Back to Spraying

Bill went to Algona for a hair cut after lunch today and stopped by West Bend Lumber to see some deck samples. We're still planning our landscaping and back patio and wanting to get started soon.

Bill called on his way back and said that Tim thought it was dry enough on some north ground to spray so he was going to try to do that. This is a picture of the sprayer.



I saw this turtle crossing the road the other day near where Bill was spraying.

The deer have really been out and about lately. We've had them in our yard and I've seen them when driving. One day while having lunch we saw a doe run across the front yard followed by a tiny, running baby - the smallest I've ever seen.

I have a P.E.O. meeting tomorrow and it's my turn to present a program which will be on stamping of course! I'll give a little history of rubber stamping, then show the ladies how to make a card and an easy, quick tea bag holder favor.

Over the past 3 months or so, I've been feeling a frozen shoulder coming on. I had it on the right side about 6 years ago so know what it feels like. Saw the dr. last week and started physical therapy. Have caught this one early before it's totally frozen which should help, but therapy is still very painful.

The Baby is Finally Here!

Diane had Camry Anne at 3:34 pm yesterday. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and is 21". I got to hold her for quite a while today. She was wide awake when I got there but then slept most of the time waking up again when I was leaving. Sounds like the delivery went well. Diane is ready to be home! They're all tired.

The big sister is pretty excited and kind of can't believe they finally have the baby!

The Grotto of Redemption (Part 2)

The Grotto is in West Bend, Iowa - the next town north of us. It is a huge, artistic creation made of stone and gems and impossible to really show how amazing it is in pictures. It's a tourist attraction and tours are given.

Here is a paragraph from the The Grotto's web site telling how it came about.

"The story of how the Grotto came into being is as moving as are the scenes it portrays. It is generally told as a fact that as a young seminarian, Father Dobberstein became critically ill with pneumonia. As he fought for his life he prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Mother of God) to intercede for him for the grace of health. He promised to build a shrine in her honor of he lived."

Father Dobberstein was the artist and it was built mainly by only two other men.

"The Grotto is a composite of nine separate Grottos, each portraying a scene in the life of Christ. It includes the largest collection of precious stones and gems found anywhere in one location. The beautiful artistry has to be seen in order to be appreciated, and the message it inspires is beyond words."


Click here to read more at The Grotto's web site. Don't forget that you can click on each picture to see it bigger - then click on your < Back button to get back to this page. (top left corner)

The Grotto of Redemption (Part 1)

Yesterday, we went to the 11th Annual Songfest in West Bend. It's usually held outside on the grounds of The Grotto but it was raining off and on so it was next door in the Catholic Church (left). I'll be posting pictures of The Grotto itself tomorrow. It's an amazing work of art!

This Catholic Church is really beautiful inside as you can see from the next 3 pictures!

Songfest was about 3 hours of singing and a meal with grilled hamburgers. The groups were Heartsong - a family from Minnesota who sang current praise songs, Bill Hansen, and the Redemption Singers, a local group.

I've been wanting to see the Redemption Singers (2nd picture) for a long time. Angie on the right owns Perfect Touch, the painting crew that painted the inside of our house, Luan in the green has been to several of my stamp classes and also teaches the Pilates/exercise class that I've been to some and Deeane on the left was on the painting crew. They sounded like Point of Grace if you've heard them.

The manger scene (3rd picture) is actually in the church in an area called the Christmas Chapel. It's made of rock & gems like the whole Grotto is.

All of the windows in the church are stained glass and they're beautiful.

It was something nice to do on a Sunday afternoon.

Uh Oh . . .

another like his brother (day 2 for this one being in the stamp room window well). Why that window well? This one looks slightly bigger than the last one. We didn't have this problem last year.
Had to post something pretty - this shelf is in our screened porch. The flowers are really looking nice right now. I need to get more flowers for the bottom 2 shelves.


Bill & Tim found and bought an old 8 row planter. They'd been looking for one to use for when they need to replant spots in fields where water has been standing or for whatever reason. The 24 row planter is really too big for that job. So they've been working on it. Bill ordered parts online last night. Tim was working on the skid loader since we'll be doing our landscaping this summer. It rained this morning about 6:30 (.7) so no spraying (weeds) until it gets dry enough.

