Scholte Gardens

Just north of the town square in Pella is the Scholte House Museum and Gardens.  My daughter and granddaughter and I strolled through the gardens last Saturday morning.  

While there, we happened upon this charming (and, quiet) Dutch duo:

Gorgeous flower beds lined the bricked walkways: 

Look at this next beauty.  I don’t know its name and if you do, please let me know in a comment:

The Coleus were eye-catching:

As were the ornamental peppers: Lastly, I had to include a photo of my favorite flower color…..blue!

SkyWatch

Welcome to rural Iowa, USA!  This first photo shows how the skies looked this morning as a weather front moved through.

This afternoon we have strong winds blowing and sky full of fluffy cumulus clouds.

Thank you for stopping by!  Visit SkyWatchFriday to find links to sky photos from around the world.

Thursday’s Things in a Row

This post is part of the blog meme called Thursday’s Things in a Row, hosted by Pat at A View From the Edge.  This is the first time I’ve participated. 

It wasn’t difficult to find things in a row in Pella, Iowa, last weekend.  There were rows of Dutch tiles on display.

And, a row of retired windows surrounded by rows of bricks.

There were packages of coffee for sale lined up in rows at Smokey Row.  (I can attest to the excellent taste of this coffee---I’ve received some as gifts.)

This row of church windows caught my eye at the Pella Historical Village.

And, in the Pella Library, a multitude of things in a row could be found, of course!  We walked over there so my daughter could return some books.  The building is only a few years old and is lovely inside and out. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Looking Up in Pella

  When touring downtown Pella, don’t forget to look up!  I could have spent the entire day craning my neck to gaze upward at fascinating brickwork and intricate architectural details.

In this next row of buildings, the Pella Opera House is the one with the four round windows.

With a height of 124 feet, the Vermeer Windmill towers above everything in town.

I enjoyed seeing tiled rooftops….

….and, a rooster-topped steeple!

Actually, I very much enjoyed seeing everything there was to see in Pella!  More to come in future blogposts.

Fall Blooms in Pella

My road trip took me to Pella, Iowa, a town famous for spring flowers….and, perhaps should be famous for autumn flowers, too.  Look at this one….I don’t know its name, but it certainly is colorful! 

Pella was founded by a group of people from Holland.  Quaint Dutch touches can be found all over town.  This windmill is in the town square park.

I’ve never attended the official Tulip Time which takes place each year in May, but I once visited Pella shortly after the festival and all the gorgeous tulips were still in bloom!

There were beautiful autumn flower beds throughout the town square park.

And, a fountain….always fascinating to watch….

Lastly, here’s another version of the flower shown in the first photo.  If you know the name of this delightful blossom, please let me know in a comment. 

Be sure, you will be seeing more photos from Pella on this blog in the near future!

Fall Scenes

Took a road trip to visit my daughter and her family over the weekend.  Along the way, of course, I felt compelled to search for photo scenes to put on the blog.

 

Cooler temperatures means the farm fields are quickly becoming harvest-ready.  Right now, many soybean landscapes boast a warm golden glow on their way to inevitable dull brown.  As I drove down the highway, I kept watching for a good place to stop and take a photo.  Hesitancy and caution caused me to miss some some “golden” opportunities, but finally I made up my mind to JUST DO IT---just pull over and take some pictures, already!  I don’t know what’s wrong with me sometimes. 

Sumac is showing off its autumn tones, too….

Stationary Shooting

My friend Buster usually accompanies me on wildflower walks.  Whenever I stop to take photos he plops down and waits patiently.

This time, I decided to sit down on the edge of the road and take photos of what I could see from that particular vantage point, Buster included. 

Leaves on the trees are not changing to autumn colors yet, but roadside plants certainly are.  I’m not sure what this first one is….

This next one might be some sort of Goldenrod….

This next one definitely is Goldenrod….

And, these are a type of Ground Cherry….

These photos are straight out of the camera, except for being brightened just a little bit so they would display better on the blog.

Taking photos from one stationary spot was a fun challenge and might make a good blog meme.  (Maybe there already is one out there in the blogosphere.)

Aster & Bee

Yesterday I found a newly-blooming patch of Asters along the roadside near our farm.  Excitedly, I snapped a series of shots.  Once back in the house, upon opening the photos on the computer, I was amazed to find a well-focused bee had stowed away on one of them. 

My original intention was simply to try and get a decent shot of an Aster blossom.  They’re only about an inch wide and are difficult to photograph clearly without a macro lens. 

SkyWatch Friday

Thank you for stopping by!  This photo was taken a few days ago around sunset at our farm in Iowa.  The clouds and colors were so gorgeous that I immediately grabbed my camera and ran out into the hayfield to snap a picture.

