Rhonda

A Road Trip, A Visit, And A Walk Around The Yard

This weekend has sure flown by. We decided to road trip on Friday and head up to northern Iowa and check out the campground we’re going to be staying at over Labor Day. Where we have had excessive heat and no rain, they’ve had excessive rain and storms. They were working on cleaning up downed trees and downed power lines and it was raining while we were there but they were super nice people and I think we’re going to have fun staying here!

Saturday saw us heading south to Lake Rathbun. My sister was camping and asked us to come spend the day. So, off we went for a nice, relaxing afternoon and evening spending time in another campground! We have camped at Lake Rathbun but never at Island View and what a beautiful campground. We would like to stay there sometime – it was so nice. Beautiful views of the lake, huge sites and playgrounds in the middle so you can sit at your site and watch the kids play. Perfect when you have littles!

When life is not coming up roses look to the weeds and find the beauty hidden within them.” –L.F. Young

Today the temps and humidity broke a little and Drew and I and the chickens took a nice walk around the yard. My flowers are really suffering from the heat and lack of rain but the wildflowers are abundant. Drew picked me a beautiful bouquet that we’re enjoying in the house. I am amazed at some of the beautiful wildflowers in this area. Many consider them weeds but they brighten up the landscape with so many beautiful colors. I love them!

Driving Around

Queen Anne’s Lace, cornfields and clouds – our little neck of the woods sure is pretty!

When it’s too hot to be outside and nobody wants to sit inside – you head to town for ice cream and go for a drive! Even though it’s unbearably hot outside, we can still enjoy the scenery from the truck. I love the cornfields and the Queen Anne’s Lace – it is blooming everywhere right now. And the clouds were beautiful!

Black

I’ve been busy painting the past few days. It’s so hot outside – we’ve been under an excessive heat warning – so I decided it would be a good time to pain my kitchen cupboards. Joe has been gone too so that gives me more “free” time to work on bigger projects. And, I decided to go with black. I know the trend right now is a light and airy farmhouse look and I think it’s beautiful but I’ve never been one to fit in with the norm or to follow the trends. I went from light colors to black! And I love it! And even better, when Joe got home he said he was really surprised but he likes it too! I don’t have nice cupboards and they’ve been painted a few times but the black really sharpens them up and this time I went all out and painted the insides of the doors too. That made a huge difference. Before the insides showed all the different colors they’ve been painted and didn’t look nice at all. Next is different countertops and flooring and trim and backsplash around the stove and a new refrigerator. But who knows how long it will be before we get around to that. No sense in getting into a hurry – the kitchen isn’t going anywhere right??!!

Please ignore the clutter – I hadn’t picked up after painting and the paint is still wet!

Then, spur of the moment, I decided to bring this bench back into the house. I saw one on another blog and loved the way she had draped a blanket over the back. Joe’s dad made us this bench years ago and I had it stored out in the garage because I’m not a fan of the heart cutout in the back of the bench. I had racked my brain trying to think of something to cover the heart and never once thought to drape something over the back of it. I brought it in today, cleaned it up and painted it black. It still needs another coat in areas and some touch up but I couldn’t wait to see how it was going to look in the dining room! Then I dug this old quilt out of the bedroom closet (I didn’t even remember having this quilt. No idea where it came from. I was actually looking for my doll quilts made by my grandmas but I didn’t find those in my search). I love the way it covers up the heart and I’m loving that I brought the bench back in the house. Albert loved doing woodworking projects when he was younger and I’m blessed to have this and a hutch that he made. Treasures for sure.

Change In Plans

We didn’t go camping this past weekend like planned. We spent Saturday in Coon Rapids with Joe’s family instead. It was their county fair and they decided at the last minute to put a float in the parade and asked us to come up. Joe’s brother just bought a tractor that was identical to the first tractor their dad had owned and they thought it would be fun to put it in the parade. They pulled a hay rack and had family sit on the hayrack. Albert, who is 91, had a great time throwing candy out to the spectators and the kids had a blast squirting everyone with squirt guns! There wasn’t room for everyone to sit on the rack so a few of us watched the parade and took pictures instead.

After the parade we went out for lunch at the local bowling alley then visited with Albert for a little while before heading home. It was great to see Albert enjoy the day!

