the fork~

Everybody has their favorite thing ... like that old sweatshirt or jeans, your nice soft blanket, jewelry, cd's, pictures, a pillow, etc...

Well ... mine is a fork.

It's not just any old ordinary fork ... this fork has a history.  It was given to me by my Dad about 20 years ago when we were setting up our camper's kitchen.  Mom had a bunch of old silverware and dishes that she said I could rummage through to use.  In the mess of silverware was this fork.

When my Dad saw the old fork in the pile of silverware that I was sifting through he said, "well there's that old fork".  Of course, I had to know why he mentioned it.

He went on to tell me that it was the fork that was issued to him when he was on ship with the Navy, stationed in the Aluetian Islands in the Bering Sea by Alaska during WWII.  Notice on it's handle the USN stamp.  Why he kept it ...  who knows ~ but it was his ... and now it was mine.  He told me to keep it and think of him when he was gone.  It's been a few years now since he passed away ~ but every day ... every meal ... I eat with Daddy's fork.  Thank you Daddy for such a wonderful gift.

Now... another story about the fork

A few years back, a good friend of mine passed away.  I was asked to write a eulogy for her funeral.  I didn't know the first thing about doing that ... so I turned my searching for words and the proper way about doing it to the internet search engines ... and you know how you get side tracked when doing something?  It happens to me all the time ... anyhooooooooooooo

I came across this story and it has been in my head ever since.  Also... those of you who know me ~ know that I have some major health issues with my heart and I think about my death sometimes ... probably more than normal.  blah blah blah .... but it's true.

So....
I had a talk with my pastor and he had asked me if I had any wishes regarding my funeral.  Well...  I do.
I told him about this story I found on the internet and I would like to have the same done for me.

Here's my request.

When I am laid out in my casket ... I would like to have my Daddy's fork in my hand.

Now...
I know ~ there will be people looking down at me in my casket and they will be wondering ... some will probably even be making remarks out loud over it, like ... OMG... she's even taking her fork to Heaven ... didn't she use it enough while on Earth?  Oh... that poor fat girl ... she just couldn't lay it down... you get my drift?

I asked  Pastor not to tell anyone about it until it was time for my funeral sermon.

Then I asked for him to include in the service the story about the fork.

You know when you go out to eat and the waitress says, "hang on to your fork, there's better things coming" ... meaning the dessert.

Well so it is with life.  We all know that our eternal day on Earth is inevitable ... we are all going to die ... BUT ... for us Christians we BELIEVE that there is a better thing coming!  ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN !!  How wonderful is that!

So hang on to your fork ~ our dessert is coming!
~~~***~~~

another note ...
yes ... I do love food ... so much so that I started another blog with my recipe collection on it.  It's called Cooking Up North With Mel  check it out.

Some of the recipes that I have posted so far I've already posted before on this blog and my old blog; but hang on ... better things are coming. 

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

nature's beauty~

 

Look who showed up on the trail camera ... 

Mr. Wisconsin Badger himself

or 

maybe

it's 

a

Mrs.

I wasn't there to lift up it's tail to find out.

~~~~***~~~~

I took a lot of photos today ~ because it's just so pretty outside right now with all the changing colors of fall.

 ... in my yard ...

 ~~~***~~~

This is the old bridge in the town of Fifield ... normally you can see the rocks in the rapids; but the water level right now is so high all you see is a fast flow of water.

notice the fishing lures hanging off the power lines crossing the river

~~~***~~~

Some more of my flowers ... before they freeze and are buried under 4 feet of snow ~

~~~***~~~

... a flock of sandhill cranes flying over the field ...

~~~***~~~

Sailor Creek Flowage

~~~***~~~

My Grandloves ... home from school

... some deer that came out in their yard while we were standing outside visiting ...

~ the goose is a decoy... used as a lawn decoration ~

More shots of my favorite beauties ...

~~~***~~~

and a beautiful sunset to end the day

Until next time...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

what's on the cooling rack~

 

I just love the fall weather ~ it's so crisp and cool outside and the trees right now are gorgeous ... yellows, greens, red and orange ... LOVE IT!

The cool weather though... makes for a cool house in the morning when you don't have the furnace turned up yet.  I like to bake to take the chill out the house.  Ahhh.. shucks... you're on to me... I like to bake PERIOD!  I don't care what the weather is. lol

Yesterday was bread day.  I made up five loaves of rye this time around.

This morning I went out and snagged six apples off the tree and peeled them and sliced them into the frying pan.

Added a half stick of butter ~

Put the heat to them for about five minutes until they were starting to get softened.

Then I added 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon ~

Kept them on the heat until they were nice and soft and caramelized ~ another five minutes or so ...

Got the cheaters dough out of the refrigerator ~

Added a good dollop of apple mixture on top ~

Topped it with another piece of crescent roll ~ pinch the edges together ~  into the preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes ...

and WALLAH ...

Hot Apple Turnovers!

This recipes makes eight turnovers if you don't drop one on the floor.

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

kraut & critters~

Today our oldest daughter, Staci, came over to make her sauerkraut with her Dad.  It was an outside in the garage mess.  I just thought I'd share with you the father/daughter moment. lol

Here they are shredding the cabbage.  Staci with my mandolin from Pampered Chef ~ which works super slick on this job ...  she could use the food processor; but using the mandolin makes a nicer shred.

and...
Slim with the Kraut Cutter from 1905! ~ I don't know why he isn't using the wooden frame to hold the cabbage?? Oh well... it still works and all fingers are still attached.

Here they are pulverizing the cabbage after a little salt is added ~

Slim... with his big gorilla hands has a big advantage over Staci ~

After they got it all smashed down and juicy... it got put into 5 gallon pails to ferment to the sauerkraut stage.  We'll then can it up in a few weeks. It's so easy to make ... and oh so good!

~~
We also had a little mishap today...
Remember Momma Bear and the cubs?

Well... they've grown ...

Remember my telling in a prior post about sitting in the tent to watch them?  Well ...

Momma ate the tent!


Seriously...  she didn't eat it; but she did rip open the window, broke the support pole, knocked over my chair and ate the ziploc bag of M&M's that Slim had out there and my cough drops.

Fortunately ... we were NOT sitting in it at the time.

How foolish of us though to leave that ziploc bag in the tent the other day in the little pouch under the window ... it was our own fault.  We know better ~ yet in a quick hurry to get home the other day in the pouring rain we left it behind. 

Never a dull moment around here.

Until next time...
So it goes in our neck of the woods.
~mel