smoke signals

a place to 'cool off'

a crack in the trees

that is how the light gets in

today

there was a voice-mail on my phone this morning from last night. lisa had called to tell me sandy had taken a spill on her bike and ended up in the emergency room. lisa had said she was coming down with a cold, was tired and would i give sandy a ride home. i had gone to bed early and the phone was downstairs charging, so i missed the call. i talked to sandy today and she is home, a headache, but ok.

corn for today has been picked and on the stand. will pick again later today if needed. getting ready to do some more cleaning in the barn. have some framing to do for yates later this week or next.

cherie is back at school in Columbia. yatesy is stopping by for a couple of beers around six and then we are going down to dan's for a rump roast. will ride down with him and am looking forward to the walk home. should be a beautiful evening for a walk down a country lane.

blue heron orchard stand

down by the riverside

i made it to the river in time to catch some of the sunrise.

i am working

yesterday before i left the city i picked up some bags of sakcrete at menards. i layered that and gravel in the washed out ruts in my drive hoping to come up with at least a temporary solution to the havoc the heavy rains have been causing.

and now to the farm to pick flowers for market tomorrow. i have a new bucket to use that i am so excited about. oh, the simple joys of life...

then back home for weedeating and, yes, barn cleaning. somebody seems to get much pleasure in 'staying on top' of things!

thru all kinds of weather

traveling home from the city yesterday the song side by side by Patsy Cline was playing in my mind. (google the lyrics).

brilliant sunshine to my right. storms ahead and to my left. the road beneath me wet, more like moist or damp, and a rainbow for much of the trip.

for now

darts with Tom. horseshoes later.

it's baaaack

yes sweetcorn lovers, we are up and running again. yesterday after market i picked 3 loads and put up the sign. made for a long day and a steady stream of happy buyers. today i picked 5 loads, solo, and am guessing the stand is about empty by now. am looking forward to Tom returning from his trip to Colorado. picking is a lot easier with two people.

but it was a great day. two different times i thought i was rained out. even picked some tomatoes to bring home and fix a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, and tomatoes. but it stopped raining both times and the only thing i ate today was a few ears of corn while i was picking. pretty good stuff right out of the field.

i had a hard time keeping ahead of the customers and that cut into my visiting with the buyers. but there was still the usual "you have the best corn" or "everyone tells us you have the best corn" and the usual "we have been waiting so long for the sign to go up. plant more and closer together". had a nice visit with a couple from Mississippi who had brought a large cooler with them to take corn home. they have been buying from our stand for a few years now. they said they will make room for two coolers next year.

so, i have had my shower. getting ready to fix my bacon/egg/tomatoe sandwich that i had planned on eating so many hours ago. and then reading and rereading some very special messages. the skies are a rumblin and a tumblin outside right now. might be a good night to sleep in the truck. if only i had a tin roof.....

home alone - how many sequels can there be?

still trying to decide when to open the corn stand again. definitely not tomorrow. and if there won't be enough ready by saturday then i must pick flowers tomorrow to be ready for saturday's market. decisions...decisions. guess i will know in the morning when i check the corn again.

trailored the mower and mowed the yard in town today. always nice to get that looking good. getting ready to do some mowing here but need to relax with a beer or two first.

i have a big steak (enough for two) thawed to grill this evening. corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes. a bottle of wine would be enjoyable with this dinner but i haven't restocked the wine cellar of late. helloooooo Busch!

sunset, poke berries, bundles of 5

last night Blue Heron Orchard was the setting for a beautiful evening with friends. the weather was perfect for enjoying the outside festivities. a spectcular sunset while the chicken finished grilling and long-necked squash added to the grill. Cherie prepared a delicious garden salad and baked green tomatoes. my sweetcorn. Bill brought a 6-pack of 1554 to share.

after dinner, after a game of scrabble, we strolled a ways east on the lane past an old barn to a high point in the road with no trees to obstruct our view. we then stretched out on the gravel and focused our attention upward. as promised the skies presented us with a splendid meteor display.

as always, life is good. the next one...

anyone still hungry for corn?

