Turtle Adventure

So late this morning I stood up, bleary-eyed after surfing to a random assortment of SkyWatch sites. My mood was momentarily low, after gazing at so many beautiful, often sophisticated blogs and websites, endowed with stunningly crisp, clear photos. Returning to my blog was like being sent from the important third-floor high school hall back down into the kiddish elementary hallways at the small-town Iowa K-12 school I once attended.......from kindergarten through twelfth grade, obviously.

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I was home alone at this point in the late morning; Husband had left to buy needles, tags, and buttons........I think he has a sewing project planned......LOL.......(He went to the veterinarian's office for those items!). Our son was detasseling and daughter was at her retail job at Kohl's. Older Son, about to be married, is home for the weekend, but certainly isn't hanging around the farm......DUH......he's spending time with his fiancee.

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A brisk walk was needed to shake off the sluggish, slightly-depressed mood, and I didn't bother to strap on the camera bag.......no stopping for pictures on this walk........no way! Down the hill to the crick I chugged, intending to turn right around and head back, but happened to glance in the water.......THERE WAS BIG TURTLE IN THERE! I have NEVER seen one in there before! And, wouldn't you know it.......no camera on me.

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I motated back up the hill to the house to retrieve the camera, also suddenly noticing that I had forgotten to take my daughter and son-in-law's first wedding anniversary card to the mailbox, and if I didn't do that first before heading back to the turtle, I would be too late for the mailman.

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Hence, I headed to the mailbox.........SEE........here's proof:

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A crop sprayer and its companion tank truck went by........a common scene right now on country roads in Iowa. Lately, also, I've seen airplanes spraying insecticide on nearby fields.......not ours!! The other night there was a strong moth-ball-like odor coming in our windows after a plane had sprayed at the neighbor's. If you click the photo to enlarge it you will see the sprayer better. I know this is very exciting.........

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Hey........whoa.........hold onto your chair for this dizzying sight.......!!

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Ok, I finally made it back to the "crick" (it isn't a real creek.......its a waterway dug through the farm for drainage.......but, we call it a creek/crick).

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Wouldn't you know it, the turtle had disappeared! My critical analysis thinking skills were kicking in........I decided that the turtle could not have gone very far, for turtles move VERY slowly.......right?

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I climbed down to the edge of the rocks Husband has been lining the creek banks with, crouched down and peered into shadows beneath the rocks and algae. Back and forth went my gaze........I saw lots of minnows, but no turtle.......until finally!.....there he was:

Can you see the turtle? In the upper left corner area of the photo is his tail, and his shell edge leads to the right......then there is a leg and foot. If you enlarge the photo, I think you can see his head and an eye, in there between the shadows in the water. [Actually, its better if you just view the smaller photo.]

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As for where the turtle came from........it probably wandered into our drainage "crick" from the real creek over in the neighbor's field, a half-mile away. Our crick empties into that. I wonder how long it takes a turtle to "wander" that far. Do you suppose he "wonders as he wanders"? (I sang that as a solo in church once, I Wonder As I Wander, Out Under the Sky.........)

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I stood up to leave the creekbank, and you know me......or maybe you don't........but, I'm always on the lookout for colorful rocks. I spotted what looked to be a dark rosy-toned stone in the creek bottom aways off. Excitedly, I made my way over there........darn, it was just a rose-colored leaf lying ON a white stone, in the midst of yucky green algae. But, the sparkles in the water were kind of cool (this photo loaded sideways.....I don't know why).

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Well, that chronicles my adventure for today. It was so exciting, I can hardly stand to type it into a blogpost.

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Have a wonderful Saturday, folks!! I just HAD to tell you about the turtle, since, like I said......I've never seen one here on this farm before!

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Oh, and I almost forgot, I'm adding four scenic blogs to my list, which will soon need to be divided up somehow, I believe, for its getting too long:

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BE66 Photo from Zeeland - The Netherlands

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Merisi's Vienna for Beginners - Austria

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Indograhams - Indonesia

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System Operator - Finland

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Also, couple blogs from Minnesota:

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Peacock Blue (I love the Peanuts quote about the Zamboni machine......I hadn't heard it in years!)

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And.......a blog just born today, Sew Many Days. (What a clever name for a blog!) Let's welcome her to the blogworld!

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Don't forget the other new farmgal blog: Gotta Be A Countrygirl, written by Saddlegait of Alabama!

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Crop Report

In this exasperating, sweltering weather, my energy level plummets to nearly flat-line readings.......apparently, my ancestors hailed from cool climates. Sweat has been everyone's constant companion here for the past couple of weeks.......resulting from the most miniscule of exertion, even such as required to type a blogpost. Yesterday, around noon, I found the fortitude to amble towards the mailbox, a quarter-mile down the farm drive, bordered on either side by..........you guessed it.........our farm fields! Hence, here's a pictorial crop report, whether you're interested in it or not. The humid weather, while very uncomfortable for us humanoids, is just the ticket for successful growth of field crops!!

