In Marengo, IA

58º in Marengo, IA at 11:00 am Sunday.
We left Clarinda around 9 Friday, dropping off our recyclables, picking up a copy of the Clarinda Herald Journal (have been getting on-line edition since last September - started delivery, but won't get until next Thursday) and then stopped in Villisca at Oliver & Mary Jo's to leave some DVD's and a book about classic tractors.  Ate lunch in 2nd Street Cafe in Ottumwa, IA  and got to son Cam's place in Marengo about 3 pm.  Had managed the nearly 200 miles without being on the Interstate, which is the way we like to travel, if we have the time.

Highest price we have paid for gas in several years,

at Creston, IA Friday

At 2nd Street Cafe in Ottumwa, IA

At 2nd Street Cafe in Ottumwa, IA

Spent rest of afternoon with Great Granddaughter Jessica

and her Mommy, Ashley

Supper Friday at Ox Yoke Inn in Ammana, IA

Supper Friday at Ox Yoke Inn in Ammana, IA

Supper Friday at Ox Yoke Inn in Ammana, IA

Supper Friday at Ox Yoke Inn in Ammana, IA
with Jessica providing entertainment

Though a bit expensive, the family-style meal for 8 was
fantastic both in quantity and quality!

Jessica was making sure her order was right.

1

Getting her coat off.

Saturday ready to head out - Jessica was going to drive!

In her car seat

Heading down the road

We were in the back - pretty big load

I wasn't this scared - just looked it

Cam in charge

Arrived at the Creamery in Kalona where they were having
promotion on Ice Cream -  Greeted by the cow.

Granddaughter, at right, is working for the company and was
helping with this promotion.

Jessica had her Minnie Mouse shirt on

Later, waiting to eat at Kalona Brewing Company restaurant.

From Facebook - our friend Carolyn Ruhde with
Leland & Bonnie Brown's son Steve.

Spent time in quilting store where Phyllis found some
patterns for some material she has had a few years.

Patty picked up a pattern for small quilt with giraffe and monkeys

On way north last evening to a fund-raiser dinner near Van Horne

Fresh-cut prime rib or shrimp was offered

Biggest, best prime-rib I have had in years

waiting for dinner & program after

1

She found grandma's magnifying glasses -- right after
I took this photo she managed to pull the frames apart 

1

Doing a somersault 

just plain goofing off.

Here are a series of Jessica at lunch a few minutes ago (it is now 1:20 pm)

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Family Tree of Vincent Van Gogh:
His dizzy aunt ----------------------- Verti Gogh
The brother who ate prunes---- Gotta Gogh
The brother who worked at a convenience store ------ Stop N Gogh
The grandfather from Yugoslavia --- U Gogh
His magician uncle --------- Where-diddy Gogh
His Mexican cousin --------- A Mee Gogh
The Mexican cousin's American half-brother ---------- Gring Gogh
The nephew who drove a stage coach ---------------Wells-far Gogh
The constipated uncle ----------- Can't Gogh
The ballroom dancing aunt -----Tang Gogh
The bird lover uncle --------------- Flamin Gogh
The fruit-loving cousin ----------- Man Gogh
An aunt who taught positive thinking ------------------ Way-to-Gogh
The little bouncy nephew -------- Poe Gogh
A sister who loved disco ----------Go Gogh
And his niece who travels the country in an RV --- Winnie Bay Gogh
I saw you smiling . . . .. There ya Gogh!

Will head back to Clarinda Monday - Lynn

Nice weather this afternoon

58º and bright sunshine this afternoon -- after record setting 23º this morning!

Getting the trikes put together.

Went to Villisca and ate lunch at the cafe then played cards with Oliver & Mary Jo Herzberg Wednesday.

Wednesday evening went to choir practice at 6 pm in the "new" to us practice room at the church.  All the classrooms have been built this winter while we were gone south.

While mowing yard I took photo of one
of these buds on a tree.

Lot of leaves with the grass that had grown over-winter.

What a waste of time and money tending a yard!

Blew off all the dust and leaves after finishing.

Interesting photo from the Net

Interesting picture from the Net

Heading to eastern Iowa tomorrow morning to visit the weekend with kids, grand kids and great grand kid.

GROANER’S CORNER:)) A man tells his friend, "I went to my doctor to see if he could help me give up smoking." "What did he say?" "He suggested that every time I felt like a smoke I should reach for a bar of chocolate." "Did that do any good?"
"No I can't get the chocolate to light."

Another time ---- Lynn

Winter's back for a bit

28º at 12:30 Noon Sunday with snow on the ground here in Clarinda, IA

Went to Methodist Church this morning.  Sang in choir - had not had any practice, so was sight-reading, but think it turned out alright.  First time had seen the finished classrooms and practice area for the choir that was done over the winter while we were gone.