Tom and Diane left for the mountains monday. i don't know when they will return but guessing sometime after saturday. their son is here from Des Moines taking care of the animals and watching the house. but it still leaves just me to take care of all else. so i have been busy keeping melons on the stand, taking care of the flower beds and keeping an eye on the sweetcorn.

after deadheading the zinnias monday morning i checked some of the rows of corn to be ready next. getting close. i am guessing i will probably open the stand for corn on friday. could be thursday or as late as sunday. just depends when there is enough ready to start getting truck loads. since i think i will be in the corn rows on saturday i decided to take a load of flowers to the market yesterday. didn't sell near as many as on the weekend but was worth my while. and anyway, it was still another pleasant day in the park.

this evening i am invited down the lane for a roasted chicken dinner and games of scrabble. Dan and Cherie, Bill and me. before coming home today from the farm i found some lovely ears of corn for my contribution to the meal. it has been almost 2 weeks since i have had any corn and have anxiously been anticipating this new patch maturing. wish i could share.

so for those of you who have been asking when will we have more corn, the sign will be going up soon. watch for it.

love was in the air

we were at farmers market early on saturday, flowers out and open for business. the first visitor of the day was this monarch butterfly. he (i believe he was actually a she, but for the purpose of this story...) sampled a yellow zinnia on another table for a period of time before settling down into this lovely red flower. his public display of affection created quite an interest with the many customers at our tables throughout the morning. repeatedly being startled into flight, he never failed to return to his seemingly one and only for a delightful morning of appeasing his appetite. and she (it could only be that she was a she) was always there waiting for his return and, like our stand, open for business.

nobody would, or was allowed to, purchase this red zinnia. after market i brought it home and last night i placed it in a bottle with some water and set it out on the deck in hope that mr. butterfly would reunite with madame flower and have a romantic night of draping and cuddling.

an amigo's casa

tromping

this morning i took a trail into the woods looking for a couple of small ponds i had come upon this spring. even though the brush and trees have grown up around them they are still quite lovely to visit. one has mostly been overtaken by reeds and cattails. more of a miniature wetlands area now. a great habitat for frogs, turtles and a few blue heron.

the trail

back to the farm took me through some meadows teeming with wildflowers - queen anne's lace, spotted touch-me-not, horsemint, rudbeckia,

and partridge pea.

full moon setting on a dead end road

i was out early to enjoy this glorious morn. the moon was slipping fast and as i raced out of the house and up the drive i thought it had escaped me. but when i crested the first little rise there she was - the woman in the moon, smiling down on me. i continued my walk down the lane, through the trees and up the next little hill. the moon had disappeared by then. i was sorry not to have caught one more glimpse but was thankful that i had seen her, if only for that brief time.

i turned and headed back home, ready to enjoy a cup of coffee out on the deck. as i cleared that same little rise the sun was just clearing the horizon. arcing up on a familiar path. far behind but, like me, in relentless pursuit of the moon.

same morning - different day

for the second day in a row i woke up early to the rumbling, tumbling skies. another storm moving in. we very much need the rain and i could use a day at home. a perfect day to raise the blinds and let the dark light in. to watch the leaves do their special dance in the wind. listen to the thunder try and keep the beat to the coffee house music raining down the walls. think. remember. dream.

yesterday morning i drove away from cool, rainy weather and into the warm and waiting arms of a wonderful iowa day. i was looking forward to spending the day with an old friend, a truly incredible person. nothing had been planned. no shopping or enjoying cold drinks in a bar. not even lunch. just walking in the sunshine and relaxing in the shade.

and talking. and even better - listening. one of the few people i have met that truly expresses interest in my thoughts and feelings. who actually listens to someone else. a wonderful gift!

our conversations covered it all. past, present and future. i won't bore you with the details. but will offer this advice. 'it may never be too late to reconnect - but don't wait forever. pick up the phone and make that call.' i did...

a stroll down memory lane

at 4:30 yesterday we loaded the corn stand for the last time until the next planting is ready. the time off will be a much welcome break. but before it is ready for picking our by then corn hungry friends will be calling wanting to know how much longer.

after putting the last corn out Tom and i had some beers and a threw a few games of darts. upon arriving home i

rousted Henry and we walked the lane down to Dan's to feed the cats and gather a few garden veggies. it was another beautiful evening and i enjoyed remembering other walks down this same path. the pleasant company. great conversation. the holding of hands and leaning into each other. the discoveries made when taking little side-trips off the path. the picking up of stones and the gathering of weeds to make lovely bouquets.

i dream of the time when old memories are shared on this path and new ones are made.

you're never too old

i went in to town this evening to see a play that my friend Diane had a leading role in. she was wonderful and the play was a delight. just one very short nap for me during the second act.

i had not been in the old theatre in almost 20 years. the local college bought it a few years ago and it has been completely redone inside. will try to take in some movies there this winter and look forward to the next play the theatrical community puts on.

my congrats to all the players, the director and all behind the scenes. well done.

along came a spider

before calling it a day yesterday we loaded the flowers for an early start for market this morning. upon opening the van today we found this orb weaver had put in a hard day's night.