July Comes To An End!

Saturday, July 24, I heard from a friend that still lives in Maquoketa that they were sandbagging homes down by the river. Bea and I had plans to head to Maquoketa and it could have been an interesting trip since part of the road goes close to the Maquoketa River.

Great Sunday Morning -- 63 degrees, not too much humidity, sun was shining, coffee was strong and hot! I had to make my own coffee and breakfast since Bea and I weren’t doing Breakfast with Bea. We left for Maquoketa mid-morning. Met Barb for lunch at Flap Jack’s restaurant, then spent some time visiting with ‘old neighbors.’

Drove around town and out by the river. I just cannot identify Maquoketa as ‘home’ anymore. Oh, it looks familiar, but when I see places in town that bring back some memories, the buildings have changed or maybe even gone, the stores are different, town looks like a damn car lot – so many places taken up with dealerships. When I saw what used to be my Uncle Frank and Aunt Eva’s drug store, I was sure they were spinning in their graves…especially if they are up there looking down at the paint job on that building…damn embarrassing as far as I can see…but I don’t live there anymore.


The water from the failed dam in Delhi was just reaching Maquoketa when we were there – took some pics of the flooding at the lime kilns north of town. The picture here of the Lakehurst Dam on the Maquoketa River is 'swiped' from the local radio station webpage! It shows the dam at flood level. Compare it to the pic I have below of the dam taken last year at normal river levels. Nice day! No Rain! Food and Friends, what more can anyone want!

My sister is getting quite good at spotting ‘photo ops’ for me as we travel along the highway – all of a sudden, slow down, pull over, back up on the shoulder, take some pics and move on down the road!

Now, if I could find the instruction book for my camera, I may be able to figure out how to use all of the settings and get some decent pictures! I found a manual on line, but kinda hard to take with me unless I want to print out over 100 pages!

Stopped at Hardee’s for their ‘hand breaded chicken strips’ for supper on the way home. Not Bad!

Good, Morning, Monday! And what is a retiree to do? Laundry? Clean house? Naw! Play on the computer! That's it! Cleaned out some computer folders then it was time to take my coffee, my book and Li’lBit outside to enjoy some nice weather! By mid afternoon, it was humid/sticky! Inside with the A/C!

Before going outside, I put on a pot of shrimp soup. I know - Summer - Hot Soup! But it is really good. And since my sister doesn't like shrimp unless it is deep fried with lots of cocktail sauce, I get to eat every bit of it! It was the last of my shrimp from Rockport! Guess I'll just have to go back and restock the freezer next winter!

Tuesday, laundry day – what a routine - stop at the gas station, get coffee and a munchie (usually a donut!) Go next door to the laundro-mat, fill the washer, read my book, drink my coffee, eat my munchies, move the clothes to the dryer, fold the clothes, pack the clothes bag (actually a shopping bag from HEB grocery in TX!) Routine just never changes!

By the time I got back home, it was already sticky outside. Just can’t get over the humidity this late in the year! Someone needs to tell the weather this is SUMMER, spring just refuses to leave.

With the A/C on I was inside all day. Guess it wouldn’t be so bad being inside if I did something – but why waste my time cleaning or organizing or straightening things out – they just get messed up again! Don’t know who it is around here that creates all of these messes – maybe the dog? Cat? Bird?

YEE-HAW! Humidity down to 54% on Wednesday! I can suck in some good air! I spent the morning vegetating. Gall bladder finally cooled off about 1:30-2AM so I did get some sleep.

The predicted rain fizzled out, left us with humidity! Had to go out and water plants...been putting it off waiting for rain!

I did make a mixed berry cobbler - raspberries, black berries and blue berries, just a variation on my peach cobbler recipe with bread strips instead of pie crust. Didn't use a lot of sugar - kinda puckers you up! A little ice cream would probably help!

Went with Bea to Perkins for salad for supper…still careful about too much anti-gall bladder foods!

Thursday - my kinda day! 60 deg, very little humidity, sun shining! Filled my travel mug with coffee, went into town to fill the truck’s tummy with diesel and hit the road. First stop, Kalona, an Amish community, then to Walcott for a late lunch with friends from school! Sure hope I have lunch money left by the time I hit ...the bakeries, cheese factories and meat markets in Kalona!


Had lunch with Ingrid and Judi at Gramma's Kitchen http://www.hoari.com/Grammas/
Judi and I went to Kindergarten together – Ingrid was the ‘late-comer’ – she didn’t catch up with us until First Grade! Oh, how I remember my Mother and her friends, how boring I thought it was, when they would get together and talk about the school days. Well, there I was, just like my Mother, talking school days with friends. We finally decided it was time to leave when the supper crowd started showing up! What a terrific afternoon! Would have been much better if I hadn't left my camera locked in the glove compartment of the truck! Fortunately, Ingrid and Judi weren't as 'brain dead' and I was and they had theirs!

I didn’t get back home until 8 PM, 350+ miles later; I'm one happy camper! Great day, good food, terrific friends! AND, found a new favorite store. Stopped in Stringtown to see the 'Springtown Grocery." Thought it would be a museum or one of those 'historic site ahead' places. WAS I WRONG! It's a Amish Grocery - Bulk supplies, dehydrated foods, spices, homemade peanut butter, relishes, preserves, pastries and baked goods. They even pack your groceries in a BOX. Gotta go back before I head to TX.

The store only has 3 aisles; just enough room for about 1 shopping cart in each aisle (yes, they do have shopping carts!) They do have electricity, too -- and a walk in cooler where they keep produce and meats. Most convenient stores in Texas are bigger than this but not nearly as enjoyable!

Friday morning I woke up moving quite slowly - too much setting in the truck and in the restaurant, I guess – ol’ bones don’t move like they used to! AND, my lungs didn’t want to work too efficiently either! Thunder off in the distance but the weather radar didn'tlook too bad! I'm beginning to think I missed my calling - should have been a weather person! Really getting into this radar, humidity index, dew point stuff!

Cool enough to open the place up for some fresh air, but I can feel the humidity -- another A/C day -- I hate that!!! As the day went on, it was harder and harder to catch my breath – days like this are not my favorites! Puffing on that darn nebulizer is such a waste of time!

My sister said the rain gauge at school had over an inch when the gully-washer blew thru mid-morning.

Put a pizza casserole in the crock pot, Bea picked up a fruit bowl and came over for supper.

Saturday July comes to an end. Got an email from some friends from Rockport -- they are headed this way in their motorhome after visiting friends in PA and NY. Will be great to see them. Should be here next weekend sometime.

After the fog lifted and the humidity decreased some, it was time to open this place up and bring in some FRESH AIR! I really do detest A/C air!

And Here Comes August!

July Recipes

Crock Pot Potato Soup
6-8 potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
2 stalks celery, cubed
1 med. onion, chopped
5 c. water (and I add some chicken bouillon cubes for flavor)
Some parsley or cilantro leaves/flakes – whichever you prefer (occasionally, I use dill weed)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours or until vegetables are done. If you want creamy soup, one hour before serving, add one can of evaporated milk. If too thin, add some instant mashed potato flakes!

It makes a lot of soup for one person, so I divide it up in plastic containers -- one day I'll add some cooked broccoli to it, one day it might be diced ham....you can do anything with it you want.

Instant Potato Soup Mix
(I used to take this to work -- also use it to thicken my potato soup!)

2 cups instant mashed potatoes
1½ cups instant milk powder
2 TBSP instant chicken bouillon
2 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp turmeric
1½ tsp seasoning salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Store in air tight container.
To Serve: Place ½ cup instant soup mix in a soup bowl, cup or mug. Add one cup of boiling water and stir until smooth.

