Stampin' Up! Updates

Hmmm, for some reason lately, my Stampin' Up! business has been on the back burner (see previous posts!). But tomorrow is an important day that I need to mention.

For all stampers and especially those that love our SU! products, this is an exciting time of year. Tomorrow our Last Chance List will come out. This year, this will be a list of stamp sets AND accessories that will be discontinued with the release of the new catalog which is July 1. So you'll have a month to get those sets you've been eyeing but haven't purchased yet. Check my web site for any specials that may happen as this catalog year ends! (my web site is at the top right of this blog)

If you're a fan of YouTube videos, Stampin' Up! now has several short videos here: www.youtube.com/stampinupvideo. (may need to copy and paste into your Internet browser) It's a great way to quickly and easily watch how to use our Big Shot and several other products plus meet the owner of Stampin' Up!, Shelli Gardner. She and her sister started SU! in one of their living rooms 20 years ago!

NICE Day

I don't know what the temperature was or is today but it sure is perfect! Bill's brother and sister & family were in town today so we had them over for a cookout at lunch time. We had been talking about trains so the kids were thrilled when one actually came through!


I forgot to take a picture when everyone was sitting nicely with their filled plates so here is one with everyone watching the train. What we were most curious about was the man that had been walking on the track but then got down below the trestle when it passed!

We had the good old dirt pudding with snakes (gummy worms) for dessert. The twins asked for more snakes! The "snakes" are going to make me smile for a long time!

After lunch, Karen, Dave, kids & Bill went to get some field rocks that they're going to use in their landscaping. Jim, Peggy & I sat on the screened porch. Ahhhh, nice day.

Beautiful Weather

Bill had a perfect day for spraying the corn today. (spraying for weeds) It worked out better for me to take lunch to him, and he was at one of the farms that's farthest north. So I went on from there to West Bend to look at samples of porch railing.

These pretty yellow trees were on the way - don't know what they are.

I moved more stuff over from the old house, unpacked some boxes, got rid of trash, etc.

Greg & Bill F. were here tonight trying to adjust 2 interior doors that are giving them problems. I was making food for tomorrow while they were here. Jim, Karen & Dave are going to all be in town so we're having a noon cookout here.

Various Things

Kayla & Robin finishing up our screened porch yesterday. Now we just need to get the carpet out there. Today was a nice day to sit out there but didn't take the time to.









Bill, with fire dept., burned an eyesore house on Railroad St. last night (little blue house for those that know.










Iowa chops for lunch today! They are thicker than regular pork chops.

Today we had an electrician working in the garage and Grant who got done - we now have air conditioning! Also can now park in the garage. Greg & Bill are here tonight working on various things.






Today was mowing day. This is another place we mow - the "bin site". They all have names - the various farms and places that is. This site hadn't been mowed yet this year so wasn't much fun to do. Looks nice now though!

Painters Are Done!!!

These irises just finished blooming a few days ago. They smelled so good. I brought a few clumps of them from Indiana. They were Grandma R.'s. They will need to be moved over to the new house along with the chives, day lilies and phlox.

The painters finished up today!!! Maybe some day soon we will actually have the house to ourselves! Grant was here working on the heat pump. Tomorrow we hope to have electricians. They have to do something with the heat pump and lots of work to do in the garage.

It was decided today that our 28' concrete pad outside the garage and the sidewalk will be replaced when the old house has been pushed down. Mark & Bill aren't happy with it. It'll be used as filler. It had cracked right away and too much. A guy from the concrete co. came out and looked at it but of course blamed it on the weather (hot & windy) even though the mix was very dry and 80 gal. of water was added to it here.

Will It Ever Be Done

These lilacs were so pretty this spring - along the main highway into our town.

We had painters painting the garage and screened porch today and doing touch up throughout the house. Grant, our heating/cooling guy, came and he and Bill got the 200 lb. heat pump in place but it started raining so he didn't get it hooked up. He did put up the radiant heat heater in the garage and fixed a tapping sound we had in the kitchen when the furnace was running. Mark was also here to fix a dent in the soffitt above the front porch that happened on a windy day when one of the pieces of wood we have between houses to walk on (over the mud) flew up and dented the soffitt.

Something I thought to mention is that out here our newspaper is delivered with the mail so on holidays you don't get a paper! Then you get 2 the next day. Still doesn't take long to read both!

Mom's CT scan result today was that she has a lot of infection but no growths so they're trying the 4th antibiotic now. If this doesn't work, the specialist said she might have to have tubes put in her ears.

Memorial Weekend

Lots of pictures today. The cemetery is the next thing down the road to the north from us. There is a nice Memorial Day service every year and many flags are put up just for the weekend. People here really decorate the graves.

