Mending - always mending

I have a friend who says things like "That needs mending" or the "dog needs walking" - I don't know where that sort of idiom originates - the use of the gerund instead of the passive infinitive (ie., 'that needs to be mended' - 'the dog needs to be walked') - I know I'm a linguistic geek...

...but that's what I thought of as I was mending my shoes...

...Scout and I can wear the same size shoes now - we found this out when I gave him an old pair of my shoes to wear while mowing - not these - some proper lace up ones -- and although I think crocs are pretty hideous - I do own a pair because they are perfect for slipping on to walk the dog (when he needs walking - haha) - and for working in the garden for their hose-ability...

...anyhooo - Scout wore my crocs (I know they're not really crocs - but some off-brand - still...) and broke them - how did that happen??? - and now they need mending...

...so of course I mended them - that funny little curved needle came in very handy here...

...as good as new...

I never wear them with the strap at the back - obviously Scout does or it wouldn't have broken - I think they're still too big for him and his foot sliding out of the shoe is what broke the strap - he had his own pair of crocs - but he left them at one of our (many) stops on the river and there was no way to go back and look for them - we are so sorry about our inadvertant littering - I guess we failed at 'Leave No Trace' this time...

Patriot Day

The Boy Scouts 'worked' at the annual Patriot Day Celebration - they manned several games that children could play...

First Scout was assigned to the Fishing Game -
...a child throws over a line and Scout attaches a small prize to the end...

...everyone is a winner in this game - you catch something every time...

...later he switched games with another scout and manned the tennis ball toss game - this game required some skill as you had to get a ball in a bucket to win a prize...

...after manning games for 2 hours it was time for some fun and games of his own - There were several inflatable games on site - this one two people start out together and race over the obstacles - such fun...

...then a tour of all the heavy equipment on display - the amazing thing was that they let the kids climb all over the equipment...

...they even had real guns - what is it with boys and guns...


...but the highlight of the day (guns aside) was probably the 'Wrecking Ball'...

...a wobbly inflatable structure with four wobbly pads and a ball on a string which you fling at the other players and try to knock them off their pad - there was such a line at this one and the way you lost your turn was to fall off your pad...

'Cluck'less Chick'n Breasts

Tracy at A Vegan for Dinner posted a super recipe for Seitan Chick'n Breasts and we tried it and we like it a lot...

The first night we served it with Teriyaki Sauce (Neumann's Own) and some Asian Veg (just a bag of California Mix with a little bit of Agave and Soy - it's Scout's favorite way to eat Broccoli) - you can just see how moist and tender these 'breasts' are...

I just followed her recipe exactly - the link above will take you to her blog - here the seitan rests...

...shaped into cutlets...

...wrapped in foil - ready for the oven...

...they were so golden and perfect - crispy/chewy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside...

Premio Meme Award

Liss at A Memory Forever gave me the Premio Meme Award - Thanks so much Liss - Your meme was great. The rules are list 7 facts about myself and pass it on to 7 people. That's pretty simple...

7 Things
1. I met my husband when we were 12 in Junior High and he sent another little boy to the front of the bus to ask me to sit at the back of the bus with him - I declined...

2. I have an extremely low tolerance for alcohol - generally I fall asleep at the second glass of wine...

3. I learned to knit when I was 8 - my sister and I found an old black trunk that belonged to our Great Grandmother - inside were some quilt scraps and a pair of bakelite knitting needles (size 5 - I still have them) and some thin twisted navy and white crochet thread - and a book with instructions (I still have that too) - I insisted on learning to knit but couldn't quite manage it from the pictures so my Mom (who was taught to knit by a visiting missionary) and my Nanny (whom I never saw knit - she did crochet 'though) taught me to knit - and I've been hooked ever since...

4. My favorite movie of all time is probably Groundhog Day - I watch it every year (much to the Man's dismay) - it's so hopeful - I'd love it if we all just figured it out and got it right...

5. I have strange calouses on both my hands between my index finger and my middle finger - because I always stretch the index finger back over my hand - I don't know why I do this...