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What is this?? You should know by now! Its adorns the tops of plants which are now boasting heights of 8 to 10 feet!

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Soybeans.......yeah........they're looking really nice right now, each plant a dark green nitrogen factory, considerately returning that crucial nutrient to the soil for future use.

And guess what! Soybean plants have blossoms! I'm not sure I've ever taken time to look at them closely before.......in my entire life. Quite lovely, actually! Eventually, the beans will form, looking like little pea pods. Notice, too, the fuzziness on the leaves and stems.

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Next we have........well, what DO we have? Alfalfa........growing like crazy to produce the third hay crop of the summer, due to be ready in a couple of weeks.......probably around the time of our son's wedding!! What fun that will be.......trying to make hay and do a wedding at the same time!

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Out from amongst the stalks of Cat-tails and Meadow Rue near the mailbox flew this little bird (a Song Sparrow?), landing handily on a corn leaf. Oh, to have such lightness of being!!

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The other night, on a whim, I surfed to The Confessions of a Pioneer Woman Blog. She was giving away five Zunes. Yeah......I had no idea what that was, either. Anyhow, I left a comment.......#3604, to be exact.......in order to be included in the drawing. This morning I stopped by there to see how many comments ended up coming in; I anticipated maybe 4000.......but, the total was over 11,700!! Holy Boy-Cow!! Can you imagine getting that many comments!?

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Here's a link to a great post by a new blogging friend, "Gotta Be A Countrygirl". She relates her unique thoughts while sitting at a railroad crossing watching boxcar "art" go by.

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Something else which caught my eye yesterday was information about Waterloo, Iowa's 2nd annual Irish Fest. Cool! Click here for info about that. On my mom's side, I can claim Irish ancestry. Husband has none.....haha......he's 100% German! His dad spoke ONLY German until he started kindergarten, and in later years would mutter little German phrases under his breath.......who knows now what they meant........we should have pressed him for the translations before he passed on last fall. We know that one of the mutterings meant, "SICK AS A CHICKEN........CAN EAT, BUT CANNOT WORK!" He'd say that about people he considered to be lazy.

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Live today in such a way that an old German guy would NOT mutter that phrase about you!! But, then again.....today IS a Saturday, so go ahead, relax and BE LAZY!!

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Summer Fling

Yeah, that's right.......every summer I have a fling with this handsome dude, and he can do some awesome flinging, let me tell you.......of grass clippings, of course!!

He and I get it on at least once a week, and more often when the weather is maintaining a certain hot, muggy pattern. Don't worry.......this physical relationship of ours is sanctioned and encouraged by Husband, because if it wasn't ME getting involved with this fella, then Husband would have to, and Husband is just not that kind of guy!

Each tryst lasts for several hours, and by the time he and I are finished I'm covered in dust and dirt, my skin crawling and itching, with pine needles inside my clothes and adorning my hair. Checking for ticks is necessary afterwards, too. Why I put up with such a relationship is beyond my comprehension!

(Yes.......sad to say........I override a safety feature........ for convenience sake.)

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Mowing through an area thick with fluffy dandelion seed heads results in this:

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Actually, my penchant for getting involved with lawnmowers goes way, way back. The farm I grew up on had huge lawns.......the front yard, the middle yard, the back yard, the windmill yard, the yards bordering the garden, and around the sheds. There were two push Lawn-Boys at our service, put to endless use by my sisters and I, who, as a result, enjoyed generous doses of exercise, sweating, and UV rays. When our brother grew old enough to mow........the parents purchased a RIDING mower for him to use! Figure that one out.

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For the first few years of our marriage, Husband and I rented a house on a farmstead near his parents' farm. Once again.......a vast expanse of lawn to mow........including a horribly steep ditch. And, as always, the task fell to little old me and an ancient, decrepit Lawn Boy push mower. Truly, I felt I would go mad at times, trying desperately to get the mowing done, for the feeble thing would invaribly start coughing where the grass grew just a little bit thick, then sputter blue smoke, die, and refuse to start again. Husband was never there when that happened, of course. I would plead with him to remedy this situation........he would fiddle with the mower; but, it would behave the same way the next time I used it.

One day, I became so frustrated that I simply drove to a town about ten miles away where there was a hardware store, and I purchased a BRAND-NEW Lawn Boy push mower!! Horrors.......something new........how dreadful........and without my husband's permission. He wasn't too happy about it.......too bad......I didn't care by that point. Some of you good, obedient, submissive wives may turn away at this confession.......that's OK. Sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I was absolutely at the end of my lawnmowing rope, you see; I was responsible for mowing a gigantic lawn, but not given decent equipment to do so.......and the situation became intolerable for me. Sorry.