This is the grave of the lady that Lacey Mae was named after. Diane took care of Mae when she worked at the Care Center.

Glenn & family came over to grill last night and watch the NASCAR race. We grilled but no race due to rain in NC. Karen & Dave & Peggy stopped by too. (the van belongs to the painters - they leave it)

The fields are turning green! Our house is behind those trees.


Bill is putting the better top soil up by the house and trying to get our yard filled in. It's been a sunny but hazy day and breezy.

Enchilada Casserole

It's been a really nice Sun. The weather is in the mid 70's, I'm getting to watch the Indy 500 race live (it's always blacked out in the Indy area and you watch it that night) and making food for later in the new kitchen! I'm going to bring more stuff from the old house over, then Glenn, Amy, the boys, Diane & Lacey are coming over for grilling and watching NASCAR on the new TV.

Here is the recipe I mentioned making recently - a past church meal favorite. It's layered more like a Mexican lasagna. Don't make this if you're on a diet!

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

1 1/2 lb. ground beef or shredded cooked chicken
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies
1 T. minced onions
1/2 t. ground cumin
1 T. chili powder
dash of garlic powder
8 corn tortillas
16 oz. sour cream
1 1/2 lb. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I don't use this much)
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

Brown ground beef or cook and shred chicken, whichever one you're using. Drain. Add tomato sauce, minced onions, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and green chilies. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 min. While simmering, spread each tortilla generously with sour cream.

Grease a 10x6 inch baking dish. (Do not use a 9 x 13 inch pan.) Place 2 tortillas in bottom of dish. Top with meat mixture, then put 2 more tortillas on top of meat mixture. Top those with cheese. Place 2 more tortillas on top of cheese. Continue the same layering, making sure to end with a cheese layer. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned.

Moving Old Cabinets

We slept in until 9:00 today - ahhhh, nice! It probably helped that we now have the room darkening blind on the East window instead of a blanket - and it rained around 6:30.
Check out how bad the old kitchen looks now with the cabinets being torn out!

Tim and Keith came over to help Bill get the old cabinets & sink moved down to his basement gun room.


Glenn, Amy & boys are coming over tomorrow to watch the races (Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR) so I went to the grocery to buy the food and now need to get busy in the kitchen.

Yesterday I moved more stuff over, and the painters were here painting the garage.

Misc. Work Being Done

The painting crew is here caulking and getting ready to paint the inside of the garage and screened porch - also touch up in the house. They'll be back tomorrow and probably a day next week.

Mark has been here working on the roof, making our one concrete step at the front door, putting up the storm door and cutting the lines in the concrete.

Bill & Tim are working on a tile problem at one of the farms north of town (Triplett).

Mowing Begins

Last night we got to go to the triplets' FFA Banquet. Here they are with one of the awards they earned. All 3 were officers this past year and participated in most of the activities.






I took over most of the mowing last year. Bill hates doing it and would rather be doing something more important. This is the mower we use.

We had really bad wind yesterday and today (35 mph with 40 something gusts) so I just mowed at our house and the Zeman place which is where the equipment is stored and where these pics were taken. The grass had not been cut yet this Spring since we've been a little busy with the house and moving so it was really long. I will do the bin site another day if it doesn't rain.

This place is at a dead end so no traffic which was good today since the dust was rolling when trucks or other traffic went by on the road at our house.

Hard to believe that it's been 2 years last month since I quit my full time job! I like doing these outside "jobs". Kind of funny - when I was added to Bill's health insurance, I was getting calls from them since I'm Type 2 Diabetic. They ask you lots of questions about your diet and exercise, etc. but the funniest was when she asked how I deal with my stress. I said "I don't have any now"!

Concrete!

Mark D. poured our sidewalk, front porch (which is also over our storm room) and a 28' pad out from the garage. These next 3 pics are looking out from our garage doors.










Mark is leaning out from the great room window to finish the edge next to the house.

Bill & Tim are working on some field tile. It's very hot and windy. We don't have air conditioning yet since the conditions haven't been right to get dirt moved around in the yard to then be able to set the air cond. unit. Bill hopes to get to that tomorrow. By the way, he did get done with planting Sun. so we're very lucky compared to the farmers in Indiana and Illinois.

Mom left this morning to head back to Indiana. She's staying in Peoria, IL tonight. Bill & I are going to Rob, Ross & Reed's FFA banquet tonight. Their FFA teacher is retiring for health reasons. He had taken them to FFA Nationals in Indianapolis 2 years ago. The kids loved the trip. They all stayed at Mom & Dad's house while there!

