Courthouse square sculptures-Ring Out For Art

There are several sculptures featured on the courthouse square. 

The Teeter Family

Brad, little Leo, Amanda and Elise

The last piece

The last piece of old flooring came up yesterday. Butch took the day off today and played golf. I rode down to the river and back.

Two remarkable, in the true sense of the word, pictures came my way today. I did not take either one of them but I have learned to recognize the good stuff.

My niece Tara raises chickens, rabbits and cares very much for dogs. Any animal really. She posted this picture on Facebook and I snipped it. She said,"The girls really enjoy their freedom."

And this is a picture of Twila, Butch's cousin. It was taken in England in the mid-1960's. I liked it very much as it reminded me of a Vermeer painting, the last supper picture on the wall, the vase of flowers on the table, the soft glow of the light through the window and Twila in a very natural pose indicating her work is done.
Twila's daughter posted the picture on Caring Bridge. Twila is in hospice now and very tired much of the time. Her daughter was saying that her mother has always been beautiful even when she is tired. And I certainly must agree.

Backed Up

This is a series of pictures I had no time to deal with till this morning.

Floor progress:

drivers seat

Taking up the glued down wood has been tedious and often frustrating

Passenger seat. Butch would like to get it done back past the seats and get the seats remounted to have them out of the way more than anything.

This is the front flower bed. Not much has been done to it yet. In its current condition, it tells me I have reached a goal- that being not to need much for it to be presentable.

On the bike trail...

 My work gloves. I want it to be known that I do sometimes work. I will admit these gloves are at least 3 years old

This will be the spot for the lizard but I am needing more rock to do it right. And first, we have to get rid of a million seed pods.

Butch helped Mickey put this shed together. It looks far better now. This was taken shortly after completion.

Painting fun with Karla

Yesterday I helped Karla paint her wicker chairs. She finished them. She is color shy so I pushed her a bit. She can always repaint them another time. She owned the chairs. We found the cushions on a garage sale- brand-new indoor/outdoor cushions for a whopping $5! Snapped them up pronto.

 Karla always has a hanging basket of flowers and I see she picked one up yesterday as well. Her deck now looks very inviting.

No post since Wednesday! Geez!!!

Thursday We went to Ames so I could have a stress test. Yippie-skippie. The old Afib has been giving me a bit of a fit lately so we have to have everything checked out. This isn't new news so don't get excited. I'm not.
I did well on the stress test. I usually do. So far all tests have been good results. Not all tests are in yet but I am being hopeful.
Friday I had another appt in Ankeny with a lady-part doctor. Nuff said.
Then we went to Menards and purchased some flooring for the motorhome. It is getting closer to a reality.
Today Karla and I went garage saleing and she scored a few items. Butch and Jason played golf. I am thinking that catches you up for the time being.
We have been busy doing "stuff". And soon it could be fun stuff so stay tuned!

Strawberries

When Gary and Susan bought their place in Peculiar MO, the previous owners had established a strawberry bed in the raised flower beds around the house. A real blessing because this time of year they enjoy the fresh picked berries very much. I am told that little Leo is particularly fond of them.
Gary sent me these pictures. Yum!

I think planting them in raised flower beds is a very good idea.

Time slips through my fingers

Yesterday I went for a trail ride with the GoPro but it did not compare to the day before. Cloudy and uneventful for the most part. Jason did come over and met up with me on the trail and we had a few adventures like seeing a Redstart bird of which we did not even know existed. Looked it up when we came home. Butch and Jason then went to play golf and I took a nap, tried to do something with the GoPro videos and the next thing I know the day is done!
American Redstart

Project beginnings

Here is a youtube video of the beginning of our MoHo project. I need to get better at editing but we take things one step at a time.
https://youtu.be/1Vh3y-qYjjc

Progress report

Butch and Jason have been tearing out carpet in the moho and I have been helping when I can. We are about halfway with the demo portion of the project. This morning Butch and Jason are golfing and I rode out on the trail to the first bench past the bridge. I regretted not having the GoPro with me, however I have firm plans to have it next time. I put it in my helmet so I cannot forget. This morning the phlox are blooming along with many other flowers and the trail was very active. Didn't see any deer but I did see a large variety of birds, several cats, a beaver on the bridge ( it scurried off for me), runners, some with dogs and other bikers. I wore a sweatshirt and it was a bit cool at 56 degrees but pleasant all the same with the sunshine and slight breeze.

Miss Elise is 6

Recipes

Colleen says this is the difference between us but I actually think we have this in common.

