Happy Thanksgiving

A pumpkin tree in Madison, WI.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

We celebrated Thanksgiving, with family, early this year.

Outdoors.

Unusually warm temperatures.

Beautifully set table.

Dinner delivered at sunset.

Eating by candle, and lantern, light.

Giving thanks.

Reading children’s books.

Continuing traditions.

Enchanted evening.

Grateful.

Olbrich Gardens Revisited

Madison, Wisconsin is a great halfway point between my house in Northfield and my friend’s house in Indiana, and it meets our destination criteria of a body of water, gardens and thrift and/or antique stores so we have enjoyed several trips there.

Olbrich Gardens…showing off many beautiful planters.

We traditionally take our annual trip in the spring (ever since 1989), with an occasional trip halfway through the year if we can fit it into our schedules. We have met in many different locations around the country but Madison is convenient destination for us.

Along the trail on a beautiful fall day.

This year we planned a trip in May, but because of the pandemic we delayed it, until finally we decided to go… six months later. It was a tough decision, as are a lot of decisions around COVID these days. We decided on Madison because it’s easy to get to. We were careful where we went and we wore our masks.

The sun lighting up the trees!

When we meet in Madison, we always include a trip to Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The gardens are a must see. Spring, summer or fall, Olbrich Gardens is always a special place to wander the trails and enjoy nature’s beauty. 

The purple aster among the white birch is appealing to the eyes.

We had fun walking around the gardens with our masks…but not our facemasks. The first day together we found sparkly, purple eye masks, new and unopened, at a thrift store, so we each bought one to add a whimsical touch to our time together.

With mirth and laughter…

We decided Olbrich Gardens was the place to don our masks and find a photo op. So, when we arrived at the gardens off came our facemasks and on went our sparkly eye masks.

This framed print was hanging in an antique store and we liked the caption. It went with our whimsical mind-set.

Olbrich Gardens had a lot to offer at the end of October. There were still lovely flower arrangements and colorful trees to enjoy in their fall glory.

This tree was labeled Full Moon Maple. Love that name…love the color.

Bright sunshine shone down on us and its warmth embraced us. We took great delight strolling around in it.

I didn’t record the name of this unique berry bush. Yes, these are real, natural berries.

At one point during our afternoon a message popped up on my phone alerting me to a photo memory. I looked and it showed photos from a Fall trip my friend and I had taken last year (2019) to Madison. The photos were from Olbrich Gardens and the date was exactly one year ago TO THE DAY. That was crazy! It felt like a confirmation. We reminisced, and recalled in 2019 it snowed the night before we visited the gardens so the ground and paths were covered with the white stuff. Not so this year.

Another striking planter…

Olbrich Gardens is a place to revisit again and again. Our trip turned out well. Although we shortened it, it was good to be together, in-person, to catch up with our lives. Someday we will not have to worry about COVID, but until then, a lot of decisions are heavy and difficult.

Northfield’s Winter Walk 2019

We had family visiting from Pennsylvania during Northfield’s annual Winter Walk last week. It was a fun way to showcase our beautiful downtown.

A favorite winter scene of mine: the lit tree on top of the Ames Mill building in Northfield.

Even though the air was cold, Gary’s brother and his wife were willing to participate in the festivities. The streets were full – with shoppers, carolers and folks just out enjoying the ambiance of this holiday tradition. Fresh snow had fallen earlier in the day.

Warming up at one of the many fire pits along closed-off Division street.

For the Winter Walk I always don a Santa hat – one I bought at Jacobsen’s Department Store at Northfield’s first Winter Walk, years ago. The beloved department store is no longer in business. I had an extra Santa hat and encouraged my sister-in-law to join me in the venture.

Santa’s elves?

It is always fun to look in the shops and taste a delicious treat or two. Many store windows are decked out for Christmas and offer wonderful viewing: Quality Bakery and The Rare Pair to name two.

One of the window displays at Quality Bakery.
The Rare Pair in Northfield has interesting and creative window displays all year long.

In the yarn shop window a young woman was sitting in a chair, showing off her knitting skills as she knit a sweater using huge needles. Apparently her goal (or challenge) was to knit a sweater in four hours or less. The clock was ticking down beside her. She was well along on the project and probably reached her goal by the end of the evening. 

This woman seemed to be enjoying herself, sitting in the window of the yarn shop in Northfield. The knitting needles were very large creating large stitches.

It was a delight to once again enjoy Northfield’s Winter Walk, and it was especially nice to share it with our out-of-town guests who experienced it for the first time, and liked it!