When we eventually moved onto this farm where we live-----where Husband grew up-----I had another gargantuan lawn staring me in the face every summer, weekly bursting its trappings like The Hulk. If you're a lifelong town person, you may not realize that most livestock farmers do not do lawnmowing......they don't have the time.......so the job falls to the wife and kids, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, of course.......a wife and children need to be kept busy, or they might fall into who knows what.......blogging, perhaps. Idleness is the devil's workshop, you know. On our farm, though, the kids were usually helping their dad with barn chores, so the lawnmowing fun filtered down to me, as always.

For many years, I tolerated the cheap, clunky riding mower that Husband's parents had left here. They never believed in spending much money on lawnmowing equipment.....it was that old German frugality coming through......."Ach! The lawn don't make ya any money"! Finally.....and to my great joy......the old mower's shift lever broke off one day and we had to buy a different machine. I pleaded for a mower with hydrostatic shifting. Husband acted like he just couldn't understand why I might want that. Grr-rrr. Amazingly, we did upgrade to the more convenient shifting, but the mower we bought was still a cheap brand.......very wimpy and would plug up on a dime. I would meekly point out that most everyone else around the neighborhood used John Deere mowers, so maybe those were of better quality........Husband would just mutter, "No, they're too expensive."

Finally, two years ago, as spring and mowing season approached, I began reminding him of how poorly our old mower was performing. I said, "For Pete's sake......there is a huge amount of mowing to do here and much of it is rough ground and tough weeds......WE NEED A BETTER MOWER.......WITH MORE POWER AND STAMINA!!" Evidently, this time my complaining broke through a barrier in Husband's mind, and we actually went to a John Deere dealership and bought the mower in the above photos. It was not a new one, but was in very good shape, and has plenty of power to deal with the tough mowing conditions on our farm. I'm very happy with this mower......it is well-made and starts easily and is NOT a wimp! Its the type of mower I'm proud to have a relationship with!!

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Here's a scene from in the shed, near where my dear lawnmower sleeps during the times between our intimate encounters. For the amount of energy you the blog reader expend to gaze at one piece of farm machinery........you get two, sort of........the tractor AND the nearby reflected hay baler!!

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Have you ever had a summer fling? Oh.....do tell!!

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SkyWatch Friday

NEWSFLASH:

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Local Kitten Hypnotized by Puddle-Sky Watching!

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This incident remains under investigation. Stay tuned.

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Welcome to my SkyWatch Friday post for this week, coming to you from a farm in the state of Iowa, in the U.S.A.

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Please visit the SkyWatch Friday website to find multitudes of links to SkyWatch Friday sites around the world!!

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Thanks again for visiting!

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Awesome & Thinking Awards

A few days ago, Caution of TheHumanRace600 blog kindly gave me this "thinking blogger" award, which she herself deservably received recently, too. Thats how blogging awards go........you receive one and pass it on to others. Caution bestowed this award on TWO bloggers. I, so far, have passed it on to ONE blogger, Egghead of The Little Egg Farm blog, and now wish to add two more: Bob Brague of "rhymeswithplague" blog AND, Sherry of "A Feather Adrift" blog.

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The thinking skills of both these bloggers simply boggles my mind. Sometimes I almost fear reading comments left by "rhymeswithplague" because they are so witty and clever, leaving my mind at a complete loss as to a good comeback. Bob should write a book; he certainly has the writing and thinking abilities for that! He grew up in the olden days, in a rural area, and has a knack for whipping his memories up into a great story!

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Sherry, of "A Feather Adrift" also amazes me with her superb writing, which covers many subjects, and she is not afraid to delve into politics and religion Also, she posts regular installments of her fascinating autobiography. Obviously, Sherry's blogposts involve much thinking on her part, and she could write a book, too!

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Keep up the great blogging.......you two thinkers!!!

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Ironically, at about the same time I was bestowing the "thinking blogger" award on Egghead, she was sending an award to me! This one here........Awesome Site Award........thank you very much, Egghead!! AWESOME describes Egghead's blog, truly!

Ok, so first I surfed to Hwy777.com to see what its all about........it is "A Christian Guide to the Web", with many links to Christian sites. While there, I did pick up a link to a blog called "Gotta Be A Country Girl", in case you'd like to visit. I think she's on a farm in somewhere in the southern U.S.