RV Flooring replacement

Butch started tearing out carpeting yesterday to get a better idea of what we are dealing with to replace all the flooring in the RV. At this point, it seems a bit overwhelming but as in all things, we will take it one step at a time.

Hole in one for Butch

The big news of the day is that Butch finally got a hole in one! No witnesses of course but he says he whooped it up pretty good and he is satisfied knowing that he has one.

Elise's Self-portrait

Her mama says:"The one on the left is from the beginning of the year and the one on the right is a recent self-portrait. Wow, the change in a school year!!"

And the year is Kindergarten!

Crazy Hair day

Little Leo has a natural mohawk due to two cowlicks. So it is a natural event to have a mohawk for crazy hair day at preschool

And Miss Elise chose a princess hairstyle for a sleek look.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mothers day. Karla, my niece, came over and we went for an 8 mile bike ride on the trail. We fixed a loin for dinner along with a bunch of veggies. Gary called for a good visit and Jason came over today and took us out for breakfast. So it was all good.

My yesterday

Butch went to Mickeys to help put her new shed together. My original plan was to ride to the river but the wind was up a bit so decided I could burn more calories working in the yard. Last fall Butch seeded our formerly mud area in the backyard with grass seed and I am sure many of you know that in so doing the grass seed does not always stay where you want so I had plenty of unwanted grass patches between my pavers on the path to the Moho. I dug them all out. Cleaned up the area around the hostas on the north and in those few words and two chores I spent all morning! The belltower started chiming and I started counting and was shocked to hear it was noon!
My improvement plans for the southwest corner of the living room are 3/4 done. A couple of years ago we dismantled a desk and used part of it for Butch's hideyhole desk in the closet and the rest of it to hold odds and ends next to my desk. It looked unsightly and unfinished so I planned to dispose of it. However, my teammate asked what I planned to do with the stuff in the drawers. Buy something new? As I am all about reuse and restore I changed my thinking and with Butch's help and some paint we now have a new printer stand.

I have also been thinking about something to hold the NuWave oven and induction plate and my first thought was a small kitchen island but that thought meta-morphed into a stainless steel cart. Went to my first source for such things, Amazon.com and found one for $130 but that did not include the casters-another 40 bucks! So I kept dragging my feet. I would go look at it then click out without buying and I did this for several days in a row. Then on Wednesday in my email was a Costco notice for online only items and there was a cart! $77 and it already has the casters on it and free shipping. It is slightly smaller than the other one and  it will fit better. Sometimes when something is holding you back it is for a good reason. And for those of you trying to help, I looked in many other places than those two, Craigslist, Wayfair, Overstock etc to name a few.
So the new cart will be here Tuesday and I will post pics of the finished improvements of the southwest corner of our living space.

River Ride

Decided to get another ride in today and when I started out, my legs said, "Really? We  are going to do this again?"  And I said, "Yes, but I will go slow and if you give me any trouble at all we will stop."
So down the trail we went headed for the Raccoon River Valley Bridge. The weather is perfect, very light breeze, full-on sunshine, birds singing and flowers blooming. It was a perfect day and a perfect ride and I hope it is the first of many more.
We have a flooding situation. The bridge always makes me a bit uneasy when it is in the flood stage.

OMG

Just returned from my first bike ride since October of 2015 and I am a pooped pup! I started out and thought, "This isn't too bad." But then I started thinking it was really too easy and noticed the wind was from the northeast but I kept going. The trail is always easy going DOWN to the river and not as easy coming back UP to town. Funny how your memory sometimes fails on these things. I thought I will just take it easy. It will be okay. But then I decided perhaps it was a bit too much for my first go of the year so stopped short of the river probably a half to three-quarter of a mile. I am  so glad that I did because the trip back was the workout of the year. Now I am home and recovering. Butch is on the golf course getting his workout but I know mine was tougher!

Naturally pleasing arrangement.

This was my turn around point. Picture faces south.

Artistic bend

Early this morning, a few minutes after 6:00 AM this was the view on my wall. It was created by the sun shining through an east window and making this artistic feature on a west wall. I like it. A true artist does not owe anyone an explanation.  

Latest project- ironing board desk

This is not the best of pictures but it gives you the idea.
Ingredients:
1 adjustable ironing board
1 5 ft.x 16 inch laminate white board
8-10 right sized screws.
Directions:
Mount best-looking side of board evenly centered on ironing board. If you have any DYI skills at all you can figure the rest out. And to answer the first question- it is far sturdier than you might imagine.

Wah la- a new desk!

And now I can see outdoors while computing. Yeah!