Here's the latest progress on the basement. We (mostly Kevin) have been mudding and taping. He went to Home Depot to rent a drywall sander with a vaccuum attachment, but it was broken and they were waiting for a part to come in before it could be repaired. So Kevin has been sanding by hand. I try to help Kevin...but am not near as skilled as he. So I am content to stay upstairs and help when he needs me.


Mudding the corners



Penni mudding the bathroom ceiling


Makes for a very sore neck!


Bathroom all mudded


Concentration and a steady hand required



It looks like a mess...but we see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is looking down the hallway in the family roon. Bathroom on the first left, storage area on the left at end of hallway. Kevin's art studio at end of hallway to the right.


More corner mudding in storage area


...and in his studio


Kevin installing a piece of drywall under the basement stairs.


Kevin is installing a clear UV film to keep the bright sunlight off his paintings that hang on the wall

Last Sunday Mom and Maynard came for a visit. It was a warm, sunny day and we enjoyed the outdoors. Kevin prepared his famous salmon on the grill.


Mom, enjoying the warm outdoors in our swing. As you can see, we enjoyed a game of Scrabble.


Maynard and Kevin relaxing as they watch golf on
TV.


Maynard and Mom (aka Grandma, Evelyn) enjoying lemon meringue pie and coffee


Maynard and Kevin loading up their bikes to ride on the trail.

Below is the bowl of apples on our buffet. The bowl was made by a friend of Kevin's in NY who is a full time potter. (I hope to visit his studio someday.) Trey, do you notice anything about any of these apples?






Look closer ;o)

Here are the rest of the pictures from Kevin's and Penni's mushrooming adventure:


white violets and dandelions.




The timber floor covered with various little white flowers and violets


The flower lined trail



Hey, Jesse...this one's for you....I found part of a pig!!!


The mosquitos were horrible. Kevin put up his hood to try to keep them off his face and ears and neck. We both kept our hands in our pockets as much as possible.



I can't remember for sure what these are called...may apples?
I didn't see any jack-in-the-pulpits or dutchman's britches. In fact, I've not seen the latter for a few years now.


These look blue, but they're actually purple violets. Whenever I see violets, I think of that quote: "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it."




Ah...what we came here for. This is the sum total of our harvest for the day. We had it in scrambled eggs Saturday morning. These morels sell for as much as $25/lb locally. Outrageous!

Here are just some of the pictures from our (intended) mushrooming trip to a local nature center. The wildflowers in the local timber are so dainty and beautiful. I'll post more tomorrow when I have time...



Umbrellas


Kevin walking in front of me leading me up the slopes to look for mushrooms


A scenic property bordering the nature center



Kevin (my anchor) waiting patiently for his humming bird wife to catch up. She's sidetracked by the plethera of photo subjects just waiting to be caught on camera....and sent to you




A scenic view in the center



The winding creek



Dainty white wildflowers



Ah...the bluebells



so beautiful!!!



More wildflowers in the timber

Jesse and Julie came for a weekend of fun....but you see what happens.
Kevin asked Jesse if he'd help him with the assembly of our newly purchased 2 seater swing..."It won't take very long."



Removing the parts from the box


"Pinky, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"



No end to the supply of bolts in this kit.


Kevin carefully reads through the instructions, one step at a time. Jesse waits for verbal instructions.



Julie helped, too. After laying out to catch some rays during the assembling process, she laid the glass panels in place.


Installing the actual swing


Almost done....the canopy frame is bolted into place. Worked much better the 2nd time, right guys?



Enjoying the fruits of their labors. Great job, guys. Thanks!



Enjoying our lunch. (No, Julie does not have the mumps. I know there are many reported cases in Iowa, but Julie is quite healthy. She's just enjoying her grilled cornish hen.)


We stopped at a sporting goods store to buy bullets for Jesse's gun, and Julie found a dog she wants. She's pouting because she can't have a real dog. She's so sad :o(



Shooting under Jesse's careful supervision.

Well...I've finally sat down to post more pictures to my blog...I've hit a snag and don't know how to fix it...so I'll just post what I have so far, and will continue later with the rest. Please excuse the seemingly random posting. Anyway...enjoy.


Jesse and Julie visited us Easter weekend. One of the things we did was to go visit our good friends: Dave, Debbie, Stasia, and Sonya. Jesse brought his gun and taught Kevin and me how to shoot (great fun! I want to do it again.). We did this on private property...at our friends' place.



Jesse is giving me instructions here. He's big on safety....which this mom really appreciates.



Loading the cartridge. No easy task....it gets harder with each bullet added because the spring is so tense.


He's a pretty good shot.



Kevin decided to have a go at it. He enjoyed shooting and did pretty good.


On their way back after seeing the damage done.



Trey...since you can't have one, thought you'd like to at least see Jesse eating one of Debbie's macadamia nut cookies (Sonya baked them).



Stasia and Sonya



Stasia, Julie, Jesse....(he's eating another cookie.....one of the many great things about going to Debby K's)