Rhonda

2017

It’s 2017 – a time for new beginnings. And keeping this blog up to date. I don’t know why I stopped – life I guess. And not knowing exactly what I’m doing – it’s a lot easier to just not do anything than it is to figure it out! Anyway – our New Year was quite low key. Joe got a deer and spent yesterday getting it cleaned and in the freezer. Then a quick drive over to Dad and Mom’s. I took my camera along and took a few pictures:

A view of the sun setting down in the timber. Always beautiful!

A view from the timber towards the house.

On the way home we decided to go out for supper. Drew and Joe wanted to go to their favorite barbecue place in a neighboring town. We got cleaned up and headed out only to discover they were closed! So Drew decided Arby’s sounded good. Then home it was – for a little crafting, TV and bed around 10:00. We definitely didn’t see the New Year in. I’m not sure when was the last time I have seen the New Year in!

Today I’ve finished my craft project I started yesterday. I needed something to hang on the backdoor and didn’t want to spend any money. So Pinterest it was and here is the finished product.

So simple – clothes pins, scrapbook paper, an embroidery hoop and craft glue. I used some old weathered pins and liked the look so I kept some of them plain. The rest I glued strips of paper onto the pins using craft glue. I also put a coat of glue on the top of the paper for extra sealant.

And for Valentine’s Day I cut out a heart using cardboard from a cereal box and glued matching strips of paper on. Then clipped it on using another clothes pin so I can take it off later and maybe add something different. I might use different paper on the back of the pins and then I’ll have two wreaths in one. Maybe some Easter or springy colors. The best part – this didn’t cost me a thing. I just dug around in my stash (think hoard!) of old scrapbook supplies and I always have clothes pins lying around the house. Perfect use of old supplies!

The rest of the day should be quiet around here. Eric has to work. Joe is cleaning his shop and hauling wood in before it rains. Drew is going to Grandpa and Grandma’s for a sleepover. I’m going to finish putting Christmas stuff away and settle in with a good movie and some stitching. Either a new Jenny Hoffman pattern for Valentine’s Day or crochet some dishcloths. That’s a new one for me – crochet – I taught myself how a couple of months ago and gave dishcloths and hot pads for Christmas. Now I can’t seem to stop! I have some yarn ordered and am going to start on a blanket. I have way too many dish cloths now! I may never have to buy another one, ever! But they are so great to use. So much better than anything you can buy! They are the perfect project when I’m sitting in the van waiting for Drew to get out of school.

Just a small handful of hot pads and dish cloths. Nothing matches – just grabbed the clearance yarn at the store! I’m thinking I might make a few sets for some camping friends of mine – maybe try and color coordinate with their campers. A nice little gift on our next camping get together.

Thanks for visiting!

July 4th, 2016

Another busy fun filled 4th is in the books! Our small town has a huge celebration every 4th of July and this year was no different. It started out on the 2nd – free bouncy houses for the kids to enjoy at the Expo grounds and then a concert later that evening – local talent to start out and then a band. In between there we took the kids uptown to see the fountain. We have this beautiful landmark that the town has been working hard on restoring. I’ll do a post later on this beautiful fountain and get some pictures of it lit up at night.

This beautiful fountain is a beloved landmark for our small town.

I don’t usually want to go to the concert and this year was no different but Joe talked me into it and I am so glad he did. The best part of course was playing with Drew and grandson Braxton. And I always enjoy listening to a good friend’s son sing and play his guitar. He sings country and is sooooo good! Then we discovered we knew the keyboard player and his brother, who was the drummer in the main band! Old friends we had lost touch with. The band was excellent – eighties rock – I enjoyed the evening out!

13528758_10206973797285265_6214244375889045524_n — Zach singing and playing for our entertainment!

July 3rd brought cool weather and festivities on the town square – bouncy houses, kids water fights, kiddie tractor pull, free entertainment on the bandstand, pie contest to name a few. And of the course the DJ and dance. We sold shave ice in the afternoon and evening like we have done for the past few years.

13606435_10206978036351239_6835560351559841372_n — You can see Drew eating an ice already in the left hand corner!

