The windows have it

When we were in Arkansas the blue birds fell in love with our mirrored rear window and a couple spent hours one day aggressively bouncing off the window while trying to impress one another. They (the male, anyway ;-) ) left all kinds of white residue on the window. Today, here in Iowa, it was the Orioles getting busy bouncing off our rear window. What a gorgeous pair of birds. She would sit on the ladder and call him from across the yard. She would fluff her feathers and make pretty for him then join him in pecking away at the window, over and over and over again. She even kept up the pace while he took a 15 minute coffee break and then came back. ha ha ha

Mom & I put together her new computer desk today. Its BIG, BEAUTIFUL and heavy. It was a blast. I love assembling furniture and always enjoy working with Mom.

Mom & Dad have company tonight and tomorrow. Mom and Dad share some cousins. No, they're no directly related to one another! ha ha ha ha ha Thats not why I am the way I am, I promise. They have aunts and uncles who married aunts and uncles. ;-) The couple here tonight are some really fantastic people. Dorothy and Elvin, hope I spelled that right, are from Tennessee. They travel constantly and spend lots of time with family. I really enjoy their company and am glad they're here.

Gonna run. Its Battlestar Galactica night and I'm hooked.

More later.....

PRAY OFTEN
LIVE WELL
LAUGH OFTEN
LOVE MUCH

Today's Beauty

Only GOD could create something so amazingly beautiful!!!!!
Don't you agree?

More later ........

Speak kindly, softly and sincerely ..... always

We are so blessed

Once again last night extreme storms blew through the upper Midwest. We prepared ourselves because we knew the weather was perfect to create a tornado and were in the basement for nearly half an hour. As it ended up there were tornadoes all around us again but no one we know was hurt. We do know some who lost their homes and haven't heard yet who those were who lost their lives.

Emergency crews and every kind of rescue imaginable is happening right now just 6 miles and 15 miles South of us. In New Hartford a new housing addition was destroyed and at least two lives were lost.
In Parkersburg nearly a third of the town was destroyed and at least five lives were lost.


Sadly, some of those who lost their lives in Parkersburg were in the basement attempting to protect themselves from the storm and were crushed by debris from the home.

The news listed this photo as A1 RV Park but I believe it is A1 RV Sales and Service which suffered some damage due to straight line winds and several units were upended. Thankfully no one was hurt at this location.

We pray for those who have lost family members and those who have lost their homes. May you feel God's loving hand embracing you and supporting you through this difficult time.

More later ....

PRAY OFTEN
LIVE WELL
LAUGH OFTEN
LOVE MUCH

GOD BLESS

Make the world stop spinning

Still the world is spinning. It seems we're still going non-stop since we arrived home back on the second of the month. This week its been Angel Food Distribution & sales, gardening, yard work, housework, 'stuff' sorting and storing and much more. Today I helped Mom hang new verticals over her new double glass front door. Its beautiful! They've lived here 20 years now and this year they're really digging into making some great changes in the house. We're thankful we're here to help and can't wait for those days we can take a break from work and go camping! ha ha ha ha

My sis is moving!! We're not exactly sure when it will be but we're nearly positive she will be moving to North Central Minnesota. What a shocker for the family. We've known it was a possibility for some time but the reality is still a bit unexpected. Having moved across the country before myself its not quite as stressful for me, but its going to affect the rest of the family very profoundly for a while. We've been shopping RV Parks in that area to see if we can find a place to stay close to them for a little while after they move and give them a little bit of family contact while they acclimate.

Mijo is going to be 7 years old next month. We've had him since he was 10 weeks old and have tried several times since then to convince him to sleep in a dog bed; at least when we're in the living room or out of the coach. We finally figured out the trick. We put our sofa in storage as part of the "lean, mean travel machine" plan and brought Dad's bean bag chair into the coach. I threw a couple stadium blankets over it and, believe it or not, Mijo likes it!! ;-)


