New & Exciting !!!

ALL THINGS ITALIAN
ART WALK
FAIRFIELD,IOWA
JUNE, 6 2009

Rick’s on a hunting trip in Colorado so I thought why not hang out with some friends after work. I was so excited to be going to my first ever Art Walk in Fairfield. A little background info on Art Walk -

Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk started five years ago as a way for people to discover local artists’ hidden “treasures”. Since then, area residents have gathered on the first Friday evening of each month to learn, appreciate, enjoy, socialize and shop together on the Fairfield Square. As the word has spread, the crowds have grown. During each summer month this year, over 2,500 people sampled new foods, listened and danced to new sounds and participated in a variety of activities. With culturally diverse themes ranging from “All Things Italian” to the “Bark in the Park”, Fairfield put together three summer festivals which also gave visitors an opportunity to interact with Fairfield’s growing artistic community.
To make sure this monthly signature event remains an important part Fairfield’s economic community throughout the entire year, the newly revitalized Board of Directors is finding new ways to contribute to the success of the art galleries, vendors and downtown shops while attracting participation from the entire Fairfield community and surrounding areas.
With their continued growth has come a desire from the Fairfield business community to get involved and help make the Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk an even greater success. With advice from top business leaders, a new Art Walk corporate sponsorship program has become available. Now the opportunity exists for a company to financially sponsor a specific Art Walk, but also its employees to volunteer to help coordinate the implementation for that event as part of their service and civic engagement.
“We are so thrilled so many businesses want to be a part of this wonderful monthly Fairfield celebration.” says Janet Joyce, the new President of the Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk Board.
If you have questions about how you can be a part of what’s happening at the Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk, contact us at our new offices at 109 E Burlington (just off the East side of the square) or call us at 641-233-8883.
This article was taken from http://fairfieldartwalk.org/ please read more.

SO last night was All Things Italian – WOW, first I need to say oops to Weight Watchers. I love Italian food and it was everywhere !!! The lasagna was sooooo good ! I did try a canoli and anise cookies but wasn't crazy about either. Entertainment everywhere as well as tons of camera shooting the event. They have a photography contest that pays over $200 in cash prizes. I have to say if you have never been to Art Walk in Fairfield and live close enough to go, take the time and do it !!! You will not be disappointed.

Barges for Julie

Time for some catch up ! I will be posting all weekend to get you caught up on what’s going on. This post will feature the winner of the Canna bulbs & flower seeds.

Julie Weidner was the lucky one and now it’s up to me to blog about barges on the Mississippi. Let’s see where do I start…….

The barges do amaze me with their size and what they accomplish. When Rick and I go over to Illinois via Fort Madison, Iowa we have had to stop on the drawbridge a few times for the barge to go under. That’s an eerie feeling. I myself have seen a couple situations in Fort Madison on the great muddy Mississippi. A barge was stuck after a bridge collapsed during heavy rains last year. We were there to get a shot ! BUT we couldn't get to close due to the rising waters. Then one day while visiting the Old Fort in Fort Madison I saw a barge being pumped out after taking on to much water.

I have copied a section from an article I found on the web so you can get a better idea and learn of an upcoming travel experience.

Barges are a common site on the Mississippi River were fleet of barges are seen carrying perishable and non-perishable goods. Barges are seen floating on the river carrying various types of goods from one port to another, making the river strategically very important. May it be middle Mississippi river, upper or lower, the barges are seen carrying loads of goods. Apart from using it for transportation purpose people have come up with more novel ideas, in the form of Barge Cruise.
The river barge definitely sounds unusual and very few are available for service. Those who provide this have turned their barge into a small floating hotel with open lobby, dining space, indoor viewing areas, library, office, guest quarters equipped with bath plus shower, music system & television. The Mississippi Barges are soon gaining popularity for its unique experience, similar to being on a cruise. Boy wouldn’t this be exciting especially more up North.

OK, I’m not sure what else I can say since I’m not originally from the area and didn’t grow up on the Mississippi.

OK Julie, I hope you enjoy your flowers. You have now got my curiosity up more about barges so I think this summer I'm going to see if I can go to Ft. Madison and get on one, who knows maybe they will give me a little tour and tell me more. If so I will definitely post about it then.

You ain't gonna' believe this !