We got home around 10:30 and had to mix up some more product so it was a late night but that’s a good thing. Up and early on the next day for the annual parade. Then lunch at the Kiwanis tent – hot dogs, chips, watermelon and cookie. Yum! And off to the park – volleyball tournaments, basketball tournaments, horse shoes, Cutie Kiddie Contest and the biggest draw of the whole celebration – the greased pig contest! We always sell ice here too – the kids love a yummy cold shave ice after chasing those pigs!

13537602_10154341019668493_7903293830010019025_n — Patiently waiting for the parade to start!

13619960_10154341280453493_2528687487908135180_n — The end of the parade – and always my favorite – the horses!

13606754_10154341280468493_3848894578996750792_n — Mom, my sister Beth and me ready to sell ice! Eric and Dad in the background supervising!

13606627_10154341342553493_7510648744109230103_n — Checking out the pigs!

Drew didn’t catch the pig – but I guess he tried hard. I couldn’t see the action – we were busy selling and there were too many people watching to see around them. He said it was lots of fun!

After a busy day we went to Dad and Mom’s for supper and to relax then back into town for the fireworks. Sigourney puts on such an awesome fireworks display for a small town. It’s all done through donations and the firemen set them off. Joe, Drew and I parked along the side of the rode, set the chairs up in the back of the truck, munched on the candy Drew got at the parade and enjoyed the show! Another fun filled, small town 4th of July celebration has come and gone!

The 4th …

Here’s to a safe, enjoyable 4th of July! We’re off to sell ice!

Paddle Boating

keomah We took Drew to Lake Keomah to go paddle boating yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful cool July 1st. A perfect day to be outside. I plan to enjoy these nice cool days while we get them! Lake Keomah is just a few miles from our house. We used to camp there a lot but haven’t been there for years. We had heard they were doing some work to the park – the beach was open and they rent boats and have concession stand. It’s a small lake but very nice. We might have to try camping there again.

A nice peaceful spot to sit and watch Joe and Drew look for shells.

Drew enjoyed finding shells along the bank more so than the paddle boat ride – he has very little patience so sitting in a slow moving boat was not his thing!

I took some pictures with my phone while we were on the boat but I can’t get them to transfer over right now. The lake was so nice and peaceful. There was hardly anybody around on a Friday afternoon. It was almost like have the lake to ourselves! Spontaneous little day trips are lots of fun!

Pierre

We have had beautiful temperatures the past couple of days. A welcome relief after the hot muggy days we had been experiencing. I take any chance I get to shut the air off and open up the windows to let the fresh air in. Pierre has his favorite window but I hadn’t gotten it open yet so he decided to take advantage of the kitchen window being open!

We were really needing rain and yesterday we finally got some – we had a nice gentle rain yesterday morning and then we had a lot of wind and hard rain yesterday evening. After the evening rain we drove to town for ice cream and a trip out to Lake Belva Deer. The campground was nearly full – a nice long 4th of July weekend for everyone to enjoy. We haven’t camped over the 4th for years – the campgrounds are just too full for us. We prefer a little less people and a lot more quiet! Maybe next weekend we can go – love camping the weekend following a holiday!

Doing the dishes . . .

A view of my kitchen window. A vase of flowers picked from the yard, a pretty plate and pillow tuck. My solar powered wind chime and three little sheep given to me by a dear friend peeking out from under my burlap curtain. Looking at things I love helps make a chore more pleasant!

Does anybody besides me still do all their dishes by hand? I have never owned a dishwasher. Growing up dad always said my sister and I were the dishwashers. (Although Mom almost always did them and we dried – she didn’t want us splashing water on the windowsill) I’ve lived in my home for 25 years now and there just is no place to install a dishwasher. I have a small kitchen with limited cupboard space and I am just not willing to give up any of the space I do have for a dishwasher. There have been times when I would have appreciated having one. Especially when I had three kids at home who were very active in numerous different activities and I was working 40 hours a week. Now, I don’t mind doing the dishes by hand. It gives me a time to slow down, think about my day, reflect on things. Doing the dishes by hand is kind of like hanging the laundry out on the line – both chores connect me to my mom, my grandmothers and great-grandmothers. These chores of mine are the exact same chores they had to do. I love thinking that way. It makes me feel connected to the women in my life – the ones I still have with me and those that are gone. I love that I have a window in front of my sink. I can look outside and watch the kids play and see if Joe is coming down the road. I watch the weather and the kittens play. I’ve spent many hours standing in front of this window dreaming away!

