Fred's Minnesota Blog

Due to Hurricane Rita, Gerardo's mother and sister's visit to Minnesota had to be postponed. Their flight was through Houston so it was cancelled. They are now planning to be here on Tuesday.

In other news:

Fred's friend brought his sister's car over to have a new starter put on. Afterwards, they found out that the distributor cap was cracked and on removing it one of the bolts twisted off. Nothing is ever easy.

Drilled out bolt, it is a blurry picture but you can see the hole in the center. Fred needs to get a metric tap to finish the repair.

The progress on the downstairs bathroom has been slow but we thought this week we would put in a short update. The walls and ceiling are dry walled and painted with primer.
We have purchased the vanity and sink along with the light fixture and faucet set. We will continue to push along on the project with winter coming. I think it will be easier when we don't have as much outside work around the house.

Here are some pictures of the Tuberose and Hosta (with no blossoms because the deer found them delicious) that were given to Kathleen by Alicia. Also some Morning Glories planted from seed beside the deck.

Kate and Gerardo's house warming party. We brought the desert. Fred made sour cream ice cream and Kathleen made hot milk cake with broiled frosting. It was her mother's recipe.

Pictures of our new refrigerator. We finally got fed up with the side-by-side that came with the house and replaced it with a French door with freezer on the bottom GE. Two very nice men delivered it and carried out the old one.

Kathleen studying the operating instructions. They only look two inches thick because they are printed in both Spanish and English. The English version was not over 100 pages long. People with licenses to operate nuclear reactors could skip to the last 60 pages of instructions.

This is a change from living in Michigan. We got three apples from our apple trees here in Minnesota. We made them all into applesauce. It was very good.

Here is the applesauce. Kathleen is planning a Saturday adventure to visit a local orchard and pick apples like we did in Michigan.

Kate and Gerardo moved into their own apartment this weekend. We will miss them but it was time that they got out on their own. They are both working, Kate at the Indian Health board and Gerardo as a computer software technician for a Wells Fargo Insurance Company. They had their interview with the immigration people last week and Gerardo got a two year green card. That means he can work and stay in the country for two years till he will have to apply again. They were very relieved.

Their new apartment is quite close, about 2 miles away, and Kathleen will babysit their pug, Yuyi.

The community center.


Their building.

The door to their unit.

Getting ready, this is storage space for their closet. A baby changing table, Kathleen bought before Fritz was born, thirty one years ago.

Packing.

Unpacking.

Yuyi getting packed up.

Setting up, living room and office.

Kitchen and dining area.

Their bedroom, notice the crown molding and French doors. Very nice.
Bathrooms and laundry room with machines provided.
View from the deck.

This is Elonet's (Fred's mother) recipe for potato salad. We have recently gotten some requests for the instructions on how to make it.

Make about four hours before serving and refrigerate.

1 medium (boiled) potato
3 stalks celery
1/2 sliced onion
3 hard boiled eggs (sliced)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 small diced green pepper
5 medium lettuce leaves torn to pieces
1 tomato
1/2 cup diced cucumber

Use amounts of all ingredients in variation according to taste. Mix in large bowl and season with salt, pepper, and celery salt.






The ultimate picnic salad. Enjoy!!

This is our last post of the 2005 summer hours adventures. We made the annual trip to the State Fair.

The bus trip to the Fair, at Brookdale Shopping Center.

Off the bus, across the bridge, and into the Fair Grounds .

The Fairway when we arrived.

Fred with wood burning boiler, with the price of gas it may be a good deal!

Nachito Herrera concert, one of the players afterwards.

The livestock buildings.

Kathleen and Fred resting for a minute.

Kathleen and Fred.

On to Machinery Hill, to see the tractors and farm equipment.

The Horticultural Building then off to snacks:

Joe Soucheray and his Garage Logic Show. A bit of sanity in the State where nothing is allowed.

Fred, it had just started to rain a bit.

Kate at the Beer Tent after a long hard day. A little country music and a small libation soothes the weary body.

Jimmy Fortune was the band on stage.