Missouri Gold

Our little piece of Missouri doesn't have a lot of color in the fall. We have mainly Oak Trees and these Oaks turn brown. But it is a lovely golden brown, don't you think?

But then there is the occasional red leafed Oak. One stands at the entrance to our driveway and the other down by the cabin. They do glisten when the sun kisses them.

Running a deere . . .

Himself took Friday off and headed to Too where he picked up the trailer and hightailed it back 25 miles or so to Leon. He had taken internet implement dealer bids for this little zero turn John Deere mower and Leon, IA had the lowest bid. That was great, as they are (almost) the nearest implement dealer to Too. So, by the time I got off work and drove to Mo, Himself had the mower there, unloaded, the manual read and had even had a little trial run.

It works slick -- once I get used to the steering, it will work slick, anyway. Himself is used to it already. He runs like a Deere . . .

Nancy's "ZERO TURN"

oh, leave it to me. I got a little flustered right off the bat . . . look what I did. Darn. And Himself heard me do it.

Myths, debunked, and other confessions

A year or two ago, one warm, Fall Sunday afternoon, Himself and I were at III just piddling around when we realized that we were under attack by Japanese Beetles! They were flying through the air by the hundreds. No, it must have been . . . by the thousands! We were being covered by Japanese Beetles -- and bitten! Ouch! They hurt! It was awful! There was no escaping the mean little bugs. We packed up and left. We deserted our post!

This Saturday afternoon was reminiscent of that that day. There were hundreds of the Lady Bug lookalikes starting to gather. We were being attacked and bitten, although not as bad as that other time. Since we had Audri with us and were going to stay overnight at Too anyway, we packed up and left. We vamoosed . . . and let nature run it's course.

Oh, I do NOT like it when I'm wrong. I guess those darn little things don't really bite. It is just their little legs checking us out to see if we are eatable or not. Well, just let me say, it still feels like a bite!

http://www.ipm.msu.edu/beetleFAQ.htm#4

I had one of these beetles crawling around on my arm, and I think it bit me. Do they all bite?

Some bite, most do not. Sometimes the Asian lady beetles bite skin, but often this stinging sensation is actually caused by small spurs on the beetle's legs pricking skin as they move and evaluate whether or not the skin is a food source. The beetle does not carry disease nor does it have any toxin associated with its mouthparts. In most cases, the pain is short lived. If the bite concerns you, apply antiseptic to the site.

Fall 2008

It is officially Fall. The calendar says so but the warm temperatures and sunny days make it seem more like summer. Those cool nights, tho, the nights say definitely that this is Fall.

We are starting to see some color in the trees at III.

This view from the far side of the pond and looking towards the dam is a dandy . . .

Time will tell

This little fellow (little gal?) was swimming lazily around the pond this weekend when we pulled in at III. We made him just a little anxious but he only dived and swam to the other side of the pond and then watched and waited until we would forget about him. Then he'd be back on our side of the pond again.

Wildlife is not our area of expertise and we aren't even sure if this little guy is a duck or a goose. I'm guessing "duck". Maybe he is the ugly duckling . . . which would really make him a swan (kidding. just kidding!) I'm sure he's not a loon. Well, pretty darn sure anyway!

"Guy" appears to be half grown. Was he the runt of the litter and left behind to finish growing? Was he injured and has to recouperate on our pond before heading south? Will he still be there on our next trip to III?

Swinging Bridge

Okay, so it is NOT a swinging bridge yet -- but it will be some day! The day of the Swinging Bridge is closer now that this cable is at III!

Himself traded something for this thick cable. There must be 100 feet or so of it and it is so heavy that Himself cannot lift it. It will be the support for the swinging bridge. The backbone.

It is a beginning.

Flag marks the Spot

Should you come by to visit, remember it is where 36 Hwy almost runs north to south just three miles east of Mt. Moriah. When you see Erica Jo's old 4-H project, the American Flag built of lath and plywood, you'll know you found us. Pull in the drive and immediately turn left. Take the trail where it dips into the timber . . . come on down and sit a spell.

King

Here is Himself walking the dam, surveying his Kingdom . . . he took about 30 trees down off this dam single handedly. I went over the side and pulled or chopped about 300 (3,000!) small cedar trees. Now he keeps it mowed to protect the dam's integrity. Guess he has reason to feel satisfied . . .

