Another fun, run day!

It was a beautiful morning for a run!  This time, it was a bigger team.  We named ourselves The Gimp Squad due to the various injuries many of us have.  Justine screen printed shirts for us all and we were ready to Run or Dye!

See, we're all white, shiny and clean!

The team consisted of my three children and myself,  Justine's fiance (James), his two brothers and their mom.  A good time was had by all!  In this particular race, you run (or walk, or skip, or generally be silly) through the 5k course where there are 'dye stations' where you are pelted with cornstarch based dye powder.  

James and his little brother wheelbarrow their way through the orange station.

 A kiss in the pink!

 At the finish line.  

 Justine

 Karl (now he's 14!!) doing the rock star look!

 Ian (now 17!)

 Me!  Not sure how to act in front of the camera!

James, my future son-in-law.

After a bit more playing in the dye and dancing, this was the final effect!

Poor Vernon missed the fun.  He has two articles due on Monday morning so it is a work weekend for him.    That, and he's not really into this sort of thing...

A lovely, busy week

It has been a wonderful week, full of fun and family and all kinds or goodness!

Justine and I had a girls weekend.  Friday night we wandered into town to attend ArtsFest, a free music and art festival.  We got to see the Indigo Girls in concert.

 Sorry, it isn't the best photo but there is only so much you can do with a phone!
Saturday morning we went to Mount Vernon to attend the Chocolate Stroll.  We did the 5k race.

 I placed second in my age category!  But before you get too excited, there were only three in my age category!

And here is my darling daughter and I, enjoying some time together.

And finally, in honor of my birthday, Justine made a fabulous cake!

I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!!

Putting on the gloves

I've resorted to welding gloves to gather eggs.

Zeva, our gold laced Wyandotte has gone broody.  However, since I just added 4 new pullets to the flock I'm not really eager to let her try to hatch out any more chicks.  Hence the welding gloves.  She is pretty vicious when I try to steal her babies... or at least what she thinks are her babies.  poor thing. I hope that she'll get over it soon.  At least I noticed her out with the others when I opened the coop.

In other news, we are frantically doing landscaping/weeding/yard work as well as cleaning the house.  We're hosting the Iowa Steampunk group on Sunday afternoon for a Tea/Garden Party.  You know, croquet and cucumber sandwiches. It should be fun... assuming the weather cooperates. We're currently forecast to be in the mid 90's on Sunday afternoon.  That's awfully hot to be wearing a gown outside.  We'll be sure to take lots of photos.

I'm still battling rabbits and deer in the garden- and chipmunks.  Grrr.... chipmunks!  I planted my three sisters.  And then, a few days later, noticed that nearly every single seed had been dug up and eaten.  I've had hardly anything planted from seed survive in the garden this year.  sigh.  But at least my tomatoes have recovered and are doing well.  But I need to weed.  Always weeding.  it never ends.

Muddy Day!

Today, Justine and I completed the Iowa Games Mud Run.  Whew!  What a challenge.  Mother nature has been 'helping' on the course and there was more mud than expected.  In fact, they had to alter the course because some areas were under too much water to be safe to have people run through.
So we did about 3 miles in mostly shin deep mud or knee deep water.  Only having the mud two to three inches deep was heavenly.

I'll be honest, we both struggled.  But, we weren't the only ones struggling. It was tough going out there.
Here are a few photos of the day.  And, yes, I'm posting photos that are not at all flattering.

 Prior to the run, we are clean and happy.

 Justine donned her muddy paint, ready to tackle the world.

 And we're off!

 Coming up on the finish.... This is some of the shallow mud!

 We haven't even had water yet- why are you taking our photo?  I look like I really want to kill someone!

Finally... happy to take off the shoes!  We both made it through with our shoes intact.  We saw many, many abandoned shoes along the way.  We wondered at the race start why so many people were running barefoot... now we know!  Next time- barefoot it is!!  Shoes become a liability in knee deep muck.

But like they say...  What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.  One month to go before zombie race!

Excitement!!

A little excitement here this evening!  First (and sorry, no photos- it didn't last long!), the first harvest from the greenhouse:  A lovely, tasty radish!  Mmmm....
Next, and even more exciting, V won tickets to a concert tomorrow night!  The Alloy Orchestra (a three man group!) is doing a live performance of the score (with restored movie print!) of the classic silent vampire movie Nosferatu.  Isn't that the coolest thing?! So we've got a Thursday night date night! This is something we really had wanted to see but weren't willing to spend the money on tickets.  But it was meant to be!  I'll have to get to bed early tonight so I can stay up that late.

