Tuesday, December 30, 2008

HEY NEW YEAR'S 2009

Ball Drop

HOW ARE YOU DOING WITH MAKING YOUR




NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS?



Noisemaker 1 Hat 1




We haven't had any terrible storms ... just
some terrible weather. It normally snows a bit every day, just to
freshen up ... but ... this winter, it is often several inches at a
time ... just enough to have to plow again. On the CLICK HERE: Marquette T.V. station,
they announced that they are anticipating the 21st straight day of
snow. This is a wonderful website; it's a great source of U. P.
information.


We've had several days of "warm" (high 30's)
weather ... not the freezing rain/thawing predicted. My
family members in Wisconsin & Lower Michigan got that ... &
lots of thawing.



http://loisontheweb.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/up29dec04a.jpg
I made a trip to Crystal Falls for several errands ... plus down to
Alpha &+ was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could buy some
deer-corn at the new General Store in Alpha at a reasonable price, plus
save myself 20 miles of driving.

Click here: Village of Alpha, Michigan


Click here: General Store of Alpha, Michigan



http://loisontheweb.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/up29dec03.jpg



http://loisontheweb.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/up29dec06a.jpg




http://loisontheweb.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/up29dec14a.jpg
For snow removal on the main street of Crystal Falls ... the procedure
is to first move the snow into a big windrow down the center of the
street. Then, in the next few days, when there is more time &
available equipment ... they scoop this snow from the middle of the
street into dump trucks.



http://loisontheweb.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/up29dec15a.jpg



Reading
I did go to the Library ... resuming my winter reading project of going thru the many books on history of the Upper Peninsula.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO YOU




My Christmas present to you ... click upon the small scene above: right
click upon the larger image ... choose "Set As Background" ...
THIS WILL PUT IT ON YOUR MONITOR AS A BACKGROUND (WALLPAPER)

This would be so appropriate for Christmas-time.


This scene is from a photo that I took on my road & made to look like a moonlight scene. This version is many shades lighter than the one that I printed for my Christmas card.



L o i s

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A CHRISTMAS STORY

Tree ON TELEPHONE TIME YESTERDAY ... there was a most heart-warming saga. A lady called in to say that an elderly man needed some help in this cold weather. He was running short of wood, and was running some electric heaters to keep the house warm. She asked if someone had a heater to donate ... or ... some wood to give him.

3D Santa I couldn't get a hold of her right away; she said that she had so many calls. ONE FELLOW WAS GOING TO DELIVER A FREE DUMP-TRUCK LOAD OF WOOD! A town official helped with his frozen pipes & some people offered to fix his plumbing. .... & other winterization.

So many people offered real help so this man could stay in his own home with dignity ... instead of causing trouble for him because his home (at his age) becoming unfit ... or telling him to just give up & go to a nursing home. It just made me cry ... thanking that woman for being such a wonderful Christian ... & doing what she could to help. I just praised her over & over again!

THIS STORY WAS ESPECIALLY POIGNANT BECAUSE OF AN INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED TO ME WHEN I WENT TO CRYSTAL FALLS RECENTLY.
Freezing The temp was around zero as I did some errands in town & headed north on the highway. There wasn't much traffic because of the cold. There was an elderly fellow walking with his grocery bag ... I stopped to pick him up ... never dreaming that he lived another five miles up the highway.
I have no doubt that eventually someone else would have given him a ride. He had hitched a ride into the grocery store with a fellow coming down from Houghton. BUT ... HE LIVES AT LEAST A MILE DOWN A GRAVEL ROAD IN OFF THE MAIN HIGHWAY; SO, MUST HAVE WALKED OUT TO THE HIGHWAY WHEN HE WAS HEADED FOR TOWN.

So many older people don't have transportation .... live alone ... even if they live way out in the boonies. Grocery stores are closing up here ... lucky to be able to get something at a gas-station.

3D Magical SnowmanL o i S

Penguin Wave






Wednesday, December 10, 2008

YA GOTTA LOVE LUTEFISK!