Busy, Busy, Busy …

I spent the last two days getting ready for the 4th of July. My son Aaron started a business while in high school selling shave ice. He took a class that helped him learn how to be an entrepreneur and he did very well. Last year his schedule didn’t allow him to sell so he very graciously allowed Eric to sell. Eric was needing to make money for a trip through his Spanish class to Costa Rica. Selling shave ice helped him tremendously. This year Aaron’s schedule again isn’t going to allow him to sell so he’s letting me sell – yeah! I want to save up some money for a vacation next summer since it will be Eric’s last summer at home before college. But, that meant a tremendous amount of work – I hadn’t realized just how much work those boys put into this. I know the selling side of it because we have helped them sell every year but I never helped much with the other end of it. I figured it was their project, not mine and they should do all the work! So, I cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more. Mixed product. Organized everything. Ordered more spoons and straws. (Scheduled to be delivered tomorrow – yeah Amazon!) Organized again. Wrote down everything I’ve done – the recipe used, what flavors I have and when they expire. Anything I could think of to make next year easier for whoever wants to sell. And I am exhausted! But it’s a good kind of exhaustion. And nothing compared to how exhausted I will be after the actually selling part of it. Especially if it is a hot day. Of course we want a hot day – we will sell more – but boy does it wear us out! We will sell at the annual July 3rd celebration – there will be all kinds of fun things going on on the square – bouncy houses, kiddie tractor pull, local singers will perform, and a street dance. Then on July 4th, after the parade, we will head out to the park and sell at during the Cutie Kiddie Contest and greased pig contest. We will be busy!

Today Andrew and I picked up his room. That took most of the afternoon. Then I took some time to walk around the yard and check out what is blooming.

Moss Rose in a galvanized tub. These always remind me of my Grandma Ward.

I check this out almost daily. It’s tuberose and I have no idea what to expect. A sweet lady brought this into me at the office last fall. I’m so glad I remembered to plant it this spring! I just hope it blooms. She says it will smell wonderful!

Queen Ann’s Lace – a weed to some but I love it! I need to have Drew pick some with me and we can put them in colored water and see how they change color overnight. He would love that!

My little garden. We haven’t had a garden in years. Joe built this for me this spring. I have tomatoes, green peppers and a few herbs in there. This fall I plan to plant strawberries here and have a neighbor come over and disc up a garden for next spring. I want to plant peas, green beans, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and who knows what else. I can’t wait!

It’s quiet here tonight. Eric is at work and Joe is out of town for work. He hadn’t planned on being out of town but his schedule changed this morning. He should be home tomorrow. So it’s just Drew and I. Quiet evenings are nice once in awhile!

Camper Shopping

Joe and I enjoy watching the TV show Going RV. Not sure why – we are in no way ready to look for a new camper. I love my camper and have no desire to look for a different one. We also enjoy going camper shopping and looking at all the different campers out there. I’m always happy to come home and know that I am content with the one I have! Joe on the other hand would like to get a smaller one. I do understand that and someday I know we will downsize but for right now I’m happy with the one we have. We still have Eric at home and will have Drew for a long time and Aaron still likes to stay with us when he can. I still need lots of room! This year Abby and Jeremy bought a camper – which makes me very happy! We camped with them about three weeks ago and had so much fun. My sister as an RV. Now Dad and Mom are seriously thinking of getting one after talking about it on and off the past few years. That makes me very happy too! So on Friday we we went with them to Cedar Falls to Camping World and then on to Hiawatha to Ketelson’s to look for campers. Fun!!!

Drew loved riding the golf cart around the Camping World lot!