This is not a difficult award to pass on, because there are many, many AWESOME sites out there, including all the ones on my bloglist to the right. The trouble comes in trying to single out a few.........it goes somewhat against my grain to keep doing that, but here goes........and since this award came to me from the west, I'm sending this award west to the following AWESOME bloggers:

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"w.o.w. factor" of "The Cowboy's Wife" blog

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Judy of "My Front Porch" blog

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"odd chick" of "Passions of an Odd Chick" blog

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These are AWESOME blogs by ladies with varied interests, including their families, writing, traveling, art, photography, farming, ranching, faith.......and great cooking (which you won't find on my blog)!! Surf on over and get acquainted with these AWESOME bloggers!

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Fascinating Flower Awards

This week there's been a flurry of awards traveling hither and thither amongst the blogs in the orbit of the blogosphere that I spend time in. In order to allow the wildflowers to get in on the fun, I've decided to bestow a "Fascinating Flower Award" on five very unusual, unique blossoms that are currently on display in the road ditch in front of our farm. These photos were taken yesterday morning.

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1. Culver's Root

Culver's Root, of the Snapdragon family, is saddled with the impossibly long scientific name of Veronicastrum virginicum. Other common names are Blackroot, Culver's Physic, High Veronica, and Tall Speedwell. The roots of this plant contain powerful chemicals that were used in folk medicine......so says my wildflower book, Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers by Ladd and Oberle, published by Falcon Press.

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2. Goat's Beard

I have done a previous post on Goat's Beard. This is simply its remaining seedhead. But what I hope you can see is the SHINY GOLD color of the strands, which makes this seedhead simply fascinating to gaze at as it shimmers in the late morning sun. It should be called "Gilded Goat's Beard" at this point!

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3. Winter Cress (I think)***Update 8/1: I think it may be a type of mustard plant.

It might be something else......if anyone knows, just tell me. I could be wrong about anything. The scientific name of Winter Cress is Barbarea vulgaris.

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4. Queen Anne's Lace - Wild Carrot

The queen is actually Daucus carota, and when her flowers age, they curl up into a cuplike shape, and even into a ball, like this one.Click to see Queen Anne's Lace in black & white.

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5. Common Mullein

Also of the Snapdragon family, Common Mullein's scientific name is Verbascum thapsus, and it is just a very unique plant with an unusual shape to its flowerhead. Several years ago, I transplanted one from the ditch to the flower garden near our house........maybe not such a good idea, as the thing spreads like the dickens! Fortunately, it pulls up very easily, root and all.

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There you have it.......the five Fascinating Flower Award-winners for today!

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Blogging to Audience

(Little did I know, when I snapped these silly photos on Monday, that they would be timely for a blogpost two days later. There you have it.........don't ever fight the urge to take a photo.........even of something trivial.........it might come in handy very soon......or even later!!)

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Disturbing news is emerging from the blogosphere........concerning bloggers' blogging habits, and this post is offered as timely evidence. Research is showing that once they discover they have an audience, bloggers DO tend to descend into the habit of BLOGGING TO THEIR AUDIENCE! Not only does my new blogger acquaintance,

Ann of From the Front Porch, suspect this.......but, additionally, proof is literally shown below:

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On Monday I was privileged and honored to have my nephew and niece spend the day here; they are 9 and 11-years-old, respectively........delightful kids.........great spontaneous conversationalists. I miss having kids that age around the house.

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My nephew spied the old Nintendo64 and asked if they could play with it. I said, "You probably won't like it.......its old and outdated." My nephew replied, "I like old stuff." How about that!! I see a bright future for this boy!!

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Anyhow.........here we go........I now, at this very moment, find myself caught up in creating a blogpost with Caution's family in mind. (They are the family of racing flags, remember.) This photo below is for her husband, who goes by the name of "Checkered" on Caution's blog.

Yes, my niece and nephew loved the car racing game! Their family follows racing......they sometimes attend big races around the U.S. on their vacations.

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IF I knew the slightest thing about playing video games and was able to take part in this racing game, I would definitely choose to drive a VAN, because I spent 15 years hauling my kids around in a big, old Dodge van, our second home. The faithful, but rusty, old clunker still runs, although we don't use it much.......yesterday I moved it so I could mow the weeds popping up around it.

My nephew chose the purple cruiser. Looks like his sister should have used some CAUTION in her driving! Hopefully, these dear, precious children will never drive this fast in real life!!

After the car racing finish line was reached, it was on to Donkey Kong! If this game is relevant to anyone in my audience, please let me know!!!

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Bloggers, go ahead and blog for an audience, or blog for yourself.......just keep blogging!

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(Caution.......I hope you didn't mind........the photos just fit right in, and I couldn't resist!)

Midweek Silence - NOT!

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I've encountered "Wordless Wednesday" on some of the SkyWatch Friday sites. Presumably, it means creating Wednesday blogposts that contain a photo and very little text chatter. I could be wrong. Below is the icon from the Wordless Wednesday blog.........I couldn't resist posting it........I love "American Gothic" by Grant Wood! He was from Iowa, you know. I was privileged to view

the original many years ago at the Art Institute of Chicago; the only thing that surprised me was how small the painting was.

