Here he is admiring his baptismal gown, which has a story behind it. His great-grandfather had been in the US Air force as a young man. He was parachuting and his parachute failed. He was able to open his reserve parachute, which saved his life. The Air Force allowed him to keep the parachute. Dallas brought it home and his fiance Betty had her wedding dress made of the fabric from the ‘chute.  They also had a baptismal gown made from the white material and all four of their children wore it, as have most of their grandchildren. Both Madison and Ashton represent the third generation who have been blessed in this lucky gown.

Welcome to God’s Family Ashton!

Being realistic isn’t one of my virtues. I always think I can get twice as many things done in a day as is truly possible. And I always forget how either scattered or tired I am when all the work is over. I also am very good at forgetting how long it really takes to get everything put away in its proper spot so that I can turn around and take it out again in a few days! And as far as taking photos goes, when it’s all over I remember that I forgot.

So here it is a couple of days after our Valentine’s Dinner for Two at The Prairie Bistro. Kaitlin and Judy spent Monday decking the place out for the holiday. Our perfect fresh Christmas tree turned into a Valentine’s tree.

Tuesday Robbie made all the sides, Kaitlin did the creme brulee, I made rolls, Judy peeled carrots, cut menus, cleaned votives.

By 5 o’clock we were ready to go. Mark and Willie cranked up the grill, Lori kept the food coming out of the kitchen and Kaitlin and I tried to keep up with orders. All of a sudden it was 10:30, I realized I didn’t take a single picture of the dining room full of sweethearts, didn’t light the tea lights and forgot to keep the music going! After an event like this, I make a mental note to remember to be patient with wait staff at other restaurants when I am on the other side of the table.

And I think my age is showing because it took a full 48 hours for me to get enough energy up to post about our dinner! But we had a great time and most of our customers seemed to as well. I’ve got everything washed, polished and put in its place. Now we get to do it again tomorrow night!

It isn’t often I quit work early to get ready for a ‘date’. But I did. Just like back in the day. You know. Like when I was a teenager and would come in early from the field to get ready for a high school dance. Fortunately my hair is now very short so I didn’t have to worry about getting it all tangled up in my hair dryer. Not that it ever happened. Never. If it had I’m sure my friends/sisters would have been very sympathetic. Very. They would never have complained about having to take apart the blow dryer to free me. Never.

Anyway, it was kind of fun. I actually put nail polish on for the first time in a couple of years. Of course, it was at the last minute and got all smeared. But that’s okay.

Mark had planned ahead and ordered flowers for me so when we arrived at the restaurant and were seated at Stage Left (the window onto the kitchen) there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me!

What a lucky girl! There were tangerine and hot pink and yellow roses and huge gerbera daisies. Mark claimed he picked them out but I know that the designers at the Flower Box really know how to make a man look good! I just hope that others will have as lovely Valentine’s as we did a few days early. Good food and good company is all one needs. I got it!

But not today.

Yesterday the night fog left us some frost. I practiced some frost photograhps against the bright blue sky. I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m learning!

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Last Friday we got rain, then snow. Roads were miserable. The way they were for six months last year. But it looks clean and right. I’m not looking for eight foot snow drifts. Just a foot or two to protect what’s underground.

This butterfly weed (asclepias) will be much more willing to shoot up succulant foliage to attract Monarch butterflies next summer if it can rest under a bit of snow.

This year we experimented with truffles and brownies.

We tried Kahlua, Grand Marnier, Chambord and Framboise in the truffle. Just plain chocolate won the taste testing.

Then the ganache had to be scooped into 220 tiny balls.

Of course, to be sure my carpal tunnel syndrome is kept in shape, each of these itty bitty balls had to be hand rolled to smooth them.

Then they were tucked into small squares of fudgy brownie and dipped in ganache.

A dusting of fleur de sel (sea salt) and edible gold glitter finished them off.

Mark and I had a good time visiting with the other seven chefs – a loosely used term here as some really were chefs, others were simply bakers like me. There was only one winner this year (not me!) but I was satisfied that we made the top half (I think!) and lots of people came back for seconds !

Now to get chocolate off of everything in the kitchen from the scale, to fridge door to shelves, etc. Chocolate is very messy stuff!

Now, keep in mind I’m not really much of a house keeper. I spend way too much time in the greenhouse, bakeshop and outside so I’m not actually in the house much. When I come inside, I’m too lazy to clean. We do keep things fairly tidy. On the surface. But the spare room gets over-full of stuff I’ll deal with later. Like boxes I know I’ll use to wrap presents (of course, I have to actually buy the gifts, remember where I put them, then dig them up at the last-minute to wrap – or stick in a gift bag ). And little pieces of wrapping paper that will fit a small box – one I can’t find. And every extra pillow, blanket, basket and out-of-season piece of clothing I own. Oh, and those that I will lose enough weight to get back into next summer. Or the next summer.

