Monday, November 22, 2010
Thanksgiving cards
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Meeting the Paper Dolls
In October, I was finally able to attend my first "Marathon Crop" hosted at The Salvation Army in Cedar Rapids and sponsored by the Paper Dolls. My neice is a member of this fun group of women and her bff is the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer at the Salvation Army. This crafty group of "dolls" meets once a week, Jan. through Oct. The marathon started at 3:00 Friday afternoon and went until 10:00 Sat. night. Everyone brought whatever they wanted to work on and a snack to share. When I got there Sat. morning, some were still sleeping while others were already working.
No Mo' Mogo!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Bummed
Monday, September 6, 2010
Deal of the Day!
Me: Does this freezer basket belong to you?
Man: Yep.
Me: How much do you want for it?
Man: $3.
Me: Perfect!
Man: You can have me for $2.
Me: Really? Wow! That sounds like quite a deal! If I give you this $5, you wouldn't even have to give me change.
Man: Course, I don't know what you'd do with me.
Me: I'm sure I could come up with something (chuckle, chuckle).
Man from neighboring booth: Don't be doin' that now! You know you gotta go home to the missus!
Man: Dad-gum-it, he's right. Forgot about goin' home to the missus.
Me: Okay, well, if you're sure..........................Have a good day!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day Trippin' (revised)
So why am I gettin' all drippy and nostalgic? My husband and I took an amazing motorcycle day trip today. The weather was perfect! 186 miles, 4 watering holes, interesting people, two states, and numerous small towns.
In order to get to our first stop, we had to drive through Salem, Bonaparte and Bentonsport. Our first stop was A.J.'s Bar and Grill in Mt. Sterling, Iowa. If I stood on their outdoor deck and threw a frisbee, it'd land in Missouri! Now this place has character! It's got that "hunter lodge" look. Sort of. If you don't mind dining under the watchful eye of a giant taxidermied turkey or deer head, then you should definitely check this place out. But don't ask for a margarita or any of them other fancy drinks! No sir! Beer, beer, or beer. I had a can of pop. I also had a tenderloin the size of a dinner plate. I'm not kidding. The Christmas garland is still hanging above the faux pine log bar and racing flags and beer ad posters cover the walls. "Does" and "Bucks" identify the restrooms, so you may want to brush up on your deer gender names. Yes, my friends, this is a date night destination. (The food was excellent!)
From there we headed to Missouri. We were so close - why not? Kahoka (home of the Clark County Mule Festival), Wayland and Alexandria gave us more interesting buildings and we shared stories of when we used to stop once in awhile, many years ago, just for something to do. On this trip, however, those stores were either closed or gone or no longer an interest. F.Y.I. Alexandria has a fireworks store that is still OPEN!!
Back in Iowa, we followed the Mighty Mississippi through Keokuk (the City of Stoplights) and into Montrose. We like to take this little two lane rode because there are grand homes (old "river money", I've been told) overlooking the river. There is also a section of road that is nearly dark, even when it's sunny! There's a canopy of green that's created by trees on either side. It's like driving through a tunnel. Crazy. Cool. This summer's onslaught of rain caused a couple of issues on this road, however. One of the great stone retaining walls gave way to trees and dirt and closed one lane. The water (I think) proved too much for another section, simply washing the road completely down a steep embankment. In Montrose, we stopped at Kinnick on the River. Interesting name. One would expect a serious football theme inside, right? (Kinnick Stadium is where the Univ. of Iowa Hawkeye football games are held.) Maybe painted all black and gold? Nope. Just a bar/restaurant. Ho hum. Montrose has, like, maybe 150 people, and they have a Casey's!! (Not fair! My town needs a Casey's!)
From Montrose we headed to West Point. There are some cool houses on the way to West Point! This lilttle community has 4 bars! Must be thirsty people there! Inside The 4th Street Bar and Grill we talked to 3 other bikers about their rides today. Everyone was just out to enjoy the view and the weather. West Point is known for their Sweet Corn Festival. (All the free sweetcorn you can eat! It's fabulous!!!) They were gearing up for a BBQ Cookoff or something the next day. It was part of their pre-rodeo countdown. (The rodeo is in Ft. Madison on Sept. 8!!)