Shrimp Soup
(I'm lazy - I put it all in the crock pot, except the shrimp, hominy and tomatoes, and let it cook until the veggies are done - then add the tomatoes, hominy and shrimp.) I've left the original cooking instructions, but I haven't the time to set and watch the stuff!

1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 minced cloves garlic (I usually just use garlic powder)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (taco seasoning is good, too!)
2 cans chicken broth (I use about 4-5 cups water with chicken bouillon)
1 can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (for a different flavor, you can use the liquid from the tomatoes in place of some of the broth)
1 pound peeled shrimp

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium high. Add the onion, celery,
carrot, garlic, oregano, cumin and chili powder and cook, stirring
occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth, hominy and tomato and bring to a boil; immediately
reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to allow flavors to develop. Stir
in the shrimp and simmer until shrimp is just cooked through, about 4
minutes.


Crockpot Pizza Casserole
(The lady that gave me this recipe uses low-fat meat or ground turkey and low-fat/low-salt soup and wheat pasta and it tastes just as good!)

1 pound ground meat browned and drained (I use ½ beef and ½ ground Italian sausage)
3 oz Pepperoni
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup undiluted
1 Onion chopped
½ Green Pepper, chopped
12 oz shredded parmesan cheese
8 oz Rigatoni pasta cooked 5 minutes and drained—I’ve used any kind of pasta handy - - even speghetti
14 oz can pizza or spaghetti sauce

Mix together ground meat, onion, green pepper and pizza sauce

Layer in crock pot in following order:
Half of the meat mixture
Half of the cooked pasta
Half a can of the soup
6 ounces of cheese
Half of the pepperoni slices
Top with any other ingredients you like such as mushrooms, olives, etc.
Repeat layers.
Cook on low heat for 4 hours. About an hour before serving, sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese

Grant Wood, An American Gothic

In making these paintings, as you may have guessed, I had in mind something which I hope to convey to a fairly wide audience in America -- the picture of a country rich in the arts of peace; a homely lovable nation, infinitely worth any sacrifice necessary to its preservation. - Grant Wood

Grant Wood, an American “Regionalist” painter, known for his paintings depicting the Midwestern rural life. Best known for his 1930 painting, American Gothic , it first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930. Since then, it has been subjected to an endless stream of satire, use in advertisements and cartoons. The original work can still be seen at the Art Institute.

The portrait of the somber Midwestern farmer is often misinterpreted. The woman is not the man's wife but his unmarried daughter destined to stay on the farm to assist and care for her widowed father.

Models for the farmer and his spinster daughter were Wood’s dentist, Dr Bryon McKeeby, and his sister, Nan Wood Graham. Each element was painted separately; the models sat separately and never stood in front of the house.

The cottage in the background is an example of Gothic Revival, Carpenter Gothic or Rural Gothic, a North American architectural style. It is located in Eldon, Iowa.

Art critics continue to debate the meaning of the painting. Initially, it was assumed the painting was a satire of the repression and narrow-mindedness of small-town life and rural America. The Depression era brought about a reversal of thought; it was meant to depict the American pioneering spirit of perseverance. The debate among art critics continues today.

He was born Feb. 13, 1891, near Anamosa, Iowa. His father, a farmer, died in 1901. The family moved to Cedar Rapids. There he took drawing lessons from local artists and attended high school. In 1913, while working as a silversmith in Chicago, he attended night classes at the Art Institute.

During World War I he made clay models of field gun positions and helped camouflage artillery pieces while working in Washington, DC. He returned to Iowa to teach in Cedar Rapids, then left for Europe in 1923. Following two years in Europe, he returned to Iowa and began painting pictures of workers at a dairy equipment and manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. His paintings began to sell, however to supplement his income he decorated house interiors.

In 1927 Wood received a commission for a stained-glass window for the Cedar Rapids City Hall memorializing World War I veterans. To learn stained glass technique, he returned to Europe. While there, he also studied the work of the 15th-century French and German primitive painters and began to work in the style he is known for today. Among his many jobs, he taught at the State University of Iowa, was director of Iowa’s WPA arts projects and continued to paint portraits.

On February 12, 1942, one day before his 51st birthday, Wood died in Iowa City at University Hospital.

Hurstville Lime Kilns

Two miles north of Maquoketa on U.S. Highway 61 are lime kilns built in
the 1870's. The small town that supported the kilns, Hurstville, saw its near demise in the 1930s, the last time the kilns were fired.

Limestone rock mined from area quarries was fed into the four kilns and heated to form lime mortar used in building construction throughout the Midwest. This production of lime from native stone became one of Iowa's most important early industries.

The kilns produced quicklime from limestone. When limestone was heated to temps 750-1300 degrees F, carbon escaped leaving lime. This heating and cooling process took several days.

The Hurstville kilns were "draw" kilns that operated under the principal of gravity. Limestone was fed into the top of the kiln, it was ‘cooked’ by fireplaces on the sides of the kilns and the cooked stone removed. Draw kilns could be operated on a continual basis by removing the lime and the rock residue and feeding in more limestone. This process was extremely inefficient and the lumber needed to maintain the kiln fires resulted in the clearing of large tracts of woodland.
(Info and drawing from geo-caching.com)

The Flood

On Saturday, July 24, 2010, the dam at Lake Delhi failed (Above)sending a torrent of water downstream, headed to Maquoketa, IA, 65 miles away. Standing between the Delhi Dam and my hometown is the Lakehurst hydro-electric dam just north of town on the Maquoketa River. (Below)

Lake Delhi, 9 miles long, drained away in a matter of hours. Approximately 900 homes and cottages are on the lake and surrounding area. Safety officials said that although the dam was nearly 90 years old, it was well maintained. Originally built as a hydro-electric dam, today it functions solely for recreation. A state inspection in 2009 identified a few minor problems, but nothing that could have caused its failure according to a state official.

Privately owned by the Lake Delhi Home Owners Association, it could not hold back the water after a winter of heavy snows, followed by a spring and early summer of extraordinary rains.

The fate of the dam is now in ‘limbo.’ The cost of reconstruction would be extraordinary for the homeowners, considering the new/modern criteria and specifications for a dam of that size. Consequently, many lake front properties are no longer “lake-front.”

Recipes for July (I don't cook much in Iowa!)

Breakfast Cobbler
4 servings

4 medium apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups granola cereal

Spray inside of crock pot with nonstick spray. Place apples in crock pot and mix in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or overnight (alternately, cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours).

**NOTES: Can use prepared canned pie filling, just leave out the honey and add spices for your taste.
Can be served plain or with milk or breakfast. I also like it as a dessert with ice cream.


Chicken Casserole (crockpot)

32 oz sauerkraut, rinse and drain
1 C Russian or 1000 Is. salad dressing
6 chicken breast halves
1 TBSP prepared mustard
1 C shredded Swiss cheese

Place half the sauerkraut in the crock pot. Pour on about 1/3 cup of the dressing. Top with 3 chicken breast halves and spread the mustard over the chicken. Top with the remaining sauerkraut and chicken breasts. Drizzle another 1/3 cup dressing over the casserole. Refrigerate the remaining dressing until serving them. Cover and cook on the low heat setting about 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the chicken is white throughout and tender. To serve, sprinkle 3 to 4 tablespoons of cheese over the chicken and about 1 tablespoon of the Russian or Thousand Isl dressing on top.