Computing See ... I REALLY am a BLOGGER!
Way Too Happy

3D Rudolph I am making this entry .... because ... some of these treats that can be ordered online have to be ordered this week in time for Christmas. LUTEFISK is often only available at Christmas-time. Our local IGA grocery stocks it then. WHAT IS LUTEFISK? You either love it or hate it. The smell is overpowering ... like some cheeses are especially stinky. Basically ... fish (cod) is dried until it is about like a boot sole. To make it edible again ... it is then soaked in lye for several days to make it edible again. It needs lots of rinsing; the texture becomes really soft/gelatinous ... sorta like fish jello. It must be cooked gently. My Mom always cooked it in a casserole dish in the oven, in a buttery milk sauce, with cracker crumbs on top. That's how I do it ... sometimes with a Bisquick crust on top ... with chicken soup base for flavor ... maybe some grated cheese, too.





Too Happy 2 Some of the links below are for more data on LUTEFISK ... SOME HUMOROUS ... SOME WHERE YOU CAN BUY IT.





  • IndifferenceIt is said that about half the Norwegians who immigrated to America came in order to escape the hated lutefisk, and the other half came to spread the gospel of lutefisk's wonderfulness.- Norwegian-American saying




TreeSOME SCANDINAVIAN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS





LUTEFISK STUFF




Where to buy Lutefisk





"We at Mrs. Olson's love to poke fun at this Scandinavian culinary oddity (see link to humor page).




CLICK HERE:Mrs. Olson's Lefse- Potato Lefse &




Scandinavian
Products
Check out Mike's Fish and Seafood in Glenwood,
Minnesota
. He will ship it right to your door!
Contact Mike's
at:Phone: (320) 634-5146




Email: info@lutefiskmike.com




Web Page: CLICK HERE: www.lutefiskmike.com





Tell them Mrs. Olson sent you!"





Click here: Lutefisk, Lyefish, Lutefisk History and Recipes
PHOTOS & MUCH INFO





Click here: Lutefisk Recipes





Click here: Finnguide: Finnish Lutefish / Lutefisk Recipe : LipeƤkala : Finnish foods, Finnish baking, Finnish cooking : Finni





Click here: Baked Lutefisk Recipe Recipezaar





Click here: Lutefisk, Lyefish, Lutefisk History and Recipe





Click here: Lutefisk Recipes





Click here: Finnguide: Finnish Lutefish / Lutefisk Recipe : LipeƤkala : Finnish foods,





Finnish baking, Finnish cooking : Finni





HollyWE GOTTA HAVE SAFFRON BREAD OR BUNS!






Click here: Clusty Search » "saffron bread" OR "saffron buns"

xClick here: Swedish Saffron Buns - Allrecipes

Click here: RecipeSource: Swedish Saffron Bread





MY MOM, & GRAMMA, USTA MAKE IT AS A "POUND-CAKE" RECIPE ... LIKE A COFFEE CAKE. Saffron is so expensive now ... I always simmered the heck out of it to extract all the flavor ... then added to my batter.




EVERYTHING THAT YOU EVER





WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SAFFRON


Click here: Spice Pages: Saffron (Crocus sativus)
NOTE: I hear that, since saffron is so high priced, they are trying (somewhat successfully) to talk farmers into ripping up their drug-making plants & grow SAFFRON instead.


"Saffron Seen as Alternative to Opium"
A new initiative to plant the precious flower may help wean northern farmers away from poppies".




"Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and India is set to cash in on the potential for profit.The farmers in the area are keen to grow saffron as the spice fetches a high price of nearly US $400 per kg. However, the quality of saffron depends largely upon the process of drying the stigmas and styles of the flower and you need 150,000 flowers to make 1kg of the spice."





Click here: Crisp bread - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AT OUR LOCAL SUPERMARKET, I BUY THE MODERN, PACKAGED VERSION OF THE TRADITIONAL SKANDINAVIAN "CRISP-BREAD" ... SORTA LIKE "RYE-CRISP" . This product is baked in Finland.