Visit SkyWatch Friday to find this week’s list of sky photo contributors. 

Autumn Favorites

After typing the text of yesterday’s photo-free blogpost, I threw on a sweater and hustled outdoors to find what could be found. 

A strong wind was blowing, but I didn’t mind.  My favorite combo of autumn weather is sunshine accompanied by a stiff, hairblowing breeze!  I love the sound and feel of the wind blowing---it seems to transport me into another dimension.  Hard to explain, but I’ve always enjoyed it.  The photo above shows our soybean field in its currently multicolored garb, on its way to the solid gold of harvest time.

Below is the cornfield and I wish you could hear the rustling sound it makes as the wind passes by and through.  I love it!

 

Later, back in the house, I decided to stir up some brownies.  As they were baking, I noticed the unwelcome aroma of burnt food.  Upon an investigation into the depths of the oven, I found the culprit to be a small pan of cinnamon rolls I had forgotten to remove from the oven the other day.  The poor brick-hard things were undergoing their third round of being baked (I had baked a casserole in between their initial baking and today’s.)   Have you ever done anything so stupid?!  Now you know why I put that drink coffee motto on my sidebar…..

Surprise

SURPRISE…..no photo today.  You’ll have to put up with just text. 

My blog has been running on auto-pilot since last Thursday when we received some unexpected sad news of a death in the extended family.  That led to receiving news that we would have visitors over the weekend which led me into a temporary panic, realizing I must get busy with cooking and housecleaning---pronto!  Before commencing that, however, I created five blogposts to fill my blog until today.  Then I unearthed the vacuum cleaner and some dust rags and for a couple hours became a virtual housecleaning whirlwind.  After that I lost myself in the kitchen, making a big batch of cinnamon rolls, a dessert, a casserole, tapioca pudding, and caramel dip.  Then I headed outdoors and picked apples and raspberries.  Needless to say, I was ready to hit the hay as soon as the sun set.

Having all that cooking and cleaning done ahead of time allowed me to relax and enjoy babysitting my granddaughter on Friday.  On the weekend was the funeral home visitation---an event I dislike immensely.  I need to tell my family NOT to schedule one when I kick the bucket.  I’m not keen on the idea of people shuffling by and gawking down at me lying in state.  I’ll spare everyone from suffering through the awkwardness of wondering what to say to my grieving family, plus they can save money by not ordering flower arrangements and plants to keep my casket company.  (Of course, it could be that I’m wrong-headed about all of this and am simply a rather grouchy and unsociable person.  Could be.)  

The funeral itself was fine and fortunately the day’s weather was sunny and pleasant, a needed mood-brightener at such a time.  Following the funeral service inside the church, we walked out to the cemetery for the graveside committal.  (Maybe I’ll have just a committal service when I die---they are very meaningful, I think.)  Before going to the church basement for the lunch, we meandered amongst old gravestones, stopping at those chiseled with our family’s name, discussing each one’s place in the family tree.

After plenty of good food and fellowship at the funeral lunch, we came back home and took a stroll out to the pumpkin patch with our toddler granddaughter.   We smiled as she pointed to each pumpkin and said, “ball”, and then she and her parents picked out a few to take home.

Today, I am feeling kind of sad and very tired in body and mind, but the house is still fairly clean, so that’s a definite plus!         

The Lingerers

Some wildflowers linger faithfully in bloom for weeks on end.  Here are two such which I’ve been trudging past daily, taking them for granted and deeming them unworthy of being in a photo.     

Nobody likes thorny thistles, of course, but the Field Thistle’s flower does has a lovely color.  Great Lobelia, shown below, has been blooming since the middle of August.  Its many blossoms tend to become too weighty for the stems and are lying flat along the ground now.  They look a bit bedraggled, but the pretty blue-violet color remains.    

Marigold

Meet my favorite variety of Marigold---Queen Sophia!

The Birds

Here’s our resident blackbird flock, rehearsing winged maneuvers in preparation for their annual migration south…..

They look a bit spooky to me, conjuring images of Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, which I saw when I was a kid.  Yikes---that movie scared the ____ out of me and forever influenced my opinion of seagulls!

Goldenrod Encore

I find myself continually fascinated by Goldenrod with their multitude of miniature blossoms…..  

After consulting the wildflower book and finding many types of Goldenrod therein, I concluded that the above photo shows a Tall Goldenrod and the one below, a Bog Goldenrod.  

Pink Zinnias

Companions to the Cosmos I blogged about yesterday are these colorful Zinnias.  They are a reliable annual flower---I plant a few every year.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…..before starting to take photos for this blog I never took the time to look closely at flowers and notice their intricate details.