good people

Tonight we gathered at a friends home to help her with yard work.
Dave and Betty are our very good friends.Dave has lung cancer and will not be with us long enough.
Betty has not been able to get her yard work done like she normally has it.
We put out a call for help from a few groups.The response was fantastic.The young people and their parents came from the UCC church,there were friends with their husbands from Betty's woman's group and men from the K of C group. In just over an hour all the work was done in Dave and Betty's yard and her Mothers who lives next door.
It was amazing to see everyone pitch in and do what needed to be done.
What a great bunch of people!!!
Dave was able to come outside for a little while so we gathered around him for a picture.
Thanks to you all.
j

4th celebrations

We have a wonderful 4th of July celebration in the town of Iowa Falls.5 miles from our town. It is where both Mr.T and I and all our children were born.
It is a 3 day affair with so much to do. We plan on going to the flight breakfast and several other things held at the Bill Riley park.
There are always class reunions and we see people we have not seen since last year.There is a very long parade and fire works at the end of the celebration.
The river is very high and I'm not sure what affect it will have on the river show they plan to have.
http://www.iowafallsdevelopment.com/iowafallschamber/


In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britian.
I found this explanation for children on line and find it interesting.Read it very carefully.Makes ME wonder how it is any different today.

"Most people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July, but do you know exactly why the holiday is so important to our country? Imagine how you would feel if someone older than you (maybe an older sister or brother) kept telling you what to do all of the time and kept taking more and more of your allowance. That is how the colonists felt in the years leading up to 1776. Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. People started getting mad and began making plans to be able to make their own rules. They no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, so they decided to tell Great Britain that they were becoming an independent country. (To be independent means to take care of yourself, making your own rules and providing for your own needs.)"

Here is a link to read more of the explanation. If a child can read and understand this Adults should be able to read and understand. Tell me how is it any different now? Too many taxes--- too many rules in 1776 and 2010.
http://holidays.kaboose.com/july4-why.html


Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July

cherry pie

Well! It has been a really LONG time since I baked a cherry pie.Mr.T. bless him went up to weed the community garden spot I took this year.We got grass clippings on most of it but the part we did not have it on is full of grass.Nasty quake grass.
While doing the dishes I thought I'd bake him a pie.



Wouldn't you know I didn't get the edges sealed and it ran out.
Oh well it will taste good just the same.j

Minnesota storms/girls visit/rag purses.

We headed out to take the girls home.We had planned to camp in Owatonna Mn.
We called to confirm the reservation only to find they had had so much rain that they thought our rv would sink and be stuck.
We called our friends who had built a new home we had not seen yet and so we invited ourselves to a visit.Well actually they had asked when we were coming for a visit.It was sooner than we all thought.
It was a very good thing we went to their house.The tornado's went right through Owatonna.
We were secure inside.At around 11:00 and went to the Rv to sleep.

Our friends new home is absolutely beautiful. The sewing rooms are perfect. The pantry off the kitchen is big with a counter big enough for all the small appliances.Shelves with room for all the canned foods you can possibly need.I really love that pantry.

The girls said they had a good week.Kendra was homesick several times but she toughed it out.
As you can see they spent time in front of the tv watching avatar.

They live in a city where they can not ride to the pool , the parks or the school playground alone.Not the case in small town Iowa.They went to all those places while they were here.
We went shopping a couple of times, out to eat a few times and did a few crafts. We made purse/bags out of rag rugs.

We stopped at the Mn. welcome sign.For this picture.Mr. T was not to keen on stopping along side of the road. States need to put a pull off by their signs for people like me who like to take pictures there.

I love to have them come but am tired from the camping trip.haha
Camping is supposed to be relaxing!

We are invited to a wedding on July 3rd. We can not attend.Ice cream freezers are the gift we give. I really hate to waste money on wrapping paper. A long time I came up with the idea to wrap the gift in a bath towel making the bow from 2 wash clothes. The cost for the gift wrapping is about the same as paper wrappings. The gifts wrappings are always a hit with the bride and groom.





Hope your week is a good one.j

arms and legs attached

I was going to start dressing the dolls but when I handled them I got paint on my fingers.They need longer to be completely dry.The center doll and doll on the right are Susan Fosnot's pattern.The doll on the left is my MJ pattern.