6. I'm a multi-tasker - I do things like knit and read at the same time or even open a book on the counter and read while I knead the bread...

7. Once for a psychology class - we tried to go an entire day without saying the words 'I' or 'me' - it was extremely difficult...

That was fun! Now let's pass this on:

Katie

Amanda

Rachel

Maria Rose

Elizabeth

Elissa

and Maya

Canoeing and Camping

We're just back from a few days of camping and canoeing - love it - I only took about 200 pictures and Scout took some with his new waterproof camera as well - so we'll share some with you....

We canoed the section between the arrows on this map...

...we started from Red Willow Bible Camp - I'm sure I've posted about RWBC before - it's one of my favorite places on earth...


...Our first campsite after a half day of canoeing on the Sheyenne River - just under a big ole shade tree beside the river...

...Scout and his Papa get us some firewood...

...early morning mist on the river...

...Curious (and noisy) cows come to check us out...

...We really saw a lot of wildlife on this trip - it must have something to do with us being out in the middle of the river - we must not seem like much of a threat - this little doe just watched us from the bank and then turned her head slightly away like she was just a little shy...

There were a lot of Canadians with their fuzzy little babies...

...We floated past several abandoned farmsteads quite close to the river...

...every time we passed under a bridge thousands of swallows would fly out of their nests under the bridge...

...definite evidence of erosion at work...

...This silly goose - thought he could hide from us...

...a tumbledown farm building at our second campsite - there was also a two seater - which I somehow neglected to take a picture of...

...we didn't see any baby turtles - but we saw their eggs...

...Mama Turtle - this one is a snapper - but we mostly saw painted turtles on the river - so we often stopped to swim and explore...

...Turtle tracks - there is a little mound full of eggs up there - and Scout's shadow too...

...an interesting terraced garden on a steep hill...

...in addition to all that - we counted stars - played in the fire - ate really good camp food - swam and hiked - looked for arrowheads - watched shooting stars and satellites - talked and paddled - we had such a good time...

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School is a week long day camp - staffed by the Counselors from Metigoshe Bible Camp...

Scout had a great fun filled week at VBS...

Opening Day

Well, the pool opened on June 1st - and we didn't go because it was too cold - only about 64 degrees - they actually have a cutoff for temperature - if it's not above 65 they don't open - but it was close and it was opening day - still we didn't go...

...then for several days after that the pool didn't open because it really was too cold...

Finally - it's warmed up into the 70s and we spent a nice day at the pool with one of Scout's best friends...

Birthday Boy!

It's been a crazy sort of long drawn out Birthday for Scout this year...

...first of all - Scout has been saving all of his money for almost a year now to buy a 55 gallon aquarium - I didn't want one - but he persevered and has been diligently saving and talking of nothing else for months - he had saved about half the amount of money by himself - and then our sweet family came through with birthday money and Petco gift cards to help him out THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE!!! - so when we were in Fargo for the Black Belt Test - our hotel was immediately in front of the Petco - and we had the truck - so we went ahead and let him spend all of his birthday money and get the full setup including a nice waterproof black base/stand - it sort of has the same finish as our truck bed liner (only a little finer)...

We always put Scout's presents on his bed - so that he wakes up on his birthday morning and opens his presents - this year the Man moved everything into the room - we weren't quite up to the challenge of filling it with water and certainly not of moving all the precious fish/pets - we really need the expert for that - but Scout was so pleased and surprised...

The Man is also responsible for the Birthday cake this year - it's some sort of yellow cake with chocolate pudding icing - Scout loved it - and it made a nice Birthday breakfast...

He also loves lighting his own candles...

...and blowing them out - I remember when he was little - just three or four years old - we lit the candles and blew them out so many times - they were just nubs and we were worried that the smoke detector would go off...

Then we opened a couple more presents - a new underwater camera - I'm sure you'll be seeing closeups of the new tank from the inside out soon...

...and a Black Belt T-shirt from the do-jang in Fargo...

...and with the crazy weeks we've got ahead of us - VBS - and camping/canoeing - it'll still be a little while before we can have a party with his friends...