September Crisp

When Dale came over this evening we decided to go for a short walk. There is a trail by my home that runs between the creek and the old railroad. We took the GPS and found a cache on the trail. We also saw an apple tree that was heavy with ripe apples. It looked like dessert potential to me. I was able to pick four fairly low hanging apples. Don't worry. It was on public property! Dale carried the apples back and while we watched our favorite sit coms I peeled, sliced and mixed up the topping. My secret recipe? Double the crisp! Apple crisp is perfect for a cool September evening. It smelled so good and tasted great.

Back-to-School

My friend, Linda and I have a back-to-school tradition. About fifteen years ago, we must have taken our first back-to-school shopping trip. The purpose was not to buy for our children, but to spend a day together after our kids had gone back to school in the fall. Neither of us loves to shop or buys clothes often, but everybody needs to get some clothes on occasion. I have come to look forward to these shopping days. Even when the kids were teens, we would still wait till they were back in school. Even when the kids left home, we would wait. Even when I went back to school to finish my degree, we would wait. Now that our kids are all in their mid to late twenties, we wait. This is our season!


Linda made the trip down to Des Moines this weekend. We had a great time. We did shop for some clothes. I need work clothes and I need a bigger size this year! I am such a yo-yo.


We certainly cannot spend all of our time in the malls, so we planned for some other fun as well. Saturday morning we went downtown to the Farmer's Market. Its a great weekly event....not just a market. We bought mums, squash and apples. It feels like fall!


We made a quick trip out to Howell's to see the barn full of dried flowers then headed to Drake Stadium to meet Dale for a football game. Although we enjoyed the beautiful day and the stadium, the game was a blow out. It was homecoming but the opposing team was very strong, as they have been in the past. We left before the fourth quarter and went back downtown to eat at a favorite spot, Royal Mile. It was yummy and fun to eat the authentic British food.

All these autumn activities and browsing the fall edition of Midwest Living magazine led to one more outing. On Sunday we headed to the pumpkin place to buy a few pumpkins. I got a white pumpkin as well as the traditional orange. They look nice on my little patio. Its Fall!

Zoom at the Zoo

Sunday afternoon I went to the Blank Park Zoo with Dale, his new camera and his very nice zoom lens. We had been looking forward to getting to the zoo with the ability to zoom in on the gorgeous animals to get better photos. I have enjoyed volunteering at the zoo since I moved to Des Moines and have often taken my camera to attempt to capture the beauty of the animals. The frustration is that it is difficult to get close enough. Because Dale is so generous, I got to take lots of photos on Sunday. I am especially fond of the giraffes and have volunteered as a giraffe feeder in the past. The photo is of the new baby giraffe framed by the necks of two adults. Dale took the photo of the tiger at the bottom. His image was much sharper than mine, so the credit for the tiger goes to Dale. We want to get to the zoo more often next year!

Saturday at the Track

Travis, Ashley, Dale and I headed out to Prairie Meadows Racetrack on Saturday night. It was the first time for Travis and Ashley so it was fun to show them around. Dale and I go out a couple of times a year. We always enjoy the atmosphere and appreciate the beautiful horses. We will sometimes place a $2 bet after checking out the horses in the paddock area. I like to look at the muscle, attitude and energy of the racehorses then just pick one. I chose horse #5 and the guys chose other horses. Mine was a long shot, but I got lucky! It was an exciting race with a photo finish. My horse won! The money we won was enough to go out for ice cream. We ended the evening at Snookies, a local ice cream icon in Des Moines. It was a great Saturday night with perfect weather for the outdoor activities. Sunday we had a chance to try geocaching (my electronic hiking) before we had lunch and the kids headed home. I just love it when they come to visit. Thanks for a great weekend, Ashley and Travis!

Living History Farms

These are a few of my favorite photos from Living History Farms' photography day. They are not award winning or even contest worthy but they are a peek at my September day on the farm while stepping back in history.

My Favorite Photographers!

Today was the annual photography day at Living History Farms. Professional photographers were available throughout the outdoor museum to offer tips and answer questions. Dale and I went last year and learned some fun things. When we told Ashley about the event she was anxious to join us this year. Both Dale and Ashley recently upgraded from point and shoot cameras to digital SLRs. I admit to camera envy but I love doing photography with them and seeing them enjoy their cameras. They are both very willing to share too!
Although I miss my 35 mm, I am still using my digital point and shoot. Now that I am sold on digital (finally) it's about time for me to upgrade as well. In the next day or so, I will post some more of my photos from today at Living History Farms.

Dumpster Diving?

Saturday night Dale and I went to a Drake football game and I arrived home about 10 pm. It was such a nice evening, that I decided to grab the garbage out of my car before going in. I parked in my garage, grabbed several beverage containers, napkins and papers and headed over to the dumpster after closing the garage door. After tossing the garbage into the dumpster, I moved toward my front door with my keys in hand. I took a quick inventory. I had my purse, my phone, my camera, but where was the remote control for the garage. I had it in the same hand as the garbage! Although I was almost certain, a quick trip back to the dumpster confirmed that my remote was on the bottom of the dumpster. Yes, on the bottom. It was emptied on Saturday...DARN!! Nobody could reach the bottom of that and keep their feet on the ground. I looked around, no young men to ask for help. I considered getting a chair to boost myself and dive into the dumpster head first, but that thing is just nasty gross!

I remember hearing that you can do anything with duct tape, so I decided to test that theory. I came in and got out my duct tape and a yard stick. I never use those yard sticks for anything anymore, but fortunately I kept them! I cut a piece of duct tape and attached it to the end of the yard stick with an extra loop of tape, sticky side out. I returned to the dumpster and reached over the edge. I firmly pressed the tape to the remote and lifted. It worked!! I pulled out my remote in one attempt. I was so very proud of myself!