A vintage tree in The Rare Pair window.

St. Olaf Christmas Festival

When I was the Christmas Festival Ticket Coordinator at St. Olaf College people told me over and over again that the Festival was a tradition they didn’t want to miss! Sometimes they’d get frantic about it (ha) but after many years of going myself I’m beginning to understand.

The Festival has become a tradition for us, a beautiful way to start the Christmas season. We attended the Festival last evening and were not disappointed. This year’s theme is, A New Song of Grace and Truth.

The Christmas Festival always features five St. Olaf choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra, and this year included the Handbell Choir for one of the orchestra pieces (approximately 600 students). The music is varied and there is something new each year, but the Festival always ends with the choirs and orchestra all singing their rendition (arranged by F. Melius Christiansen) of “Beautiful Savior” as the student voices surround the auditorium. 

Anticipating the concert is fun and excitement builds the day of. Being in the lobby with the crowds, seeing the new set design, reading the program and being surrounded by college students is entertaining. Then we find our seats, the glorious music begins and two hours later it’s all over, and another successful Festival has provided a delightful evening and a great start to the Christmas season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our tree (a lilac branch) of Thanksgiving…a tradition we started when our sons were little. As we go around the table we add a leaf and say what we’re thankful for. Simple but special.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” Colossians 3: 14-16

Thirty Years

My friend and I celebrated our 30thannual “girls get-away” this week. We were more like girls when we took our first trip together in 1989, to Seattle. We didn’t know then that this tradition would continue thirty years, without missing a year.

A rabbit sculpture on a river walk along the Mississippi.
Rabbit up close…photo by FR.

She lives in Indiana, I live in Minnesota and at least once a year we get together to catch up on life. We always have a great time; we share stories of our sons (and now grandchildren) and bring each other up to date on our lives, while shopping thrift stores and antique shops, strolling along a river (or being near some type of water), and visiting botanical gardens and/or garden centers. Those activities make up our criteria for where we meet.

A wonderful flower pot in a store front.

We met 37 years ago at church during greeting time (she lived in Minnesota at that time.) I had an infant and she was pregnant with her first child. After her son was born I offered to bring her lunch. I brought tuna fish sandwiches in a brown paper bag! But, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. On almost every trip someone asks if we are sisters…and we have begun to say yes.  

May 2019. The Mississippi is to the left.

We were near the Mississippi River this year and the spring greens and blooming trees were spectacular.

Vibrant spring greens.
Brilliant colorful blooming trees.
A train rolling on tracks along the Mississippi River.
Out the window of a restaurant where we ate dinner one evening.
My attempt to capture the beauty and perspective of this sweeping view of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
We enjoyed sitting on a bench along the river at twilight…this robin stayed with us, first on the ground and then in the tree.

Easter Eggs

It’s been awhile since I’ve colored eggs for Easter, but with our grandchildren here of course we had to do it. I hard boiled 11 eggs and ate one so that left us with 10 eggs. 😉

I plopped the tablets from the egg decorating kit into cups of vinegar and made several bold, color dyes to chose from. 

A fun activity for all ages.

The kids (of all ages) had fun drawing on the egg with a clear wax pencil or crayon, deciding which color to dip the egg into, then watching and waiting, with anticipation, to see how their egg would turn out. 

The Easter Egg with Christmas Tree.

The most unique egg is one our grandson envisioned and had help with the drawing. He has talked about Christmas trees since Christmas…he was so enthralled with our tree…so he wanted a Christmas tree on his Easter egg. O well, we couldn’t have Easter without Christmas.

Happy Easter in Portuguese.

An egg with Happy Easter written in Portuguese, the other language we hear in our house these days, is another special egg for our basket.

Adding mini-stickers to the dry eggs the next day.

 Ukraine is known for their beautiful Easter eggs. I have a bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs. I brought a few home with me from my visits there. These eggs are wood, not the typical, fragile “real” eggs. Ukrainian Easter Eggs are amazing… detailed, intricate, artistic. I took a class on how to paint Ukrainian eggs but I never caught on to the technique. It is an art, and like all art, it usually takes much practice, and some talent.

My Carnival Glass bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs.

I enjoyed watching my grandchildren having fun decorating their Easter eggs in their own creative way, and their eggs are just as special.

Valentine’s Day Tradition

Projects my granddaughter has been working on for Valentine’s Day.

