Jason & Laura Brooker

We attended a very special wedding this past Thursday. Our youngest son Jason married his best friend Laura. She has been a loved part of our family for a long time and "At Last" it is official.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Sun Kissed

Every now and then Iowa offers up a special treat. The sun was low on the western horizon and kissing the tree tops offering us this special view.

Lake Anita Walk

Make a Smilebox greeting

Frost on the Pumpkin

Woke up to frost this morning! 32 degrees! I looked at the 10 day forecast and the prediction for frost on the pumpkin is steady through the next 10 days. That is about how long we will remain in Iowa before we go to Missouri and see if it is better there.

There was a new post on the Magnolia Park blog about their first garage sale. Two things I noticed-people were wearing shorts and someone had a tee shirt that said "Keep Austin Weird". Texans thinks Austin is weird! How interesting.

Auction Results

It didn't go so well. There were no buyers there. The car brought a reasonable price but the rest of it brought next to nothing. Slightly better than giving it away which we nearly did. Butch and I have had two auctions neither of them very successful. The one conclusion we have come to is that when and if we furnish another home we will do it through auctions. A perfectly good bedroom suite- 3 pieces-brought $12.50! If a person is patient and persistent an entire home could be furnished for next to nothing.

We had not been to an auction for a long time so from an unattached perspective it was interesting. And I could have been tempted a time or two but the old question of where do I put it in the motorhome stops me every time.

As the year goes by we do put things aside for sale when we get back to Magnolia Park in south Texas. I have never seen sales do as well as they do there anywhere else in the country!

Cold & Rainy!

We are all cuddled in our cozy little home. Todays weather is like the worst weather day we could get in the middle of January in south Texas. The high for today in Anita Iowa is 45 degrees!!! It is a TV and popcorn day.

Movie in Lenox

My sister Teri is a teacher in Lenox IA where they made a movie. She sent me a link to the trailer for the movie.
"There is a trailer on youtube for “The Crazies”. My room is in the very last scene in it, where the room is full of gurneys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwEtEnf0M4"

Teri

Jason & Laura

A week from today Jason and Laura are getting married at the Willow Creek Glass Chapel in Minden IA. I will take pictures of course and post them.

At Lake Anita

We left our spot in Jefferson yesterday and made our way a few miles further south to Lake Anita State Park, Anita Iowa. We will be here until October 8th when our youngest son, Jason is getting married. More on that later.
After we arrived yesterday we went to Atlantic to visit with friends Randy and Sherri. Randy has been seriously ill but seems to be slowly on the mend now. We have been concerned about him. He isn't out of the woods just yet but we hope he is headed in the right direction.
We also stopped by Bob's apartment and picked up a bit so it wasn't quite so disastrous. We left the keys so we can close that chapter completely now. I plan to go visit him but after the auction.
Rainy day- I hope to get a walk in but we may have to work it in between showers.
Later...

Life goes on...

Yesterday Butch filled in for our friend Randy as he is under the weather. He played with Sherri and two other couples in a golf tournament in Red Oak. I stayed in Jefferson and went for a long walk around the town. Bumped into friend Shirley Franey and we chatted a bit. Other than that it was me and the cat. I did watch Our National Parks by Ken Burns on PBS and enjoyed it very much.
Oh yes, they did well in the golf tournament with a 64 but they did too well and didn't cash in. It is the nature of things.
Today we are headed to Clive, near Des Moines, to assist friend Mickey in some gutter work on her house.
Soon, like Wednesday or Thursday we will be changing our location to Lake Anita.

Just too funny!!!

I could not resist on this one...Really struck my funny bone! Click on it...should make it bigger.

Free at Last!

Butch and I finished up with Bob's apartment on Wednesday. His auction will take place Oct 1st. It was a big job but we kept at it till it was all done and now we can return to our normal routines. Yesterday was a day of rest and doing only what suited us. We went for a two mile walk, I took a nap in the afternoon,Butch played golf.
I stopped at the courthouse to have my memory refreshed about tax sales and when they take place etc. So next June something may be available for us to buy. Too early to tell now but we were told it is very likely something will be available.
The weather has been uncommonly good. Moderate temperatures with more than enough sunshine every day.
Life is good!

Golf tournament

Randy, Sherri, Doug, Karen, Butch and I played in a golf tournament in Atlantic on Sunday. We came in the money! I felt okay about how I played considering I haven't touched a club since March. It was a fun day and I sure needed one. I am pictured here with my club, a golf ball and a red beer. Doug asked me if I wanted a beer. I said only if you have a V8 for me to mix it with. And he had one!! It is such a rare sight to see me with a beer that they HAD to take my picture. I am with Sherri in this shot.

New Tires plus Bob

We got all new tires mounted on the motorhome today. That was a major bite in the budget. We should be good to go for another 5 or 6 years now.