A full day Sunday

What a day we had yesterday.  Whew!  Packed full of wonderfulness.
First, V took I15 to church so I could work on weeding some more in the garden.  Yeah, I skipped out of church to take advantage of the beautiful weather we were having, and because I knew that we had plans for the afternoon.
So, church over, we headed down to Mt Pleasant (about 60 miles away) to attend the Midwest Old Settlers and Threshers Reunion.  They've stopped numbering them so I'm not sure what year this event is up to but I've been going since I was a child.  It is a festival of all things old having to do with farming and life in the midwest.  They have antique steam and gasoline tractors, farm machinery of all sorts: horse, steam and gasoline powered, a printing press, and vendors galore.  V got a couple of boxcars from his favorite train guy and I picked up two small pieces of pottery from a potter who was there doing demonstrations as well as selling her wares.  I got a small bowl and a garlic plate- more about those another time.  And I did stop at- get this "Judy's Quilt Shop" where there were ladies using treadle machines to piece wonderful quilts.  But, alas, they weren't able to help either in my quest for needles for my machine.
After wandering the reunion grounds and filling ourselves with delightful food, we traveled the 27 miles further south to my parents so spend a little time with them.  Dad had to show us the mutant corn stalk he found in the field.

 It's kind of hard to see but there are 11 ears on this stalk.  As Dad said:  I guess that's what you get when you start splicing genes.

 It's kind of a jumbled mess.

The one ear that had any corn on it is mostly empty due to the drought.
Mom and Dad also gifted us with some winter squash.  They harvested 25 butternut, 20 buttercup and who knows how many acorn squash and don't seem to think that they can eat all of those.

And the buttercup squash aren't keeping so we took several of those.  In fact, half of one of these will likely become chicken food soon as it is already getting soft.  We do have some winter squash of our own so we should be pretty well set. I've spotted several large Long Island Cheese out in the garden and the vines are still going strong.  So, if we have a long fall, we'll hopefully get a few.

I'll be posting again later about a new to me melon review.  Ooo, two posts in one day. I'm not sure I can stand the strain.  Ok, mostly I'm avoiding all the work I have to do.

Home at last!

And everything here is green!!  Woo Hoo!  I dumped 1.8 inches of rain from the gauges and that was even after a few days of evaporation.  The lawn will need mowed and I think the weeds in the garden grew several feet!
And good guesses on the last post.  We have spent the last week on a family vacation in cabins on Lake Vermillion in Minnesota.  We were there with V's mother, all his siblings and the niece and nephew.  My MIL is originally from that area and her brother, sister and some other relatives came to spend a day with us as well.
My children got to spend time with their cousins who they rarely get to see.  I've got the oldest and youngest of them- so all 5 cousins are between the ages of 12 and 18.   So they were quite able to amuse themselves on an island with lots of water sports opportunities. The place we were staying gave us free access to canoes, kayaks and waterbikes (fun contraptions!), there was a swimming beach with floating islands, a water slide and a zip line and we rented a speed boat for water skiing and tubing.  We also did some fishing, hiking and took a day trip to the International Wolf Center in Ely.  A grand time was had by all.
Now, after a nine and a half hour drive home, we are all tired.  I was feeling pretty good, even with all the novel strenuous activity, until I sat in the van for that long.  Now I'm stiff and sore but I've got TONS of work to do tomorrow.  It was too late today to pick tomatoes but I know they are out there and I saw several split ones.  I don't think I've lost too many due to not being here.  I picked about every tomato that was even thinking about ripening and took them along with us so we had fresh tomatoes all week. The relatives raved about them!
But, here is another photo to embarrass myself:

My pathetic attempt at water skiing.  We did a 'geriatric run' for all of us over 45- without children along so they wouldn't laugh at us.  I never made it fully up.  But then, I haven't water skied since I was 17!  However, I give all of us kudos for at least making the attempt.  I was much better at tubing!

More tomorrow after a good night's sleep in my own bed.  And besides- today is V's birthday and we spent it all driving.

Sharing a secret

Guess what?  I've got a little secret.  Well, not really a secret, just not something I have been talking about here... and why I've been a bit quiet this week.
My confession?  I've been on vacation!   A REAL VACATION!  With little to no internet connection.
Check it out and see if you can guess where I've been....

And yes, that splash you see is me hitting the water at 30 mph.  Awesome!!!

So, any guesses???

It has been a fun week but I can't wait to get home to see what's happening with my garden.

Finally done!