Camping World is HUGE. When we bought our camper here a few years ago it was called Fodgall’s. We had a great experience. Our salesman was so nice and the place was very welcoming. Since that time Fogdall’s was bought out by Camping World and boy has it changed. It’s not necessarily a bad thing – just a whole different experience. I will say, if you need something for your camper – if you can’t find it at Camping World you may never find it! We looked at lots of campers here but Dad and Mom didn’t find exactly what they wanted. Mom knows what she does and doesn’t want and she’s particular – which is a good thing. It doesn’t take her long to step into a camper and know if she likes it or not! We didn’t spend much time in a lot of them because she would know immediately that she didn’t like them. I was okay with this – it was a very hot day and boy do those campers warm up fast.

After Camping World we headed to Ketelson’s. A very nice place to shop for campers. Very friendly and laid back. They had a beautiful showroom. I did find a camper I would love to have – and I wish I had taken pictures of it – it was new but was designed in the retro style. Black and white checkered floor, turquoise cushions on the inside and turquoise and white on the outside, retro inside and out! It would be the perfect camper if it were just Joe and I but – it’s not just Joe and I and I wouldn’t change that for anything. Mom did find one camper here she liked but the more she thought about it, the more she thought maybe it wasn’t exactly the right one. Which is fine – maybe we will get to go camper shopping another day. There’s lots of camper dealers in the Des Moines area we haven’t checked out!

These two friendly campers were sitting on a bench in the Ketelson showroom. Drew had to have his picture taken with them!

After a hot afternoon of shopping in the heat we stopped at Cheddar’s for supper in Iowa City before heading home. A nice afternoon spent with my parents. I hope they do find something they like – how fun would that be – camping with everyone – I can just imagine the memories we would make!

Drew is into having his picture taken all of a sudden. Sitting on a rock outside of the restaurant! — Drew is into having his picture taken all of a sudden. Here he is sitting on a rock outside of the restaurant!

Pink?

This pic was taken right after getting the squirt of “sleepy water” before Dr. Enloe scared away the cavity bugs! Sounds much better then getting a shot before they drill on your tooth right??!!

All went well at the dentist on Thursday – yeah! Although Drew decided he doesn’t want to have another tooth filled! He did not like the way the “sleepy water” made his mouth feel and couldn’t understand why no one else could see how fat his lip was! He was a trooper though. When Dr. Enloe asked him what color he wanted for his filling he said red – his favorite color. Unfortunately they didn’t have red- they had blue, green, orange, purple, pink. He chose pink. So – he now has a bright pink filling in his mouth. I have no idea why he chose pink except that it was the last color they said so maybe that’s the only one he remembered? Oh well. He’s fine with it so that’s all that matters. I’m just glad he was such a good patient for Dr. Enloe. No tears and all smiles when it was over. Yeah!

Stitching . . .

Winter Beekeeper Threadboard by Stacy Nash Primitives I started this awhile back and wanted to show the finished product. I don’t do well with framing as you can see. I like to think it just adds to the primitive feel!

It’s funny, now that I’m not going to work everyday I find that I’m stitching less. Stitching has always been a stress reliever for me – guess that means I’m not as stressed! There is just something about pulling the needle and thread through the linen – it is so calming. Also, it’s summer so we don’t get settled in of an evening like we do during the winter months – which is my stitching time. I did get a lot of stitching in over the weekend while we were camping though. I got up early in the mornings and sat outside and stitched away. So relaxing listening to the birds chirp and the campground slowly wake up. I didn’t realize until after taking the above picture that I had a hand in making everything you see. I made the bee skep, stitched the little picture, punched the bee skep pillow, did some embroidery on the doily and stitched the penny rug! I’ve been busy!

And here is what I worked on last night while watching some of the new Orange Is The New Black episodes:

O is for Old Glory by Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery

I’m really excited about this one. It’s the first in a series she is planning. I can’t wait to see what other fabulous designs she comes up with. I have stitched another series of hers that I love and I know I will enjoy this new series just as much!

Well, Drew and I are off to the dentist this morning to get his tooth filled. He was a little worried about it last night but I’m sure he will do fine. I have to stop and get some groceries afterwards and we just might have to stop at Tractor Supply on the way out of Ottumwa and let him pick out an animal for his farm once we are done. He has gotten really into playing with his farm equipment and animals this summer. I love watching him play and entertain himself. It’s not something he has done much of until recently.