I'll need your prayers tomorrow..... ;-) Its a family gardening day at church. To help put away home grown groceries for the Feast and Fellowship group that prepares meals for everyone each Wednesday night, each year several congregation members work together on a church garden. Dad tilled the spot Saturday and we're all heading in tomorrow morning to plant. I think another friend is joining us too so we can, hopefully, make light work of it. I HATE to garden. To illustrate my feelings clearly, I would rather be shoveling manure or washing dishes than gardening. But .......... its a family thing and Dad asked for our help. He's making Belgian waffles for us before we go as partial payment. ha ha

I suppose I better get some sleep. Lots of work tomorrow. By the way, the bird watching has been grand! Today the new one for this season for me was the Oriole. The indigo buntings are fantastic and the grossbeaks are truly unique. I have a female cardinal thats been hanging out on our feeder with amazing color. She's my current favorite.

More later ........

PRAY OFTEN
LIVE WELL
LAUGH OFTEN
LOVE MUCH

This we say we will "never" do

When we decided to sell our home and move into the RV we were adamant that if we could not take it with us we didn't need it. We went so far as to pay a moving company to haul away a truck load of our old belonging to the local donation site to clear our path for a new way of life. It felt good too and I don't regret it ever ........... but ............... Guess what we're doing today; thats right, we're renting a storage unit.

We've prepped our home to roll down the road a few times now and we've learned a few things. It was handy to store some things at Mom & Dad's while we went South for the winter but they don't need our stuff cluttering up their space. We are tired of rearranging our living room furniture every time we want to move and have a plan to alleviate that problem. My sister and her husband are moving to Minnesota and may need a place to store a few things too, so we're gonna make sure they have a place to do that too.

Its funny how those old adages come back to haunt you every now and then. "Never say never" is the one attached to my backside right now. ha ha ha ha

More later .......

An Angel Says ;

... you are richer today if you have laughed, given or forgiven.

The roller coaster of life

Its amazing to me how quickly the days are passing and how we're accomplishing so many little things that I can't remember what they were.

Last week was a great week for exercise. The local coon hunter's club hosted a Regional Qualifying Event on Saturday and the clubhouse needed some drastic help. Mom & Dad, Bubba & I worked on the clubhouse for several days. Dad replaced the toilet, installed a sink and helped clean from end to end. Mom & Bubba focused on painting several areas that really needed some help and I spent the better part of four days with a broom and a BIG trash can. I swept down walls, chairs, floors and tables as well as rearranging said furniture. We all jumped in to several projects and helped each other make the clubhouse look as good as we could. There was enough trash in this place to fill Dad's truck box..... what a mess.

The club house building is old and in bad condition. It originally operated as a creamery and has since been used by the Sportsmen to repopulate the river and by the Coon Hunters to host their events. Ironically enough, now that the Coon hunters are using it, there are no less than three nests of baby raccoon in the attic. There are even holes in the walls of the large meeting room where they are able to poke their heads through and watch the activities. We were serenaded by the kittens as we were cleaning.

Saturday morning Mom, my sister Deb and I enjoyed the Spring Brunch at church. Dad was one of the 4 special men serving this lovely brunch to we ladies. It was lots of fun. We watched a program from a professor of Biology on formal gardens; at times interesting and at times dry. Saturday afternoon I worked Dad's dog Jill to get her ready for the show Saturday evening. She and I walked up and down the road till we were both panting. ;-) She qualified for the World show!!! :-)

Sunday, Mother's Day, was beautiful. Deb and Brad joined Mom and Dad, Bubba and I in church and came over for dinner. Bethany and her kids came over for dinner too. I have so much fun playing with her kids. Bailey and I seem to really enjoy our time together. She's the middle child and seems to warrant the least attention so I like to give her the most. Her older brother Jordan is a good athlete already, at ten, and her little sister Jenna is simply a dynamo who draws everyone's attention on purpose. Bailey is a sweet and gorgeous child who loves nothing more than to support her siblings but, at times, struggles to find a way to draw the attention to herself. I love Bethany as if she were my own and am constantly amazed by her mothering talent. She is raising three truly amazing children who reflect the beautiful woman she has become. Don't tell anyone but Bethany & Jon will be celebrating the 1st anniversary of their 29th birthday this year.

