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Hot Sunny Days and Small Town ParadesThis morning after walking out with the dogs,watering the pots in the backyard,and coming back in ,I decided to head back out into the yard with the camera.There were a few new daylilies open and I wanted to practice doing macros using manual.I had just learned from a DsSLr learning group on Flickr about getting proper exposure while getting those narrow DOF's on tight macros.Since I have noticed sometimes it can be hard to get the color as intense at f2.8 as it is at higher f stops,I wanted to practice this.
I had no sooner shot 2 flowers when a line of old tractors rolled through town,and me still in my jammies.LOL While I was taking a few photos of them driving by my neighbors husband walked through the yard and told me it was a parade.The local radio station in Des Moines was hosting the 11th annual Greater Iowa Tractor Ride.It is a 3-4 day event,Tractors from all over Iowa meet to drive through areas of the state.This year they called it a cloverleaf ride,as they were centering their evening activities in one town south of us and riding out each day to a different area.
There were 500 tractors entered.The first few shots were not the best as I was caught out there with my macro lens ,which does not zoom.The first set of tractors stopped at the Covered bridge out side town,and for a brief time there were tractors lined up along the highway as far as you could see.
It was a hot day,and while they were taking a break between waves of riders I rushed in to change lenses,shirts ,get a cold glass of water and a folding lawn chair.Then before they started coming through town again I was moving around trying to find the best place to sit.I finally ended up on the parking strip close to the curb under the neighbors japanese maple.The shade was welcome as it was rather humi and warm out.(One reason I left my thin cotton capri jammies bottoms on,LOL)
The ride started on Sunday,but since it was Tuesday before they came through our town,there were very few onlookers.There was a cute family group across the street enjoying the parade of tractors,and I saw a few ppl coming and going.There were a few other cameras out and about,But I was the one with the big bazooka,LOL I got many great pictures of all kinds of tractors,Names I had never even heard of before ,Like Minneapolis Moline,and Cockshutt.Most of these tractors were refurbished to some degree and were very colorful in reds,oranges,blue and of course ,John Deeere green.The riders mostly had canopy's to shade them,and it did make for some difficult lighting.I had to reduce the shadows a bit on most pictures.There were Husband /wife riders,woman riders,and at least one Mother Daughter team.Of course quite a few older men,as this seems to be a hobby amongst older farmers.A few of them threw out candy,and the few kids across the road scrambled,a few times having to dodge the normal high traffic we seem to get.
All in all it was a busy day in our little neck of the woods.You can enjoy a slide show of the events at flickr.
It Is Officially SummerSummer doesn't arrive for a couple more days bu the calenders viewpoint,but here in the garden summer is officially here.We have had temps in or near 90,and the humidity is high enough you can sweat just standing still in the shade.LOL
Summer flowers have arrived too,I have been seeing new daylilies open up every day this last week.We have had some thunderstorms on and off,but the rain has been in short supply.waatering has begun in some of the most needy garden areas.Daily watering out in the veggie garden,as Mom has just gotten peppers and tomatoes planted and they are still small enough to need it.
Summer weeds are rearing their ugly heads,and I am still trying to get throught the spring weding in the rose garden.Already the beds out front need work again as well.I weeded the dwarf Hosta bed a couple days ago after the rain so they would pull up easily.It was mostly crab grass.I was surprised to see one tiny hosta I have when I cleared the weeds,it hadn't shown up earlier this spring yet and I had been afraid I had lost it.It is a tiny one,leaves only a couple inches at best,even full grown it will be a small cluster.I planted this area 4 yrs ago or so and they are still very small.
I was out in the heat late this morning on the mower.The grass is very brown in some areas,and I was mowing weeds more than grass.Today I felt it hot enough to wear a straw hat.Even so by the time I had mowed the front area in mostly sun,I was relieved to have saved the back for later since mowing under the shade trees was a big relief.In fact I slowed down specifically to enjoy the shade.LOL
I recieved a phone call on a recent job ap I had turned in.The job wuld be a office/desk job that utilized my medical terminology and experience.This is something I have thought I would want for some time now.Unfortunately He said that job I was over qualified for.He informed me of the name of the position I was best suited for,but no openings at this point.I will keep checking their web site for openings for that position,maybe something suited to me will open up.I am still waiting to hear from some trucking companies I was hopeful about.No call backs at this point,so unemployment continues.