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Hm-m......they do appear to be a rather quiet, WORDLESS pair! In reality, the models for this painting were the artist's sister and the town dentist........I'd keep my mouth shut, too, if I were standing next to A DENTIST WITH A PITCHFORK IN HIS HAND!!!

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Here's the link to Wordless Wednesday Blog . If you can figure out what its all about and how to sign up on the list, let me know, although doing SkyWatch Friday is probably all I can handle. Its very difficult to find time to visit the myriad sites, though truly fascinating to see photos of scenes from around the world, and meet bloggers from all over!

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I had originally planned that the title "Midweek Silence" would have to suffice for this quiet post, but obviously, its running on with lots of chatter! Which reminds me........my blogposts MIGHT possibly be somewhat quieter over the next few weeks as I attempt to prepare for my son's upcoming wedding! I couldn't be happier for him; he is marrying a wonderful girl......uh......woman......I need to realize these kids are GROWN UP!

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HOWEVER........I do have a personal aversion to big social gatherings that require alot of advance planning. I'm into spontaneous and at-the-drop-of-a-hat. Advance planning prompts anxiety to build up, that's all. (I wanted to elope, and pleaded with my groom-to-be on this issue......seriously, that is the absolute truth!) I'm now very aware of this shortcoming of mine, though, and am steeling myself to survive the big wedding weekend.

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And, weddings involve SO much more than back when Husband and I tied the knot. Big dinners after the ceremony were unheard of in my community back then........we had a cake reception after the wedding, and a dance later in the evening. NOW, everyone does the big, expensive dinners, shelling out thousands of dollars to feed people who probably aren't even very hungry. (Recently, I was visiting with a cousin from the Twin Cities and she said her nephew just got married and the bride's family spent $100 per plate for 300 guests!!! Sorry......nobody around here can afford that.)

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As for the wedding dances nowadays, the DJs want couples to spend time choosing songs for special dances......bride & her father, groom & his mother, bride & father-in-law, groom & mother-in-law, etc. For our wedding dance, Husband and I hired a band......it was several guys a few years ahead of us in school.......they weren't that great, but everyone seemed to have a good time, and we didn't have to stew over the music in advance. Oh, my, and all the decorating that has to be done at the reception hall, too......I wouldn't want to be a bride in this day and age........I'd elope for sure, even if husband-to-be objected!!

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Today, too, the gift opening has become a big event, held the day after the wedding, usually hosted by one set of parents. More food for someone to worry about!! The bride's parents are hosting, and I told the mom to please not go to alot of trouble, as she will certainly be worn out from the previous long day. We all will be! The dance goes until midnight, and then we have to clean-up! The kids hardly believe it when I tell them that at the time we got married, in the 70's.......couples didn't open their own wedding gifts!! We chose three of my friends to be gift openers, gave them corsages for their efforts, and they spent their time opening gifts during the reception.

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Well, this grumpy, whining, chintzy party-pooper is signing off the blogpost......finally!

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Have a super day!

Blueberries & Egghead

As far as I know, blueberries are not grown in Iowa; they take a certain type of soil, I think, and a cooler climate........I think........but don't really know for sure. What I do know is that blueberries are delicious!!

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Every year around this time, my mom and stepdad take several trips to Michigan to pick up blueberries for area grocery stores. They went yesterday. The day's schedule always sounds grueling to me.......they get up at MIDNIGHT to leave the Waterloo area, driving through Chicago, and then into Michigan to wherever these berries are grown. Yesterday, there was a mix-up and they ended up waiting five hours for the blueberries to be picked. (Well, at least we know the berries are fresh!!) They drive all the way back home the same day, usually arriving in early evening, although yesterday it was late evening.

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I ordered a five-pound box from them, at a price of $9.00. Just now, I prepared most of them for freezing.......we like them in pancakes and muffins. But, eating them fresh is really my preference, and quite a few of them somehow ended up in my mouth while I was working with them.

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Blueberries figured into a recent post on Egghead's blog, "The Little Egg Farm". This particular post was lovely, informative, and thoughtful........which come to think of it........describes her blog to a "T"! Therefore, I'm passing this shiny little "thinking blogger" award on to Egghead. And.....hey......the little guy on the icon looks like he IS an egghead!! Thus, blogger Egghead of Oregon has to be a perfect choice for this award!!

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From Caution

"Caution flag" of TheHumanRace600 blog, who is definitely a "thinking blogger" herself, thoughtfully included me in this award on her post today.

