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.

Birds, birds, birds !

Wake up and get your cup of java- I want to talk birds today !

Wow my yard has became a bird sanctuary !! I have all different kinds this year, some I have no clue what they are. BUT I have got the meanest blackbirds ever !! I have asked Rick to set outside with the BB gun and fire away. ( maybe I'll post that next week as well as my scavenger hunt topic ) They have started tormenting my bluebirds.

I definitely don't want to scare the little blues away. They don't bother a thing. maybe I need to keep my suet feeders full on the other side of our property and that will keep them away. So I feed at least one suet block a week ! Yep, a week. Many thanks to my HUGE red-headed woodpecker. As many of you know when my suet feeder is empty he hangs out at the hummingbird feeder.

Anyway, I decided to make homemade suet. Man did I have a mess in the kitchen and when I washed up the dishes, I like to have never got rid of all that bacon grease ! Recipe follows for homemade suet.

I’m including this recipe from the 10,000 Birds blog. It’s perfect for making cake sized batches that fit nicely in those square suet feeders.
Homemade Peanut Butter Suet
Melt 1 cup shortening (Crisco or bacon fat). Add 16-20 ounces of crunchy peanut butter. Heat and stir until melted.
Add 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of black oil sunflower seeds, 6 cups of cornmeal and 4 cups of flour.
Spoon into a 13X9 pan. Chill until it is hard. Cut into chunks for suet feeders (or stuff into cracks and crevices in logs).

The birds are going nuts over this suet, who knew it would be such a hit. Bam ! just started saving $5.00 a month.

My flower give-away is approaching and I only have 4 entries, what are ya' waiting for ? I will be drawing on Wednesday the 20th. I picked up the packet of flower seeds, oh wow are you goin' love them. Sorry can't tell you what they are it's a surprise. Some of the entries so far are - iris' ( old-timey ones) , barges on the Mississippi ( this would be fun ! ) blooming apple trees ( a little late for that here Maryann - this ain't NY, we are ahead of you in seasons ) Get some more good ideas in there the clock is ticking !

We are getting ready to go on vacation so a lot of work to be done around home first. Y'all know how that goes. Mow the grass, pull weeds, clean up the house really good, water indoor plants, etc. Well I decided to tackle another major project- clean the attic. After 30 trips up and down the stairs and 15 bags of un-used stuff went to the garage I am ready for a vacation. I had went to tan before my days activity and the lady there said maybe you'll find a treasure and I did $7.00 in a pair of shirts from last year. (tip for the pizza man !! )

This has to be a short post for the day 'cause I'm headed to Nauvoo for some picture takin', who knows as I cross the Mississippi I may see some barges ! ( thanks Julie for the idea, love it )

Oh yeah, I alomst forgot - I won in the Access Energy calendar again !! One of my Eagle pictures will be posted in July !! Yay me, 50 bucks is a nice addition to the vacation funds !

Buzzing About Today

I'm giving flowers away ( details in the end of this blog ) !!









This was surely a busy weekend, birthday, yard sale, baby shower , crafting, shopping, and bee keeper !!

Let's start with the bee-keeping. Last Friday was exciting for Rick and I'm sure somewhat nerve-racking. He helped a friend of his move bee hives to pollinate an apple orchard. They had to do this real early in the morning while the bees were asleep. Oh my, Rick's alarm went off ( on his day off ) and up out of the bed he popped ! Now if you know Rick, he's not a morning person. He was off to Dave's to start "buzzing' for the day. While I was finishing up getting ready to go to work my cell phone started ringing. All I could think was who is texting me at 5:30 AM. It was a message from Rick, a picture of him all suited up with a thumbs up signal. He was ready to go !
When I got home he told me all about it. He said he knows why you have to move them early because once the sun rose they were swarming all around, including trying to get to his face. Luckily he was completely covered.

My Cricut came so I've been experimenting !! My first project is going to be my picture frame window. I had ordered the lettering from Uppercase Living BUT it was huge - so I will utilize that somewhere else. Maybe my bedroom wall under vacationing pictures, uh good idea !


