopefully by the first of the year I will be back to doing everything I want to do.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Julie

Squawk

Hi all,

I know it's been quite a while. Been busy.

Tonight when I came across the Shogren's Bridge there must of been 40 or more swans in the river. It was a beautiful site. Tomorrow I'm hoping to remember my camera so maybe I can take a picture.

I've been seeing quite a few deer out the last couple of days. Makes a person wonder if there is going to be some bad weather coming in, the forecast is for warm weather for the weekend. I hope that happens.

We will be starting making wreaths this weekend. Getting everything ready for that will be a challange this year since we have moved things all over and not too much stuff has gotten put back since the wedding.

I've almost finished the wood. Tomorrow is the day. I have one more load to split and bring in and stack. Then cover with a tarp and I'm ready with that. A few more hoses to pick up and then also cover the cow waterer which I still haven't got done.

Hope this finds all of you in good health and spirits.

Take care,
Julie