This recipe can be cut in half.

Barn Quilts

Donna Sue Groves, Manchester, Ohio, had an idea in 2001. To spruce up an abandoned tobacco barn on her family’s property, the barn became her canvas to paint a colorful quilt square to honor her mother, an accomplished quilter.

Before long, the idea of barn quilts became a way to entice traffic off a busy four-lane highway and to the small towns and country roads in the economically depressed area of southern Ohio. Organizers used old, weathered barns for the painted quilts. The Ohio Arts Council encouraged local artists to paint the traditional quilt patterns on the barns, similar to the way barns were once painted with company logos and advertising slogans. This was the beginning of an arts-based tourist attraction that spread to other communities and eventually other states.

Soon, the Quilts of Appalachia covered a multi-state region and designated the route as the Appalachia Quilt Trail. Currently, more than 400 quilt squares can be found in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Grundy County was the first county in Iowa to take on the project. It began in 2003 as a way to attract visitors off of Highway 20. And it worked! The colorful quilts attract a steady stream of visitors and bus tours following the county’s “Quilt Loop.” Along the way, they often stop for lunch or visit the local shops of the small county towns.

Area quilters choose the patterns. School students, 4-H members, and other youth and adult volunteers paint the blocks. In Grundy County, the local electric company uses their trucks and lifts to mount the blocks on the barns.

The typical barn quilt is 8 ft x 8 ft. There are 13 counties in Iowa with quilts on display. Currently, there is a total of over 290 blocks. No, I didn’t see them all!

July 19 - 23

Monday 19th Raining AGAIN! I’m beginning to think that my favorite program and pastime is watching weather radar! Out to do laundry, then off to Fareway to pick up some BBQ pork ribs they had on special. Supper time at Bea’s…yummy!

After months of searching, my spice bottles came and they were the right size! I don’t have to get rid of that garage sale special spice rack I found. I have been wandering yard sales, garage sales, Good Will, Salvation Army looking for spice bottles to fit that crazy rack. I had to make it work, it is so perfect for the RV with limited counter space. Now, I can use it!

Wednesday was a loooong nite! I put a Breakfast Apple Cobbler in the crock pot to cook on low all nite. That meant smelling cooking apples, honey, cinnamon and granola! And you know I had to get up about 3AM and taste-test it to make sure it was cooking OK!

Thursday 22nd There are days I would give my bird away! Wednesday evening I sorted my spices so I could put up my new spice bottles in the morning. I left the bottles, full ones and empty ones, on the table. Now, one-by-one, Tinga is telling them to "Step Up,” then rolls them off the table to the floor! As they hit the floor she looks over the edge of the table and says, “Good Girl!” Certainly glad the lids were on tight!

Miracles of miracles, I finally got a harness on Holly! You really have to know Holly, the cat from hell, to understand what an accomplishment that is -- especially considering I still have all of my fingers.


After a night of rain, my sister picked me up about 11AM Friday. We headed in the direction of the barn quilts. If the weather cooperates, we planned to see a few of them; if it didn’t, we would have lunch in Grundy Center and come home. We managed a circuit of over 100 miles to see many of the barn quilts of Grundy County. Several were too far off of the road to get good pics and we were fighting the clouds and haze some of the time. Stopped for lunch in Grundy Center, the county fair is on so it was a busy place. I’m becoming quite the connoisseur of patty melts and breaded pork tenderloins. If a menu has both, I have a hard decision to make!

Sunday, July 18 - Tragic News From TX

Sunday Brunch with Bea was at OJ’s Diner in Marshalltown. Gotta love good ol’ diner home cookin’!

Shortly after coming back from breakfast, I received news from Gatesville that an explosion,Saturday evening at the Balch family home, injured Eric Balch and his two sons. Eric, a coach in the La Vega, near Waco, was in stable condition with burns over more than 35 percent of his body. The fire and explosion claimed the life of 2-year-old Mason and badly injured 3-year-old Cade. Cade and Eric are at Parkland Hospital Burn Unit, Dallas.

Tammy Balch is a teacher in Gatesville. Tammy and their two daughters, Ashley, 9, and Brooklyn, 6, were not home at the time.

It is just so heart-breaking to hear such news. But, knowing the folks in Gatesville, they will rally around and things will be taken care of for the Balchs.

A Helpful Kind of Tagging!

Anyone familiar with graffiti knows ‘tagging.’ A spray painted ‘signature’ of an individual or a group. A marking of a territory.

Well, there is a pot hole ‘tagger’ in Marshalltown, leaving his/her signature up and down the streets and roadways, marking the hazardous territory for fellow travelers.

After a winter of freezing, thawing, freezing and thawing, the street surfaces finally gave way and ‘coughed up’ large sections of black top and concrete – leaving pot holes. Some are the pot holes from hell. Evidentially, someone in town, with some “OSHA Orange’ spray paint, decided to point out these road hazards, providing sufficient warning for the driver to slow down and go around!

The picture above was taken shortly AFTER the pothole was patched. However, the 'frown' is still sufficient warning to announce a not-too-level patch in the roadway!

July 12-17 Hot and Humid is a good description!

Sunday July 11 I wanted something sweet, checked the fridge and had everything I needed to make a peanut butter pie. My recipe is kinda bland so I took some old peanut butter cups, smushed them with the rolling pin, placed them on the crust before I poured in the peanut butter filling. Why hadn't I thought of that before! Next time I make it I’m going to put some smushed up peanut butter cups in when I mix the filling. I had too much filling for the pie crust, so I kept the extra filling for myself and forced my sister to take the pie.

Monday July 12 Here comes the rain, here comes the rain! At least the heavy storms stayed away. Don't mind thunder, but the winds really get old! Gully washer for about 15-20 minutes, then a slow rain for awhile, then the sun and then skeeters came out! The owners of the park spray the park frequently for skeeters, but I think some of them just suck in the fumes and grow bigger!

Not sure how much rain - still can't find my rain gauge. If I don't find it soon or get a new one, I won't need one 'til next spring! It's a good day to stay in side with the dehumidifier going and a good book! HEAVY Air.

Tuesday morning I headed off in the fog to get the laundry done,takin' the main roads, the long way around and didn’t try the back roads, the fog was really thick! By the time I got home, it was so sticky and humid outside, decided to defrost the freezer. I found some seafood from last winter when I was in Rockport -- made a seafood pie. I think I could eat the WHOLE THING! It's time like this I'm glad my sister doesn't like seafood – I don’t have to share!

By Wednesday, I thought I had moved back to TX! At 3PM, 93 degrees, 72% humidity, heat index 112! That's when you know you are living in a tin can! My lungs were NOT happy! God Bless Air Conditioning! Best part of the day -- a voice from my past. His health is not the best, but the voice is strong and the attitude is good. Always nice to hear from friends.

Went out to Chinese place for supper with my sister and her friends, Jim and Kathy. Kathy had picked up an Iowa Tourism book for me. Time to plan some more day trips!

Just haven't quite had the get-up-and-go to get up and go! I do want to get up to see the "barn quilts" in Guthrie County, just north of here. I also want to head down to Winterset and see the Bridges of Madison County before I head back to Texas.

Nice day Friday. Li'lBit and I took the garbage to the dumpster and spent most of the day outside. Doesn’t that just sound like a busy day!