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There are two other "thinking blogger award" recipients mentioned in her post, Ann of From the Front Porch and Pam of MapperSnapper. Ann's blog draws me because it originates from northwest Montana, a beautiful area I once visited; Husband has relatives out there. Also, I'm intrigued by the fact that Ann's blog is a no-comment blog, and she explains her reasons for that on her "About" page. She brings up a good point.......that the risk of receiving comments is that we then begin to blog to an audience, possibly moving in directions other than what we originally intended for the blog. Not that that's necessarily bad, of course........one might start out blogging with the hopes of gaining an audience to blog to. But, it sounds as if Ann is determined to blog in her own way, from her own heart and mind, without the influence of comments, and I admire that decision.

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Caution herself received two deserved awards, and also graciously bestowed The Colors of Friendship award on two bloggers . Click on over to today's post on TheHumanRace600 to learn of these awards and blogs.

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THANK YOU, CAUTION!!

Birth By Committee

They say, "it takes a village", to raise a child. (Who "they" are, I'm not sure.)

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Sometimes, it takes a Birthing Committee to bring a calf into the world.........

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Yeah, that's right......we're on duty today as three-fifths of the Birthing Committee.......wanna make somethin' of it??!!

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There's the other two-fifths........the wide-eyed heifer about to give birth, and the midwife moving into position to assist........wait a minute.......that's a guy.......what's the deal.......midwives are supposed to be women! What on earth shall we call him, then? Hm-m......(opening the dictionary here)......he's a husbandman, to be exact! (Look it up.......husbandman means "farmer"........how fitting!) We'll just call him "Husband the Husbandman Birth-Assistant".

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Well..........yup........you guessed it........that's the calf's head being pulled gently out of the birth canal. Husband tied twine around the calf's feet, then looped the twine around his own waist.......and pulled with his body. The mother giving birth is a heifer, meaning this is her first calf, and first birthings are usually more difficult than subsequent ones. (Notice the audience of curious onlookers in the background. Cows are ALWAYS curious!!)

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Its a girl!! Other members of the Birth Committee step forward to do their duty........licking the calf's hide with their rough tongues, to clean her off and encourage her to stand. Its easy to read the calf's mind: "What on earth is going on......where am I.......what did I do to deserve this.......why am I being rubbed with sandpaper??"

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The Committee continues the cleaning task, using tongues to exhort, "Get up.....get up, little one!!" The calf soon obliges, unfolding her awkward legs for a brief moment of standing, then teeters and drops to the ground again. She'll be fine......it takes several tries before standing is successful and a few jerky steps taken-----the first of many in her hopefully long, comfortable, and productive life on this dairy farm. She's a girl calf, a heifer, meaning she will grow up to become a cow and give milk someday!

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Oh, yes, there was one more Birthing Committee member, overseeing the whole event from a few feet away.........the ever-grinning Mr. Badger, from his perch on the feed bunk!! (Badger is the brand-name of a line of livestock feeding equipment. I think their signs are cute, that's all!)

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Have a great day! I must now figure out what to name this new calf! Her mother is Rosa, so I'll try to come up with a similar name for the calf.

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National, Iowa

I was scraping cow manure in the barn a few minutes ago and happened to trudge by the radio as the announcer was excitedly rattling off information about the "big Clayton County Fair, held in National, Iowa!!"

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Clayton County is up in the hilly northeast corner of Iowa, along the Mississippi River, with the place called "National" (the first "a" in National being pronounced with the long sound), being not much more than a big red barn. So, I chuckle every year when I hear the ads for the fair. I'm sure it would be alot of fun, as this fair still boasts a dairy show, due to Clayton County being home to many dairy farms.

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I don't know why I'm mentioning this, except that "National" seems like an odd name for a place, whether its a city, town, or just a barn.

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Here's the link to the Clayton County Fair website.

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A band called "The Monuments" will be providing entertainment at some point in the fair's run this week. "The Monuments"........hilarious name! What do you bet they're guys in their 50's or 60's..........I'd love to go hear them!! Actually, as I think about it, this band is probably local to Clayton County, as Iowa's only National Monument, the Effigy Mounds Site, is located in that county, up on a high bluff above the Missisippi River north of Marquette. Its a really cool place; I've been there many times, with school groups and on family outings. The ancient animal-shaped mounds are fascinating and mysterious. Did you know Iowa had something THAT COOL!!!

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[[Update: I happened to look at a map after writing this post, and discovered the Effigy Mounds National Monument is actually in Allamakee County, just north of the Clayton County line. Sorry!]]

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Back now to regularly scheduled daily activities.........

Down With Rogues

Though he finds the subject completely boring and pointless, Tuxedo the Cat is here to remind me to explain the meaning of "roguing" to you-----its meaning as connected to a cornfield, anyhow.

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The countless crews of teenagers picking their way through rows of corn in Iowa right now are not only removing tassels, but also eliminating "rogue" cornstalks from the seed corn fields.

