Home to North Dakota

(a diked home near Harwood, North Dakota)

Hi Mary,

Jim and I traveled home on Wednesday the 22nd. It was an easy trip. We got started early (around 10:00) and were in Clifford at 4 p.m. The only delays were around Moorhead where they were dismantling the dike .

I didn't get a good look at the Red River when we went over the bridge. I could see the water was way high, but the dike ran right down the outside lane of I 94 and although they were starting to remove it, the remainder hid the flooding from view.

This is the dike being removed.

On the north side of Fargo we ran into the flooding from the Sheyenne River and that was very visible since it was right up to the interstate on both sides of the road.

It was even over the road a little bit but that was on the southbound side so we didn't have to drive through it. People were though! I have pictures.

On the other side of the road the wild swans were enjoying the flooding.

Our home was dry and sort of empty looking when we got back. I think that was because for the first time I don't have any goldfish in the pond. It looks like something had been throwing the rocks about and no fish were left.

Yesterday I saw a huge racoon in the old barn so that is who I suspect.

Do you need some surplus fish food?

Love,

Nancy

PS- No hint of tulips yet.

Still not spring, but my new Martin house is ready!

It is the 26th of April and it is colder than a well diggers ass. I think that is from a Tom Waits song; either that or a Danny O'Keefe one. Anyway I thought I would send you these pictures taken this morning. Above is my brand new purple martin house.

This one is a male White Throated Sparrow in breeding plumage. I had to go out early and put out some more thistle seed and some sunnies for them. Note the junco in the second picture?

And these are my fish, huddled together in the pond. All in all we could use a break in the weather.

On the good side I have seen 6 crocus so far this 'spring'. Usually they are all gone before we get here. Since I planted nearly 200 and never see them it is a welcome change, even with the snow.

Wow, two of them close together! Mostly it is one every 6 feet or so.

Love,

Nancy

Lost in North Dakota

Hi Mary,
I had a fun time at the All-Cooped-Up Retreat at Cooperstown Bible Camp near Cooperstown North Dakota. There were only 19 of us there so we each had our own 8 foot table and our choice of rooms. Sometimes Faye has had as many as 50 there. Then we are crowded. I finished the quilt top I started at Faye's class two weeks ago. The book that is the pattern is called Strips and Curves and you can see why.

I hung it on the curtains at camp to look at it while I worked on other projects. I was going to put flannel on the back and make it a 'cuddle quilt' but I found some black fabric printed with butterflies and think that would work fine and I already own it.
I might go look at the flannels though. ;-)

A fellow camper told me a shortcut home that would save me many minutes so I drove around central and southern Griggs County, North Dakota for 2 and 1/2 hours yesterday. (It only took me 45 minutes to get there) I had a map but the state of North Dakota saves money by only putting county roads and state roads on the map and then only putting numbers on the state roads. So I came to many numbered roads but they weren't numbered on the map and I got really annoyed.
Finally I came to an elevator that had a pickup in front of it. It was labeled Karnak elevator. I went in and the lights were on and the radio was on and the machinery was all working BUT NO ONE WAS THERE!!!!
I wandered around for a few minutes and called out so they wouldn't think I was a robber and then went to look at the plat map. Probably Brian knows about plat maps. Every elevator has one for their county and this one was on the elevator managers door so I searched through it and found the elevator...luckily it is on one of the two railroads that goes through the county...and found out where to go, and left and went there. It was 2 miles north (right out of the driveway) and then east until I hit Highway 32. Once on pavement I was OK because they label pavement in the state maps. My problem was I never found any pavement and because it was cloudy I had no idea which was was north or south or east or west. Or any other direction except up. I kept running into water: sloughs, not navigable rivers that might be shown ON A MAP!!!!, which kept me from going straight.

We had an instant of white round pellets this morning but it was only for 10 minutes so we don't have any real snow but we are getting closer.

Well that is my fine adventure in North Dakota.
Love to you.
Nancy

Late last night