I have one side of the sign painted and working on the other.
Ken gave his John Deere riding mower away to his friend's granddaughter's family who have just moved to a home on 3 acres. Ken and Bob worked on the mower 2 days to get it running as it has been setting in the garage for over 12 years.
I found this book at the thrift store Monday, I really enjoy Billy Collins poetry. He was the Poet Laureate of the US in 2001 to 2003.
Here's a sample:
The Country
I wondered about you
when you told me never to leave
a box of wooden, strike-anywhere matches
lying around the house because the mice
might get into them and start a fire.
But your face was absolutely straight
when you twisted the lid down on the round tin
where the matches, you said, are always stowed.
Who could sleep that night?
Who could whisk away the thought
of the one unlikely mouse
padding along a cold water pipe
behind the floral wallpaper
gripping a single wooden match
between the needles of his teeth?
Who could not see him rounding a corner,
the blue tip scratching against a rough-hewn beam,
the sudden flare, and the creature
for one bright, shining moment
suddenly thrust ahead of his time-
now a fire-starter, now a torchbearer
in a forgotten ritual, little brown druid
illuminating some ancient night.
Who could fail to notice,
lit up in the blazing insulation,
the tiny looks of wonderment on the faces
of his fellow mice, onetime inhabitants
of what once was your house in the country?
Enjoy your day!
It was too windy for most of the balloons to get this close to their target and no one won the $250 for knocking over the outhouse.
Because of the wind many of the balloons decided not to do the night glow, but there was a big crowd to watch. We visited with a couple from Dayton, Ohio and another avid photographer from Albia, IA who was taking pics for the local paper he is also working on a book about an old church in Georgetown. 
More later from Indianola
Be prepared to appreciate what you meet. Frank Herbert
It was a rainy day so I spent most of it playing on the computer,
and putting together collages for a scrapbook on the reunion,
We were lucky to have this Hawk fly in and perch near us for a couple of photos.
I caught these butterflies being a bit busy.
The reason we stopped at the new park was to get photos of
Ken's been busy cleaning out the garage and basement, actually he's enjoying it as he comes across lost treasures from his past.
I thought these bookplates were neat, maybe I'll get creative with them.
I hadn't realized before just how colorful the House Finches are!!
The Red-bellied Woodpecker likes to sneak a little jelly too, I finally caught him at it.
To enjoy the flowers, fresh air and do a little walking, not to mention
We found a few butterflies about and many dragonflies.
But I captured a few shots.
This Eastern Kingbird has a nest in this tree and we enjoyed
On the way home we stopped at a road side stand and bought some
There were several family members staying at our motel in Ottumwa so we got together for dinner and some visiting.
Of course, we gathered for a visit the next morning before going to the reunion in Agency.
There were about 90 people at the reunion.
Later at the motel we gathered for more visiting, family stories and history gathering.
Today, Mom left for home and back to the 110 degree heat of AZ.
Last week when I was weeding the flower garden one of these bumble bees stung me, I think we have a nest in the corner of the garden. I will definitely stay away from that area now. We sure have alot of bumble bees this year, and we haven't seen many butterflies.
...Peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday.
Here's a sample:
I was trying to get photos of the little Downy this morning but I thought this pic of the Cat bird looking at me the better shot of the day.
We watched Wimbledon both the women's and the men's. This morning's men's match was a record breaker for the greatest number of games played in a match (believe it was 81) and Federer won his 15th major championship. I was hoping our guy Roddrick was going to win.
We are beginning to see a few butterflies in our garden.
This morning the Downy woodpecker brought their babe to our feeder. 
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