Thinking back on our Branson stay.  There are many ways to amuse yourself in Branson.  Zip lines, miniature golf parks, museums, lots of eateries and lots of shows.  Another way is to sit through time-share presentations to make some money.  We usually come out okay and not much worse for wear.  This time Phyllis was able to get a pair of New Balance shoes almost paid for with the debit cards from one time-share place and we still have the 4-night, 5-day cruise to take.  We sat in on two this year and also got a $30 credit for eating at the Italian Restaurant as well as a week in a resort this next year.  Lots of people sign up for the time-share thing, but it isn't our thing, though don't mind taking their money and being entertained for a couple hours.

Need to sneak in couple pictures from Facebook of Great Granddaughter Jessica:

Jessica with Dog & Dad

Jessica with Dog & Dad

And Granddaughter Emmily

Little Ole and the Stork

Little Ole was sitting at the kitchen table doing his school homework. He had a puzzled look on his face at he considered the assignment that was due--writing an essay about his origin. He turned to question his mother. "Mama, vere did Grandma come from?" he asked. "Da stork brought her," answered mama Lena. "And vere did yew come from?" asked Little Ole. "Da stork brought me," his mother answered. "And vere did I come from?" Little Ole inquired. "Vell, son, da stork brought yew, tew," mama Lena replied. With a scowl on his face, Little Ole picked up his pencil, turned to his school tablet, and began writing his essay: "Dere have been no natural births in our family for three yenerations."

Fingernails

One day Lena confided to her friend Hilda that she had finally cured her nervous husband, Ole, of his habit of biting his nails. "Good gracious," said Hilda, "How did yew ever dew that?" "It vas really simple," was Lena's reply. "I yust hid his false teeth."

The Relations

Ole and Lena were getting on in years. Ole was 92 and Lena was 89. One evening they were sitting on the porch in their rockers. Ole reached over and patted Lena on her knee. "Lena, vat ever happened tew our sex relations?" he asked. "Vell, Ole, I yust don't know," replied Lena. "I don't tink ve even got a card from dem last Christmas."

One Sunday morning

One Sunday morning, the Lutheran pastor noticed Ole standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The old Norwegian had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside Ole, and said quietly, 'Good morning Ole.'

'Good morning Pastor,' he replied, still focused on the plaque. 'Pastor, vat is dis?' The pastor said, 'Well, it's a memorial to all the men and women who died in the service. Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque.

Finally, Ole's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear
asked, 'Vich service, da 8:30 or da 10:45? 
 

The Train Ride

Ole and Lars were on their very first train ride, heading to Minneapolis. They had brought along bananas for lunch. Just as they began to peel them, the train entered a long, dark tunnel. "Have you eaten your banana yet?" Ole asked excitedly. "No," replied Lars. "Vell don't touch it den," Ole exclaimed. "I yust took vun bite and vent blind!"

Later, Lynn

Rough Weather Moving in!

78º and storm moving in here in Clarinda, IA at 7:00  pm.

Headed to Fairway grocery store today -- restocked the food larder here in Clarinda after being gone so long.

Gas is $2.559 here in Clarinda - highest we have seen anywhere
for a year or so.

We are in a tornado watch and rain is moving in -- high winds and even snow predicted for the weekend with temps down in the lower 20's.  Not Good!

Looking at some figures on trip this winter -- We drove 3,360 miles from Clarinda to our winter home last fall -- went through Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana on the way.  Drove 1,551 coming back this spring through Arkansas, Missouri and home.  GPS shows 1,184 if we drove straight down to Kenwood.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( This example shows the importance of accuracy when submitting your tax return. The IRS returned the Tax Return submitted by a New York City man implying that he answered one of the questions incorrectly.  In response to the question, 'List your dependents”, you wrote: '12.1 million illegal immigrants, 1.1 million crack-heads, 4.4 million unemployed deadbeats, 80,000 criminals in over 85 prisons, at least 450 idiots in Congress and those who call themselves Politicians.' The IRS responded that “this is unacceptable!”  The man's response to the IRS was: 'Who did I leave out?'
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A motorist caught by a speed camera received notification of a fine in the mail, plus a picture of his vehicle. Duly impressed, he sent back the notification along with a photo of a $100 note to pay the fine.
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Little eight-year-old Nancy was in the garden filling in a hole when her neighbor peered over the fence. Interested in what the youngster was doing, he asked: "What are you doing there, Nancy?"  "My goldfish died," Nancy sobbed. "And I've just buried him."  The obnoxious neighbor laughed and said condescendingly: "That's a really big hole for a little goldfish, don't you think?"  Nancy patted down the last heap of earth with her shovel and replied: "That's because he's inside your cat."
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Let you know tomorrow what happens -- Lynn

Good weather in Iowa (for now)

64º here in Clarinda, IA at 10:00 pm Thursday.  Been nice weather, but rain, cold (23º or less for more than 6 hours), snow, and even blizzard conditions in next few days predicted!

Cleaned up some of the leaves on the back patio.  This machine vacuums the leaves and grinds them down to take 1/10th the space and then will deteriorate more easily than if not ground.