My sister worked on her yard most of the day, then went into the office for awhile. Decided it was not a good day to go home and cook so we went to the Sunrise Café in LeGrand, famous for their huge breakfast, for Friday nite fish fry, “all you can eat!” UNBELIEVABLE. Fish, choice of potato, soup or salad, corn, and dessert. Well, after the salad and my baked potato, most of the fish found its way into a ‘to go’ box, along with most of Bea’s French fries. Needless to say, we did not get additional fish and didn’t have dessert. Guess what was on the lunch menu for the weekend.

After pigging out on fried fish Friday evening, I wasn't sure I would still be alive Saturday morning. Not sure I want to see my cholesterol report when I go back to the doc!

Saturday brought 89 degrees here with heat index of 98! My A/C kicked in about noon and I plunked down in my recliner with my book. Interesting book. Helluva Town by Richard Goldstein. The story of New York City during World War II. When I finish this book, I'll get back to my Elena Skrabina (Helene Scriabine) books. They are gradually getting here from Amazon.com.

A Couple of Recipes

Peanut Butter Pie

8 oz. cream cheese
½ cup peanut butter – your preference, creamy or chunky
1¼ cup powdered sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 chocolate cookie, shortbread cookie,or graham cracker crust
Chocolate & peanut butter chips or pieces, if desired.

In mixing bowl beat cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Fold in Cool whip. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with chips or crushed peanut butter cups, if desired. Chill until firm. (I put a thin layer of smashed peanut butter cups on the crust before pouring in the filling.)

Seafood Pie

1 cup onion, finely chopped.
1 cup celery, finely chopped. Can use green pepper.
1 stick of margarine.
1 can of cream of anything soup. (I use mushroom or celery)
1 large can of evaporated milk.
2 lb seafood. I mix whatever is available, crab, shrimp, scallops, crawfish tails, firm fish cut in bite size pieces. Make sure all shrimp, crawfish have shells removed and are cleaned.
1 tsp cornstarch.
Garlic powder, salt, pepper, dill weed (your preference)
Pie crust, top and bottom.

Sauté the onions, celery (green pepper if using) in the margarine until soft. Add the cream soup (do not dilute), evaporated milk, seafood and seasonings. Heat through. I usually add some frozen vegetable, peas, carrots, green beans, mixed vegetables, etc.

Pour into crust, cover with top crust. Poke some vent holes. Bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes or until the crust is browned.

Breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe, LeGrand IA

Bea picked me up at 8:30 to head to LeGrand to see if we could avoid the breakfast rush! The place was nearly full when we got there. The Big Question: And How Is Your Cholesterol.

Bea had their special omelet, came with hashbrowns and toast. I had the sausage breakfast skillet, came with two eggs and toast. We both brought well over 1/2 home in a box! (Sorry the pic of Bea's b'fast is fuzzy - we were laughing so hard after we saw how big mine was, I couldn't hold the camera still!)

The tent campers next to me pulled out early AM, before the rains. Guess they didn't want to have to pack up a wet tent. Can't say as I blame them. I did that a time or two in my early camping days.

And, there wasn't so much activity that it scared my wrens away. They are back to setting up housekeeping in the little bird house. And all is well with the world!

Gonna be a lazy day today -- drinking coffee, reading the paper, one of my books by "my author' arrived yesterday so need to get into that -- even if it is Volumn FOUR. I'll just have to read the others like a 'flash back' in a movie or something. And, now that my belly is full, and I'm chilling out, all that cholesterol can find just the right arteries and veins!

Kelley Iowa Phone Booth 515-769-2481

About 6 miles south of Ames,Iowa and just west of HWY 69 is the town of Kelley, Iowa, population 320 in 2008. Setting on the corner of Giddings and Grace Streets is one of the last working phone booths. The plexiglass booth with red panels and a bi-fold door is maintained by the local phone cooperative, Huxley Communications, the owner of the booth. Cost of the maintaining the line is about $20/month for the small town of Kelley. The booth, 33-3/4 inches square, a little more than 7 feet tall, is at least 50 years old.

This relic from the 1950s has become the town’s greatest attraction. A shelter is being built next to the phone booth to accomodate a 15-foot-long mural by a local artist, Dick Shook.

Last year, Huxley Communications personnel started a Face Book page for the phone booth. Currently there are 1,226 followers on the Face Book, 4 times the population of the town!

July Recipes

Vegetable Salad
2 cans shoe peg corn (if I can’t get shoe peg, I used yellow/white corn with diced peppers)
1 can green beans
1 can English peas (small) ( I use frozen)
1 jar pimento
1 green pepper, chopped fine
1 TBSP green onion, chopped fine
Let drain in colander.

Mix the following in a saucepan and cook until the sugar melts.
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp celery seed

Put drained vegetables in bowl. Pour vinegar mixture over vegetables and marinate several hours. Keeps well.

Shrimp Fried Rice
1 small onion
1 cup peas
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 or 4 tablespoons cooking oil
1 egg beaten in a cup (half teaspoon salt added)
1 cup shrimps
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Diced bacon or ham – quantity optional/per taste

Follow directions for long grain rice. 1-2 cups uncooked rice. Cook and set aside to cool.

In a wok, or large based pan, heat the oil. Add the onions and diced bacon.
Stir fry over a moderate heat for 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the beaten egg. When it has set, break it up into small pieces and stir.

Increase heat, add the shrimp, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add the peas, cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and mix well.
Add rice and heat through, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Generic Layered Casserole
1 1/2 lb ground beef
8 oz pasta
8 oz container sour cream
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese – your cheese preference
6 green onions, thinly sliced
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce (for a different taste, use pizza or spaghetti sauce)
1 T sugar
2 T shredded cheddar cheese – or your cheese preference.

Cook ground beef over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente. Drain well. Place in a greased 13x9-inch casserole dish.

In a medium-size bowl combine the sour cream, cream cheese, shredded cheese, and chopped green onions. Spread mixture over cooked pasta.

In a small bowl combine the sugar, tomato sauce and cooked ground beef. Layer this on top of the sour cream mixture.

Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese on top, if desired. Refrigerate casserole overnight.

Remove from refrigerator one hour before baking. Bake 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Allow to stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Can be frozen prior to cooking; let come to room temp before placing in the oven.

The Wrens are Moving into the Bird House!

JULY 4, Sunday Out for breakfast with my sister - our Sunday AM tradition. We wanted to go to the cafe in LeGrand, a little town down the road. But by the time we got there, the parking lot was full and vehicles were lined on both sides up and down the road. Must be some great breakfast there! Will try again sometime. Ended up at Perkins but I love their pancakes, and their over 55 menu, so it turned out OK!

Rained most of the day. Fortunately, I grilled a bunch of stuff Saturday, made a bean and corn salad so I had my picnic inside. Grilled yesterday or today, it still tasted grilled! I had some really great brats from the meat market - horseradish and cheese mixed in the brats. Really good! Love horseradish. AND, I ate the last of the sweet corn I bought the other day.

The rain did break for the fireworks. I couldn't see much because of the tall oak trees here in the park, but I could sure hear them! Don't know how good they were but they sure were loud!

JULY 5, Monday Last week was such a perfect weather week, I am totally spoiled. It started raining yesterday, over 3 inches this time. About an hour south, they got NINE inches of rain overnite. We are still in a flood warning. Fortunately all that rain south won't mess with the rivers up here. I just have to worry about the rainfall northwest of me.

Spent the morning running errands between rain drops, surprised when I got to town, the number of places closed for the Holiday. I expected banks and the post office, but not grocery stores, etc! WalMart never closes! Stopped at Good Will, crawled around on the floor (I'm sure I looked really cute) looking for some more books by Elena Skrjabina. Figured if there was one there, there might be more. No such luck. I’m just getting greedy, I guess! When all else fails, try Amazon.com!

