Kendra turns 17 !

Happy birthday, Kendra :-)

(I would just like to point out that there is an exclamation point after the "7," and not a "1." Can't have anyone thinking she is 171 years old....though she'd be amazingly well-preserved for that age)

Fulfilling that last missing piece to her collection of Jane Austen's major works, Kendra unwraps "Persuasion."
 Good thing she dropped that hint a month or two ago :-)

A couple of CD's....Edvard Grieg and the soundtrack from "Prince of Egypt."
 
Kendra congratulates herself on how another "subtle" hint (POE) has paid off, while Jason asks, "Greg who ?"

Carolyn appears awestruck at the one surprise gift--Ragtime piano music by Joplin.
  
And no, I don't mean Janis.

One more year, and Kendra leaves the nest....
 

Tweet

Life in the Ditch

Intricacies of the milkweed bloom
 

Tidy field with rolls of hay
 

Dragonfly that took up so much time I stopped trying to identify it
 

Day lily...up close and personal
  

A third patch! I wonder if I could get paid to walk the ditches and scope out the dope....
 

Echinacia pallida--the Pale Coneflower (aren't Latin names cool?)
 

Ma discovers tractors get flat tires, too! Earl remained cheerful throughout.
 

A near perfect prairie rose, near the end of bloom time.
  

And now, Ma goes to free another flower bed from the tyranny of weeds. It doesn't pay much, and I doubt it will ever contribute to the household economy, but at least it keeps me away from the computer....
 

Tweet

In case you ever wondered....

....dead cats can still serve a useful purpose.

Ma accompanied Sharon this afternoon* to her check-up with our electrophysiologist, the good Dr. H. in Iowa City. (by the way, Sharon is in tip-top shape, with a resting heart rate of 48....the only truly normal Hoyt in our family)

On the way down, we commented to each other on the loudness of the muffler. It has been aging in the past year, but along with the cracked windshield and contrasting red hood, we've always looked on the boisterous muffler as just one more facet of the car's inimitable charm.

During the return trip, we noticed yet more increasage of the noise level. It was SO loud, we could hardly hear ourselves talk, which for two females, is quite the phenomenon--and a distressing one, at that.

On the flip side, the vibrations from said noise gave the whole car a massage feel. So while our ears were assaulted, our backs were soothed.

Ma even had the presence of mind to take a quick gander at the tail pipe...."Nope. Not hanging down.....looks reasonably mediocre."

I think it was about this time that our car broke through the sound barrier. We're talkin' SHARP reports upon deacceleration: such as exiting highways, slowing down for stop signs and slipping to a halt behind bushes to evade the police.

These loudsome bangs gave us pause to wonder, "Will this faithful beast of a car make it home?" You can just imagine our relief when we got within 25 miles of el heartho and realized los menfolkos would have no excuso for not coming to our rescuo.

But getting back to the dead cat....we were cruising along the final blacktop road, when Ma spied a small lump that appeared less than alive. In a fantastic display of vehicular finesse, she carefully steered so as to place the prone victim squarely between the wheels....carefully....carefully.....*WHUMP*.....*blinks*

"Wait a minute...."

"There it goes, Mommy....off to the side..."

"But it was dead....and...I HAD to have cleared it....!"

"No. I mean the muffler....it's by the side of the road."

"Oh. OHHHHhhhh."

*screech of tires*

We stopped, backed, picked up the rusted out "S" thingamajobber, and tossed it into the trunk.

Most of the cat remained on the road.

Thus ends another day in the Heartland of America.
 
*{attempted publishing yesterday, but was thwarted by the ever undependable Blogger}

Tweet

The Ma Side

 
The intrepid homeschooling mom was terribly excited as she presented the science lesson of the day.....Counting the Layers of Jello to Determine its Age
  

Tweet

Wildlife at the Park

I had errands to run in town yesterday and was planning to go to my little Prairie Bridges retreat and take wildlife pictures, but when the younger kids asked to go to the playground.....*sigh.....mother-guilt won out.

