My mirror smells so fresh and clean!
Yes, that's what I mean.
I got busy cleaning...bathroom is always first because I want to be done with that job the most. Well, I was in too much of a hurry, reached into the not-so-well lit cupboard and grabbed the glass cleaner....generously sprayed it on the mirror and....










...discovered I had grabbed the wrong bottle. I had sprayed Listerine mouth wash on my mirror. Why, you ask, do I keep Listerine in a spray bottle? Because it's supposed to act as a mosquito repellent when sprayed in the yard.





Just for fun....


Driving through Amish country...Saturday must be laundry day




Thought my family would enjoy this experimental photo. Don't know why I put them together, but I really like this. The peaches are inside a very old bowl I found at a garage sale this summer. The handsome couple in the background? My mom and dad in 1948.

Just a side note: growing up, our family was anything but wealthy. Happy, but without much money. I remember that one year Mom had made some beautiful satin doll clothes for my sisters and me. There was no money to buy new fabric. My mom had cut up her beautiful wedding dress for her daughters' doll clothes. She sacrificed much for all her children throughout the years.

We had a lot of flooding in our area again a couple weeks ago (though nothing like a year ago), so we went for a walk along one of the local trails to see what we could see....

....worm tracks. Wonder how long it takes for a worm to travel 2 feet across the mud.





The creek waters overflowed the banks and the flood waters sent debris against this fence....limbs washed to and lodged on these fence posts, making them all look like crosses.

Oh, skip it!


Just before the release.....
Whenever Kevin and I go to the lake or river, I'm always on the lookout for flat stones. Kevin is the champion rock skipper...at least I've never seen anyone who could beat him. He can make them skip so fast and so far, that they just flutter across the water. I never tire of this entertainment, so he just humors me when I bring him all the skipping stones I've collected for him to send across the water.





On its way across the water....

Why so serious, Kevin?


Because he's paddling ever so stealthily in order to get close to the pelicans.





We paddled into the very shallow end of the lake...I'm talking just a few inches deep...to get close to these birds. Surprisingly, none of the pelicans flew off.





We never knew though, they had black feathers on their wings.





He was keeping company with the big boys.





Kevin finds it so relaxing to observe everything around him when we're out on the water.

Saturday, after Kevin's and Dale's bike ride all over Van Buren County, we all (Dale, Lori, Andrew, Makenna, Kevin, and myself) went around to the little shops and did some sight seeing. That corner of Iowa is very scenic. Lots of trees and hills, historic sites. But not touristy.


We went to this shop called "Iron and Lace". The wife is a potter and sells her wares. She's at the potter's wheel a good share of the day. Almost all (if not all) her wares have a Queen Anne's lace (wild flower that grows in the Midwest) that is placed over the glaze on the pieces and then fired on.




Kevin in the loft of the store. It was hot up there...no a/c





Looking down from the loft





Out back is the "iron" part of the Iron and Lace. The husband is a blacksmith and has many iron creations. Also has many antique tools of the trade.




Here he is explaining a huge old belt-driven drill press. We are his captive audience.






Ah, Sunday morning. The guys headed out in a drizzle...was cloudy and cold and windy.
They thought they'd give it a go. But as Lori and I were later enjoying a relaxing breakfast, the guys called. They had ridden 9 miles. The rain was a downpour and there was lightning. Time to quit and be safe.




Later, we went to Greef's General Store. They house antiques for sale, and many artifacts in glass cases.









This gentleman is quite the artisan. The display cases are made from many varieties of wood from trees that grow locally. He has so many artifacts, especially arrowheads that he has found and has generously put on display for public viewing. He is an interesting individual.