Moving on Like a Rollin' Stone

This past month has seen some changes in the house, but also in our lives. My grandma Pat passed on after 94 great years, and we celebrated her life with gusto in the typical Saunders fashion. That same weekend was the celebration of our friends' David and Tricia's wedding. To cap it off, my mom is selling her farm after 40 years, and we spent the remaining time saying our goodbyes to that place and cleaning out the various items that still were left. Highly emotional stuff.

We tried to get the whole clan in one spot to take a photo, but some were busy playing at the playground and some had already left. It was a loving group who gathered to honor Pat and we wore hats and scarves in her memory.

When you build a place with your own hands, the connection with the place is somehow more tangible. My grandparent's home in Bird Island was designed by my grandma and she did all the woodwork in that beautiful house, as well as the interior decorating. She was a talented individual who had an artist's eye and strong work ethic. Her dream was to have a place that would become a gathering place for her family, and so she had a great room built that could accommodate the whole family, no matter how large it grew.  She also loved water, and so even though she lived in the western prairie of Minnesota, she had ponds made in her large backyard so that she could hear the sound of bubbling water from her deck. It was a home that we will always treasure, and our memories of her are wrapped in that place.


This photo shows my grandma and I making her famous scalloped potatoes at her kitchen sink. I think the recipe uses about 4 cartons of whipping cream. And potatoes. Nothing else. Salt when they are on your plate so that the potatoes don't turn grey.

My parents designed and built their home with some important features that were influenced by my dad's childhood home. One was the large kitchen island with a sink centered on one side facing out the windows and towards the dining room. This house was built of logs with a strong stone double-sided chimney in the center.  We lovingly call it "funky" as some mistakes have caused uneven floors, and unconventional methods made wiring a challenge. No question about it, it is a special home with many memories for all people who stayed there. There have been many who have lived there, including Mark and I while we were building our second house when we first moved back to Prairie Farm. The land surrounding the house is the stuff of childhood legend, with forests and fields and a portion of the Hay River running through the back 40. While there this past month, we walked back to the river and remembered the adventures of the past. It is also the home of my dad's ashes, nestled under the walnut tree that we planted in his memory. To say goodbye to this place is to realize that his dream of someday having one of us there on that farm is not to be. It feels a little bit like a failure, but also a little like a chapter in a book. Part of our story, but not the end of the story. We remember and know that the memories live in our minds, not in a place.

I had to include a photo of the stone hearth that gave warmth to my parents' home and nourished the dreams of many people who enjoyed a stay at that home. There were two chairs that say in front of the stove, and many evenings were spent chatting or dozing in those chairs.

Here is a pic of my mom at the sink in the island in her house.

I can see the influence of my parents' house on our design and choices. We decided that stone work, although time consuming, was important to include. Mark worked very diligently to complete the double flue chimney stack, which has a level in the basement of block, then one level of stonework as pictured here, and the upper level is block. The stone work features a sun ray pattern of small rocks around the stove pipe and was picked locally. He will finish the block portion with stucco, and the stonework will entertain us many evenings as we contemplate while enjoying the heat of a nice fire. We have a spot for our small beloved kitchen wood stove which can bake a pizza in 8 minutes on the dining room side as well. As we move into our second winter here at the end of the road, the house is nearly weather tight. Mark was concerned that snow would fly before he had a chance to get the roof flashed around the chimney, but the weather held off.

So windows are now in, plus the front door! Shut the front door! We have 11 operable windows, and 22 stationary that Mark had to make the frames for. The porch roof and frame is up and finished, plus many of those pesky details like soffits, vents, and housewrap. We plan to finish the siding in the spring, so now work will begin on framing the remaining interior walls, plumbing, electrical, insulations, ...well we still have lots of work to do!

News of the month includes the Ely CC Boys and Girls teams heading to state! Raif is an alternate on the team, so he won't run unless someone gets injured or sick. He continues to train with the team, and is looking forward to nordic season. Cora is very busy with rehearsals for the musical which has two shows on Nov. 12 at 7 pm and Nov. 13 at 4 pm. She also was featured in an interpretive dance during the fall choir concert and did a nice job as a soloist! No photos of that because we missed it - Fiona feel asleep on the way to the concert! Halloween saw Cora and friends dressed as Z-bros, while Fiona chose to be a bumblebee during the day, and Elsa by night. First quarter ends on Friday - busy times make time fly!

Also, we burned the piano at my mom's. If you ever get the chance to do this, I would highly recommend it.