Fun Day Making Cards and More

Last Thurs. I had a stamp class at our house.  First one in a long time.  I've recently found more ladies who like to stamp - three of the ladies are from Algona.  There were 7 of us.  I showed them some of the new products from the new Stampin' Up! catalog, then they made two cards, looked at lots of card samples and had some dessert.

Recently, while taking a detour due to a bridge being worked on, I saw a sign "Vintage Sale" and it was back a long driveway and up a hill to a house I've wished I could see up close.  It's back off the road and I always notice it when I'm working ground in one of our fields!  It's a beautiful setting - log type home and big red shed and other buildings. (you an see it from Hwy. 15 near Tim & Bette Jo's house for those that know the area)  So I checked it out.  Rose had repurposed things for sale in two buildings inculding furniture, some dishes, old jewelry, chalk boards, flower arrangements, etc.  She is open when her sign is out or by appointment. 

So after stamping, all of us went to check out her stuff.  It was fun looking and she even gave us a tour of part of her house!!!  The old truck below is at the end of Rose Knobloch's lane by the road.  Fun day!  

Today is our 7th Anniversary already!  Happy Anniversary to us!

Fresh Tart Cherries

A friend here in Rolfe let me pick cherries from her loaded tree today!  This morning I went over and picked an ice cream bucket full.  It was a windy day so thought I wouldn't be too bothered by mosquitoes or biting gnats.  I was wrong!  They were bad.  But the cherries were beautiful and worth it!  I pitted them by hand and was happy there will be enough for two pies!  I had a cute little round cherry tree at my house in Indiana and I miss it.  We may have to plant a cherry tree.

Back and Leaving Again

I'm just back from a 9 day trip to Indiana and leaving again for La Crosse, Wisconsin in the morning.  No time to do blog posts of my fun in Indiana before heading out again.  Will have lots to share when I get back.

Tonight was our great niece's 4th birthday and we were invited to Diane's for a cookout and blue birthday cake.  She's growing up way too fast!  

Last night was not good around here.  Lots and lots of rain - about 5".  Flooding worse than anyone remembers.  Our county was one of five in Iowa declared a disaster.  As Bill said "our crops did look good".  

Luckily our house is dry but Bill had to do some digging out in the rain and lightening at about 1:30 am to keep the basement dry.  I was out there in the truck to call 911 if needed!  There was a tornado (below) in the northern part of the county.  We farm a couple of farms near where this one was and know the people that took the picture.  No damage to homes thankfully.  We hope to get more sleep tonight but they're saying possible bad weather for us again. 

There's More in Iowa Than Corn

Most people think that Iowa is just a boring state with a lot of corn.  Our newspaper had an article this weekend saying that Iowa is #1 for egg production with 50 major egg producers and 60 million layers that generate 14.4 billion eggs each year!  That's a lot of eggs!  

The Iowa egg industry is a big purchaser of Iowa's other agricultural products.  The chickens consume 57 million bushels of corn and 28.5 million bushels of soybeans.  The industry employs 8000 people.  

The article says the top five egg producing states are Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and California with a total of 286 million egg-laying hens.  U.S. eggs are sold worldwide. 

The article says that people are not consuming as many eggs now - about 250 per year per person down from 402 in 1945.

May is National Egg Month.  Think of Iowa the next time you have one! 

Tea Party - Part 2

Back on April 18th, I posted about a tea party I had, and I said I would post more pictures of the food and guests later.  So now a month+ later, I'm finally getting to that.  The menu was cucumber sandwiches and pimiento sandwiches, cinnamon scones and lemon cream scones with lemon curd and clotted cream, mini chocolate mousse tarts and iced cookies, pink cream cheese mints, candied nuts, all with either cinnamon tea or vanilla hazelnut coffee.

one of the guests, Sandy, brought these beautiful cookies!

I'm still collecting old, pretty tea cups and things to use at tea parties - fun!   I hope to do more of these, inviting lots of different groups of ladies.  If all the good tea rooms are closing, we just have to do our own, right?!

Mary, Mel and Marlene

Marlene, Peggy, Lois and Sandy

A Change at the Bin Site

Just north of Peggy's house in a field of hers is what we call "the bin site".  We have five grain bins there.  Bill and Tim decided recently to get rid of two of these (the 2nd and 3rd ones) that are at least 40 years old and replace them with one new, bigger one.  It will hold 21,000 bushels. 

They had to take these unloading augers off of them . . .

and then smash them and pull up the old concrete.  Someone that lives nearby drug the steel away and will sell it for scrap.  Below is what it looks like now with them gone.  The new one is supposed to be put up in June.  It will have one of the "new", safer, stairs going to the top.  Bill says now there will just be 8 others he can fall off of.  I should've taken a picture up close of the little ladders that go straight up on these older ones.

what the stairs may look like