People talk about going to the mountains and being captivated by the view. I've been to the mountains a couple times and to me, they all look the same. (Sorry, mountain lovers.) While we saw fields and fields of corn and soybeans and newly harvested round bales, they were all the same, yet different. The corn stalks were different heights and at different stages of development - you could tell that by the color. Some of the round bales were lined up in neat rows near the barns while others dotted the fields, not yet taken to their final resting place for the season.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
A Couple of Cards
Monday, August 16, 2010
MogoOrganic Veggie Wonderland
Okay! Who wouldn't love getting this basket of yumminess! The skinny little bundle to the left is celery. Yep. Smells like celery, tastes like celery, so it must be celery! Just skinny. More cabbage, green beans and fresh basil. And what goes well with fresh basil? Fresh tomatoes, of course! The heirlooms finally made their debut. They have all been delish, but I think my favorites are the sweet peas! See how little they are? Barely bigger than a pea! What they lack in size they more than make up in taste! They snap when you bite them and fill your mouth with some serious tomato taste. Yummers! Sweet corn, potatoes, a "candy" (yep, that's the name!) onion and a spaghetti squash. Many thanks to Morgan and her crew for all their hard work!!!!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Finally!
Monday, August 2, 2010
So Much To Share!
The other thing I want to talk about is my day at the Papa Clutch open house. I met the couple (Tim and Dana) who own this business as a result of going to Leroy Brown's in Ainsworth and then later, because they were a sponsor of Bike Night in the same town. Dana and I hit it off that first time we met. As I got to know her, I learned that they were going to move their business "down the road" and have an open house to celebrate. I offered my assistance and they took me up on the offer. Sooooooooooooooooo, that's what I did this past Friday and Saturday. On Friday I went to the new location (awesome redecotrating job!!) and helped get a few things organized, namely their apparel line. Lots of people were in and out, so I had an opportunity to meet some new people.
One of the guys I met on Friday was Jeff Cochran. He was talking about his last photo shoot. When I got home that evening, I found the issue he was refering to and read the article. What an interesting man! If you'd like to know more about Jeff, bike builder and photographer, check out his website. http://www.roadkingracing.com/. On Saturday, when I saw Jeff again, I told him that I'd checked out the magazine article and visited his website. I think he was quite surprised that I would do something like that. Quite frankly, it was very interesting and it gave me something to chat with him about!
I met two other guys, one was Justin and I didn't ask the other man's name, but he was a bike builder from Muscatine, Iowa. Justin was up from Phoenix. He kept me laughing. He showed me his bike that had been recently used for an ad for Sucker Punch Sally.
The rest of the open house was filled with meeting people from all over Iowa and Illinois. It's an interesting network these bikers and bike builders have. They seem to have a tremendous respect for one another. The event seemed well attended, the food was outstanding and the bands were great. I hope my new friends were pleased with the success.
Working at an event like that is something that I really like to do. It's so different from what I do at my "regular" job. It's like working at the Gift Mart in Atlanta or on the vendor floor at a scrapbooking convention. If anyone is looking for help at a similar event, please let me know!!
Monday, July 19, 2010
What A Day!
On to happier material! I got to come home and have a fabulous salad topped with some of my delicious MogoOrganic veggies. In particular, I loved the cucumber. It took me back to when I was a little girl and we had a garden. Mom always canned pickles so we had lots of cucumbers. I can remember
Monday, July 12, 2010
New Cards
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Mogo Goodness
Yesterday I made the Cucumber and Tomato Salsa recipe that was in my newsletter. We ate it tonight for supper with the homemade pita chips, also a recipe from the newsletter. The kolarabi was enjoyed by me and only me. I will share that with no one. I've been munching my way through the cabbage, one raw wedge at a time. The green beans and soybeans may be eaten tomorrow. I'm afraid of the garlic and the broccoli didn't make it. (A moment of silence, please.)
In other news, I've been making cards again. Made some cute ones to send to my nieces and my nephew (who is going overseas) in California. I wish I could spend more time with them.
Work is going well. I've reformated our library programs and the attendance has improved. Yippee! Today we had 60 come in and out for our Craft Day!! That's AWESOME! That many people in 90 min. is a huge improvement over years past. I'm totally impressed that so many parents/grandparents/babysitters are staying and interacting with their kids. It's just what I wanted to see. It's amazing how much fun can be had without being in front of a screen of some kind!
My friend, Ali, is working her tail off getting ready for the Henry Co. Fair next week. This is her first year as coordinator. If you're local, be sure to stop by and check out all of the projects, livestock and entertainment the fair has to offer. It's FREE! And you can't beat FAIR FOOD! Yum!!! Lemon Shake-Up, here I come!!!