I have ordered a bunch of 5X7 prints of my covered bridge series.I am hoping to sell them at the visitors center over the upcoming month or so while we enjoy the heigt of tourist traffic during parades and town celebrations.I also ordered three 8x10 prints to enter in the State Fair compotition.I could enter a total of four,but with cost of entry and mounting them,I wanted to keep it down a little.I will probably be selling them after the fair is over.There is a long shot chance to win $500 from a local camera shop for best of show..(a long shot at best,but sure could find something I could want for $500,LOL)
Summertime BluesSpring is winding down here at the garden,and summer has arrived a week or so early.The temperatures are crawling up around 90 and it has been humid.Despite 2 inches of rain a week ago,the gardens appear dry,and some plants are suffering already.Weather on a prairie is extreme,the plants that live here have to be tough enough to survive.LOL No worries about existing flowers yet,it is not a drought,but the newer plantings need to be watered.This summer I have to be more sparing with watering,I just can't have the water bills of previous summers.The water features so far are not running,and I bring watering cans around to the needed plants and the pots on a as needed basis only.
The weeding is still an ongoing process.I still haven't made it through all the beds.This week I will slowly start to work across the rose border,where it is the worst rigt now.One bed I did early on is coming back in with grass and weedy vines,so whe I finish I will have to start all over again.LOL
The city plans on finishing the path across our front yard this summer.They have surveyed the gas lines already,I don't know when work will start.Should be interesting with the dogs while they are working up so close to the front of the house.We will probably have to start putting them in the play yard to keep Rosa from attacking the workers.LOL She hates trucks and motorcycles,and chases them when they drive by,and recently at night she has been chasing the odd car that passes while we have them out. We have broken her of her pottying in the house,we are starting to try and train her that it is not acceptable to go tearing off after traffic.Pete loves being outdoors free to roam his yard.He stays withing the bounderies well with the exception of roaming into the backyard of the rear neighbor.We call him back each time.It is a tempting yard to roam,with wide open grassy areas and a big power pole he likes to pee on.This year the field near the end of our yard is planted in corn again,and he has been showing a desire to wander into the field.I am training him not to go there.I don't want him getting lost in the corn when it gets tall,and sure don't need him knocking down any stalks.LOL
Speaking of corn,it is already knee high,and we are not even close to the 4th of july.If we get occasional rains it should be a good year.I dread the rotation of the corn in this nearby field.It will mean alot of allergy symptoms and I will have to use a decongestant.I am alergic to corn pollen.It is the only thing I am actually allergic to (I do react to many other environmental fumes) ,but living in Iowa it is impossible to avoid.LOL
Driving past a corn field is bad enough,but when one is basically next door it is especially bad.Thank God for crop rotation or it would be every year.I might have considered needing to move then,LOL
The news on the job front is unchanged.I just keep plugging away on unemployment for now.Still busy occasionally putting things in order.Hubby is settling into the job solo.I think he will stay put now the miles have picked up,but one never knows.He is out west right now and having truck repairs done which is keeping him down a couple days.The invertor in the truck gave out.With his Cpap needs he has not been sleping as well as he should,so it must get fixed.It also put a curve in his plans to cook in the truck,his fridge not running it ruined all the meat we had bought,and he can't use the microwave to heat up things.He has been eating healthier by eating in the truck and has lost weight.It's a good thing,except he will be needing smaler jeans soon,LOL
I think I have been dropping a few pounds myself.The treatment for my insulin resistance and the way I hvave been eating since home.I haven't weighed,will wait to get on the scales at the Dr.,but I think I can see and feel it. My ten unit was changed to a stronger one,and I like it even better.The company I am getting this one from is better at customer relations,and seem to be working on filling my needs.I am going to be trying some new electrodes to see how they work for me.They will be worn continuously for a few days then disposed of whe needed as apposed to being taken on and off repeatedly.Since the reusable ones don't last more than 5 days for me,I am hoping the disposable ones will do better.The worry is they are harder on the skin,and I have problems with bandaids blistering me,so the adhesive on these may not work for me.I will find out soon enough,but nothing ventured nothing gained.I will try them at least.If I can't use them maybe my SIL can.She has a tens and I have been encouraging her to try it again,only she has no funds to buy the electrodes.
Thats it from the garden today,I better go get ready to do something out there.Hope your week is going well.