Snake update - Bill got home and got the snake out - but just threw it out in the grass!

Sunday's Anniversary Party

Yesterday Bill, Peggy & I went to Des Moines to celebrate Bev & Jerry's 60th anniversary. Bill & Tim have farmed their ground here for about 20 years. It was nice to see them, and it was a nice day for the drive. Congratulations Bev & Jerry! Jerry is one of my blog readers - "hi Jerry"!

Afterward, we ate at my favorite place, Outback, before heading home. I love their salad with their homemade honey mustard dressing, bread and Alice Spring's chicken.

For the stampers and scrapbookers out there, this is a card I made recently using Stampin' Up! Products: the Big Shot Flower Daisies #2 Bigz Die, Little Leaves Sizzlet, Top Note Die, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder for the center of the daisy, circle punch, Elements of Style stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalog, summer sun card stock and classic ink.

My new 2010-2011 catalog will be arriving Wed.! Looking forward to seeing all of the new products and colors. If you'd like a catalog, please let me know (you can leave a comment here). My boxes of catalogs will be here in about a week.

Hair!

I was able to get in a hair appointment with Diane last Thurs. before she has the baby! That's a good thing! Lacey was there too and got her hair trimmed. She's letting it grow - down to her hips she says!






I like this one where you can see her watching in the mirror. Got to sneak in a picture of Diane this way too!



She lost her first tooth recently - lower front. She goes back and forth now between smiling so her teeth don't show or doing this open mouth thing so you can see it.

Fire Dept. at Work

Our day started off with a call from Diane a little before 8:00. She thought she was going to have the baby today for sure so we went to the hospital. Dismissed at 2:00 to go home and wait for closer contractions!

Came home and put some sandwiches together and made some bars for the firemen tonight. I had asked Bill's mom if she would make my bars since I was with Diane - and she did. But then I got home in time to help make
the other stuff needed and went with the fire chief's wife to help "serve" it. Which meant we got to be kind of close to the fire, watch and I could take pictures!

This had been a 2 story house that was already in a large, 1 story pile but the fire dept. needed to burn it since it was very close to 2 houses. They asked the Havelock (nearby town) dept. to help out. They brought their big water tanker.











All seemed to be going well and they had eaten when they got another call - a wreck north of town - 2 vehicles. So half of the firemen stayed with the fire and the others went to the wreck. Five people are ok but were all taken to the hospital. One vehicle ran a stop sign.

Glenn's New Job

It was a sad time for me the week after Easter when Glenn told me that they would be moving to Dallas soon. Seems like I just got out here and all of us but Mom were finally back in the same area.

Glenn & Amy sold their Dunkerly Ag & Truck building here last spring. There just aren't enough people in this rural area making it hard to be a business owner here. Glenn is now working for Coker Equipment Sales selling wreckers in eastern Texas. He has known the owner since back when he and Amy had their wrecker business in Carmel. Amy is going back to school and the boys are transferring to a college in the Dallas area for their last year. They're all excited to get away from snow!

So no more boys to cook those big breakfasts for or take to Pizza Hut & DQ or sit in church with . . .

Humongous Marshmallows

We had a nice Memorial weekend. Perfect weather except for a short time of rain. We grilled a lot, watched the Indy 500 and Nascar races, took a nap, helped with the flags at the cemetery.





Diane has always been quite a shopper - from a young age. I'm not so anytime I want to know where to find something I ask Diane and she knows.

Recently we were in a grocery together and she showed me a bag of HUGE marshmallows and wanted to know if I had seen them before! They were the funniest new thing I'd seen in a long time. We finally tried roasting them this weekend. They're really good! You roast it the first time and peel off the browned part and eat it and then try to roast the creamy, gooey middle part before it falls off!

The last picture shows the size difference between these and the regular size ones. They are Campfire brand Giant Roasters. Let me know if you've tried them! We figure one equals about 4 regular size ones.