Alden Days

What a great fire works,every year, for such a small town.
We had a absolutely perfect day.nice breeze and lower humidity.the rain held off until minutes after the fire works was over.
Some day I will buy a new camera and get some really good night pictures. for now here are a few.
Have a great week everyone
j

A sign of the times

It says it all.








A sign of the times--sad

Father's day picnic

We met the youngest daughter and part of her family today in Albert Lea Mn. We had a picnic at a lake and brought our grand daughter and her friend home for the week.nothing better!! than grands!!

small pond update

The pond lost water 2 nights in a row.I think there is a leak in the hose to the hand pump on the right end.
I rigged up another water pump with a water feature until Mr.T. can fix the leak.
Years ago I made a hypertufa ball.We had used it as a water feature on the big pond when I first made it.We now have a boy holding a shell so the ball needed a new place.
I have had a big old insulator for many many years.In its up right position it was the bottom to a small patio table.now it is upside down and the base to the hypertufa ball.
I have more rocks to move around the spillway and i think the area is done.What a beautiful day in Iowa!! 77 degrees and 47% humidity.I love it!!!j

A UFO finished

I have had this doll painted and repainted several times.I was never satisfied with her.Today she is finished for the last time.I like her very much.Her crooked little mouth and big eyes make me smile. She is sitting in a coffee can to dry so it was hard to get a good picture.She had her arms and legs attached so the arms have to hang by the side of the can to dry.
I have a hat for her that I bought in a kids 2nd hand store that will be perfect.
She is the biggest doll in this group picture. She had her first layer of paint over the first face.Poor thing. I really do love her now.

Sophie doll

She finally has hair and an outfit.

another doll and our 2nd rv trip

I stared painting another doll today.It is raining again so no out side work for today.


Sat. We were going early to southern Iowa to take our flowered sofa and chair to out daughter's planning to pull it with the rv then camp over night.
Well wouldn't ya know it was raining.So we thought we would just take it Sunday with the pickup pulling the trailer.Later Sat. it cleared and we went with our first plan.
We need these short trips to get used to the rv and find out the things we need and things that need to be changed.
One thing that will change is my bed!Not comfortable.!
Just ask Mr. T. how cranky I can be if I do not get a good nights sleep.
We stayed at a nice park.It has a vets memorial(behind the picnic table in the 3rd picture) and a nice big pond with a lot of geese and ducks.
The parking spaces are nice cement pads with grass surround.
We had 5 adults sitting comfortably in the rv.In laws stopped for a visit and DD and DGS .It was raining again Sunday morning when they stopped by,We had a nice visit even if it was short.Good to see them.Once or twice a year is all we get to see Mr. T.'s sister and her husband.
Everyone seems to have such busy lives.
Hope everyone has a great week.j

More progress on the doll

I worked on her for several hours today and I am pleased with the progress.
I am having trouble getting a really good pictures to show the shading.Dark to light.
OH I really love oil painting these dolls.j

Progress on doll.

This morning early, about 2:30 a.m. I did some painting on the 3rd Sami doll.
Pattern by Susan Fosnot.
The color is a bit darker than the 2nd Sami.
Taking pictures and really looking at them helps when I paint.
I see the right side of the mouth needs a thicker line, the nose needs more detail and shading.
I need to lighten the already light areas a bit more.
Hair and eye pupils are needed but over all I am happy with his look.
Woke up(again) at 8 a.m. to more rain. Our weekend plans may change because of even more rain.
The weeds are loving this weather!
Have a good day
j

Another doll/garden produce

I am on a roll. I drew on the face last night,gave it the acrylic outline and the wash of burnt umber.
It is a bigger doll than the other 2 Sami dolls from Susan Fosnot's pattern.
This week I also worked on a challenge doll.This doll is the Sophie pattern by Mc calls. The vintage cloth doll makers yahoo group is having a year long challenge using this doll and her clothes patterns. I have made many rag dolls and did not feel challenged by this pattern so I decided to do a cloth over with inset plastic eyes.
I will work on her hair tonight if she is dry enough.Her mouth gave me a challenge for sure.I could not get the color mixed. finally am happy with the color.

It has been a busy day.Yard work is never done and the day is perfect to be outside.
80's with low humidity.
I moved a lot of Mr.T's stuff.He is a stacker and the area around the garden shed was really piled to the max.I wait for him to move things but he is busy with work and never seems to find the time.

It is all is banished to the area behind the garage/privacy fence where only one neighbor has to see it. I still have a few places that need flowers.The flower boxes under the garden shed windows, and in the watering cans that line the hosta garden.