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Under the word rogue in the dictionary is a biological definition of the word: "an individual, usually a plant, that varies from the standard." Similarly, the verb definition of rogue is "to eliminate defective plants from".

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Ha! And, here you thought a rogue was "a tricky, dishonest, worthless, rascally person", or "a mischievous person", or "an animal with a savage nature that live apart from the herd"! A rogue can be any of those, of course, too.

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Back in my own detasseling days, we spent a day or two roguing before we started removing the corn tassels. For roguing, we carried a long-handled tool with a curved knife-blade on the end which was used to cut rogue cornstalks off at their base. (Watch your toes, please!)

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A rogue cornstalk is one that stands out by being taller and having more leaves. It must be eradicated so it won't replicate its weird, freakish self by fertilizing innocent, unsuspecting female cornsilk strands.

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The photo above shows sort of what a rogue cornstalk might look like........its the taller stalk in the silouette there on the right.

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So, in whatever you're doing today.........try not to be a ROGUE! Don't vary from the usual, and don't stand out from the crowd. Just blend in, even if that requires you to contort yourself into an uncomfortable position. Its better than being chopped down!!!

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Blog Award

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Kate, of two great blogs, Chronicles of a Country Girl and Kate's Picture A Day, has graciously bestowed an award on my blog. Thank you, Kate!! It happened a few days ago.......it takes me awhile to get my act together and act apon things! When I finally decided to socialize in the blog world a few months ago, and after getting DSL which allowed me to upload photos, Chronicles of a Country Girl was one of the very first blogs I wandered into. I'm trying to remember how I got there.........I think from a comment Kate had left on Nannykim's blog. The "Country Girl" in Kate's blog title drew me in, and how grateful I've been for that happening. I had been searching for rural blogs without much success; most likely I just didn't know how to search.

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Kate's photography is absolutely excellent, and due to reading her blog, I found out that photos actually can be spruced up, and that there was photo-editing software bundled on my own computer. Yeah.......I was and remain pretty darn ignorant about photography. Kate is a superb story-teller, too, and along with her great photography, its a smashing combination!! I could go on and on........just go visit Kate's blogs!!!

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Ok, the rules of this particular blog award are:

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-----Show the award on your blog, and explain the rules.

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-----Designate this award to go on to 7 blogs which you admire and visit frequently. List those 7 blogs, providing a link to each.

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-----Visit those 7 blogs and tell them in a comment that you have given them an award.

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I feel honored that these 7 bloggers stop in at my blog. Truly, ALL readers are welcome and appreciated, whether they leave comments or not!

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Okie-dokie.........here we go, in alphabetical order.......the blogs I have chosen:

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1. A Feather Adrift - The author is Sherry, an Iowa resident and former attorney. I became acquainted with her blog and Russell's (Iowa Grasslands) at about the same time I discovered Kate's. Sherry's writing is great, and she delves into a wide variety of topics, and posts intriguing artwork accompanied by her commentary. She causes me to think......which I need to do! And, on my first visit to Sherry's blog, I picked up a stupendously delicious brownie recipe!

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2. An Arkansas Stamper - This is Pat's blog, and obviously, she's from Arkansas and has a stamping hobby. I'm grateful to Pat for introducing me to SkyWatch Friday! (By the way, how many SkyWatch sites did you visit this week, Pat?) Pat is around 70, I think, and I admire her positive outlook and her enthusiasm for blogging and life in general! Not that I consider 70 to be old......no way......it is looking younger and younger to me all the time!

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3. Confessions of a Midlife Trucker's Wife - This is Treasia's blog, and she also hails from Arkansas. She's in the throes of midlife, too, and offers good commentary on that subject in her posts. I really like her sidebar "Hot Flash" photo.......go check it out! It will give you a fresh perspective on midlife!

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4. Iowa Grasslands - This is Russell's turf. He's a former attorney, now teaching at an Iowa community college. Russell is a small town/farm boy at heart......I like that! His often nostalgic posts strike a common chord in my mind, and are always a pleasure to read! The first time I surfed to Russell's blog, he had just put up a great post about Buddy Holly and the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. He posts nice photos and artwork, too.

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5. Ruth's Visions & Revisions - Ruth is from Illinois and her blog is synonymous with the Brillante Weblog Award icon.......a GEM!! She is a textbook writer by trade, which is fascinating to me. Compassion permeates Ruth's blog, and her posts are a joy to read, filled with inspirational insights and poetry, and lovely photos!

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6. Rhymeswithplague - The author of this very witty blog is Bob Brague from Georgia. Hence, his clever blog title! And, if you admire CLEVER, undergirded by DECENT, then you'll enjoy his blog!! I'm trying now to recall where I first saw that very unique and odd cyber-name, "rhymeswithplague".........it was on a comment on author Scot McKnight's blog. When my eyes beheld the conglomerated word, "rhymeswithplague", my first thought was, "What sort of person would choose a name like that!?"........thus, I had to click on it and find out, and I've not regretted that impulse. Go and do likewise!