~Tani~ Nothin Much Has Changed..B Moves On..More Family DramaWell,It has been a bit since I last blogged.To tell you the truth not much has changed in my world.LOL This last week was my 20th Anniversary.Hubby spent the day on the road,but was home this last weekend to spend a few days with me and relax.Toby as usual was excited to come home,and actually took sme time to cuddle with his Momma,not his usual behavior,LOL I think he misses me.Come Tuesday it was time to go back to work,and he was more than reeady,he gets just as excited about going to work with Hubby as he does to come home.
This weekend we spent one day visiting my Neice and her new baby,Hubby hadn't met his Grand Neice yet.It was a beautiful day,despite cloud cover.The clouds as we drove were actually filled with layers of different shades of white and grey and were beautiful in themselves.On the way home saw a beautiful sunset break through the clouds.
The baby and Mommy are both healthy and doing well.Baby L is the most alert newborn I have ever seen,she really seems to take interest in her surroundings,and seems to be happy no matter who may be holding her.Baby doesn't like to sleep in her bassinet at night though,So Mommy has been putting her in the carseat as per nurses suggestion.LOL We kept her awake Saturday,so I bet she slept good that night,LOL
Sunday was as crazy as Saturday was beautiful.After visiting his Father Saturday ,B had more of a attidude than normal.He showed especially disrespect towards me,ignoring a request to use headphones while playing his video gameseven though he knows the beeps honks and shouts of that game drive me crazy and I was relaxing on the couch..I asked 3 times,when Toby started to play (and he cannot play silently) B yelled at him to shut up.His Mother suggested that if he were wearing the headphons as he had been asked the noise wouldn't bother him,and he lost his mind.He stepped over a line expressing his anger and disrespect to me when his uncle was here,and that did not go over well.Hubby held his temper fairly well I thought,He jumped up and told B to pack his stuff and call to find a place to go.HE moved out that day,Hubby driving him to meet his StepMother at her work.I think it's the fastest I have ever seen him move.LOL He is going to stay with his Father again.Not the best of influences for him as to becoming a responsible man,but He really had no opportunities out here with us anyway wit no car or license to drive for work.We knew his attitude was going to get ahead of his brain eventually,and we did our part in getting him Graduated from Highschool.I would have loved to see him go on,but he was really not ready for that,we had to fight him over grades and schoolwork all year,It is doughtful he could get through any collage progr at this point despite his high testing results.He just doesn't have the maturity and discipline to motivate himself.
Things are quiter and not surprisingly easier to keep picked up with him gone.Ona similar note my Brothers wife is playing her games again.Being jeolous that we have visited Hubby's neice and yet weren't able to meet them this weekend after their plans to go out of town changed.They get their noses bent out of place when I can't meet to their time and place.The SIL called multiple times to try and arrange a visit for MOnday,I told them I had bussiness plans I had to do on Monday.I have told them I cannot be expected to not have plans last minute like that.Finally she wanted me to visit them Tuesday night.Knowing it is a 1 1/2 hr drive and that gas costs are hard for me right now,I took off anyway to try and cooperate with their plans since I didn't have appointments of any kind that day.She called befor I left to confirm,then when I was 20 miles away my Brother called to offer that if I wanted we could rearrange since it was going to be late evening.Here we go again,changing plans last minute,plans they had wanted me to make.I told him I was OK,but if they wanted to cancel it was ok,let me know now while I could turn around soon.He sad,no No problem.I was taking off across 2 lane highways after that,and I was another 23 miles away when I got a message on my phone.I am just fortunate it came through then,LOL They cancelled on me for vague excuses of a family emergency,that my brother almost had to stutter to say.Oh Heck NO.This little escapade cost me 90 miles round trip for nothing.I will not be playing so easily next time.
Not wanting my trip to be a complete loss,I managed to stop at a little nursery on the outskirts of a small town I drive through alot.I have always wanted to stop,but the timing was never right.I slid in 1/2 hr before closing.I was pleased to find that she had for sale the plum colored poppies i was wanting since the seeds I started never germinated.I hadn't been able to find the Patties Plum variety locally.So I guess the trip wasn't a complete loss,LOL
In the garden the roses are now starting to bloom,and many of the spring flowers arre dwindling.I managed to get Pop's garden cleaned out last Friday.His garden had some large gaps where a few plants had not made it.The delphiniums he loved were lost this winter.I spent some time today planting some of the new plants I have been collecting for that garden the last few weeks.I start working soon on the huge rose border.
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