Taking out the apple tree has allowed more sun into an area of hostas that have not had direct sun before.They have all had a growth spurt. I can not believe how big they all are this year. Next year every hosta in the garden needs to be divided.THAT will be a big job!

Early this morning I picked the first of our strawberries.they are not as big as the last 2 years but still good. they are ready to be stemmed and washed. That is a good sitting on the porch job.
I will make rhubarb/strawberry muffins and try Mikki's strawberry pie recipe.
Of course there is nothing better than strawberries on vanilla ice cream.How is your week?Good I hope j

Pond update/weekend company.

We had a nice visit with our 2 daughters and families.
We went to the local Chinese restaurant for lunch on Sat. I have been taking the grands there since they could eat adult food.Used to be I ordered and they ate off my plate until all I got to eat was the broccoli. It is the best Chinese restaurant in the state of Iowa and maybe in the country.
The time is always too short with them.
They grow so fast. Sydney will fit me into her schedule but Hallie is 16 now and grandma camp is no longer the thing to do. I miss her visits.
Cameron will visit maybe in July. They all live hours away.Of course as you can see the grand dogs came to visit also.
Work on the pond went well today.I still have large rocks to add around the spillway.
Mr.T. hooked made my little fence and hooked up the old water pump.I love the sound of the water.Now I hear it from the front porch.I hear the falling water sound,from the big pond in the back yard, here in the computer room.






The small fish have grown a lot from the time I brought them out of the greenhouse.Some have double their size.Weeds always seem to grow the biggest and fastest.2 flower beds done 3 to go!
Have a great week.j

oil painting a cloth doll

I am working on another doll. I took the class from Susan Fosnot to learn some new techniques and finally got up the courage to attempt another doll.I am happy with how she turned out.I always learn so much from Susan.I then Have to come home and process all I heard and saw.Then in my own space I can produce a doll I am satisfied with.

I made 3 dolls to take to class. I and Susan painted the first one in class.She is always so good to fix problems.The doll on the right in the picture with the 2 dolls is the class doll.

I started yesterday and the first picture is what I got up to today after working on her until I could not sit any longer.A deer in the head lights look for sure.Scarey how they look until you are done.

It is not a Fosnot doll by any stretch but she satisfys me and that is all that counts.Here she is in the flowers.
I need to paint her arms and legs. She will need to dry for a week or so.I'll share when I get her dressed.j

fair tax campaign

We received a letter in the mail asking for our help to abolish the income tax.
Mr. T asked me to look into this and see what it is all about.
Here is a site to read and understand what the change would do for us the American working class.
http://www.fairtax.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10867&news_iv_ctrl=1501




I like this quote from Ronald Reagan.

"Our federal tax system is, in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive, it reeks with injustice and is fundamentally un-American... it has earned a rebellion and it's time we rebelled..." -President Ronald Reagan


Read it and make up your own mind if you'd like to keep your whole pay check.j

Doughnuts/weekend camping

A few weeks ago I found a baked doughnut recipe and wanted to make some baked doughnuts. We looked in every store we thought would have doughnut pans.*No* luck.
Mr.T finally ordered the mini and the regular size doughnut pans.
The light doughnuts are maple frosted.I used the recipe that came with the pan but it was too dry. They were eatable but dry. Made good dunkers.
The Chocolate batch I used the recipe that came with the pan but added more vegetable oil and they came out much better. The frosting on the first batch was maple powered sugar.I'm not much for powered sugar frosting so will be making a cooked frosting like the chocolate frosting I used on the 2nd batch. I am going to try different recipes,for baked doughnuts, to see what I can come up with.


I had chocolate frosting left over so I made some chocolate covered popcorn. Our friend Dave always made choc. covered popcorn. He made actual fudge for his. I had never heard of choc. covered popcorn until he invited us to try it.
The cooked frosting worked out------ almost------ as good.


Our weekend was our maiden voyage in our new to us RV. It was a really great weekend. The weather was perfect. We took a boat ride on the lake.
I can't say it was a favorite thing for me. All the bouncing was hard on my back.

We camped by Friends. They introduced us to the game sequence. We had not played it before and was fun.

I can not believe I forgot to take any pictures of our first trip out.
I did take pictures with my phone but don't have the plug to take the pictures off. The sunset on the lake was beautiful.
We are in a tornado watch tonight.
Have a great week everyone.j