Breakfast Feast

The boys & Glenn came over for the first breakfast feast in our new house. Mom was here but was taking the picture. (she doesn't think this round of antibiotics is doing much either)

Tonight Glenn, Amy, the boys, Diane & Lacey are coming over for the yummy Central Christian enchilada casserole (Kay Chapman's recipe). When our church had Wed. night meals, this was one of the favorites. If anyone is interested in the recipe, leave me a Comment.

Graduation for 3!

We're on our way to a graduation party so I'll just post some pictures of our triplets' graduation today (my nephews). Their party was at Glenn & Amy's last night. Amy had a really nice display of their sports medals, 3 little pedal tractors, their firemen uniforms, 3 Bibles the church gave them, the plaques re: their scholarships from Gray Friends Church, etc. outside under a tent. They had chili cheese hot dogs, a good macaroni salad, chips dip, grape salad and Yum Yum Cake

Company!

This morning, Mary Jeanne & John from Wisc. (& Peggy) came over. John has gone with Bill and his dad on the prairie dog hunting trips to S. Dakota.

Diane, Lacey & I headed to Ft. Dodge to meet mom at Tea Thyme at Sadies for lunch. The best picture taken there was blurry.

This evening Amy, Glenn & the boys, Amy's sister Leanna and her husband Bob and Amy's mom came over to see the house. They're all here from Indiana for the boys' graduation. Lacey is spending the night with us camping in a tent in Great Grandma's room! I still hear her talking - may be a short night for Grandma. This is Glenn in the tent with Lacey earlier.

Mark D. got started today getting ready to pour the concrete for our front porch, sidewalk and out from the garage doors.

Fun day. Answering a Comment/question, YES we're already enjoying the new plasma TV!!! The NASCAR race last Sun. was great! We have one more long cable to get and then they'll all be hidden in the wall. Will post pics of the great room eventually.

Back to Business

I've just been cleaning and unpacking stuff and getting ready for company for graduation this weekend. Hope to meet mom at the tea room in Ft. Dodge (Tea Thyme at Sadies) for lunch as she arrives in the area tomorrow.

Bill was able to start planting behind his mom's later this afternoon and Tim rolled beans in another field. I need a picture for the blog of Tim and the roller. It is BIG! It's the same width as the 24 row planter. Possibility of some rain tonight and tomorrow but then very nice for several days.

We've actually started watching TV again in the new house! Ahhhh, life is starting to return to normal. I watched Survivor and Grey's Anatomy. Got a call from Bill to pick Tim up and take him home (he just had the tractor). Bill is still planting at 10:15 and said to not wait up.

Gettin' There

No planting today - more rain this morning. But the corn is coming up nicely everywhere.

Our garage door openers were installed today. Keith, one of Bill's hunting buddies, came over after work to help move some heavy pieces from the old house. Those were the last big things that needed to be moved. Got our boxes of tax records stashed under the basement stairway in the closet. We can see the end now!

Getting ready for the triplets' big graduation this weekend. Mom will get here Fri. and Amy's parents & sister & brother-in-law are coming. The boys' graduation party is Sat. evening with graduation Sun. afternoon. I think the boys are coming here for breakfast Mon.

Check out how well our painters matched the paint colors to our bedspread!

Rain Delay

Kinda late but thought I'd type a post anyway.

We started the day with a fire call right at 6:00 am. A young guy had rolled an SUV on a gravel road just north of Tim's house (I know some of you don't know where that is but Tim's kids in other states read this, Bill's brother in MO, sister in MN, etc.). The guy was banged up but ok - vehicle was not.

I had a phone co. guy stop to flag where they're going to bury our phone line. He had been to training in Ft. Wayne, Indiana so talked to me a lot about that and the differences between here and there. Then our neighbor John, the bug man, came to spray for bugs (yay!). Not that we have any yet - but that's the idea! I have seen 2 live spiders already. We had "purchased" one free pest control application at the silent auction benefit last year for John's wife (the one I donated the pies for a year for). We waited to use it at the new house - the old house was beyond control for bugs.

We had 2-3 loads of sand delivered and a skid loader - getting ready for the concrete work.

I had a hair apptmt. with Diane after lunch. Then the lightning drove the guys out of the fields around 4:30 with rain following. Bill only has about 300 acres left to plant.

Back to Planting

This is the guest room where mom will stay this next weekend when she comes for the triplets' graduation if she feels better. It's not looking good for that right now. She's calling the specialist tomorrow. This comforter is actually light yellow with the wall color in the leaves.

