My youngest niece's 15th birthday party Sunday night was only the start! No pictures, but we had a nice time and visit. :-)
Monday
I was treated to the view of seeing Canada Geese in the small field Mom and Dad's yard. This first photo shows them without using much telephoto at all. I zoomed in quite a bit to get the next two photos. At the end of this post, you'll find a short video of the geese. They are cleaning up the sweet corn that was left in this field. lol.
Click on the photo so you can really see them!
My parents and I joined a group of their friends for a day's excursion to Iowa Falls. There were some very interesting sites to see, as well as a riverboat ride complete with lunch!
Tuesday morning, we packed some 5-gallon buckets in the trunk and drove into the County where they recycle city yard waste to make compost (free-for-the-taking) and shred huge piles of mulch (also free). We wanted a few pails of compost for the garden.
Here are two humongous piles of yard waste. The has obviously been standing longer.
There were rows and rows (long ones) of compost in the making. This huge machine drove up one side, turned, and drove down the other side... chewing and chopping as it went.
I used my telephoto (!) to get a better view of this machine and the work it was doing.
We were disappointed in that there was no finished product "for the taking" quite yet.
Tuesday evening, we drove to my brother and sister-in-law's home for dinner. Their daughter Sarah and her husband and one-month-old baby (son) came to visit! Yea!
This is my mom (Great-Grandma!) with the baby.
On Wednesday, we did a little shopping (I found a bargain on Blue Rug Junipers) and divided a few plants in my parents' flower garden. After lunch I headed back to my brother & sister-in-law's home to begin a little landscaping around their new pond. You can see some of the results here. My sister-in-law helped after work and we both were forced indoors due to the fact that nightfall is happening earlier these days!
Thursday: We "baby-watched" while Sarah visited the dentist. She returned afterwards and ate lunch with us. Thursday evening we went to my new favorite movie, "Julie and Julia!"
(Visit this site for a fun movie trailer, etc.)
It began raining Thursday during the night and continued throughout Friday morning. Dad and I took a car to the "Auto Hospital," I dropped him off for his weekly volunteer job, returned home and waited for the A.H. phone to ring. Then Mom and I each drove a vehicle downtown, and I left mine at the A.H. We stopped off at a beautiful city garden that is growing larger and more beautiful every year (did I say I didn't take my camera? What a mistake!)
It wasn't long until my car was finished. Mom and I drove over to pick up Dad, and we all three drove to the Auto Hospital and brought our vehicles home. ;-)
At 5:30 P.M., we met my dad's two brothers and their wives (my uncles and aunts) for a nice dinner. Afterward, we visited in one of their homes; playing UNO and having a blast! We left for home around 11:00 P.M. Who says terribly grown-up grown ups have no fun??
Saturday morning found us all driving to my Aunt MEA's town. Her Garden Club was having a plant sale and coffee/brunch. We enjoyed visiting and meeting several of her nice friends. AND Mom and I each picked up some new plants!
What a great time we had. The days sped by so quickly. Hopefully I can get there again before too very long!
Here's a short video of those geese. Once, Dad counted 85 of them.
