A Beautiful September Day

Bob and I decided to act like retired folk today! We went to the McBride Raptor Center and then fishing on McBride.  So enjoyable! No time table hanging over us.  Just sort of going with the flow....

First stop was the Raptor Center.  Above, is one of the magnificent birds that live there. This is Spirit.  She has an injured hip, I believe.  She has been here for many years. There is a golden eagle and a peregrine falcon plus several varieties of owls and hawks and even a turkey vulture. They have all been injured or somehow human imprinted and unable to survive in the wild.

After the birds, we went fishing!

 Never caught a thing, but saw a lot of fish jumping!  So of course, we just kept trying to catch one! We did manage to take some goofy selfies, though!

We also saw a flock of pelicans on McBride! Of course, the picture doesn't do them justice.  But they were pretty awesome.  There were even some beautiful egrets in the area and one heron.  Great day for bird-watching!    So, I guess we'll just have to try again.  The weather forecast is for more great weather in the next few days.  This retirement -thing is pretty sweet!.

Updating My Blog

I haven't blogged for a while.  My mother passed away on August 31, and things have been crazy before and since.  The good news is that she was 93 and she was sooo wanting to join dad and it finally happened.  She was only sick for 3 days, so I guess that's good too. She got to stay at the nursing home in hospice care and not at a hospital where she would have been poked and stuck and pricked, so that's good too. And, it was good that my 2 brothers were able to talk with her before she passed.

The beautiful flowers were at the funeral service and are now planted in our little back flowerbed. Another friend sent some money and said to get something to honor mom and that we would see daily so I finally got a hummingbird feeder!  The hummingbirds found it the first day and have been feeding there everyday, all day! Mom would have loved to seen that!

Our family gathered for the funeral at our home. We are a pretty small group these days. It was good to be with every one.

Lauren was able to come home for the weekend.  Her friend, Julia, came with her.  I was so glad that Lauren didn't have to drive the 3 hours all alone with her thoughts...  Besides, Julia was our official photographer!

Guess Who's 20?

Yup...you guessed it!  Lauren!!! How can this be?  Wasn't she just playing in a sandbox the other day?  Having tea parties with her friends and playing dress-up? Wait...how old does that make me?!?  Let's not dwell on this.

Yesterday was her birthday. She wanted hiking gear and we threw in an IPad Mini. She was very happy.  We went to brunch at the Bluebird Cafe in North Liberty and then the afternoon and evening she spent with her friends camping at Lake McBride.

While she was gone, I made a cover/holder for the IPad Mini.  She may or may not use it. but I think it turned out pretty cute. I bought the pattern off of Craftsy.  It was pretty easy to put together and it has a few different sizes in it.

 This is the front.  I appliqued a squid.  Those are whales and narwals in the background.

This is the inside.  The squid fabric makes a pocket on the left with a velcroed flap.

This is the backside, when closed. The button is a smiley face..
This size also fits the Kindle Fire and a regular Kindle, I think.

We have been having some pretty dry days here for a while.  Temperatures haven't been too bad but we could really use some rain. Evidently it is ALL south of us in Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennesee.

In the mean time, our 2 tomato plants have actually lived!! Lauren wanted to plant some tomato plants in the back but the deer and other critters devour everything so we settled on ONE plant by our front door and a potted plant on the upper back patio. I thought for sure that the dinky little plant from Maple Ave. Nursery would not survive but it did.  The deer nibbled on it for a while but then they stopped and now it is humongous!!

There are lots of tomatoes but they are very slow to ripen, so we haven't had any, yet.  Here is one that will be ready soon.

The potted one on the patio is from Costco.  It was quite large and developed when we bought it. But now it looks kind of scrawny compared to the front plant. We have had 2 tomatoes so far from this plant.

That's Cooper looking over the rail.  The other pots are basil, parsley, and rosemary.
That's the farm report for now.

July Is Slipping Away!

Wow!  I can't believe how quickly this summer is slipping by me!! Here we are in the last weekend of July and no blogs!  Yikes! Its not like I have been so busy there was no time to blog.  Quite the opposite.  Time just got away from me.

I'm still working on a couple of projects that I started earlier.   Not much progress in the quilt room.  I've been working on the Midnight Stars quilt, a blue and white applique on a feathered star quilt. It's done nothing but frustrate me, so no pictures yet.

I finished  two sweaters.  I showed you the green one last time as it was being blocked. I made that one out of Berrocco Comfort. It is an acrylic yarn.  I made another one out of Summer Linen by Universal Yarn Company.  What a difference there is working with those yarns!

 

Here is Lauren in the acrylic Comfort yarn. This was a DK yarn knitted on #6 circular needle. My gauge was about 5.5stitches per inch.  Sometimes, it seems to get looser as I knit...

