Pink Wild Lily

The other day I found these rosy pink Turk’s Cap Lilies in the road ditch.  I’ve never seen any that color before.  Normally, they are orange like the ones in the background of the photo.

Linking to Your Sunday Best at A Rural Journal.

Weekly Top Shot

I like the colors and clarity in this photo of a stained glass window, taken at the Basilica in Dyersville, Iowa:

Thanks for stopping by!  Visit The View From Right Here to find Weekly Top Shot.

 

Clouds

We had some really cool clouds here this morning…

Unfortunately, they brought us very little rain.

From today’s TV weather report, I learned that the name of this type of cloud is undulatus asperatus.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

More Road Trip Pictures

After visiting the Basilica and picking up what my husband needed picked up, I headed homeward on Highway 20 and exited at the town of Independence.  I parked by the old mill on the banks of the Wapsipinicon River:

By the way, when I was a kid, there was an ice cream place called The Old Mill in Independence.  It served ice cream in scoops shaped like square cubes!  In honor of that, here’s a square photo of a mural on an old building across the river from the mill.

Here’s more of the mural plus some old windows across the street:

Old-style watertowers like this are slowly but surely disappearing.  My home town took theirs down a few years ago.  Wish I would  have thought to take a picture of it before that happened. 

Here’s an old advertising sign I saw somewhere during the day’s journey:

And, finally, here’s a random scene that told me home was only a few miles away.  The temperature was near 100 by then.  What a fun day I had!

The Basilica

As mentioned in the previous post, here are some photos from the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Iowa.  I was there in late morning yesterday.  This church was built in 1888 and still serves a large parish.  The steeples are over 200 feet tall.

My intention was to photograph only the exterior, but then I noticed some people exiting a side door so I decided to go on in and am very glad I did.  Though not a Catholic, I was certainly in awe of the beauty in this place.

It was very quiet and peaceful in the sanctuary.  No one else was in there right then.  Everywhere I looked was a photo opportunity!          

The stained glass windows were gorgeous.  Someday I hope to return and get more photos of them.

Even the ceiling overhead was beautiful:

The lighted votive candles attested to the fact that others had recently been there:

I was raised Baptist and married into a Lutheran church.  Neither makes much use of religious statuary, but I enjoyed seeing the statues that were in the Basilica.  I wish I could visit cathedrals in Europe, but probably never will, so this lovely church planted in the farmland of Iowa will have to do.

Road Trip

Yesterday I got to do one of my favorite things in the whole wide world…go on an impromptu, unplanned road trip!  My husband needed something picked up in a town about an hour-and-a-half away, so away I went!  Camera in tow, of course.

As I motored along on Highway 20, the Basilica beckoned from above the rooftops of Dyersville.  Stay tuned for more photos of that magnificent building, inside and out.

Further along, I saw this cleverly decked out old pickup enjoying its new life as lawn decor:

Later, I traversed an old Main Street complete with tractor traffic:

I had a wonderful day!  Drove with the window down.  Listened to some favorite driving music.  And, treated myself to a French Silk Pie Blizzard at Dairy Queen.  That was an absolute necessity because the temperature had soared to almost 100 degrees!

Bee Balm

The Bee Balm is blooming already.  It has unconventional flowers and foliage that smells wonderful!

The above photo is oddly-shaped because I cropped it to use as a background on the laptop computer screen.

This Bee Balm does not grow wild on our farm.  We purchased it years ago.  Other names for this plant are Bergamot and Monarda.

Date with Hubby

I just returned from a typical farmwife’s date with her husband---I rode along with him to a junkyard.  While he looked for the scrap metal he needed I sat in the pickup and read a book.  I just couldn’t summon the gumption to walk around taking pictures of the rusty farm machinery.  Because there were other people around and they would have thought I was a weirdo.  No problem…I like to read, too.

Mostly, I rode along in hopes of eating lunch out.  And, we did.  At a sub place.  Afterwards, we were sitting at a stop light and this appliance delivery truck was there, too.  Wow, I could have planned a kitchen remodeling project right there on the spot!

Sorry the photo doesn’t include more of the truck.  My point and shoot camera is getting quite decrepit and won’t zoom and focus very quickly anymore.

Yesterday

Photos taken yesterday…

A Wild Carrot/Queen Anne’s Lace:

 

An Eastern Kingbird:

A mirage on the highway (I know its not good to take photos while driving, but I did it anyway.):

A Variegated Fritillary butterfly:

Barn Charm

I like the way this drive-by shot turned out.  The barn is clearly focused while the background and foreground attest to the fact that the photo was taken from a rapidly moving vehicle.

Thank you for stopping by!  Visit Bluff Area Daily to find this week’s Barn Charm.

Song Sparrow

I managed to catch this bird in a photo yesterday while out walking in the field.  I think it is a Song Sparrow.  Click here to read about it and to hear its song.  (Look for the words “typical voice” on the webpage and click on the arrow there.)

Sunday Bridges

Railroad bridge at Cedar Falls, Iowa:

Visit San Francisco Bay Daily Photo to find Sunday Bridges.

Your Sunday Best

A Swamp Milkweed in bloom:

Visit A Rural Journal to find Your Sunday Best. 

Park Scenes

Here’s more photos taken at the county park I visited yesterday.

A Damselfly on a grapevine leaf:

An Indigo Bunting:

Underbrush probably full of poison ivy and mosquitoes:

A hickory tree with grapevines attached:

A quiet road:

And, a gate with a sign:

Dragonflies

This morning I went to a local county park hoping to find something to take pictures of.   Many dragonflies were whizzing around there.  I haven’t identified them yet---I don’t have a dragonfly book and haven’t had time for a thorough internet search.  Please help!

Weekly Top Shot

I liked the way this photo turned out.  Its simple, but at least makes a good desktop background.  The plant grows in the road ditch near our farm, but I don’t know what it is.  The leaves always have a reddish hue to them.

Go to The View From Right Here to find the blog event called Weekly Top Shot.

Fritillary Butterfly

Yesterday I was out hunting for wildflowers when this butterfly fluttered into view.  Usually orange ones are Monarchs and I have enough photos of those, but this one looked different so I took a couple shots even though I was too far away to get a good photo.   

I think it might be a Great Spangled Fritillary.  I identified it using this website.  The flowers are Swamp Milkweed.

Skywatch

Lovely day today in Iowa.

Visit Skywatch Friday to see sky photos from around the world.