This thing can do so much. I will post pictures next week of the projects I've done.
Since I'm on the crafting subject I think I'm going to clean out the attic and see what I can find up there. I know I have an old screen door that could be of some use somewhere. Thanks to Jessica for some great ideas, but I don't have a pantry. I just have to find a use for it! Does anybody have an ideas ?
For my birthday Rick and I went to the casino and shopping. Needless to say both broke me! Thank goodness we only go to the casino a couple times a year. I asked Rick to get me fence panels for my birthday and that is what he did, now we just have to get them up. I called 811 to see where I can and can NOT dig. I'm going to put them on one side around my pool. This will keep the peepers going up the road from seeing me when I'm lounging :) Plus it will work for a nice backdrop for pictures. I'm going to be adding some flowers on the inside and will get pictures up as soon as I'm done. I'm ready to open the pool !!


I cleaned out my little water garden pond



and disposed of a dead mouse, one mole and a ton of worms !! What's up with that, did they think it was the burial grounds ? YUCK !! And to think I'm making 2 more water features in my yard. One of them is going to be really cool. It consists of several wine bottles with the dimples in the bottom. So come on people drink that wine and pass the bottle on. Here's a start of the project, as you can see I've hit some roots !




























A completed picture will be blogged next week. See this is what happens when Rick has to go to Farm King every time we are in Burlington. He goes to the hunting section and I head towards the garden stuff and they have great project books !!
My yard is starting to look more beautiful each day. I can't wait till the flowers start popping and I have fresh bouquets on the table each week. We are going to til up a small garden spot to plant some corn. I have to grow it tall because I'm entering a contest. If you are from Iowa and have not subscribed to the magazine "Our Iowa" , you need to do that now ! They are having a contest and IF you can grow the tallest corn ( they provide the seeds ) you can win - $200 of pork, $200 of beef and a $100 gas card. Yeah Iowa !! This corn is a tropical type imported in and can reach 15-16 feet tall and with the help from the neighbors cattle maybe taller ( I hope ) !! Oh yes, pictures will be posted monthly.
The 365 project is coming along good. I do find it hard some days to think of what I can take a picture of then a bird seems to land somewhere close, snap ! Picture for the day. I do need to get more creative so look out for some self portraits coming soon. I think I will go a little wild with editing too, like this couple. If anyone has any ides let me know.
I have noticed that people give freebies as a way to draw to their blog. Well, I've decided to do the same. I want to go on a scavenger hunt and you can be the guide ! Here's what you need to do- since the flowers are headed in full force now, I will be giving away 5 red Canna roots, these can be planted now and are absolutely gorgeous when they bloom PLUS you will get a packet of flower seeds of my choice ( surprise). Now 5 Canna's don't sound like much but at the end of the season ( if you're in a cold climate like me ) and you dig these up, you will have 15-25 for next year, so let's get started. To be qualified to win all you need to do is comment on this post,one per person. In the comment tell me something you would like to see blogged about. I want a challenge SO, I'm going to look for it ( within reason) take a picture and blog next week about your topic. Now this could be anything from a Golden Finch, red-headed woodpecker, blooming trees, old barn, windmill,river,waterfall, whatever !!! Send me on a mission !! I will pick a winner at 5:00 am ( CST) May 20th and mail out your prize that day. To comment - all you do is click the word comment and type away. If you don't have a google or blogger account you can check anonymous but remember to sign your name. I will need your mailing address so please send that to randt@iowatelecom.net and put scavenger hunt in the subject so I can watch my spam box.
Thanks and good luck !!

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.

Hunting, Fishing & Crafting

I know you are thinking wow, 2 posts in one day. I'm playing the catch up game so here it is. I have a lot to cover in this one. Did the title get your attention ?

Rick was going turkey hunting and asked did I want to go along to see if I could get a tom all fanned out, with a camera that is. He took the bow ☺. First off let me say that the 2 man blinds are exactly that. No room for a chair, bow or any other thing you may want to take along. Rick and I were crammed in that thing, sitting on these little 3 legged stools, that he uses for fishing. It was like riding a banana seat bicycle all over again. Needless to say I was getting a little numb in the bum! Now we finally get all situated, the sun is just starting to come up and Rick start calling in the turkeys. Annoying sounds were coming from our blind but then in the near distance I hear gobble,gobble gobble. Well, they don;t really sound like that but you get the picture. It was like turkey Heaven ! Sounds coming from all around, tons of turkeys both toms & hens. Now we wait, uh here comes one, Rick is getting a little nervous cause he is about to kill something. The tom comes to within 30 yards of us but Rick doesn't have a good shot cause the smart tom is standing behind trees. I can see he is all fanned out but I can't move ! What !!! I came along to take a picture and now I can't move !! Rick said that turkeys have really good eye sight and the least move will scare him away. Oh well, I watch and that I mean watch the tom walk away. After he was out of sight Rick and I discussed that if he did have a shot, he had no room to pull back the bow ! So I think we need to get a blind each and he will have plenty of room for the shot and I can have room for a comfy chair, coffee, and my camera bag !