Click here: www.vaasan.com the Finnish bakery
USA DISTRIBUTER





Liberty Richter/World Finer Food

300 Broaddacres DriveBloomfield
New Jersey 07003USA\

www.libertyrichter.com














3D Magical Snowman L o i S


MY NEW BLOGS:
Yahoo! 360° - Life as YOOPER.
Loisontheweb’s Blog at WordPress
http://www.myspace.com/yooperlois
Lois in Wonderland (the U.P.) AT BLOGSPOT


Saturday, December 06, 2008

YA ... IT'S WINTER NOW


I STILL HAVEN'T BEEN ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT ANY OF
THE NEW BLOG-HOMES THAT I AM TRYING. I like to do an entry over
the course of several days, using elements from past entries ... making
up an htm version to just copy when I am ready to post. Each new
blog site treats these differently ... as to font size, photos,
spacing. I HATE IT!
Blogspot seems to have improved a lot ... I have been able to add a lot
of junk in the other column that makes it unnecessary to put some stuff
into each individual entry.



MY NEW BLOGS:







Lois in Wonderland(the U.P.) AT BLOGSPOT




I made a trip down to civilization ... down to Green Bay for a visit to a
dental clinic. Here, in the U.P. it is rather a "survival-of-the-fitest". I usta live near Green Bay; most of my kids still do. So, I got a little visiting in, too. I
returned home with a new lower denture; now will get used to eating in
a normal way.

Mimi's boyfriend ... he's so handsome
... and comes to visit her. Hopefully, this week will pass ... he won't show up until next "time".



TIME TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF LUTEFISK .. I'll make a special entry on just LUTEFISK soon.


Lutefisk is dried cod that has been soaked in a lye solution to rehydrate
it. It is boiled or baked and served with butter and salt and pepper. The
finished lutefisk usually has the consistancy of Jello. So, imagine a hot, fish
flavored Jello and you can understand why Norwegians love it so much. It is
traditionly served in the U.S. for Thanksgiving and Christmas and avoided the
rest of the year.








Here's a poem that I wrote many years ago ... I trot it out at this time every year:

Freezing ColdWinter Now!

by Lois Haglund


Shhoooooooohh.......


Like Quick-silver, the icy breeze
slips
thru the trees and across the creek......
Now, stopping for a brief
encounter
with a finger or a cheek.....


Now, flittering out in profuse ripples
to chill one's deepest soul.....
Summer's tattered shawl... blown away... as
Winter blusters in to assume his role....


Wait ! The word hangs frozen... suspended.....
Wait ! I'm not ready... not Now, Oh No !
Not Ready, to face the interminable days of siege

With a merciless foe outside my window
!


Yes! It's Time, for the quicksilver blade of a breeze
To now be an awesome, deadly blow.... I Know... and remember\

Why I fear and I dread,
I Must... I Can... I Know!



Computing

See ... I REALLY am a BLOGGER!


I am going to concoct a "Letter-to-the-Editor" ... About anti-anti-logging. Locally, I saw a bumper-sticker that I just love: "IF YOU ARE
AGAINST LOGGERS ... TRY USING PLASTIC TOILET PAPER". In Crystal Falls, every day, every hour ... there are log trucks ... empty &
loaded. This means that the truckers are working, where they buy
fuel benefits, where they get truck repair or parts are
benefiting. This means that loggers are working & where they
also where they buy fuel benefits, where they get truck repair or parts
are benefiting. The loggers buy chain saws, etc. benefits.
The truckers, loggers, & the local businesses where they
spend money ... are more viable & these people in turn can spend
more money locally. We have so few ways to earn money in the U.P.
... it is great that we can count on logging. CUT A TREE ... SAVE
A JOB ... SAVE A FOREST!



ABOUT THE SIMPSON VERDICT: I hate O. J. ; I
hate this verdict. He's found that he gets ignored if he files a
complaint; what he & his friends did was stupid, but sorta
necessary to retrieve his own possessions from a greedy dealer.
At the most ... he should have gotten a year in prison. This case
was just so overblown.


Click here:Ghost Towns of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from the copper mining of the 1800s



Truck Driver 2



L
o
i
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