Here I am in the cotton/linen.  It hasn't been blocked yet. This is also a DK yarn but I got about 5 stitches per inch on #6 needles.  Interesting!! It looks like my knitting was VERY loose....( This is the Buttercup pattern. ..BTW)

My brother David and sister-in-law Marcia were here last week for a doc appointment at the U of I.  He is 2 years post heart transplant!! Hard to believe!! And, he continues to do very well!!  As a treat, Marcia and I 'kidnapped' David and took him on a surprise visit to LeClaire, Iowa to visit Antique Archeology.  Otherwise known as the "American Pickers". He really got a charge out of that!

While we were there, Lauren and Bob were in Chicago to help celebrate grandma Strug's birthday.  She celebrated her 92!!

Here is Bob and his sister Carol with Grandma Strug.
Also this month, Cooper had surgery on his bladder for stones.  He is recovering nicely.
Hard to believe school starts soon!! Even harder to believe that Lauren will be a junior in college this year!  Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Happy 4th of July!

Lauren's home from her Geology Field class!!  And she had THE BEST TIME..EVER!!!!!!( her words.)  Really, she was so excited when she got home. Her enthusiasm was bubbling over!  She couldn't say enough great things about the experience.  Loved the camping, the hiking (wants to hike EVERYWHERE), the flora, the fauna, the people, etc., etc.!

I was so relieved.  You may recall how I shed a tear or two when she pulled out of the driveway because it was very obvious to me that she DID NOT WANT TO GO. But, it turns out that most of the fear was from not really knowing anyone and just the UNKNOWN.  But, as usual, Lauren stepped up to the plate and forged ahead.  It also helped that everyone on the trip was great, too!!

 Here are a few pictures that I stole from her Facebook album. Not necessarily in chronological order.

  Here she is on a mountain somewhere on Wyoming! Lots of suntan lotion, water, hat and well broken-in hiking boots was the fashion of the day.

Lauren with the presidents at Rushmore. The Beloit group explored the Badlands, the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower...so many awesome sights. Then into Wyoming to the Big Horn Mountains, Sheep Mountain, Crazy Woman Canyon, Sinks Cave, and the Seminoe Mountains. Just to name a few...

Here's Devil's Tower behind a goofy Lauren.

This is their campsite at the Seminoe Mountains. (I think) Anyway, it is how they camped every night!

Lauren's caption with this photo explaining how many trees are in Wyoming...

This is the final mapping of the area in the Seminoe Mountains.  This is a week's worth of work using tools and methods of geological mapping.
Lauren was very excited about future geology trips...Colorado, Hawaii.  Who wouldn't be excited!?
So, I guess we better enjoy our time with her while we can...

Happy Monday!

It is a happy Monday around here because Lauren is almost back home.  She is now in  Beloit finishing up the Geology Field class papers.  She should actually be here next Sunday or Monday.  I received a text from her yesterday about 1:15 stating that they were on I80 and passing through Coralville!!!  I told her to tell them she had to use the bathroom at our house, but it was too late :'(   NUTS!!!

In the mean time, I have been knitting like crazy on a project. Its called Buttercup, a short-sleeved sweater for spring weather.  Of course, its too hot now, but maybe early fall. Any who, I finished it last night.  I made it with Berrocco Comfort DK yarn.  The pattern called for Hempathy by Elsabeth Lavold.  The instructions were easy to follow and it is top-down so I really liked that.  I would like to try it again in the Hempathy or cotton-linen blend. Here is a picture of it after I soaked it and blocked it.  Maybe some day I will actually wear it!

It is a stormy Monday here.  Since we really need the rain, I am not going to complain. Next time I will try to remember to get some pix of our 'garden'.  Its on the back porch and looks pretty good!

Blog 'Catch-Up' Time...

Its been a while since my last confession  entry.  Lauren is in Wyoming and having a wonderful time!  Who knew she would be the great outdoors person? They have been camping every night and up at the crack of dawn.  Hiking trails and 'mapping'..whatever that entails.  They have seen The Badlands, Mt Rushmore, The Black Hills, Devils Tower, northern Bighorn Mountains, Crazy Woman Canyon, Sheep Mountain, Thermopolis Hot Springs and Sinks Canyon. Saturday they will set up camp in the Seminoe Mountains and stay there a week. They return to Beloit by June 23.  AMAZING!! She will have another week at Beloit to finish up the class and should be back home on July 2.  Can't wait to see all the pictures.

She has been able to call  a couple of times, always tired from the day but exited about what they have been doing.  The weather has been quite warm the last couple of days during the day, but it cools down at night. And they don't have any humidity so I'm sure it isn't as bad as what we have had here in the last day or so!

Yesterday was my birthday...I'm trying to decide if I will officially just stop celebrating them or what.  The numbers are just too discouraging!!  Guess I should just be glad I am still celebrating them..eh?

Tomorrow, my friend Pat will be here for an overnight.  We worked together at the VA in Des Moines many moons ago.  We ALWAYS had a great time together and managed to stay out of trouble most of the time. It will be so much fun to see her!

I feel like I should have a picture here..

Still loving my kitchen counter and backsplash!!