Daily News from ND

My mom told me that she heard a funny news story from the Minot Daily News of all places on the David Letterman show and that made me think that I could bring a bit of rural life to you each week in this blog. I literally didn’t have to look very long before I found a perfect 1st story from the local newspaper:

Riding in style

By ANDREA JOHNSON, Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com Submitted Photo

Levi Rue and his prom date, Alissa Bachmeier, drove to the New Rockford-Sheyenne High School prom Saturday evening in his father’s 1992 green John Deere 8760 tractor. NEW ROCKFORD – Some young men escort their dates to the high school prom in a muscle car. Some hire a limousine. Levi Rue showed up to collect his date, Alissa Bachmeier, Saturday night in a 1992 green John Deere 8760 tractor.“A few people made bets with me that I wouldn’t do it,” said Rue, a senior at New Rockford-Sheyenne High School. “I guess I won them.”Rue first suggested the unusual method of transportation last Thursday, two days before the prom.“At first she wasn’t sure she wanted to,” said Rue. “She was worried about her dress getting dirty.”But after Rue showed her pictures of the tractor and promised to make sure it was immaculately clean, Bachmeier agreed.“I cleaned it up pretty good,” said Rue.Bachmeier wore a lime green prom dress that nearly matched the tractor. On Saturday evening, Rue drove the tractor from his home near Sheyenne to pick up Bachmeier at her home north of New Rockford. Pictures were taken and Rue and Bachmeier drove the tractor around New Rockford. As well as attending the prom, they stopped for a meal at the Dakota Roadhouse and went to Rue’s grandmother’s house so she could see the unusual chariot.“We got quite a few people who stopped and looked and stared and waved,” said Rue.Rue said other prom attendees came to the prom in older muscle cars and pickups. One group took a “big party bus” to Jamestown and another group hired a limo. His was the only tractor in the parking lot.“It was fun,” said Rue. In keeping with his choice of prom transportation, Rue plans to major in farm management in college next year.

Painting and Other Renovations

It’s official! One room is COMPLETELY finished! Well, except for the AMAZING lamps that Josh created from old tree stumps…they will be featured in a later blog. He has to re-wire the rest of the room before we can place the lamps in there, right now there’s no place to plug them in! Anyway, the living room is DONE! My awesome sis, Deb, visited last week and helped me TREMENDOUSLY by painting my house for me. I helped, but it was her expert cutting in that saved the day.

Over the weekend we went to Sherwin Williams and picked up “Searching Blue” for the living room, “Harvester” for the kitchen, some kind of amazing green that i can’t remember the name for the front sunroom, and a really cool enamel red for the kitchen cabinets.

Here’s my messy kitchen nook. Eventually what i’d like to do is have Josh build small pantry shelves on either side of the entry way which I would cover with my wonderful fabric that is currently in my sewing basket. I’m also going to get a white pedestal table as a breakfast table to go in here. Josh will make a bench to go under the window and around the corner. Maybe paint the bookshelf/hutch i have in there white? Right now i have absolutely NO pantry. Nice.

The pictures don’t convey it completely but it is so COZY in that room with the warm wall color, the big HUGE comfy couch, and amazing big thick wood trim everywhere. The ceiling fan which was originally in the kitchen completes the craftsmen style that the whole downstairs has. Once i get my sewing machine in the mail I’ll make the curtains and hang them up on the big windows.

THe sunroom isn’t quite so dark, it’s really a more earthy green. I can’t wait for all the nursery’s to start stocking their flowers and plants. We did go to Walmart and buy some lilies and hyacinths last night but that still doesn’t fulfill my insane desire to grow things! Maybe I’m frustrated because I only have 4 real months of grow time here when I’m used to most of the year in GA?

Now see my beautiful fabric curtain that i made with some of my fabric. It will also get a valance of a different fabric but I need a sewing machine to finish that piece.

Picture the curtain next to the new cabinet color of red enamel for a french provencale style:

That’s all I have to show for today. Next time I’ll go into a triade about the reno in the soon to be powder room formerly the downstairs coat closet. That’s an interesting story.