4th of July

I know that there are quite a few Americans who read my blog so I am thinking of you today as you celebrate with family and friends.  Fireworks tonight is always a grand finale.  It reminds me of New Years Eve in Norway.  They can't use fireworks for their 17th of May celebrations as it doesn't get dark enough.  So they bring the new year in with a bang as it's dark in early afternoon then!

Our family's roots are partly in the US.  Howard's mother, Clara Bergum, was born in Minnesota Valley on February 10, 1904.  His dad, Horace Johnson, was born in Harmony, Minnesota on June 21, 1901.  My dad, Milford Erickson, was born in Glenwood, Minnesota on March 6, 1907.  Both his parents were also born in Minnesota. I have visited the birthplaces of my mother's parents in Norway but have yet to visit my dad's roots in Minnesota.  I'll have to put that on "my bucket list".

I have always lived near the US/Canada border.  Our farm at Frontier was twelve miles north of that border.  Now I live just 2 1/2 miles north of the border.  So I grew up cross border shopping and it's even easier now since I have a post office box at Ambrose, ND, just seven miles from the farm.  That makes online shopping a breeze!  Some companies won't mail to a box number.  Thanks to New Century Ag, the local grain elevator in Ambrose, they will accept parcels from UPS for Canadian customers.  The Canadian dollar is down in value right now so it's not quite as inviting to shop "across the line".

There were tornado and thunderstorm warnings out for this part of SK last night, but we got nothing at the farm, except some interesting cloud formations.  There might have been a storm north of Torquay according to the radar.

Clare and Kirk were "over east" on a crop inspection tour yesterday afternoon.  Here's a picture of a nice looking crop of durum wheat.

I took in some of the Jamboree on July 1 at Oungre but didn't stay for all of it.  It wasn't the same going by myself.  Last year Laurel and Ashley were with me and other years Howard and I were there together.  I was missing that but stayed for the first half of the program anyway.

The next afternoon I drove to Weyburn as Abbey was playing ball against Oxbow at Jubilee Park.  Laurel, Eric and Ashley came to watch too so we had a visit with them as well as with Jodi, Clare and Abbey.  Clare's are flying to BC this afternoon for a wedding on the Kot side, a nephew of Jodi's.  They will be back on Monday.

Now I'm home and catching up on yard work and house work.  I don't think I'll ever get "caught up" with either one!  It's good to have a hobby like hardanger or quilting as those projects do come to an end and last for years once they are finished.  House and yard work are never ending!!

I still have several items of clothing that my mother sewed for me as well as leftover fabric from sewing projects.  I want to make a quilt for myself from those fabrics so have been looking for a pattern that isn't too difficult.  I saw this one on a quilt shop website so ordered the magazine with the pattern.  I've always liked the nine patch pattern.

"Posies in the Park"

I have a quilt on the end of my bed that my Grandma Haaland made for us.  It has fabric from several dresses that Mom made.  The backing was worn, as were several of the top pieces.  I trimmed off the worn pieces and put a new backing on the quilt several years ago.  It has a wool batt so is good to have at the end of the bed when I need more covers.  I even see some purple pieces that were from material for a pyjama top!

Well, it's time to go for my morning walk and do a bit of yard work before it gets hot again.  Today should be cooler than yesterday so that sounds good.  Have a good rest of the week and a safe and happy 4th of July to all Americans.