What a day!  First, I had to work at the hospital today.  Getting to work on football Saturdays is always an adventure, especially since today was an 11am game and the tailgaters start early.  For those of you unfamiliar to the IC area, the football stadium is across the street from the hospital.  Definitely someone was NOT planning ahead on that one, although the original hospital was probably a block or more away but has grown to be huge over the years.  So, with traffic and pedestrians on football days it always seems to take extra time to get there.  And that's even with V dropping me off a block or so away and me walking in the rest of the way.  The hospital is also on security lockdown to keep rowdy fans out (mainly to keep them from using the restrooms!)  Even leaving can be tricky, depending on the time.
Anyway, I made it home mid afternoon and helped the boys a bit with their outside task that V had set for them.   We had some landscaping block delivered this week and the boys were digging the soil back for setting a new retaining wall beside the back door as well as the hole for the concrete footer for the deck extension.
That job done (well, mostly), we all rushed off to the mall for V's book signing.  He didn't have a line of people there but had people at the table pretty steadily.  My brother stopped by to get his book signed and the pastor of our church was there as well.  The children and I picked out books and used the gift cards we had collected.  We over-shot a bit on our estimate and I ended up having to pay $14 out of pocket.  It's easy to spend $100 on books!  I14 got three new novels (two in a series he's been reading- he got most books since most of the cards were his), K11 got 2 books and J17 and I each picked out one.  I had a hard time picking a book- there were too many choices.  I was looking at some farmstead reference books but didn't see any that thrilled me that I didn't already have.  I don't need another cookbook.  They didn't have any of the herbal references that are on my wish list.  So, I ended up with a novel- a sci-fi/fantasy, end of the world romp with lots of magic and good vs evil stuff:  Darkwar by Glen Cook.  I'm needing some light winter reading so I hope this one is good.  I'm still working on the book I got at the Atlanta airport (Cleopatra) on our way home from Annapolis after I finished the one I had with me (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents).
After all the book store excitement, V, the boys and I went out to dinner- nothing fancy, just the Chili's out by the mall.  Now I remember why we don't do anything like that often- not that the food wasn't good- it just wasn't GREAT.   J17 drove separately since she has a birthday party for one of her friends this evening so didn't come with us.
At least I had K11 help me chase the chickens into the coop before we left so we didn't have to go out in the dark to close them in.  But, I did forget to leave any lights on at home and we came home to a dark house.  Oh well, no harm done.
Now, I'm tired.  I've got a load of laundry going but it may stay in the washer until morning.  We'll see how long I can stay awake.  This working 6 days straight is draining.  Good thing I've still got 2 days off- tomorrow and Monday and I only have to work three days this week.  Sweet!

I'm back...

After a long day of travel, V and I arrived home Monday night.  Sadly, he came down with a cold Sunday night and was a miserable flyer.  But we had a lovely trip and the weather home was beautiful. We were able to see a lovely sunset above the clouds:

I've been dragging for the past two days.  I think I need a vacation from my vacation!  The garden has not miraculously weeded itself or recovered from the weird weather of the year.  But a few firsts!

Last night we had our first watermelon.  One of our two melons that set on. This is a Golden Midget from Baker Creek.  It probably could have ripened for another day but we were excited to eat it.  It was small enough that we finished the entire melon in one sitting- handy because I really hate having a watermelon taking up so much space in my fridge.  Definitely one to remember next year.
And today another first:

5 EGGS!!  INCLUDING OUR FIRST BLUE EGG!!!  WOOT!  This means that the little girls are starting to lay.  I've had my eye on a couple of them for the past week or so.
We have the potential for patchy frost tonight.  WAAAY too early in my book.  I don't really think it will be a problem- they're forecasting 34 but the sky is clear so who knows.  Honestly, I don't really care if the garden gets hit at this point.  After 4 days of not being picked, I only got half of a 5 quart pail of tomatoes.
But we do have peppers:

So, just in case, I picked a pail of peppers to freeze.   Guess what I'm doing after dinner...

Not much else is going on here.  The children are settling back into the routine of school, the chickens are doing what chickens do, the cats are being catty and the dog is ruling over all.

Oh, and a question.  I've got some quite overgrown pattypan squash.  I've been splitting them and feeding them to the chickens.  But does anyone know if I can store them like a winter squash for the winter?  I may try it just to see what happens.  I don't see why they wouldn't work.

What a great day

Nothing to take away from the history of the day and the sadness we all feel...
But we had a great day!
First this morning:  Brunch at V's friend's home.  I got to have a total local/sustainable foods geek moment!  It seems that his friend is also a local/sustainable food fan and, living close enough to DC, she has made the connection with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms and meets him at his every 6 week drop off in the DC area.  So this morning, I got to have eggs and sausage from Polyface farms.  Of course, I was one of two guests present who actually knew the significance of that.  It was, for me, a true local foods nirvana moment!  The eggs were tasty and the sausage was fabulous!  It has been fun this weekend to be able to talk with others who 'get it'.
Then at 1, we met my sister and her husband in Annapolis.
Here we are:

We took a ride on a water taxi from the city harbor to the maritime museum.  We went way out into the bay so it was fun!