I could go on and on but I think its time to jump in the shower and tackle a few more chores. Yesterday was laundry and yard work. Today is housework and replacing Mom's computer monitor. Tomorrow likely will be a combination of things from adapting a tailgate for the truck to processing more asparagus and rhubarb. Thursday I'm due for a haircut and Saturday we are going to Cedar Falls before 6am to pick up the food for our Angel Food Distribution. It will be fantastic to see Tim, Barb and the First United Methodist crew again.

More later ...........

An Angel Says ....
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

A beautiful sunny morning

It sure felt good to get back behind the wheel of the Cadillac. She drives like a dream and gets better fuel economy than the truck. Still, if anyone is interested, she's still for sale. ;-)

Our steps are due a good coat of paint and its waiting in the garage for me to have a go.

As you who follow my rantings are well aware, for me its all about the birds, animals, people and plants; not necessarily in that order. ha ha ha

Rhubarb crisp anyone???

LOTS more later; I promise

I need to run finish a few things I started earlier this week but I promise tons of pictures later today. I went out this morning and took a bunch of pictures and will try to do the same this evening when the sun is highlighting the other side of our world.

This picture is just a bit blurry but I wanted to capture the wren making a nest in one of their most favorite houses.

Birthday Party

This is Jordan. He is my GREAT nephew. He is a great kid and he is the son of my niece, Bethany. Yesterday we celebrated Jordan's 10th birthday. It was a fantastic party. We met at a bowling alley, pretty much had the entire place to ourselves, and everyone had a blast. There were kids everywhere and it was so much fun watching them bowl with the bumpers up. It wasn't fair, however, that they wouldn't let me bowl with the bumpers! HA HA HA

In Jordan's Dad's immediate family alone there are soon to be a dozen kids from newborn to 10 years old. Along with that crew there were at least 5 second cousins and his best friend there to help him enjoy the day. My mom (great grandma) had the time of her life, partly because she got to hold a 3 month old as he slept for an hour.

All in all it was a fabulous day and we had a fabulous time. Church was fantastic; we were reunited with dozens of folks we missed so much when we were gone.

We have another busy day and busy week in store. Dad & Mom are prepping their camper for the season, we're finishing up another sewing order, we're working on mowing and clearing flower beds, we're going to help prep the Coon Club Hall for a regional show this weekend and the list goes on. The weather is gorgeous and sun is shining!!! Love to all.

More later ...............

PRAY OFTEN
LIVE WELL
LAUGH OFTEN
LOVE MUCH

Busy, Busy, Iowa

I expected we would return home and kick back a little. We would have time to settle in, visit friends and family and work our way back into a flow........ not.

We pulled in Tuesday afternoon and hours later there was a neighbor here asking for help to move her things to storage because she sold her house. A very nice lady. I think she was more lonely than in need of help. My sister and I spent the better part of Wednesday helping her load things up and haul them off to storage. We had a real nice chat and wore each other out in the process. ;-)

Wednesday evening was dinner at church and worship services. It was fantastic to see Pastor Moody, Elizabeth and so many of our church family. Its amazing just how much is going on in the church each day!

Mom has been busy with her industrial sewing business so part of Thursday, part of Friday and this morning were spent in the basement shop sewing 'transitions' for Nestle. Friday afternoon we took Mijo to the vet for an annual check up and a new Heart Guard prescription. Of course, as we headed out the door we were blessed with the heaviest rain shower and thunder of the entire day. This afternoon Mom, Bubba and I made a much needed trip to Wal Mart and I got a load of laundry done.

Tomorrow morning is Sunday School & Church; tomorrow afternoon is a birthday party for my Great Nephew. Jordan is 10 tomorrow and a fantastic kid. He's very into the Cubs and I expect he will receive lots of sport memorabilia and sports themed gifts tomorrow.

One of these days very soon I will bring out my camera and capture some of what is Iowa for the folks down South who might be checking in. We'll be here for the next four months and intend to hit the road again right after Labor Day. We intend to experience all kinds of wonderful things this summer and I'm anxious to explore my home state.

Miss you all in Arkansas!

More later .................

PRAY OFTEN
LIVE WELL
LAUGH OFTEN
LOVE MUCH