My Morning Visit with Jack

Jack Frost that is! It is way to early for that stuff. I'm definitely not ready for cold weather and here in Iowa, it gets pretty darn cold! So when I woke up at 5:00 this morning there was a nice coating of frost in the field. Once the sun came up there were a few does roaming on the frost.

Brr, don't that just send shivers up your spine!

Now mentioning deer, they seem to send shivers up Rick's spine. I came home from work the other day looking for him when all of a sudden I noticed him up in the tree. He's getting ready to take the big buck down, I just know it!

The porch is done with decorating for the season. Here's the final addition.

Tomorrow I will be getting one more thing, it's for the yard 'cause it's way to big to fit on the porch. I will post it tomorrow night, considering I get it finished. It will cost me 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies but will be well worth it. So are you curious?

Well, I'm outta here for the day. Taking off for some Fall foliage pictures. I have to hurry before the rain, wind and Jack takes them all off the trees.

This waether map explains it all!

Starnes sets out to raise tallest corn in Iowa

This was the headlines in the Bee Star. (local paper serving the Donnellson & West Point Area) Hey dad and Mary Ann, your copy is in the mail. ☺ To read the article you should be able to click the picture for a larger version.

Who would have ever thunk it, me raising corn! Well, I did and it turned out pretty darn good.
I was so excited to see that I was on the front page!! This is a small community paper but hey, it's fame right. (wink) The contest officially ends Oct. 1st so I'm excited to see the next issue of Our Iowa magazine to see the final results.

Now my next adventure will be taking a plane ride to capture Fall from the sky. Rick and I are going to charter a plane for a trip around the area. Hmmmm, that sounds like we are living the lifestyles of the rich and famous but it is actually very inexpensive. $35.00 for a 1/2 hour. What FUN!! I will be posting that soon. Come on leaves turn them pretty colors and rain, well, you need to stay away since you have the tendency to wash the leaves off the branches.

Sparks A Flyin'

We went to the State Line Rally in Keosaqua over the weekend. Loads of fun as usual. We ran into some friends Janet & Mike and discovered that "fearless Mike" was a "Ghost Rider" for the parade. Every year at the rally we ride through town at 7:00PM Friday & Saturday night. Well, this year I got a video of Mike's performance. The crowd goes wild !!

I have uploaded the video on my You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPTJ-Q3Vdxo

Now upon getting back from the rally I have been somewhat of a couch potato and watched 2 good movies - Traitor & Last House On The Left. I decided to get off the couch and catch up on household stuff so I can resume my position for Drop Dead Diva and Army Wives.

I will be doing some crafting during the week and trying a few new recipes that I found in the Oct. issue of Rachel Rays magazine. I will post mid week and let you know how that's going!

Spring has sprung !

Well so much for me staying on top of this blog ! I'm not going to post all of my 365 pictures here. They are on my slide that I have posted to the right. If you click on it you will be re-directed to my flickr site and can see them all plus more there.
___________________________________________________________________
First I want to say hi Chris ! I'm so glad you have a computer at home now. We miss you at work ! Chris was one of the great receptionist where I work. She retired and is greatly missed. I loved all our funny stories we used to share. It's just not the same without you, know what I mean. (wink-wink ) ____________________________________________________________________
Today is a new day, my flowers are starting to pop up and the grass is turning green, hallelujah ! I love the Spring it seems to refresh our spirits and get us out of the gloomy stage that winter put us in. I have seen bluebirds, robins, red-winged black birds and lots of grackles. A sure sign that Spring is here. I bought a bluebird feeder now I have to get some bluebird houses made so I can keep the beauty in my yard.

___________________________________________________________________
Updates on me - shoulder is coming along good. I can lift my arm all the way up and out but I'm still having trouble getting it to touch my back with a twist in it :) Women you know we need this motion ! Think about it. OK now you can stop trying this and read on. My Dr. let me take a picture of my x-ray. Yeah it's kinda weird looking at the anchors in my arm but what about that zipper. Do you remember when your parents told you to" zip it !" I'm still laughing when I look at this. I had a shirt on that zipped and the technician told me to zip it all the way up so it wouldn't mess up the x-ray. Well there it is, looks like I have a zippered neck.
___________________________________________________________________ I joined back at Weight Watchers and have lost 9.8 # these past 3 weeks. Wow, it is hard to stay focused on the weekends. Any tips ? I have started a walk at lunch date with a good friend every Tuesday. That's a start i guess ! Also my former supervisor Deb and I have set up a lunch date once a month for catch up ! We chose Chinese last month and believe it or not I chose healthy !! Deb is a great motivator, she is always telling me I'm doing great and have got such ambition ! Thanks Deb , that means a lot. Oh yeah did I mention she is an entrepreneur ! She designed and invented dining stones. They come in different color and stone choices. Here's an example of the blackberry color. They are great !! check them out here. http://www.diningstones.com/about.html If you order tell her you heard about it on my blog !
___________________________________________________________________
Rick has been out of town for a week. This has given me a break from housework & cooking. I literally come home from work , eat a bowl of Special K or salad, do a little yard work , then curl up on the couch. I have only had to do one load of laundry ! Woo-hoo, I was needing a little R & R. But I do miss him when he's gone. He's in Reno for work and I'm sure some play. He calls every night telling me how much he won or lost at the casino. He said he has some really good pictures for me , I can't wait to see them but then again , it will probably mean that once I do , he will have to take me out there !
__________________________________________________________________
We're going to be going to the Turkey & Deer Expo in Wisconsin next month and also get a visit in with my Aunt Sue and my cousins. That should be a lot of fun and a great time for some pictures !
_________________________________________________________________
Speaking of visiting family members. I will be going back to Tennessee in May to see my family there. My dad has almost finished making me a boat for my prop collection. It will go along with this set up. I have been buying all kinds of goodies lately. I have got to stay out of Hobby Lobby ! Bunnies, greenery, a mirrored sheet of plexiglass and much more. Now all I need is a kid to put in the boat with a fishing pole and I'm all set ! Rick and I built a dock from an old pallet. To buy the boat and dock form a prop dealer or even EBay was going to cost over $400.00 yep, that's not a typo !