Mark and I were married in August of 1997. We still haven’t ordered photos. Not sure we can now as that was back in the day when photographs were actually stored on negatives. I really doubt the photographer can even find them now. We do have the proofs. I haven’t put them very far away because I really should label them and put them in an album. If they are at the top of the pile, I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually. Right? After I organize my digital photographs.

I have decided to send a truckload of stuff to Good Will. Got rid of all those clothes that don’t fit. They’ll be out of style by the time I can squeeze back into them. And we didn’t need 4 sets of measuring cups. Or all those old cassette tapes. Or 25 rolls of tape for adding machines we don’t own anymore. Or my dad’s old briefcase. The travel guides to New Zealand and Western Europe that were published in 1989 probably aren’t relevant now. I’m so proud of myself.

Until I realize that I have a whole closet full of cards and letters and newspaper clippings and magazine articles I’ll never read again.

I think I can throw them away. But then I have to go through them to see if there is anything REALLY important in there. Like a $100 bill that my grandfather slipped me before I went off to college. I used to hide them from myself. Savings account, you know. As I read, I am taken back to the spare room I was living in for a couple of weeks in New Zealand as an exchangee - I can smell the Freesia, feel the damp spring, taste the orange and onion salad I had for lunch. I can feel the lanolin on my hands from throwing fleece that had just been shorn by expert Kiwi shearers. I can smell the barley Mum Morton boiled for her horses every night in my first host home. How can I throw that away? Then I remember the smell of lettuce on Queens Street in Auckland or the dust on the drive through Marmarth, North Dakota, on my speaking tour. Will I remember these things if I make room in the closet for clothes? I don’t think I’ll take a chance.

As I was untying the ribbons from the galvanized tub my wedding committee had used for receiving cards for my bridal shower I thought of the loving fingers who tied them onto the handle. Yes, I was spoiled enough to have a florist for a mother and lots of wonderful helpers who ran the show for me! All I had to do was okay their ideas – not hard to do – and show up with a smile on my face. What more could a bride ask for?

Which made me think of the bouquets of Sweet Peas my best friends/sisters carried down the aisle. Which led me to the fist fight their daughters – my flower girls – got into just before we walked down the aisle! Then I thought of our good friend and veterinarian who was late and walked down the aisle to their seat just ahead of my dad and me. You get the point. My poor husband is stuck with a closet full of cards and letters and ribbons and seed packets and rodeo tickets. (He’s not much better than I am )!

But we’ve got a closet full of memories even if they are not in scrapbooks or organized in files. That’s what all those shoe boxes that I save for gift wrapping are for!

Yesterday there were sundogs. They were nearly a rainbow, glowing from the ground up on both sides of the lowering sun. Normally they are up high in the sky, just bright spots complimenting the sun. They indicate cold weather; something to do with ice crystals in the air. Brrrrr!

Feeding horses hasn’t been bad this winter. It hasn’t been hard to pick a nice day to haul four or five bales out to the feeders and the low spots.

My bakeshop project is to prepare something for the Girl Scout’s Death by Chocolate competition in a few weeks. Should it be ooey, gooey, crunchy, crispy, smooth, light, rich? Hmmmm. Guess Mark will be getting chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

The display bed is normally under a lovely  pile of snow.

Armeria (Sea Thrift) is evergreen but would love some snow cover so it can rest a bit.

But this is what makes me nervous. Some brave crocus think it is spring. I hope they get a nice snow cover before it turns really cold again. Many plants can tolerate our 40 below winters. It is the freezing and thawing cycle that kills them. Looks like we’ll be replanting a lot of perennials next spring!

Oh, but it is nice to go out with only a light sweater on!

We ran to Minot today to run some errands. On the way home I asked Mark what he wanted for dinner. He surprised me and said “spaghetti and meatballs.” Not sure why because he never wants that. But the stars were aligned. I didn’t have to make a decision and, for once, I had plenty of time (sort of!) to get the job done. I went to my go-to recipe books and in Cook’s Illustrated 2010 I found what I was looking for. Three hours and one trip to the grocery store later I put a real honest-to-goodness made from scratch meal on the table. This really doesn’t sound like that big a deal, but for me it was!

I even set the table correctly (nearly) and lit the candles. Kinda threw Mark off. I mean, a real homemade meal, all the correct silverware on the table and no mail, magazines or reciepts in sight!