Nolan, the excavator.
  

Carolyn, the shrieker.
 

Ethan, the lounger.
 

Trevor, the Supreme Cutie-Pie Bunny Boy.
  

Playing musical animals....(I can't look at this too much, or I get dizzy)
 

Visits to the playground always call for feats of daring-do.
 

Chatting with Dirk-from-Chicago.
  
 

Tweet

Woeful Tale by 7-year-old....ex-plained

  

It would seem the budding young artist of earlier fame, has now taken up the craft of writing.

Let us pause a moment or three, to evaluate this young cub and his short, but poignant essay.

Looking purely at the content, we see optimism, turning into crushing disappointment, followed by the renewal of hope, as the author channels his former epigastric intents into the healing prose of paint.

It is the age-old tale of snack sought, snack lost, and magic marker found.

But aside from the emotional roller-coaster ride, much can be learned from a study of the resolute stroke of the pen, not to mention the bold use of punctuation.

Large letters fill the page, as if to say, "See me! Hear me! Give me cookies!"

And the misshapen letters....a mistake? Mais non.

The backwards "C" in "CATS" could be considered a momentary lapse, except that it had been written correctly, in the word, "COOKTES." No, it is, no doubt, a subliminal reference to the perversity of the feline, it's independence and tendency to do that which is opposite of it's owner's desires.

And speaking of "COOKTES," .....is that missing bottom line of the "I" simply a typo? An oversight?

While possible, it is more than likely the scribe did this intentionally, so as to emphasize and call attention to the longings of his heart. He wanted COOKIES, fer cryin' out loud! And, he wants everyone to know it.

As to the excessive punctuation....is it indeed, overdone? Or is it a clever technique employed to state that NO. WORD. IS. UN.IM.PORTANT? !

Whatever the reason, a good writer/artist never tells the meaning of every little device. No, he leaves that to pompous pundits who couldn't get a job doing real work, if their life de-pended on it.

(Besides, if you put in lots of periods, sooner or later you'll hit the right spot.)

We would be remiss to overlook one more detail, that of the SIZE of a particular word in relation to the others.

It is "BOY." Both times this verbiage appears larger than the words surrounding it. A mere happenstance? We thinks not, oh yes we don't.

It seems obvious the author holds himself in high esteem. He is not just "boy," he is BOY. Nay, he is even BOY.

In conclusion, this is clearly not a simple note concerning cookies denied. It is a story with-in a story, involving complex layers--not unlike a stalk of celery.

Remember.....no creation is too small to be made much of.
 

Tweet

Life in the Ditch

More Canadian Thistle. For some reason, this makes me think of Phyllis Diller...
 

An unidentified Skipper--not a true butterfly. The antennae are spaced further apart and it's body is bigger, similar to a moth.
 
Named because of the skipping, flitting way in which it flies.

Pretty alfalfa. (I think....)
 

White flowers lining the road. I thought this was soapwort, but now I'm not so sure.
  

Another patch of....*cough*.....alternative agricultural plant-life, spied surprisingly close to our property.
 

A bunny--but then, you probably knew that. Loren went out to mail a letter, just as I was returning from my morning walk. The bunny ran from Loren, only to encounter me, coming up the gravel road. This proved to be quite the dilemma--should he run from the big, bad FedEx guy? Or the short, fat Ma?
 

In the end, it chose to run from me.
  

It's always nice to be formidable.
 

Tweet

Potpourri

Concerning the title, I would just like to say that I spelled that right, the first time!

*humbly bows*

But mostly, there has collected a hodge-podge-of-stuffs that must be unloaded on the blog, or I will go nuts. Unhappily, there is no theme running through the diverse, yet unrelated items, so I'll just start throwing them out, willy-nilly.

The life of your stay-at-home mom--besides providing multiple opportunities for hyphenated words--requires quick-thinking on many levels. As evidence, I give you two questions posed to me in the last two days....