Happy Trails, again

It has been a wet year, at III. There was quite a bit of snow last winter. There was a whole lot of rain this spring and summer! There was another 5" of rain just last week. It has been a wet, rough year at III. We lost part of the riverbank to the summer flood. We have had trees rotting off at ground level and falling onto the trails. There was a tree blocking the Ravine Trail until last visit. I got fed up and went and pushed and chopped and pulled until that dead ol' tree was shoved aside and we could get the 4-wheeler through on the Ravine Trail.

Two trees have been down on the River Trail, all summer. We have been in on the River Trail, from both ends, but we couldn't make the loop. Those trees were too big for me to handle so today, Himself dusted off the trusty Husqbarna, jumped on his trusty steed and with me riding pillion we set out to save the day! No. Oh no. Not to save the day but to clear the trail.

It didn't take long. Himself made one cut and let the "leaner" down, above. Two cuts on the big log laying across the trail. We rolled the dead, heavy log away and the River Trail is open again!

I bought this heavy wooden piece about 15 years ago. I paid a whole $5.00 for it. $5.00 now, seems very cheap, but at the time we had four children at home and I didn’t usually spend $5.00 on some garage sale item with no apparent use or resale value. However, this one grabbed my attention and hung on. This shelf? Mantle? Altar? has set in my washroom closet since -- until I brought it here to III. Snuck it into the Jeep when Himself wasn’t looking, one trip down.

It has set in the corner here all summer but with the coming of fall, that old inborn instinct to prepare for winter, to lay by food, to chink the cracks took over. Himself and I tidied up and finished up, this trip. I replaced the screens on two windows, swept the bugs out from under the bed, washed windows and sorted out.

A shelf that Craig made and gifted me was hung above the bed to hold my glasses, at night, along with a rustic, fun picture.

'Course, it all would look better with paneling or beadboard behind it . . . and we'll get to that. Someday!

Too Step

These steps led quite the life at Too. They were the front steps. The steps with a tree branch for the hand rail. These steps saw a lot of coming and going over the years at Too. Thousands of firecrackers and fireflies. They were run up and down hundreds, probably thousands of times, by excited children. They held many an adult at the end of a long day, easing the load or enjoying cool evening air. They held folks eating hot dogs, sweet corn and best of all, watermelon. You sat out on the front steps so you could spit watermelon seeds and let the juice run down your arms.

Well, we screened the ol’ porch in at Too and Himself built a fine screen door for the porch but he only built one door, for one set of steps, and these old worn steps weren’t needed anymore at Too.

Oh, but wait! They were needed! They were needed at III!. At III we’ve always used two cement blocks and 2X6 boards for steps. The folks that built the cabin at III, didn’t take the time to build steps or didn't know how.

So rather than burn these old boards, we hauled them to III. We set the steps up against III’s porch and screwed them into place. Tho not level and not perfect, they work! They do the job.

PS: and the cement blocks and 2X6? Well, they have been recycled too. They are at the end of the porch so that when you are in a hurry to get to the outhouse, you can take a direct route.

Do you . . . Remember This?

The Place: Twin Lake

The Year: 2000

The Baby: Morghan Grace

The Supporting Cast: Tracia, Erica, Kristy and Nana

The Director

Tinkerbell

This picture of the deep canopy over the river bottom was taken in June. I have looked and studied and pondered this picture. I do not know what that white object is but finally decided that this is the land of Peter Pan and that is Tinkerbell.

The Lane

This is The Lane. It is the drive into III. "Lush" comes to mind. Thick, abundant foliage. This is what The Lane looked like last trip but each trip it has a different look, a different feel.

Himself and I will visit there this weekend. Wonder how it will have changed in three weeks time? We look forward to finding out!

Picture Frame

Sitting in the shade room at III, this is like a picture frame . . .

First trip to Too

After a day of playing in the fresh air at Too

one will have a good nap on the ride home.

August Visit

It has been a slow summer for III. So much rain, so much (muddy) lane, so few weekends. The pickens have gotten so slim that Himself up and went to III this past Sunday while Johanna, Audri and I went to the State Fair. He knew he had to mow and he knew he had to mow soon. As he'd rather mow than go to the State Fair, he was off. Like a shot.