The other day I had to go to several places to find the right size bulb for the light over the table. All of my 12 volt lites use the same size except that one - and it evidentially isn't a popular size! Finally found it at an auto parts place. They had 6 in the box - I took them all! Home to change the bulb, it still didn’t work!

Who was the dumb SOB that thought putting breakers and fuses in the back of cabinets and near the floor was a good idea! I want to hang him by the...thumbs! What's wrong with eye level and cover them with a fancy little door or decorative panel! I've managed to flip the breaker and replace the fuse; my knees will never be the same. Definitely not the job for an ol’ fat lady, blind in one eye with hand tremors!

I felt like an old brood sow wallowing around the floor trying to get that taken care of -- but it's done -- everything is working -- I'm proud of myself! Doing stuff like that at the house wasn't a problem - I could get to everything without have to roll on the floor!

While on the floor I decided to replace the register over the heating duct in front of my sink. Standing on it all the time, the plastic finally started to crack…luckily I found a metal one in the right size for the RV at the hardware store. I’m sure it was much cheaper than if I had to have one ordered through an RV supplier.

My hips and knees have really been bothering me - need to take some weight off -- but I have never 'recovered' from when I took that fall coming out of the RV while enroute to Iowa

JULY 6 Tuesday Another humid rainy day. Went to turn on A/C, it kicked in - went 'pop' -- NOTHING! I so love maintenance problems. First I checked the fuse box - OK -- then the breaker box! There's the problem - fixed -- A/C working -- so I started the day out on the floor and standing on my head!

Sticky day for errands! To the post office to mail a couple of boxes and then to the carpet place for a non-glazed ceramic tile. The guy was really nice, gave me a broken tile from the warehouse.

Off to Menards to get a couple more metal register grates; picked up the last two they had in that size. It isn’t always easy to find RV size parts in a non-RV store! But, oh, the price is so much better if I can.

On to Aldi's for some odds and ends – want to make some casseroles so I don’t have to cook every day… and another chocolate bar, love that German chocolate with hazelnuts! Then to HyVee green house; found some catnip and one more double shepherd hook.

Guess I cannot put off cleaning the RV any longer – to rainy to go outside or take Li’lBit out for a picnic -- can't think of a thing to do to get out of cleaning! If I don't rake out this mess (things really pile up fast in an RV!), I'll trip, fall and break my neck. Well, maybe not, there isn't enough floor space uncluttered to fall! And the way Li'lBit and Holly have been shedding, I have enough cat & dog hair to knit a sweater. I have nothing else to keep me from cleaning the living room!

JULY 7 Wednesday More Rain! 3 inches last night, another 3 inches expected this morning! I could avoid all of this by arriving in Iowa a little later, but then I'd be in central TX heat, humidity and dust. My lungs prefer Iowa! I think the TX dust is harder on them than the Iowa mold! Great trade off, huh! But I do love the sweet corn up here! Might try to finish cleaning today -- or tomorrow -- or next week! Oh, I just love to clean!

Had hopes of getting some good news regarding my search for Helene Scriabine from the Iowa City newspaper, but they don’t seem to have archives back to 1996. They referred me to the University of Iowa library. I cannot believe a newspaper doesn't have their old papers on some kind of micro-technology!

University of Iowa was very cooperative and is mailing me the obit. I never really got into genealogy, someone else in my family was doing it, so I kinda ignored the whole process. I'm really excited about doing this. I also found 4 of her books about her life during the Russian Revolution and during WWII on line and have ordered them. Is this an obsession? I think so!!!

A produce stand has opened up under the canopy of a vacant restaurant in town. Picked up two kohlrabi. I have seen them in the store but have never fixed them. According to what I've read, kohlrabi tastes like broccoli stems. Can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled and mashed. Guess I'll try them!

Bea and I went to Perkins for their fish platter for supper.

July 8 Thursday Woke to sunshine, humidity down to 88%!! Now the picnic table can dry out. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Don't have to run the A/C; can have the windows open, the sun is shining – I’m in Heaven!

Good news and not-so-good news! An RVing friend that does genealogy found the obit for my author (I still have the one coming from the University of IA). The obit gave the name of the funeral home, but not of the cemetery. Called the funeral home. She was cremated and the ashes delivered to the family. Funeral home had no info on final resting place of the cremains. Son lives in Connecticut; last entry I could find on him on the net was about 5 yrs ago. He is 80+ years old. I'm not going to search further. There is a scholarship fund in her name at the University of IA and I will donate to that. I still have 4 of her books coming! Maybe we were friends in another life -- or will be in a future life! I admire this woman!

JULY 9 Friday My sister’s day off so we hit the road. I have wanted to head into Des Moines to go to Penzy’s Spices to see if they carried spice bottles that would fit a spice rack I picked up at a garage sale. Guess that is why the thing was on the sale table – next to impossible to find the right size bottles.

We took the long way around to get to Des Moines, headed to Kelley Iowa to see one of the last working phone booths. When we pulled into Kelley, population about 300, my sister commented that we should be on the right street. And there it was. I said, “There it is, there’s the phone booth!” My sister glanced over, her eyes got as big as saucers, she started to laugh and I thought she was going to miss the corner and take us into the city park! But there it was, the Kelley Iowa Phone Booth. A couple of pictures and we were on our way. I understand there is another working phone booth, this one trimmed in blue, in Kensett, Iowa on the Minnesota border. Doubt I'll make it up there this trip.

Off to Penzy’s Spices, lunch at Ryan’s Buffet, didn’t leave enough room for afternoon pie and coffee before we left Des Moines! Stopped at the book store. No, I didn’t buy any books! Headed home. Nice Day!

JULY 10 Saturday. Terrific day for setting outside and reading. Mister God, This is Anna by Flynn. Short 180 pages; quick afternoon read.

While outside, two ladies here to visit the Big Tree House, from Cedar Rapids and her relative from California, asked if I had a cell phone. They locked the keys in the car. Finally got in touch with the right AAA for them to set up road service. Back to the book. Lazy Day!

No need for TV for entertainment tonite. 2 vehicles just pulled in next to me with bikes on the back...pitching a tent. Obviously haven't tried it many times before -- good thing they still have the instruction book! Hey! Take your entertainment where you get it...but they better not scare my little wrens away!

The wrens have been busy most of the week moving into the bird house just under my window. I love the warbling of the wrens. Now, I can only hope that Tinga will pick up the sound of the wrens and get rid of the sound of the sea gulls and crows that she picked up in Rockport!!!

July 1 - 4 - A New Adventure Starts

July 1 I can't believe by 6:45 I was up, the critters are fed, coffee made, pills taken -- geez! Guess I miss the guy next door cranking up his vehicle and leaving early in the AM! He packed up, hitched up and left yesterday. The park seems to be full of mostly construction workers – lots of highway repairs and rebuilding going on in this area. There are a few in and out day or two stays, but with the number of trucks leaving out of here at 6 AM and returning just before sunset, they are mostly in construction.

Met my sister for lunch at the Tremont Hotel Grille here in town. I love their Cap Anson sandwich and sweet potato fries! I understand it is named after the son of the founding father of Marshalltown.

Adrian "Cap" Anson (1852-1922) was probably baseball's first superstar.
He batted over .300 in 24 of his record 27 seasons. He was also manager of the Chicago White Stockings. His high expectations and stern demeanor helped raise the level of play in baseball. He was the first player to collect 3,000 hits, and although he retired in 1897, he is still one of the all time leaders in hits, run, RBIs and doubles for the Chicago Cubs.