I've worked on a couple more self portraits that's actually more fun than serious. I'm very inspired by this couple. ( http://nacedesign.com/blog/ )

Dreams Come True One Step At a Time

When going through life and traveling in the direction of your dreams, the best way to get ahead is the simplest way: Take it one step at a time. Don't look over your shoulder; if you do, you'll feel the weight of all your yesterdays upon you. And don't worry about what lies ahead. By the time you get to the bend in the road or the crest of the hill, you're going to be better and stronger than you ever were before. Just go a step at a time, one day at a time. And you'll find a rich, thankful life you never thought you could afford. ~A. Rogers

What a busy summer this has been ....

This has been one busy summer and it's not over yet ! Chicago-Harley's- Sweet Corn Festival-Swimming-Bird Watching-Flower Gardening- Storm Chasing !!

We went to Chicago for a conference with the company I work for. This was alot of fun and a great time for picture taking for me.

This is the sail boat named Windy. It is very tall. You can take a ride on this and actually be a "hands on helper".Picture taken at Navy Pier.





This was also taken at Navy Pier. I edited it to give it a cartoon look.





Now for a night shot. This is the canal with reflections of Chicago night life.





On one of our many walks around the streets of Chicago we found this beautiful water fountain.Since I'm the one always taking the pictures ,there's never proof that I was actually there. I talked Gina into taking this picture of Rick and I.





This picture just reminds me of Forest Gump - run Forest,run ! It is Bubba Gump's !!!


Now when we came back from Chicago we found an intruder in the dog dish. With the wet season we've had we are destine to have frogs and toads. Well,this toad had taken up residency and was eating the dog food. And believe it or not, he is still here !!


We are also still overwhelmed with the hummers this year. I have counted as many as 10 buzzing around - and it is hard to keep 4 feeders full.



We also have several mourning doves. This one was injured and sat around in the tree all day. When it finally did get down , Harley spotted it and by the time I got outside- it was too late. Sorry for the extremely gross picture but it is part of the story :)



Deer- Iowa - corn & bean fields- YES we have more than we need here. This doe is in our backfield every day,several times a day. I don;t think she is afraid of anything. Once the shooting starts I bet she'll be gone.


In another busy day we went to Burlington to see the "Sentimental". It is a Boeing B17 bomber plane. It was built in the 1940's. This plane has never been in combat but was used in Nevada for fighting fires.You can read more about this plane by clicking this link . http://www.azcaf.org/index.html?var=http://www.azcaf.org/pages/aircraft_bios/B-17G_FlyFort.html


Rick trying his talent out :)












Rick and Brian are working on an old 10 speed that Rick has had for years. They got it all up and going and talk about a work out ! Needless to say it is now parked behind the garage. Yes, I know, we need to get it out and ride ! BUT it is much easier firing up the Harley.




My Cannas are finally blooming. This shot reminds me of a tropical scene with the storm clouds in behind. Storms , now that is a good one. We have had alot of those too. The pictures below were taken at different times but you can tell we have some pretty views of the lightning and clouds rolling in.
The pond picture was taken early in the morning at work.



Now here in Iowa we celebrate every time you turn around. Each town has there own events. In West Point - it is the Sweet Corn Festival. ALL the corn you can eat FREE !!! This is a big time event - more info here. http://www.westpointcornfestival.com/
Rick is trying decide on the biggest ear !
Shuck fest - they shuck 17 tons of corn in less than an hour. The whole town comes out for this. It is held on the Wednesday before the festival.
So my brother is go-cart racing now. This is him - Vernon - the hobbyist ! If it ain't remote control cars it's bigger ones, who knows he may be looking at some Nascar :) You can see some video clips of him on my You Tube site www.youtube.com/harleypass

This sunset picture of the sailboats was taken in Fort Madison. Rick went fishing and I went shooting ! What a great combo.

Alley the alligator- she lets me know how warm my pool is.

I will end this blog with a beautiful scenic picture of Lake Geode. The clouds were just right for this shot. This picture will hopefully be in the 2010 Access Energy calendar. I will keep you posted. They don't announce the winners until next March- so I have a long time to keep my fingers crossed.

As always you can see more of my work at www.flickr.com/harleypass

I will be shooting a wedding the end of September so wish me luck and as always have a great day !!

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into. ~Ansel Adams