On the way home we stopped at Bass Pro Shop for some cheap entertainment. Drew loves to see the fish and all the animals in the store. Someone had their Great Dane there and what a beautiful majestic dog to see! We all tried our hand at shooting targets. (I wasn’t very good at it!) Then onto Casey’s for gas and ice cream cone and a drive around Lake Red Rock and supper at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Pella before finally heading home. Drew couldn’t wait to get home, let Isee lose and then run and play outside. It was a long day but we had fun!

Mutton Bustin and Fair Fun

I’m not sure how much fun Drew thought Mutton Bustin was but everyone had fun watching it! Friday night at our county fair they had Mutton Bustin and Drew and Braxton wanted to try their hands at it. What little boy wouldn’t think riding a sheep sounded like fun right??!! Well, Braxton decided it wasn’t for him once he got there but Drew and a buddy wanted to give it a try. This was the first time for Mutton Bustin at the Expo and we had no idea what it was going to be like but there were a lot of kids excited to give it a try! I didn’t manage to get a picture of Drew actually on the sheep – I think I was a little stressed when he came out of the shoot and ended up under the sheep. When his dad told him to hold on and don’t let go he took it to heart. We should have told him to let go if he started to fall off! He didn’t win but had a pretty high score. He walked out of the arena crying but he collected himself before he got to the spectators. And he says he will never ride a sheep again!

After the Mutton Bustin there was a concert by Cody Hicks. He’s a local country singer. He sounded pretty good but I enjoyed the entertainment by Braxton and Drew better! They had so much fun running around with other kids and then Drew ended up giving Braxton piggy back rides. We decided they were practicing for next year’s Mutton Bustin!

This and That Thursday

Dad and Moms windmill and beautiful clouds.

Oh what a beautiful day we had! After some brutally hot and humid dry days it was so nice to be outside and have no humidity and cooler weather. It’s fair week so we ran into the fair for a little bit to see the animals and the fair projects. Drew thinks he wants to be in Clover Kids and bring something to the fair next year. That is something I can get behind – I’m a firm believer in 4-H and all it has to offer!

Helping dad power wash the camper – in other words an excuse to climb the ladder!

We spent the evening outside – Joe and Drew playing with Joe’s new power washer and me pulling weeds and just enjoying the beautiful evening! My coneflowers are really going crazy this year – they are so full I hardly have to weed this flowerbed! Hoping tomorrow brings more of this beautiful weather!

Found this pretty bloom hiding in amongst the coneflower!

What’s For Supper?

Cucumbers and onions from mom’s garden – oh so good!

It’s raining! Yeah! We were in a draught. Great big cracks in the ground, brown grass, the farmers were starting to worry about crops, gardens were suffering. I had stopped watering everything but the cucumbers and tomatoes. We aren’t hooked up to rural water. We have a well. In the 26+ years we’ve lived here our well has never run dry but there’s always a first time so we were starting to be extra careful with our water usage. So this rain is greatly welcomed by all!

Not very colorful – I need the cherries on my plate – but oh so good!

Supper tonight – I’m trying to watch what I eat for health reasons and because I really need to lose some weight. Tonight’s supper was so good thanks to my mom’s garden! Baked fish with homemade tartar sauce, fresh green beans, cucumbers and onions and cherries for dessert. Eric was home for supper which hasn’t happened much lately so no leftovers but that’s okay. I didn’t know he was going to be home and yet I served lots of his favorites. Score! I love this time of year and eating fresh garden veggies!

Not So Colorful Decorating

A splash of colorful flowers – a mix of wildflowers and garden flowers with a splash of blue in the old quilt square on the table.

As I visit different blogs, check out different decorating groups on Facebook, peruse Pinterest and scroll through Instagram I am amazed at all the beautiful colors that people use to decorate with. I’m especially drawn to vintage and cottage style decorating and colors. And yet, as much as I am drawn to them and love looking at them, I look around my home and that is not what I see. I don’t have bright cheery colors. I don’t have a lot of fun vintage shades of aqua that I am so drawn too. I live mostly with primitive colors. Everywhere I look. And I feel the most comfortable with this. It fascinates me how color plays such a part in our lives. It would be a boring world if we didn’t have color and it would be a boring world if we all liked the same colors. I’m thankful I can appreciate all the different colors and decorating styles out there but give me the primitive browns, burgundies, blues (got to have blues!) and golds with a splash of a little brightness here and there and I feel comfortable and at home! There’s nothing better than a piece of old wood that is weathered and worn from time and use – that to me is one of the most beautiful colors in the world!

Old books, old bowls, old bowl and pitcher on an old Hoosier cabinet. The old wooden box on the wall holding my antique sheep – a favorite corner of the dining room!