Electronic Hiking

I love to hike in the woods, especially in the spring and fall. Dale has been willing to take me hiking, but traipsing around in the woods is not usually his favorite activity. I think that we have found a compromise on this. Dale loves electronic things. Geocaching has been defined as hide and seek for geeks. This means that we can "hike" in the woods with a GPS in hand while searching for tiny hidden caches. There are also caches in residential, rural and urban areas, but I do like the woods.


Dale took this photo when we were out geocaching after work one night this week. I am near the banks of Gray's Lake while he is on higher ground near a huge tree with a very impressive root system. It seemed like the perfect place to hide a cache and I was happy to climb down the bank with the help of the sturdy roots. Unfortunately we did not find the cache but I did enjoy getting a little muddy and exploring the woods off-trail at Gray's Lake. We have walked there often, but never gotten this unique veiw of the area. This could be lots of fun!

Goulash

We have eaten lots of goulash over the years. My mom made goulash. Hers was made with tomato juice instead of tomato sauce and served over mashed potatoes. It wasn't my favorite, but when I had children I made it often also. I found that it was very easy, fast and they liked it lots. I did use tomato sauce and skipped the mashed potatoes. Jay and Ashley were strongly opposed to the onions, so I left those out for years. When Jay started to cook it was one of the first recipes that he requested. I wrote out the simple recipe when he was in his teens. After that I often came home to find a pan of goulash on the stove and a proud son. He had cooked dinner. He would sometimes make spaghetti or enchiladas, but it was a sure thing that his dinner would include a red sauce and ground beef. I was glad that he had an interest in cooking and tried to encourage that. By the time Jay left for college, I had eaten enough goulash for a lifetime, but once and a while it does sound good. Because of heavy rain last night, we decided to pass on the plan for a high school football game. I had not planned for a meal or gotten groceries, so goulash seemed the right answer for a rainy night. For the first time in more than three years, I threw together a quick pan of goulash. It does bring back memories, but I probably won't be making it again for several years!

Marbles are Fun

I still like my marbles! OK, many years ago they were probably Jay's marbles, but I have claimed them now. Some of the marbles were leftovers from well worn board games. Others were Jay's playthings. The red ones are from one of Ashley's architecture projects at ISU. They are truly a collection that has grown over the decades. I have even added to the collection. The photo above shows my newest additions. I bought these at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. In April I bought a few in West Virginia also. I love the colors, the way that they catch the light and the sparkle they bring to my coffee table. I am also a fan of inexpensive souvenirs and the marbles offered by the craftsman at these local shops certainly fit that requirement.

The marble jar does have a history in the family. I purchased the first marble jar in the mid-eighties. We had a basket of marbles, but the jar was used as an incentive and reward system. Jay and Ashley would often go to bed like yo-yos. They would keep coming back out after being tucked in for the night. They would go back to bed then come out again. We agreed that when they stayed in bed after being tucked in (for the first time) they could add a marble to the marble jar in the morning. One by one the marbles would be transferred from the basket to the pretty marble jar with the promise of a fun outing when the jar was full. It worked! Bedtime went much more smoothly and we got to go to the ball game or amusement park. Of course we had planned to go anyway, but it still worked as a great reward. At some point, the original marble jar was knocked off a shelf and broken by a cat. I am certain that it was Calico Elizabeth, but there were no witnesses. The marbles went back to the basket until years later when I missed the sparkle, color and whimsy of the marble jar. Fortunately I bought a larger jar and have room for more souvenirs!

Kansas City Weekend

Dale and I headed south on Friday to visit his son in Kansas City. It was great to spend time with Eric and of course, we found some fun in the big city too. Barbeque is very important to the people of Kansas City. Dale and I usually choose Gates but another famous barbeque joint in KC is Arthur Bryant's. We are always open to a new experience so we headed to the humble home of Arthur Bryant's.

The walls are covered with photos of famous faces who have enjoyed one of the best of KC Barbeque. A huge pile of meat was dumped on sliced of Wonder white bread, which helps absorb enough sauce to keep the paper from being completely saturated. Two fists full of fries and a handful of pickle slices are added to the pile and all of it is wrapped together in two separate layers of butcher paper then taped closed. The experience added to the wonderful flavor. There is plenty to share!!



I love major league ball parks and although I had been to Kauffman Stadium with Ashley about ten years ago, I was excited to go again. It was a gorgeous night at the ball park. The fountains in the outfield and the gigantic video scoreboard are great assets for the Royals. We laughed, talked, took lots of photos and enjoyed the game even though the home team lost. There were great post game fireworks to round off the fun evening. The only down side was that we were too full from the barbeque and had no room for a ball park hot dog!

I had heard great things about the Kansas City Renaissance Festival and I was not disappointed. On Saturday morning, Eric, Dale and I headed west to Kansas and a day at the festival. We saw great entertainment, a joust and many interesting characters. We also took plenty of photographs and ate Scotch eggs before the increasing rain sent us to the car and back to Missouri. It was a wonderful weekend.

Dayton Rodeo

A three day weekend is a great chance to have extra fun and take more photographs. Dale and I made the trip to Dayton for the final day of their Labor Day weekend rodeo.

Last year we discovered that we enjoyed rodeo when we traveled to Sidney, Iowa for their annual rodeo. The event has plenty of action and is filled with passion and patriotism. There was an obvious respect and honor for country and cowboys including a tribute to those who died in the previous year.

I do love events and this is a good one! It was too hot today, with temperatures over 90 degrees, but it was still a great show. It is September now so it should cool off soon, right?