A baseball player in the late 1800s, he made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, so I guess he deserves a sandwich named after him!

Dropped the propane cylinder off on my way to lunch, didn’t want it left in the back of the truck unattended. Picked it up on the way home; first refill I’ve had since March 5. Guess I don't use much propane just for cooking.

July 2 went into WalMart looking for a 12 volt light bulb for my dining area ceiling fixture – none there. But no sense wasting a trip to WalMart so I got my hair cut! Wandered through Good Will to see if there was something there that I just couldn't live without -- and sure enough, there was! Picked up a couple of books. Ended up having to go to an auto parts store to get my light bulbs. Then, met my sister for lunch at the deli. Then a delightful sunny day outside with Li’lBit.

July 3 One of the books I picked up at Good Will was Siege and Survival the Odyssey of a Leningrader by Elena Skrjabina. It is the translation of the diary she kept while surviving the Siege of Leningrad during WWII. When I got it home and started reading it, the author had signed a personal message on the inside (to a friend) -- about 1/3 of the way thru the book (it's just about 200 pages) I found a postcard from the author dated 1987, same as the dated signature in the book, addressed to the same friend. What a special book. What a special surprise.

Doing a little Google search, I found the Elena Skrjabina became Helene Scriabine and, after arriving in the US became Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She died in Iowa City in 1996.

Unable to find a obit on her, I'm wondering if she is buried in Iowa City. If so, I'd like to take some flowers to her grave....now doesn't that sound strange...just think I need to do that!

Now is when I wish I had been more attentive when people were discussing genealogy searches. I'm at a loss of where to start trying to locate a grave (especially in a town I'm not familiar with!) Time to contact some friends that do genealogy work with the magic question: Where Do I Start!?

I've checked the Iowa City newspapers but the archives don't go back that far. She had two sons, one came to the US with her, the older one stayed in Germany after the war. So she may not even be buried in Iowa.

I know it isn't an antique -- but I do love my books and to know that the book I was holding, reading, had actually been held by the author really meant something to me. It is a wonderful story too how she survived the siege, held by the Germans, got to the US and became a professor of Russian Studies. Tuesday I'm calling Iowa City newspapers to see if I can get a copy of her obit. I think it is becoming an obsession! I keep doing web searches and the more I find, the more I'm interested. When she first came to the US, she attended and worked at a college in NY state - ended up teaching Russian to the Air Force. What an interesting life…what a spunky lady. Wish I could have called her a friend! I’m so glad I found the book.

It's a rainy day July 4th in Marshalltown Iowa, but that's OK. I grilled enough yesterday (just in case). AND -- great news -- I have found the obit on the author of the book I'm reading, well, not the actual obit, but know what paper and what dates, so Tuesday, the search for Helene Scriabine (Elena Skrjabina) continues.

June Comes to an End, June 21 - 30, 2010

You can't say there isn't a lot to do here in Iowa. June 21 was the first day of the Great Iowa Tractor Ride - 575 tractors, all shapes, sizes, conditions convoying around and thru Burlington, IA and surrounding areas for 3 days.

June 22 I had a special request to the folks in Nebraska and Kansas -- Keep your DAMN STORMS to yourself! I've had it with you 'gifts' of wind and moisture! But, soon the sweet corn will be in and soooo good!

How can I not love Iowa in the spring! Weather radio started at 8PM, didn't get much sleep between alarms, wind, rain, stuff falling from the trees and landing on the RV roof! Much of the mess went north, they asked not to travel to the 2 counties north of here, too many roads flooded and closed. Band of storms stretched back to Omaha.

June 23, some good news, my laptop is on its way home,no cost, under warranty. Should be here Friday – Famous Last Word – SHOULD BE HERE!

Sun out, radar clearing (usually does when the sun hits those thunder-boomer clouds!) so out I went to put up my flags and my hanging baskets.

My sister came out to pick up Li'lBit and me and take us to DQ! Li'lBit loves a 'cone in a cup.’ Usually the only time she gets them is when she is coming home from the vet. I think she kinda wondered why she got one today without a vet trip! Can't believe my sis let the dog ride in HER CAR! Oh, well! It was fun!

On the drive home it looked and sounded like the rain was heading back. Thunder in the distance and the sun disappeared. These storms moved SOUTH again! I really feel sorry for south east Iowa, they've been hit bad for 3 days!

June 24th, Ahhh...Life is Good. 64 degrees, sun shining, weather radar clear, had lunch with my sister at Burger King.

Friday I waited at my sister's house all day for FedEx and my laptop. They still hadn’t updated the on-line tracking log. After a day’s wait, no laptop; called FedEx. It's in, would be on Monday's truck. So we do it all over again! While there wating, Bea was nice enough to bring me a sandwich for lunch; she should have stayed at work. Backing out of her drive she creamed my left front truck fender with her rear right fender. My 1 Ton Dually won! Her brand new Eclipse hybrid needs to go to the hospital and get all better. OOOPS! Poor Bea!

11:30PM Friday evening I was up glued to weather radar. This time Minnesota sent it down. I watched the light blue, dark blue and then the green bands pass by, then came the yellow followed by a pretty solid red/orange grouping. By this time, I’m really good at this weather radar! It was movin' fast it was outta here by a little after midnite. Back to bed!

June 26 I decided to take a nap so I'd be ready to stay up for the nite’s
thunder-boomers! Hey! Minnesota - keep your storms up that way! I saw 'em on the Radar, you can't hide 'em from me!

June 27 The sweet corn truck is in town! YIPPEE!!! I'm having fresh sweet corn today! Life is really good. No brightly colored radar; no weather radio alarms; the sound of the train going down the track was really the train going down the track! Weather man promised me a week of DRY weather! And my belly is full of fresh Iowa corn on the cob -- sooooo sweet! And FedEx said my laptop is coming home on the truck the next day.

June 28, An entire day of sunshine, no weather alerts (except the Iowa river is about to go out of its banks north of town), sunshine and upper 70s/lower 80s all week. Laptop is home, battery is charging, it works! Had great sandwich at The Junction with my sister and some friends. Can't get any better than that!

Starting to worry about Hurricane Alex – headed to Tex-Mex border area.

June 29 Had a picnic with Li'lBit. Weather was great, sunny, cool, stopped at Kentucky Fried and picked up some chicken, drove to the roadside park in Tama, just down the road, took the radio, my book, spent a couple of hours, Li'lBit napped in the grass! Stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home so Li'Bit could get her cup of DQ, again without a vet trip!

Wednesday, June is just about gone. Went to the shoe store (a real shoe store where they measure your feet & everything!) Found 2 pair of shoes that nearly cost me the national debt, but they feel so good. Then home, tossed out the old shoes, picked up Li’lBit. Stopped at the grocery, for bread, lunch meat (cheap bologna, it's Li'lBit's fav!) cheese, chips & headed to the park for some afternoon reading and sandwiches before we came home early evening.

And June 2010 comes to an end.

More Catch-Up, June 14-20, 2010

JUNE 14 I spent the entire day on the phone with Hewlett Packard about my dead laptop that is still under warranty! My God! Can't they get techs that speak English! Fortunately, I got some that were fairly easy to understand, but the paces they put me thru: start this, try that, click this, shut it down, boot it up, put the disk in, take the disc out! They even had me taking the hard drive and memory cards in and out! FINALLY they said I would have to return it to them for repair. Their comment, "It seems it is not working properly." Properly - it isn't working at all -- all I get is the blue screen of death -- well, sometimes a gray screen of death! And it only took them from 9AM-4:30PM to figure that out!

