OTD

Those in the southern clime may not understand our Minnesota fixation with the weather. TV stations devote more time to it here. Hope springs eternal that we will catch a warmer, sunny winter day or a cooler, dryer summer day. You probably have weather with less variables.

We are coming off a few extremely humid, hot days. Oppressive heat. Yesterday afternoon the humidity went east to annoy Wisconsinites etc. Even the high 80's felt pretty good. Today we will continue to catch a break. This morning Jon "opened the house" to enjoy the summer morning. As I sat to catch up on my email I noted my local weather predictions on my computer homepage. See, it is a fixation. The humidity is going to climb to miserable readings tomorrow. I told my husband, "The humidity is going back to 76%". He paused, then asked, "Today?" (another pause before I answered) I answered, "No, tomorrow". This is when it gets scary. "I know the answer," I said, "but what was the question?" Thank God he knew. With the pause in the conversation I had forgotten what I was talking about. Give that guy two Klondike bars. Give Jane an Aricept.

Just Tell Them Groucho Sent You

We were invited to a birthday party Saturday for one of Jon's aunts. Can you see the strong family resemblance in these photos? (I am in the black with the shorter hair.) After all thse years I even look like the in-laws. At least we don't resemble the dog. I've seen some funny pictures of dogs and owners who look alike.

I only have one surviving aunt. Jon is blessed with six of them. Longeivity runs in his family on both sides. As you might guess, this is a fun bunch of people.

More Peppers...

I followed a trail online this am. The newspaper's Bulletin Board had a link to city nicknames. I looked up cities where I knew someone but came up short looking for the city slogan of Foxborough, MA and Fredericksburg, TX. No slogans but they do have websites. I found out Fredericksburg is having their Gourmet Chili Pepper and Salsa Festival this weekend. Locally grown peppers, I hope.
http://www.fredericksburg-texas.com/

Just in case you want to address your Christmas card to me at Stillwater, The Birthplace of Minnesota or find someone else's hometown slogan, here is the link:
http://www.stepintoplaces.com/Nicknames/Nickname%20%20ndx.htm

Spent some time with Mary yesterday when she had an ultrasound of the twins. They each weigh 1 lb, 14 oz now. The little girl kept kicking her brother while he sucked his thumb. Amazing to watch that action. I guess sibling rivalry starts young.

Just Thought You Might It Would Be Interested Now That It Is More Affordable-- **

*click on the link to skyroffersgroup to see great gardens. You might want to move to Stillwater even if it is getting "yuppified". Jane

Jessica Lange's Stillwater estate back on market — for $1.95 million
mailto:mdivine@pioneerpress.com?subject=TwinCities.com:
Article Last Updated: 07/24/2008 12:42:07 PM CDT

Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard's estate on Stillwater's North Hill is on the market again.
The Oscar-winning actress and the award-winning playwright and actor pulled their former home off the market last fall, but it recently was listed for $1.95 million. The real estate agent is Frank Roffers of SKY Sotheby's International Realty.
The estate first went on the market in 2004 for $3.3 million. A year later, the selling price had dropped to $2.6 million, and the main house (about $2 million) and the guest house/pool house (about $650,000) also were being offered separately.
A listing on Roffers' Web site at skyroffersgroup.com/featurelistings.html describes the property as a "spectacular home and landscape featured in Architectural Digest."
"Rich in history and architecture, this extraordinary estate is situated in the quaint town of Stillwater, just 30 minutes from the Twin Cities," the listing says.
Lange might dispute "quaint."
In a February interview in the New York Daily News, she was quoting as saying, "When we first moved to Stillwater, it still felt like a real place. It had a downtown with a hardware store, a furniture store, a clothing store. Now it's all gift shops and these terrible condominiums. It was a little town with a great deal of character. Everything gets yuppified, I guess."