I have written about our Valentine’s Day dinner tradition before. It began years ago when our boys were young. I wanted to make the day special and start a tradition, hopefully one that would last. I decided to make heart- shape French toast…which over the years morphed into waffles because I found an electric waffle maker that made heart-shape waffles! 

The box calls this a “Heart Waffler”.

I have made this dinner for many Valentine’s Days over the years. Even after the boys left home, I would make it for Gary and me. The tradition has lasted and it continues…

This year we have our grandchildren living with us so I will be getting out the red tablecloth, using fun Valentine’s Day napkins, and making heart-shape waffles for them. I think they will love it – just as my boys did when they were little.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

O, Holy Night

For several years now (it has become a tradition) we enjoy going to the late Christmas Eve service in one of the historic Valley Grove Churches.

As we walked in we noticed the huge decorated Christmas tree in the front of the sanctuary, and a Hardanger fiddle, flute and an organ filled the church with beautiful music.

The beautiful, full Christmas tree filled the front of the sanctuary.

Then the church bells rang to announce the start of the Christmas Eve service.

A trio making music: organ, flute and the hardanger fiddle.

We enjoy this service for many reasons, one being… there is a time for just singing Christmas carols. The congregation make requests for different carols and we all sing to our hearts content the old familiar tunes.

Pastor John Gorder, gave a sermonette. This year he included thoughts about the beloved, old, oak tree that a tornado ripped down last September. This tree was love by many folks. The rings of the tree indicated the tree was there long before the settlers, in 1862.  I can only imagine all the special events that happened around that tree.

There was a branch from the tree in the church, in front of the Christmas tree. It was holding a photo of the old oak tree before it fell. Pastor Gorder had visited the stump of the oak tree a few weeks before the service, and found an acorn from that tree. The acorn… a small seed grows into a great tree, so with baby Jesus… born to be a great King.

A branch from the beloved old, oak tree, holding a photo of the tree.

As is tradition in many Christmas Eve services, we lit candles and as the lights dimmed, sang Silent Night, Holy Night, a favorite.

We saw a few friends and said “Merry Christmas” as the ringing of the bells accompanied us out of church, after the service. A beautiful Christmas night scene met us as we walked out of church – with a bright moon and stars, and a few wispy clouds in the night sky near the old stone church and I imagined a stable long ago.

The amazing view we witnessed as we departed the historic church which is directly across from another historic church in Valley Grove.

Thank you God, for giving us a holy night indeed.

The St. Olaf Christmas Festival

The 2018 St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Good News of Great Joy, was performed over the weekend, and we were in attendance for one of the productions. It has become a tradition for us, and ushers in our Christmas season.

The program for 2018 St. Olaf Christmas Festival.

I smile when I think of my first year working as the Christmas Festival ticket coordinator several years ago. Many people told me that same thing, “the St. Olaf Christmas Festival is a tradition to begin their Christmas season”. If something would go wrong in securing their tickets they would get feisty. It’s as though Christmas would not happen if they did not get their tickets to the Festival to start the season!

Years later, I understand the reason behind their thinking. It is a fabulous event and the timing is wonderful…after Thanksgiving and before Advent. I love going to it each year, and it does start our Christmas season out right (but I also remember the reason for the season and it’s not the Christmas Festival.)

Beautiful Christmas ornaments adorn the trees in the student center.

Music was the theme for the decorated Christmas trees in Buntrock Commons (the student center) with fun ribbon, musical instrument ornaments and more. There were four, gorgeous trees flanking the fireplace creating a festive atmosphere for people gathering in the commons area. They are set up and trimmed for the students, faculty, staff, and visitors to enjoy.

I love this musical note ribbon intertwined in the trees.

The set design for the St. Olaf Christmas Festival in the auditorium was beautiful. Wide swaths of fabric criss-crossed the back of the stage and a lighting crew would somehow change the colors on the fabrics during the concert.

The orchestra warming up before the performance. The backdrop for the performance changed colors as different lighting worked its wonders.

This year’s music selection was wonderful and the five choirs and orchestra sang and played their hearts out for two hours, leaving the audience in awe of another amazing performance from the students. A few scripture verses are always read, making it feel more like a service than a concert.

Decorations on the Christmas Trees in Buntrock Commons.

I love and cherish the traditional ending song, Beautiful Savior, and it always brings tears to my eyes.

Even though I am no longer an employee of St. Olaf College, I think I will always feel a part of the Christmas Festival. It is near and dear to my heart and I am grateful to be able to attend this event and begin our Christmas season with fine music, carols and songs of praise. It is a special gift.