An old shelf I just painted black. It still needs to be sanded down to show wear and then a coat of stain. I’m thinking I need to paint the little blue frame on the bottom shelf. Or give it a coat of wax to dull it down!

Old ironstone on a chippy old shelf in the kitchen. The grater on the left was a gift from Eric one year for Christmas. He knows me well! The spice cabinet on the right was a Goodwill find I painted, sanded and stained then added the material under the glass. The tea towel was a gift from Abby!

Old frames are a favorite of mine. And if they aren’t old – a can of paint and some stain will help to make them look that way!

Peace Be Upon Us. A favorite stitched sampler I stitched years ago framed in an old frame found at a favorite antique store in town that has now closed its doors.

Old, chippy and blue. My favorite combination!

Even my stitcheries have to be coffee stained and left wrinkled to look right to me! Add a touch of Sweet Annie to smell good and add that drab touch of perfectness! The frame on the left holds the lyrics of a song called Fading Echoes written by my Great Grandma Houseal. A treasure for sure.

A splash of color in the kitchen. But of course it’s sitting on a doily I stitched and stained for that beautiful prim goodness. These faux lemons smell wonderful! I do have a splash of color here and there!

Back To Belva Deer

Joe came home early from work on Thursday. He’d had a not so great day and was wanting to just “get away”. He walked in the door and asked if I wanted to go camping. I had no food in the house, a pile of laundry, hadn’t showered yet, and the list goes on, but – we went camping! Back to Belva Deer we went. Dad and Mom were already out there so I had them tag us a spot, I got the chores done and watered flowers, did a couple loads of laundry, jumped in the shower, threw some clothes in the camper, all while Joe loaded up fire wood and bikes and chairs and off we went.

You know, we wouldn’t be able to do this if we weren’t so blessed to have a beautiful county park just a few miles down the road. We are able to run home and chore if needed, run to town for groceries if needed. (Which I did!) We can camp and run Drew into the bowling alley to bowl with friends for a birthday party that’s scheduled on a Friday night. (Which Joe did on Friday night!) It’s wonderful to have Lake Belva Deer so close. To be able to get away for a weekend and just be. Joe said the best part of the weekend for him was Saturday morning. He got up early and started a fire and fixed breakfast for us. There was nobody around to bother him. He could take his time and enjoy the morning and enjoy what he was doing. I enjoyed it too – I got to sleep in and then wake up to a wonderful breakfast of bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs to eat by the campfire.

My favorite part of the weekend was visiting with Uncle Jerry and Aunt Konnie. They came down for the afternoon on Saturday. Aunt Konnie is battling cancer and it’s nice to see her out and about. They didn’t stay long but she said she was glad she came – it helped make the afternoon go by for her. Sometimes her days get long. We’re planning another trip to Belva Deer next weekend and hoping they can bring their camper and stay with us. We’re praying she feels up to it. We’re also hoping to having Braxton too. Wouldn’t a camping weekend with our grandson be fun??!!

A weekend of campfires, hiking, bike riding, sparklers, visiting with family, staying up late and sleeping in. Sometimes the unplanned trips are the best!

This and That on Thursday

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I think I’m the only person I know who didn’t take pictures. Not even one. We were too busy. We sold shave ice Monday afternoon/evening/night and again on Tuesday. I don’t know if it was the weather or what but we were busy busy busy. Busier than usual. This old body isn’t used to standing and constantly moving for hours on end and staying up until the wee hours. I was exhausted by Tuesday evening. We managed to stay awake to run in for the fireworks and then we crashed.

Yesterday Joe had the day off so we slept in and ran to Ottumwa and basically did nothing. They opened a Hobby Lobby there which is exciting news for me. A Hobby Lobby 25 minutes from home – that may or may not be a good thing! Then we checked out campers at the camper dealership and Rangers and Mules at the dealership next door. No, we are not looking to buy a new camper – but it’s fun to look. I always go home happy with the one I’ve got. Joe would like to trade in the 4 wheeler at some point for a Mule so we checked a few out for fun. Then home and an early night to bed.

Today we are taking it easy. Getting laundry caught up and puttering around. It’s hot out and we need rain. I’ll be watering flowers and the garden and making sure the pets have fresh water and are staying cool. That’s about it. My computer is down so trying to post this on my Kindle. Not sure when we will be getting the computer up and running so may or may not get to post much. It’s always something isn’t it??!!