Silent night....

Kevin and I went for a walk in the quiet evening after the ice storm. The street lights made some beautiful relections on the ice.

Barbed wire

Under the street light, looks like spun sugar.

still ever green...

Ice storm hits midwest...

This is actually the second ice storm to hit our area in 2007, suffering damage to many trees, causing massive limbs to break off under the weight of the ice, thus causing power outages as limbs fell on power lines. Fortunately, we lost neither. But the beauty...the crystal, naked trees, especially when the sun finally shown on it all, revealing glorious beauty. The camera can never truly capture God's created beauty, but here is my feeble attempt at doing so. There will be more photos to share, but here are a few for you to enjoy for now...




a bud on our lilac, encased in ice



back side of our swing. Notice the thin string in the back tying down the protective tarp...a good 1/2" of ice coating it.



a small bush in the back yard



looking up our street



ornamental grass, each blade defined in ice







driving down the road with the sun shining on the ice



With a breeze blowing through, the ice squeaked as the twigs and branches rubbed against each other...sounding like sparrows. I actually took a videoclip and as I viewed it I thought, "I don't remember hearing all those sparrows when I shot this." Then I realized that it was actually the sound of the icey branches rubbing against each other in the trees.





our railing dripping with icicles

Little Miss Muffett...?


these are the curds (minus the whey), or rather...what's left of them after leaving the cheese factory, on our return trip. Mmmmm...warm, salty, soft, squeaky



Heading out to the field with the manure spreader, in Amish country.



An Amish farmer with his team of work horses plowing the field.



The parking lot at the country store. No photography is allowed inside the store, but they have gas lights and it's run by the Amish.


Old fashioned town kept alive
Step back in time at Usher's Ferry.



Walking along the river



Looking for photo ops...always



Looking for rocks...always



A rare find...an octagonal barn...still functioning

I'm baaaack.....
It's been a long time, but thought I'd better get back to blogging or I'll totally lose my audience.

We visited Jesse, Julie, and Renae a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and they took us to a great park. (Silly us, we didn't take any drinking water. Won't do that again.)



Grandpa Kevin sees it as his grandfatherly duty to carry little Renae out to the car (and other places). He's rather protective of his grandchildren. Never mind that her daddy was there to carry her.




See what I mean?




On one of the trails. Renae is inside the sling mama has strapped on.




While Grandpa is toting Miss Renae back to the car, Jesse and Julie take the only "sidewalk" across the water.




She really doesn't like the carseat. (The scratch is from her fingernail, which Julie quickly trimmed.)



Ok, the pacifier helps.




Sweet dreams....




Back home, on Daddy's lap. (Notice she has his and her Papa's dimple)



Happy trails....
Kevin and I rode the bike trail north on a crisp fall day.


The trail looks like an old country lane in some places.



through the tunnel



Hey kids...remember the "pull apart weeds"? These were along the side of the trail.



We rode past some farms. Partially harvested fields, soybeans on the left, corn on the right.



Think these wild kittens were just watching the bike traffic go by.




It was a busy day for this farmer, picking corn.



Colorful sumac bordering the trail and the back side of this combined bean field.




Kevin enjoying the view overlooking a creek as he waits patiently while I take photos.


River view...
Last Sunday we went for a walk along the river. Actually I asked to go so that I could take more pics.


Late afternoon sun on the river




(Oops, this random pic is out of sequence. Oh well...Kevin was taking down the gazeebo for the winter.)





Kevin took this long arm shot. Not a photo I would frame, but it's all we had of us that day.

Baby dropped off....
Of course, it was pre-planned. While Jesse and Julie went to a week-long conference, little Renae's grandparents each were honored with a 2 day babysitting adventure. Wendi and I met half way on Thur...with a hurried exchange, both grandmas being very aware that it would be feeding time by the time Renae and I arrived at my house. I informed Wendy that I had done my cleaning and laundry that morning...and she informed me she was going home to do her cleaning, saying "you won't get anything else done" while Renae is in Kevin's and my charge. True words. But it was sooo worth it. Kevin and I agreed we'd watch her again in a heartbeat! (or any of our grandchildren!!)


Miss Renae...looks like she's wondering where Mama and Daddy are.




Stretching...




This was how most of her time was spent.




hmmmm...who knows what she may be thinking? Maybe about Mama and Daddy....




A family reunion in the back seat of our car, driving home from the airport. (Jesse really is happy to see his daughter....)


But here are some action shots while she was in our care....


Grandpa savored the time with his youngest grandchild....




...feeding her.....




...burping her (then catching the spit-up), then burping her some more.



This is her happy time...and she loves conversation! Is she her mother's daughter, or what!!!




She was such a good baby...and a delight to have in our home. Thanks, Jesse and Julie.


Last Sunday, after having returned Renae to her parents the day before, we went for a picnic and bike ride around the lake, which is about 30 minutes south of where we live.

Kevin carried the food and water....




Several little waterfalls below the spillway.




Time to hit the trail again.





Milkweek pods bursting open along the trail.




The silks were glossy with the sunshine reflecting off them




On the trail. (Side note...this is the bike Kevin bought at a garage sale so he could ride with me on trails. It was like new and only $25. That was an answer to a prayer for an inexpensive, but decent bike. He can't ride his Trek on the trails, so we're delighted with this one.)



Trey and Kari...we walked along this trail around the lake when Kari first returned from Africa. You were newly engaged and just starting to date. Folks...it's a long and fascinating story. Maybe Kari will write and publish a book about it some day.




Our picnic site...overlooking the lake where we sometimes paddle.




My left brake went out and my hero repaired it for me.




Long arm shot, made famous by Kari. Somehow, hers always look more professional.