Bill & Tim are back to planting today after the rain delay. They have 700 acres to go. I took Bill his supper tonight. Usually the guys come home for lunch at noon when we have our bigger meal, and I take Bill something around 6:30 if he's working late at night. They're good about getting home for lunch right about 12:00 so Bette Jo and I know to have our meals ready then.

This was the sunset last evening taken from our new driveway.

The plumbers came to pick up the loaner water heater we used in the old house for a few days. A guy came from the County to take a water sample to test the new well. I made a 2nd call to the phone co. re: getting the phone line buried.

Lazy Sunday

We haven't accomplished much today but I think that's ok. After church we ate and sat down and read the Sun. paper and I took a short nap. Woke up and had visitors: Bill's mom and Aunt Delrae. As soon as they left I realized that I forgot to take their picture here - I've been bad about that this past week. Early in the week Lois S. came over and brought us some yummy apple squares and also rhubarb. Another day our neighbor, Amy, brought us her "very chocolatey brownies" that she had promised once we moved in.

Some of you may wonder why I took a picture of a DQ, but several family members have probably not seen the "new" Carmel DQ! The old one that Mom & Dad built burned completely last year. When I was in Carmel last week, after seeing dad's tombstone across the street, I had to go in the new DQ. I saw what looked like the (he was the Manager of 15 years) and introduced myself and told him it looks amazing. He said they're pretty proud of it and that Dad used to always keep his eye on the place!

Spring is Here in NW Iowa

The crabapple trees in town are unusually pretty this year. I don't think I even noticed them last year. This one is by the house Glenn & Amy first lived in when they moved out here (the yellow house).
There aren't that many trees in this area compared to Indiana. Over the years the farmers have cut them down to be able to farm more ground.









Bill's mom has a nice asparagus patch and it's ready! I never liked mushy asparagus when growing up - but this fresh stuff is good!! It grows wild out here in the ditches and you see lots of people driving around picking it. Diane & Todd are really good at spotting it. I drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle on some steak rub and microwave or bake until tender.

Bill and I carried lots of stuff from the old house to the new today. Rob, Ross & Reed and a friend came by to see the house so we got them to help move the last 2 pieces of furniture. Had a pretty day to do it until early evening when we got about 1/4" inch of rain. At the end, it was raining in the front yard but not on our house - looked for a rainbow and there it was.

Greg, Bill F. and Ben came this morning and put the screens and screen door on our porch so we can sit out there now! Will wait to get the carpet cut for it when Mark comes back to do the stamp room carpet. We got some indoor/outdoor carpet at Menard's.

Dad

Last week when I was in Indiana, I got to see Dad's (& Mom's) headstone for the first time. I really like it. Mom did a good job picking it out. Mom & I both like hearts. Click on the picture to see the wording better - then click on your arrow in the top left corner to come back to this screen.









The location is really nice - with a perfect view of the Dairy Queen. For those that may not know, Mom & Dad built the DQ when I was 1 and owned it for 17 years. Glenn & I were lucky kids to be able to make ourselves extra thick shakes, hot fudge sundaes and all that whenever we wanted to! Our friends were jealous. :)

We had more rain yesterday morning and then a nice day so still too wet to plant. It is sunny today and corn is coming up! The rain delay has actually worked out well for me! Bill put up some curtain rods and things again. We're still bringing more stuff over from the house and getting organized.

Bill had to go to Ft. Dodge for parts yesterday - he and Tim are working on their skid loader. I had to go to West Bend for stamp room carpet samples and to Algona for a curtain rod. While in Algona I got to have lunch at a place I'd heard about - Maggie B's. HOMEMADE PIES almost as good as Grandma's!! And evidently their soup is very good - they ran out while I was there.

The plumber is coming today we hope - our water softener isn't working which means rusty water and orange toilet bowls! Greg & Bill F. will be here tomorrow to put the screens in our screened porch, adjust some doors, and put in a basement window well. Our garage has to be painted, garage door openers installed, utility sink installed and the electrical work done. Lots more to be finished. The inside is looking pretty good though. Will have pics soon.

Carmel Bronzes

Here are *some* of the bronzes that are on the streets of old downtown Carmel, IN. They are kind of neat but wow, that money could sure be used in a better way in my opinion!

This lady and the guy above are new since I had been in Carmel last time.

It was too wet for planting today so we got to sleep in although we got a phone call at 7:30. Bill did some things around the house for me like hanging some decorative things and the corner shelf for the TV in the bedroom, etc. Good to get that all done! We went to Glenn's shop to pick up some exercise equipment. Then Bill had a grocery board meeting and I hauled more stuff over from the old house.

This is Ross with the guy with the newspaper taken last June. We have a picture of Dad just like this too.