Trevor (while helping him after his bath): "Do kings wear underwear?"

Loren: "What do you want done with this bat I caught in the basement?"

Is it any wonder mothers start exhibiting strange behavior in their later years? I think I've remained reasonably well-adjusted, all things considered.

But on to the news :-)

Everyone's probably heard of the demoted goat, but CNN's version is the funniest. And I read a whole two or three before coming to that conclusion.

Here's a crossword tale dear to my heart, even if it's not all that funny. I've been "into" crosswords off and on, mostly to stave off boredom and angst in a clinic waiting room, or possibly even to while away the hours chained to the couch nursing a young babe.

Not sure if they offered a degrees in Enigmalogy when I went to school.....

And speaking of my youth, I used to get the weirdest looks from people when they heard I ate peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches for lunch. At least, that's what we called 'em. It was really a marshmallow creme. And what's more, I feed this to some of my children, even today.

All this is background for a Boston controversy. Their whole problem, as I see it, is one of semantics and/or connotation.

For let's face it....."Marshmallow Fluff" sounds SO much more frivolous than "Marshmallow Creme," which judging by the spelling, undoubtedly came from France.

It's probably even gourmet.

And if a law shall be proposed against marshmallow fluff, than a restraining order against jelly is only a matter of time.

I'm sure you'll agree with me that this requires the vigilant attention of sandwich lovers, everywhere.

Relating to keeping a sharp look-out, anyone traveling in the Los Angeles should be aware of the danger of drunken pelicans.

If that isn't bizarre enough for you, the ever helpful Wilson sent me this link.

It's really hard to think of an appropriate comment to go along with that....

...so maybe I'd better get back to Jason's final transcript. Rumor has it the university would like that before he attends in the fall.
 

Tweet

Corn of a Morn

  
 

Tweet

Life in the Ditch

Yellow Goatsbeard:  a very common wildflower 'round these parts.
 

One seed from a huge, puffy seedhead of the above flower. Nolan looked at this picture and thought it was a spider web.
 

This is either the work of a very artistic farmer, or he was trying to squeeze in a few more beans between utility poles.
 

Milkweed in bloom. I know we had these back in Indiana, but I'm not sure I ever saw one in full bloom until I moved out here....
  ....but then, who can remember that long ago?

Besides, when you're young, there are so many things you don't notice.
 

Tweet

Ackley Sauerkraut Days

Just picture this succulent plateful of (free) fermented cabbage with a coupla (free) weiners alongside. It's enough to send those taste buds into a salivatin' frenzy.
 The kids ate all their hot dogs, but "several" plates of sauerkraut were left, including mine. A little dab'l do ya, I say. Melinda consumed all of hers, as did Jason. HE referred to the doggish accompaniment as "rockin' awesome," or whatever it is that birds-soon-to-leave-the-nest, say. (he just talks like that occasionally to annoy me....)

Here on the left, we have last year's Sauerkraut Queen consoling....OOPS, I mean congratulating her successor on the right. Already the new queen seems deep in thought at the heavy responsibility thrust upon her....
  ....which mostly consists of being available to crown the next queen in 2007.

A German Band played during supper. I liked the lady drummer and the accordionist, the latter of which looks very Alpine in his hat and pencil-thin mustache.
 

But my FAVORITE instrumentalist was the washboard player :-) Love the fur.
 I sure hope I am having that much fun when I reach her age.

A picture of small town Americana. People having a good time with simple food, a hometown band and their neighbors.
  

You can tell we don't get out much. A trip to town AND a leaky hose. It just doesn't get any better than this, folks.
 

Carnival rides are brought in for three days. This is not just about sour vegetables, people!
 It would seem this is a "Fun Slide." I guess the boring ones were booked.

Yes, they come from all over for the famous Sauerkraut Days Festival. This couple hails from Long Beach, California, judging by their T-shirts. Come on....admit it...you're impressed.
  