Lange bought the former bed-and-breakfast at 903 4th St. N. in 1994 for $415,000, and
she and Shepard lived there about 9 years.
The property includes a 6,000-square-foot main home, built in 1892, the guest house and swimming pool, as well as a carriage house, tiered gardens, a small fruit orchard, ponds and woods. The house sits on one of the largest lots in the city — 2.5 acres — and offers sweeping views of the St. Croix River.
Roffers, the agent, declined to comment on the property listing.
J.L. Family Trust of Beverly Hills, Calif., is listed as the house's owner, according to Washington County property tax records. Records indicate the taxable value of the main house in 2008 is $964,200.

Politics R USA

We are ramping up for the finish now. After almost 18 months of campaigning the national conventions will convene to crown their candidates. I, as an independent, will watch from the sidelines. A person can't avoid politics and we should weigh our options. Independents will be courted by the majority parties for our votes. They can't win without us.

Minnesotans are waiting to see if our young Governor is picked as McCains running mate. We are also bombarded with attacks on Al Franken. More are jumping into the senate race to oppose the endorsed candidates. We will be spared Jesse's reenlistment in politics. Jesse Ventura that is. It doesn't seem like the other Jesse wants out of the spotlight. Maybe it is that name. What a pair.

So we wait. They are deconstructing the Excel center where the RNC will meet. It is a fairly new building--5 yrs old? All the seats are coming out. They are building press boxes in the suites. Lots of $$$ is being spent.

Yesterday's Pioneer Press Bulletin Board had a story that made me laugh. A local was downtown St. Paul and said she spotted a man dressed in cut-off camoflage pants and a sleeveless tee-shirt up in a tree by the Union Depot. He had a graying ponytail and was ringing a bell while making kissing sounds. A small group of people watched him but kept their distance. She said she wondered if he was off his meds! Then a green parrot emerged from the tree. I guess you have to see all the evidence before rushing to conclusions. My comment: The city has been cleaning up downtown, stealing pidgeon eggs to keep the birds population in control so they don't poop on the Republicans and rebuilding a new Excel center to make an impression. How did they miss a camo-dressed aging hippie ringing bells in a tree? Quite an image.

I listened to a radio guy yesterday who was talking about campaigns. He said people were saying this candidate was not experienced enough. He may be a good orator, but he wasn’t ready for the job. He came from Illinois and didn’t have foreign policy experience. He was strongly disliked by his detractors. He split the party. I thought he sounded like he needed good Secret Service protection and I was right. He was talking about Abe Lincoln., a Republican.
Perhaps only time will tell.

A New Use For Pepper Spray

After delivering a punishing blow to tomato growers, the feds announced the source of the salmonella outbreak from food is probably jalapenos. This morning's paper attributes the detection to Minnesotans. Our epidemiologist, Michael Osterholm, is a relentless detective and a giant among scientists in tracking down sources of infection. I have read this man will not eat food grown outside of the USA. Consumer beware. These detectives traced a local outbreak to a restaurant that garnished with jalapeno salsa. Even the employees got sick--hence they weren't the carriers. They found people who have eaten at the restaurants by tracing credit card purchases.

I feel better eating tomatoes now but still buy just the ones grown in a Minnesota greenhouse. It shouldn't be long before our tomato plants are producing. We have loads of green ones that are beginning to ripen. This is already late for tomatoes but we had a cool spring and early summer.

I didn't plant jalapenos. Maybe I can buy a can of that pepper spray for the salsa. No Mexican peppers for me this year.

Sweet Mina

Here is granddaughter Mina at the Disney summer touring High School Musical show with Corbin Bleu. The concert was part of Lumberjack Days in our hometown. Something for the preteen set attended by mostly 30ish parents and kids and preteens and a few grandmas.

Mina enjoys it but takes it all in stride. Not a screamer. I think she enjoyed last year's concert with the Jonas Brothers more. But it was a pleasant summer night by the river.

Mina is the sweetest granddaughter I could hope for and I love any time I spend with her. Amazing kid. Loves vegetables, soccer, an avid reader, swimming, soccer and is well behaved. The kind of kid you approve of as a playmate for your kid so she gets lots of invites from friends to go places. She spent a weekend this summer sailing on a big sailboat on Lake Superior with a friend.

She won't be going to summer camp this year. Her girl scout troop is going to a rally in Atlanta where the GS started. I don't think I was doing these things at 11.