This photo was taken right down on Sandy Creek in June when we discovered 10-12' of our land washed off and left our trail VERY close to the river bank. Himself said this visit, he mowed (and mowed . . . and mowed) then hurried up and got the 4-wheeler out to check on the trails and found tall, old trees down on the riverbottom trail. The River Trail is impassable! We will have work and exploring to do next visit!

Cool place

Morghan, Jack and Maddie Mae were not only able to sleep "out" two whole nights, they enjoyed playing on the porch during the day along with Gabby and Joey. The second day, I picked up the mattresses and put them away early and the kids were like "hey! where are the beds?" So I threw a mattress back down with a silky sleeping bag for that occasional card game or rest in the shade.

August

I am just returned from Too. I have spent the last three days with grandchildren at Too. This is what everyone should do in August. Spend time with children. Or -- spend time at the beach. Or better yet, both! I have had fun. A lot of fun. I have been grumpy too, and impatient. I need more practice. I may have to spend time like this in September, practicing at Too!

After work last Wednesday, I picked up the Small Frey and headed south.

On Thursday, Traci came (on short notice, bless her heart) with the little Hofs. We all spent most of Thursday at the beach and taking Harley Davidson rides.

JOEY

MADDIE MAE

GABBY

JACK

MORGHAN

Harley Davidson

We had fun!

Getting Started

This is the old porch. It almost sitting on the ground at the right end in the picture and right there by the tank on the grill, the porch was 3 or 4" away from the cabin. We had leveled the porch many times over the years and there were cement block, 4X4 scraps, other various boards and rocks under there trying to hold the porch up.

Still, it was kind of cute, wasn't it?

Rural renewal

The old porch supports had frozen and thawed and heaved until the old porch floor had pulled away from the cabin. There was a gap wide enough to lose a baby through! Well, a baby cat, anyway. So a week or so ago, Himself and I braced the porch roof, took out the old porch columns and floor and then put new treated lumber back. We kept the roof so that dictated the size of the porch, otherwise it might have been nice to make it another foot or two deep. I had hoped to keep the floor boards but we ended up using 2" treated lumber. This floor will never sag!

Work in Process

The new posts are in and we have started to frame the walls. This was still the first day of the job, in July.

A new skill

Himself had never built a door before but because of the bad luck we had with the boughten ones at III, he read up on the process, borrowed his friend's dowel jig (or something like that) and went to work. Here is the frame. He has drilled, glued and braced the boards and we were getting ready to put the screen on.
We had screen on the front front the July trip. This day was pretty nice! Warm but not horrid and working in the shade with a breeze, made it all bearable.

Finishing work

Notice that we have all the latest equipment and tools! Here is Himself using a wooden chair for a saw horse! He and I make do a lot. We can't, of course, run to Menards when we don't have a tool or piece of material. This day, we figured out how to rip a 1X4 into a 1X2 by nailing a jig on the porch floor. I think this is the fun part for me -- the improvising. The figuring out how to, part. Well, and the fact that we can finish a project. That helps!



See the little metal bed head and foot boards leaning on the porch? I'm going to make a little daybed out of them for the porch so little people can nap or sleep on the porch.

I found the camera timer!

Sorry! We had a little time after finishing the porch and putting the tools away. I played with the camera and found the timer. Here we are on our new, screened porch! Using the timer might be a bit dangerous!

Trying Tony's trick

I have a long arm, well two long arms, so thought I would try taking our picture while holding the camera. Obviously, I need more practice -- and I should wait until we've showered and cleaned up after a long, hot day working outside!

You can see how impressed Himself is with the whole process!

Done Deal

And here is Himself enjoying the fruits of his labors . . .

I said that I think the (new, sturdy) porch will hold the cabin up for another 40 years!

We sat out on the porch last evening, after our day's work was done. An evening breeze came up as the day cooled off. There wasn't one wayward mosquito or fly in the porch with us! It was so nice I wanted to sleep out there!

6 feet high and risin'

This was the most water Himself and I had ever seen in the ditch. There is a culvert down in that ditch that carries water under the road and into the lake. Normally the culvert can keep up. We have seen water in there a few times. Once, in early spring, the culvert was frozen and the water backed up -- but it didn't back up this deep! That ditch in the photo is holding about 8 feet of water. I am amazed and shocked at this and simply cannot imagine what people in Iowa City, Cedar Falls and along the Missouri River feel when the water comes up and up and UP, in their homes.

How high's the water, Mama?