Hunting's over now we decide to go fishing. It's cloudy and the rain isn't far away, perfect time for the scaly things to be bitin' !

It was like the turkey scenario - but with fish. It was fish Heaven !! My arm was getting tired from reeling. We caught bass, bluegill and crappie !! Dad & Uncle Allen , tell the Tennessee trout to look out we are coming soon ! Supper tomorrow will be.....FISH !

Crafting - well many of you know I'm some what of a crafter, or at least I think so. I saw these Fringies for sell on Etsy and thought I could just make one myself and save the money. (Thanks for the economy situation Obama) So I got on EBay and found some yarn that will work. I bought it, it came and I got started. Now I failed to mention that I have no pattern to go by, only a picture. So I began cutting yarn, drug out the sewing machine and proceeded to sew the yarn to a pillowcase. I'm not that good at sewing, in fact Rick got me the sewing machine for Christmas ( cause I wanted one ) and I don't have the patience for the friggin' thing. My bobbin ran out and I fought with the darn sewing machine for almost an hour before packing everything up in a basket and sending it off to mom. Gotta love moms, they can do anything !! Thanks mom !!!! If mom can't make it look good - I will spend the money and get one.

Now for a shot not related to this post. The Magnolias are blooming everywhere. I took this shot in Crapo Park in Burlington,Iowa. Ah, the fragrance and beauty of Spring. Have a great day !

Easter ( late post but I did it )

I have been super busy with my yard, work and of course the dreaded housework lately! Finally I have a minute of down time and am going to get caught up on my posts. Here are a few shots and a short post from Easter at mom's.

A little quiet time while the kids are out enjoying the sunshine and hiding Easter eggs.

Gina made these beautiful cupcakes all by herself. Kim's daughter loved the cupcakes that Gina made. The icing did come off but a little bit of purple stain didn't.
The hunt ! Maggie ( in red) won with the most found. She was like a fart in a whirlwind ( Granny's saying) I think next year she will graduate to the bigger kids hunt. Mom always splits the kids up by age to make it more fun. It was a hoot to watch them run out the door.


Hunter was telling me here that he wanted to eat the candy inside the egg. He didn't care how many he had found. I convinced him to wait and get busy looking for more then he would have all kinds of candy ! He agreed and started looking again.

Busy weekend

What a weekend this was.

Gina & Louie and Rick & I went to Madison, Wisconsin for a deer/turkey expo at the Alliant Energy Center. This is the guys trip so they made all the arrangements, well except for reserving the rooms !

We took off Thursday evening after work with a "go with the flow" plan for Thursday night since we only made reservations for Saturday & Sunday. We got to Dubuque and decided to eat. So we grab the GPS'S yes that's correct we had ours and Gina brought theirs ( to see which one was more accurate ) really now, they are going to be the same or at least pretty darn close. So back to the journey, we typed in restaurants, wanting steak we typed in steak. Now we are riding around the not so safe streets of Dubuque looking for all we found on the GPS. We were going further & further away from town and it was looking a little creepy, were their drug runners there, a street of convicts, who know, let's get the heck back on the road. We drove on to Platteville before finally pulling over. Now we have sat in the car for a little over 3 hours and I have to stretch and am really getting hungry. By this time it is about 9, time to look for a room and get some rest. Yeah , right rest with the guys ! Are you nuts !! We ate supper, got a room to split for the night ( save more, spend more shopping ) and I was out. By the way this is the first night since surgery that I slept in a bed ! Oh my did I do a lot of tossing & turning.

Got up Friday morning, with the phone ringing, it was Trent, Gina & Louie future son-in-law. Calling to see where to put the key, OMG he was coming up later tonight why not wait. This phone call already had Louie & Rick planning how to get him back for this. He's in trouble !

