“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau Today’s Writer’s Almanac pays homage to HDT. I love when Garrison Keillor’s voice comes out of my …
Gentle reader, I’ve been writing about the past, but today, it is time to return to my garden notes as the daylilies are exploding in all their glory. Between my sister and I, we have 219 varieties of daylily. They are fairly easy to grow and hardy in our northern climate. I was first exposed to daylilies by my friend …
Poor little river of my heart, my Little Missouri River. In this year of drought, you are sadly diminished. Monday night’s storm was mostly lightning and thunder and just a trace of rain. This morning dawned another scorching day. Prairie fires continue in western North Dakota. The bison and horses and birds continue their wild lives here at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. …
Residents of the prairie for generations have lived in dread of prairie fires, and this is a year when we are all on tenderhooks. The news that there is a serious fire now in the Bad Lands, although not a surprise, is very disturbing. (Now more than 3500 acres.) I remember the dry summer and fall of 1976 and a …
This hot July weather has me thinking about making hay on our Slope County ranch. This year’s drought has us all worried, and it is especially worrying for those rural folks who rely upon their hay crop to feed livestock. Haying, like so many of the farm/ranch chores, was a full-on family effort for us, with someone running the equipment …
After a pleasant morning drinking coffee and reading the paper on the patio, it was time for some work around here. I weeded the asparagus, cut basil and mowed the lawn, while Jim peeled garlic for my later project, homemade pesto. He even had me shoot video of his method of peeling garlic. You can see it here. I use …
When we purchased Red Oak House, we were thrilled to have so many mature trees, however, we recognized how these should shape what we would do with our landscaping, especially in the smaller front yard. I’m no fan of mowing grass, and it grew in a rather insipid fashion under the shade of the red oak. Hence, I purchased these …
A drought sky (above) here in North Dakota. Everyone who has half a brain is worried about the drought. July has turned hot, hot, hot. After a pleasant interlude at Crooked Lake with family for the July Fourth holiday, where we talked with our brother-in-law about how sparse few hay bales he’s been able to make this year, we returned …
I come by my DIYerism honestly (hey, I just invented a word!). My Daddy was in the U.S. Army and read his issues of Popular Mechanics voraciously, and I’ve watched him do countless projects over his lifetime. Even at 92, he has a pretty serious workbench in his garage and will putter out there on one thing or another. On …
We had the most delightful guests this week for supper. My mother, Marian Crook, and her sister, my godmother, Junette Henke, came for the afternoon. Fresh walleye was on the menu. While Jim pounded away on his keyboard in his office, we three women sat at my dining room table with stacks of papers and maps and books and went …
Many people take the breathtaking beauty of the Bad Lands for granted, going on with their lives and assuming it will always be as it has been for thousands of years. Well, gentle reader, it ain’t so! Stalwarts have been diligently working for decades to protect the remaining wild landscapes so future generations can enjoy the grandeur. The effort culminating …
Spring flowers have given way to the summer blossoms in our garden. We eat fresh greens every day and give away radishes. The garlic crop is pathetic, and it makes me sad to look at it as, the new bed Jim prepared last fall was too rich. Our purple-hulled pea crop is also a disappointment, as I fear we were …
We spent the weekend in the Little Missouri National Grasslands, camping in Slope County, at the Burning Coal Vein U.S. Forest Service campground, attending the Badlands Conservation Alliance outing, gathering with old friends and making new friends. While Saturday was cool and windy, Sunday was a perfect 75 degrees and sunny. We also got a brief, but enjoyable, visit with …
These lovely summer mornings I’ve been riding my bicycle on Bismarck’s trail system. This morning, as I pedaled, my mind wandered back to riding on Slope County dirt roads. On many occasion, I had to dodge bullsnakes and rattlesnakes, giving them a wide berth. Once, a pair of raccoons wandered out from our shelterbelt, startling me. I remember them as …
A most delightful evening soiree was held at the Linda and Chuck Suchy farm south of Mandan on Sunday night. The occasion was a showing of Mandan, N.D. artist Ken Rogers’ “plein air” oil paintings, centered on the paintings Ken has recently done of Albert Jankus’ place. Albert, a longtime neighbor of Suchy’s, recently moved to Mandan. We were thrilled and …
While digging through a box in my basement this week, I made a discovery that pleased me to no end: my old CD of Shawn Colvin’s “A Few Small Repairs,” something that I thought was long lost. It is the 20th anniversary of the release of this Grammy winner, and I’d seen the announcements on Colvin’s Facebook, so this was …
On Thursday, I spent the day on my hands and knees pulling weeds at Red Oak House. I have no complaints, as this is a quiet task, and I like quiet, solitary tasks. The millions of elm seeds that blew in have sprouted and needed to be removed, and aspens sprout in all sorts of unwanted places. While I worked, …
When I was an undergraduate, I had this poster on a wall in my first apartment. While I’m through and through from a military family, it reveals much about me. My poster is long gone, but it still rings true for me, although Mary Mother of God, why can’t our country seem to find enough money to pay our service …
We cooked soul food for “cumpnee” Tuesday night. Meat and three — walleye, black-eye peas, green beans, creamed corn and Mama Crook’s cornbread. Salad from our garden. Whenever I cook this menu, I think, of course, of my Mississippi kin from whom I learned much of what I know about cooking. I heated the griddle, slicked up the skillet with bacon grease and …
Back to Red Oak House garden notes for the summer of 2017 in Bismarck. This tree peony given to me by my friend, Bob Martinson, three years ago has become one of my favorites, not only for its yellow beauty but also because it is a symbol of the generosity of a fellow gardener. My sister and I agreed that …