The band shell at Victory Park. The musicians deserve special commendation for good sportmanship--playing while blinded by the sun.
 

It was a nice little outing, and the first time we have attended.

Don't ask me how this got started, though there was definitely a fairly large German population in the surrounding area. A brief history of the town can be found, here.

Anyway, I DO know how to spell "sauerkraut," now :-)
 

Tweet

Life in the Ditch

I discovered a new flower along the roadway this morning :-) It appears to go by several names: Yellow Toadflax, Dalmatian Toadflax, Wild Snapdragon and Baby Snapdragon.
  With all those names, you'd think it had a great reputation...but apparently it's considered a noxious weed by many states.

Guess I'll have to go dig it up before it gets mowed off...

These flowers are all along our neck of the gravel roads right now, and at night they almost light the way, they are so luminous.
  After doing a bit of checking at this site, I've concluded it is Bouncing Bet/Soapwort. The first sounds like something listed at 10-1 at the Belmont stakes....but "Soapwort" sounds like a good pioneer stock, don't you think? That's what I'm labeling it, anyway.

I would be happy if someone knows a more correct identification to anything I post, so let me know if that's not the proper name.

White flowers are hard to photograph. I guess I should start decreasing the exposure, since they often come out so blindingly bright, you practically need sunglasses.
  Not completely sure, but I think this might be False Rue Anemone or Thimbleweed.

Whatever they are, I like them.

And from a week or two ago, another singer.
   Probably one of the Western Meadowlarks, though he looks a bit different. I'm thinkin' it might be a slightly immature youngster, who doesn't have all the darkish "V" pattern, yet.

He looks like he's enjoying himself, though.

It didn't fly away as soon as most Meadowlarks I've met, also leading me to conclude it isn't full-grown. Again, correct me if I'm wrong. You won't hurt my feelings. (about birds and flowers, that is.....)

Taking pictures by the wayside is a great stress reliever. Unfortunately, I have to get back to the real world, now.....
 

Tweet

Calling All Techies

or Recent History Graduates

As may be noted, Ma has added "Recent Comments" at the bottom end of the sidebar.

I am still unhappy with the results.

I had tried the "BloggerHacks" link so helpfully sent by Wilson, but it seems made for a sidebar more commodious than this template allows.

Besides, I wanted it to be up near the top, above "Recent Posts," though I would settle for between "Recent Posts" and "Archives."

HOWEVER, these options moved the post-text WAY down the page, leaving an unacceptable blank spot at the top.

Then I checked out the "Blogger Help" section, which amazingly enough, has a short code to paste for "Recent Comments."

This works, sort of.

HOWEVER, I find that it only works at the bottom of the sidebar, and that it increases the number of "Recent Posts" by seven-fold, to an ungainly 49.

{Ah now, once I published this post, it went back to a sensible 10--the whims of blogging....)

AND, this placement lists forty-four "Recent Comments," which again, seems a tad on the fruitful side.

SO, you great big bunch of techies who are entirely too smart for your own good....how can I alter the code of the template, to give me a much more reasonable 11 "Recent Posts," and....say.....around 7 "Recent Comments?"

Eh?

Don't be shy, now. Ma awaits your collective advice....

{Well, see....maybe I can live with this. If nothing else, it has made me sleepy}

{{(Friday) And on closer inspection, the "Recent Comments" are not even listed correctly....the one at the top is NOT the most recent}}
 

Tweet

Farms in the Sunset

 I keep getting feedback from certain persons that you can only use so many sunsets. Maybe they're right.

Or, maybe they're just too young....
 

Tweet

Library Day

Trevor displays maximum toothiness of alligator puppet.
 

Nolan hides behind cushions, pretending to be the dragon he is holding....
 ....while Trevor converts his gator into a gun.

Trevor discovers gravity.
 

The wonder of new, giant mouse puppets.
  

Sometimes we get library books, too.
 

Tweet