Back to the story- we were leaving the hotel when we noticed a swan nesting so here I go, out with the camera to get some pictures. I looked back , the guys were saying go closer ( while they were laughing and holding Gina's camera) so I thought I was close enough. I snapped a few shots and turned around before I got attacked by a hiding male swan ! On to breakfast ( which I chose healthy ) then hit the road. It is Madison or bust. We got there, went to the room, then headed out to get some snacks and beer. We went to Sam's Club and that is when the Weight Watchers thing slipped right out of my mind. Have you ever been to a Sam's ? They are cooking up something in every corner and they had the BEST cheesecake ever ! Seriously now it was tasty ! We went back to the room, put away groceries then headed down to the show. They guys were in awe, this was a lot bigger than the Des Moines show that we always go to. We walked around for about 4 hours looking at everything and I mean everything. Oh yeah I forgot to mention they have snacks there to. Another strike on the weight watchers plan. Have you ever seen the commercial about WW - the little orange monster looking thing, well I think that creature was with me all weekend. Ok, back on track, are you bored yet ? Well it gets better so stick around. Take a bathroom break and hurry back……..ok here we go. We go back to the hotel for happy hour. Yep, from 5:30-7 it's free beer, wine and snacks. MORE things I shouldn't have !! Oh well, this is a special occasion right ? After that the guys took off to go back to the show and Gina and I made a beeline for the room. We are staying across from each other so it was pretty neat to just cross the hall for a visit. I made about 5 trips over to her room as we were trying to figure out what we were doing for supper. Remember we had snacked all day and bought lunch meat but that didn't even sound good so we ordered pizza ! Man am I going to pay on Thursday when I have to weigh in ! The guys came back we ate then we went across the hall to play LCR

I bought it on Ebay for 6 bucks. ( had to throw in the word bucks, since we are at a deer show for this ) Needless to say I lost several bucks ! And so did Rick as he was using my bucks too !! Bedtime - nite see ya in the morning!

Saturday - time to get up and go down for breakfast. Trent & Megan had got there around 11 or 12 so they were still a little pooped, not to mention that they were woke up by the alarm going off at 4:30 AM. Remember me telling you that Trent had called our room at 6:30, this was his payback. Rick & Louie set the alarm !! We ate, they the guys went to the show and us gals went shopping. But first I wanted to go to the zoo although Gina wasn't that interested in going there, she ended up having a pretty good time. I think that she snapped as many (if not more) pictures than I did ! We hit the mall and was wore out by the time we got back to the room. ( yes I'm getting tired of typing so here's were it gets shorter ) Got back, got ready for happy hour, met up with my Aunt Sue & cousins with their girlfriends and drank some more. We all went to eat supper, minus Aunt Sue she was not feeling well so she headed home. We took 2 cars to meet up at the Avenue Bar & Grill for supper. We are finally going to get that steak that we wanted in Dubuque. Supper was great but the service, not so much ! I think the waitress felt the tension :) she apologized about 4 times for the confusion. Oh well , we won't be back anyway. Trent was chased down in the parking lot for leaving the wrong end of the receipt on the table, he accidently picked up the signed copy. Now back to the hotel for some more LCR playing. I want to try to win back my bucks ! On the way back we drove around Madison with our tour guide Tina ( Jeff's GF) we were actually looking for somewhere to buy beer. In Madison they don't sell it after (:00 and it was almost 10. We found a place and was back on track. Got back to the hotel played LCR and yes I won some of my bucks back ! Whew, I'm really tired. Nite, it's off to bed.

Got up Sunday, ate breakfast, drove towards home, stopped at Dick's Sporting Good and Harbor Freight ( it was the guys weekend ya know ) then off to moms to drop off Gina & Louie. I'm exhausted and had to get home to do laundry and get my pictures uploaded to Flickr.

That was a good weekend and a nice trip out of town. Next weekend it's a family thing with Easter, egg hunt and more eating. This time I will do much better !!



I bet I walked 50 miles.



My Ebay purchase came so I will get that picture frame done soon and post a picture if it. I will leave you with a nice little quote that hits home since I did just eat all weekend.

Focus - Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.

Happy Monday everyone !!