Went to the Apple Creek wetlands east of Bismarck on Sunday morning to bird with my daughter, Chelsea Sorenson. She is a budding photographer and quite a good birder in her own right. May was such a windy month here that we didn’t do much birding; hence, we missed many of the migrating birds that hurry north to the Arctic. But …
Somewhere on the coast of the English Channel, 73 years ago today, was my father, Garland Crook, a 19-year-old from the piney hills of Mississippi. He joined the U.S. Army at 17, not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His mother had to sign a document to allow him to join up at so young an age. Eventually, he …
On, Thursday I made a morning stop to my favorite place in Bismarck, the North Dakota Heritage Center. (Well, the Missouri River is my favorite natural place, but you get the idea). I needed to purchase a couple of books at the gift shop and do a little research. But first, a snack at the James River Cafe. A group …
Monday, Jim and I loaded up the Highlander with our camping gear and pointed it in the right direction — west! We were headed to our national park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, for a night at Cottonwood Campground. Readers of my husband’s blog know that we are big-time campers. Tenters. He writes about one of our most memorable trips taken this …
My daughter and I made a date this week to visit my elderly Aunt Junette Henke at Edgewood Vista Assisted Living in Bismarck. I am blessed with many very strong and independent women in my life, and my Aunt Junette stands in front of that line. She is my godmother, my mother’s older sister, and like me, the middle child. …
Finally, that darned garage sale is finished! My sister, Beckie, and I pulled it off Saturday, in my driveway. Since we both had perennials for sale, I figured why not? Just when I figured the whole exercise was a waste, someone would drive up and buy stuff. We did best selling our plants. Had I charged for garden tours, I would have …
So here we are. Gardening in North Dakota. Not for sissies. The weather has changed. Again. Frost warnings. I’ve taken in some of the patio pots. It’s a drag, but it is what we must do. Too much invested in these plants, after all. It’ll just be a couple of days, and we’ll be back to normal. The columbine have …
It is such a busy time at Red Oak House. So much is happening in the garden. More on that later. But first, this past weekend was filled with the gift of family. My sister, Sarah, brought my daughter, Rachel, from Dickinson, N.D., for the weekend. Sunday, my day started with brunch with my daughters and husband. They presented me …
Tuesday my yard was filled with the intoxicating fragrance of our blooming crabapple trees. Sunday there was a hint of blossom in the fat buds, and with Monday’s sunshine, these fully opened. Bismarck is filled with crabapple and other blossoming trees, and the pollinators are quite busy. Although we don’t have one, the fragrance of the plum trees takes me …
Here at Red Oak House, it was a sunny 84-degree Saturday, and so many things in the garden are popping it is worthy of a photo update. It was a very busy day here. Jim did some cultivating and got some vegetables planted. It is pine pollen season, and everything is coated with the fine chartreuse pollen dust, including the furniture …
After my morning yoga class, I made another foray to one of our local nurseries, then it was home to the work in the garden. After I’d planted my new treasures, I had to turn to grubbing raspberries. Until the last couple of years, I’d not had much experience with growing raspberries. When we grew them at our Dunn County …
It’s time for a cold glass of Guenoc chardonnay on the patio of Red Oak House after a perfectly delightful afternoon in the garden, time to savor the goodness of life. Late morning was spent at the local garden shops and then it was home to plant my new treasures. Is there anyplace as happy on a May day than …
Today, after dealing with an internet scammer that chose my daughter as their latest victim, I just want to go back to my childhood, when the biggest problem facing us was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. Army was preparing my mother for this by telling her where it was she should take her preschool children should the nuclear crisis …
“Wash every bowl, every dish, as if you are bathing the baby Buddha — breathing in, feeling joy, breathing out, smiling. Every minute can be a holy, sacred minute. Where do you seek the spiritual? You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables, and washing the dishes becomes hold and …
Petrichor: The smell in the air before or as rain falls on hot, dry, stony ground (petra = stone; ichor = divine fluid. As defined by one of my favorite authors, Robert Macfarlane, on his Twitter account. Word of the Day March 18, 2017 by Robert Macfarlane I love this word and I love the smell. My first memory of recognition …
Today is the 70th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This heartfelt and strongly worded op-ed piece by my dear friend, and the former superintendent of the park, Valerie Naylor, is a great read for today’s occasion. Holding true to Theodore Roosevelt’s Vision at Theodore Roosevelt National Park Please “do what you can, where you are, with what you have” for …
Jim and I spent Earth Day 2017 working in our yard in the dee-lightful spring sunshine. We might have joined the marches for science around the country, but the yard work beckoned. I remember very clearly the first Earth Day in 1970. We got out of school that day to pick up trash in the ditch along state Highway 12 …
Because I promised my friend Marilyn I would share with her the photos of my Navajo rugs, I’m writing this blog. It’s just easier. I must confess that I feel a little like it is bragging, but, if nothing else, it is documentation for my loved ones. My husband Jim and I have a lifetime’s worth of Native American art …
In the smaller bedroom of our master bedroom suite at Red Oak House, in the winter, I have as a coverlet the quilt made by my namesake, my Grandma Lillie, probably sometime in the mid 1960s. My mother, Marian, can still tell me about each piece of fabrics’ original use, the dresses and aprons and shirts, which were repurposed by …