Sorry - I just do not have the patience to do that crap. If I wanted to be a computer tech, I'd have gone to school for it! And asking me, blind in one eye with hand tremors to remove those damn little screws! When I finally got off the phone, I thought I should make a huge chocolate cake and eat the whole thing. Then I remembered I had a German chocolate bar with hazelnuts in it – so I ate that instead!

JUNE 15 More rain. Neighbor came by the previous evening to tell me a little wren was starting to build a nest under the vent hood for my stove. OOPS! Not good! While I was out running errands and doing laundry, picked up another shepherd hook and a cute little cedar wren house and put it up. Also got some screening for the vent hood! By the time I got home we were down to a drizzle!


The sun finally came out and a quick check of weather radar all the way out to Omaha Nebraska was showing NOTHING!! No Red, no Yellow, no Orange!! Other than the humidity – It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Li'lBit and I ended up making two trips to town, first time around I picked up prescriptions, some treats for Tinga and we came home. The second time was for oranges for the orioles and to get a humming bird feeder. My old one was cracked. So, after two trips to town and lunch, Li’lBit and I spent the afternoon outside acting like old retired folks! A nice breeze blew the 'skeeters away and the steak went on the grill! WHEW! Just doesn't get much better than that!

June 16 the sun was shining, the birds singing, the grass was green, 64 degrees, no rain predicted and my coffee is hot and strong -- is this heaven? No it's Iowa!

Wish I could have bottled it up 'cuz weatherman said storms were on the way right thru the weekend! But, I'm grateful for today! Finished repotting some herbs; have the bird feeders up and the bird bath out -- my sister came by this evening; we went to Dairy Queen, then took a drive to see how high the rivers were, isn't THAT 'country quaint'! Life is good and I am blessed!

The storms that were to come thru diverted south. Poor folks down there don't need more rain, but they got it. Breeze has become a little windy, but still a good day to be outside reading. I'm reading a terrific book a true story of British espionage - Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre. Brits used a dead body to get fake battle plans to the Germans about the invasion of Sicily. I know, sounds strange, but it's good! Ian Fleming, of James Bond fame, was a British Naval Officer attached to the Intelligence Office involved in the plan. Guess I know where he got his start.

I knew the 'heavenly' weather was too good to last, weather radio just went off while I was in the shower. The rockin’ n rollin’ started about 10:30. What a Ride! 70+mph straight line winds, hail and flooding rains just a few counties west of me! The storm band with the hail was moving right along and didn't last long -- hail was only pea size so I didn’t have any damage .

June 18 My sister came by and we headed off to Grinnell to the FedEx drop off point in between the AM tornado watch and the PM tornado warnings. My dead laptop is going back to HP. They sent me a shipping box. That was the easiest part of this repair mess. I sat it on the desk, the clerk said, "prepaid, thank you, thanks for choosing FedEX, have a nice day" and I was out the door!

While in Grinnell, we stopped for lunch at the Depot Crossing Restaurant, a converted train depot. http://depotcrossingrestaurant.com/main.html Naturally, I had to have the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich! I love the sound of the train, too bad one didn’t pass by while we were having lunch.

I'm so glad the train track runs along the other side of the creek here at the park. There is a crossing that requires the train to blow its whistle. When under tornado watch/warning, they always talk about the tornado sounding like a train! Well, every nite train after train goes down the track behind me – as long as it blows it’s whistle, I know it isn’t a tornado! Gotta love that whistle!

Oh, I love the train. The nite whistle makes me dream of far away places. I'm up the hill from the creek and this is a heavily wooded oak grove so the sound of the train and the whistle is actually kind of 'haunting.' I find it really relaxing, peaceful!

The rains and winds washed out the stock car races at the track down the road Friday night. Fortunately, there was a break in the weather for the big Indy car race in Knoxville, just down the road on Sunday.

Happy Juneteenth Day! "Juneteenth" comes from the words "June" and "19th", which according to Texas history, is when the slaves of Texas first learned of their freedom. Though freed in 1863, the slaves did not learn of their freedom until the arrival of the Union soldiers on June 19th, 1865.

I've really gotten LAZY! The predicted storms went south so Li'lBit and I went outside for our Saturday lunch. I spent the afternoon out there reading. When it got hot, humid and the air got really still, we I came inside, turned on the A/C and I plunked right down on my butt and continued to read! Oh, Heavens! Life is good in Retirementville! Lazy -- but good!

Still Catching Up - June 7 - 13, 2010

MONDAY JUNE 7 I’m one Happy Camper HALLELUJAH! Just returned from my eye appointment with Dr Graether at the Wolf Clinic here in Marshalltown. IMPROVEMENT!(I could have told him that!) But now he has pictures to compare with the pics he took last year; even I can see the difference in the photos.

He commented on the amount of decreased vascular film covering the eye and even he seems quite pleased. I'm still not a candidate for cornea transplant due to the herpes virus and the rejection factor. However, if, for some reason, I lost the sight in my good eye now, I wouldn't be able to read, sew, drive, etc, but I could see well enough with the bad eye to avoid walking into any walls! Now That's Improvement! I'm still pain free and That's A Blessing!

I am enjoying the cooler weather - just wish the rainy weather would stop so the ground would dry. The 'skeeters' are horrible. I'd rather be warm and dry than humid and sticky, but I'm not complaining, this is much better than central TX hot and dusty!

It takes this place awhile to dry out with all the trees, consequently, the skeeters are quite thick. I have my bug candles and skeeter candles on the table but I'm just so sweet they find me! I do tend to get really bored when I can’t get out to enjoy the out-of-doors and read. When the weather is icky, the major excitement is when Li’lBit and I take our daily walk to the dumpster – doesn’t get much better than that somedays.


TUESDAY JUNE 8 was a terrific morning! Slept all nite to a constant rain on the roof! Heavy air today, but that's what nebulizers and inhalers are for! Went to my favorite laundromat,almost like doing laundry in a coffee shop! Love that place! Makes doing laundry enjoyable. Then off to my favorite store, Aldi's. One of the first places I hit when I get here is Aldi's. Stock up on all my pastas, sauces, condiments, etc. How can you not love Aldi's (and some great German hazelnut chocolates!) I hear they now have one in the Dallas area. Maybe will be coming to TX. If it wasn't that the meat and produce section in this one isn't much, I'd never go anywhere else!

Put a pot of dehydrated chili with dehydrated beef flavored veggie protein (WHOPPEE!) in the crock pot. Something about dehydrated veggie protein reminds me of Vita-Pro or whatever that stuff was that they served when I worked at the prison! This didn’t smell bad! Didn’t taste bad either. Been trying out some dehydrated food products from Harmony House Foods. So far, quite pleased. Pantry space is limited in the RV and hopefully some dehydrated fruits and veggies will replace some of the canned stuff.

Li'lBit and I sure sleep good in Iowa! She bounded out of bed early Wednesday morning and in no uncertain terms, let me know it was time to get up and go outside!

After our morning chores, we spent some ‘quality time’ at the picnic table – she got her daily grooming and I got filthy dirty! 20+mph winds got to be a little too much and we spent the rest of the day inside. It was nice though, sunny, the air is good -- not heavy with pollen or humidity -- just hard to keep my place in my book with the winds constantly turning the pages before I’m ready!

WOW! Time flies when you're havin' fun, Thursday already. Weather radio went off about 6:30 AM. Severe Thunderstorm Watch - winds, hail, all that good stuff. Guess that means put the plants back under the RV and get the flags down. Don't I have an exciting life! Back to watching weather radar; big icky blob up in the northwest corner of the state.