It was especially fun because there was another couple on board with small children.  It was so great to see the little boy's face (he was probably 3 or 4) when we passed a sailboat flying a pirate flag.  It was priceless.
There is evidence around of the hurricane and recent flooding.  Look below at all the flotsam in the water.

 There were lots of logs and branches floating all over, most likely washed into the bay with all the rain.
After lunch at the Chart House restaurant (mmmm... crabcakes!) we wandered around on Main Street.
Here is my BIL with his service dog Bryce.

Poor puppy was not expecting to have to get on a boat today and was a bit freaked out.  But, all in all, he did pretty well.  At the end of the afternoon, we were all tired puppies.
It was so great to see my sister and BIL, even if only for an afternoon.  Maybe we'll have to do this again sometime.

A day in Annapolis

V and I arrived in Annapolis last night and had a late dinner in a local restaurant.  This morning, we set out to explore.

It was a lovely day. This is the view down Main Street outside the hotel:

 We are staying at the historic Maryland Inn.  It was built in the late 1700s and many delegates of the Continental Congress stayed there when Annapolis was the national capitol- when the Treaty of Paris was ratified at the end of the Revolutionary War.
The hotel is built on a triangle between streets and is an interesting shape:

It is said that Ben Franklin and many other notables had drinks in the restaurant/tavern in the basement of the inn.  How cool is that!!
From the hotel, we walked the few blocks down the the city harbor:

And back inland to the State House:

Sadly, the State House is under renovation and we couldn't go in.  We wanted to see the room where George Washington resigned his commission prior to accepting the presidency.  We are such geeks!!
Right after lunch time we headed just a few miles East to V's friend's home.  Here is the birthday girl cutting her cake!

We had a wonderful time and met lots of great, interesting people.
V even got to do his very first book signing!

Tomorrow, we will go back to his friend's house for brunch and then will meet my sister here in Annapolis. 

So far, we're having a wonderful time and have managed to unwind.  There is a bit of tension though, being this close to DC on the anniversary of 9/11.  The terror alert is high and it was so odd to see signs along the highway urging people to report suspicious activity.  A bit of culture shock for those of us who have been out of the East Coast mentality for the past 17 years.

Now off to bed.  Tomorrow is another busy, hopefully relaxing day.

Excitedly busy

I'm frantically busy this evening.  So what am I doing???  Blogging of course.
Tomorrow afternoon V and I board a plane bound for Maryland.  We'll fly into BWI and spend the weekend in Annapolis.  My parents are coming up to stay with the children for the weekend.
I'm just about done packing.  V is picking me up from work at lunchtime Friday and we're heading straight to the airport.  We'll be back Monday night.
We're staying at a the Maryland Inn- a historic inn in Annapolis- built in the late 1700's.  Too cool.  We're hoping to see my sister this weekend as well.  I'm really looking forward to some down time with my honey.
I'm taking my laptop along- we'll see if I make time to post or not.

Old Threshers 2011

After the nearly 1.5 inches of rain we got yesterday today dawned cool, clear and beautiful.  Since the weather was so gorgeous, we took a trip an hour south of us to Mt Pleasant to go the the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.  I've been attending this off and on since I was a child.  My Dad has an antique tractor that my grandfather used to exhibit and drive in the Parade of Power.  It isn't on exhibit anymore (Dad noticed too many of the brass parts kept coming up missing) but the event is still going on strong. I'm not sure what number reunion this was but it's a lot! So, here are a few photos of the day.

There was a steam calliope.  They had just stopped playing when we got close enough for photos.
And below, the line up of steam tractors:

 And there is always horsepower of a different sort:

 And everyone's favorite:

The steam train engines!!
In the video below I made a mistake in the voice over. They are actually using a horse-powered baler.  They had been threshing earlier.

The demonstrations are always fun.  We also got to see a potter working, the steam powered veneer mill and the steam thresher.  Oh, and there is always the blacksmith shop and new this year a wheelwright.
And there are always the obligatory photos with the NEW farm machinery.  This year it was Case rather than John Deere.  The tractor below costs more than we paid for our entire property!!

 And J17 likes the photo below enough that she is considering using it for one of her senior pictures.

It is definitely her!
Even the drive home was beautiful.

The crops are beginning to change and there is the hint of fall in the air.