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7. The Human Race 600 - Last but not least, meet "caution flag", author of this blog from Michigan, chronicling her life as a wife and mother in a racing flag family, and her other life as a writing instructor at a community college. Her posts are unique and very humorous, and I have enjoyed making the online acquaintance of her flag family, certain members of which are fascinated by farm stuff! "Caution" is basically in midlife, too, but has younger children, giving her an interesting outlook.

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Ok, I was supposed to pick 7 blogs, so I did. But, there are many more equally excellent, beautiful, and enjoyable blogs on the list in the right sidebar!! Explore them all when you have time!

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Happy blogging and reading!!

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Shower & Shower

Another showering of my son's future bride took place this afternoon.........a showering of gifts and good wishes, of course!! The lovely event was held at our church hall and hosted by the three bridal attendants.

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Two of the attendants are art teachers, so you would expect them to come up with good decorating ideas! The centerpiece flowers were displayed in these glass bowls filled with water and clementine oranges! The wedding colors are blue and orange, so these arrangements were perfect!

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One of the games was a race involving being blindfolded and feeling around in a bowl of rice to find safety pins. Sounds moronically simple, doesn't it!? Actually, its very difficult........you can't feel the pins!! Everyone is standing around laughing at you while you're in a state of earnest concentration, sifting rice through your fingers!!

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The refreshments were bright and delicious!

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Husband's aunt made this beautiful pillow; she's a superb seamstress, and in recent years has acquired a sewing machine that does embroidery. Handy!!

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Well, what do you know!! The weather decided to get in on the fun, too! If a storm can be considered fun, that is. The appropriate timeliness of the rain shower did give us bridal shower attendees a chuckle, however!

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Peeling Bells & Paint

Normally, on a Sunday blogpost, I show a stained-glass window from my church, but unfortunately they've all been used up now.

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[As you may or may not know, you can click on ANY photo on blogs to see them larger.......I have no idea how that can happen, but it does.]

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If you click the first photo on this post, you will see that this church was built in 1885, and though the sign doesn't say so, the church was established by German immigrants who had settled on farms in the immediate area, including many ancestors of my husband. The families were large, and surely, at one time, the pews beneath the steeple bells in this Lutheran church would have been packed full for Sunday services. Husband's parents, grandparents, great-grands, great-greats, and a great-great-great are buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church. Obviously, the poor old building needs a fresh coat of paint, or better yet, vinyl siding. Congregations keep getting smaller, and finances, tighter.

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Once, years ago, I heard a pastor say that way back in the brush behind this churchyard was the grave of a man who had committed adultery with the hired girl at his house. That would have been back in The Good Old Days, by the way. I think the man ended up taking his own life, and that's why he couldn't be buried in the cemetery proper. Churches used to have strict rules about that, and I have heard other such tales over the years about suicide victims' bodies not being allowed into church for the funeral, plus not being allowed burial in the church cemetery. Wow.......talk about adding insult to injury for the family of the deceased. Eventually, opinions changed on that issue, thankfully.

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Thinking of church bells peeling reminds me to mention a related old custom: When a church member passes on, as soon as possible one of the deacons/elders goes to the church and rings the bell, pulling the rope as many times as the age of the deceased person. In the past, if the wind is right and the sound of our church's bells ringing in a series on a weekday reaches my ears, I rack my brain worriedly trying to figure out who may have just died, and whisper a prayer for the loved ones of the deceased person. Usually the bell peeling session includes many, many rings (quite a workout for the deacon pulling the rope), as most people around here live to a ripe old age........although, not always, of course. Church bells peeling in a series can be an unwelcome sound.......especially a short series of rings.

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I wonder if this bell ringing tradition is common in other denominations? Is it just a rural custom? Did it originate in the Old Country, and how far back in time? I should do some research on that.

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Have a wonderful day!!!

Bridal Shower Doll

This afternoon my future daughter-in-law was given a bridal shower, hosted by her aunts and a cousin. Gracing the gift table was this precious bride doll, her dress crocheted years ago by the future-bride's grandmother, now long deceased. A funny little detail was that the doll's hair had gray streaks in it!

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There was a contest to guess the number of candies in the jar next to the doll. I looked it over and wrote down "62", which I figured would be close. I counted the layer of candies on the bottom and then estimated how many layers were in the jar and multiplied. The correct number was 64, and my guess was the closest!! So I won a package of blue paper plates, which I promptly gave to the bride-to-be, as is customary at bridal showers.

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Happy Saturday evening!!

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