This is on steep bank just behind back yard hedge row.

Leaves gone!

Draining the water heater on trailer

The Anode rod from the water heater - need to replace.

Bird nest out of a coconut shell

These buds will get frozen this Sunday.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Ponderings::
- I couldn't repair my brakes, so I made the horn louder.
- Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
- How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?
- What happens if you get scared half-to-death twice?
- When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.
- I intend to live forever -- so far, so good!
- Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
- Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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“People are choosing cremation over traditional burial. It shows that they are thinking outside the box.”
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A husband and wife were shopping when the wife said, "Darling, it's my mother's birthday tomorrow. What shall we buy for her? She would like something electric."  The husband replied, "How about a chair?"

More another time, Lynn

Home in Clarinda after 6 1/2 months away

61 degrees here in Clarinda, IA with freezing weather predicted for Saturday & Sunday.  Have drained the trailer - all tanks.

Left Branson Tuesday morning - stopping at Independence, MO a bit to visit with Kay and Ed Stanger.  Kay had been in and out of the hospital many times and sick much of the winter at Kenwood.  She is doing much better.

Got to our place about 6 pm, after stopping at the Airport in Clarinda to dump the gray and black tanks.
Left the trailer near the garage until today so would be less distance to bring in all the stuff we had in the trailer.  Had lived in it for 10 days.

Our front yard

Taken from our front lawn - new motel built over the winter.

Back yard.

Some leaf accumulation in the 6 months, 14 days we were gone.

Our lawn service putting pre-emerge weed stuff and fertilizer today

We both picked up some stomach flu stuff in the last several days, so didn't get out today other than picking up the mail and restart delivery.  I did get everything out of the back of the pickup other than the two recumbent trikes (do have their seats, luggage rack and rack box out.

Taking a while to get all the insulation off the windows and stuff put away.  Don't have to do it all at once.  One thing I didn't mention -- when we were in Waco we saw the move  I Can Only Imagine

a true story that is very interesting -- recommend you see it.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A Bible study group was discussing the unforeseen possibility of their sudden death. The leader of the discussion said, " We will all die some day, and none of us really know when, but if we did we would all do a better job of preparing ourselves for that inevitable event."  "Everybody nodded their heads in agreement with this comment."  Then the leader said to the group, "What would you do if you knew you only had 4 weeks of life remaining before your death, and then the Great Judgment Day?"  A gentleman said, " I would go out into my community and minister the Gospel to those that have not yet accepted the Lord into their lives."
"Very good!" ,said the group leader, and all the group members agreed, that would be a very good thing to do.  One lady spoke up and said enthusiastically, "I would dedicate all of my remaining time to serving God, my family, my church, and my fellow man with a greater conviction."  "That's wonderful!" the group leader commented, and all the group members agreed, that would be a very good thing to do.
But one gentleman in the back finally spoke up loudly and said, "I would go to my mother-in-laws house for the 4 weeks."  Everyone was puzzled by this answer, and the group leader ask, "Why your mother-in-laws house?"  Then the gentleman smiled sarcastically and said, "Because, that would be the longest 4 weeks of my life!"

Later, Lynn

Another day in Branson

41º in Branson with 61º predicted high for today

Sunday morning we went to Cowboy Church that the Baldridges put on with mostly religious music and Pop delivering a sermon

Did a little driving around Sunday afternoon, but spent most of it resting at the trailer.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A young girl who was writing a paper for school came to her father and asked, “Dad, what is the difference between anger and exasperation?”  The father replied, “It is mostly a matter of degree. Let me show you what I mean.”  With that the father went to the telephone and dialed a number at random. To the man who answered the phone, he said, “Hello, is Melvin there?”  The man answered, “There is no one living here named Melvin. Why don't you learn to look up numbers before you dial”.  “See,” said the father to his daughter. “That man was not a bit happy with our call. He was probably very busy with something and we annoyed him. Now watch….” The father dialed the number again. “Hello, is Melvin there?” asked the father.  “Now look here!” came the heated reply. “You just called this number and I told you that there is no Melvin here! You've got lot of guts calling again!” The receiver slammed down hard.  The father turned to his daughter and said, “You see, that was anger. Now I'll show you what exasperation means.”  He dialed the same number, and when a violent voice roared, “Hello!”  The father calmly said, “Hello, this is Melvin. Have there been any calls for me?”
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The shopkeeper was dismayed when a brand new business much like his own opened up next door and erected a huge sign which read BEST DEALS. He was horrified when another competitor opened up on his right, and announced its arrival with an even larger sign, reading LOWEST PRICES.  The shopkeeper was panicked, until he got an idea. He put the biggest sign of all over his own shop-it read…MAIN ENTRANCE.
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Answering Machine::  Rod Serling imitation: You're dazed, bewildered, trapped in a world without time, where sound collides with color and shadows explode. You see a signpost up ahead -- this is no ordinary telephone answering device... You have reached, "The Twilight Phone".

Plan to leave here tomorrow morning.
Lynn