I am still snowed under with Bob's stuff but I made great strides yesterday when I called the auction people to come give me an assessment. They were very encouraging and I now feel I can see the end of the tunnel. There will be an auction in Atlantic of his things including car on October 1st. It might pay his way in the nursing home for one more month. The whole experience has made me grateful we have nursing home insurance.
It has also once again made me aware of material things and their lack of value. Bob has a list of over 100 items he wants me to bring to the nursing home. He will not have room for even one fourth of his requests. Many of his things will be stored in the nursing home basement where he can "visit" them. Among his requests are 4 mirrors, all of them larger than 2'x 3', 10 to 15 decorative items to hang on the walls, 7 or 8 stuffed animals, 4 personal pictures and a plethora of plastic flower arrangements. He also wants his fishing poles,tackle box, tool box,recliner, marble topped coffee table, desk, home theater system, radio, side chair and 4 lamps. He made me a list. It covers both sides of an 8 x 11 sheet of paper and he writes very tiny. And now you have had a glimpse of my life for the past two weeks. And I haven't even mentioned the law suit he wants to bring against a surgeon and the Cass Co. Hospital. He was really hot to go visit with lawyers on that subject for the first week. I have hopes he has backed off on that one but there is no guarantee the subject will not come up again. The man has trouble letting go of anything!!!
On the positive side- He loves the nursing home food. Says it is top notch.

I will let you all know when I am once again free of the ties that bind.

Yesterday and today

Yesterday was catch up day for me after not being home much all week. So laundry and cleaning took the bulk of the day. And then in late afternoon we went to Spring Lake for a retirees reunion for Iowa Electric/Alliant Energy. Not only did Butch work for Alliant Energy my father was an employee of Iowa Electric before he died. So I knew most of the people there. It was great to see all those people again.

Today we are headed to Atlantic to play in a golf tournament with our friends Randy and Sherri Clark. I haven't played since Texas but I doubt that it matters much. Doesn't to me anyway!!

Another update is that we met with the landowner in Jefferson that we had high hopes would develop into something. It won't. It seems Jefferson is not really very interested in new citizens. We are still looking at Cooper, Jamaica and Yale. Jefferson went even further down the list when Butch found out there is a surveyor who runs this town and the property herein. Even so far as to tell a property owner, the one we wanted to deal with, what he can ask for his property and what he has to do to it to have it ready for sale. This guy goes to every city council meeting and puts his two cents in every time property is discussed. It is no wonder this town is sinking!
Butch checked with another surveyor in another county and the rules the Jefferson guy are instituting are peculiar to this town. So is he making his own rules? We tend to think so.
Maybe we will take a closer look at Cooper.

This is all there is to say...

Today I am off to deal with more of Bob's(step-father) stuff. The good news of that is my lifelong friend Mickey is going with me. That will make it a much more pleasant day.

Yesterday we got the faceplate put on the new car and it is ready to tow so we have been on the move. Angel doesn't like it when we are both gone all the time but she is an easygoing cat and doesn't make us "pay" too much. Now when is the laundry going to get done?????

Turn of Events

My step-father Robert Turnbull of Atlantic Iowa is in the nursing home in Anita Iowa-Colonial Manor. The doctor has put his foot down and says he can no longer take care of himself at home. Bob has no children or other relatives to take care of his loose ends for him so it seems I have the job. I will be getting his small senior citizen apartment cleared out as well as all the other stuff that takes place in this situation. So if there is a gap in communications on the blog you now know why. I would ask you all to help but there is barely room for me in his apartment!!
Deadline: October 1st.

Great time at the Fair

Assembly line onion rings-Patti, Norma, Barb and Leslie are double dipping those onions while the guys are cooking them. They were absolutely delicious of course and not one bit good for my blood sugar.


We had a great time at the fair. The weather cooperated the entire time. My Swedish weaving turned out exactly opposite what I would have thought. My brown "Melody Ann" pattern received a first place and the child's alphabet one received a second. And my pictures won 3 seconds and one third. It was my first time entering and I indeed learned a few things that would help in the future.More photos are located at http://community.webshots.com/user/barbie1943

At the Fair

We arrived yesterday, early afternoon. The fair does not start till Saturday but we come early to get a good campsite and party with friends. Dale and Norma Cooklin and Dick and Leslie Cleaveland are here too. Last night we went for a walk,picked up our fair tickets and then went out to eat. Excellent Chinese restaurant.
We were pleased to learn that the fair has free wifi. So we should be able to post freely as well...with pictures asap!
We had hoped to bring the car this year but we are not geared up yet to tow so left it in Jefferson. That is for all you folks in the area of Spencer that were expecting a visit from us.
Oh yes, we had two new tires put on the MoHo yesterday and after getting a closer look at the remaining ones we ordered four more. They looked much worse than we could see at first. We are warned repeatedly with RV's that the miles are not the important part with tires. It is the age. And five years is old. A blowout on an RV usually includes serious damage to the RV so we want to be as safe from that occurring as possible.
More later...

One of the first...

...leaves to fall.
Not been saying much lately.
Butch and I have returned to our 2 miles a day for a walk. Fortunately the weather has been beautiful. It is amazing how quickly one can take good weather for granted. I am forever grateful for the good days. For one thing I have lived in this part of the country long enough to know how quickly it can change and how long the really icky stuff can hang around for what seems like forever.
Tomorrow we are headed up to Spencer Iowa for the Clay County Fair where we will be meeting up with Magnolia Park friends Dale and Norma Cooklin and Dick & Leslie Cleaveland. I have some photography and Swedish weaving entries this year. Makes it a bit more interesting for me to be there. And it will be good to meet up with old friends.
And today we made another change. We switched our medical doctoring to Jefferson from Atlantic. Eye doctor and dentist have not been changed as yet. It was interesting when I was asked if I was ever a patient there before. I said,"I was born here". So it took awhile but they located all my ancient history.
Till next time...