An update on my crafty projects - Picture frame - It's coming along good.. I've got the doorknob and had a piece of wood added to my existing 4 pane window. I sanded, painted and applied crackle to it. Today I dropped it off at the glass shop to get the panes put back in. When my vinyl lettering get here, I will be almost done. (BTW, Lana, I ordered a cricut !! ) All I need to do now is find a really cool abandoned home to take a picture of for all four seasons. Yarn thingy - As you know I packed it up and sent it to mom. It was making me say bad words - really bad words. I should have just spent the money and bought one ! But noooooo, I had to save for vacation to Tennessee !! So mom emailed me some pictures of the finished product - here it is. Not too bad, huh?

Rick and I have had a busy week and weekend. It's been raining so much here that it's made it easy to pull the weeds and of course rain makes the grass grow !! So I get to mow the yard. Rick got me all ready with the mower washed it, changed the oil and sharpened the blades so to the yard I go ! I don't like it when he mows, he seems to chop off flowers AND blow grass on the ones he don't chop ! Men !! ☺(giggles) So I'm mowing along and thought I saw a worm wiggling on the grass, nope, it was a darn snake. I HATE SNAKES ! But I had managed to almost cut him in half without even noticing. So what did I do you ask, I backed up and proceeded forward slowly , until the tire was right on top of it. Then I turned the wheel about 20 times. He's a goner, almost. I hurried up to go to the shop , on the mower might I add, and get Rick. I asked him to pick it up and lay it in the shop on the floor. WHAT ?! He thought I was nuts, OK he knows I'm nuts. I told him it was perfect for my 365 for the day ! I took it ( mom don't look) she hates snakes ! I already got yelled at by her 'cause she seen it on my flickr. Did I mention I HATE SNAKES !! I know it's small but it doesn't matter, it's wiggly !

A few days later I went stalking my bluebirds. They found their house and have set up a life there. I had seen them flying in and out and I wanted to get closer. Peep, I was being watched. I better leave them alone for a while and wait on the babies to come crawling out. I'm a bird watcher, I'm a bird watcher, watching birds fly by...oh yeah ! My lyrics to "I'm a girl watcher" (giggles) Now for my favorite birdies of all - the hummingbirds, they're back !! I took this through the screen so it's not a great shot but I didn't want to spook him away just yet. He has to get used to me ya know.

I want to be able to have the hummers sit on my hands and eat. I have seen it in magazines so I'm going to sit out in front of my house with the tripod set up waiting. I will wear a red shirt to draw them close. I'll post for sure if they come to me.

Enough already on the birds right, let's go to Missouri. On Saturday we went to an auction in Farmington, Iowa. A friend of ours and his dad run Fett Auction and they are always filling Rick in on some of the items. This particular one was a canoe. Rick told me about it but he did say it had a hole in it. Now why would anyone want to buy a canoe with a hole in it. Were they gonna sell a bucket with it to? Well Rick the fixer-upper said he could patch it and probably get it cheap. WRONG - the holey bottom canoe ended up selling for $180.00 !!! Geez people come on, let us get something cheap in this world. We only spent 6 bucks at the sell, Rick got a cooler and I got a book. Bummer ! I bet I said a hundred times, "look at all this junk ! " We decided to head to Missouri now and get some smokes. With camera in hand scouting out the ride I was able to get a shot of a fly passing us by. Just kidding ! Rick said we would stop at a couple places on the way back through. I think he said this because I was going ohhh look at that old house,

can we stop ?

Ohh look at the neat barn,

can we stop ? Then we get to the store and he said ohhh, get your camera you ain't gonna' believe this ! I turned around behind us was a car was. OK I thought, then I saw it, a buggy and an Amish lady !! Oh yeah, I was in business, Amish people at the car wash !! I figured they would hand wash their buggies ? The horse was tied up out back so I didn't get a shot of that.

This was worth the trip. I need to get out more huh ? Something about the Amish interests me. I wish I could spend a day with one of the families and learn about them. It would be even more great if they would let me take some pictures !

Well' enough blabbing today. I have to get off here and gather up yard sale stuff. Next weekend is going to be another busy one. I'm going out to supper and the casino for my birthday on Friday, yard sale on Saturday and my nieces baby shower on Sunday. That should make an interesting post. BUT before the shower I'm going to get some baby bump shots ! I can't wait.

More shots and interesting stories soon !!!! Be sure to comment and let me know what you want to hear about.