You know it is spring in Iowa when you wake up to the weather radio and you have weather radar on your computer desk top!

FRIDAY JUNE 11 was National Corn On The Cob Day – but will have to wait to celebrate, the corn vendor isn’t on the corner with fresh sweet corn yet!

Another round of winds and rains coming. Flags down, plants under the RV, GEEZ! Hear the winds hit 70 mph up near Spencer. At least Iowa is an equal opportunity sucky weather state,this one seems to be coming out of South Dakota!

My heart goes out to the families, campers, residents in Arkansas and near New Braunfels, TX that have seen so much devastation in the flash floods. How Sad!

And Des Moines was hosting the ITU Triathlon World Cup. It is the only sanctioned race in the US. Total purse is $700,000, the largest payday on the triathlon tour.

About mid-day the storm pooped out on us! Checked all three of my weather radar websites and nothing -- the blob of weather just went "poof'! At least I'm getting good at taking plants and flags down and putting them back up!

Went out to eat with my sister,place called the Junction, used to be a sports bar in one of the local hotels. Now it is more of a place to run in and get a sandwich. I had a beef, swiss cheese, mushrooms and grilled onion sandwich on ciabatta bread. Oh, was it good! They make their own fried potatoes...slice them really thin and cook them up really crisp. Plenty of food, bring half home in a box for lunch the next day.

I know to expect storms when I get to Iowa this time of year,but it would be nice if they would just slow down coming thru! I've managed to be outside at the picnic table with Li'lBit a few times so far and did have enough break in the storms to grill out a couple of times,but that's it. Oh, well, summer will be here soon and I'll want some rain! Just can't keep me happy! Nearly 8 inches of rain this week -- there's gonna be some fine sweet corn if the fields don't flood!

Catching Up - June 1-6, 2010

TUESDAY JUNE 1 BRRRR 55 degrees Had to dig out the hoodies my sister sent me a couple of winters ago!

Li'lBit took me on a short walk this AM. In the morning she always goes out,finds one or two spots, waters the grass, I stand in the doorway and she comes back. Not today! She decided she had to poop and she couldn't go in just one place! I ended up wandering around behind her with my puppy poopy bags. What a way to start the day! Then Holly decided to come out - guess I hadn’t closed the door securely – Holly, Holly, Baby Holly, come home! She did! At least I didn’t have to chase her too far. My singing always stops her in her tracks!

I'm getting nowhere on this broken laptop deal! After spending nearly an hour on hold and being transferred from department to department, Staples now says it is a Hewlett Packard problem and I have to contact HP 'cuz it was less than one year. So out to the truck I go to get the damn computer, then call HP. This is a bunch of CRAP! If I was paying long distances charges, I'd have spent the cost of a new computer by now!

Needed to clear my mind of computer disasters - ran into the nursery to pick up some plants for around the RV. Found a nice plant to attract hummingbirds – will go great in my hanging basket.

Radar shows a big chunk of storms up on the Minnesota line. Going out to take down the hanging baskets and flags. Big band of red, orange and yellow radar images headed straight across Iowa.

Crawled out of bed about mid-morning Wednesday looking like I had the mumps or a toothache or something! Headache, ear ache, swollen face,just felt plum icky. Definitely needed a doc! I think I'm sick from sinus drips....the right side of my face under my eye was swollen and tender all the way down to my jaw and my ear aches, sinuses on that side of my face are cruddy -- wish I had some penicillin. Will have to renew my stash from the feed store when I get back to Texas in the fall.

HUMID! Turned on the A/C and the dehumidifier!

Bea got me an appt with her doc. Got some antibiotics and anti-histamines. I think it is the oak tree pollen. The pollen things are all over the place....but I like it here so much, I'll just put up with it. I did stay in for two days with the A/C on instead of going outside.


By Friday I felt like doing something other than feeling sorry for myself . Face still swollen, of course I didn't expect it to go down overnite! I'll probably have a sore where I drool out of the corner of my mouth -- it is starting to get red and I'm sure the acid from the nasal crap irritates it -- now, isn’t that more than you wanted to know! I'll dig out dad's favorite medicine, campho-phenique and start using that. I definitely had to get busy and finish putting stuff away -- I'd been living 1/2 unpacked for over a week!

Took the table cloth off of the picnic table so the table could dry out and put my plants back up. Didn’t put the flags out, they were still predicting thunderstorms but not the winds this time. GEEZ! Welcome to Spring in Iowa!

I had to chuckle when my sister told me that Mary, the owner of the park, called her to see if I was OK. She noticed I hadn't put my plants and flags back up after taking them down for the storm and that there weren't any lights on at the RV. Bea told her I had been sick and was OK -- just resting and staying out of the pollen! Mary said she didn't want to come over and bother me until she checked with Bea first! Guess I don't have to worry about my sister not finding out what I do!

Li'lBit and I took the garbage out and walked and pooped - well, Li'lBit pooped, I walked! She is taking longer and longer walks…wish she would realize she is an OLD DOG with an old owner!

Have a minor problem -- leak in my bathroom sink. Was doing some hand-laundry to spot wash some things with my ZOTE soap (love that soap!) -- found a trail of water from the sink to the shower. Fortunately it wasn't a lot of water, but it was a mess! I think I can patch the crack with some plumber’s epoxy that I have. If not, I'll just have to stuff something in that overflow hole! I'm not going to the expense of replacing the entire sink. It's always something with these RVs, I guess it is from bouncing them around on the highways!

Had to check in with Rockport RV park and with friends down that way – heard a tornado touched down there. I know they aren’t used to tornadoes unless they are accompanied by hurricanes! Reports came back “all is well.” That’s GOOD!

JUNE 5 SATURDAY All of the predicted storms went south of us last nite - my weather radio alarm went off about 11:30, it was raining...stayed up for awhile, turned on the computer to watch the radar, it still ticks me off that this new TV system goes belly up when it storms -- can't get a thing on the TV but mumble-jumble, of course, here I'm on the antenna and a converter box. Storm was moving south, so I went back to bed! About an hour south of here they got over 4 inches of rain last nite, the ground is already saturated, and it was still raining in the AM -- they said water was running in the streets! Sorry for them, but glad it missed me!

JUNE 6 SUNDAY Brunch with Bea -- that's what I've started calling the 'tradition" my sister and I have of going out to breakfast on Sunday. This morning, instead of McDonalds or some other fast food breakfast place, we went to Perkins and had their "Over 55 special." Still way too much food but I sat there and ate it all and drank a whole pot of coffee! One egg, 2 sausage links, hash browns and 2 pancakes! I won't need to eat for the rest of the day. Too bad there isn’t some way to bring some of it home and eat it later – but nothing on the plate really re-heats very well!

I had a flank steak marinating in some homemade marinade...usually I do a red wine vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic clove and honey mix...but didn't have any honey, so used apple butter instead! It doesn't taste bad, if I say so myself.

The flags went back up and the plants came out from under the RV AGAIN! This, too, is becoming a spring ritual! Rain predicted on and off for the week -- but at least not stormy or heavy. AND, my plants can use the rain since I just repotted everything.

Can you believe, someone swiped the shepherd hooks out from the back of my pick up! Unbelievable - I only use them in Iowa so it could have happened anywhere -- at least this is a good time to buy new -- they are on sale all over! They did leave me my double hook, so I could get my hummingbird feeder and the hanging basket up.