It has been a wet spring. No doubt about that. The pond has been full each time we managed to slosh our way into III this year. The tail end of June we managed a day and a night at III but as you can see, the pond is way high. Last week we snagged a few days at Too and on the 4th day it rained. Seven inches. We stayed until the next day and with more rain in the forecast and thunder in the southwest, we hightailed it home only to find there had been eight inches in Creston! Creston has more concrete and less clay so we didn't get muddy or stuck in the mud in Creston. We will sneak down to Too again this weekend. I'm packing. Let's see, umbrella. Check. mud boots. Check. rain coat . . .

KAMAKAZIE LAWNMOWER

The riding lawnmower I purchased from one of Craig's friends for a whopping $250.00 turned out to be a real lemon. It did last about 5 years, but it was a constant battle with the drive belt. Then this spring, it wouldn't even start, although it was the fault of field mice that built a huge nest inside the engine. I spent an entire day dis-assembling the mower, stripping down all the covers so I could get the nest out. Finally, I got it started, and all was well, except for the drive belt, so after mowing all day, and just about being finished, the engine started acting up again. I then decided it had one more chance, and only one. If it quit again for any reason, it was history. It started cutting in and out, so before it quit altogether, I decided I was going to drive it into the big ravine about 25 yards from the cabin. I put it in high gear, opened the throttle, aimed for the ravine, and prepared myself to eject when the mower went over. No such luck. It died about 2 feet from the ravine. So after a few choice words, I decided to take some of the new parts I had installed from the mower. Just then I hear the nastiest words I have ever heard from herself, cursing that damm mower. I then realized that sounded just like what I had said, and just had to laugh. We both laughed, left the mower sitting, and went back to the cabin.
boi

Volunteers and No Shows

Last summer, you may recall, I babied some cherry tomatoes along and let them go to seed so that I would have volunteer tomatoes come this summer. If your memory fails you and you want to see a picture of the little cherry beauties and the cage I constructed to keep deer and bear out, go here (I make these links only because it is fun and because I can!)

This year, there is not one single volunteer tomato at III. Not one! Not fair!

However, probably to appease me, the Larkspur has volunteered and was in good bloom this last trip to III. Isn't this a pretty view of the cabin?

Flood Stage on Sandy Creek

We had no idea. I joked earlier in here about high water at III. We had heard about all the rain in Missouri and knew that the rain in south central Iowa would end up in Missouri but we didn't realize nor even begin to imagine the amount of water that tore down the little creek that is our easterly border.

We rode the River Trail Saturday, putting up the new signs. When we got to the eastern most point of our trail, we were both shocked. Near as we could tell, about 10-15' of our property had been washed away. The flooding river took the bank, the fence and 2 or three 75' trees. We just sat there with our mouths hanging open, trying to take it all in. Our 4-wheeler trail now is just a few feet from the edge of the river bank -- with a 15 or 20' drop. That river bank and fence was still here just 3 weeks ago when we plowed in and rode the trails.

Looking across the river bed, we could see the grass just laid flat from the force of the water. It is hard to guess but the water must have been up 15-20 feet. Large trees on the other bank were also washed down. I was angry in a way. I knew there was no way to argue with Mother Nature. What is done, is done. But I yelled, anyway, "give them back! Give back those trees! and I should have just saved my breath.

There's some good logging down there in Sandy Creek if only we had a way to get those great trees up and out of there.

Trail signs

Son's family gifted Himself with more trail signs this past Christmas. As you all have probably heard us whining this Spring that we haven't been! we haven't gone! it is raining again! the lane is pure mud! you might then understand that just this past weekend we finally got most of the signs put up.

And isn't this fun! Three signs at one intersection.

The signs will be so helpful for visitors out on the four wheeler and helpful for grandchildren when they are old enough to run the trails themself. Okay. Who am I kidding, it is helpful to me! As I don't drive the 4-wheeler a lot, when I do I sometimes get misplaced. Okay, Okay. Sometimes I get lost as to where I am in the scheme of things. These signs help me and they look pretty cool too! Thanks, Craig and Traci!

the order of things

This is the right and proper way that a project should be accomplished.























The man of the house (cabin) should read the instructions . . .

then he should figure out how the instructions are wrong and make corrections so that the finished project is right on . . .

then turn it over to his wife to go out and enjoy!

Thank you, sir!

Thank you, children, for the great Christmas gift!

I will be using it often.